Preliminary note: for clarity, I will be posting full decks from now on.
Had big fun last weekend, playing in 3 Oath of the Gatewatch prerelease events. I found this (2 booster packs) Battle for Zendikar + (4 booster packs) Oath of the Gatewatch (+ rare promo card) new Sealed Deck format less restrictive than the previous more polarized Battle for Zendikar setting. No doubt, the additional 'colorless' theme added to the new format's richness, and Green definitely became more playable. Let's list my somewhat average results but, let's not forget, way more than average overall experience ... I had a good start in the 2016-01-16 event, playing URc, winning 2-0 against BU and 2-0 against GRW, but then twice losing 0-2 to BUW and UGR, respectively. I had to take some mulligans, and sometimes got mana screwed or flooded, but that's Magic ... My deck consisted of (the very nice bomb) Reality Smasher, 2 Kozilek's Pathfinder, (the ever useful) Warden of Geometries, (one of the best commons) Blinding Drone, Gravity Negator, Jwar Isle Avenger, Immobilizer Eldrazi, (the relatively strong) Cinder Hellion, Goblin Freerunner, Maw of Kozilek, Reality Hemorrhage, Eldrazi Skyspawner, Kozilek's Sentinel, (the highly synergistic) Herald of Kozilek, (the unusually cheap) Containment Membrane, (the excellent) Sweep Away, Boulder Salvo, Rolling Thunder, Outnumber, Touch of the Void, (the in my view underestimated) Seer's Lantern (since it recovered me 3 times from a board sweep), (the synergistic) Ruins of Oran-Rief, Crumbling Vestige, and 8 Island + 8 Mountain (resulting in 18 lands). My most useful sideboard card was a Tears of Valakut. I didn't see any need for both my Wastes, but very reluctantly excluded White from my deck, due to not enough playable creatures (i.e. 8 mostly mediocre Allies): my bomb promo Eldrazi Displacer, plus some extremely solid cards like Munda's Vanguard, Immolating Glare, 2 Kor Sky Climber, Reflector Mage, Planar Outburst, and Roil Spout). The day after (2016-01-17) featured events lasting only 3 Swiss rounds each. During the 1st event's deck construction phase, I made the wrong call, going for a medoicre RW Allies brew, which, after a 1-2 loss against a better RW deck during the first round, went out the window. I already had contemplated alternative GWc and UWc deck configurations, and went for the former during the last 2 rounds (resulting in convincing 2-0 wins against BGW and BUG). I'm only mentioning the GWc build: Walker of the Wastes, Kozilek's Pathfinder, Warden of Geometries, (the expensive but strong) Gladehart Cavalry, (the equally strong) Embodiment of Insight, (another strong) Seed Guardian, Loam Larva, (the worthwile) Relief Captain, (the magnificent) Wall of Resurgence, (the reasonable) Expedition Raptor, (the flexible on-curve) Endless One, (the 4/4 for 4) Woodland Wanderer, Lifespring Druid, (the 'yet another midrangy') Ondu Greathorn, (the 2/2 + 2/2 for 4) Allied Reinforcements, (the excellent) Isolation Zone, 2 (slightly situational) Searing Light, (the great) Roil's Retribution, 2 (ever useful) Sheer Drop, (the, as suggested before, underestimated) Seer's Lantern, Unknown Shores, Wastes, and 8 Forest + 8 Plains, this time strongly justifying 18 lands. Concluding, just a couple of sideboard minor gear switching options on top of this powerful build: Canopy Gorger and a 2nd Loam Larva. I should immediately have realized this midrange viability during initial deckbuilding, but on the other hand I might arbitrarily have switched to UWc in order to probably have switched again to the 'right' GWc build before the 3rd round ... Anyway, after this satisfactory result, I went on to play BUc during the afternoon session. Halfway the event, I realized that my deck slightly lacked aggressive power, but I couldn't find enough potential in other colors. I eventually stranded at a 1-2-0 result: 2-0 win against my brother's GR deck, then a close 1-2 loss against a very fine player (winning the 1st game, but getting semi-mana-screwed at 3 lands and not finding my 2nd Swamp during the last 2 games, hence twice not recovering from a board wipe), finally ending the day with a chanceless 0-2 loss against a horribly swarming UG deck. My most confident moment during the afternoon event must have been the finalization of my yet unplayed deck: Hedron Crawler, Kozilek's Pathfinder, Warden of Geometries, Essence Depleter, Kozilek's Shrieker, Vampire Envoy, (the very effective bomb) Deepfathom Skulker, (the great) Blinding Drone, Cultivator Drone, Gravity Negator, Jwar Isle Avenger, (the unfortunately not defending) Skitterskin, (the solid) Kalastria Nightwatch, Silent Skimmer, Benthic Infiltrator, Coralhelm Guide, (the debatedly maindeckable) Flaying Tendrils, plus very strong removal (Oblivion Strike, 2 Containment Membrane, Sweep Away, Ruinous Path, and Complete Disregard), only adding a 17th Holdout Settlement land to a tight 8 Island / 8 Swamp distribution. I actually kept Unnatural Endurance in my sideboard, and I never used my Dread Defiler, nor Roiling Waters, being too afraid of the mana stretch (lacking an 18th land = 9th Swamp). All in all: a very instructive prerelease, already loosening up towards upcoming Friday's release draft !
The 2016-01-22 Oath of the Gatewatch release draft kept my score at 50%: 1-1-1 (1-2 loss against BGR, 1-1 draw against BR, and 2-0 win against UR). My first 2 picks actually determined my colors (but it took me some time to commit to Black after mainly picking White): Isolation Zone and Grasp of Darkness. The double mana costs plus my colorless 5 to 7 CMC heavy hitters convinced me to go for 18 lands (including 2 Crumbling Vestige) plus a Seer's Lantern (a.o. enabling my Endbringer and both Slaughter Drone). My full deck, for completeness: Bane of Bala Ged, Kozilek's Channeler, Ghostly Sentinel, Endbringer, Kozilek's Translator, 2 Slaughter Drone, Wall of Resurgence, Affa Protector, Expedition Raptor, Kor Scythemaster, 2 Kor Sky Climber, Allied Reinforcements, Roil's Retribution, Gideon's Reproach, Flaying Tendrils, Grasp of Darkness, Isolation Zone, 2 Searing Light, Seer's Lantern, 2 Crumbling Vestige, 8 Swamp, and 8 Plains. Some sideboard cards: Felidar Cub, Fortified Rampart, Stone Haven Medic, Makindi Aeronaut, Tandem Tactics, Mighty Leap, and a 3rd Searing Light. Despite my mediocre result, I like drafting Oath of the Gatewatch (i.e. drafting 2 Oath of the Gatewatch + 1 Battle for Zendikar booster packs) way more than drafting pure Battle for Zendikar.
Again a 50% (i.e. 1-1-1) score on 2016-02-19, having drafted BG splash W after a mediocre first couple of picks. I had planned to avoid both Blue/any and Black/Red, so at least that part went well. Throughout the first 2 packs, I stubbornly ignored the visibly open color Blue, but still managed to get reasonable picks in my eventual colors (after quickly having abandoned the GR route). I had an easy 2-0 win against a weak BUR deck, and then went down 0-2 against a very strong RWg deck (which included Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Encircling Fissure, debatedly having passed the latter during the draft). Finally, I encountered a very interesting BUc (c=colorless) Devoid deck, drawing after time was called during the last game (but having won the first one by staying alive via Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim sacrifices until I could take over that game). My full deck: Conduit of Ruin, Kozilek's Channeler, Ruin Processor, Smothering Abomination, Plated Crusher, Broodhunter Wurm, Eyeless Watcher, Warden of Geometries, 2 Kozilek's Shrieker, Kozilek's Translator, Harvester Troll, Saddleback Lagac, Scion Summoner, Stalking Drone, Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, Baloth Null, Bone Splinters, Sheer Drop, Grasp of Darkness, Nissa's Judgment, Vines of the Recluse, Tranquil Expanse, 3 Crumbling Vestige, 7 Forest, 7 Swamp, sideboarding Canopy Gorger, Giant Mantis, Scour from Existence, Plummet, Pulse of Murasa, and 2 Seer's Lantern. My 3 Crumbling Vestige implied only a minimal W splash, thereby also rendering my Joraga Auxiliary useless. As always, more (top common) removal would have been very welcome ...
I drafted/played a rareless BG deck during 2016-03-18 OGW booster draft FNM, unfortunately resulting in a 0-2 loss against UR and a double 1-1 draw against GRw and BR, respectively. I should have switched to White upon my potential pack 2 pick 1 Isolation Zone. The pain got worse upon passing an Immolating Glare right thereafter, actually missing out on the best (i.e. BW) archetype. Anyway, main variation of my full deck list (ignoring a brief Red mini-splash try-out) : Sludge Crawler, Eyeless Watcher, Catacomb Sifter, Kozilek's Pathfinder, 2 Kozilek's Shrieker, 2 Slaughter Drone, 2 Vampire Envoy, Canopy Gorger, 2 Saddleback Lagac, Scion Summoner, Stalking Drone, Tajuru Pathwarden, Baloth Null, Scour from Existence, Bone Splinters, Spatial Contortion, Oblivion Strike, Tar Snare, 2 Crumbling Vestige, 8 Forest, and 8 Swamp. My main sideboard options were : Brood Monitor, Rising Miasma (mostly switching this in to good success), Plummet, and Unnatural Endurance. Let's look forward to the upcoming 'Shadows over Innistrad' (pre)release, already having observed some promising spoilers !
I played both Sunday 2016-04-03 SOI prerelease (hence Sealed Deck) events: a very interesting/diverse expansion set, tons of fun, and great results. In fact, I went undefeated, for the first time achieving the maximum result (no match losses, no draws) in a prerelease. I only drew the last round during the 2nd prerelease event, exceeding my overall prediction. As always, I came prepared, having mainly watched the returned The Magic Show's Complete Set Review. The best things I like about SOI must be the 'junky' set characteristic (as opposed to the prior narrower archetype driven format, which also was significantly slower), and of course the ease of (mini-)splashing, since one can get away with too few basic lands in the splash color (thanks to the Madness mechanic).
In fact, I only played 1 Plains in my first deck, which was a BRw build containing 4 bomb rares, being composed of 9 hard removal (including both W mini-splash spells) + 13 creatures (because of the 18 lands Madness fuel necessity). I managed a 2-1 win vs GW, a 2-0 win vs GRW, and a 2-0 win vs RW (never sideboarding). Enjoy this beauty: (unstoppable) Elusive Tormentor / Insidious Mist, (annoying) Markov Dreadknight, (game winning) Accursed Witch / Infectious Curse, (conditional removal enabled) Tooth Collector, (recursive) Ghoulcaller's Accomplice, (yes, vanilla) Vampire Noble, (very painful) Flameblade Angel, (boosting) Breakneck Rider / Neck Breaker, (aggressive) Incorrigible Youths, (hard to block) Kessig Forgemaster / Flameheart Werewolf, (cheap) Bloodmad Vampire, (despite bad reviews, amazingly strong) Ember-Eye Wolf, (cheap) Howlpack Wolf, Explosive Apparatus, Murderous Compulsion, Dead Weight, Avacyn's Judgment, Inner Struggle, Lightning Axe, Dual Shot, Angelic Purge, Puncturing Light, 9 Mountain, 8 Swamp, and 1 Plains. Unused sideboard, for completion reasons: Scourge Wolf, Insolent Neonate, 2 Senseless Rage, and Tormenting Voice. After this blast, I knew it would be hard to match this first deck's capabilities.
