My Pick: This is a good first pick.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick: Removal for the vast majority of creatures in Zendikar at a low cost. Check.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick: Nasty bits of evasion in my color late game and a cheap creature in my color early game.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick: I like this piece of removal. I also already have a white card. I wonder if I should have passed this along as a signal. The Surrakar is in my color and I have been receiving good black signals.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick: This card is fun for a black white deck with cheap creatures.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick: Same reasoning as above. I am surprised to see the Torch Slinger so late.
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick: I like this guy and I have been receiving a strong black signal and have been passing a strong anti-black signal. I will keep on rocking this.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick: Mind Sludge is a decent card. It is a bit overrated in my opinion. I think, retrospectively, I should have taken the Vampire Lacerator. My deck looks like it can use more creatures that will bring my opponent to less than 10 life.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick: This is a decent card early game and a horrible card late game.
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick: I almost definitely won't play this, but nothing else is worth hating either.
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick: This is a fine creature. Most of my creatures are small right now. This will help me get through my opponent's fatties.
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick: This is good against me.
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick: This is a filler card if I do not have enough playables. The owl is not worth hating.
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick: Not a land.
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick: Monies!
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick: I like the Bloodwitch. She is a good finisher.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick: This is such a wonderful addition. It usually can take out 2 creatures.
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick: Evasion is great with all of the Vampires that I drafted earlier.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick: Wow. 5th pick? I am in the right colors.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick: This is a good card against red decks. I am getting a ton of great black and white. Perhaps my opponents will be likely to play red. This is a good addition in that situation.
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick: Marsh Casaulties is solid removal. It can usually get rid of 2 creatures. For 5 mana, that is solid.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick: The Hexmage is great, particularly against allies and quests.
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick: I am not that worried about the fat creature. He is too slow. Also, a lot of my creatures have evasion.
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick: This is essentially removal and is especially effective at letting little guys take out big guys.
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick: This is a good wall against my creatures.
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick: This is an OK card to sideboard if my opponent gains lots of life. 1 mana for +5 life to me and -5 life to my opponent is decent.
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick: Narrow Escape is good with Journey to Nowhere. In any case, it is the only card that is playable.
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick: Not a land.
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick: I have two Nighthawks. My deck is looking amazing.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick: Hideous End is so delightful. This is especially true because I am getting passed lots of black on both sides.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick: Hexmage is wonderful. I hope the Feast of Blood tables. I think I am one of the few decks that can play it.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick: I can use some 3 toughness creatures. This is effective against the plethora of 2/2s in Zendikar.
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick: Another piece of mass removal. I feel like I am an idiot if I lose playing my deck.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick: This is great with the 2 Surrakars and 2 Vampire Nighthawks. This will quickly become a 3/2 evasion creature. It is much better in my deck than the Blood Seeker.
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick: Another piece of evasion to go with my Guul Draz Vampires.
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick: I have enough playable cards. I already have a Soul Stair Expedition. 2 is not necessary.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick: This is a good piece of removal and it is a flier. The Scorpion is OK, but my deck is faster than what the Scorpion allows for.
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick: This is good given all of my small creatures and removal. There will be plenty of cards to feed this.
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick: I normally would not play this card. I have 9 vampires, though. That makes this card very decent. Even with 9 vampires, I should have sideboarded this card out in situations where my opponent had lots of removal.
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick: This is playable against me. Grim Discovery is only good mid to late game. My deck is too fast for it.
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick: This creature takes out my creatures. Everything else sucks.
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick: Not a vanilla land.
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
It was dumb to include Mindless Null instead of the Nimana Sell-Sword. I substituted it out whenever I could.
MATCH 1 GAME 1
I choose to play first. I draw 2 Swamps, 2 Guul Draz Vampires, 1 Hagra Crocodile, 1 Malakir Bloodwitch, and 1 Mind Sludge. This looks solid to me. I stick with it.
