[AoM June] A New Kind of Draft Walkthrough

By Dom Camus on June 7th, 2005 | Filed in General Magic | 19 Comments

[AoM June] A New Kind of Draft Walkthrough



Aah, drafting Magic, there's nothing quite like it. Eight players sizing each other up with narrowed eyes across the heat haze rising from the table. Three boosters each, no more, no less. Card evaluation, deckbuilding and playing skill all pushed to the limits. The smack of leather on willow (no, that isn't a Buffy reference). It really is my favourite pastime.

What is Booster Draft?
Booster draft is a Magic format in which players build decks by opening new booster packs and taking turns to select cards from them. Eight players sit in a circle and each player opens one booster. Each takes one card, then passes the rest of the pack one seat to the left. This is repeated until all the cards have been taken. The process is repeated with a second set of boosters, but this time passing to the right. Finally a third set of booster packs is opened and again cards are passed left. At the end of each process each player has a card pool of the 45 cards they have drafted plus as much basic land as they choose with which to build a 40 card deck.

If you've read many Internet Magic sites you'll be familiar with the concept of a draft walkthrough. The idea is simple enough: the writer of the article talks you through his pick from each pack and if you're really lucky says a word or two about the games. It can make for interesting reading, if only because you almost certainly disagree with whoever the writer is and you end up wondering how on earth they manage to first pick an Orochi Sustainer and still win PTQs, drive a Ferrari, and get all the hot chicks.

But this is MTGSalvation (epic-sounding orchestral music fades in)! We're not content to merely provide a draft walkthrough. Ladies and gentlemen, I proudly present the world's first interactive draft walkthrough. Well OK, slightly interactive. And it may not be the first, I honestly don't know. I'm also not 100% sure there are ladies in the audience, that might just have been Meloku I caught sight of on the way in.

My secret tech for today is the spoiler tag. This is how it's going to work:

1) I show you the cards from a pack.
2) You think about the choice of card. Don't just note the card you'd pick - you should also note the other cards you think are viable picks, what signals you think you're sending and that kind of thing.
3) Then click on the spoiler button and gaze in awe at the brilliance of my own observations and choices. Or maybe disagree violently and rush to the forums to flame me for my crass stupidity.


Joking apart, additions and corrections to my view of things are very welcome. I'm looking to improve my draft game as well and that's hard to do without new perspectives. So... let's go!

The draft in question is a Magic Online 4-3-2-2 draft. What does that mean? It means it's a single elimination 8-man booster draft with a very flat prize payout. 2 packs for winning even a single round means that 4-3-2-2 drafts attract weaker players (by which I mean average rating a little below 1700 instead of 1850, not genuinely weak players). You might think this makes them easier - and it does in most ways - but it also adds a great deal of complexity since weak players screw up in such exciting and different ways.

One last point before we start. You might ask "Why talk about CCB draft now that Saviours is out?" Simple - it's a format people know. CBS will be unknown territory for some time and this is not an article about pick orders.

Here's the first pack:

Pack 1 Pick 1
C Venerable Kumo
C Gibbering Kami
C Kami of the Painted Road
C Akki Avalanchers
C Hisoka's Defiance
C Sakura Tribe Elder
C Ashen-Skin Zubera
C Quiet Purity
C Brutal Deceiver
C Consuming Vortex
C Order of the Sacred Bell
U Pinecrest Ridge
U Bushi Tenderfoot
U Kami of Lunacy
R Kitsune Mystic

Spoiler:

What a terrible pack. I knew this would happen of course. I carefully record a draft and then end up with an awful deck and get knocked out in the first round. Just my luck.

Kitsune Mystic is cute, but useless, so out it goes. Kami of Lunacy is too vulnerable and the Tenderfoot never flips, so they're out. I don't know my colors, so I'm not picking the land. Therefore I'm taking a Common from this pack.

