I love drafting. Drafting is fun. But if one day my doctor tells me I have to eat less chocolate, drink less alcohol and cut down on my stress for the good of my health... I'll ignore him and die drafting. Maybe somewhere in the world there's a player so frosty cool that no matter what happens in a draft they are completely unfazed. But if so, one thing's for sure: that player isn't me.

The thing which frustrates me the most isn't when my opponent taps six to play and equip Loxodon Warhammer, losing me a critical game. Nor is it when I fail to draw my third land until turn six. Why not? Because experience has shown that these things are mostly chance and sooner or later I'll have my lucky breaks to make up. No, the thing that really bothers me is when the stuff I'm being passed just makes no sense and I struggle to put together a playable forty card stack, never mind something good. And the reason that it bothers me is because I know that a lot of the time reading the signals correctly and making the right choices isn't a matter of chance, it's a matter of skill. When I end up with a bad deck through what seems like horrible luck, there's always that concern in the back of my mind: is this pile of trash my fault?

Very occasionally, Wizards of the Coast treats us to a glimpse of how drafts really work. I am referring, of course, to their very fine online draft viewer. This marvelous tool allows you to sit behind a professional player as they make their picks, or follow a pack round the table seeing what everyone picked. It's a great learning experience... but unfortunately, all too often, what I end up learning is that some Constructed specialists are shockingly bad at drafting.

And anyway, I'm envious. Because what I really want is a draft viewer for my own drafts.

Enter my very own fairy godmother in the form of MTG Salvation member Shepherd. OK, he's not really my godmother. And although on the internet nobody knows you're a fairy, I rather suspect he isn't. But he is the guy who decided to take on the insanely tough task of running an eight team draft using only the poll capabilities of the site's forums. This would have been very cool, but the Limited forum moderator Gavin Verhey (Lesurgo) then stepped in to make it even cooler. He created locked sub-forums for each team and opened a bunch of real packs, sending the data on their contents to Shepherd to set up the draft.

You'll notice I'm talking about teams here. That's how we avoid one weaker player skewing the entire draft. Each seat consisted of a team of eight players voting on (and discussing) the best pick.

What's so amazing about this setup is that it substantially reduces the number of nonsensical picks. What we are left with is a draft we can really analyze heavily and attempt to learn some things much deeper than we ever could seeing through only a single player's eyes.

The difficulty I face in writing up the eight-way forum draft is this: the volume of data involved is simply enormous. So the approach I'm taking is to divide the write-up into two parts. In the first part (which you are reading right now), I'm going to walk you through my own team's draft. As you read, form your own ideas about which of our picks were right and which were wrong. But more importantly, form your own ideas about what was going on around us in the draft. Then in part two, I'll talk about what was happening in the other seats.

Besides myself, the team included FTW!, speedyartur, JD-Eclipse, Tahn, Ne0animeZ, Myrf and burek - by my estimation quite a strong team.

Ready? Let the draft begin!

Time Spiral

Academy Ruins
Tormod's Crypt
Fury Sliver
Vampiric Sliver
Tromp the Domains
Greenseeker
Momentary Blink
Ghitu Firebreathing
Sage of Epityr
Errant Doomsayers
Strength in Numbers
Empty the Warrens
Crookclaw Transmuter
Temporal Isolation
Drudge Reavers


Psionic Blast
Knight of the Holy Nimbus
Fallen Ideal
Sudden Death
Blazing Blade Askari
Watcher Sliver
Brass Gnat
Dream Stalker
Gaze of Justice
Mindstab
Gemhide Sliver
Errant Ephemeron
Strangling Soot
Orcish Cannonade


Mystic Snake
Thunder Totem
Fungal Reaches
Gustcloak Cavalier
Skulking Knight
Plunder
Watcher Sliver
Tolarian Sentinel
Deathspore Thallid
Coal Stoker
Fortify
Herd Gnarr
Gorgon Recluse



Pentarch Paladin
Calciform Pools
Harmonic Sliver
Fury Sliver
Eternity Snare
Plunder
Traitor's Clutch
Glass Asp
Blazing Blade Askari
Tolarian Sentinel
Chromatic Star
Feebleness


Candles of Leng
Consecrate Land
Fallen Ideal
Momentary Blink
Savage Thallid
Brass Gnat
Errant Doomsayers
Empty the Warrens
Crookclaw Transmuter
Drudge Reavers
Shadow Sliver


Magus of the Mirror
Consecrate Land
Fury Sliver
Paradox Haze
Blazing Blade Askari
Dream Stalker
Coral Trickster
Gaze of Justice
Mindstab
Chameleon Blur


Evangelize
Evil Eye of Orms-by-Gore
Skittering Monstrosity
Thick-Skinned Goblin
Jedit's Dragoons
Psychotic Episode
Screeching Sliver
Cyclopean Giant
Subterranean Shambler