1. I play a Swamp and a Guul Draz Vampire. I pass.
1. He plays a Forest and passes.
2. I draw a Marsh Casaulties. I play a Swamp. I attack him for 1. I play another Guul Draz Vampire.
2. He plays an Island and passes.
3. I draw a Swamp and play it. I attack with the 2 Guul Draz Vampires. He goes to 17.
3. He plays an Island and a Grazing Gladehart.
4. I draw a Gatekeeper of Malakir. I play it kicked. He sacrifices the Gladehart. I hit him with the Vampires again. He goes to 15.
4. He plays Harrow sacrificing a Forest. he puts 2 Forests into play and a Nissa's Chosen.
5. I draw another Guul Draz Vampire. I swing with everything. He blocks one of the Guul Draz Vampires. He goes to 12. I play another Guul Draz Vampire.
5. I draw and play Feast of Blood on his Nissa's Chosen. I attack with everything. He blocks my Guul Draz Vampire. He goes to 9. Now my Vampire has intimidate.
6. He plays a Stonework Puma and passes the turn.
6. I draw and play Disfigure targetting his Stonework Puma. I swing with both of my creatures. I play Marsh Casaulties, making his Timbermaw Larva a 1/1. I think that that was a very stupid play. I think that allowing his Timbermaw Larva to trade with my Gatekeeper would have been a great trade for me. The Marsh Casaulties was much more useful in my hand. Played this way, it was simply a "win more" card.
7. He plays a Forest and a kicked Mold Shambler, targetting my Swamp. This makes me very very sad. He swings for 5 damage. I am down to 19. If I had traded with his Timbermaw Larva, this would not be happening. I take this as a lesson not to be so rushed. I hit him again and he is down to 1 life.
7. He plays Paralyzing Trap on my Guul Draz Vampire. This is very bad. He swings with his Timbermaw Larva and hits me gain for 5. He plays a Khalni Heart Expedition.
8. I draw a Swamp and play Mindless Null.
8. He puts a Forest into play. he hits me for 6 damage with his Larva. I am down to 8. He plays an Oran Rief-Recluse. I think I will have to start chump blocking his creatures soon. If I can get 2 more Swamps, Malakir Bloodwitch will solve my problems.
9. I draw a Swamp. I play the Swamp and Hagra Crocodile. Despite not being a blocker, the Crocodile might keep him from attacking when I can swing back for lethal damage.
9. He plays and Island and passes the turn.
10. I draw a Heartstabber Mosquito. I play it.
10. He swings with the Larva, which becomes a 6/6 and the Mold Shambler. I chump the two with my Gatekeeper and Mindless Null. I lose both creatures. Unable to deal with my flier, he concedes. He had 2 cards in hand. He probably had a Vines of Vastwood. I can't believe that I almost lost with such perfect draws because of my stupidity. I need to learn to play aggro more effectively.
MATCH 2 GAME 2
He decides to play first. I draw 4 Swamps, a Guul Draz Vampire, a Vampire Nighthawk and a Hideous End. This is a great hand in most situations, but in my deck it is only average. I keep it, though, not wanting to take too many risks.
1. He plays a Forest.
1. I play the Swamp and the Guul Draz Vampire.
2. He plays an Island and a Khalni Heart Expedition.
2. I play a Swamp and a Surrakar Marauder.
3. He plays a Forest and Harrows, sacrificing a Forest. He puts 2 Forests into play. He pops the Khalni Heart Expedition for another Forest and an Island. He puts a Trusty Machete in play. This is an amazing start. Turn 3 and he has 6 lands out. He can play a Woodcrasher Baloth on Turn 3. I draw a Guul Draz Vampire. This is excellent for me too. I had a turn 1 play and a turn 2 play. I have a turn 3 play and I will have a turn 4 play. This is an amazing start for both of us. I play a Swamp and the Vampire Nighthawk.