Indeed, my 2nd prerelease deck certainly was weaker, but also quite different: GWb (main color = W), abandoning some R removal in favor of the hypnotizing super-bomb The Gitrog Monster. Yes, it is that powerful ... This must also be the first time I played a deck without Instants. I'm not sure how to characterize this 2nd deck, but it was somewhat weenie-ish (Behind the Scenes and Always Watching), also reaping some extra Clue benefits, but surely containing more than a couple of rather mediocre cards. I didn't mind at all playing the no doubt debatable Slayer's Plate ... I managed a 2-1 win vs BRx (don't remember first opp's mini-splash), a 2-0 win vs GW, and (technically) a 1-1 draw vs RW (whereby the immediately heavily contested 3rd game did not proceed far enough to observe any clear advantage for either player). The deck list: Inexorable Blob, Cult of the Waxing Moon, Graf Mole, Byway Courier, Loam Dryad, Thornhide Wolves, Thalia's Lieutenant, Nearheath Chaplain, Spectral Shepherd, Cathar's Companion, Devilthorn Fox, Emissary of the Sleepless, Moorland Drifter, The Gitrog Monster, Slayer's Plate, Explosive Apparatus, Behind the Scenes, Murderous Compulsion, Always Watching, 2 Angelic Purge, Vessel of Ephemera, 9 Plains, 6 Forest, and 3 Swamp. This time, I did use my sideboard (but none of the Instants): Tooth Collector, Moldgraf Scavenger, Unruly Mob, Grotesque Mutation, Lambholt Pacifist / Lambholt Butcher, Ulvenwald Mysteries, 2 Aim High, and Clip Wings. My (double) prerelease experience apparently was suffiently pleasurable in that I decided to start collecting cards again (instead of giving them away), perhaps for potential future melancholy reasons ...
I perhaps shouldn't have ignored the wide open Blue color during my 2016-04-08 release draft, but I did end up with a playable, albeit not extravagant, (non-tokens) BW deck. I got crushed twice (1-2 losses) by GR Werewolves, but managed a 2-0 win against RW. It was clear to me that my deck simply wasn't fast enough, and my sorcery speed removal mostly made me limp behind. In fact, both my (sealed) prerelease decks were significantly more powerful than this drafted release deck. I wonder whether my 'only' 17 lands mana base also had some influence on that. Here's the deck: Ghoulsteed, Pale Rider of Trostad, 2 Tooth Collector, 2 (delirium enabling) Crow of Dark Tidings, Farbog Revenant, Stallion of Ashmouth, (very solid) Bygone Bishop,(game winning) Odric, Lunarch Marshal, Spectral Shepherd, Cathar's Companion, 2 Moorland Drifter, Explosive Apparatus, To the Slaughter, 2 (i.e. in retrospect one too many) Behind the Scenes, 3 (sorcery speed) Murderous Compulsion, Puncturing Light, Vessel of Ephemera, 2 Forsaken Sanctuary, 8 Plains, and 7 Swamp. My sideboard mainly consisted of a Reaper of Flight Moonsilver. All in all: 4 games won and 4 games lost. However, that's not the way tourney arithmetic works ... Anyway, I got to think a bit deeper on the new game mechanics, so hopefully this (plus some additional background, like the early Nizzahon Magic archetypes review and of course the weekly Limited Resources information) will pay off next time !
Not all drafts are created equal. I obtained a weak 0-0-1 result on 2016-04-22 (1-1 against GW, 0-2 against BU, and 1-2 against RW), playing a rareless deck again. I somehow managed to draft a BUg deck, the green mini-splash augmenting (defensive) creature quality. During the first pack, I necessarily picked my 3 colors evenly, refusing to pre-commit to e.g. Zombies or other archetypes. It was a difficult draft, in that not many useful creatures came to me in pack 2 either. Eventually, I ended up with a bombless not so synergistic build after pack 3: Crow of Dark Tidings, 3 Ghoulcaller's Accomplice, Pale Rider of Trostad, Uninvited Geist / Unimpeded Trespasser, 2 Furtive Homunculus, Niblis of Dusk, Silent Observer, Stitched Mangler, Stormrider Spirit, Gloomwidow, Watcher in the Web, Dead Weight, 2 Murderous Compulsion, 2 Throttle, Gone Missing, Sleep Paralysis, Just the Wind, Foul Orchard, 8 Island, 7 Swamp, and 2 Forest. My relatively large sideboard unfortunately didn't provide much help: Drownyard Explorers, Lamplighter of Selhoff, another Watcher in the Web, Shamble Back, Catalog, Deny Existence, Ghostly Wings, another Gone Missing, Press for Answers, and 2 Jace's Scrutiny. Despite my meagre deck/result, I firmly think this very deep Shadows over Innistrad set rocks ... !
I participated in the 2016-04-29 FNM Draft at Demo-Spel Leuven, which might become my more regular hangout. I drafted a reasonable GR mini-splash W deck, apparently again rareless but at least using 10 uncommons: Wicker Witch, Loam Dryad, Cult of the Waxing Moon, 2 Obsessive Skinner, Pack Guardian, Thornhide Wolves, Bloodmad Vampire, 2 Ember-Eye Wolf, 2 Pyre Hound, Kessig Forgemaster / Flameheart Werewolf, Dual Shot, Reduce to Ashes, 2 Angelic Purge, Geistblast, Uncaged Fury, Inner Struggle, Lightning Axe, Malevolent Whispers, Stone Quarry, 8 Forest, 8 Mountain, and a Plains. Sideboard: Sanguinary Mage, Gibbering Fiend, Ravenous Bloodseeker, 2 Rush of Adrenaline, and Moonlight Hunt. This deck led me to a 2-0 win against BU, a 2-0 win against BRW, and a 0-2 loss against a GWb Clue deck (which no doubt was one of the strongest Booster Draft decks I ever encountered: drawing twice as many cards as me and getting to 30+ life, accompanied by an ever superior board state). I might want to intensify my modest playing schedule towards weekly FNM Booster Drafts because my missed triggers, due to relative unfamiliarity (read: not playing/concentrating enough), are sometimes getting embarrassing. Since I have restarted collecting cards, I'm also not losing value anymore. Obviously, it also beats watching TV and other nonsense, so let's just do this ...
My GWb deck at the 2016-05-06 FNM stranded at a 1-2-0 result: 2-0 win against GW, 1-2 loss against GRu (Howlpack Resurgence ...), and 0-1 loss against BR (actually losing when opponent had only 2 cards left in his library after excessive Mad Prophet based rummaging, i.e. reverse looting). After pack 1 pick 1 Welcome to the Fold and some other Blue cards, I switched to the surprisingly more open Green and White colors (especially after drafting Sigarda, Heron's Grace). I also couldn't pass a Morkrut Necropod, strongly suggesting a Black mini-splash. Again, not an extreme lot of synergy in my deck, but still very playable: Kessig Dire Swine, Solitary Hunter / One of the Pack, Watcher in the Web, Thraben Inspector, Sigarda, Heron's Grace, Hermit of the Natterknolls / Lone Wolf of the Natterknolls, Town Gossipmonger / Incited Rabble, Harvest Hand / Scrounged Scythe, Morkrut Necropod, Graf Mole, Nearheath Chaplain, Spectral Shepherd, Topplegeist, Vessel of Ephemera, Explosive Apparatus, Throttle, Aim High, 2 Angelic Purge, Puncturing Light, 2 Bound by Moonsilver, Forsaken Sanctuary, 8 Plains, 7 Forest, and 2 Swamp. Sideboard: Moldgraf Scavenger, Humble the Brute, another Explosive Apparatus, and Crawling Sensation. As a side note, I'm planning to write some modest software that will provide lots of pre-configured advanced Gatherer filters, tailored to the specific Limited blocks. This should support more efficient card groups/synergies lookup, especially upon newly published expansion sets (i.e. right before the actual Sealed Deck prereleases and release drafts). In particular, this might guide viable draft strategy discovery/elaboration.
No, I didn't play Triskaidekaphobia on Friday the 13th (2016-05-13), but winning only 1 game per match didn't do me any good, either. My BR mini-splash G (for The Gitrog Monster) brew didn't get any further than a 1-1 draw against BW, a 1-2 loss against a very fast RW deck (getting killed out of nowhere by an unfortunate Pyre Hound + Rush of Adrenaline + Uncaged Fury combo, very early during the 3rd game, despite my actual battlefield overtake), and a 1-2 loss against GR (i.e. a couple of Howlpack Resurgence). My deck list for completeness: 2 Mad Prophet, Kindly Stranger / Demon-Possessed Witch, Pale Rider of Trostad, Tooth Collector, 2 Incorrigible Youths, Wicker Witch, 2 Crow of Dark Tidings, 2 Rancid Rats, Vampire Noble, Ember-Eye Wolf, Gatstaf Arsonists / Gatstaf Ravagers, Voldaren Duelist, The Gitrog Monster, 2 Gisa's Bidding, Inner Struggle, Murderous Compulsion, Dual Shot, 8 Mountain, 8 Swamp, 2 Forest. Just a couple of sideboard options: Biting Rain, Village Messenger / Moonrise Intruder, Farbog Revenant, a 2nd Gatstaf Arsonists / Gatstaf Ravagers, and Grotesque Mutation. My previously mentioned 'Magic Brew' software will take another couple of weeks to complete, already having tested lots of 'Battle for Zendikar' and 'Shadows over Innistrad' block filters, thereby setting up a generic block/set-independent filters classification framework. The framework primarily filters on color combinations, tribes, permanents, spells (interactivity), zones (transitions and tools, especially battlefield tools), and resources (i.e. life and mana). It also (for draft purposes) provides rarity based subfilters, always sorting everything by ascending CMC. All of this will become clear in due time. For now, I'm sweating the software implementation details ...
From the previous world, I built a better one on 2016-05-20. I drafted White (even picking slightly inferior cards during pack 1 to entirely cut this color) plus Green. In retrospect, both my rares didn't actually get played, but 1 of my 4 uncommons was really good: Tenacity. Apparently, mana curve really is everything: I mostly kept the pressure on from each game start, helped by just a couple of cheap instants and just enough Human related shenanigans. Some Clues and occasionally hitting Delirium didn't do any harm either. I'm sure staying away from my '(mini-)splash some 3rd color' tendency cemented the necessary consistency. This all got me to an unbeaten 2-0-1 result: 2-0 against BR Vampires, 1-1 against a controlling BU deck (after having taken a mulligan), and 2-0 against GR Werewolves, winning a nice couple of booster packs (even including some extra value). My deck: Veteran Cathar, Paranoid Parish-Blade, Intrepid Provisioner, Wicker Witch, Byway Courier, Watcher in the Web, 2 Cathar's Companion, Inquisitor's Ox, 2 Moorland Drifter, Town Gossipmonger / Incited Rabble, Thraben Inspector, Vessel of Ephemera, Seasons Past, Tenacity, True-Faith Censer, Rabid Bite, Aim High, 2 Angelic Purge, 2 Puncturing Light, Westvale Abbey / Ormendahl, Profane Prince, 8 Forest, and 8 Plains. My sideboard primarily contained a couple of useful instants (Humble the Brute and a 3rd Puncturing Light) plus some rather minor cards: Kessig Dire Swine, Moldgraf Scavenger, Explosive Apparatus, and Survive the Night. Apart from all this, my 'Magic Brew' work is progressing, but (for complex game concept search filters) there's more testing involved than I initially hoped for. To be continued ...
