Scars of Mirrodin has gone through the rigors of GP play now, and it has proven itself to be one of the most skill-intensive and challenging formats in recent memory. I made the trip to Toronto this past weekend, and found myself finishing a solid, if unspectacular, 50th place. Although my end result was not to my liking, the games and drafts I played all weekend certainly were. This set is DEEP kids... we will be drafting and discussing this format for a long time, and I expect when we look back at our time in the planes of Mirrodin, we'll be shocked at just how wrong many of our initial card evaluations were. Hopefully this article can help you understand some mistakes you may be making, and set you on the path to drafting this set optimally. I want to explore some truths of Scars limited, clue you in on some of the cards that you may be letting slide just a little too deep or taking a little too early, and finally, tell you all about the craziest archetype I've found in my many, many, Scars Of Mirrodin drafts.

We had just completed sealed play and as day one drew to close, a bunch of us were loafing around doing nothing in particular when Gerard Fabiano approached us carrying one of the books that comes in all Scars of Mirrodin fat packs which contains pictures of all the cards in the set. After we taunted Gerard a bit for having actually bought a "fat pack" we began to flip through the pages and identify which card on each page we would take first out of a freshly opened booster. The crowd had many uniform opinions, as there was often a card which was head and shoulders above the others in power-level on each page. In doing this, a certain pick led me to an epiphany about the format, and what truly matters when you are drafting and constructing sealed decks.

We had reached the white cards and there in the center of the page was that juicy 4/4 Flying, Metalcraft loving mythic, Indomitable Archangel. The crowd called her out as the obvious pick and went to move on to identifying the go-to-guy on the next page.

"I'm pretty sure that's wrong." I called out. I could see everyone's eyes questioning me like I just said the earth was flat.

"The right pick is Glimmerpoint Stag." Gerard chimed in with a like-minded opinion, and I think I saw the dawn of comprehension spread across several faces in that huddle of Magic players who were searching for answers. I continued to think that night about that specific showdown, and what it said about this format. Would I really pick a 3/3 Vigilance with a blink ability over a Mythic Angel that protected all of my artifacts... In an artifact based block!?!? The answer, quite simply, is yes.

This is a block where limited play is based upon synergy. Bombs certainly snag a game or two when left unchecked, but one thing that has proven to be true, is that there are a bevy of solutions to any individual card we may face in a match. A far harder hurdle for us to overcome is when every single card in our opponents deck is working as a cohesive whole. Consider the interactions Glimmerpoint Stag has within the format just at common and uncommon. Skinrender, Sky-Eel School, Trinket Mage, Oxidda Scrapmelter, Razor Hippogriff, and many more cards all become infinitely more powerful when you have Glimmerpoint Stag in your deck, not to mention the crazy blow out that occurs when you blink one of your guys who has been enchanted with an opponent's Arrest. It is now clear to me that we must evaluate cards in this set in terms of their interactions, not their baseline stats. I can certainly envision decks where Indomitable Archangel would be better than the Stag, but as far as raw synergy and power within the block, the Stag shines like few other cards and is a source of card advantage in a format where extra cards are very hard to come by.

This lack of card advantage brings me to the next conclusion I've reached. Unless your deck is an Infect deck, it is almost always correct to draw rather than play, in both Sealed and Draft format. If a format is based upon card synergies, it follows that it is to your benefit to have as many cards available to you as possible. With Metalcraft being a key mechanic in the set, seeing eight cards as opposed to seven on your first turn is a welcome sight as you are far more likely to have the cards needed to turn on the ability. Consider a card like Rusted Relic. The tempo loss of sitting with an inactive Relic in play is far more devastating than the tempo that is forfeited by acting second in a game of Magic. Also, it is far easier to put together powerful Metalcraft hands post-mulligan on the draw than it is on the play. This is another decision which feels unintuitive in a fairly fast format, but I am confident it is the correct one.

These truths being unearthed about the format have led me to reevaluate many of the cards in the set. How about we do a little overrated/underrated?