Gibbering Kami, Order of the Sacred Bell, Brutal Deceiver and Ashen-Skin Zubera, Sakura Tribe Elder and Consuming Vortex are all quite playable. Of these, the Elder is the best card but there is one good reason not to pick it: Green is not powerful in CCB draft, so you don't want to be in Green if you have a choice.

Of the remaining cards, I am particularly drawn to Consuming Vortex. This is because it is the only decent Blue card, which helps with the signal we send. It's always good to signal early if you can (look at the help box over on the side if you haven't heard of signalling before).

My pick: Consuming Vortex
What is "signalling"?
Although talking during a draft is not permitted there is a way you can communicate quite legitimately, albeit in a very restricted way. This is via the cards which you leave in each booster after your choice. For example, if you take the last White card from a booster, the player you pass it to might guess you are drafting White. This gives them a chance to avoid drafting the same color themselves.
Pack 1 Pick 2
C Kami of the Waning Moon
C Call to Glory
C Lava Spike
C Floating-Dream Zubera
C Kashi Tribe Warriors
C Cursed Ronin
C Unnatural Speed
C Kami of Twisted Reflection
C Wear Away
C Kodama's Reach
C Rend Spirit
U (card taken)
U Nine-Ringed Bo
U Squelch
R Reweave

Spoiler:

Not pretty, is it? Looking at the Blue first we see Floating-Dream Zubera and Kami of Twisted Reflection. Definitely not second pick material in either case. Had we taken the Elder from the previous pack we'd happily take the Kodama's Reach here, but as it is that idea is a lot less appealing. To start with, who wants to be U/G? Second, we've just passed an Elder, which will have hinted that we don't want Green.

Given that Blue has no removal, we really want our second color to be Black or Red given a choice. Rend Spirit is a fine piece of removal and also easy enough to splash here. Cursed Ronin is certainly a strong card, but isn't exciting at all unless we're heavy black (and we aren't - at least not yet). Kami of the Waning Moon is also good to have in a U/B deck.

Nine-Ringed Bo is a controversial card, but certainly is at least playable. It also has the great advantage in our present situation of not requiring color commitment.

In the end my decision is made for me by the three black cards. The player to my right should realise they have sent a clear Black signal. I opt for the removal both to minimise by color commitment and to discourage the player to my left from taking a Black card from this pack.

My pick: Rend Spirit
Pack 1 Pick 3
C Hearth Kami
C Reach Through Mists
C Serpent Skin
C Vicious Ogre
C Kitsune Diviner
C Jukai Messenger
C Midnight Covenant
C Ethereal Haze
C Pull Under
C Kami of Ancient Law
C (card taken)
U Cloudcrest Lake
U Numai Outcast
U Soilshaper
R (card taken)

Spoiler:

This one's tricky. At least that's my excuse, since I probably got it wrong.

What threw me was that again there's nothing in Blue, so I start to think about moving away from my first pick and looking for other colors. There's a rare and a common missing from this pack. The rare tells me very little, but the common might provide clues.

Also, I note that it's possible Reach Through Mists will make it round the table.

What I'm doing here is making the classic mistake of overthinking the pick. Either Pull Under or Vicious Ogre would be fine for my deck. Sure, the former is pricey and the latter is a bit janky but they're both playables in my colors.

Instead, I note that the missing common is almost certainly not White and decide to interpret Kami of Ancient Law as a signal that White is open to my right (which is debateable anyway). Oops.

My pick: Kami of Ancient Law
Pack 1 Pick 4
C Brutal Deceiver
C Reach Through Mists
C Kami of the Hunt
C Gibbering Kami
C Soul of Magma
C Pious Kitsune
C Lifted by Clouds
C Kitsune Riftwalker
C Frostwielder
C (card taken)
C (card taken)
U Tranquil Garden
U Initiate of Blood
U (card taken)
R Akki Lavarunner

Spoiler:

This pack confused me. Having seen no Red to speak of until now there are three playable Red cards in this pack. Still, none of them are great so it's far from impossible. It also makes our pick easier, since we have no interest in Red.

