Feature Article - Mike Shentu Draft #1

Glad to be able to finally draft Scars, because M11 really was not fun at all. Let's get started.

Pack 1, Pick 1:



My Pick:


Pretty terrible pack, Arrest is by far the best card here.

Pack 1, Pick 2:

My Pick:


Nothing much here; Grasp is the best card but doesn't fit well with my 1st pick because the B/W color combination generally isn't very good.

Pack 1, Pick 3:

My Pick:


Myr Battlesphere is a sweet card but costs 7 mana, which is a little too much for this format. Arrest is more consistent.

Pack 1, Pick 4:

My Pick:


You could make a case for Myrsmith here but I'm partial to the big elephant. From my experience, Myrsmith just makes 1/1 dorks that don't do much unless you have a sac outlet.

Pack 1, Pick 5:

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Pack 1, Pick 6:

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Want to get into Metalcraft early and cut it.

Pack 1, Pick 7:

My Pick:


The key to the deck is getting plenty of cheap artifacts to turn on Metalcraft ASAP.

Pack 1, Pick 8:

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Pack 1, Pick 9:

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Blocks all day, and is an cheap artifact.

Pack 1, Pick 10:

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Pack 2, Pick 1:

My Pick:


And it's foil, too! <3

Pack 2, Pick 2:

My Pick:


Could have been Idol, but I want at least one Myr.

Pack 2, Pick 3:

My Pick:

Pack 2, Pick 4:

My Pick:


One of the key cards for Metalcraft since it costs zero. Also makes combat difficult for your opponent.

Pack 2, Pick 5:

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Pack 2, Pick 6:

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Probably should have been Sunchaser here, looks like I didn't see it.

Pack 2, Pick 7:

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Pack 2, Pick 13:

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Helpful card to have in your SB; functions similarly to Kraken Hatchling in Zendikar draft by slowing aggro decks.

Pack 2, Pick 14:

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Pack 3, Pick 1:

My Pick:


Awful pack, for me at least.

Pack 3, Pick 2:

My Pick:


Meh, kinda regret not taking Soliton earlier for the Heavy Arbalest combo.

Pack 3, Pick 3:

My Pick:


This guy beats pretty hard, and I should have him active on turn 4 most of the time.

Pack 3, Pick 4:

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Pack 3, Pick 6:

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Not a huge fan of this card, but we need at least 50% artifacts for Metalcraft.

Pack 3, Pick 7:

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Definitely going to try to force B/R Dross Hopper.dec sometime.

Pack 3, Pick 14:

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Pack 3, Pick 15:

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Forgot to take a screenshot, here is the deck:

UW Metalcraft | The Rusty Machete

13 Creatures:  
1 Auriok Replica
1 Neurok Replica
1 Perilous Myr
1 Silver Myr
1 Wall of Tanglecord
1 Glint Hawk
1 Kemba's Skyguard
2 Auriok Sunchaser
1 Ghalma's Warden
1 Lumengrid Drake
1 Sky-Eel School
1 Vedalken Certarch

11 Spells:  
1 Accorder's Shield
1 Contagion Engine
2 Flight Spellbomb
1 Origin Spellbomb
1 Rusted Relic
1 Trigon of Thought
2 Arrest
2 Bonds of Quicksilver

16 Lands:  
8 Island
8 Plains

3 Sideboard:  
1 Clone Shell
1 Plated Seastrider
1 Stoic Rebuttal

Overall, not the best Metalcraft deck I've drafted, but I do have 12 artifacts to hit Metalcraft reasonably consistently, and a sick bomb in Engine.

Only need to run 16 land because I have 3 Spellbombs and 1 Myr.

R1: docdave1974 with Mono-Green stuff
G1: He leads with Ezuri's Archers and Golem's Heart, while I lead with a Metalcrafted Rusted Relic and Ghalma's Warden. He tries to stem the beats by playing Tel-Jilad Fallen and Alpha Tyrannax, but I rip two Arrests off the top to deal with them. He then plays Engulfing Slagwurm, but at this point I am able to jump my two guys into the air with 2x Flight Spellbomb for exactsies while maintaining Metalcraft.

