DGM Draft Debate - Round 3 vs. Lee

Leading with this because it's expensive and I want to get it out of the way, and also without a gate, this is classic leading with your weak stuff. Also, it's great to have this guy out, have him sit there and be a wall, and then BAM, a gate comes down and you have a 4/4.

L draws Steeple Roc. He casts Golgari Cluestone and passes.

C draws Guardian of the Gateless. He casts Azorius Arrester and passes.

L draws Maze Abomination. He casts Steeple Roc.

C draws Balustrade Spy.

We have a few options here. I could put Unflinching Courage on Azorius Arrester. (Why does this creature keep getting this enchantment?) I could cast Concordia Pegasus or Balustrade Spy. I could sit on Putrefy. The best play, I believe, is to cast Balustrade Spy and use it as the Unflinching Courage target - it has a meaty body that can get past Steeple Roc.

C casts Balustrade Spy.

L draws Forest and plays it. He casts Rites of Reaping boosting the Roc and killing Balustrade Spy. He attacks with Steeple Roc and hits. (L 20, C 14).

C draws Golgari Guildgate and plays it.

Oh-HO. So you like doing 6 damage, do you?

C casts Unflinching Courage on Ogre Jailbreaker. He attacks with it and hits. (C 20, L 14).

L draws Swamp and plays it. He casts Maze Abomination.

Nothing a little Putrefy can't get through.

C draws Plains and plays it. He kills Maze Abomination with Putrefy. Then he attacks with Ogre Jailbreaker. (C 26, L 8).

Not casting Concordia Pegasus unless the game state changes significantly; Merciless Eviction does exist in these colors, and in any case it doesn't really help me win the game faster.

L draws Kraul Warrior. He casts Midnight Recovery on Maze Abomination, ciphered onto Steeple Roc.

Ok, NOW I need to cast more things, as he can just barely hang on if I don't.

C draws Dutiful Thrull. He attacks with Ogre Jailbreaker and hits. (C 32, L 2). He casts Dutiful Thrull and Concordia Pegasus.

L draws Swamp and plays it. He casts Maze Abomination and Kraul Warrior, then concedes.

Sideboarding

Neither side makes changes.

Game 2

Lee plays first. He keeps a hand of 2x Plains, Transguild Promenade, Miming Slime, Golgari Cluestone, Boros Mastiff, and Knight of Obligation.

Caley keeps a hand of 3x Plains, Forest, Golgari Guildgate, Pit Fight, and Guardian of the Gateless.

Never mulligan hands like this in limited unless your opponent is super fast. You WILL regret it if you do.

L plays Plains and passes.

C draws Plains, plays Golgari Guildgate, and passes.

L draws Swamp. He plays it and casts Boros Mastiff, then passes.

C draws Swamp. He plays Plains and passes.

L draws Golgari Keyrune. He plays Plains and casts the Keyrune. He attacks with the Mastiff and hits. (L 20, C 18).

C draws Plains. He plays Swamp and passes.

L draws Forest and plays it. He attacks with Boros Mastiff. (L 20, C 16). He casts Knight of Obligation.

C draws Selesnya Guildgate and plays it.

I've been tryin'a caaaaaaaalllll my baby, lord, and I can't get a single sound.

L draws Rites of Reaping. He casts Golgari Cluestone with extort. (L 21, C 15). He attacks with his creatures. (L 21, C 11).

C draws Unflinching Courage. He casts Guardian of the Gateless and passes.

L draws Aerial Predation. He casts Rites of Reaping killing the Guardian and boosting the Mastiff. He attacks with his creatures. (L 21, C 4).

C draws Swamp and concedes.

I stand by my decision not to mulligan.

Sideboarding

Neither side makes changes.

Game 3

Caley plays first. He keeps a hand of 3x Plains, Swamp, Unflinching Courage, Angelic Skirmisher, and Balustrade Spy.

Lee keeps a hand of 2x Forest, Plains, Swamp, Midnight Recovery, Millennial Gargoyle, and Aerial Predation.

C plays Plains and passes.