4. He does not play a Woodcrasher Baloth. He plays a Zendikar Farguide. That is disappointing. He does not have enough mana to equip it.
4. I draw a Surrakar Marauder. His creature is not worth a Hideous End. I play a Swamp, giving the Surrakar intimidate. I swing with the Nighthawk and the Surrakar. He goes to 12 and I go to 22. I play the Guul Draz Vampire and a Surrakar Marauder. I still have a Swamp in hand. I should be swinging with 4 creatures with intimidate and 1 creature with flying next turn.
5. He plays a Paralyzing Grasp on my Nighthawk. He also plays a Stonework Puma. Luckily, I have Hideous End to deal with the Puma.
5. I draw a Swamp and play it. I play Hideous End targetting his Puma. He is down to 10 life. I have 2 3/2 Vampires and 2 2/1 Surrakars all with intimidate. He concedes when Hideous End resolves.
MATCH 1 2-0
MATCH 2 GAME 2
I decide to play first. I draw 3 Swamps, a Piranha Marsh, a Surrakar Marauder, a Disfigure and a Hideous End. This pleases me. I keep.
1. I play a Piranha Marsh bringing my opponent to 19.
1. He plays a Plains and a Steppe Lynx.
2. I draw a Swamp and play it and the Surrakar Marauder.
2. He plays a Mountain, giving the Lynx landfall. He swings for 2.
3. I play a Swamp and swing for 2. I Disfigure his Lynx.
3. He plays a Forest and a Greenweaver Druid. Three colors: white, red and green. If he doesn't make his land drops, he will be in big trouble against my fast, black aggro deck.
4. I draw a Hagra Crocodile. I play a Swamp, giving the Surrakar landfall. I swing for 2. I play the Hagra Crocodile. This is looking great. His only creature is pretty wussy. I consider whether I should play a removal spell so that he can't summon a huge creature. I decide that I would just rather kill his huge creature with Hideous End.
4. He puts a Plains in play and passes. He has 5 cards in hand at this point. I should have been suspicious, but I was not.
5. I draw a Guul Draz Vampire. I attack him with the Surrakar Marauder and the Hagra Crocodile. He chumps the Crocodile with his Greenweaver Druid. He goes to 13 life. I play a Guul Draz Vampire.
5. He casts Day of Judgment. I feel dumb for not anticipating this even a little bit. The picture on Day of Judgment feels oddly appropriate.
6. I draw and play a Vampire Nighthawk. I don't feel so bad about his DoJ.
6. He plays Journey to Nowhere. OK. His deck is just a little unfair right now. He plays an Oran-Rief Vastwood. That is a great card and an indication that he is mostly green.
7. I draw and play a Swamp. This was stupid. I should have saved the Swamp.
7. He plays Kor Skyfisher. He bounces a Mountain which he immediately puts back into play. He plays a Shatterskull Giant. I very rarely see the Kor Skyfisher's bounce ability become a liability. It is really an amazing creature.
8. I draw a Swamp and play Hideous End on the Skyfisher. I feel ambivalent about this decision. His Shatterskull Giant does more damage, but is also more manageable since it is a ground creature. It is hard to say. I suppose that I cannot really block his Skatterskull Giant with any of my creatures without my creatures chumping. I think it would have been better to kill the Giant.
8. He attacks me with the Giant. I go to 14. He plays a Nissa's Chosen and gives it a +1/+1 counter from the Vastwood.
9. I draw and play Marsh Flats. I draw and play Guul Draz Vampire. My situation is not looking good, though.
9. He draws and plays a Murasa Pyromancer targetting my Vampire. I concede.
MATCH 2 GAME 3
He decides to play first. I draw 2 Swamps, a Marsh Flats, a Vampire Nighthawk, a Feast of Blood, a Nimana Sell-Sword and a Disfigure. I feel OK about this hand.
