In the videos below, you can watch me draft with MTGO Academy’s content editor, and my long-time friend and Magic discussion partner, A.J. (PlanetWalls). Since, in the coming weeks, both A.J. and I will be looking to contribute more content, in the form of articles and videos, to MTGO Academy’s front page, we decided to record this draft as something of a trial episode of what’s to come. For this reason, we’d love to hear your feedback. Let us know what bothers you about the videos (with regard to our recording method, as well as to our play and discussion style), and also what you like about them. (We’re very aware of the audio problems associated with A.J.’s connection, but suggestions are certainly welcome!)
Our goal is to record a video series that is both educational and entertaining. For this reason, there may be times when our discussion topics stray from Magic, or when we act a bit goofy. In most cases, we’re not simply trying to ignore the game, but are rather attempting to cultivate a light-hearted style for presenting our content, though one that remains attentive to sharing our strategic decision-making process. Let us know in the comments section whether you like this approach or would prefer something more straight-forward and professional.
So you know, we have no plans for discontinuing the Limited Resources video series; we will continue to host these videos semi-weekly as long as Marshall is available. We very much respect and appreciate the work that Limited Resources has done and continues to do for MTGO Academy, and for the Magic community more broadly. In no way are we trying to supplant their work with another Limited video series, but rather, we hope to supplement their Draft videos with additional content, sharing alternative Drafting perspectives that both build on and challenge the strategies and decision-making so capably offered by Limited Resources in their podcasts and video series. In this way, we hope that a new draft series will continue the tradition of thoughtful conversation among serious Magic players — which, despite its truth, all sounds a bit pretentious when you consider the fact that A.J. probably spent the majority of this draft contributing his gameplay-relevant thoughts from a seated position in his bathroom!
With all of this said, I hope you enjoy the videos.
Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format(1) When our second-round opponent cast Praetors Grasp, we should’ve recognized that Gut Shot couldn’t target our Pro:Red Vulshok Refugee, and that it was almost positively the card he took. It looks like our opponent forgot, just as we did, that Gut Shot is red.
(2) As Limited Resources shared in the beginning of their recent podcast, the competition of 4-3-2-2 3xNPH drafts is somewhat soft. Players are looking to build their collections, and they’re unfamiliar with the cards of the new set. While this means that you may fall into the trap of underestimating an opponent, it also means that you should be aware that the drafters sitting to your right and left may be more apt to take a rare for its monetary value than any other card for its strategic value.
(3) Many relevant common creatures, including Porcelain Legionnaire, Razor Swine, and Blighted Agent have a toughness of 1. Keep this in mind when evaluating removal, especially somewhat situational removal like Marrow Shards.
(4) Finally, when evaluating defensive creatures, keep in mind that a 4-toughness creature can take out a Porcelain Legionnaire (this is what makes Deceiver Exarch a viable option), but that Razor Swine can be combatted only by a 3/3 creature (such as Spire Monitor).
I think you guys have great chemistry and it is indeed entertaining and educational to watch your vids. If you can improve the audio on AJ’s side a little bit you have a great series in the making. I like your concluding thoughts on the draft and play. Any NPH/MB/SOM drafts planned?
I hope to see much more from you!
It is obvious that many players took the money rares instead of useful cards, but that still doesn’t explain the chump blocking of Death-Hood Cobra with a Splicer…
I think these matches prove what I thought; Vulshok Refugee should not go into the maindeck. If you are red enough to play it your opponents won’t be red enough to make it worth playing.
Thanks for the comment, Marc. Yes, we plan on doing NMS drafts, as well, and working on the audio situation.
And yes, Milegy, our opponents made some questionable plays this draft (not that we didn’t make up for it in, e.g., Round 2 Game 1). As for Vulshok Refugee, I think you’re right, in general. In retrospect, the low end of our curve was heavy enough that he wasn’t really doing too much and probably should’ve been replaced with the fourth Cobra. I had hoped that Pro:Red would matter more (ironically, it only did when our opponent stole our Gut Shot, and we didn’t even notice!), but, as per our ‘final thoughts’ section, there’s not a lot of room for a hard-to-cast French vanilla 3/2 creature in a format where every deck tries to run as many Porcelain Legionnaires as possible. He did his job more than once, but if competition had been tougher, I don’t think he would have.
