Limited Resources: Flashback Shards Block Draft #1

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Limited Resources

“The good face pain. But the great? They embrace it.” ― Lois McMaster Bujold, Shards of Honour




You can follow Marshall on Twitter @Marshall_LR
or check out the Limited Resources podcast at lrcast.com

 

  1. To be honest, I’m not at all sure if Bant was the charm that you were supposed to be in. There were so many good black cards flowing around. I think that Jund or Grixis would have been better choices. If you’re playing Bant, you need to commit very early and pick up all the exalted guys you can get, like Sigil Caste Sorcerer. So that is why you ended up with a mediocre deck: The draft strategy was not optimal.
    Also, I think that Jund Battlemage in P1P1 is clearly the pick. That card is bonkers. Usually, you have to pick the token makers first and then get the Bone Splinters and Fleshbag Marauders to make good use of the tokens. And if you don’t get any of those, the tokens can still chump the big Naya creatures or the huge exalted-powered ones…

  2. Interesting videos, but some sloppy play in the second round. Why attack with two attackers when he is obviously holding up resounding silence? Just asking to be blown out.

  3. This format seems miserable. With the 3-color combinations it seems like lacking playables and/or fixing is highly likely.

    Interesting video, though I hope you don’t do it again :^)

  4. Am I the only person that read “The good face pain” as a subject and then got very confused upon realization of the following period?

    I’ve heard (okay, I was watching LSV and Cheon draft, and they said) that trying to stick to GW or UW (exalted ahoy!) and then splashing or GB-based (hello Putrid Leech) 5c are good strategies- the key is getting mana support in the ALA pack and being able to take advantage of more powerful options in CON and ARB.

    ALA Block showcases one of my favorite things in Limited: mana tension. (The need to prioritize picks based on the anticipated mana situation of a deck or taking cards to improve the mana situation over medium-to-high-impact cards.) Glad to see you doing one, Marsh, even if it was a bit uncomfortable!

  5. Alara is truly a miserable set, strangely though it isn’t because of the Shards so much as the fixing. There’s so much fixing in every color that good players have little incentive to not go 5 color control. The “responsible” players going three colors tend to stall on mana while the 5 color player is going off with every bomb they could touch. This was the first block of mythics and a real watermark for power creep in creatures.

    In a match yesterday, this meant that my Jund deck lost to Karrthus taking my dragon (I had played my own bomb in Malfegor) and killing me in two swings. The opposition had done no damage to me at that point and had been by all appearances an Esper deck.

    Though Alara looks very promising from a deckbuilding perspective, creatures are just good enough that most games end before any of the cool stuff can go down. Certain mechanics are amazing, such as Cascade, while others are downright parasitic. Devour always feels better than it works out, there’s just enough bounce to really hurt it (and anyone can play bounce if they want to). Usually if you can go suicide BR or derpy Naya, you can get in there before the opponent can really get their mana straight.

    Marshall, thank you so much for mixing it up. Alara isn’t the greatest, but it is definitely different, which is always a good thing. Looking forward to Lorwyn/Shadowmoor, as those sets are some of the most fun to draft.

  8. Dat Progenitus….

    I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever actually rooted against you in one of your videos before, but in this round 2 I just couldn’t help myself. 5-color control for hard-casting the world hydra? Yes. OMG yes.

  9. Mad props for the Bujold quote. Most underrated author of the last thirty years, imho.