I note with mild concern the presence of Kami of the Hunt, hinting that Green might have been a good plan after all. Ah well.

Reach Through Mists always goes late and Kitsune Riftwalker is both fragile and overcosted. Gibbering Kami is therefore the clear pick.

My pick: Gibbering Kami
Pack 1 Pick 5
C Harsh Deceiver
C Unearthly Blizzard
C River Kaijin
C Commune with Nature
C Kitsune Healer
C Jukai Messenger
C Deathcurse Ogre
C Silent-Chant Zubera
C (card taken)
C (card taken)
C (card taken)
U Student of Elements
U Rootrunner
U Hinder
R (card taken)

Spoiler:

Oh good grief! Just as I get used to the idea that Blue is not for me it reappears.

The Rootrunner is a very bad sign here. It says "Green!" quite loudly. I should possibly have left my lone Consuming Vortex behind and made a late switch into Green on the basis that there weren't many Green drafters to my right. I thought about it until my timer started beeping, then settled for the River Kaijin on the basis that I should get really good Blue in pack 2 (due to the very strong signals sent).

My pick: River Kaijin
Pack 1 Pick 6
C Hundred-Talon Kami
C Uncontrollable Anger
C Thoughtbind
C Burr Grafter
C Ember-Fist Zubera
C Lifted by Clouds
C Dripping-Tongue Zubera
C Kodama's Might
C (card taken)
C (card taken)
C (card taken)
U Strength of Cedars
U Honor-Worn Shaku
U (card taken)
R (card taken)

Spoiler:

Oh. My. God. A long debate could be had on the subject of whether someone must have screwed up in order for a Strength of Cedars to still be in a pack at fourth pick. This is sixth pick, so I can say without a shadow of a doubt that someone screwed up.

Also, I'd hazard a guess that Green is open to my right. I try hard not to think about how good my deck would be right now if I'd gone with Green from pick 1. Oh look, there's a Kodama's Might in this pack too. I managed not to cry.

My pick: Thoughtbind... No, wait, Strength of Cedars.
Pack 1 Pick 7
C Lava Spike
C Eye of Nowhere
C Orochi Ranger
C Call to Glory
C Devouring Rage
C Vigilance
C Desperate Ritual
C Wandering Ones
C Graceful Adept

Spoiler:

OK, so I now have some Blue, some Black, a Green card and a White card. This sounds bad, but really it's worse. Why? Because I'm expecting good Blue in pack 2 and good Green in pack 3, so I'm heading for U/G - the worst draft colors of all!

Only Orochi Ranger and Eye of Nowhere are playable here. I'm thinking that pretty much my only chance for a good deck is to develop some kind of splice theme, so I go for the Eye.

My pick: Eye of Nowhere


Pack 1 Pick 8
C Orochi Sustainer
C Distress
C Soul of Magma
C Hisoka's Defiance
C Peer Through Depths (bad!)
C Dripping Tongue Zubera
C Deathcurse Ogre
U Reito Lantern

Spoiler:

The correct pick here is Dripping-Tongue Zubera. This is a fine card for U/G since it holds the ground well while your flyers do all the hard work. Not that I actually picked it, of course.

Orochi Sustainer provides a fine source of mana acceleration. Not as good as Elder by a long way, but still a worthwhile card.

Peer Through Depths may be Arcane and on-color, but clearly isn't much good. To be honest I was still thinking about that whole Strength of Cedars thing and was checking the ratings of the players to my right. You can do that mid-draft online... which is a really good way to distract yourself.

My pick: Peer Through Depths
Pack 1 Pick 9
C Venerable Kumo
C Kami of the Painted Road
C Akki Avalanchers
C Hisoka's Defiance
C Quiet Purity
U Pinecrest Ridge
U Bushi Tenderfoot

Spoiler:

I always much prefer to pick a solid sideboard card over a weak maindeck card. Consequently, I'm not at all interested in the Kumo here.