Do you have Rock Band? Plug that mike in, it’s pretty good.
ChrisKool, is that dude who did Commander ever coming back :D? I miss him <3
great vids, many useful comments.
One questio though: p2p2 yo took Razor Swine over Invader Parasite- and never metter how much I bendmy head around this I can’t figure why. you destroy an opponent’sland and get a creature that ca trace with another of theirs (which makes m think thisalone makes the card nearly as powerful as Acidic Slime), with the awesome bonus of pinging opponent for two demage evrey time he puts a land into play. As one of your purposes is to be educational, can you explain why you picked a defensive 3 drop over a great 5 drop?
(I’m not saying this wit hostility, I just really do not understand your decision and am seeking to improve my drafting skills)
Carrotus, thanks for your question. However, we didn’t actually take a Razor Swine over the Invader Parasite, but instead took a Death’s Head Cobra. Later, the Parasite lapped, and we hate-drafted a Mortis Dogs over it. While I would be willing to reconsider my opinion of Invader Parasite, I think the reasons we didn’t take it were as follows:
(1) it’s quite slow at RR3, compared to the Cobra, and furthermore, it costs RR, which could present troubles in our deck.
(2) You liken the card to Acidic Slime, which is pretty good in base sets. If Acidic Slime were in Scars block, it would be fantastic. But would it be any good if you removed the words ‘enchantment’ and ‘artifact’ from its destroy clause? I don’t think it would be that great, even if it does trade for a guy in combat (which Parasite may not because it doesn’t actually have deathtouch, even if it does have a power of 3 rather than the Slime’s 2). Invader Parasite does have a triggered ability tied to its Imprint, but this ability is only relevant in the early game (on Turns 5 or 6), when the opponent hasn’t played all the land he needs, or if you’re exiling a splash color, which makes the triggered ability on the Parasite less likely to be relevant. Furthermore, unlike the Cobra, Parasite can’t reach to trade with fliers. In the end, it seems like a more expensive version of Vulshok Refugee, which, as Milegy suggested above, may not be worth playing in the maindeck in this format.
(3) Now, it’s possible that the Parasite is better in Scars block draft than in 3xNPH, when there aren’t so many Razor Swines and Legionnaires that wreck it in combat, but at 5cc, I want a bigger dude, or something with evasion, not something that exiles a land and may not be a relevant-enough body to trade with something. But that being said, I’d be open to trying it.
(4) As for hating the Mortis Dogs, I believe the Dogs to be a high pick and was shocked it was still in the pack. If I had been playing black, I would likely have taken the Dogs over the Parasite for my deck the first time I saw both together in a pack.
So, in conclusion, I’m not sure that Invader Parasite is comparable to Acidic Slime, especially not across Draft formats, but I would be willing to try it out in an aggressive deck playing lots of red, especially in Scars Block Draft, and especially if I lacked other good playable creatures near the top of my curve. Let me know if I didn’t address your question.
Also, Lunco, Travis (aka so many trolls, aka Book) will be making more appearances on the Academy shortly. Keep an eye out for more Commander content from him, as well as more content relating to card-art, and maybe even something blending the two.
You underrate the Invader Parasite. It hurts the opps tempo, can occasionally just autowin from the LD, can color screw them, and can do damage without attacking. Better than a Rotted Hystrix for sure.
Thats nothing compared to how you underrated Triumph of the Hordes. Triumph is easily the best card you drafted. You cast it and win. Would you play Overrun? Triumph is significantly better in limited. Yet you didnt run it? Really makes me question your ability to evaluate cards.
420gabriel – evaluating cards is not something you can do with absolute certainty. MTG is such a vast game that disagreements will obviously occur. I personally don’t like Triumph in non-infect decks (I’m speaking of pure, old-style non infectors, not about all the bizzare hybrids that NPH will breed). Yes, sure, if you’ve got a boardful of creatures when you cast it your opponent is done for, but if your alpha strike is bringing him even to 9 poison counters then the spell is not very relevent. Yes, it could force an awkward block or two on your opponent, but not much more. In the deck they drafted, I really don’t think Triumph is very good.
