Magic: The Gathering

**Norellicus** · 2011-10-05 14:41

So it's less a power play of the card itself being obviously awesome and more just trending based on tournament results. Got it.

**Weltall** · 2011-10-05 15:01

Yes and no. The card is obviously good in the current metagame, but that will change a lot in the upcoming weeks.

**Norellicus** · 2011-10-07 07:58

So I'm playing an Innistrad draft this evening, first time drafting. It's just a casual thing so I'm not too worried about doing well but I like to think I can make educated choices as I play. So I did some reading, then found magicdraftsim.com and took a crack at it:

Is this good drafting? Are there any obvious card types in here I should avoid in the future, or others I should look more toward (obviously you don't know what I passed up to get these, but just in general)?

I mean, the deck *seems* interesting enough. Countering lots of stuff to keep creatures off the field, destroying what still makes it out, and eventually summoning a nice 4/5 or 5/5 to do some damage. But wanted to get other opinions.

Thanks in advance for any advice

**Xerlic** · 2011-10-07 09:09

I think you need to rework your curve. Other than the equipment, your only 1 CMC card is Dream Twist. Your only 2 CMC card is Urgent Exorcism which is a dead draw if your opponent isn't playing Spirits. So, the deck really only starts to get online at turn 3 which is bad if they have a deck with early aggro.

You should also be running more creatures. You only have 5 creatures in the deck, of which the lowest CMC is 4. Makeshift Mauler requires you to exile a creature from your graveyard in order for you to cast it, which will be difficult with only 3 other creatures in the deck.

Ghoulcaller's Bell is also pretty dangerous to run if your opponent has any Trepanation Blades.

**Norellicus** · 2011-10-07 09:24

Yeah, I noticed as well that my early turns could have me doing a lot of nothing and it might get dangerous. I guess, thinking about it, rather than trying to get a ton of high power cards, I should only focus on that for the first few picks of any pack and then try and back those picks up with the back half, yeah? So rather than ignoring all the 1/1 and 2/2 just grab a few in the late picks to round out the set?

I took Ghoulcaller's Bell since it struck me as a "destroy" card, in essence. Some risk to myself as well but could be big payoff if I already feel like I have good cards in play, and force someone to dump their bomb. How does Trepanation Blade make the bell more dangerous, just the fact that he'll be milling my deck faster than I mill his?

**Olo401** · 2011-10-07 09:40

Xerlic pretty much gave you the specifics, so I'll just say in general it looks like you need to work on your drafting fundamentals.

- Your goal is to build a 40 card deck, so ideally you want to aim for 13 creatures & 13 spells across one or two colors, and the rest land. Once you get more comfortable with picking the right cards you can play around that mix and learn when & how to "splash" a third or fourth color.

- The ideal way to pick is in this order : Bombs (insanely good cards, which hopefully will be playable in your deck), Removal (cards that neutralize threats), Evasion (creatures with flying, hexproof, pro-something etc.), Dudes (misc. creatures to fill out your deck). As you learn the cards you'll learn what cards to take, when to take something with an overall lower value (i.e. third pack opening a bomb rare that's not in your colors, but there's a great removal spell or big-time creature that is).

- A good way to guarantee that you get the cards you want in the colors you want is to "cut" a color in the first or second pack. That means deliberately taking cards in a certain color in order to cut that color's availability when you pass a pack. The idea behind it is that when you move to the second or third pack, the person passing cards to you won't be playing the color(s) you cut and you'll get good picks. Knowing when to cut a color instead of taking a better card that you might need is tricky, but it can pay off later when they pass you a bomb rare/mythic.

**Xerlic** · 2011-10-07 10:59

Originally Posted by Norellicus

Yeah, I noticed as well that my early turns could have me doing a lot of nothing and it might get dangerous. I guess, thinking about it, rather than trying to get a ton of high power cards, I should only focus on that for the first few picks of any pack and then try and back those picks up with the back half, yeah? So rather than ignoring all the 1/1 and 2/2 just grab a few in the late picks to round out the set?

Kind of. You don't want a deck just full of fatties. Maybe I'm wrong, but it sounds like you're focusing only on the big creatures first trying to find your bombs, then after you have those start filling out with other cards. You should also be looking at the smaller creatures/spells to fill out your mana curve, especially since you need stuff in your yard to cast the Maulers. Also, not all 1/1s and 2/2s are just fodder. Invisible Stalker with a Butcher's Cleaver or Silver-Inlaid Dagger will win you the game in a few turns.

I took Ghoulcaller's Bell since it struck me as a "destroy" card, in essence. Some risk to myself as well but could be big payoff if I already feel like I have good cards in play, and force someone to dump their bomb. How does Trepanation Blade make the bell more dangerous, just the fact that he'll be milling my deck faster than I mill his?

It's just not a good risk, in my opinion. Other than providing fuel in your yard for the two maulers, there's no advantage you gain from putting your own cards in the graveyard. If you mill Dearly Departed, you just lost one of your bombs and have no way to get him back. If you mill Divine Reckoning, you still have access to it because of flashback but it becomes more expensive. On turn 1 it's not going to give you any clear advantages and if you draw it midgame, it's probably not going to change the tempo of the game in any major way.