Again, an unbeaten 2-0-1 result on 2016-05-27, playing main color Black + side color Red. I decided not to abandon Red after my first pack first pick Sin Prodder, resisting my 'temptation of the splash' upon several good packs passing by. I again payed a lot of attention to the low end of my mana curve, including enough Rancid Rats in order to gain time towards my high-end creatures (i.e. 2 Morkrut Necropod and a Gatstaf Arsonists / Gatstaf Ravagers). I won 2-1 against a UR deck, 2-1 against a URW deck, and drew 1-1 against a mono-G deck (where I should have had more defensive patience instead of hoping that my opponent would not topdeck). My deck: Sin Prodder, 2 Tooth Collector, Accursed Witch / Infectious Curse, 2 Morkrut Necropod, 2 Crow of Dark Tidings, Farbog Revenant, 3 Rancid Rats, Sanitarium Skeleton, Vampire Noble, Ember-Eye Wolf, Gatstaf Arsonists / Gatstaf Ravagers, Dance with Devils, Explosive Apparatus, Dead Weight, Murderous Compulsion, 2 Throttle, Dual Shot, 9 Swamp, and 8 Mountain. My sideboard only consisted of 2 Reduce to Ashes, which I mostly swapped in to slightly lower my curve against Blue creature bouncing (i.e. swapping out both my Morkrut Necropod). Renovation works at home prevented me from continuing my 'Magic Brew' software, but I'll gladly abandon the dust ...
Magic drafting turkey on 2016-06-03: 3rd consecutive strike ! After a first pack first pick Descend upon the Sinful, I ended up in GW Humans, mentally tracking my (excellent 2-6-3-2-2) creatures mana curve while drafting, and paying attention to low-cost pump spells (2 Strength of Arms, actually collecting the token bonus a couple of times, despite playing only 1 equipment: True-Faith Censer). As opposed to above mentioned rare (which I mainly sideboarded for mana curve considerations), I happily played both other first picks on multiple occasions: Duskwatch Recruiter / Krallenhorde Howler and especially Pious Evangel / Wayward Disciple (its transformed version allowing for a deciding overrun in the 3rd game of the difficult 2nd match). I went 2-0 against a BRW deck, 2-1 against a GUw Clues deck, and 2-0 against a UR deck. In fact, I only lost 1 game because of a very debatable mulligan decision against the Clues card drawing/advantage engine powered opponent. Already having mulliganed to 6 cards (on the draw), I kept a 1 Plains hand with only Green 2-drops in sight; indeed, despite scrying, a Forest only showed up after 3 turns or so ... My full deck (which I'll try to present in creatures/non-creatures/land mana curve + rarity + alphabetical order from now on): Town Gossipmonger / Incited Rabble, Thraben Inspector, Duskwatch Recruiter / Krallenhorde Howler, Obsessive Skinner, Veteran Cathar, Hinterland Logger / Timber Shredder, Moorland Drifter, Quilled Wolf, Hermit of the Natterknolls / Lone Wolf of the Natterknolls, Pious Evangel / Wayward Disciple, Spectral Shepherd, Intrepid Provisioner, Solitary Hunter / One of the Pack, Thornhide Wolves, Watcher in the Web, 2 Strength of Arms, Aim High, Puncturing Light, 2 Rabid Bite, True-Faith Censer, Silverstrike, 9 Plains (because of both 1-drops), and 8 Forest. My sideboard: 2 Expose Evil (of which I might just have played 1), 2 (no splash, hence unnecessary) Fork in the Road, an extra Puncturing Light, 2 (unused, because not enough Delirium in the main deck) Vessel of Nascency, and a Descend upon the Sinful. Small anecdote: I drafted my last missing common for my non-foil singles collection: Quilled Wolf. Redirecting my mind from the ongoing construction works at home, I'm convinced the GW Humans archetype provides the best color combination within this SOI draft landscape, considering I didn't even need any Angelic Purge in above deck, and considering the fact that (nasty high-end creatures and board wipe) rares are unnecessary: excellent small (even 1-drop) synergistic creatures, evasive/flying and Clue generating creatures, low-cost removal and pump spells, some fitting equipment, multiple anthems (i.e. giving all creatures +1/+1), and even the best defensive creature (i.e. Watcher in the Web), mostly avoiding 18th land inclusion. This kind of deck certainly is more resilient to mana screw (i.e. usually already strongly functioning with only 3 lands on the battlefield), but most importantly: it always keeps the pressure on. If not, then mid to late game Delirium might still do the trick. What more could you want ... ? (I might be slightly biased, since I mostly/successfully played GW during my early 1994-1996 years, but still ...)
2016-06-08: 3rd place in a single 10 players draft pod, hence my 4th consecutive prize support bingo ! I now seem to have enough trade to complete my SOI singles collection, except for the 4 most expensive cards (= 2 at 30 USD and 2 at 15 USD), i.e. the 3 planeswalkers plus Archangel Avacyn / Avacyn, the Purifier). One of many good things about the Demo-Spel Draft League in Leuven is that its events occur both on Wednesdays and FNM Fridays. Actually, only having participated in 7 of the 20 past events (because I only started after the first 8), with 3 more to go (out of 6), i.e. just once a week, and (like this week) on Wednesday if other priorities on Friday, I'm currently in the top 15% of the overall ranking. However, I doubt I'll make it to the top 8 (coincidentally top 8%) for additional prize support. It mainly depends on students attitude towards exams versus playing more events with prize support in sight, I suppose. Of course, it would also assume my above average continuation, but I'm only human (no GW pun intended) ... Small note; the Draft League scoring system awards an extra 'participation' point on top of the regular match result (i.e. 3 points per win, and 1 point per draw). Yesterday's actual results: 2-0 win against BR, 2-1 win against UWb (getting mana screwed on 3 lands in the 2nd game, after a double mulligan), and 1-2 loss against a well-drafted BR killer deck (unfortunately only drawing Swamp during the 1st game, patiently grinding my opponent out via my first pack first pick The Gitrog Monster in the 2nd game, and extremely unfortunately mulliganing to below 4 cards (actually 2, keeping a 2 lands hand) in the 3rd game, which is only the 2nd time that ever happened to me: really bad 7 en 6 cards hands, no lands at 5 and 4 cards, and only 5-drops + 1 land at 3 cards. All in all a good result, considering the relatively low deck synergy, caused by a general lack of creatures during the 1st and 2nd packs (even temporarily switching to and abandoning White). My (again memorized-curve-while-drafting-and-14-creatures-plus-9-spells-'junk'-preference) deck: Heir of Falkenrath / Heir to the Night, Olivia's Bloodsworn, Hinterland Logger / Timber Shredder, Moldgraf Scavenger, 2 Quilled Wolf, Rancid Rats, Crow of Dark Tidings, Vampire Noble, Intrepid Provisioner, 2 Solitary Hunter / One of the Pack, The Gitrog Monster, Thornhide Wolves, Watcher in the Web, 2 Dead Weight, Explosive Apparatus, Aim High, 2 Rabid Bite, True-Faith Censer, Throttle, Foul Orchard, 8 Forest, and 8 Swamp. My sideboard: Veteran Cathar, Graf Mole, Vessel of Nascency, Clip Wings (specifically used against the UWb flyers deck), Fork in the Road, Macabre Waltz, and Magnifying Glass. I have the impression I'm getting better at the for me hardest MTG aspect, i.e. combat (particularly attacking). And yes, a significant scope change in the construction works at home does eat up a large part of my otherwise 'Magic Brew' software construction time. Never give up, right ... ?
Rareless deck syndrome struck again on 2016-06-15. I drafted a mono-White deck, not seeing many reasonable cards in other colors (besides some mediocre Blue ones, which I should have picked in hindsight). My deck's curve wasn't fantastic, nor did I gather enough Human synergy to at least have the prospects of winning a single game. Luckily, I was bye during the 2nd round, so that I only lost 0-2 twice (against a UW and a BGW Delirium deck, respectively). Let's simply list my deck: Town Gossipmonger / Incited Rabble, 2 Thraben Inspector, 2 Devilthorn Fox, Pious Evangel / Wayward Disciple, Spectral Shepherd, Cathar's Companion, Dauntless Cathar, Militant Inquisitor, Nearheath Chaplain, Apothecary Geist, Inspiring Captain, Reaper of Flight Moonsilver, Explosive Apparatus, 2 Strength of Arms, 2 Expose Evil, Puncturing Light, True-Faith Censer, Survive the Night, Silverstrike, 14 Plains, and 3 Island. Sideboard: 2 Inquisitor's Ox, another Strength of Arms, 2 Vessel of Ephemera, Deny Existence, Ethereal Guidance, and a usable Humble the Brute. Small note: I did hate-draft some value rares (because there simply wasn't anything else for me). Unfortunately, those cards included BR and RR casting cost, hence not even remotely playable in my deck. I can't complain about trading afterwards, so I consider the evening successful after all (and I did learn a couple of new things, as always) ...
2016-06-17: first-picking Jace, Unraveler of Secrets (also good for my collection) and seeing Rise from the Tides and a couple of Pyre Hound happily pushed me into the UR spells deck. This requires a totally diffent playing style (a bit outside my comfort zone), but, boy, this really was a lot of fun ! I didn't lose any match, but got stuck in 2 draws (once clearly behind, and once clearly ahead). I obtained a 1-1 draw against a BU deck (my opponent even having been my right neighbour drafter, and me mulliganing twice to 5 cards), a 2-0 win against a weak GW deck, and a 1-1 draw against a GR Werewolves deck. To my pleasant surprise, this result was sufficient for 3rd place prize support. (In principle, I only play once a week, but I skipped a week early on after the prerelease, hence catching up ...). After the first round, I actually switched from 17 to 18 lands, but my deck remained a slightly more aggressive version than the usual stall-and-bomb stereotype (particularly due to my lack of Just the Wind; thanks a lot, right neighbour ...). The one card that definitely exceeded my expectation was Jace's Scrutiny (especially in combination with instant creature growth), the honorable mention going to Dance with Devils. My Jace, Unraveler of Secrets never showed up during play, but my pile of rares/uncommons certainly did ... My deck: Kessig Forgemaster / Flameheart Werewolf, Ravenous Bloodseeker, Sanguinary Mage, Sin Prodder, Bloodmad Vampire, 2 Stitched Mangler, Aberrant Researcher / Perfected Form, 2 Pyre Hound, Dual Shot, Explosive Apparatus, 2 Jace's Scrutiny, Welcome to the Fold, Dance with Devils, Inner Struggle, Malevolent Whispers, Sleep Paralysis, Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, Pore Over the Pages, Rise from the Tides, Highland Lake, 9 Mountain, and 8 Island. My versatile sideboard: Falkenrath Gorger, Gibbering Fiend, Ember-Eye Wolf, 2 Seagraf Skaab, Epiphany at the Drownyard, Skin Invasion / Skin Shedder, Rush of Adrenaline, Vessel of Paramnesia, Broken Concentration, Fleeting Memories, Magnifying Glass, Trail of Evidence, and Gone Missing. I haven't tried the popular UG Clues archetype, yet, so perhaps next time; can't go wrong on Green ...