My pick: Hisoka's Defiance
Pack 1 Pick 10
C Lava Spike
C Kashi Tribe Warriors
C Unnatural Speed
C Kami of Twisted Reflection
C Wear Away
U Squelch

Spoiler:

Ooh, a playable in my colors!

My pick: Kami of Twisted Reflection
Pack 1 Pick 11
C Reach Through Mists
C Serpent Skin
C Jukai Messenger
U Cloudcrest Lake
U Numai Outcast

Spoiler:

As I suspected, the card I wanted is still here.

My pick: Reach Through Mists
Pack 1 Pick 12
C Reach Through Mists
C Pious Kitsune
C Lifted by Clouds
U Tranquil Garden

Spoiler:

...and the other one.

The important thing to notice here is the different factors involved in my decision to stick with Blue. You don't have to see first-pick cards in a color for it to look promising, you just need clues that it's sufficiently open. The two Reach Through Mists tabling successfully suggests we've chosen our color well.

My pick: Reach Through Mists
Pack 1 Pick 13
C Commune with Nature
C Deathcurse Ogre
U Student of Elements

Spoiler:

One nice thing about Green: you still see playables late.

My pick:Commune With Nature
Pack 1 Pick 14
C Thoughtbind
C Lifted by Clouds

Spoiler:

My pick: Lifted by Clouds
Pack 1 Pick 15
C Wandering Ones

Spoiler:

My pick: Rorix Bladewing


Time for the second set of packs...

Pack 2 Pick 1
C Venerable Kumo
C Cruel Deceiver
C Kitsune Healer
C Yamabushi's Storm
C Sift Through Sands
C Kashi Tribe Warriors
C Midnight Covenant
C Terashi's Cry
C Unnatural Speed
C Mystic Restraints
C Feral Deceiver
U Hana Kami
U No Dachi
U Candle's Glow
R Dosan the Falling Leaf

Spoiler:

OK, so by this point unless we see a seriously broken bomb we're in some combination of Blue, Green and Black. This pick is therefore between Cruel Deceiver, Feral deceiver, Mystic Restraints, Hana Kami and No Dachi.

I rule out the Cruel Deceiver quickly. No Dachi is good in some decks, but really doesn't help much with the sort of thing I'm building. I'm expecting to fly over for the win and gum up the ground with big stuff. I shouldn't need a sword to win combats. Mystic Restraints is a card I personally dislike. It's removal of a sort, but I object to paying 4 mana for the kind of unreliable solution it offers.

So that leaves the two Green cards. On the one hand I'm short of solid creatures, but on the other hand the Hana Kami could work well with my deck - I already have three definite maindeck Arcane spells and am hoping for several more. Also, a simple rule applies here: if in doubt take the card with the lower mana cost.

My pick: Hana Kami
Pack 2 Pick 2
C Floating-Dream Zubera
C Vine Kami
C Waking Nightmare
C Devoted Retainer
C Devouring Rage
C Callous Deceiver
C Psychic Puppetry
C Joyous Respite
C Ashen-Skin Zubera
C Frostwielder
C Teller of Tales
U Cleanfall
U Sideswipe
U Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro
R (card taken)

Spoiler:

If you think back to pick 1, pack 1, you may recall disagreeing with my pick of Consuming Vortex. Here's where I collect on my investment. I'm a bit happier now.

My pick: Teller of Tales
Pack 2 Pick 3
C Kitsune Diviner
C Sokenzan Bruiser
C Counsel of the Soratami
C Kami of the Hunt
C Scuttling Death
C Blessed Breath
C Orochi Leafcaller
C Ragged Veins
C Terashi's Cry
C Nezumi Cutthroat
C (card taken)
U Kami of Old Stone
U Dampen Thought
U Orochi Eggwatcher
R (card taken)

Spoiler:

There's a common missing from this pack and that's good news for us. Why? Because with Nezumi Cutthroat still in the pack, the common was very likely Kabuto Moth or Glacial Ray. Both are outside our colors, so it's looking good for our deck.

