Drafting Exercise: Pack #2, Pick #6

[Welding_Jar]

This what you've got so far. Pick accordingly in the next 48 hours.

CHK #1

1. Rend Spirit
2. Honden of Night's Reach
3. Sortami Cloudskater
4. Nezumi Ronin
5. Jugan, the Rising Star
6. Orochi Sustainer
7. Jukai Messenger
8. Marrow-Gnawer
9. Burr Grafter
10. Orochi Leafcaller
11. Reach Through Mists
12. Wandering Ones
13. Lava Spike
14. Rag Dealer
15. Lava Spike

CHK #2

1. Order of the Sacred Bell
2. Soulless Revival
3. Feral Deceiver
4. Mystic Restraints
5. Dripping-Tongue Zubera
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14.
15.

BoK

1.
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5.
6.
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8.
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14.
15.

[Hajime Saito]

Ok Lets start with whats actually a viable Pick here.

Kashi Tribe Warriors: A Decent Man to be swinging with it doesn't kill a whole lot for its cost but it keeps them tapped down so there will be less blocks anyways. the damage is *eh*

Kami Of Lunacy: I Like this guy alot (more) When I have Scuttles the magic Black Common(Best Common in CHK IMO) Since we don't have Scuttles and finding a Forked BRanch Garimi is pentative he Soulshift for 5 isn't too cool. Which is basicly why you run this guy to soul shift for Scuttles.

AShen Skin Zubera: The Card I Pick. We just picked up a Green Zubera if we find another Zubera in Black Green or Red(Our likely splash colour) We have three which in my experience often leads to Beatings of the face with twisted Advantage.(Swinging into two zuberas is not a happy thing only bad ever comes of it)

Honorable Mention: Waking Nightmare #2 if we had grabed the first I'd like this guy Forcing people into top deck with some 2-3 Drops in Play against the Likes of Green fat or black removal is some good. But Alas it is not ment to be.

[NeXoPheuS]

I've choosen the Zubera, fits perfectly.

One other card that i really like is serpent skin. The regeneration part really rocks, especially on Matsu-Tribe Decoy. (lost the other day due to this combination :) )

[Risky]

With no Devour in the deck, and one less pack to open a Devour, the whole Zubera thing seems much weaker. And with the shortage of good tricks in this deck, I have to go with the Skin.

And if that Lava Spike comes back around as another "late pick" I'm going to cry.

[epeeguy]

Alright, this is a pretty decent pack for our colors. There are several very solid cards to choose from, and we can really flesh out our deck in several ways. So, let's focus on the playables:

Ashen-Skin Zubera: I would agree that this is a solid 2 drop for our deck, especially with the other Zubera. While he may only be a 1/2, he does cause our opponent to discard a card if he dies. Most often, he'll be held back to chump block and force the discard. Sometimes, he can go into the red zone for a few points. He's not a bad pick for the deck.

Kami of Lunacy: In some decks, he might be good. But in ours, he is not. While he is a flyer and has 4 power, he also have 1 toughness. And in this environment, that is a very bad thing. Plus, he costs 6 mana to put into play. At 6 mana, I'm looking for a Dragon, not a 4/1 creature that a 2 mana instant can kill.

Waking Nightmare: See my comments from the last thread... ;)

Kashi-Tribe Warriors: Again, same with the Kami of Lunacy... in our deck, he is not a good choice. He costs 5 to bring out, and the most he does is tap creatures he damages and prevents them from tapping. At 5 mana, I'm looking for a bit more than that. Especially since I'll probably be looking for evasion or removal of some kind (hence why Scuttling Death is a great pick at this level). But, overall, he's eclipsed by other cards.

Serpent Skin: This is one of the best combat tricks we could possible pick up for our deck. And regeneration in a block with a lot of creature combat is a very strong pick for our deck. It saves a number of our creatures, increases damage and can be played at instant speed. This card is only eclipsed by Kodama's Might really, and I'd be more than happy to argue that this card might be better in some cases.

Wear Away: If I was looking for sideboard cards, I'd pick this. At the very least, it eliminates stuff like Umezawa's Jitte and other brokeness. Which, honestly, might be a cause for concern. So, I'd be very tempted to get this card just to have it.

Anyhow, I think it really comes down to two or three cards: Ashen-Skin Zubera, Waking Nightmare and Serpent Skin. I think the rest are either too situational or too expensive to be that effective in our deck. All of these cards can have a direct impact on the game.

My pick went with Serpent Skin. We have a couple of solid creatures that giving regeneration to would be nice. Plus, we're a bit short on combat tricks in our colors, and Serpent Skin really helps out in the category. So, this gets my vote.

[shadowsword]

Since there was such a call to pick the Nightmare last time, I'm surprised I'm the first one to pick it this time. While Serpent Skin is a decent combat trick, it doesn't really fit in the deck very well. I thought the idea was get to the late game and drop Jugan/other biggness. Waking Nightmare helps with this goal, Serpent Skin really doesn't.