2016-06-22: my first pack first pick went between Flameblade Angel and Angelic Purge. I reluctantly took the former, i.e. despite liking White more than Red, and disliking the consequences of starting with a 6-drop. Anyway, following the open colors, I tried my best to again pull a decent UR Spells deck together, but I definitely ended up lacking a couple of key cards. This led to a somewhat predictable unspectacular result: a 0-2 loss versus BR, a 2-0 win versus BRW, and a 0-2 loss versus GW, unfortunately thereby killing my remaining Draft League top 8 chances (unless unrealistically I would win the last draft 3-0-0, both currently last top 8 people would not participate, and nobody else would jump into the top 8). My deck: 3 Sanguinary Mage, Bloodmad Vampire, Stitched Mangler, Aberrant Researcher / Perfected Form, Pyre Hound, Silent Observer, Gatstaf Arsonists / Gatstaf Ravagers, Stormrider Spirit, Flameblade Angel, Dual Shot, Compelling Deterrence, Just the Wind, 2 Tormenting Voice, Fiery Temper, Inner Struggle, 2 Sleep Paralysis, Devils' Playground, Rise from the Tides, Highland Lake, 9 Mountain, and 8 Island. Also, my sideboard: Ember-Eye Wolf, Ulrich's Kindred, Silburlind Snapper, another Dual Shot, Rush of Adrenaline, Corrupted Grafstone, Ghostly Wings, Fevered Visions, Broken Concentration, 2 Catalog, and Gone Missing. Even though the occasional disappointing result, the Shadows over Innistrad draft format is so deep that it's almost impossible to turn up with an unplayable/underwhelming/unfun deck. Other good news is that the bulk of the construction works at home is now over, so I'll shortly resume my 'Magic Brew' software (despite the inflicted lower back pain) ...
2016-06-29: relativey close (i.e. 1-1-1 result), but no cigar ... A first pack first pick Sinister Concoction (over a Soul Swallower) and a second pick Pore Over the Pages (again over a Soul Swallower) kind of pushed me into the unfavorable BU archetype (in the sense that I needed a more likely GW based 3-0-0 result to make it into the overall standings prize support). As it happened, I obtained a narrow 2-0 win (both game endings being very close) against BW, a 1-1 draw against RW (winning the 2nd game against Nahiri, the Harbinger by means of a Silent Observer + True-Faith Censer, but getting slaugthered by this planeswalker during the 1st game), and a 'sure' 0-2 loss against a very fast RW deck. My desperate ravings: Sanitarium Skeleton, 2 Furtive Homunculus, Ghoulcaller's Accomplice, Rancid Rats, Uninvited Geist, Crow of Dark Tidings, 2 Farbog Revenant, Stitched Mangler, Accursed Witch / Infectious Curse, Silent Observer, Ghoulsteed, Stormrider Spirit, Sinister Concoction, Jace's Scrutiny, Press for Answers, True-Faith Censer, Catalog, 2 Sleep Paralysis, Pore Over the Pages, Throttle, 9 Swamp, and 8 Island. My sideboard: Daring Sleuth / Bearer of Overwhelming Truths, Erdwal Illuminator, 2 Seagraf Skaab, Hound of the Farbogs, another Stormrider Spirit, 2 Twins of Maurer Estate, Silburlind Snapper, another Press for Answers, Gone Missing, and Ever After. Strange but true: I actually won the 'random booster' prize support, whatever that means. Well, it definitely means Demo-Spel Leuven rocks ... ! As a side note, I have arranged to complete my SOI singles collection next week (purely by trading), except for the 4 most expensive mythic rares. Of course, there's still time until the end of September (i.e. the Kaladesh release) to get lucky opening those during the upcoming Eldritch Moon prerelease events and/or SOI block draft events thereafter. Conclusion: playing prereleases + drafting once a week on average (with usually 2 draft pods attendance) seems to be 'enough' to complete a large set's singles collection.
At the 2016-07-08 FNM, I was determined to only go for archetypes I hadn't drafted yet: RW aggro, UG Clues, and UW flyers (hence no Black). As it happened, my pack 1 pick 1 was a Silverstrike over a better Sinister Concoction. In fact, I also took a pack 2 pick 1 Fiery Temper over a Elusive Tormentor / Insidious Mist. Same goes for a couple of other picks as well. Forcing colors usually results in a nagging feeling, but some Innistrad strangeness (like a 7th pick Angelic Purge) surely helped me out. I ended up with a removal-heavy RW aggro-ish deck (in fact 9 removal spells + Dance with Devils + extra madness enabler Tormenting Voice + only 12 creatures), also with a reasonable shot at enabling delirium. Counting the mana curve while drafting helped me to get this deck mostly functioning on 4 mana (which is almost as good as the sometimes 3 mana based aggressive GW brews). All of this led me to win my draft pod ! Against a BG deck, I stranded at a 1-1 draw, just in time killing my opponent by means of reactively cracking a Clue and topdecking a Fiery Temper with just enough madness mana left after killing my opponent's Rottenheart Ghoul. In the third game, I could only get my opponent to 1 life during her very last turn after called time, by means of my delirium enabled Gibbering Fiend. After that, I easily won 2-0 against a sparse RWg deck. My 3rd round UG Clues opponent decked himself during called time in game 2, unable to punch through in a stalled board situation (his 10 versus my 8 creatures), me having a low life total but still holding my Silverstrike. Hence, 2-0 win again. My (junk preference biased) deck: 2 Thraben Inspector, Gibbering Fiend, Kessig Forgemaster / Flameheart Werewolf, Moorland Drifter, Cathar's Companion, Wicker Witch, 2 Pyre Hound, Voldaren Duelist, Incorrigible Youths, Gatstaf Arsonists / Gatstaf Ravagers, Lightning Axe, Dual Shot, Explosive Apparatus, Puncturing Light, Tormenting Voice, Angelic Purge, 2 Fiery Temper, Dance with Devils, Inner Struggle, Silverstrike, 9 Mountain, and 8 Plains. Sideboard: Unruly Mob, Inquisitor's Ox, Vessel of Ephemera, Ethereal Guidance, and 2 Reduce to Ashes. I must say, in this spell-heavy deck, I do like the annoying 2-for-1 Cathar's Companion based blowouts (i.e. simply targeting opponent's 2nd creature during combat). Also, both Pyre Hound were quite useful in this setup. Unrelated good news is my 'Magic Brew' software is progressing again: the end of my remaining backlog is coming in sight ... Unfortunately, there's still a lot of labor intensive (i.e. non-automated) testing / data verification involved. Also, some unrelated statistics news: after weekly drafting since the SOI release, I have been tracking my performance (retroactively since my first draft on 2013-05-17): 77 match wins, 74 match losses, and 20 match draws, resulting in an overall 4.40 (= 49%) score (counting 3 for a win and 1 for a draw, with a maximum attainable result of 9 per event). Almost breaking even ... At least, my Demo-Spel SOI result is 5.08 (= 56%).
2016-07-13: I forced a UW aggro deck, including just a couple of flyers (abandoning Green after unclear UG Clues potential). I lost 1-2 against a mono Red aggro deck (due to an unfortunate mulligan + getting stuck on 2 lands in game 3), was bye in round 2, and won 2-1 against a BU deck. My brew: Thraben Inspector, 2 Devilthorn Fox, Furtive Homunculus, Moorland Drifter, 3 Cathar's Companion, 2 Niblis of Dusk, Stitchwing Skaab, 3 Inspiring Captain, Strength of Arms, Explosive Apparatus, Just the Wind, 2 Puncturing Light, True-Faith Censer, 2 Angelic Purge, Welcome to the Fold, 10 Plains, and 7 Island. My actively used sideboard consisted of Daring Sleuth / Bearer of Overwhelming Truths, Uninvited Geist / Unimpeded Trespasser, Wicker Witch, Apothecary Geist, Drownyard Explorers, Inquisitor's Ox, Reaper of Flight Moonsilver, Silburlind Snapper, 2 Deny Existence, Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, and 2 Gone Missing. After 15 SOI drafts, I apparently never ended up with the UG Clues deck. Also, any mostly common card deck (perhaps obviously) seemed to work best in an aggro concept. I forgot to mention that my previous winning (forced) RW aggro deck was in fact rareless (but it had a lot of uncommons). My (also forced) UW aggro deck listed above only had 1 rare and 1 uncommon in it. Similar observations apply to my earlier preferred GW deck(s). I doubt I will force color combinations again in the future (nor would I continue biasing my picks towards the most lacking colors in my collection), but it certainly had its charms (and it was very instructional) ...
I had a superfun 2016-07-16/2016-07-17 Eldritch Moon prerelease (hence Sealed Deck) experience at the beloved Demo-Spel Leuven location: an always friendly stress-resistant shopkeeper and judges, lots of enthusiastic players, new cards eagerness, great set mechanics, and even great value in my sealed pools. Coming prepared always helps, so I must have watched nearly all available EMN set reviews from my favorite YouTube channels (up to and including the very early Eldritch Moon Limited Review: Archetype Guide). I played all 4 prereleases (i.e. except the prior midnight prerelease), simply to maximize the amount of different card pools, and of course to take a head start in completing my singles collection. Well, 'only' 64 cards to go (of which 32 mythics and rares, after already having trading away a foil Eldritch Evolution), with solid further prospects (considering a spare Nahiri, the Harbinger and a couple of foil Gisela, the Broken Blade / Brisela, Voice of Nightmares). Main thing to remember from the play experience itself: count your life total whenever opponent has 3 green mana available and a couple of creatures on the battlefield. Yes, I got crushed 3 times by an opposing Decimator of the Provinces (irrespective of the, perhaps to be expected, trigger misread). One opponent even had 2 of those horrific creatures in his card pool. In retrospect, a couple of bombs really (as usual in Sealed Deck) did introduce extra variance, but the obvious countermeasure, as ever, remains: mind your curve to keep the initiative/pressure !
Bingo (in a sense), opening my first card pool: Liliana, the Last Hope. Unfortunately, I had to resort to a UW build, including lots of tappers (actually misreading my couple of Fogwalker), but without a strong finisher. I splashed Red for a single Spreading Flames. I went 1-2-0 (winning 2-1 against BG, losing 0-2 against RW aggro, and again losing 0-2 against GRW).
My 2nd pool led to a very reasonable midrangy GW deck (albeit without strong finisher, the 'strongest' card being It of the Horrid Swarm, and again without much removal) which performed 2-1-0, i.e. 2-1 win against RW, 1-2 loss against GW, and 2-1 win against BW. Close, but no cigar. I didn't mind the 3 boosters prize support over any potential cigars, of course ...
I had slept a bit more before the 2nd prerelease day, hence I also played a lot sharper. After some pool doubts, I concluded with a RW deck (this time with enough removal, but necessarily clunky in the 3 CMC spot). I went 1-2-0: 1-2 loss against BR almost purely Vampires, 2-0 win against GW (a beginning player, whom I helped afterwards by explaining and strongly optimizing his deck), and 1-2 loss against GR. Yes, the double Decimator of the Provinces out of nowhere cost me 2 boosters prize support. However, the foil Gisela, the Broken Blade / Brisela, Voice of Nightmares in my single booster plus the same foil promo already in my card pool smoothed out things quite nicely.
My card pool quality clearly kept improving further down the event, because I hit jackpot with my 4th one: double Nahiri, the Harbinger, double Ride Down, Thalia, Heretic Cathar, plus some useful additional removal again pointed towards a RW deck. Never mind some strong (unsplashable) rares in the other colors. Last minute, despite about 7 Humans in my deck, I decided against the Green mini-splash for Heron's Grace Champion (due to aggro mana base considerations). Despite some mediocre low drop fillers, I did include the always playable Eternal Scourge. Because I'm convinced it's wrong to strongly and/or repeatedly alert beginning players to slow play in (especially prerelease) regular events, I didn't manage to start a 3rd game in the 2nd match (against a slow/defensive double Geist of the Archives scrying UR deck). That might have cost me the optimal 3-0-0 result. We'll never know, but I really don't care ... Result (suboptimal 2-0-1, but not losing any match): 2-1 against WGb (losing the first game by getting beaten down on the draw with a useless Ride Down in my hand), then, as mentioned, 1-1 draw against UR (actually losing the 2nd game in called time because my opponent held a crucial counterspell in a racing situation), and finally winning 2-0 against BR madness. It was just amazing to see both my Nahiri, the Harbinger dutifully perform their 'assassination' work ...