Magus of the Candelabra
Gaea's Liege
Evil Eye of Urborg (foil)
Foriysian Interceptor
Ancient Grudge
Pentarch Ward
Cancel
Drudge Reavers


Academy Ruins
Tormod's Crypt
Fury Sliver
Greenseeker
Ghitu Firebreathing
Sage of Epityr
Drudge Reavers


Fallen Ideal
Blazing Blade Askari
Brass Gnat
Dream Stalker
Gaze of Justice
Mindstab


Fungal Reaches
Gustcloak Cavalier
Skulking Knight
Plunder
Tolarian Sentinel


Then from the last four packs we picked up:

Eternity Snare
Brass Gnat
Paradox Haze
Screeching Sliver

Planar Chaos

Chronozoa
Hedge Troll
Riftmarked Knight
Psychotrope Thallid
Healing Leaves
Seal of Primordium
Primal Plasma
Vitaspore Thallid
Shade of Trokair
Dash Hopes
Keldon Marauders
Veiling Oddity
Saltfield Recluse
Stingscourger
Uktabi Drake


Wild Pair
Hedge Troll
Muck Drubb
Timebender
Sunlance
Merfolk Thaumaturgist
Fa'adiyah Seer
Wistful Thinking
Firefright Mage
Ghost Tactician
Uktabi Drake
Aven Riftwatcher
Battering Sliver
Mire Boa


Fatal Frenzy
Reckless Wurm
Dormant Sliver
Timebender
Healing Leaves
Seal of Primordium
Primal Plasma
Reality Acid
Dust Corona
Deadly Grub
Uktabi Drake
Ridged Kusite
Poultice Sliver


Malach of the Dawn
Mantle of Leadership
Timecrafting
Seal of Primordium
Gossamer Phantasm
Sinew Sliver
Ghost Tactician
Uktabi Drake
Shade of Trokair
Veiling Oddity
Utopia Vow
Battering Sliver


Retether
Riptide Pilferer
Timecrafting
Gossamer Phantasm
Vampiric Link
Brain Gorgers
Pallid Mycoderm
Evolution Charm
Ridged Kusite
Veiling Oddity
Utopia Vow


Dichotomancy
Malach of the Dawn
Mantle of Leadership
Dormant Sliver
Simian Spirit Guide
Uktabi Drake
Pallid Mycoderm
Firefright Mage
Needlepeak Spider
Midnight Charm



A quick aside: it's good to see angelic orders besides the seraphim making an appearance in Magic, but didn't Wizards skip one? I think we can predict with some confidence that chubby, flying babies will be making an appearance in Lorwyn. (But not too nekkid. Nobody wants lawsuits, right?)

Fungal Behemoth
Tidewalker
Revered Dead
Merfolk Thaumaturgist
Aquamorph Entity
Dash Hopes
Vitaspore Thallid
Reflex Sliver
Battering Sliver


Mycologist
Aether Membrane
Brute Force
Vampiric Link
Keldon Marauders
Brain Gorgers
Ridged Kusite
Utopia Vow


Riftmarked Knight
Healing Leaves
Seal of Primordium
Vitaspore Thallid
Dash Hopes
Keldon Marauders
Veiling Oddity


Muck Drubb
Timebender
Fa'adiyah Seer
Wistful Thinking
Firefright Mage
Ghost Tactician


We then picked up the following in the tail end of Planar Chaos:

Timebender
Veiling Oddity
Ridged Kusite
Firefright Mage
Dash Hopes

Future Sight

Glittering Wish
Fleshwrither
Narcomoeba
Bound in Silence
Blind Phantasm
Lymph Sliver
Edge of Autumn
Homing Sliver
Death Rattle
Grave Peril
Knight of Sursi
Bogardan Lancer
Ichor Slick
Aven Augur
Samite Censer-Bearer


Cloud Key
Street Wraith
Second Wind
Ramosian Revivalist
Flowstone Embrace
Deepcavern Imp
Lumithread Field
Grave Scrabbler
Marshalling Cry
Llanowar Empath
Rift Elemental
Putrid Cyclops
Infiltrator il-Kor
Llanowar Augur


Storm Entity
New Benalia
Even the Odds
Edge of Autumn
Homing Sliver
Death Rattle
Sarcomite Myr
Blade of the Sixth Pride
Leaden Fists
Wrap in Vigor
Riddle of Lightning
Lost Hours
Unblinking Bleb


Haze of Rage
Soultether Golem
Flowstone Embrace
Mesmeric Sliver
Lumithread Field
Grave Scrabbler
Foresee
Quiet Disrepair
Gift of Granite
Cutthroat il-Dal
Fatal Attraction
Aven Augur