This is a critical point in the draft, though. Right now, we're not fully committed to a plan. But here in this pack we see two strong Black cards. We must decide now: are we in Black?

Remembering the insane Green in pack 1 I make the hard choice. I am not in Black. U/G, that most awful of color mixes, shall be mine.

My pick: Kami of the Hunt
Pack 2 Pick 4
C Cursed Ronin
C Harsh Deceiver
C Stone Rain
C Sift Through Sands
C Vine Kami
C Cruel Deceiver
C Ember-Fist Zubera
C Lifted by Clouds
C Dripping-Tongue Zubera
C (card taken)
C (card taken)
U Hankyu
U Orbweaver Kumo
U (card taken)
R Journeyer's Kite

Spoiler:

Ouch. What an awful pack.

With no bombs in the pack, we're looking only at our colors now. Of course, we could still run the Kite or Hankyu if we wanted to. Both deserve a couple of words. First the kite: it's very, very slow. If you have a deck that both needs mana fixing and is really good on defence then it might be playable (if weak). Personally, I almost always prefer to add a land. Remember, if you want it to do more than a land does you'll need to invest at least 8 mana! Hankyu is a bit better. You again need a very defensive deck and it's only worth it in colors that lack removal. My colors do lack removal, but I shouldn't be short on finishers. Besides, I'm not a fan of the card at all.

Orbweaver Kumo I consider painfully overcosted. Dripping-Tongue Zubera I actually quite like, though. It's two chump blockers and can be soulshifted back to act as two more chump blockers. I wouldn't normally pick it this high, but there's nothing good for me in this pack.

My pick: Dripping-Tongue Zubera
Pack 2 Pick 5
C Sokenzan Bruiser
C Hisoka's Guard
C Serpent Skin
C Nezumi Ronin
C Akki Rockspeaker
C Psychic Puppetry
C Orochi Leafcaller
C Kodama's Reach
C (card taken)
C (card taken)
C (card taken)
U Aura of Dominion
U Blood Speaker
U (card taken)
R Shinka the Bloodsoaked Keep

Spoiler:

Green from my left?! Well... I'm not complaining!

My pick: Kodama's Reach
Pack 2 Pick 6
C Unearthly Blizzard
C Callous Deceiver
C Commune with Nature
C Devoted Retainer
C Yamabushi's Storm
C Ethereal Haze
C Akki Rockspeaker
C Hisoka's Guard
U Strange Inversion
U Honden of Life's Web

Spoiler:

Up until this point I was still a bit nervous of my decision to go into Green. This is because I am a fool. Clearly there is only one other Green drafter at the table... at most!

My pick: Honden of Life's Web
Pack 2 Pick 7
C Thoughtbind
C Wicked Akuba
C Indomitable Will
C Hisoka's Guard
C Wandering Ones
C Wear Away
C Ragged Veins
C Soratami Rainshaper
U Struggle for Sanity

Spoiler:

Again only one viable card in my colors. Actually, these shouldn't go so late despite clear signalling. With Indomitable Will also left in this pack I suspect it may have started off unusually strong!

My pick: Soratami Rainshaper
Pack 2 Pick 8
C Burr Grafter
C Indomitable Will
C Uncontrollable Anger
C Soratami Cloudskater
C Humble Budoka
C Silent-Chant Zubera
U Ore Gorger
R The Unspeakable

Spoiler:

This is a really interesting pick, so I want to talk about this one quite a bit. There are four cards in contention, so we'll look at them one at a time.

