Modern Masters Draft Analyses

Posted on June 20, 2013

The past week or two, I’ve been enjoying playing and drafting Modern Masters Limited. As a veteran of the Lorwyn and Time Spiral Draft formats, I’ve been having a very pleasant experience playing with the cards yet again in addition to discovering new strategies and archetypes that did not exist before. However, Modern Masters Limited actually bears the most resemblance to Cube drafting. One of the key precepts I adhere to in drafting (even Cube) is try to imagine what your deck will look like by the end of the Draft as early as possible. That means, if you are lacking a certain type of effect for your deck, you should place more emphasis on trying to find it (see Blinding Beam in aggressive decks, ramp spells in green decks, and so on).

I managed to catch up with Ari Lax after hearing he went on a Draft marathon in the phantom queues this past weekend to hear his thoughts on his Drafts and one of mine and to have a look at a bunch of different archetypes.

Ari’s First Draft

Pack 1, Pick 1:

My Pick

Me: Sarkhan Vol and Sudden Shock stand out to me here. I suspect that Sarkhan Vol isn't good, but trying a mythic rare now to see how it plays in the format is a fine idea.

My pick: Sarkhan Vol.

Pack 1, Pick 2:

My Pick

Me: Rathi Trapper is quite good, and W/B Rebels is a very strong deck. Abandoning your first pick is something that happens a fair amount, but it's also okay to stay on track and take Durkwood Baloth. Reach of Branches isn't very exciting.

My pick: Rathi Trapper.

Ari: Rathi Trapper is better than any card in the pack. Sarkhan Vol wasn't even that good—definitely better to take a really good card (Rathi Trapper) than stay on color.

Pack 1, Pick 3:

My Pick

Me: Branching out into a third color here seems sort of odd. If we want a “blue” card, I think Aether Spellbomb is a safer pick that is actually quite good.

My pick: Aether Spellbomb

Pack 1, Pick 4:

My Pick

Me: I actually think Pallid Mycoderm is quite strong, given the heavy Thallid theme that exists in the format. Thundercloud Shaman is also great if you focus on building your deck around it.

My pick: Thundercloud Shaman

Pack 1, Pick 5:

My Pick

Me: Options are Sporoloth Ancient and Fiery Fall. Again, I think Thallids is quite a strong deck, and Fiery Fall is a clunky card (although it is a split card of Lay of the Land and removal).

My pick: Sporoloth Ancient

Ari: Fiery Fall is clunky. Should have taken the 4/4 (Sporoloth Ancient).

Pack 1, Pick 6:

My Pick

Me: Options are Torrent of Stone and Rathi Trapper. I like Trapper more than Torrent because it scales well against any threat.

My pick: Rathi Trapper

Pack 1, Pick 7:

My Pick

Amrou Scout is a consideration for me since I have two Trappers in my pile, and sixth-pick Trapper and seventh-pick Scout most likely indicates that Rebels is open as a deck.

My pick: Amrou Scout

Pack 1, Pick 8:

My Pick

Me: Amrou Seekers here for me. Again, Rebels appears to be wide open. After this, it’s really kind of a disservice to try to analyze more picks because they depend on our earlier picks (from one to eight), and if there are differences, the Draft is already affected. So, I give Ari’s analysis from now on.

My pick: Amrou Seekers

Pack 1, Pick 9:

My Pick

Ari: Should have been War-Spike Changeling over Nantuko Shaman. No one beats 3/3 first strike.

Pack 1, Pick 10:

My Pick

Pack 1, Pick 11:

My Pick

Pack 1, Pick 12:

My Pick

Pack 1, Pick 13:

My Pick

Pack 1, Pick 14:

My Pick

Pack 1, Pick 15:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 1:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 2:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 3:

My Pick

Ari: Could arguably be Terramorphic Expanse. Not super-impressed with Cloak; fixing is nice.

Pack 2, Pick 4:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 5:

My Pick

Ari: Should be Torrent of Stone. Search is quite mediocre in the R/G deck I'm crafting.

Pack 2, Pick 6:

My Pick

Ari: Riftsweeper is mandatory. I should have taken Desperate Ritual for my two storm spells.

Pack 2, Pick 7:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 8:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 9:

My Pick

Ari: I probably should have considered hating Feudkiller's Verdict.

Pack 2, Pick 10:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 11:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 12:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 13:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 14:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 15:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 1:

My Pick

Ari: I was trying to be cute and take the suspend guy. I should have taken normal 5/5 for 4.

Pack 3, Pick 2:

My Pick

Ari: I took Empty the Warrens; Verdeloth the Ancient is probably better. Didn't know how fast or the slow format was.

Pack 3, Pick 3:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 4:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 5:

My Pick

Ari: War-Spike Changeling and Citanul Woodreaders are both also debatable.