Tarmogoyf
Dust of Moments
Dakmor Salvage
Haze of Rage
Vedalken Aethermage
Virulent Sliver
Augur il-Vec
Rift Elemental
Quiet Disrepair
Gift of Granite
Cutthroat il-Dal


Sparkspitter
Keldon Megaliths
Mass of Ghouls
Virulent Sliver
Blind Phantasm
Lymph Sliver
Edge of Autumn
Wrap in Vigor
Lost Hours
Unblinking Bleb


Muraganda Petroglyphs
Storm Entity
Street Wraith
Stronghold Rats
Vedalken Aethermage
Mass of Ghouls
Fatal Attraction
Emberwilde Augur
Oblivion Crown


Cyclical Evolution
Shivan Sand-Mage
Mesmeric Sliver
Grave Scrabbler
Homing Sliver
Petrified Plating
Lost Hours
Gift of Granite


Glittering Wish
Narcomoeba
Blind Phantasm
Homing Sliver
Grave Peril
Bogardan Lancer
Samite Censer-Bearer


And for our last six we picked up:

Grave Scrabbler
Sarcomite Myr
Gift of Granite
Quiet Disrepair
Virulent Sliver
Oblivion Crown

---

Being quite low on playables, the deck mostly built itself...

8-Way Forum Draft, Team Hurloon
Creatures (15) 1 Knight of Sursi 1 Infiltrator il-Kor 1 Errant Ephemeron 1 Blade of the Sixth Pride 1 Coral Trickster 1 Aquamorph Entity 1 Riftmarked Knight 1 Timebender 1 Sarcomite Myr 1 Crookclaw Transmuter 1 Tolarian Sentinel 1 Chronozoa 2 Malach of the Dawn 1 Pentarch Paladin	Spells (7) 1 Sunlance 1 Cancel 1 Foresee 1 Edge of Autumn 2 Utopia Vow 1 Tromp the Domains Lands (18) 8 Plains 7 Island 3 Forest	Sideboard 1 Blind Phantasm 1 Dream Stalker 1 Veiling Oddity 2 Gift of Granite 1 Timebender 1 Eternity Snare 1 Screeching Sliver 1 Virulent Sliver 1 Quiet Disrepair 1 Brass Gnat

Why "Team Hurloon"? Well, the teams were naturally A-H so each was named after some Magic-related location (although why team A was "Arena" rather than "Adarkar" I have no idea).

So - how does the deck look? My general feeling was of a lot of power, but not much consistency. The mana's just horrible, but in any game where we don't get color screwed, we ought to have good chances.

Rather than leave you in suspense entirely until the second article, I'll briefly summarise the results of our matches.


Team Arena: 1-2. Strong, well balanced W/G deck. Double Riftsweeper was bad news for our deck. Double Hedge Troll plus Spectral Force also made things fairly difficult, but our deck cares less than most.
Team Benalia The one team we didn't manage to play against. They were apparently B/R, but more on their deck in part two.
Team Cabal 2-0 2-1 (two of our team played them - the better result is speedyartur's). An unusual G/B deck involving fast, flying attackers and some mid-range ground creatures backed by surprisingly little removal. Our one loss was to double Deepcavern Imp, but without the Madness cards to exploit the drawback even they weren't at their best. Avatar of Woe and Dread Return provided a theoretical threat, but it didn't quite materialize in the games I saw.
Team Dakmor 2-1 2-0 (again the better result is speedyartur's). Their deck was U/W/r, which interested me since it's quite rare for U/W to want or need to splash and here both decks did. Their mana was bad too (though not as bad as ours), but apart from that, their deck was quite different. With Knight of the Holy Nimbus, Outrider en-Kor, and Shade of Trokair backed by Shaper Parasite and Serendib Sorcerer, Dakmor were far less evasive than we were and far readier for a fast ground attack.
Team Eiganjo 2-0. A G/W/b deck with a Sliver sub-theme. Aside from a truly terrifying Sliver rush (raced by a timely Tromple) and a splashed Teneb, the Harvester the deck felt a bit slow and underpowered.
Team Fyndhorn 0-2 2-1 (speedyartur FTW!). A G/R/b deck with a great early game and a strong removal suite. In my matches, I was thoroughly owned by Prodigal Pyromancer and Sporesower Thallid.
Team Gaea 2-1. This was the team immediately to our left during the draft. They were solidly in Blue, but what really surprised me is that they were also in White! Not only that, but they too were in three colors... and their splash was Green for Mystic Snake! Some tight play by speedyartur pulled out a tough game three win after billythefridge Evangelized his Chronozoa!

Much more on the other teams' decks in part two, where I'll take a detailed look at the whole table and what determined each team's colors and prospects.

You have until then to ponder how you would have read and sent the various signals and what the decisions were which shaped the draft!