Welcome back to part 2!
Here I will show you the top 8 draft and some thoughts about the picks I made. Please feel free to comment in the forum.
As usual you will get the most out of the walkthrough if you make your choice BEFORE checking my pick. But even if you are only skimming the article it is useful to compare my picks with your possible choices.
Let’s get started!
Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
The two strongest cards in the pack are Jund Charm and Sanctum Gargoyle. While Sanctum Gargoyle is less of a comitment, Jund Charm has a stronger impact on the game. There are different philosophies about color commitment vs. power and either pick is probably fine here.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
Obviously the best card is Oblivion Ring but you want to play Jund Charm and draft Red. Taking the Magma Spray over the Oblivion Ring increases your chance that your neighbour will be in White and the lack of good red cards will also signal “Red is drafted!”
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
Druid of the Anima makes a good fixer for a possible White splash and ramps from turn 3 to 4 for “Rhox Brute”.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
Here we have Naya Battlemage, Mosstodon, Rakeclaw Gargantuan and Naya Panorama. This is not the time to take a Panorama yet, so I’m going to pick up the best card. Naya Battlemage.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Now it’s the right time to pick up our mana fixer – Naya Panorama. Dragon Fodder and Knight of White Orchid are playable but the Knight is in the possible white splash for the Naya Battlemage and I would prefer any Panorama over a card like Dragon Fodder.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Nothing special here. Cavern Thoctar is a solid, playable pick.
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
Hissing Iguanar or Resounding Roar? Usually I would prefer the Resounding Roar in a WG aggro deck but I still have in mind playing with the Jund Charm so I will take the Hissing Iguanar because it’s better in RGb Archetypes. Note: I’m not going to draft Jund, I will be drafting Red/Green splash Black, which is another story.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Good Sideboard card. I usually don’t maindeck it.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
I was very happy with this pick. Exuberant Firestoker is perfect if we decide to go Red/Green splash White. Iit’s still playable in RGb.
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
Looking good. Solid Green cards pretty late.
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:
Ember Weaver is the strongest card in the pack for the archetype we are drafting. I still haven’t defined the third color. I always try not commit for the splash color in the first pack. I can still go RGw or RGb.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Same common print run. Another Ember Weaver looks perfect.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Wild Leotau and Dark Temper are both good cards. However I only like Dark Temper when Playing Black, so the Wild Leotau is the right pick here. It is one of my favorite Green Picks in Conflux along with Ember Weaver.
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
Another “same print run” pack… The second Wild Leotau makes this deck very good with the Exuberant Firestoker.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Here we have a dilemma. Pick up one of the mana fixers or pick up a powerful Nacatl Hunt-Pride? Taking the HuntPride would put me in the White splash instead of the Black splash, but I already have a Naya Panorama and a Naya Battlemage and Hunt Pride has a strong effect on the game.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
This card can be very strong in GW aggro. I will pick it anyway but it probably will not make this deck.
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Cheap pump is always good.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Just another Sideboard card that sometimes ends up in the maindeck because it has cycling.
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Good, playable card in this type of deck.
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Another Sideboard card. While playable main deck, I prefer it in the sideboard.
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
Good accelerator for the beasts.
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:
When you go Red/Green you are always hoping for Bloodbraid Elf. I got lucky here.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
There are 3 cards to consider here. Quasali Pridemage, Uril, the Miststalker and Colossal Might. Qasali Pridemage does not make the cut because White is going to be the splash color, and you probably won’t be able to play it turn 2. Most likely you will use turn two to fix your mana, so I will go with Uril here. While you might consider the Colossal Might as it fits well in the deck, Uril is just the stronger card here.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Pale Recluse is a perfect pick, both a playable card and splash mana fixer.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Similar dilemma we had pick 2. Colossal Might is just better in our deck then the Pridemage.
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Here I picked up the Naya Hushblade instead of the Firewild Borderpost because Red and Green are going to be the main colors. We are not desperate for mana fixers in our main color. If that would have been a White/Green Borderpost, we would have picked it over the Hushblade.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Rhox Brute is worth 1st picking when you play Red/Green. I guess getting it as 6th pick does not hurt.
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
A “Hate Draft”. Leeches are slowing down our aggression.
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Very good card. It’s a good creature drop if you have mana accelerators and is a good combat trick.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Another Naya Sojourners would be good, but Minotaur just makes up for the lack of removal in this deck.
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Here we go again….
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Counterdrafted this playable and annoying card.
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
That is very late.
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick:
Playable, in some archetypes strong card. Will not make the cut in our deck though.
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
I built the following deck:
Usually I always play a mana base of 7-6-4 in Shards of Alara because I play 2 main colors and one splash color. I never go into 3 full main colors as that makes the mana base usually to inconsistent. The Naya Husblade could have been left in the sideboard but the deck was missing some 2 mana drops so I thought it would be a good 2 mana drop to trade for creatures in the other side and to pump up the Ember Weaver for turn 3.
Cards Like Cavern Thoctar and Kranioceros were left in the sideboard because of the curve. Having 3 Naya Sojourners and Uril, The Miststalker already filled the 5 mana slots.
I went 3-0 on the draft. This first round I played against a “Naya” deck, the second round against an “Esper” deck where the sideboard played a pivotal role. With the help of Molten Frame, Naturalize and Nacatl Savage I was able to overcome the lack of general removal.
In the final round I was able to defeat a Grixis deck.
So I hope you enjoyed the walkthrough. If you have questions please feel free to comment in the forum.
In the next article I will show you a Magic2010 Core set Sealed and a Draft Walkthrough. I will also talk about the card value change with the new rules. We will have to change some of our strategies and see how we can benefit from the rule changes.
Until then,
Paulo Carvalho