Kai Draft #16 (8-4)

After leaving Matt's apartment and getting stuck in the rain, I went to the union and fired up modo since buses wouldn't run till morning. Interesting adventures ahead.


Pack 1, Pick 1:

My Pick:


Let's be real. There was no need for a page break for suspense. I wasn't going to take Arrogant Bloodlord or Knight of Cliffhaven over the 15/15.



Pack 1, Pick 2:

My Pick:


While the Guard Duty plays better with Emerakul since it extends the game, the Gnarlid is in a better color for actually casting the guy and is a much stronger card than Guard Duty.
Pack 1, Pick 3:

My Pick:


Pretty much decided by now I'm going to be casting Emerakul this draft so none of the good white cards are interesting. Invoker is a solid body early and can put excess mana to good use.
Pack 1, Pick 4:

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Was correct in stating Guard Duty wasn't that good.
Pack 1, Pick 11:

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Pack 2, Pick 1:

My Pick:


Makes spawn. Kills almost anything. Is strong enough to justify taking over Growth Spasm.
Pack 2, Pick 2:

My Pick:


Don't want to go into red for Rapacious One. Giant is a solid body and ramps/fixes. We don't need to beat with our spawn since we'll be using them for mana most of the time.
Pack 2, Pick 3:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 4:

My Pick:


Hedron over Spasm simply because one provides more mana.
Pack 2, Pick 5:

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Can now play he who tears aeons.
Pack 2, Pick 8:

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Pack 3, Pick 1:

My Pick:


I should've taken Oust here most likely, but I wasn't sure if I would end up playing the white cards and Lord is better than Oust by a fair margin.
Pack 3, Pick 2:

My Pick:

Would love a second Hedron, but Predator is much better for curve purposes and provides a solid body to block with.
Pack 3, Pick 3:

My Pick:


Pack 3, Pick 4:

My Pick:


Much better than people give it credit for.
Pack 3, Pick 5:

My Pick:


Enables splash on Guard Duty.
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The Deck:

So the list is playing 2x Perish the Thought, Reinforced Bulwark and Spawnsire of Ulamog. The Perishes are disruption, which is important since we only have Corpsehatch and Induce Despair that can actually kill a creature. Additionally Perish gets rid of enablers like Venerated Teacher or Totem Guide Hartebeest so as to slow down the early game of opposing decks. Since we will always win the long game, that's the exact job our early plays need to do, so Bulwark fits in as well. Spawnsire is just another way to deal with opposing Eldrazi and can ramp up to Emerakul given breathing room.

Round 1: xBLOODGHASTx with U/W levelers

Game 1: He plays turn 2 Spy Patrol and I match with Prism. He levels and attacks, and I hold Induce to wait and see if he plays a bigger threat. After attacking he plays and levels a Wavewatch. I decide to Induce that instead of the Spy Patrol under the premise my plan was race with Wildheart Invoker and Snake Umbra. His 5 drop is Frostwind Invoker and I play Umbra plus Battlements on my turn. I don't draw into an answer for his evasion and die. He showed Emerge Unscathed and Domestication before the game ended.

SB: +2 Leaf Arrow +1 Naturalize -1 Cadaver Imp -1 Reinforced Bulwark -1 Spawnsire of Ulamog

Game 2: I Leaf Arrow a Champion Drake and Perish him twice, taking away his Venerated Teacher and Regress to slow him down and prevent him from Regressing my Dreamstone Hedron. He laughs at my spells and continuously taunts me. I ignore him. After I cast Induce Despair on my own Gnarlid that he stole with Domestication, he taunts me some more. I misplayed and should've not played Gnarlid since I knew about the Domestication, but it's better to just owe up to the misplay than to let the Gnarlid live and not force in 4 damage with the Invoker.

Anyways, he wasn't laughing for long.

Game 3: I closed the chat window by this point since he was very annoying. I don't know if he said anything this game.  He had no semblance of a clock until his Drake became a 4/4. By that time I'd already set up Skittering Invasion into Gigantomancer and he died.

Round 2: LandGo with W/R/G dudes

Game 1: I trump his Aura Gnarlid and Lavafume Invoker with Battlements into Predator. I play my own Gnarlid and he plays his own Predator. I Perish his Thought and take Might of the Masses leaving him with Rapacious One Raid Bombardment and Smite. He sacrifices his spawn to cast Rapacious. I Guard Duty that and play Wildheart Invoker. He topdecks Flame Slash and we trade Gnarlids and Predators. My Gigantomancer trades with two of his guys. He has Dawnglare plus Boar Umbra to be able to barely live through my Invoker pump, so I cast Skittering Invasion to set up for:

Sideboard: +1 Naturalize -1 Reinforced Bulwark

Game 2: I remain stuck on lands for a while and incorrect trade my Gnarlid for his Nest Invader after we both miss land drops. I draw a Snake Umbra soon after and regret my decision. My Hedron is Naturalized, which stops my chances of winning the game with Skittering Invasion into Emerakul.

Sideboard: +1 Leaf Arrow -1 Spawnsire of Ulamog

Game 3:

Finals: Nebula Dragon with UBW Levelers

After a somewhat lengthy discussion about splitting and QP's, which we both wanted. I finally got the concession and am one step closer to Top 50 on MODO.

Hope you enjoyed reading. Never be afraid to go all in. You might just have the time of your drafting life.