Drafting with Big Nass, AVR #1

Posted on May 28, 2012

To be perfectly honest, I was kind of dreading the release of Avacyn Restored on Magic Online. Though I’ve only done one sealed and a couple drafts since the prerelease, I haven’t really enjoyed the format much. It seems to me that due to the lack of removal, there are so many cards that are unbeatable. Still, my suffering is perfect fodder for the entertainment of others so here we are.

Going into the draft, I knew that Black was the worst color, so I wanted to avoid it given the choice, but the other seven drafters in my pod had other ideas. Read on to find out.

As always, text recap follows the video links.

Draft:

Match 1, Game 1:

Match 1, Game 2:

Match 2, Game 1:

Match 2, Game 2:

Match 2, Game 3:

Pack 1, Pick 1:

My Pick:

I told myself I wasn’t going to draft black, but I’m also a sucker for rares. Demonlord is very powerful if you can draft a bunch of cards to work well with it, so we’re in a good position. If I were really hell-bent on not drafting black, Seraph of Dawn would be the pick.

Pack 1, Pick 2:

My Pick:

As if to spite me for not taking a white card last pick, here’s Banishing Stroke to mock me. It’s not that much better than Death Wind, and I still want to make Demonlord work.

Pack 1, Pick 3:

My Pick:

I’m subconsciously drafting a second deck now. My fantasy deck is W/U and is awesome. My real deck is mono-black and is poopy.

Pack 1, Pick 4:

My Pick:

Okay, this is getting out of hand. Seraph of Dawn is one of the best commons in the set, if not the best. I don’t have a problem drafting Dan-Brown.dec (Angels and Demons, hurr hurr), but it’s not like I’m giving up much to take it.

Pack 1, Pick 5:

My Pick:

Despite a huge number of 3-or-higher-toughness dorks in the format, I would like some number of 2-drops.

Pack 1, Pick 6:

My Pick:

This is the kind of card we’re looking to draft for our Demon, so maybe our deck won’t be completely awful.

Pack 1, Pick 7:

My Pick:

Grave Exchange is decent, but since I still haven’t settled on a second color yet, I want to start exploring my options. Heirs of Stromkirk is quite good and can win the game on its own.

Pack 1, Pick 8:

My Pick:

Since we plan on having a bunch of creatures that die for value, Bone Splinters seems like a pretty good choice. Also, see lack of removal, and so on.

Pack 1, Pick 9:

My Pick:

Seeing three of the four playable black cards table is a sign that the color is pretty open. The loner deck is kind of a trap, and you really need Homicidal Seclusion to make it work. Taskmaster should be fine in this deck since we plan on having a lot of creatures that give us value when they die. I just hope that we actually . . . you know . . . pick those cards up at some point.

Pack 1, Pick 10:

My Pick:

Classic Avacyn Restored: five unplayables.

Pack 1, Pick 11:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 12:

My Pick:

I’m pretty surprised to find two playables out of four cards. Someone took a basic land over a removal spell. Really, people?

Pack 1, Pick 13:

My Pick:

Just in case there was any doubt that there is at most one other black drafter at the table.

Pack 1, Pick 14:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 15:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 1:

My Pick:

I’m reasonably confident that the Taskmaster will table. I’m still not sure what my second color is, but if it’s white, I’m really going to want that Defang. Angel of Jubilation is going to be too hard to cast and doesn’t even pump most of my team.

Pack 2, Pick 2:

My Pick:

Zero playable black cards and my favorite common in the set makes this an easy pick.

Pack 2, Pick 3:

My Pick:

I’m going to want Butcher Ghoul to table. It may not look like much, but that’s the sort of chaff I need in this deck.

Pack 2, Pick 4:

My Pick:

I find it really hard to pass a card that says, “Draw three cards.”

Pack 2, Pick 5:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 6:

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Pack 2, Pick 7:

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Pack 2, Pick 8:

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Pack 2, Pick 9:

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Pack 2, Pick 10:

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Pack 2, Pick 11:

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Pack 2, Pick 12:

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Pack 2, Pick 13:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 14:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 15:

My Pick:

Picks five and onward were very straightforward, hence no comments. Hmm, do I take the only playable or not? The lack of playables makes Avacyn Restored less interesting to draft since there are fewer decisions to consider.

Pack 3, Pick 1:

My Pick:

In normal Draft formats, this card would be pretty mediocre, but in the land of zero removal, it’s nigh unbeatable. If an opponent attacks you once with this, it’s really hard to come back.

Pack 3, Pick 2:

My Pick:

Big ol’ miss. Scrapper makes the cut about half the time in my experience, which is a testament to how shallow the cards are.

Pack 3, Pick 3:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 4:

My Pick:

I love me a Horned Turtle, but Wingcrafter is surprisingly good. I wouldn’t play it in a W/U deck since most of your creatures fly anyway, but I have a good number of ground pounders, so he should work out fine.

Pack 3, Pick 5:

My Pick:

He’s worse than Falkenrath Noble since he can’t attack, but he’ll still get the job done.

Pack 3, Pick 6:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 7:

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Pack 3, Pick 8:

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Pack 3, Pick 9:

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Pack 3, Pick 10:

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Pack 3, Pick 11:

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Pack 3, Pick 12:

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Pack 3, Pick 13:

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Pack 3, Pick 14:

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Pack 3, Pick 15:

My Pick:

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Again, the rest of the picks were very straightforward with few actual decisions to make. Here’s what I ended up submitting:

"U/B Demonspear"

Lands (17)
10 Swamp
7 Island

I’ve been on a bizarre sleep schedule due to Diablo 3 and not having a job or a school to go to, so I was really tired when I recorded the Draft. It really showed in the second round when I accidentally mulliganed, played kind of badly, and intentionally drew a game just for laughs.

The deck worked out all right. It wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t awful either. There were a few cards that I expected to table that didn’t come back, so the deck was worse than I would have liked. I was hurt by not settling on a second color early enough, thus giving up picks. Demonlord of Ashmouth was quite powerful and is a good enough reason to be in black, but unless you open a bomb like that or the color is insanely open, I’d recommend staying away.

This particular Draft didn’t do anything to counter my negative perception of the format, but I’ll continue posting them for you guys. Until next time, may you always draw your bomb before your opponent.

Nassim Ketita

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