L draws Down / Dirty, plays Swamp, and passes.

C draws Orzhov Guildgate, plays it, and passes.

L draws Swamp, plays Plains, and passes.

C draws Swamp and plays it.

L draws Slaughterhorn. He casts it after playing Forest.

C draws Forest. He plays it and casts Balustrade Spy, milling Swamp.

L draws Plains and plays it. He attacks with Slaughterhorn and hits. (L 20, C 17).

C draws Balustrade Spy. He plays Plains. He attacks with the existing Spy and hits. (L 18, C 17). Then he casts the other Spy, milling another single Swamp.

L draws Transguild Promenade. He plays it and pays for it. He attacks with Slaughterhorn. C trades a Spy for it.

Very aggressive. Makes me wonder if he has removal or maybe wrath.

C draws Dutiful Thrull. He casts it. He plays Swamp. Then he attacks with Balustrade Spy, but it gets an Aerial Predation.

Solid play by Lee, trying to bait the likely Unflinching Courage. But the jig is up now that Dutiful Thrull is out, as he probably knows.

C casts Unflinching Courage on Dutiful Thrull.

This is a little dangerous, but I'm not too worried. Rites of Reaping might happen, but other than that I'm not sure what could remove it now.

L draws Forest and plays Swamp. He casts Millennial Gargoyle and passes.

C draws Plains and plays it. He attacks with the Thrull and hits. (C 20, L 15). He casts Angelic Skirmisher.

L draws Boros Mastiff. He plays Forest, casts the Mastiff, and then casts Midnight Recovery ciphered onto Millennial Gargoyle to get back Slaughterhorn.

C draws Ubul Sar Gatekeepers. He attacks with Angelic Skirmisher and Dutiful Thrull, giving everything vigilance, and hits. (C 23, L 8).

L draws Plains. He casts Slaughterhorn, then Down / Dirty by itself to make C discard Ubul Sar Gatekeepers.

C draws Drudge Beetle. He attacks with everything vigilantly and hits. (C 26, L 1).

L draws Maze Behemoth and casts it after playing Forest.

C10

C draws Concordia Pegasus. He attacks with Angelic Skirmisher giving itself Lifelink, and L chop blocks with Milennial Gargoyle. (C 30, L 1). C casts Drudge Beetle and Concordia Pegasus.

L10

L draws Executioner's Swing and concedes.

Thoughts

Well-balanced match, I thought. Mirror match as well. The deck worked like it's supposed to and we encountered some good, though not great, luck in terms of what the other side was able to do to us.

Results

Tappedout def. Lee 2-1

E - "These decks are so slooooowww. Caley was able to get out his big bomb plays more often, and that was the difference."

Ethereal def. Niko 2-0

"Game 1 was an amazing standoff where it looked like Niko was going to win by continuously building up Ral Zarek and then using him to slowly wipe up a lot of Ethereal's board. But then Ethereal found a Stab Wound and after a few turns combined it with a huge Debt to the Deathless to win from the inferior board. Game 2 was no contest - Niko had a some lands and a bunch of early game stuff that was stopped cold by Concordia Pegasus and Deputy of Acquittals. Ethereal then had plenty of time to open up with his big guns while Niko drew cold, and that was it."

Raynor def. Chryssalid 2-1

"Game 1 Raynor had the early advantage even after a mull to 5, but Chryssalid held him off long enough to big stuff out, and a big 8/8 Slime Molding won it. Game 2, Chryssalid was hammering Raynor all game long, but he hung on while trying to build up a big-enough Debt to the Deathless, and was finally able to do it after he snuck through some damage to get Chryssalid down to 10, which was Debt range. Game 3, Raynor just drew super hot. He did early damage, Chryssalid had to wipe the board with Merciless Eviction, and then Raynor got Deviant Glee onto a Steeple Roc and that was basically game over combined with the fact that he had another Debt to the Deathless, which is a busted card in draft."