[LordOfWei]

My vote went to Nightmare as well. It's a tough call between Nightmare and Serpent Skin, but the Zubera doesn't really fit. I really only like drafting Zuberas if I have a bunch of Zuberas, or if it's early, and I can pick some up. You only have one right now, so you're probably not going to get any extra mileage out of the 1/2. Skin is a great card, but the deck needs more control right now, and Waking Nightmare provides that better than the other two picks.

[Spork_Insanity]

One thing that this draft deck is lacking thus far is early game, and this a format that demands action in the first few turns. The Zubera are great defensive creatures and allow us to hold back a variety of threats while we develope our board position. It is a pity that we don't have a devouring greed, but this still seems like the pick for me. Serpent skin comes pretty close, since regeneration is nearly impossible to deal with in this format.

[Risky]

Since there was such a call to pick the Nightmare last time, I'm surprised I'm the first one to pick it this time. While Serpent Skin is a decent combat trick, it doesn't really fit in the deck very well. I thought the idea was get to the late game and drop Jugan/other biggness. Waking Nightmare helps with this goal, Serpent Skin really doesn't.

To me, this statement is self-contradicting. Waking Nightmare doesn't help you get to the late game because it doesn't affect the board. You make them discard two cards. They might be good cards. Then again they might be lands. Meanwhile you're still getting beat down. On the same turn three, having a Serpent Skin you can possibly pump a blocker and take out your opponent's attacking creature. Sure, if you don't have a creature, the Skin is a dead card. Hopefully we draft a deck with creatures.

[Rhino408]

Risky is correct and my pick this time is ashen-skin zubera because last time i took the spell and this time i want a dude.

[Welding_Jar]

Rhino, we picked a dude last time. Either pick as though you have the above cards or stop voting. This exercise is pointless unless we're working with the same cards, as the card to pick would vary.

[Rhino408]

Aparently since you didn't put down the top percentage for pick #2 you screwed the whole "exercise" so blah fine i'll stop voting.

[Welding_Jar]

Actually, pick #2 was tied, if you bothered to read the thread. One voter accidentally voted for the wrong card, but posted to correct their error. I don't vote except to break ties, and I went with Honden.

I'm fine with you posting and voting. The more people, the better. But please pick as though you have picked the cards everyone else has. If this is a problem for some reason, then yes, please stop voting.

Here's what I propose: Vote as though you have the posted cards, and post both what you voted for and what you would have picked had you been drafting differently.

[shadowsword]

Ignore this post, I originally said something stupid and now I want to get rid of it, how does one delete useless posts??

[epeeguy]

What concerns me a little is that while Hajime has explained his picking Kami of Lunacy, the other 2 voters for it have not explained their rationale for why they picked it. Would the two other voters explain why they picked it? Because it's just 1 vote shy of being picked as often as Serpent Skin, and only 2 votes from a tie with the second highest pick.

[Welding_Jar]

Actually, I think Hajime picked Ashen-Skin Zubera. Nobody defended Kami.

Current Standings (2 or more votes):

Zubera: 9 votes
Nightmare: 6 votes
Skin: 6 votes
KoL: 3 votes

[epeeguy]

Actually, I think Hajime picked Ashen-Skin Zubera. Nobody defended Kami.

Oops, you're right. Sorry for accusing you of that Hajime. :) Though that means that 3 people picked Kami of Lunacy and have yet to explain why. :(

[reindeercards]

I picked the Wear Away. When I don't have a way to deal with my opponent's artifact bombs, they always have artifact bombs.

[LordOfWei]

The Wear Away is a solid SB card, but never a pick this early. You'll probably see another passed to you at some point, and this one kight even come back around as your 13th pick. It's not likely, but the last three cards could be Wear Away, Vigilance, and Desperate Ritual. Sometimes, people don't look at what the quality pick is, and just choose something of their color. It really depends on who you're drafting with, but there are just better quality cards than this in this pack.

[Welding_Jar]

Here's my analysis of this pick:

Get rid of Desperate Ritual, Vigilance and Lifted by Clouds. I will almost never play those.

Next to go is K-T Warriors. A 2/4 with a mediocre ability for 5 isn't very good. And I probably wouldn't pick Wear Away, a SB card, here either. Lava Spike is out of color and only playable with Glacial Ray or Dampen Thought.

It comes down to Zubera, KoL, Nightmare and Serpent Skin. Skin is a fine card, but I think it's overrated. It certainly isn't as good as other cards here. Kami of Lunacy is nice, but we lack game-breaking guys to be soulshifted. Zubera or Nightmare? I would pick the Zubera, as 2-drops are always nice and we might see a third Zubera we can play. Probably not, but maybe. I think that once again, the right choice was made.