Food for Thought ep 1: GB Archetype in OGW Draft

Tuition

buildingadeck

7 March 2016

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With a limited record of 10-1 in my last three events, I walked into my LGS with a fair amount of confidence on our monthly FNM draft. I generally like to do a bit of research - both experiential and textual - concerning the draft format before playing it, but I had only gotten to skim a few ChannelFireball articles the night before and felt a little under-prepared. But hey, I should be able to tell the difference between a good card and a bad one right? I took my place at an awkward 11 person draft and awaited my packs.

The rare of my first pack was Eldrazi Displacer, which isn't a terrible tempo card, but I found it to be underpowered in a draft given the low number of ETB effects I could recall off-hand in this format. I picked a safer Tar Snare because I tend to place greater value on removal. As the draft moved along, I saw a Baloth Null and an Embodiment of Insight, and I began to settle into a pretty decent GB Midrange shell with some potential for ramp.

However, the lone BFZ pack made a huge difference in my draft as I took 3 Eyeless Watchers, a Tajuru Warcaller, and a Swarm Surge to produce a far more tokens-oriented deck that could deal damage in large quantities in a single turn (I swung for 25 on a turn to end my last game, for instance). I ended with a 2-1 night (losing the mirror to lands: mana screw game 1 and mana flood in game 3), and I was fairly happy with that. Below is the deck I played at the tournament:

After playing the archetype, I went back and reviewed what ChannelFireball stated on GB as an archetype in the new Oath draft format. While they tended to think that GB relied more on beefier creatures and good removal than the BFZ draft format, I would argue that going wide is still a viable strategy in the archetype.

First, there are a slew of viable Support cards in green alone, without the aid of white. Some of the best cards in this category include: Nissa's Judgment, Saddleback Lagac, and, if you're lucky, Gladehart Cavalry. The support mechanic works perfectly with a tokens theme, and the one-sided fight mechanic in Nissa's Judgment is spectacular (definitely a top pick for this type of deck).

While the only green or black card below Rare in OGW that produces tokens efficiently seems to be Scion Summoner, both it and Eyeless Watcher are at the common level, making them fairly easy to come by, especially because green is so under-drafted.

In black, the creatures that have or give themselves Menace become all-stars when the rest of the deck goes wide and has pump spells because your opponents must choose between killing the 4/2 with Menace or taking a potential 9+ from pumped tokens. Moreover, a strong removal suite in the forms of Grasp of Darkness, Oblivion Strike, and Bone Splinters allows this deck to get damage through with consistency. I had one true removal spell and was able to win the majority of my games and matches.

Eyeless Watcher: This card is simply bonkers. While it's only three power for four mana, the ability to get damage through with a pump spell or creature is pretty fantastic.

Scion Summoner: Very similar card to Eyeless Watcher, and it definitely plays a part when one is trying to go wide.

Saddleback Lagac: The Support mechanic with tokens makes your guys consistently a threat rather than a one-and-done attempt to swing lethal in a turn. While it does vie for the same slot as Eyeless Watcher, if you get Scion Summoner, I think it is a card that is definitely worth a slot or two in the deck.

Tajuru Warcaller: Even if it's the only Ally in the deck, the card buffs the entire team by +2/+2, which is a lot when one has six or seven creatures on board.

Nissa's Judgment: This card is the primary reason I lost my mirror match aside from mana screw/flood. Not only does it buff the team, but it often kills top creatures or forces a wasted combat trick in order to keep those creatures alive. This card is a definite 5/5 in my book.

Oblivion Strike: Easily one of the best removal spells in the format, and there's no reason not to grab one in any deck running black.

Swarm Surge: Surge is a fantastic pump spell for dorky scions because first strike is a powerful thing that is not to be tampered with. It's also a 3 CMC spell, making it quite efficient in terms of the damage it deals.

Catacomb Sifter: Though Sifter is at uncommon, the card is utterly fantastic if it is available. I would place it as a top priority pick if this is the archetype of choice by pack 3. The scry in particular provides library manipulation, which is hard to come by in limited, especially in GB.

Any green or black goodstuff creature such as Geyserfield Stalker, Embodiment of Insight or Baloth Null (such value) can provide the deck with the extra power it needs to push through, but green being green, it's not likely one needs to try to get fat creatures when drafting it.

Just as in constructed, adding a third color will often times aid a deck in its versatility. So what happens if the exploration of the GB archetype dips into white?

First and foremost, you gain access to more spells with Support, which is a less all-in approach to token pumps and gives the archetype more of a midrange style feel with the potential to swarm at any moment. In addition, the inclusion of white gives access to a greater removal suite with Isolation Zone, Immolating Glare, and Searing Light in Oath, and Sheer Drop along with others in BFZ. Of course, Inspired Charge is a pretty nice creature buff offered with white as well.

Another advantage I see with the addition of a third color is the versatility in draft choices it warrants. If you pass up an Oblivion Strike for an essential piece like Nissa's Judgment or Scion Summoner, you might get a next pick Isolation Zone to occupy the same slot.

On the flip side, adding white strains the mana, especially since so many of its best cards are WW in color: Expedition Raptor, [[Isolation Zone], etc. Essentially, this just means that a lot of the colorless spells and abilities get cut from the deck to facilitate a true 3 color deck.

Expedition Raptor: Support is awesome and provides a resilient method of pumping your creatures, so that your Catacomb Sifter becomes a Siege Rhino with a Saddleback Lagac into an Expedition Raptor.

Isolation Zone: Just like Oblivion Strike, Zone is a card that is an answer-all at 4 CMC, which is fairly efficient, especially in a draft format. While WW on T4 is tough to manage, I think the Abzan version leans more into white than black, so it's more possible than you might think.

Steppe Glider: The synergy of this card with the Support theme is pretty great, and at Uncommon, it's fairly likely to show up in the draft somewhere. A 2/4 flier with vigilance for 5 CMC isn't really all that bad either.

Some other great commons and uncommons to look out for are: Immolating Glare, Wall of Resurgence, Relief Captain, Make a Stand and Allied Reinforcements. These cards, aside from perhaps Make a Stand (a pseudo fill in for Swarm Surge?) will be a bit harder to get, IMO, which is why they are in this section.

Below is a video of me drafting into the Abzan Archetype and a video of a game with the deck (getting 3 games is so hard on Trice...). I made a few mistakes in the drafting process as I missed picking up a few key removal spells, but the deck turned out to be fairly good and consistent in what it tried to do.

Good luck in your limited pursuits, and check in next time for more Food for Thought.