1. He plays a Plains.
1. I play the Swamp.
2. He plays a Mountain and passes.
2. I draw a Surrakar Marauder. I play a Swamp and the Surrakar.
3. He plays a Forest and a Kor Hookmaster, tapping down my Marauder.
3. I draw a Guul Draz Vampire. I play Marsh Flats and the Guul Draz Vampire.
4. He plays an Oran-Rief Vastwood and attacks with the Kor Hookmaster. I Disfigure the Hookmaster.
4. I draw a Vampire Nighthawk. I sacrifice the Marsh Flats and put a Swamp into play. I attack with the Surrakar Marauder and the Guul Draz Vampire. I put a Vampire Nighthawk into play. He plays Seismic Shudder in response, taking out both of my ground creatures. He could have played that before receiving damage. There would be the risk that I put out another creature, but it is unlikely given the number of 3 drops in black.
5. He plays a Teetering Peaks and passes.
5. I attack him with the Nighthawk. I play a Surrakar Marauder, worried about Day of Judgment.
6. He plays a Plains and a kicked Oran-Rief Recluse, taking down my Nighthawk. Surprisingly, I will probably not be able to cast Feast of Blood given all my dead Vampires.
6. I draw a Quest for the Gravelord. I play another Vampire Nighthawk.
7. He plays Burst Lighting, kicked, taking down my Vampire. This is frustrating.
7. I draw and play Gatekeeper of Malakir, kicked, taking out his Oran-Rief Recluse. I swing with my Surrakar, bringing him to 13.
8. He plays a Plains and Murasa Pyromancer, taking out my Surrakar.
8. I draw Marsh Casaulties. I play Quest for the Gravelord. i attack with the Gatekeeper. He takes 2 and goes to 11.
9. He attacks me for 3 and then uses Punishing Fire to take out my Gatekeeper.
9. Luckily, I draw a Swamp and I play Nimana Sell-Sword.
10. He plays Journey to Nowhere on my Sell-Sword. At this point, I am marveling at all of his very effective removal.
10. I consider play Marsh Casaulties, but instead I play Mind Sludge. He has had 1 card in his hand for a while. He discards Journey to Nowhere. That was a good Sludge despite only getting rid of 1 card.
11. He plays Kor Skyfisher. He swings for 3 and brings me to 10. I feel like I have probably lost the match.
11. I draw Hideous End. I pass the turn.
12. He attacks with Kor Skyfisher and the Pyromancer. I play Hideous End on his Skyfisher. 1 more counter to activate my Quest for the Gravelord.
12. I play Marsh Casaulties taking down his Pyromancer. My Quest is locked and loaded.
13. He plays Cliff Threader and Tajuru Archer. It was very smart of him to not play those 2 toughness creatures. I can't believe he knew that I had Marsh Casaulties. I suppose he didn't need to know. All he needed to know was that he had a lead and that playing more creatures at this time was not useful. At the end of his turn, I put a Zombie token into play.
13. I draw a Guul Draz Vampire. He takes the 5 damage to go to 4. I play the Guul Draz Vampire and a Soul Stair Expedition.
14. He does not attack saving his creatures for defense.
14. I attack with my Vampire. He is dealt 3 damage. He concedes.
MATCH 2 2-1
MATCH 3 GAME 1
He decides to go first. I draw 6 Swamps and a Disfigure. I mulligan. I draw 3 Swamps, a Surrakar Marauder, a Disfigure and a Feast of Blood. I keep it.
1. He plays a Mountain and passes.
1. I draw a Guul Draz Vampire. I play a Swamp and a Guul Draz Vampire. I pass.
2. He plays a Mountain and a Plated Geopede. He passes.
2. I draw a Swamp. I play a Swamp and a Surrakar Marauder. I pass.
3. He plays an Island and a Goblin War Paint on his Geopede. He swings for 5 and I go to 15.
3. I draw a Vampire Nighthawk. I play a Swamp, attack for 3 and play the Nighthawk. I have enough vampires for Feast of Blood now.
