Locations
Grand Prix Las Vegas set a great many records when it comes to Magic and card games in general. Being the biggest TCG event ever is no small deal, and it really was amazing how many players there were at this GP compared to the second-largest Magic Grand Prix ever (Charleston). I think this was a one-of event, as even though Magic has been growing rapidly, other Grands Prix have not gathered nearly this much interest in recent months. The combination of Las Vegas and a limited-print-run set was a very effective one, and of course, it also helped that there was only a single event using Modern Masters product. I would really have loved to see a European Grand Prix with Modern Masters this summer, but unfortunately, that did not happen.
From people who attended Grand Prix Las Vegas, I have understood that the event was very well organized, and that is encouraging indeed. If a massive forty-five-hundred-player event can be run smoothly, more decently sized normal GPs should also be becoming better-organized in the future. I understand that this depends on the specific tournament organizer and how he or she does his or her part. Here in Europe, I only have limited experience of two main organizers, Dazzle and Gordian Knot, and all the Dazzle events I have attended have worked smoothly. Gordian Knot has been decent, but there are very many areas they could improve in.
B/R Goblins
Goblins is one of the decks I have had the most success with in Modern Masters Drafts—by a long shot. These decks are mainly black and red, but I’ve even had one that was blue and red. The main strategy here is to generate the most out of your Goblin tokens generated by Mogg War Marshal and Empty the Warrens. To help raise your small Goblins to the next level, there are some very potent uncommons available for you. The best one is Mad Auntie, which is super-good and better than any nonrare card in this deck. Tar Pitcher is not quite as good as Mad Auntie, as the ability is not great against the green decks, but it is still a very powerful card. Facevaulter is also surprisingly good if you have access to a lot of token generators, as pumping +2/+2 for each one is nothing to laugh at.
Here is my pick order for the commons and uncommons, with all of the top five uncommons being better than any of the commons.
Uncommons:
As you can see here, the best common cards are removal, and I’ve rated both Warren Pilferers and Mogg War Marshal quite high, as they are very important cards for the deck. There are several solid cards just outside of the top five, such as Bonesplitter, Pyrite Spellbomb, and Rathi Trapper. Bonesplitter might even be better than some of the removal spells if you already have a lot of token makers but not very many ways to make them bigger. Empty the Warrens becomes much better as you pick up cheap spells and effects that pump your team, and I’m usually happy playing one or two, even when I’m usually only making four tokens out of it.
As far as matchups goes, I think B/R Goblins has the hardest time with green creature decks with beefy guys such as Penumbra Spider, Imperiosaur, and the like. On the other hand, green decks do not have all that much removal, so Mad Auntie has a high probability of sticking around, and it helps immensely. Your best matchups are decks with medium-to-small creatures, so that means decks such as Rebels, W/B flyers, Affinity, and other similar decks. In these matchups, Tar Pitcher really has the chance to shine, and it can single-handedly shut down opposing decks if left unchecked.
This color combination has access to some very good rare bombs. Greater Gargadon is very good with all the tokens, and Earwig Squad can really put pressure on your opponent if drawn early. This deck also gets the most out of Demigod of Revenge, and it is a huge beating. You also have access to more generic bombs such as Molten Disaster, Skeletal Vampire, Kokusho, the Evening Star, Ryusei, the Falling Star, Oona, Queen of the Fae, and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.
R/W Giants
While B/R Goblins is one of the decks I actively seek out, R/W Giants is a deck I somehow end up with a large percentage of the time. This usually happens after I have picked up some red removal early and then see some solid white playables. Either that or I open Thundercloud Shaman and slam it. In a recent Draft, I started out with Glacial Ray, Pyrite Spellbomb, and Death Rattle, but then had a fourth-pick Cloudgoat Ranger (Goat-Gang Commander) and then moved into white.
I would say that R/W Giants is a deck that is largely defined by the uncommons and rares you have. While the commons in this deck are all decent, I think they are less synergistic than the cards in the B/R Goblins deck. But nonetheless, here are my pick orders.
Uncommons:
Just outside of the common top five are many quality cards that are very important for your deck but that you can expect to see quite late. These are cards such as Hillcomber Giant, War-Spike Changeling, and Blind-Spot Giant. Runed Stalactite is also very good in this deck, as it really helps with the Giants-matter cards such as the aforementioned Blind-Spot Giant, Kithkin Greatheart, and Crush Underfoot. I’ve had mixed feelings about Crush Underfoot, but once you start approaching eight or more Giants, you probably want to play one, and with an increase in Giants, subsequent copies of Crush Underfoot become better. These Giant decks can often have a Rebel subtheme, with Amrou Scout searching up Avian Changeling and Bound in Silence. This is the main reason I have ranked Avian Changeling so high up: since it is an evasive Giant that has the bonus of being searchable. So if you have many Rebel cards, be sure to prioritize any Amrou Scouts you see.
As a general guideline, I think it is important to pay very close attention to the various creature types among creatures you have drafted since you have so many cards that are total blanks if you do not pick up enough playable Giants. While the Goblins deck can function without the critical mass of Goblins, the Giants deck just falls apart. As far as matchups go, what I said about B/R Goblins is very much true here as well: Green is your main enemy, especially if the deck is sporting the larger guys. However, since you have more power, you can actually attack through Penumbra Spiders and Sporoloth Ancients, something the Goblins have a problem doing. As long as you can bring your Blind-Spot Giants online, you should be good to go, and Crush Underfoot combines well to take care of many pesky green creatures.
Off the Wall
I hope all of you reading this have the opportunity to try Modern Masters drafting since it is among the most fun Limited formats in a long time. And speaking of fun Limited formats, the recent Magic Online 11th Anniversary special Sealed was a great and interesting format. For those of you not familiar with the concept, it was a Sealed event with one booster from each fall expansion from the last eleven years. I’m always a fan of playing Limited with a lot of different sets, so these events were perfect for me. Less perfect was that I only had time to do one, but it was a lot of fun. I hope WotC brings back these kinds of special events, such as with the April Fools sealed a while back.
As usual, if you have any questions, ideas, comments, or suggestions, please contact me either via the comments section below or directly via Twitter. I’m going to have more time to explore Constructed the coming weeks, and I’m starting our preparation for the World Magic Cup, so I hope I will have some interesting thoughts on Standard and other formats in the next few weeks. If there are any particular topics you would like me to write about, be sure to let me know!
Thanks for reading,
Max
@thebloom_ on Twitter
Maxx on Magic Online
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