The 2016-07-22 release draft brought me many Black (a.o. Murder) and Green (a.o. Clear Shot) removal, which kept me in those colors, despite a potential pack 2 pick 1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar. Strongly minding my curve, I wound up with a bombless/rareless aggro deck containing a reasonably strong Delirium aspect. Also, I drafted a double Graf Rats / Chittering Host + Midnight Scavengers / Chittering Host pair, so that I actually melded 2 creatures for the first time (during round 1). I won 2-0 against GU, lost 1-2 against a GR (Were)wolves deck, and finally won 2-1 against a RW deck. Perhaps my (preferred 14 creatures, 9 spells, 17 lands) deck contained slightly too many 2 power creatures: Gnarlwood Dryad, Field Creeper, 2 Graf Rats / Chittering Host, Moldgraf Scavenger, 2 Olivia's Dragoon, Shrill Howler / Howling Chorus, Crow of Dark Tidings, Thraben Foulbloods, Backwoods Survivalists, 2 Midnight Scavengers / Chittering Host, Watcher in the Web, Prey Upon, Aim High, Murderous Compulsion, Autumnal Gloom / Ancient of the Equinox, 2 Clear Shot, 2 Boon of Emrakul, Murder, 9 Swamp, and 8 Forest. Sidedeck: 2 Wailing Ghoul, Bloodbriar, Gavony Unhallowed, Weirded Vampire, 2 Borrowed Malevolence, 2 Vessel of Nascency, and Macabre Waltz. Again a very interesting and deep draft format, so I'm already curious what the next drafts will bring ...
Drafting a rareless RW aggro deck on 2016-07-27 was good enough for a 2-0 win against a weak UR spells deck, a narrow 2-1 win against a GR deck, and a 0-2 loss against a UWg deck, respectively: Thraben Inspector, Ember-Eye Wolf, Field Creeper, Sigardian Priest, Steadfast Cathar, Thermo-Alchemist, 2 Brazen Wolves, Cathar's Companion, Dauntless Cathar, 2 Ironclad Slayer, Courageous Outrider, 2 Fiend Binder, Lightning Axe, Galvanic Bombardment, Strength of Arms, Ride Down, Borrowed Grace, Choking Restraints, Inner Struggle, Alchemist's Greeting, 9 Plains, and 8 Mountain. Sideboard: Village Messenger / Moonrise Intruder, Faithbearer Paladin, 2 Borrowed Hostility, Dual Shot, Malevolent Whispers, and Humble the Brute. Next time, I might slighty force Blue, so that I also get a draft feel for the presumably weakest color in the format ...
2016-07-29: aggro again. This time, I went for UW (completing my planned color wheel test), actually including a rare card. However, having drafted too many 2 power creatures, I could only win 1 game against numbers 1 and 2 in the new Demo-Spel Draft League standings, respectively: 1-2 loss against UG (with lots of Emerge creatures, including enchantment removal), 2-0 win against BR, and 1-2 loss against a very low curve UW Spirits deck (winning the 2nd game race situation by means of a Repel the Abominable from my sideboard). My deck: Town Gossipmonger, Field Creeper, Guardian of Pilgrims, Moorland Drifter, Sigardian Priest, Steadfast Cathar, Tattered Haunter, Nebelgast Herald, Cathar's Companion, 2 Ingenious Skaab, Wicker Witch, Courageous Outrider, Inspiring Captain, Emissary of the Sleepless, Strength of Arms, Imprisoned in the Moon, Choking Restraints, 2 Drag Under, Faith Unbroken, Tenacity, Sleep Paralysis, 9 Plains, and 8 Island. My sideboard: Inquisitor's Ox, Lamplighter of Selhoff, Turn Aside, Repel the Abominable, Compelling Deterrence. Next time, I'd like to try out UG Emerge myself, or UR Spells, GR Wolves, or GW Humans, hence no Black. Anyway, I'll probably take the wisest route and just go with the signals flow ...
After my vacation, on 2016-08-17, I drafted the in my view perfect (CMC slots 2-/3/4/5+) 7/5/3/1 = 16 creatures curve. However, my rareless GW semi-Human mini-'splash' Wretched Gryff deck luckily didn't become a trainwreck due to neighbouring pick colors: I initially picked some U(G) Emerge creatures and tried all 3 Blue, Green, and White colors up to the end of pack 1. I knew my 2nd right neighbour was picking Green and Red from his announced transform cards, and I suspected my right neighbour to be picking Blue (since this color dried up very quickly). Also, again from announced transform cards, my neighbour was picking White. Pack 2 told me my left neighbour clearly was in Blue/Red, so I managed to get some good picks (especially strong removal). However, pack 3 was meagre again. Yes, that's the disadvantage of refusing to draft 1 specific (open) color, in this case Black ... Anyway, I managed a 1-1 draw against mentioned UR opponent, I lost 0-1 against a very interesting BG Delirium deck (almost decking himself twice, using a.o. Emrakul's Evangel, Dusk Feaster, Eldritch Evolution, multiple Boon of Emrakul, multiple Succumb to Temptation, and last but not least Westvale Abbey / Ormendahl, Profane Prince), and I pulverized my other mentioned UW opponent (i.e. 2-0 win). Next time, if Black would be open, I'd go for BW control; otherwise, I'll surely be picking any 2-color combination of the 3 remaining Blue/Green/Red colors to keep things interesting. By the way, I reluctantly played the high-variance Faith Unbroken card, which got me a couple of 'aggro wins' (i.e. suddenly getting ahead by forcing opponent down to a low life total, so that it doesn't matter anymore whether the exiled creature might reappear), but which also cost me the game a couple of times (i.e. in 'gambling scenarios' where opponent's potential creature return mattered greatly, but where I still needed/wanted to go for this instead of having a temporarily dead card in hand without much other option). For completeness' sake, my deck: Crossroads Consecrator, Hamlet Captain, Obsessive Skinner, Devilthorn Fox, Guardian of Pilgrims, Sigardian Priest, Ulvenwald Captive, Gloomwidow, 3 Dawn Gryff, Ironclad Slayer, Apothecary Geist, 2 Fiend Binder, Wretched Gryff, Prey Upon, Puncturing Light, Bound by Moonsilver, 2 Choking Restraints, Faith Unbroken, Tenacity, Woodland Stream, 9 Plains, 6 Forest, and 1 Island. My mostly useless, hence unused, sideboard: Bloodbriar, Desperate Sentry, Inquisitor's Ox, Swift Spinner, Kessig Dire Swine, Lashweed Lurker, Repel the Abominable, Root Out, Springsage Ritual, and Wolfkin Bond. As a side note, I think I finally got to an optimal card trading process, in the sense of minimizing card browsing/negotiation time (pursuing my full non-foil singles sets). This is relatively important to me, because I only play/trade at prereleases and weekly booster drafts, sometimes forcibly in between rounds. I just keep a small (= 80 cards capacity) binder with me, putting all value cards (sorted by set/rarity/color) at the front, and all (less than 1 USD) 'crap' rares + foil uncommons/commons (sorted by color/set/rarity) at the back, planning to 'get rid of' the latter during each first new block set prerelease. Also, I always take a double-sided printout with me, listing recent MTG Familiar based card values for both my wanted and tradable cards on one side, plus the most wanted card images (sorted by set/rarity/color) on the other side, or simply all of them whenever that list gets small enough (= around 25 cards). Never buying/selling as such, this very workable system perfectly aligns with my cards intake rhythm = all these fun Limited events.
On 2016-08-19, my 1st pack 1st pick Gisela, the Broken Blade / Brisela, Voice of Nightmares was a blessing in disguise: very nice for my singles collection, but offbeat within my 2-color combination preferences mentioned above (because Black wasn't open). I ended up with a RW aggro-ish build, unfortunately lacking (solid) 3-drops. My gapped mana curve sometimes felt really awkward, but I managed a 0-2 loss against an excellent BR Madness deck, a 2-1 win against a slightly too high on curve Gbu Emerge deck, and a 1-1 draw (with no time left to start the 3rd game) against an annoyingly interactive UW Flyers deck. My deck: 2 Thraben Inspector, Deranged Whelp, Devilthorn Fox, Field Creeper, Sigardian Priest, Steadfast Cathar, Thermo-Alchemist, Conduit of Storms / Conduit of Emrakul, 2 Extricator of Sin / Extricator of Flesh, Gatstaf Arsonists / Gatstaf Ravagers, Vildin-Pack Outcast / Dronepack Kindred, Borrowed Hostility, Galvanic Bombardment, Strength of Arms, True-Faith Censer, Borrowed Grace, Fiery Temper, Make Mischief, Dance with Devils, Faith Unbroken, Spreading Flames, 9 Plains, and 8 Mountain. My sideboard: Falkenrath Reaver, Desperate Sentry, 2 Dual Shot, Ethereal Guidance, and Ironwright's Cleansing. Let's hope for something more exciting next time ...
I happily (because of upfront yet unplayed color combinations) opened a Ulvenwald Captive / Ulvenwald Abomination starting my 2016-08-31 draft. I built a reasonable but not exceptional GR deck, which unfortunately wasn't fast enough against the 1st round slow BG Delirium opponent (hence 0-2 loss). I won my next 2 rounds (twice 2-0) against beginning players, BW and RW, respectively. My deck: 2 Kessig Prowler / Sinuous Predator, Duskwatch Recruiter / Krallenhorde Howler, Kessig Forgemaster / Flameheart Werewolf, 2 Field Creeper, Thermo-Alchemist, Ulvenwald Captive / Ulvenwald Abomination, Brazen Wolves, Howlpack Wolf, Woodland Patrol, Briarbridge Patrol, Backwoods Survivalists, Stensia Innkeeper, Ulrich of the Krallenhorde / Ulrich, Uncontested Alpha, Sage of Ancient Lore / Werewolf of Ancient Hunger, Prey Upon, Aim High, Abandon Reason, Howlpack Resurgence, Savage Alliance, 2 Alchemist's Greeting, 9 Forest, and 8 Mountain. Sideboard: Primal Druid, Intrepid Provisioner, Kessig Dire Swine, Waxing Moon, another Alchemist's Greeting, and Wolfkin Bond. As a side note, I'm now working very hard (i.e. full-time) on my 'Magic Brew' software, thereby making good progress. I'm still battling dependent third-party web crawler tool limitations, but already styling the resulting massive (generated) search filters website. However, some semantic model design rework (i.e. generalization) and related extensive testing is upcoming next (due to Gatherer search filter URL limits). Hopefully, that won't compromise search filters expressiveness too much. My final quality check will also take some time, because the full website generation step might take around 60 hours of computer processing time (extrapolating from my current 'Shadows over Innistrad' block-only prototype). Same will go for each new upcoming set release, plus the necessary semantic model + exceptions update (including regression testing); don't know whether I'll have my first 'Magic Brew' release ready before Kaladesh ...