Pack 3, Pick 6:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 7:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 8:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 9:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 10:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 11:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 12:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 13:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 14:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 15:

My Pick

"R/G Draft Deck"

Planeswalkers (1)
1 Sarkhan Vol

Lands (16)
8 Forest
8 Mountain

My thoughts on his deck:

The most important lesson we can gather from this Draft is that Ari failed to visualize the final deck. His deck is basically a mix of a storm deck and a generic R/G ramp deck, and it is a bad version of both. Grinning Ignus isn’t a very strong card unless if you are full-on storm (and same for Empty the Warrens and Grapeshot). He could have also ended with as a Giant sub-themed deck if he had prioritized War-Spike Changeling more.

Ari’s thoughts:

Thundercloud Shaman is probably better than my multiple copies of Empty the Warrens. That and Grapeshot over the Empty the Warrens, with Grinning Ignus as a ramp spell might have been a better build.

Record: 0–1

Ari’s Second Draft

Pack 1, Pick 1:

My Pick

Me: Cloudgoat Ranger is an easy pick here.

My pick: Cloudgoat Ranger

Pack 1, Pick 2:

My Pick

Me: Skeletal Vampire is also an easy pick here. If you ever played with that card in RGD Limited, it was nearly unbeatable.

My pick: Skeletal Vampire

Pack 1, Pick 3:

My Pick

Me: Blinding Beam versus Rathi Trapper here is the main decision. I think in general, tappers are much better than removal spells or conditional blowout spells (such as Blinding Beam).

My pick: Rathi Trapper

Pack 1, Pick 4:

My Pick

Me: Rathi Trapper again! Again, Rebels seems quite open.

My pick: Rathi Trapper

Pack 1, Pick 5:

My Pick

Me: I think Amrou Scout versus Marsh Flitter is pretty close here considering we already have two Rathi Trappers. I think the synergy is more important than the slightly stronger card (of Marsh Flitter).

My pick: Amrou Scout.

Pack 1, Pick 6:

My Pick

Me: Amrou Seekers is an evasive Rebel.

My pick: Amrou Seekers

Ari: Could have considered Dreamspoiler Witches, but Cloudgoat is big game, as is Rebels.

Pack 1, Pick 7:

My Pick

Me: Saltfield Recluse is undervalued for its ability to make combat infuriating. Trades become one-sided, and it's a Rebel to boot.

My pick: Saltfield Recluse

Pack 1, Pick 8:

My Pick

Me: It’s Stinkweed Imp versus Test of Faith versus Vivid Meadow. I would lean toward taking Test of Faith or Vivid Meadow to give us slightly more options.

My pick: Vivid Meadow

Pack 1, Pick 9:

My Pick

Me: That's a gift Blinding Beam. You typically want one to two of these types of effects in a white-based aggro deck that we're drafting.

My pick: Blinding Beam[/card

Pack 1, Pick 10:

My Pick

Pack 1, Pick 11:

My Pick

Pack 1, Pick 12:

My Pick

Pack 1, Pick 13:

My Pick

Pack 1, Pick 14:

My Pick

Pack 1, Pick 15:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 1:

My Pick

Ari: [card]Bonesplitter may have been better. Cutting white for pack three is a definite consideration, as is the fact I'm nearly mono-black at this point.

Pack 2, Pick 2:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 3:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 4:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 5:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 6:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 7:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 8:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 9:

My Pick

Ari: Should be Deepcavern Imp since I have zero Avian Changelings. However, I do have an Amrou Seekers.

Pack 2, Pick 10:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 11:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 12:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 13:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 14:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 15:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 1:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 2:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 3:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 4:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 5:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 6:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 7:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 8:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 9:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 10:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 11:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 12:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 13:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 14:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 15:

My Pick

"W/B Rebels Draft Deck"

Lands (17)
8 Plains
8 Swamp
1 Vivid Marsh

My thoughts on his deck:

This is quite a strong deck with a lot of synergies and a good curve as well as four legitimate bombs. Ivory Giant is more like a 1-drop rather than a 7-drop. I think another important thing to note is that removal is less important than having a synergistic deck. Warren Weirding isn’t very good because it always trades with the opponent’s worst guy. Bound in Silence would be much better considering there are two ways to search it up in this deck.

The drafting decisions weren't too difficult in this Draft, but I'm not a huge fan of either Vivid land here.

Ari’s thoughts:

Not playing Sandsower was a close decision. I didn't want two enters-the-battlefield-tapped lands—hence the one-and-one Vivid main-deck-versus-sideboard split.

Record: 3–0. Played Kokusho once, Vampire zero times, and Cloudgoat basically every game.

Jarvis’s Draft

Pack 1, Pick 1:

My Pick

Me: Blinkmoth Nexus or Murderous Redcap are the cards I’m considering. I took Murderous Redcap because it is a fairly strong creature (better than Blinkmoth Nexus, which does leave us wide open).

Pack 1, Pick 2:

My Pick

Me: I wanted to try being a green ramp deck (perhaps with some Arcane synergies tossed in), so I took Kodama's Reach here.