PlanetWalls – thanks for your response, it certainly gave me something to think about – though I’m not entirly convined that theparasite is as bad as you claim. it’s not like games where you land your five drop while you opponent is still searching for a fifth or fourth land are very rare. in such a case I’ll even play a Acidic Slime targeting a land. and in those cases, opponent has to either find a quick way to kill the parasite (probably involving removal or some sort, maing your five drop a 2 for 1, which seems good enough for me) or start taking chunks of damage, or not playing lands. To me, it seems that any card that can impact the board like this is wort spending a pic on and is certainly better than the underwhelming Hystrix.
Thanks for the videos. It’s nice to have draft vids by people who use the LR vocabulary :). Very enjoyable and my only critique would be that it’s kind of annoying (to me) the habit in R1 of switching those lands around when you’re talking. Thanks for the videos!
R1 G2 and G3 — I wonder if it’s the right call to think about siding out the plains when you’re playing an obvious infect deck. You drew a forest G2, so it didn’t matter, but how much better would it have been for that plains to be a forest in your opening hand?
R1 G3 — Turn 3 — I’m not sure it wasn’t the right call to go ahead and attack with the Cobra, before leeching bite. You’re probably taking one poison the next turn, but this way you can get through for 3 which seems good. He’s probably not going to block, but if he wants to trade one of his dudes for a counter on your cobra, then it seems like you’re probably in good shape. It’s not a blowout if he mutagenic growths because you’re still gonna 3 for 2 him. The question seems to be whether or not it’s worth getting your first poison counter for that first three points of damage. I probably would take that risk, but that’s just me.
R1 G3 — You mention EoTing the Talisman, but I’m not sure it’s actually worth this because the game is at a standstill. The clock advantage might be worth F6ing when the bluff/life gain might not be as relevant. I’m not sure about this and it’s super nitty, but it’s worth a mention.
Carrotus – I think Triumph is a little better than that, simply because if you have any sort of board presence they’re going to have to block with all their creatures which will probably kill all of them. Also, if they make it to 9 poison, the volt charge does have proliferate. Not saying its super good in non-infect, but it’s worth a little more than I think you’re giving it credit for.
Regarding the point about siding out the Plains for Round 1, I think that would’ve almost certainly been the correct move, especially seeing as there was a point in one match where I wanted Chris to pay 2 life (unnecessarily) to cast a Legionnaire in order to bluff having… something, anything! Zach, your other points are good, as well (I just watched the match, and your second point is right), as eking out even minor advantages is what wins many Limited games, especially if you aim to play conservatively, like we did for the most part. Obviously this isn’t as relevant if you’re opponent makes an error and attacks into your Cobra with a Throatseeker, etc. But regardless, your critiques are appreciated.
However, I’m not sure about everyone’s hate for Rotted Hystrix. In 3xNPH, it seems really, really hard to kill this guy (Dismember, Gremlin Mine, Volt Charge, Glissa’s Scorn, Victorious Destruction — none of them do anything to him), and he walls off against two of the more important commons in the set (Porcelain Legionnaire and Razor Swine), as well as every Splicer Golem and Hulk. Hystrix certainly wouldn’t be as good in Scars Block draft, when he’ll be facing down any number of Dinosaurs as well as little dudes with effective equipment. With all that being said, I’d certainly be up for picking an Invader Parasite in Scars Block draft. In this (3xNPH) format, though, I think I’d run Hystrix over Parasite again, if I could.
Finally, regarding the discussion about Triumph of the Hordes — This is the most interesting Overrun effect that WotC has printed in some time. I know the card is very powerful, but it also has a degree of ‘high-risk-high-reward’ going on. If our deck had contained more higher-power creatures, or just more creatures in general, I think that Triumph would’ve been a must-include that just, sometimes, happened to win the game, but sometimes did nothing or at least nothing impressive. But it’s risky. It can be a dead draw when you need to rip a defensive creature, and it can be dead if your opponent has a number of first strikers (very common in 3xNPH) on their side of the board. In the end, I would’ve liked to test it out at some point in the draft (it probably should’ve been boarded in for the Talisman in R1G3). However, as I go back and watch some of the games, I note that only rarely would we have had 10 points of power on the board available for an alpha-strike even after casting Triumph (when we weren’t already winning the game with creatures and spot removal on their own). There are certainly some instances in which it would’ve been good and won the game, but many others in which it would’ve been like drawing a Concussive Bolt in your opening hand — feels like mulliganning.