Similar to what olo mentioned above, I usually follow the B.R.E.A.D. acronym when drafting. Bombs Removal Evasion Aggro Dregs.

**Norellicus** · 2011-10-07 11:14

Yeah, like I said I knew nothing about drafting before today, lol. I did some reading and got the BRTEC (Bomb, Removal, Trickery (i.e. instants that bump up your monster last minute, giving you a kill without losing your own beast, etc), Evasion, Creatures) guideline, which is why that deck is the way it is. What I guess I missed/didn't think through is making sure I'm not sitting there like an idiot on my early turns.

And you're probably right about the bell, it made me uneasy too; the only thing that swayed me was the average pick stat on the sim...which I now realize I've been interpreting backwards and should have followed my gut. >_>

I'll keep playing with it and maybe posting a few more, hopefully I can get a better idea of the card awareness. I'm less concerned with psych tactics since this is my first rodeo, don't want to put myself in a bad place just cause I thought I could be clever.

**Tricen** · 2011-10-07 12:06

5-0'd split top 4 at thursday night magic with solar flare. Love this deck :3

**Norellicus** · 2011-10-07 12:12

Another try, found the text export button this time

Spoiler: show

**Olo401** · 2011-10-07 13:35

Originally Posted by Tricen

5-0'd split top 4 at thursday night magic with solar flare. Love this deck :3

Been seriously considering this deck for States since I'm already estimating that EVERYONE AND THEIR MOTHER will be playing RDW or Wolf Run. Here's the decklist I've arrived at so far in my playtesting:

Code:

4 Liliana of the Veil

1 Grave Titan
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Sun Titan

2 Day of Judgment
2 Doom Blade
2 Think Twice
4 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Mana Leak
2 Mental Misstep
2 Unburial Rites
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Oblivion Ring

4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacombs
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Seachrome Coast
1 Shimmering Grotto
3 Swamp
2 Island
2 Plains

SB:
2 Celestial Purge
1 Dead Weight
2 Dissipate
1 Mental Misstep
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Oblivion Ring
2 Spellskite
2 Timely Reinforcements
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Victim of Night

**Tricen** · 2011-10-07 13:37

This is my list.

Lands
4x Isolated chapel
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Drowned catacombs
4x Plains
4x Swamp
5x Island
1x Naphalia Drownyard

Creatures
3x Snapcaster Mage
2x Sun Titan
1x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Sheoldred
1x Elesh Norn
2x Phantasmal Image

Planeswalkers
2x Liliana
1x Jace Memory Adept (Didn't have the 3rd Lilly)

Instants
4x Forbidden Alchemy
3x Mana Leak
2x Dissipate
2x Dismember
1x Doomblade
2x Visions of beyond
2x Think Twice

Sorceries
3x Unburial Rites

Enchantments
2x Oblivion Ring

Sideboard
2x Day of Judgment
2x Dead Weight
2x Spellskite
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Celestial Purge
1x Timely Reinforcements
3x Mental Misstep
1x Flashfreeze

**Weltall** · 2011-10-07 14:02

I like that list, but isn't Visions of Beyond a little greedy? I think I'd rather have 2 more live opening hand cards.

I want to play with Elish Norn so bad.

**Tricen** · 2011-10-07 14:16

Elesh norn is MVP. The 2 visions are for the wreckless gaif or whatever that retarded card is. It's also nice to have snapcaster read "1U 2/1 Draw 3 cards" late game lol

**Weltall** · 2011-10-07 14:30

Das true...hmm I think I'd still rather have 2 main DOJ.

**Tricen** · 2011-10-07 14:45

Scout the area and see how much aggro decks are going around. Day maindeck doesn't seem that great in general too be honest, but just a preference.

**Norellicus** · 2011-10-08 01:34

Ended up going 4-4. I expected to get walked on so I guess that's something to be proud of

I'll post my deck when I can pull it out, it was fun. Fate ended up steering me straight to the milling win in the cards, and the way it was built I could almost as easily turn the mill around and screw my opponent with it if I felt that would work better for me.

**Bebopaloo** · 2011-10-09 02:43

Looking into selling/trading 2 Lilianas and a Snapcaster i cracked from a fat pack, but curious as to the easiest and quickest way to do so without screwing myself over. Any and all options/opinions and feedback as far as what people have had experience with is helpful <3

**Nama** · 2011-10-09 03:05

Might be best to just Ebay them or goto a local store and try to unload them. Not alot of people will strait up buy Lilliana since shes $60+(Currently sold out on Starcity@$69.99) and will probally have more luck trading her or doing a split of cards and cash. Alot of people at my store trying to dump snapcasters since everyone is anticipating his price dropping soon so you might have to undercut a bit more then you would like. Snapcaster is about $28-30 atm but most will trade/buy it at 20-25. Its probally best to just put it up on Ebay and let other fight it out either way just don't expect to get starcity prices out of it.

**Bebopaloo** · 2011-10-09 03:39

Oh i didnt but am wondering whether or not selling them to a shop; EG Channel fireball; for 40 a pop for lili and 20 for snapcasters for a store credit is something someone would advise? I'm lacking a car due to it being busted so getting to a shop to search out trades is a little harder for me :\

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