Overrated: Myrs

I already can see people moving the mouse up to that X in the top right corner. Hold on! Hear me out. Myr are certainly not bad. I like seeing one or two Myr in every Scars deck I build. Granted I would prefer if they were all of the Perilous variety, but still...

I kid, mana Myr are fine, and lead to explosive openings, but they also leave you lacking in the meaningful card department. Nothing is worse than opening up a hand of four lands, two Myr, and a Bladed Pinions or some other irrelevant equipment. Play your on-color Myrs. Grab 'em up fifth, fourth, and even third, if your deck is particularly mana hungry. But I have seen people take on and off-color Myrs as first and second picks. This is just wrong people. There are better cards that you are undervaluing in the pack. The fifteen land, four to five Myr manabase is an absolute joke, and not something you should ever strive for. Besides leaving yourself super vulnerable to Arc Trail, what are you going to do when your opener contains one land and two Myr? You simply have to keep because this is what you designed your manabase to look like. How about when your opponent has turn two Embersmith? Get your Myr fix, but understand, they are not the second coming.

Underrated: Bleak Coven Vampires

I have received Bleak Coven Vampires as the last card in a pack multiple times now, and every time I found myself amazed at just how under valued these bloodsuckers are. In my experience, Metalcraft decks are usually base red or base white, with the secondary color often falling into wherever the best value is at the end of the packs, since early picks will tend to be artifacts. You cant do much better on value than an eight point life swing attached to a very relevant body at pick fourteen. Metalcraft mirror matches tend to play out in one of two fashions: stalemate or race. Bleak Coven Vampires is amazing in both of these cases. Don't even get me started on what goes on when everyone's favorite Stag comes to the party.

Overrated: Tel-Jilad Fallen

Infect decks have a glut of four drops. This is not the one you should be prioritizing. Tel-Jilad Fallen pretends to have a very significant protection, but for his cost, he is simply vulnerable to far too much. Instill Infection, Embersmith, Arc Trail, Blight Mamba... all of these cards will ruin your day. One of the benefits of drafting an infect deck is that its unpredictability and explosiveness will often leave your opponent in a defensive posture. Tel-Jilad Fallen lays all of his cards on the table, and his is a hand easily beaten.

Underrated: Molder Beast

Often when an common ability makes sparse appearances within a set it is because its contextual power level is off the charts in that particular environment (Flying in ME3 comes to mind). Molder Beast benefits from this exact situation. Defensive bodies are few and far between in Mirrodin, and Molder Beast's trample has allowed him to deliver an exceptional amount of killing blows, especially in conjunction with artifact removal. You know who looks real sexy carrying an Accorder's Shield or Grafted Exoskeleton? This guy. (Did I really just call a Molder Beast sexy? I need to get out more.)

Beyond all these points, my affection towards Molder Beast is chiefly derived from him playing the staring role in the wackiest and potentially most powerful draft deck I have yet build in Scars of Mirrodin... A spicy little number I dubbed Molder Beast combo.

[cardlist]

3 Assault Strobe

1 Darksteel Axe

2 Flight Spellbomb

2 Panic Spellbomb

1 Copper Myr

1 Shatter

1 Barbed Battlegear

1 Palladium Myr

2 Sylvok Replica

1 Vulshok Replica

1 Ferrovore

2 Bellowing Tanglewurm

3 Molder Beast

1 Untamed Might

9 Forest

8 Mountain

[/cardlist]

This deck was absurdly powerful and a blast to play. I easily 3-0'd the draft without losing a game on the back of my world destroying Molder Beasts. Just a little reminder if you go down this route. Assault Strobe is a Sorcery!! As unintuitive as that feels, don't forget it when you are carefully constructing your alpha strikes. I believe this deck is the perfect illustration of the concepts I have presented in this article. By embracing the synergy of some less than optimal cards, I created a deck with a cohesive plan that was neigh impossible for my opponents to stop. I think there are many archetypes like Molder Beast combo buried within Scars. I'd love to hear about some of your successes with strange synergistic decks in the comments section, or feel free to send me a tweet @Bryango on Twitter. I hope this article gives all of you the tools you need to succeed and have a blast when drafting Scars of Mirrodin, and I'll see y'all in Nashville.