SB: -1 Bonds +1 Stoic Rebuttal

G2: He plays a Myr and a Carapace Forger, while I get stuck on three lands briefly and counter his Genesis Wave for four. I play some Metalcraft dudes while he answers with Tel-Jilad Fallen and Engulfing Slagwurm. I let him bash once with Slagwurm before Bonds'ing it. He plays some couple more dudes before Contagion Engine shows up and wipes his board and he concedes.

R2: Wirecat with R/W Metalcraft aggro
G1: He starts off fast with Memnite, Myrsmith, Sunspear Shikari, and 2x Snapsail Glider. He gets me down to 7 before I manage to land a Glint Hawk with Accorder's Shield to stop the beatdown. I manage to stabilize the board with Neurok Replica, Sky-Eel School, and a metalcrafted Auriok Sunchaser. He makes the mistake of bashing with his 6/6 Blade-Tribe Berserkers, and I block and bounce his Glider equipped with Accorder's Shield. The tempo loss is too much and his Glider gets Arrested when he replays it. He scoops shortly after to my fliers.

SB: -1 Trigon of Thought -1 Lumengrid Drake +1 Clone Shell +1 Plated Seastrider

G2: I mull a five-lander into a two-lander while he gets off to another fast start with 2x Shikari into Myrsmith into Memnite into Snapsail Glider. I get stuck on two lands for two turns while my Wall of Tanglecord gets Revoke'd. When I hit four lands, my Warden gets Arrested, and I die to his large army.

G3: Sure enough, he has yet another fast start with Memnite, Myrsmith, Shikari, Glider, Kemba's Skyguard, and a few Myr tokens. Fortunately, I have Perilous Myr, Wall of Tanglecord, and Ghalma's Warden to brickwall him. I draw Contagion Engine, get to six mana, and slam it. He gets in a little more damage with his now 1/1 fliers, but he saves me the trouble of proliferating by scooping the next turn.

R3: Robert Lee with B/G Poison
G1: He has the nuts curve of Blight Mamba into Cystbearer into Hand of the Praetors. I play a few blockers, but one gets Grasp of Darkness'd, he gets through with one guy, and he Untamed Might's it for the win.

G2: He plays a Plague Stinger and a pair of Contagious Nims, but I have an Auriok Replica and a Bonds to stall long enough until I hit six mana to play Contagion Engine and Plague Wind him. I get him with a couple of fliers. 

G3: I start with Silver Myr into Rusted Relic, equip with Accorder's Shield. He gets stuck on two lands for one turn and plays Cystbearer and Blackcleave Goblin. Myr trades with Goblin and Relic gets him low enough that he has to leave Cystbearer behind to block. He tries to block and Grasp of Darkness, but I sac Flight Spellbomb to turn Relic back into an artifact. I draw Trigon of Thought to turn Relic back on and he has no answer.


Quick Conversation with Gandhi (G) and Mike (M)


G: What thoughts do you have on the WU Metalcraft versus the WR Metalcraft?

M: UW Metalcraft is more of just getting as many artifacts as you can, as fast as you can, and beating down with Sunchasers, Wardens, Drakes, and Certarchs (just giving common examples).

RW is more aggressive and equipment oriented, and you want Blade-Tribe Berserkers and Galvanic Blasts.  Generally you can run Goblin Gaveleers and Sunspear Shikaris along with various equipment like Bladed Pinions and Sylvok Lifestaff.  Cheap stuff like Panic Spellbomb is useful too.

I haven't drafted this format enough to say which archetype is better, but they should be pretty close.


G:  What cards performed higher than your expectations, and what cards were weaker than what you wanted?

M:  As for MVPs, I would say that besides Contagion Engine being insane (obv), I would say that the deck performed the way it was supposed to, with Spellbombs enabling early Metalcraft to turn on guys, and removal clearing the way for beaters. When drafting, you generally want to stay away from any cards that don't have the word "artifact" or "Metalcraft" on them, like Skyguard and Eel, but they fly, so they are acceptable.

G: I've been relatively unimpressed with Trigon of Thought in limited thus far, and I personally would have gone with Moriok Replica on that pick (creature artifact vs non-creature artifact, and the CMC of Trigon is usually an issue).  Your thoughts?

M:  Moriok Replica is just Gray Ogre, which is pretty mediocre.  Trigon gives the deck at least a little reach, especially since the curve is low.


I should be doing another draft soon, so stay tuned!

-M