Fisher def. C.J. 2-0

"Game 1, both decks were slow, but Fisher had the better late game after he killed Rubblebelt Raiders before it could get going with Punish the Enemy. Game 2, Fisher got in a lot of early damage and then just pinged to death with Rakdos Drake over the ground standoff."

Next Round

Tappedout (2-1) vs. Ethereal (2-1)

Chryssalid (2-1) vs. Lee (0-3)

C.J. (1-2) vs. Niko (2-1)

Fisher (1-2) vs. Raynor (2-1)

This article is a follow-up to DGM Draft Debate - Round 2 vs. Niko The next article in this series is DGM Draft Debate - Round 4 vs. Ethereal

tempest says... #1

yay! we're tied for first! a little surprised no one has a 3-0 run. last draft, there were quite a bit

May 31, 2013 2:05 a.m.

thebeardedshuffler says... #2

Well done! Seems like a good game overall. One question though, game 1 when you Putrefy 'd his Maze Abomination pre-combat, why didn't you attack and kill in response to blockers? I know the abomination was likely the best target, but once again it seems like you cast a spell before you really had to. Or am I just being overly cautious?

Also, nobody is 3-0. Interesting.

May 31, 2013 2:07 a.m.

bluemax87 says... #3

Elaine really, REALLY, does NOT like our deck! Even when we're good she talks bad about it! HAHA

May 31, 2013 6:24 a.m.

SupremeAlliesCommander says... #4

Wouldn't have made a difference, but game 1, turn 6 it looks like Balustrade Spy was cast without triggering its ability.

Wish we could have drafted some fetch lands. KrazyCaley needs a shuffle effect.

May 31, 2013 7:54 a.m.

psychoza says... #5

KrazyCaley, in game one, turn 6, when you cast Balustrade Spy , what did you mill? Other than that, really nice draft.

May 31, 2013 8:08 a.m.

psychoza says... #6

-draft +round**

May 31, 2013 8:08 a.m.

exarkun809 says... #7

Unflinching Courage wins games. We really should put our third copy in. Love it on Dutiful Thrull .

Elaine really does hate our deck. How were these games slow? Turn 8, turn 6, and turn 10 wins in limited?

May 31, 2013 9:53 a.m.

Goody says... #8

thebeardedshuffler, there were no other creatures on Lee's side of the field. It would have made no difference, because Lee was tapped out (or with only one mana, which could have been primed for Smite ), so really Caley made the safer choice.

May 31, 2013 10:36 a.m.

Agog says... #9

2 - 1 ... that's great. Nice job KrazyCaley

Lifelink is doing some good work for us. Glad to see Putrefy get played.

The match against Ethereal ought to be interesting.

May 31, 2013 12:41 p.m.

zaddos says... #10

That will teach him to take the cards we decided we wanted after we were done drafting

May 31, 2013 1:24 p.m.

SupremeAlliesCommander says... #11

LOL Well said, zaddos.

May 31, 2013 1:59 p.m.

KrazyCaley says... #12

@thebeardedshuffler & Goody - That is definitely a transcription error. Standard procedure for me in situations like that is to announce that I'm holding priority in the declare attackers step. It should read, I attack with Ogre, then before blockers are declared, I kill it with Putrefy. I should start proofreading these before posting them.

@psychoza and SupremeAlliesCommander - We did mill the card at the time, but it didn't make its way onto the game record. I think it milled for about two, and none of it was very relevant.

@exarkun809 - Elaine, from what I can tell, think our deck is way too reliant on buffing auras to win, though she likes the Stab Wound s and One Thousand Lashes . I don't know why she thought this game was SLOW, though. She watches all the games, though, so maybe I should be terrified about extremely speedy decks that we haven't seen yet.

@everybody - About to play the dreaded Mr. Ethereal, wish me luck.

May 31, 2013 2:07 p.m.

Goody says... #13

We only run three buffing auras :/

Good luck Caley

May 31, 2013 2:30 p.m.

psychoza says... #14

Good luck KrazyCaley!

May 31, 2013 2:39 p.m.

vishnarg says... #15

Very lucky round there. He was a good player but we were lucky do get round three.