On 2016-09-02, after immediately picking 4 differently colored removal spells (except Blue), I was kind of forced into RW, which I wasn't too happy about. I also made a couple of gruesome playing errors, resulting in a 1-2 loss against a GW Emrakul, the Promised End deck, a 0-2 loss against UG, and a 0-2 loss against GW (actually losing twice from Bruna, the Fading Light / Brisela, Voice of Nightmares, which I did not first pack first pick because of the supposedly better Faith Unbroken ...). My deck: Insolent Neonate, Thraben Inspector, Deranged Whelp, Kessig Forgemaster / Flameheart Werewolf, Devilthorn Fox, Field Creeper, Guardian of Pilgrims, Thermo-Alchemist, Brazen Wolves, Cathar's Companion, Desperate Sentry, Ironclad Slayer, Fiend Binder, Inspiring Captain, Stensia Innkeeper, Thalia's Lancers, 2 Galvanic Bombardment, Lunarch Mantle, Borrowed Grace, Fiery Temper, Faith Unbroken, Inner Struggle, 9 Mountain, and 8 Plains. My sideboard: Scourge Wolf, Not Forgotten, Magmatic Chasm, Cryptolith Fragment / Aurora of Emrakul, 2 Make Mischief, Alchemist's Greeting, Devils' Playground, and Spreading Flames. Well, the end.
On 2016-09-09, I again followed the signals (my right neighbour clearly going for GR), unfortunately ending up in UW semi-Emerge/semi-Clues/semi-etc. I only saw 2 emerge creatures, because apparently my left neighbour went for UG (hence preemptively picking all Emerge creatures from pack 2). Because of my deck's relative card advantage, I still managed to win 2-1 against a GW deck, I lost 0-2 against mentioned left neighbour (the first game necessarily decking myself in a complete board stall position), and I reached a 1-1 draw (after losing the 1st long game) against a rather slow opponent, however playing a fast BR Madness deck. My deck: Thraben Inspector, Erdwal Illuminator, 2 Fogwalker, Bygone Bishop, Grizzled Angler / Grisly Anglerfish, Reckless Scholar, Dauntless Cathar, 2 Desperate Sentry, Exultant Cultist, Drownyard Explorers, Laboratory Brute, Faithbearer Paladin, Wretched Gryff, Vexing Scuttler, Press for Answers, Catalog, Choking Restraints, Deny Existence, 2 Drag Under, Welcome to the Fold, 9 Island, and 8 Swamp. Sideboard: Turn Aside, Contingency Plan, and Broken Concentration. Two more drafts to go before Kaladesh, so I'm hoping all further draft signals will point to the most interesting unplayed color combinations. As far as my 'Magic Brew' software goes, the card search filters website generation mechanism is up and running. Lots of semantic model tuning + extensive results quality testing ahead ...
2016-09-16: a very interesting Magic playing experience, but a meagre result ... My really slow BW first-round opponent kept us to only 2 games (1-1 draw), another 1-1 draw followed against a strong 1-1 BU Zombies deck (containing Graf Harvest and once playing 3 Spontaneous Mutation within the same turn), and finally a 0-2 loss (after called time) against a very strong BG Delirium/Clues deck (unfortunately containing Ishkanah, Grafwidow). My UG deck (after having contemplated a difficult Red mini-splash for Nahiri's Wrath, by means of 2 Primal Druid and a Mountain): Duskwatch Recruiter / Krallenhorde Howler, Fogwalker, 2 Furtive Homunculus, 2 Tattered Haunter, Foul Emissary, Shrill Howler / Howling Chorus, Byway Courier, Ingenious Skaab, Wicker Witch, Briarbridge Patrol, Stitchwing Skaab, Backwoods Survivalists, Solitary Hunter / One of the Pack, Watcher in the Web, Wretched Gryff, Explosive Apparatus, Prey Upon, Compelling Deterrence, Just the Wind, Clear Shot, Drag Under, 9 Forest, and 8 Island. Sideboard: 2 Primal Druid, Fork in the Road, 2 Convolute, and Wolfkin Bond. Next time: last Shadows over Innistrad block draft ... Let's hope for a good result, because otherwise my still excellent top 8 Draft League standing, currently 4th place, (and related prize support) might go down the drain. As a side note: I'm very happy my 'Magic Brew' software works as expected. I'm now in the process of performing an extensive final pass over all filter definitions (including workarounds/cleanup toward maximum clarity/comprehensibility), painstakingly more than full-time checking every resulting card list for correctness. Yes, exact pattern matching by means of plain text search generates an immense ton of work, but I'm afraid that was the upfront known not-so-state-of-the-art intrinsic nature of the underlying Gatherer legacy system ...
2016-09-21: autumn also fell during my last Shadows over Innistrad + Eldritch Moon draft. It was a very confusing 11-players pod, containing 3 people who had never played Magic before. Unfortunately, none of them were sitting adjacent to me ... In retrospect, this situation should have encouraged me to switch in the otherwise meagre pack 2 (despite a very reasonable pack 1). Also, playing RW again was perhaps not the best (nor funniest) idea. I easily won 2-0 against a UW beginner, but lost twice in a row (0-2) from an excelent BR Madness deck and a BUG deck, respectively. I perhaps didn't played flawlessly, but 3 mulligans (to acceptable 6-card hands) on a total of 6 games + a horrible 2-lands mana screw during the last game didn't help either. Anyway, my deck: Thraben Inspector, Kessig Forgemaster / Flameheart Werewolf, Falkenrath Reaver, Moorland Drifter, 2 Sigardian Priest, Steadfast Cathar, Harvest Hand / Scrounged Scythe, Dawn Gryff, 2 Ironclad Slayer, Nearheath Chaplain, Smoldering Werewolf / Erupting Dreadwolf, Inspiring Captain, Vildin-Pack Outcast / Dronepack Kindred, Dual Shot, Galvanic Bombardment, True-Faith Censer, Abandon Reason, Savage Alliance, Borrowed Grace, Choking Restraints, Tenacity, Stone Quarry, 8 Mountain, and 8 Plains. My sideboard: Stensia Innkeeper, another Borrowed Grace, and Alchemist's Greeting. Luckily, there's good stuff coming next weekend: Kaladesh prerelease ... !
Another quarterly biggest fun quadruple 3 Swiss rounds Sealed Deck prerelease weekend (this time Kaladesh on 2016-09-24 and 2016-09-25) has passed by. I never make it a quintuple one, since I'm pretty sure the initiating midnight prerelease event would backfire on me big time, taking into account relocation, etc. As usual: exciting new cards (despite having YouTubed multiple card set reviews, and, as a side note, already strongly using my unreleased current 'Magic Brew' software version to get even more indepth Kaladesh set insight), taking more than 20 minutes figuring out which 2 colors to eliminate (i.e. playable color combinations and synergies, mostly mini-splashing a 3rd color for extra removal purposes), crushing less prepared but otherwise strong opponents, getting crushed by significantly better card pools, helping beginners make the most of their card pools (often also explaining strategy/tactics/mechanics during play), sorting all cards after play (continuing at home with binders and Excel), sleeping less before events #3 and #4 on day 2, already trading some cards, trying to keep a clear head while playing the last rounds, and finally exiting happily with half a headache but lots of prize support booster packs. This time, I found a Chandra, Torch of Defiance amongst my foil promos ! The 1st day during the 1st event, I managed to assemble a strong BRw artifacts theme deck, getting me to the 3-0-0 maximum result ! During the 2nd event, I actually played a heavily energy oriented GRb deck (with just 1 card not quite fitting), getting me to 2-1-0, after my mistake during the last game in the match (which already was 1-1): I destroyed an opposing flyer instead of a Fairgrounds Warden, so that I might have crewed my strong vehicle by means of the returned critter to get a decisive (what's in a word :-) racing advantage. On day 2, I started with a strong RWu deck, including Chandra and 3 dual 'fast lands' in my Jeskai colors, ending up with a 2-1-0 score. I simply couldn't keep up with my first opponent's (creature =>) energy => +1/+1 counter, i.e. (Decoction Module and) Fabrication Module, triggers. My 4th card pool was not so good: Green with mostly double mana symbols way too high on curve, no +1/+1 counters synergy, and an unfortunate color divide for artifact and energy synergies. I played a clunky midrange BUr artifact-ish deck in round 1. After getting crushed, I switched to a lighter BWr build (so that I could use my Fumigate). I only managed to win (2-1) against my last round opponent, hence not finishing by total disaster: still 1-2-0 ... As you might have noticed, I always splashed a 3rd color for 1 or 2 removal (and sometimes even a 3rd card). In Sealed Deck, that's never an issue, especially considering the good Kaladesh splash support, in my decks always by means of the excellent Prophetic Prism, and occasionally Aether Hub or Attune with Aether. All in all, Kaladesh seems like a great set with lots of overpowered creatures, plus matching stronger than usual removal. As a predominantly junk player, that's great news towards the upcoming release draft (which will also conclude the quarterly Draft League edition, where I'll hopefully not fall out of the top 8, among currently 'only' 77 competing players, after multiple meagre results on only 10 drafts total). After the release draft, I'll in principle do 15 more drafts before Aether Revolt comes out. Hopefully, I'll be able to experience all 10 archetypes this time. However, I will mostly follow the draft color signals, and (considering the larger amount of drafts) I might not perform too much off-topic value picking for my singles collection. We'll see ... I was a bit more organized this prerelease, so I managed to capture all 4 played decks below.
Playing BRw 'artifacts matter', I won 2-0 against GUw, 2-0 against BW, and 2-1 against BUW (which actually seemed to be the slightly stronger deck, but got mana-screwed in the deciding game). My deck: Syndicate Trafficker, Embraal Bruiser, Dhund Operative, Reckless Fireweaver, Pia Nalaar, Foundry Inspector, Quicksmith Genius, Foundry Screecher, Lawless Broker, Prakhata Pillar-Bug, Salivating Gremlins, Spireside Infiltrator, Skyship Stalker, Aetherborn Marauder, Iron League Steed, Marionette Master, Impeccable Timing, Prophetic Prism, 2 Sky Skiff, Make Obsolete, Welding Sparks, Furious Reprisal, 8 Mountain, 8 Swamp, and 1 Plains. Sideboard: 2 Consulate Skygate, Thriving Grubs, another Prophetic Prism, Ovalchase Dragster, and 2 Ambitious Aetherborn. Very happy to have started with a maximum score ...
My GRb 'energy matters' deck: 2-0 win against UGrw, 2-0 against BR, but a perhaps unnecessary 1-2 loss against UW. Deck contents: Voltaic Brawler, Sage of Shaila's Claim, 2 Thriving Grubs, Architect of the Untamed, Aethertorch Renegade, Ghirapur Guide, Quicksmith Genius, Highspire Artisan, Bristling Hydra, Skyship Stalker, Wayward Giant, Elegant Edgecrafters, Blossoming Defense, Attune with Aether, Cathartic Reunion, Die Young, Prophetic Prism, Sky Skiff, Unlicensed Disintegration, Renegade Freighter, Welding Sparks, Hunt the Weak, 8 Forest, 8 Mountain, and 1 Swamp. Sideboard: 2 Consulate Skygate, Eager Construct, Kujar Seedsculptor, Salivating Gremlins, Metalwork Colossus, Inventor's Goggles, Ghirapur Orrery, and Ovalchase Dragster. Very reassuring to already grasp many intricacies about the 2 major new mechanics (i.e. fabricate and energy) after the 1st day, in addition to the often used Vehicle/crew mechanics, of course.
My RWb artifact/aggro-ish Chandra deck (actually never playing Saheeli Rai): 0-2 loss against aforementioned BW modules, then twice 2-0 win against BW and UR, respectively. My deck: 2 Eager Construct, 2 Eddytrail Hawk, Reckless Fireweaver, Master Trinketeer, Foundry Inspector, Whirler Virtuoso, Herald of the Fair, Salivating Gremlins, Weldfast Monitor, Visionary Augmenter, Propeller Pioneer, Wayward Giant, Select for Inspection, Sky Skiff, 2 Skywhaler's Shot, Renegade Freighter, Welding Sparks, Chandra, Torch of Defiance, 2 Malfunction, 2 Inspiring Vantage, 1 Spirebluff Canal, 6 Plains, 5 Mountain, and 3 Island. Sideboard: Speedway Fanatic, Consulate Skygate, 2 Dukhara Peafowl, Weldfast Wingsmith, 2 Fragmentize, another Select for Inspection, Cathartic Reunion, Revolutionary Rebuff, Saheeli Rai, and Whirlermaker.
