Disposable Hero

So I applied to be a drafter on http://www.draftmagic.com/ a couple of months ago when I was winning many of the GTC drafts I entered.  I felt good enough at limited (my best strength as a magic player I think) to throw my name in the hat and see where it goes.  My goal when I started streaming was to eventually start taking it to the next level and it become a huge hobby/part time job in my life.  Not that I care about getting paid, per se, but freerolling drafts and getting into the media aspect of Magic is appealing to me.  I got an email back from the editor of the site and he wants to check out my stream and some videos.  I'm sure he'll be checking out plenty of people, but I'm glad I took the chance and applied.  I feel like it's too early for me to really start getting into something like this, but the opportunity was there, and I'm pretty excited.  The site itself is pretty solid, though nothing on the level of the 'major' magic sites.  If any of you check out MTGO Academy, I think it's about on that level as far as content goes.  Of course Simon Goertzen and Marshall pull much more weight in the pro community, but the content they provide is nowhere close to what you find on the other sites.  Wish me luck guys, and check out the stream next week, I'll be sure to post.

I've been drafting this set since it hit the electronic shelves of MTGO. Up to close to 10 drafts under my belt. It's been an interesting format so far, but I have not had the success I had during GTC. I wanted to share a few things I've noticed so far in this young format for those who enjoy drafting. I'm interested in to hear experiences you guys may have had also.

1. Building a deck is much harder with all the guilds available because of the complexity of the format in general. There are tons of interactions between cards across all three sets, and I think it's just gonna take some time to make sure I'm accounting for all interactions when making a decision on a pick. Many cards that were borderline terrible, average, or just 'good' have had their status elevated by being available with all three sets.  Some that come to mind are:

• Keymaster Rogue: This card was not really good in a dimir deck or simic deck in GTC.  Sure it was borderline playable if you had to have it, but I never considered it more than a 23rd card because of the anti tempo play you are possibly putting yourself in, especially against a deck with lots of removal which could pseudo dictate what you would have to bounce. This danger still exists in DGM, but the upside is far higher. With access to cards like Deputy of Acquittals, Voidwielder, Azorius Justiciar, Lyev Skyknight, Viashino Firstblade, etc, this card gets infinitely better in an azorius based tempo deck. Fairie imposter was a card in RTR, but I think the fact that this guy is a 3/2 that cannot be blocked by anything makes it much more appealing, especially with the few cards in DGM that were added with ETB effects.
• Fortress Cyclops: One of the heavy hitters from GTC that was just too slow in a great boros deck. I played him a few times, but you absolutely wanted that critical mass of 2-3 drops to curve into and stay aggressive. This format is for sure a little slower, and with cards like Gruul War Chant, this guy is insane.
• Any card that gets better with gates in play:  Read - Ogre Jailbreaker; again, another card that was definitely picked up in RTR, but with access to SO many gates now, he gets so much better for a color that typically doesn't have access to creatures that can stack up well against green based decks. Armory guard is another solid option as well and one that I wouldn't play as much in RTR, but actively look for him to clog up the ground in DGM. Both of these cards are fine defensively on their own. That being said, I don't love the gatekeepers from DGM for the reasons I like the aforementioned 2 dudes. They aren't that good on their own (without the gates), and the abilities with the gates aren't that great in my experience so far. 4 drops with such little power (2) are not stellar either, though the red one at least threatens the board.
• Cipher cards: With the format slowed down, other cipher cards may become viable outside of hands of binding and stolen identity. Call of the nightwing is a card I saw going way too late in GTC drafts, but with access to more evasive creatures from two more sets, I think they could shine.  Azorius had access to tons of fliers, so look for it.
• Rapid Hybridization: This card was fine, but not spectacular in GTC. It did handle those bombs that you may not have an out to, but if you're staring down an aggressive deck, giving them the 3/3 in return is often not as good as you want it to be. You could do some cute things in a simic deck with it, but Voidwielder and Azorius charm make this card tons better. You're still spending more resources to kill something than you'd like, but at least it acts closer to unconditional removal than before. I was in a draft this weekend playing a gruul mid range deck splashing white. Played a guy in the second round that had 2 hybridization, 2 voidwielders, and a deputy and keymaster rogue. The match ended quickly (not in my favor).
• Gateway Shade: I was pretty high on this guy as a solid finisher in a good dimir or orzhov deck, but as stated above, with access to more gates, this guy is hard to deal with. He's mana intensive, but a lot of times I want to play 18 lands in a deck this guy wants to be in anyway.  Him and perilous shadow are great mana sinks and get better with more fixing.
• The Primordial Cycle: With the format slowing down from GTC, 7 drops are a little more viable, especially in green with Zur Taa Druid and Greenside Watcher to help you ramp in addition to more forms of ramp with the cluestones added. Most of the effects are pretty good for 7 mana, if you're in blue and the game is super grindy, bouncing them with the aforementioned keymaster seems like incredible value.  Ya never know.
• Keening Apparition: So yeah, enchantments. There are many more badass enchantments since RTR hit the shelves. Not only are Gruul War Chant and Assemble the Legion stellar targets for this card, creature enchantments in decks running green or red are that much better with blood rush on things like deviant glee and unflinching courage. 

