Drafting with Big Nass, RTR #1

Posted on October 22, 2012

After a brief hiatus, Drafting with Big Nass is back in action with some Return to Ravnica Drafts. I always love drafting when the fall set comes out since there are a lot of opportunities to explore the different archetypes. There are lots of archetypes that exist in pretty much every format such as W/U flyers or R/G beatdown, but each new block offers something new. Being a so-called “early adopter” can reap a lot of rewards as other people are still coming up the curve. In Innistrad, I can only imagine what the win percentage of early adopters of the self-mill Spider Spawning archetype was. I was a little late getting that memo, and by the time I tried it out, I couldn’t win a single match, though that might be due to other factors such as playing badly (which anyone who watched my RTR prerelease video can attest to).

I might have mentioned this before, but one of my favorite gimmick decks of all time was the Dampen Thought archetype in triple Champions of Kamigawa. I definitely wasn’t the best player in my area at the time (that’s still true now actually), but I won almost every Draft in which I successfully went into it. It got to the point that some players went out of their way to hate-draft cards from me at Friday Night Magic because they were sick of being milled out.

It’s still way too early to know what the cool gimmick decks are in Return to Ravnica, but I may have stumbled on to something sweet. This week’s deck is certainly a brew and doesn’t represent my normal drafting strategy by any stretch. This is only my first Magic Online Draft in this format, so there are a lot of refinements to be made, but Axebane Guardian is real. Check out the videos below to find out more. As always, a text recap follows the links. Enjoy!

Draft

Match 1, Game 1

Match 1, Game 2

Match 2, Game 1

Match 2, Game 2

Match 2, Game 3

Match 3, Game 1

Match 3, Game 2

Pack 1, Pick 1:

My Pick:

I think it’s reasonably close between the Goliath and Assassin's Strike. Unconditional removal is hard to come by in this set, but Deadbridge Goliath is GIGANTIC. Seriously, very few creatures can tangle with it, and if your opponent does manage to kill it, you can make something else gigantic.

Pack 1, Pick 2:

My Pick:

Really? I’m not sure what the person on my right took, but the Archon is pretty unbeatable if you get to attack with it. I realize it’s 7 mana and all, but that’s not unreasonable in this format.

Pack 1, Pick 3:

My Pick:

Ultimate Price is a premium removal spell. It doesn’t kill everything, but its very low cost makes it a high pick. I’m somewhat concerned by taking three cards in four different colors, but what’s the worst that can happen?

Pack 1, Pick 4:

My Pick:

Launch Party kills anything—true—but at a significant cost. Some decks don’t mind paying it, but it’s too early to tell if that’s going to be my deck.

Pack 1, Pick 5:

My Pick:

I’m pretty sure I want to be some sort of Bant deck. I like Selesnya a lot in this set, and if I’m G/W splashing the Archon I’ll be happy.

Pack 1, Pick 6:

My Pick:

I have two bomb creatures, one of which is amazing in hand or in the graveyard, so Jarad's Orders seems like a fine pick.

Pack 1, Pick 7:

My Pick:

Since I’m in seven colors, I should probably pick up some mana fixing.

Pack 1, Pick 8:

My Pick:

Wow; this pack is something else. Both Axebane Guardian and Thoughtflare are cards that shouldn’t be going this late. Red is the one color I’m not in, and Axebane is going to be fairly important.

Pack 1, Pick 9:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 10:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 11:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 12:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 13:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 14:

My Pick:

Pack 1, Pick 15:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 1:

My Pick:

Well, this was a rare-draft, but it was probably still the right pick, though I might have taken Skyline Predator over it.

Pack 2, Pick 2:

My Pick:

I haven’t been that impressed with Growing Ranks to be honest. It does nothing by itself, and I would only play it in highly dedicated token decks. I’m still willing to pay 6 mana for a Swords to Plowshares on the other hand.

Pack 2, Pick 3:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 4:

My Pick:

I have three Guildgates already, so it’s not unreasonable to expect this guy to be able to attack.

Pack 2, Pick 5:

My Pick:

This definitely makes the multicolored deck slightly saner.

Pack 2, Pick 6:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 7:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 8:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 9:

My Pick:

With three Ogres, I think I take Guildgates over most things now.

Pack 2, Pick 10:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 11:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 12:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 13:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 14:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 15:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 1:

My Pick:

Even I’m not deranged enough to splash Rakdos, Lord of Riots.

Pack 3, Pick 2:

My Pick:

The Azorius Guildmage (New Prahv Guildmage) is probably the second-best one after Rix Maadi Guildmage. Once you hit 5 mana, it just dominates the board.

Pack 3, Pick 3:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 4:

My Pick:

Golgari Charm is fine, but I feel that it has a lower overall impact on the game than the Sluiceway Scorpion.

Pack 3, Pick 5:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 6:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 7:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 8:

My Pick:

It’s kind of too late to go into Doorkeeper.dec, but this could be a legitimate win condition with the crazy number of defenders I have.

Pack 3, Pick 9:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 10:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 11:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 12:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 13:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 14:

My Pick:

Pack 3, Pick 15:

My Pick:

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Here’s what my madness has brought me to battle with:

"Golgari-Splash-Azorius"

Notice I have white and blue cards, but no actual Plains or Islands. I’m crazy!!!! (Link has NSFW language).

In all seriousness, the deck worked out pretty well. Like I said before, Axebane Guardian is real. I made it to the finals, even beating a Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius along the way. I didn’t quite take the Draft down, as I lost a close Game 1 and drew a few too many lands Game 2.

Hope you guys enjoyed the Draft recap, and I’ll see you next time.

Take care,

Nassim Ketita

arcticninja on Magic Online

www.youtube.com/nketita

TAGS articles, draft, video, limited, magic online, drafting, modo, mtgo, nassim ketita, return to ravnica