In the end, I think that in an 8-4 Scars Block draft, I’d be more apt to maindeck it. Less first strike, more evasion, more smaller-toughness guys, earlier bombs you may need to race. But also, better players, whom you might need to surprise. In the 3xNPH format, I think it’s perhaps wise, in many instances (and here I’ll defend our decision in this draft), to play more conservatively and not run it main when your deck is good. Running, e.g., instant-speed removal in lieu of the Triumph can give you a leg up against an opponent who isn’t himself making the wisest decisions. For instance, in R2G2, our opponent kept trying to equip the r/w Sword to his small guys, and seemed so hell-bent on doing so that it allowed us to kill all his dudes and attack him over and over. And again, in several of the games, we kept opening hands with no creatures or one creature. Depending on drawing more dudes, casting Triumph, and hoping he doesn’t have instant-speed removal or defenders, will work sometimes, but not frequently enough that I think it was definitively a mistake not to run it in the deck. If there are more thoughts about it, I’d love to hear them because it’s a really neat card and, I think, more difficult to evaluate than was suggested by someone above. Would you run Overrun if, instead of what it normally does, it changed your creatures’ powers to 2X+2, where X is their power prior to casting it? Yes, definitely, but what if, when you cast it, it also set your opponent’s life total to 20? Maybe, but only if I knew I would often have 20 points of power on the board.
Oh, also, if I ever notice Chris virtually flicking his cards again, I’ll punch him in the face for you. I don’t think I’d even have the guts to do that during my main phase because I’d probably click wrong and drop the wrong land.
You had some amazing rips when you needed them.
I look forward to seeing more of you two in the future with some expert artwork analysis between plays. ;D
Really good videos, you guys are interesting and I always prefer having the two commentators than just one as you get more insight and banter, especially when the one piloting f***s up *coughr2g1cough* and the other is just in shock.
I have just played in a draft and had Invader Parasite. It was okay, but nothing special. Killing the land did slow the opponents down (highlights: in the final game I killed his only mountain, and he had to wait like 10 turns to draw another one to kill me with artillerize; in another match the opponent started two games with showing a blue Chancellor, I exiled an Island, he never could play the Chancellor). On the other hand it’s ability never did more than 2 damages. It just cannot survive long enough. In the best case it was a two-for-one + some damage, which is great. But in a 3-colored deck the two red mana might be too much.
Match 2, at 22:41 I would have Glissa’s Scorn’ed the token instead of the sword, putting him to 5.
When you then attack with cobra he could chump with vault and go to 6, but i think there is about a 95% chance that he will just take it and die to volt charge.
This was really good fellas. One of the better draft videos I have seen in a very long time. The chemistry between you two is great and the plays were good all around. i would love for this to be a weekly thing.
Also post more video content! I love it when you guys have stuff on here and it feels like it’s spaced out too long sometimes.
please, if you could do more video draft, as much as you can =)
my wish for the next 3 months: 10 drafts from NMS, then as soon as M12 is released, 10 drafts of M12M12M12
lol jnco jeans. love the banter!
I can nearly guarantee I won’t have the patience to draft a core set 10 times in a row, but I’m back in town with Chris for a few weeks, and we hope to record a bunch of content together, and also such that my audio doesn’t sound like I’m talking through a surgical mask.
Thanks to everyone who commented (and extra thanks to those with words of encouragement)! I *promise* to tighten up my play for the next one of these delightful video endeavors- I guess not playing often takes its toll!
(Spoiler: A.J./PlanetWalls is the brains of the operation.)
Just in case people are interested, Steve Sadin’s article on the Mothership (http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/li/147) draws some attention to Triumph of the Hordes.
Aside from the audio issues (that you already acknowledged) this was a pretty cool draft. Thanks for the hard work guys.