Finally, my not listed (4/5/5/0 creatures curve in slots 2/3/4/5) BUr deck lost 0-2 against UW, after which I switched to the below BWr build, resulting in a 0-2 loss against a strong GR deck and a 2-1 win against another GR deck: Embraal Bruiser, Eddytrail Hawk, Eager Construct, Thriving Rats, Kambal, Consul of Allocation, Aerial Responder, Foundry Inspector, Glint-Sleeve Artisan, 2 Herald of the Fair, Lawless Broker, Prakhata Pillar-Bug, Aetherborn Marauder, Prakhata Club Security, Fragmentize, 2 Die Young, Prophetic Prism, Sky Skiff, 2 Welding Sparks, Skysovereign, Consul Flagship, Fumigate, Aether Hub, 7 Plains, 7 Swamp, and 2 Mountain. Sideboard: well, with my head already full of ache and rushing for unsleeving, trades, food, etc., I somehow mixed up my sideboard with the rest of my card pool. Doesn't matter anyway; the only thing that really counts during prereleases is fun, and there was more than a ton of that, also thanks to the (always) well-organized Demo-Spel Leuven crew and catering !
2016-09-30 Kaladesh release draft: maximum 3-0-0 result ! As the last event for the quarterly draft league, this also caused me to not lose a place in the overall standings (remaining 4th). Apparently, this led me to win 16 booster packs since the previous weekend: 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 from the prerelease, 2 from the release draft, and 4 from the league. Not bad ... My release draft was a bit strange in that I heavily picked Black and White (and 1 Blue) hard removal in pack 1, plus just a couple of 3- and 4-slot creatures. I didn't see much in pack 2, nevertheless at the end of it ticking up to 10 reasonably albeit not exceptionally playable creatures. I noticed Green was more or less open, but decided to stay in my colors anyway. I barely made it to 14 creatures (i.e. including 1 only-sometimes-being-a-creature Vehicle), but I'm a very big fan of the 9 removal spells (actually including 1 pump spell this time) + 14 creatures + 17 lands deck configuration. A reasonable (mostly Black) 4/5/4/0 creatures curve, in the 2-/3/4/5+ slots, might actually be considered as aggro in this new format, especially since creatures tend to work like a charm (helping themselves and others), despite the relatively low count. This all got me to a 2-0 win vs. UR, a 2-1 win vs. UW flyers, and a 2-1 win vs. the BW mirror. I lost games to an early Tasseled Dromedary and to only drawing 1 critter, respectively. My deck: Eager Construct, 3 Thriving Rats, Filigree Familiar, Foundry Screecher, 2 Lawless Broker, Prakhata Pillar-Bug, Snare Thopter, Maulfist Squad, Prakhata Club Security, Thriving Ibex, Built to Last, 2 Die Young, Impeccable Timing, Subtle Strike, Skywhaler's Shot, Renegade Freighter, Revoke Privileges, 2 Tidy Conclusion, 10 Swamp, and 7 Plains. Sideboard: Make Obsolete, 2 Fortuitous Find, and 3 Live Fast. Let's see what happens next time, being aware that Blue might not be the better choice among equal color alternatives ...
You'd never guess: my 2016-10-07 draft went almost exactly the same as the previous one. Again plenty of BW removal in pack 1, not much in pack 2, and scratching for just enough creatures in pack 3. Again, a rareless aggro deck (with a similar curve), but this time less artifacts/energy based synergy (and less uncommons as well). Also, my resulting score was slightly less, but still very decent: 2-0 win vs. GR, 1-2 loss vs. a midrangy BR deck, and 2-1 win vs. RW fabricate/vehicles. I'm really hoping for some other color combination next time, but this is where the signals dragged me (my right neighbour as 1st round opponent proving this point, ignoring the worst color, i.e. Blue). My deck: Trusty Companion, 2 Dhund Operative, 2 Thriving Rats, Glint-Sleeve Artisan, Herald of the Fair, Lawless Broker, Weldfast Monitor, Snare Thopter, Maulfist Squad, Prakhata Club Security, Propeller Pioneer, 2 Die Young, 2 Impeccable Timing, Subtle Strike, Skywhaler's Shot, Renegade Freighter, 2 Revoke Privileges, Tidy Conclusion, 9 Swamp, and 8 Plains. Sideboard: Bastion Mastodon, Consulate Skygate, Chief of the Foundry, another Subtle Strike, 2 Live Fast, Eliminate the Competition, and another Tidy Conclusion. Up to the next one ...
Confirmed 2016-10-14 draft conclusion: main color Blue simply doesn't work in Kaladesh. Some weak White cards as 2nd color almost made me happy when I got my 3rd round 'bye' win. I lost 0-2 against a very aggressive RW deck (which won the draft pod by beating everyone 2-0), and I lost 1-2 against another crappy Blue based (UGR) deck, except for his 3rd game Combustible Gearhulk. For completeness, my deck: Thriving Turtle, Aether Theorist, Fairgrounds Warden, Foundry Inspector, 2 Vedalken Blademaster, 2 Wind Drake, Long-Finned Skywhale, Visionary Augmenter, Nimble Innovator, Propeller Pioneer, Cloudblazer, Skyswirl Harrier, Hightide Hermit, Fragmentize, 2 Select for Inspection, Revolutionary Rebuff, Aether Tradewinds, Revoke Privileges, 2 Malfunction, 9 Island, and 8 Plains. Sideboard: Consulate Skygate, Curio Vendor, Dukhara Peafowl, Accomplished Automaton, another Aether Tradewinds, Shrewd Negotiation, and Tezzeret's Ambition. No further comments, your honor ... A small 'Magic Brew' software update: I have started the last 30, of approximately 1000, (difficult) card search filter definitions/implementations, so I'm glad the light at the end of the tunnel is becoming visible !
I started picking Black at Kaladesh draft 2016-10-21, but soon saw some Red and Green removal plus good Green energy creatures, which solidly put me in GR (keeping my splash option open via my sideboard), especially after my pack 2 pick 1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance. I had hoped to go 3-0-0 with this deck, but I got the mulligan + mana screw plague against my 2nd round RW aggro opponent. Result: 2-0 win against RW (coincidentally being my right neighbour during the draft), 0-2 loss against RW, and 2-0 win against a GW beginner. My deck: Longtusk Cub, Voltaic Brawler, 2 Kujar Seedsculptor, 2 Narnam Cobra, 2 Thriving Grubs, Highspire Artisan, 2 Thriving Rhino, Armorcraft Judge, Peema Outrider, 2 Riparian Tiger, Attune with Aether, Renegade Tactics, Harnessed Lightning, Nature's Way, Appetite for the Unnatural, Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Furious Reprisal, Hunt the Weak, 9 Forest, and 8 Mountain. My sideboard: another Highspire Artisan, Wild Wanderer, 2 Take Down, Cathartic Reunion, 2 Prophetic Prism, Make Obsolete, and Hazardous Conditions. Avoiding Blue altogether indeed seemed to work a lot better this time ...
I drafted a weaker GR deck on 2016-10-28, after taking 2 Voltaic Brawler as speculative pack 1 picks 1 and 2. I didn't manage to get any Green removal, nor did I see many Green creatures passing by, nor any strong Vehicles. Therefore, I mainly had to rely on the somewhat shakier Red (and artifact) creatures, leading me to an aggressive build without much late game. I wasn't sure about Durable Handicraft, but I mostly boarded in both Wayward Giant on the draw. The draft pod only consisted of 6 players, containing most of the top skilled players, i.e. the typical double-edged sword: stronger opposition, but more interesting game play. I lost 1-2 against a BU controlling/card advantage deck, then a 0-2 loss against a midrange BW deck came my way, but finally I won 2-0 against a UG deck (topdecking during the first long game in an otherwise hopeless position). My deck: 2 Voltaic Brawler, Kujar Seedsculptor, 2 Narnam Cobra, Brazen Scourge, 3 Weldfast Monitor, Spireside Infiltrator, Maulfist Doorbuster, Peema Outrider, 3 Spontaneous Artist, Blossoming Defense, 2 Renegade Tactics, 2 Chandra's Pyrohelix, Harnessed Lightning, Welding Sparks, Furious Reprisal, 9 Mountain, and 8 Forest. My sideboard: 2 Consulate Skygate, Eager Construct, Terror of the Fairgrounds, Bastion Mastodon, 2 Wayward Giant, Cowl Prowler, 2 Take Down, Durable Handicraft, and Fireforger's Puzzleknot. I'm hoping I won't keep repeating the same color combinations twice in a row, especially since the subsequent occurrence always turned out a bit weaker than the initial one. Perhaps I should also devaluate potential pack 1 pick 1 multicolor cards ... and remember to draft some rares ...
The 2016-11-04 draft kept me in White plus artifacts (plus a little bit of Green) during the first pack, keeping my options open without missing significantly better opportunities. I opted to stay GW when I couldn't find any way towards Black or Red as 2nd color, after I had picked a splashable Unlicensed Disintegration early pack 2. I ended up with an aggro-ish deck containing only a couple of 2-drops and unfortunately without much removal. Hence, I had to mostly rely on Fabricate related synergy (often trying to go wide, unless getting free counters and/or free card draws). This was a relatively interesting experience, but I lost 1-2 against BG (having mulliganed a zero lands hand during games 1 and 3), I won 2-0 against UGrw Energy, and I won 2-1 against BWu. I'm reasonably sure that slightly more removal would have significantly improved my (apparently again rareless) deck, which was as follows: Eddytrail Hawk, Narnam Cobra, Fairgrounds Trumpeter, Fairgrounds Warden, 2 Glint-Sleeve Artisan, Highspire Artisan, Thriving Rhino, Armorcraft Judge, Consul's Shieldguard, Snare Thopter, Thriving Ibex, Skyswirl Harrier, Fragmentize, Inventor's Goggles, Durable Handicraft, Servo Exhibition, Cogworker's Puzzleknot, Impeccable Timing, Sky Skiff, Acrobatic Maneuver, 2 Inspired Charge, 9 Plains, and 8 Forest. Sideboard: Tasseled Dromedary, 2 Consulate Skygate, 2 Ninth Bridge Patrol, Sage of Shaila's Claim, Attune with Aether, Torch Gauntlet, and Fabrication Module. Although Kaladesh is quite different from the Shadows over Innistrad block, its level of sophistication always ensures an enjoyable drafting/playing experience. Up to the next ...
2016-11-09: after first-picking Demon of Dark Schemes, I went back and forth between Green and White to finally settle on White as my 2nd color. My 3 FNM matches probably represented the most interesting play to date (don't forget the 1st draft table usually contains the strongest League contenders). Result: 2-0 win against GW, 2-1 win against UGR Energy, and 0-2 loss against a grindier BU deck. My brew: Consulate Skygate, 2 Dhund Operative, 2 Eddytrail Hawk, Fairgrounds Warden, Weaponcraft Enthusiast, Herald of the Fair, Restoration Gearsmith, Visionary Augmenter, Propeller Pioneer, Thriving Ibex, 2 Self-Assembler, Demon of Dark Schemes, Built to Last, Fragmentize, Die Young, Impeccable Timing, 2 Sky Skiff, Revoke Privileges, Tidy Conclusion, 9 Swamp, and 8 Plains. Sideboard: Night Market Lookout, Dukhara Peafowl, another Built to Last, Cogworker's Puzzleknot, Fortuitous Find, Live Fast, and Mind Rot. As far as my 'Magic Brew' software is concerned, I'm currently revising it for completeness. Apparently (extrapolating from some early test runs) it would take about 200 hours to generate the full search filters website = approximately 1000 search filters, or rather 5000 (considering separate/combined rarity based subfilters), for 50+ constructed/limited formats. Unfortunately, any relevant optimization opportunities seem to be related to embedded HTTrack web crawling tool parameterization, so I'm not getting my hopes up ...