The list goes on really, but these are a few off the top of my head. There are a handful of rares that have gotten better too I think, but you won't see those cards as much obviously.  

2. Mana fixing: So my first thought, and many others as well, is that maybe we could get a little more crazy with decks with all the mana fixing available across three sets. This may still be correct once the format becomes more defined, but I'm not so sure it's correct right now.  The guild system lends itself to synergistic decks. I made the same statement in GTC because the guild mechanics were more powerful in that format, but I think it holds true here too. So while it's easier to build crazier decks in DGM (and they can be successful), I still think it's more advantageous to build a deck with a strong identity working off the mechanics of the guilds. So far, I've had success with three color decks, which will be the norm more often than not. However, the better decks I've always lost to have been solid two colors splashing a third instead of leaning heavily on the third color. In a gold set, it's of course going to be hard to make a solid 2 color deck, but if you are seeing the signals, I think there is a higher chance of success keeping your mana better. In addition, cards like cluestones, keyrunes, and gates help fix your mana and ramp in slower, long game decks. But, they also make for more awkward draws. Even if you have enough sources for your colors, you still need to hit them on time to continue developing your board. While cluestones replace themselves late game, they are still less proactive cards and take up a slot in your deck that could be helping you win the game. The keyrunes at least are a body in addition to ramp, so they still assist in closing out a game actively.  Along the same lines, slower decks (4c and 5c) need to have extremely high power cards or will just lose to more cohesive decks. Lastly, having crazier decks make the deck less consistent overall, which leads to worse starting hands and those hands don't mulligan well.

3. Creatures are hard to come by: The lines on the color wheel blur as people get greedy with their manabases in this format. Not only does this make a deck more inconsistent, it makes it harder to grab creatures in your colors because those guys playing 4/5c monstrosities are sniping your dudes as well. Normally I would err on the side of removal or a strong spell, but in more cases now, I take the creature. Many times so far, I take what is, in a vacuum, the more powerful card. I end up halfway through pack 3 with 10-12 creatures and have to play average or below average creatures at best. I think this is something else that will become more clear as the format evolves, but right now, I prefer to take solid creatures early and fill out the rest of my deck afterwards. In a deck that can draw cards, and/or has tons of removal, creature quality isn't as important.

Those are my first thoughts on the format. I will admit that this is a more complicated limited format than anything I've drafted in my year and a half back in magic. Triple Innistrad and DII drafts had many possible archetypes, but they were fairly independent of one another.  In this gold block, the draft is a potential grab bag for any seat, so it's even more important to have a solid understanding of the dynamic of the format. Good luck to anyone out there drafting regularly! I'll be back to streaming next week, would love to see some of you out there and fumble through these things with me.

Yeah we're doing the marathon thing on Sunday starting at 10 AM for Arrested Development.  I'm thinking it will take around 8 hours with a few breaks sprinkled throughout the viewing.  I'm pretty fucking excited, one of the best series on TV in a long time, imo.

Congrats Gem.  I love the evolution of all of us since I have started posting in this thread.  I'm still no pro, but I can definitely see a difference in your decks now vs. a year ago.  Well done man.  Looks like a pretty solid list.  I haven't been playing much lately due to the end of school and stuff to do with the Navy.  I've been drafting on mtgo and doing prereleases as well.  I think this limited format is going to be great.  I am of course one of the few who absolutely loved GTC, but I think this format will be excellent because there will be more flexibility in which direction your deck can go, and will reward drafters who stay open, look for signals, and draft what is coming to them.  Many of the cards from GTC that were too slow will be viable now (primordials for example) and I look forward to sweet three color decks that have a chance to make it past turn 4.  Should be fun.

I'm becoming disinterested in standard again, much like I did at the exact same time last year.  I just don't know if I enjoy the direction that Wizards keeps forcing the players.  Control took another hit this set, voice is an absolutely insane card, and in many ways unfair to the control mage.  So many creatures have been sooooo good in the last year, and much of the text makes it harder and harder for a hard control player.  Kind of disappointing, I know marketing is what it is, and they want/need to attract new players, but R/D needs to go back to the think tank a little I feel like.

That being said, I've been working on a USA tempo/midrange deck.  

http://www.mtgdeckbu...ViewDeck/635395

It's tested extremely well on mtgo so far.  It's super versatile and has been fun.  Not sure how it will hold up in a tournament setting.  A friend of mine is taking it to a Star City Open this weekend and we should have more information on it.  I also really like the bant flash deck,  I may try and put that together online as well.

I should be back to streaming when I get home in a couple of weeks, for those interested.  School is out for the summer and I'll be done with Navy stuff until August.  

Team JT bitches!