The Unspeakable: Big, very powerful, but insanely expensive to cast. Never draft a card like this. I don't care how much mana you think your deck might generate. If you're reliably hitting 9 mana you should consider rebuilding your deck.

Soratami Cloudskater: Fragile and a bit slow as a threat, but good with ninja and with a very useful late game ability.

Humble Budoka: A very respectable beatdown option in the early game. The ability is both a bonus and a drawback, making the Budoka quite defensive in the mid and late games.

Burr Grafter: Frequently underrated, this in one of the central pillars of a good soulshift deck. We don't have many good 3-mana soulshift targets at the moment, but it's still very playable.

I rule out the Budoka without too much thought since I don't plan to rely on my early game today. The other two give me more trouble, but I eventually settle for the Cloudskater on the basis that I'm not yet confident of my deck's win conditions but I am expecting ground stalls.

My pick: Soratami Cloudskater
Pack 2 Pick 9
C Yamabushi's Storm
C Sift Through Sands
C Kashi Tribe Warriors
C Midnight Covenant
C Terashi's Cry
C Unnatural Speed
R Dosan the Falling Leaf

Spoiler:

A quick note on raredrafting (the practice of picking a card because you want to own it, not because it will help you win the draft). Normally, raredrafting is a terrible plan and you should never do it. That said, this kind of pack is the one time that it's a good idea. Neither Sift Through Sands nor Dosan are likely to make my main deck, so I might as well pick the one that will sell for more. Then I'll look around guiltily to see if anyone noticed my secret capitalist streak. Erm... I picked it for the card art. Really.

My pick: Dosan, the One Dollar Bill
Pack 2 Pick 10
C Vine Kami
C Callous Deceiver
C Psychic Puppetry
C Joyous Respite
U Cleanfall
U Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro

Spoiler:

Sachi shouldn't still be in the pack this late. But then we've already noted there are few Green drafters at this table, so we'll just consider it our reward for switching into Green.

My pick: Lisa, Daughter of Homer
Pack 2 Pick 11
C Counsel of the Soratami
C Orochi Leafcaller
C Ragged Veins
C Terashi's Cry
U Dampen Thought

Spoiler:


Meg Ryan thinks damp thoughts.
(from the movie "When Harry Met Sally")
This pick's going to require a bit of explaining. There's a really weird type of deck which used to be possible to draft in triple-Champions. This involved Dampen Thought, loads of copies of Ethereal Haze and any other splice cards you could lay your hands on. It worked by stalling massively and then decking the opponent! That deck became much weaker with the introduction of Betrayers, but it can still work on occasion.

Now I haven't been drafting that deck, but that isn't the point. The way to stop the deck is to watch out for late copies of Dampen Thought, Eerie Procession and Ethereal Haze and draft them if you have nothing better to do just to keep them out of the hands of the player who needs them.

Odds are 100:1 that someone's actually drafting that deck at this table. However, I'm pretty sure I don't want to run Counsel of the Soratami (which I hate anyway, even though I recognise it's sometimes playable).

My pick: Dampen Thought


Pack 2 Pick 12
C Harsh Deceiver
C Stone Rain
C Vine Kami
C Lifted by Clouds

Spoiler:

The two cards in my colors are too awful to contemplate. I pick the Deceiver on the basis that I might side it in against a sufficiently fast aggressive deck. But probably not.

My pick: Harsh Deceiver




Between packs again, it's time to take stock. We've got the basics of a U/G deck now. The main problems we have are a shortage of solid creatures and a shortage of 4-drops.

Pack 3 Pick 1
C Shinka Gatekeeper
C Shimmering Glasskite
C Child of Thorns
C Okiba-Gang Shinobi
C Kami of the Tattered Shoji
C Frostling
C Stir the Grave
C Mending Hands
C Ire of Kaminari
C Phantom Wings
C Petalmane Baku
U Callow Jushi
U Budoka Pupil
U Overblaze
R Hokori, the Dust Drinker

Spoiler:

With this kind of pack I never know whether to be happy or sad. Callow Jushi and Budoka Pupil are two of the very best cards for my deck. I also very much like the idea of Shimmering Glasskite. Unfortunately, I can't have all three.