The 2016-11-18 draft signals were difficult to read, to say the least. I ended up with a BG +1/+1 counters (rareless) deck, but quite low on removal. Unfortunately, after an easy 2-0 win against RW, I lost 0-2 against BW (severly suffering from the mulligan plague), and I lost 0-2 against a strong UW flyers deck (after I completely butchered a stabilized board, not having played my extra land upfront). Anyway, my deck: Embraal Bruiser, Fretwork Colony, Kujar Seedsculptor, Dhund Operative, Fairgrounds Trumpeter, Foundry Screecher, Highspire Artisan, 3 Lawless Broker, 2 Prakhata Pillar-Bug, Peema Outrider, Prakhata Club Security, 3 Self-Assembler, Durable Handicraft, Nature's Way, Die Young, 2 Subtle Strike, Renegade Freighter, 9 Swamp, and 8 Forest. Sideboard: 2 Sage of Shaila's Claim, Ambitious Aetherborn, Riparian Tiger, Cowl Prowler, 2 Dukhara Scavenger, Take Down, Make Obsolete, Fortuitous Find, and 2 Mind Rot. My 'Magic Brew' software revision (= exhaustively checking for bidirectional search filters to glossary consistency, for each Kaladesh card looking up all potentially related search filters for results completeness, and a final search filters hierarchy tuning iteration) resulted in about 7 percent conceptual incompleteness, i.e. around 70 undefined/underspecified filters (compared to approximately 1000 existing ones), which is a pretty good result. After upcoming remaining implementation work, I will finally be able to 'push the button' (i.e. starting the lengthy full website generation process) to eventually publish my brainchild on https://magicbrew.jbridge.be/. Just a couple of weeks more to go ...
On 2016-11-25, I ended up in a reasonable, albeit low on artifacts, BR deck, after a very underwhelming pack 1 pick 1 Chandra's Pyrohelix. I went 2-0 against UW, 1-2 against a very strong BW deck (containing Smuggler's Copter, Renegade Freighter, Fairgrounds Warden, Skywhaler's Shot, Captured by the Consulate, etc.), and 2-0 against GW. My deck: 2 Embraal Bruiser, Consulate Skygate, Dhund Operative, Thriving Grubs, 2 Spireside Infiltrator, Weldfast Monitor, Maulfist Doorbuster, Maulfist Squad, Spontaneous Artist, Wayward Giant, Dukhara Scavenger, Chandra's Pyrohelix, Subtle Strike, Essence Extraction, Unlicensed Disintegration, 2 Welding Sparks, Midnight Oil, Furious Reprisal, Ovalchase Dragster, Tidy Conclusion, 9 Swamp, and 8 Mountain. Sideboard: Ruinous Gremlin, Reckless Fireweaver, 2 Thriving Rats, Salivating Gremlins, Terror of the Fairgrounds, Accomplished Automaton, Cathartic Reunion, another 2 Chandra's Pyrohelix, 2 Fireforger's Puzzleknot, Metalspinner's Puzzleknot, and Rush of Vitality. I'm certainly not unhappy about this result, but I must admit I'm barely hanging on in the Draft League top 8. In fact, this might be due to me missing both initial weekend draft events, that apparently were prepended to the regular Wednesday + Friday schedule). Anyway, still 10 drafts to go (of which I'll be playing 5) ...
2016-12-02: my best Kaladesh draft portion experience so far (even passing a beautiful Scroll Rack Masterpiece/Invention in favor of a Smuggler's Copter), unfortunately leading to a mediocre play portion result, despite my definitely strong BWr brew: a 1-2 loss against BG (where I should not have played a late Fretwork Colony in the deciding game), a 1-1 draw against BW (where I might have forgotten a couple of Master Trinketeer activations), and a 2-1 win against UG Modules (however, after a serious game 1 beating). For completeness: I did mulligan more than half my games. Oh well. My deck: Smuggler's Copter, Syndicate Trafficker, Fretwork Colony, Eager Construct, Master Trinketeer, Fairgrounds Warden, 2 Foundry Screecher, Glint-Sleeve Artisan, Herald of the Fair, Restoration Gearsmith, Snare Thopter, Maulfist Squad, Inventor's Goggles, Cogworker's Puzzleknot, Prophetic Prism, Rush of Vitality, Essence Extraction, Unlicensed Disintegration, Renegade Freighter, Revoke Privileges, Welding Sparks, Tidy Conclusion, 8 Swamp, 7 Plains, and 2 Mountain. Sideboard: Tasseled Dromedary, 2 Consulate Skygate, 2 Ninth Bridge Patrol, Prakhata Club Security, Accomplished Automaton, Fragmentize, another Inventor's Goggles, another Cogworker's Puzzleknot, Acrobatic Maneuver, Live Fast, and 2 Inspired Charge. Quite frankly, I don't expect to draft similar strength decks for the remainder of the Kaladesh-only season, but I'll try to anyway :-).
2016-12-09: horrible draft (resulting in a low removal rareless GRw deck), horrible fatigue play, and a horrible result: 1-2 loss against BW and 0-2 loss against BR (with a bye in between those rounds). My deck: Voltaic Brawler, Consulate Skygate, Narnam Cobra, Reckless Fireweaver, Thriving Grubs, Quicksmith Genius, Salivating Gremlins, Spireside Infiltrator, Thriving Rhino, Spontaneous Artist, 2 Riparian Tiger, Wayward Giant, 2 Renegade Tactics, Fireforger's Puzzleknot, Impeccable Timing, Prophetic Prism, 2 Sky Skiff, Skywhaler's Shot, Renegade Freighter, Hunt the Weak, 8 Mountain, 7 Forest, and 2 Plains. Sideboard: Ruinous Gremlin, 2 Terror of the Fairgrounds, 2 Cowl Prowler, Take Down, Cathartic Reunion, Woodweaver's Puzzleknot, Unlicensed Disintegration, Appetite for the Unnatural, Incendiary Sabotage and Engineered Might. Let's quickly forget this one ...
2016-12-16: finally a draft the way I like it ! A reasonable BR aggro curve, menace and haste creatures, enough hard removal (including burn), and some 'free' shenanigans (i.e. auto-attaching equipment and energy powered opponent blocking restrictions), with at its core these very annoying 2 or 3 CMC (i.e. low-cost) 3 power creatures: what more brutality do you want ? I won 2-0 against all 3 opponents (playing BGW, BG, and BW decks, respectively), taking into account my couple of mulligans in the process. Oh yes, no rares in my deck, but 10 uncommons instead ... My deck: Inventor's Apprentice, Embraal Bruiser, 2 Speedway Fanatic, Quicksmith Genius, Foundry Screecher, Lawless Broker, Spireside Infiltrator, Maulfist Doorbuster, 2 Maulfist Squad, 2 Wayward Giant, Inventor's Goggles, Prophetic Prism, Chandra's Pyrohelix, Sky Skiff, Essence Extraction, 2 Welding Sparks, Furious Reprisal, Ovalchase Dragster, Tidy Conclusion, 9 Mountain, and 8 Swamp. Sideboard: Ruinous Gremlin, Spontaneous Artist, Terror of the Fairgrounds, another Wayward Giant, Built to Smash, Renegade Tactics, another Chandra's Pyrohelix, 2 Giant Spectacle, Torch Gauntlet, Mind Rot, and Incendiary Sabotage. Well, playing Magic is always fun, but totally crushing it is even funner :-).
The 2016-12-23 draft brought me a less synergistic, hence weaker, BR deck version than the week before, but apparently still good enough for a 2-1-0 result. I won 2-0 against BG, lost 0-2 against RWbu, and won 2-0 against GR. My deck: Night Market Lookout, Embraal Bruiser, Dhund Operative, 2 Eager Construct, 2 Thriving Grubs, Aethertorch Renegade, Spireside Infiltrator, Weldfast Monitor, Skyship Stalker, Maulfist Squad, Spontaneous Artist, Wayward Giant, Renegade Tactics, Key to the City, Chandra's Pyrohelix, Die Young, 2 Subtle Strike, Unlicensed Disintegration, 2 Tidy Conclusion, 9 Swamp, and 8 Mountain. Sideboard: 2 Ruinous Gremlin, Dukhara Scavenger, 2 Cathartic Reunion, Fireforger's Puzzleknot, Metalspinner's Puzzleknot, Live Fast, and Mind Rot. Small side node: I haven't found any strong Kaladesh reason to deviate from playing 17 lands, yet. The current Limited format is reasonably aggressive, but I just don't like to trim down to only 16 lands in case of bi-color decks (usually containing multiple 4-drops and more). Quite frankly, also most 1-drops just aren't good enough, and 2 CMC removal is hard to come by. Larger side note: after more than 6 months more than full-time work, I finally hit my 'Magic Brew' start button. This means my software is performing extensive web crawling to generate the core website content for most (currently implemented: 58) Constructed and Limited play formats, more specifically: executing (the same) 5000+ categorized card search filters per format. After that, the software will integrate the obtained results/statistics with additional glossary linkage, maximizing human associative card search filter lookup in the finished product (i.e. the eventually published website). Perhaps sounds difficult, but will become crystal clear soon ...
Needing only 1 win out of 3 matches to reclaim my 5th place in the Demo-Spel Draft League final standings, I took some risk during the last (2016-12-30) Kaladesh draft of the year. Unfortunately, this went horribly wrong. I ended up with a really bad strange UG deck (after having abandoned Red as 2nd color in slight favor of Green): a mix of artifacts and energy shenanigans, complemented by nearly no removal and a very mediocre curve (and practically no sideboard). I convincingly lost the first 2 matches 0-2, against a BW and a BRW deck, respectively. Somehow, the stars must have aligned at that moment, because I closely won the last (UG mirror) match 1-2, moreover against the single player whom I had never defeated before ! My deck: 2 Thriving Turtle, 2 Aether Theorist, Consulate Skygate, Curio Vendor, Eager Construct, Empyreal Voyager, Filigree Familiar, Foundry Inspector, 2 Dukhara Peafowl, Peema Outrider, 2 Weldfast Wingsmith, Hightide Hermit, Riparian Tiger, Select for Inspection, Decoction Module, Whirlermaker, Appetite for the Unnatural, Glimmer of Genius, Malfunction, 10 Island, and 7 Forest. Sideboard: Vedalken Blademaster, Nimble Innovator, Wild Wanderer, Take Down, Dramatic Reversal, Glassblower's Puzzleknot, and 2 Failed Inspection. As far as my 'Magic Brew' software is concerned, I lost a full week fighting external system limit bugs, but I managed to restart the very time-consuming process (= about 10 days, 24/7) last Thursday, December 29th. This implies I'll miss my intended January 1 launch target by at least a full week, but there's worse things in life ... I'm also planning to take up some extra activities in 2017, so I will no longer post full draft decks. Perhaps I'll just mention some highlights. I surely do like writing articles, but unfortunately, including manual card name editing, that consumes a considerable amount of time. To be continued next year ... (I mean: next week ...) !