4. He plays a Ruinous Minotaur and an Island and passes.
4. I play a Swamp, play Feast of Blood targetting his Plated Geopede and swing with the Marauder and the Vampire Nighthawk. I decide not to cast Disfigure on his Ruinous Minotaur since it is not a very effective blocker and pretty useless for attacking early on in most decks.
5. He plays two Zeltar Shrine Expeditions and a Mountain. He swings with his Minotaur. I destroy his Minotaur with Disfigure. With a counter on each of hte Shrines, I am on a clock to suffer 14 damage.
5. I draw a Swamp, play a Swamp and swing with the team bringing him to 8. It was probably a mistake to play the Swamp.
6. He plays an Island, putting counters on his Zektar Shrine Expeditions. 1 more turn to suffer 14 damage. He plays a Hellfire Mongrel.
6. I suffer 2 damage from the Hellfire Mongrel, bringing me to 21. I draw a Piranha Marsh and instead of playing the Marsh, I stupidly play a Swamp. That was just dumb. I attack with the team, bringing him to 1. If I had played the Piranha Marsh, I would have won.
7. He passes the turn without action.
7. I take 2 damage. I draw a Heartstabber Mosquito. I deal him a point of damage and win.
MATCH 3 GAME 2
He decides to play first. He mulligans to 6. I draw 3 swamps, a Gatekeeper of Malakir, a Mind Sludge, a Nimana Sell-Sword and a Surrakar Marauder. This is a solid hand. I keep it.
1. He plays a Mountain and an Explorer's Scope.
1. I play a Swamp and a Soul Stair Expedition.
2. He plays a Mountain and an Adventuring Gear. Now he just needs creatures for all of this equipment.
2. I draw a Guul Draz Vampire. I play a Swamp and a Surrakar Marauder.
3. He plays an Island and a Torch Slinger.
3. I draw a Hagra Crocodile. I play a Swamp and attack with the Surrakar. I play a kicked Gatekeeper of Malakir. He loses the Torch Slinger. He goes to 18. I am so happy to have this and the Soul Stair Expedition. They work very well together. Together, they can potentially act as 4 pieces of removal. First, you play Gatekeeper of Malakir. Then you trade Gatekeeper with another creature. Then you sacrifice Soul Stair Expedition to bring back Gatekeeper of Malakir to force another sacrifice. Then you trade Gatekeeper with another creature. If you're playing white or red, this is completely conceivable.
4. He plays a Merfolk Wayfinder and reveals a Goblin War Paint, a Mountain and a Tuktuk Giants.
4. I draw a Vampire Hexmage. I attack with the Surrakar and the Gatekeeper. I play a Guul Draz Vampire, but not the Vampire Hexmage. I do not know why I didn't play the Hexmage. I think I was worried about having so many 1 toughness creatures when he could play Seismic Shudder. This was a stupid worry and I immediately recognized that it was stupid because I have a Soul Stair Expedition.
5. He moves Adventuring Gear onto his Merfolk Wayfinder. He plays a Mountain and equips Goblin War Paint onto his Wayfinder. It is a 5/6. It attacks. I chuckle imagining a 5/6 Scout flying through the air like a decked-out Honda Acura.
5. I draw a Marsh Casaulties. I attack with the Surrakar, Guul Draz Vampire and Gatekeeper, bringing him to 9 and activating the Guul Draz Vampire. I play the Vampire Hexmage.
6. He plays Plated Geopede.
6. I draw a Swamp. I play the Swamp thereby providing enough counters for the Soul Stair Expedition. I swing with the team. He blocks the Hexmage with his Plated Geopede and the Gatekeeper with his 3/4 Merfolk Wayfinder. Then he plays Burst Lighting on the Guul Draz Vampire. He immediately regrets this decision. I sacrifice Soul Stair Expedition, targetting Gatekeeper and Guul Draz Vampire. I play the Gatekeeper kicked, causing him to lose the Wayfinder. I play the Guul Draz Vampire.
7. He draws and concedes.
MATCH 3 2-0