Dan Draft #1

Pack 1, Pick 1:




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The strong cards in this pack are Flame Slash, Boar Umbra, Momentous Fall, and Nirkana Cutthroat. Fall and Boar Umbra both require a reasonable creature to be effective, with Fall being the more swingy card. Cutthroat is a very effective level-up creature, being a threat at all stages and very hard to stop in combat in level 3. Flame Slash will always do what you want it to do: deal four damage. And it does this for one mana. I chose the consistent, flexible, splashable pick.
Pack 1, Pick 2:

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The green Sol Ring is the clear best card.
Pack 1, Pick 3:

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I like green in this format as it tends to be underdrafted and the fixing allows easy splashing. Here Predator is better than Stomper Cub because it accelerates, provides chump blockers, and is an earlier drop. Cub is just another dude, which is easily substituted.
Pack 1, Pick 4:

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Frostwind Invoker is the most powerful card in the abstract, with Thought Gorger and Null Champion both being solid creatures. I take the Spasm to enable splashing and cut off green to my neighbor.
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At the time I took Fireboar because he was a good blocker. In retrospect Mnemonic Wall was the stronger pick given 2 Spasm and the Flame Slash.
Pack 1, Pick 9:

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Possible defender subtheme.
Pack 1, Pick 13:

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Pack 2, Pick 1:

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Pack 2, Pick 2:

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With little token synergy ( just Predator, 2 Spasm, and Dread Drone) Broodwarden isn't particularly powerful right now. The removal spell is more what the deck needs than a second Crusher.
Pack 2, Pick 3:

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Black seems open with the Corpsehatch available, but I stick to the colors and ship the nuts.
Pack 2, Pick 4:

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Pack 2, Pick 5:

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Here I took Ogre Sentry perhaps a little blinded by the double Vent Sentinels. The correct pick was It that Betrays. It's very expensive, but also very good when it is cast. And as I am base green I should have no problem blocking on the ground.
Pack 2, Pick 6:

My Pick:


Boar Umbra is an exceptional card to see this late, ensuring that Green is wide open. However, currently I don't have very many ways to utilize the extra mana nor is the deck particularly aggressive. I take the Hedron to ensure late game supremacy.
Pack 2, Pick 7:

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Simple hatedraft. Auras are trouble for my Flame Slashes.
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Pack 3, Pick 1:

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Worth more than 3 drafts. And probably the best card in the set. Definitely splashing white since we have the fixing and lack strong win cons, stall tactics, and more removal. All of which Gideon provides.
Pack 3, Pick 2:

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Vendetta is the better card, but it is better to have stable mana for this deck since I've taken powerful cards already. The Wall gets the nod.
Pack 3, Pick 3:

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Pack 3, Pick 6:

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Good against fliers and just blocking in general. Faster than Lagac Lizard or Nema Siltlurker ( does that look like a hippo to anyone else? Why is it Creature - Insect?). This deck is now very much interested in just surviving the early game and using Gideon, Hedron, and Crusher to win.
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Fixing, finds Crusher, Hedron, and Prism. Quality card in this deck.
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At the end of the draft, I felt like my deck was acceptable, but unimpressive. Gideon definitely helps, so I made sure that there were enough Plains to cast it consistently. However, the rest of the deckbuilding was pretty simple. Here’s the deck I ended up playing.
1 Grotag Siege-Runner
1 Sporecap Spider
1 Prophetic Prism
1 Ogre Sentry
1 Wall of Omens
1 Smite
2 Growth Spasm
1 Battle-Rattle Shaman
2 Vent Sentinel
1 Ancient Stirrings
5 Plains
7 Mountain
1 Ulamog's Crusher
1 Dawnglare Invoker
1 Battle Rampart
6 Forest
2 Kozilek's Predator
1 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Dreamstone Hedron
1 Gideon Jura
2 Flame Slash

Sideboard
1 Dread Drone
1 Grotag Siege-Runner
1 Bloodrite Invoker
1 Sporecap Spider
1 Plains
1 Totem-Guide Hartebeest
1 Valakut Fireboar
1 Swamp
1 Living Destiny
1 Gravity Well
1 Raid Bombardment
1 Deprive
1 Spawning Breath
1 Pawn of Ulamog
1 Lagac Lizard
2 Fleeting Distraction
1 Goblin Arsonist
1 Shared Discovery
1 Halimar Wavewatch
1 Zulaport Enforcer
1 Aura Finesse
1 Not of This World

I ended up sideboarding out the Grotag Siege-Runner every game for the second Sporecap Spider. Grotag didn't fit the goal of the deck, which was to block and survive as long as possible.

R1 v albert1chu

I won the roll, and started with a Vent Sentinel on 4. My opponent cast Kozilek’s Predator on 4, and Drake Umbra on 5 and Frostwind Invoker on 6. Large fliers were one thing that my deck would have trouble dealing with. I was soon down to 8 life, and I had drawn Sporecap Spider. I chose not to Flame Slash the Invoker, because otherwise I had almost no outs to the Predator. I went to 2 on the attack, and my opponent played Jadda Lifestrider. I drew a second Flame Slash, and used them to kill the Drake Umbra. I was still dead to the Invoker, but he did not activate it…instead casting a Cub and Mul Daya Channelers. Justice meant that I drew the Gideon next turn, and +2’ed it. Again, he could’ve jumped his team to kill the Gideon, but he didn’t, and lost most of his team. Gideon -2’ed the Frostwind Invoker, and I eventually cast Crusher. My opponent sent his whole team in, but didn’t understand that Vendetta did not give a blocked creature trample. He died in two turns after I played around Haze Frog

Game 2, I started Treespeaker into Flame slash your Aura Gnarlid. My hand had a couple walls, but I was going to have trouble dealing with an Umbra’ed Gnarlid. The game went on for a few turns, and he eventually Drake Umbra’ed a 3/3 again. However, Gideon -2’ed it the next turn and the rest of the game was pretty simple. I had some walls, he had to attack into them, his guys died. Rinse and repeat.

Round 2 v nickt087

Game 1
I mulled to 6, and had a pretty slow hand. He played Transcendent Master on 3. He chose not to immediately max out the Master, instead playing World at War, to put me to 4. He gave me the chance to draw a couple outs, but I didn’t get there, and after a few turns of Abyss’ing me, I eventually died to Staggershock

Game 2
Line of play
Turn1: Treespeaker
Turn2: Level up, Prophetic Prism
Turn3: Gideon
Game ended soon after that.
I did have to -2 to kill my own creature with Lust for War on it. However, Gideon eventually ate his whole team.

Game 3

I again had Gideon early, but he kept playing Brimstone Mages, and punting with them. There was one turn where Gideon was at 5, and he had Brimstone Mage with 1 counter on it. He leveled the Brimstone to 3, but then used it to kill a 3/3. I -2’ed Gideon, killed it, and he died to a 6/6 soon after. If he had just 3’ed the Gideon instead, I would have to destroy Gideon to kill it.
Split the finals to pick up the QP. Opponent in the finals had the fast UW Level up deck.