Jushi or Budoka is a question I'd find difficult to answer in terms of power level, but that isn't the right way to look at it. With no removal in my colors, I'm really short of ways to disrupt the opponent's plans. Consequently, the Jushi is a much better choice for my deck than the Budoka.

My pick: Callow Jushi
Pack 3 Pick 2
C Roar of Jukai
C Okiba-Gang Shinobi
C Split-Tail Miko
C Blademane Baku
C Mistblade Shinobi
C Gnarled Mass
C Blessing of Leeches
C Heart of Light
C Akki Blizzard Herder
C Veil of Secrecy
C Vital Surge
U Ward of Piety
U Nezumi Shadow Watcher
U (card taken)
R Neko-Te

Spoiler:

Not much in our colors here. Neko-Te is a card I've not played with before and looks like it could be interesting... But remember we're short on creatures. There may only be one card we want in the pack, but that's fine since we only have one pick anyway.

My pick: Gnarled Mass
Pack 3 Pick 3
C Skullmane Baku
C Hundred Talon Strike
C Goblin Cohort
C Shimmering Glasskite
C Sakura-Tribe Springcaller
C Silverstorm Samurai
C Kumano's Blessing
C Toils of Night and Day
C Matsu Tribe Sniper
C (card taken)
C (card taken)
U Lifespinner
U Stream of Consciousness
U Shuko
R In the Web of War

Spoiler:

Although we don't have a good use for Lifespinner's ability in this deck, it's still quite playable. However, the Shimmering Glasskite is a much better fit with our plans so I'm happy to grab it.

My pick: Shimmering Glasskite
Pack 3 Pick 4
C Psychic Spear
C Goblin Cohort
C Teardrop Kami
C Harbinger of Spring
C Bile Urchin
C Mending Hands
C First Volley
C Takeno's Cavalry
C Uproot
U Minamo Sightbender
U Ward of Piety
R Sakiko, Mother of Summer

Spoiler:

Very tough pick. In raw power terms the Minamo Sightbender seems like the way to go. I came very close to picking it, but then paused. A card like Sightbender doesn't create stalls, it breaks them. That isn't my plan at all.

Decks need focus. I settle on the less powerful but probably wiser option of improving my early game and adding fuel for the Teller of Tales.

My pick: Teardrop Kami
Pack 3 Pick 5
C Kami of False Hope
C Quillmane Baku
C Roar of Jukai
C Split-Tail Miko
C Bile Urchin
C Heart of Light
C Crack the Earth
C Minamo's Meddling
C Traproot Kami
U Kitsune Palliator
U Body of Jukai

Spoiler:

Here's where I run into the problem of my own ignorance (cue cries of "What, not until here?!" from the back of the audience). I actually don't know how good Traproot Kami will be in my deck. Having a slight shortage of combat tricks anyway I chicken out and go for the Roar instead.

My pick: Roar of Jukai
Pack 3 Pick 6
C Kami of False Hope
C Quillmane Baku
C Scaled Hulk
C Call for Blood
C Takeno's Cavalry
C Kumano's Blessing
C Veil of Secrecy
C Matsu Tribe Sniper
U Walker of Secret Ways
U Three Tragedies

Spoiler:

This really irritates me. I'd love a MatsuTribe Sniper. So why does it have to turn up in the same pack as the Scaled Hulk I also want? Why couldn't one of them have been in the previous pack, eh?

The Hulk is more important for me here, since I have nothing above 5 on my mana curve at the moment and need some heavy hitters for the late game.

My pick: Scaled Hulk
Pack 3 Pick 7
C Floodbringer


They're not first pick quality, because they
don't really exist.