May 31, 2013 3:29 p.m.

SupremeAlliesCommander says... #16

Well, I think Elaine is absolutely right about us relying on auras. In our defense, the bombiest creatures we saw were 3/3s and 4/4s. Well, we did see a 9/9 trampler, but we passed on it for reasons that were not completely insane. Anyway, the auras are necessary to make up for our lack of beef. But that doesn't change the fact we are lacking in win cons.

May 31, 2013 3:51 p.m.

Darkness1835 says... #17

@KrazyCaley
Can you elaborate a little on why you chose not to mulligan, and why you stand by it so adamantly even after getting flooded that game? Thanks

May 31, 2013 4:31 p.m.

KrazyCaley says... #18

@Darkness1835 -

1 - Keeping a five-land hand is considerably less risky than keeping a two-land hand. As long as you hit your land drops, any new spell you draw becomes useful, whereas if you get mana screwed, suddenly drawing one land will not solve all your problems because of spell clog/the spells might be too expensive still.

2 - Limited tends to be slower. Because of that, you can usually afford to keep land-heavy hands; in fact, it's almost beneficial to have a hand with a lot of land as long as you don't KEEP drawing land, as I did in this game.

3 - Mulliganing increases the chances of a troublesome hand. I was not at all convinced that a hand of six would statistically improve upon what I had.

May 31, 2013 4:34 p.m.

psychoza says... #19

@KrazyCaley, do you think your decision on this would have been slightly different if you weren't the one up a game? ie, played it a little more cautiously or I guess in your reasoning, gambled more and mulled then?

May 31, 2013 4:36 p.m.

KrazyCaley says... #20

@psychoza - If you're referring to keeping the game 2 hand, no. I basically always keep that hand if I see it, UNLESS I know my opponent has a fast deck that will run me over if I don't do something early.

May 31, 2013 4:39 p.m.

SupremeAlliesCommander says... #21

Given the large number of 4 drops in our deck, I also support the land-heavy hand. Our pump auras work best on our bigger creatures. So, we need mana to cast them quickly.

May 31, 2013 5:17 p.m.

sewellius says... #22

I'm really starting to wonder why a third Unflinching Courage wouldn't be more useful than our Swift Justice or Pit Fight . I realize Fight is basically removal, but we've been winning games with drops of Unflinching Courage . Pit Fight is not going to save us if they drop a 6/6 or 9/9 on us.

Having a third copy means the opponent is less likely to have enough removal to deal with all of our auras. As we have seen, only one needs to stick to win us the game.

May 31, 2013 6:26 p.m.

Agog says... #23

I expect we can't change our main board as we can see all of the other deck lists.

So far Unflinching Courage has been more effective than Pit Fight , but I would argue that Pit Fight gives us removal flexibility without having to rely on the attack/block interaction to occur.

If it was 2x Unflinching Courage vs 1x Unflinching Courage + 1x Pit Fight I would be more inclined to agree.

A 6/6 or 9/9 will be a handful for us in either case, but Pit Fight lets us take out a battalion or evasive creature that we wouldn't otherwise be able to get with a blocker.

May 31, 2013 6:59 p.m.

thebeardedshuffler says... #24

The thing about waiting fir blockers is minor, but if he'd chosen not to block you can hold putrefy back. If he does block, you can still putrefy and deal all the damage due to trample.

May 31, 2013 7:02 p.m.

thebeardedshuffler says... #25

Also, instant speed combat tricks win games out of nowhere, auras give the enemy more complete information. We see courage regularly so 2 seems plenty.

May 31, 2013 7:05 p.m.

TridenT says... #26

I support the 5 land hand! Who could have known, who would have expected that we'd draw two spells all game?

May 31, 2013 7:07 p.m.

TridenT says... #27

Sorry, three. I forgot Pit Fight.

May 31, 2013 7:09 p.m.

Please login to comment

Magic the Gathering, FNM is TM and copyright Wizards of the Coast, Inc, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All rights reserved. This site is unaffiliated. Articles and comments are user-submitted and do not represent official endorsements of this site.