Once on one of my school reports one of my teachers wrote "Dominic is not nearly so clever as he thinks he is." Being something of a troublemaker at the time, I annotated this with the witty comeback "How clever do you think I think I am?". Only now, years later, does it become apparent how right she was. You see, when recording a draft like this, there is the question of how to actually get all the pack information down. The established method used by most writers is to use the "Print Screen" function of Windows, or some piece of software that does broadly the same thing. I thought I had a much better plan: just take a shot of each draft pack with my digital camera.

On the plus side, this was indeed much faster and easier than using screen grabs. On this minus side, I discovered after the draft that I had treated myself to a forty-five round game of "Guess the blurry card art". Reading the text was right out. Oops.

This particular pack was in a league of its own. It was so blurry that instead of using it to work out which cards were in the pack I just emailed it to Fortean Times, claiming it was a photo of a yeti.

I know there was a Floodbringer in it, though. That's because it ended up in my deck.

Floodbringers are underrated in general. Set them off in your opponent's upkeep to manascrew or colorscrew them in a really annoying way! Also, they fly. Did I mention I love flyers?

Spoiler:

My pick: Blurry Yeti
Pack 3 Pick 8
C Shinka Gatekeeper
C Scaled Hulk
C Crawling Filth
C Terashi's Grasp
C Akki Blizzard Herder
C Minamo's Meddling
C Uproot
U Mark of Sakiko

Spoiler:

See earlier comments about the lack of Green drafters. I am now very happy.

My pick: Scaled Hulk
Pack 3 Pick 9
C Shinka Gatekeeper
C Child of Thorns
C Mending Hands
C Ire of Kaminari
C Phantom Wings
C Petalmane Baku
U Overblaze

Spoiler:

Petalmane Baku makes me very sad when I have to run it. Fortunately, I don't need mana fixing since I have plenty already for my probably 2 color deck. Besides, as I implied earlier the Child of Thorns works nicely for keeping the ground stalled.

My pick: Child of Thorns
Pack 3 Pick 10
C Roar of Jukai
C Blessing of Leeches
C Akki Blizard Herder
C Veil of Secrecy
C Vital Surge
U Ward of Piety

Spoiler:

A second Roar, the Veil or a bad splice card?

I don't think the Veil's good in my deck. I have nothing I particularly need to push through. One Roar is enough for anyone. Surge is bad, certainly, but with two Reach Through Mists I might well be able to splice it. My late game looks solid, so it's a possible sideboard card.
My pick: Vital Surge
Pack 3 Pick 11
C Skullmane Baku
C Sakura-Tribe Springcaller
C Kumano's Blessing
C Toils of Night and Day
U Stream of Consciousness

Spoiler:

Ooh, that's a nice surprise!

My pick: Sakura-Tribe Springcaller
The dregs of a Betrayers pack are a truly pitiful sight. I mean really, what is Kumano's Blessing for, eh?



Deckbuilding

Next step is to build the deck. In case you want to try this for yourself, I've put the decklist inside another spoiler tag.

Spoiler:

I want to have plenty of mana since the deck seems like it will be fairly mana hungry. With a Kodama's Reach available I think I'll want 17 lands. Sorting out my good cards I find myself with exactly one more than I need. There are two cards I'm not too sure about: Roar of Jukai and Teardrop Kami. My deck is rather lacking in combat tricks, so I decide to drop the little Kami. That leaves my deck looking like this:


Like Sir Richard, we plan to fly
over for the win.
CCB Draft - U/G  
1 Child of Thorns
1 Hana Kami
2 Reach Through Mists
1 Floodbringer
1 Soratami Cloudskater
1 Dripping-Tongue Zubera
1 Consuming Vortex
1 Callow Jushi
1 Gnarled Mass
1 Soratami Rainshaper
1 Roar of Jukai
1 Kami of the Hunt
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Kami of Twisted Reflection
1 River Kaijin
1 Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro
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