Ari: Meadowboon

Pack 1, Pick 3:

My Pick

Me: Aethersnipe versus Thallid Germinator is fairly close, but this early on, I’m willing to speculate on being G/U ramp (perhaps splash something else), so I take Aethersnipe.

Ari: Torrent of Stone

Pack 1, Pick 4:

My Pick

Me: Petals of Insight is fairly slow, and yet, another Thallid Germinator makes me want to move in on it now.

Ari: Rathi Trapper

Pack 1, Pick 5:

My Pick

Me: This late of a Tromp the Domains means Thallids is a great choice to draft now. Note that you’d rather Tromp for three basic land types, but tromping for just two land types is often good enough for lethal with a Thallid deck.

Pack 1, Pick 6:

My Pick

Me: I’m obviously taking Sporoloth Ancient now.

Pack 1, Pick 7:

My Pick

Me: An extremely late gift Search for Tomorrow helps splash for big Tromps.

Ari: Vivid Marsh

Pack 1, Pick 8:

My Pick

Me: Thallids!

Pack 1, Pick 9:

My Pick

Me: We are rewarded for having read the Thallid signal early enough.

Pack 1, Pick 10:

My Pick

Me: Drag Down was probably a better pick here unfortunately.

Ari: Drag Down

Pack 1, Pick 11:

My Pick

Me: I am able to take both of the cards I was considering the first time around.

Pack 1, Pick 12:

My Pick

Me: Petals of Insight is probably a better pick, but I was considering still being three-to-five-color green by this point

Ari: Debatable between Skyreach Manta and Petals of Insight.

Pack 1, Pick 13:

My Pick

Me: Are 4-mana 5/5s somehow just not that good? (In hindsight, I do think it is a lot worse in this format.)

Pack 1, Pick 14:

My Pick

Me: Obviously

Pack 1, Pick 15:

My Pick

Pack 2, Pick 1:

My Pick

Me: Ryusei, the Falling Star is going to give my deck a lot of problems. Path to Exile was worth a consideration, and in retrospect, it is probably the correct pick, but I decided to hate up the Ryusei.

Pack 2, Pick 2:

My Pick

Me: Nothing is really exciting for me, and I’m still unsure on a second color here, so I take the strongest card (Cloudgoat Ranger).

Pack 2, Pick 3:

My Pick

Me: Cutting green hard in pack one is finally paying off with Sporesower Thallid here.

Pack 2, Pick 4:

My Pick

Me: We’re just a full-on linear Thallid deck now.

Ari: Echoing Courage or Imperiosaur is my pick. (Presumably, this is for a backup resilient plan.)

Pack 2, Pick 5:

My Pick

Me: Penumbra Spider shores up weaknesses we might have to U/B Faeries or similar decks with a lot of evasion.

Pack 2, Pick 6:

My Pick

Me: It's Thallid o’clock!

Pack 2, Pick 7:

My Pick

Me: Yup.

Pack 2, Pick 8:

My Pick

Me: This is actually an interesting pick between Gleam of Resistance (a global pump spell or mana-fixer) versus Sylvan Bounty, which is a weaker spell but also more likely to be played. I took the Sylvan Bounty because I knew I was for sure a heavy green deck, and it occasionally wins races.

Ari: Pick Gleam of Resistance as another global pump spell.

Pack 2, Pick 9:

My Pick

Me: Late 4-mana 5/5s again! In retrospect, I think I should have taken Spider here.

Ari: Penumbra Spider

Pack 2, Pick 10:

My Pick

Me: Trygon Predator is a great sideboard card against the Affinity-esque decks that I’ve seen people draft.

Pack 2, Pick 11:

My Pick

Me: Honestly, Moldervine Cloak is a lot worse in this format compared to Ravnica drafts. Perhaps Terashi's Grasp was a better pick here.

Pack 2, Pick 12:

My Pick

Me: I wanted another global pump spell (like Tromp), so I took Echoing Courage here.

Pack 2, Pick 13:

My Pick

Me: Ding to another Echoing Courage. However, I will probably not play both.

Pack 2, Pick 14:

My Pick

Me: Careful Consideration is much better than fourteenth-pick, although it is a somewhat slow card.

Ari: Nantuko Shaman

Pack 2, Pick 15:

My Pick

Me: WTF? It hasn’t become that much worse from Ravnica block, and it was a very high pick there.

Pack 3, Pick 1:

My Pick

Me: Continuing the theme of opening large bombs that my deck cannot possibly defeat, I decide to hate draft this Skeletal Vampire. The opportunity cost here is a Kodama's Reach.

Pack 3, Pick 2:

My Pick

Me: Rude Awakening is quite a good finisher. I think Stir the Pride is actually close as well, but with two Echoing Courages and a Tromp the Domains, I don’t really need another card with that type of effect.

Pack 3, Pick 3:

My Pick

Me: Pestermite is most likely to give me trouble, and the other cards suck for me.

Ari: Vivid Marsh (Note that I don't understand Ari's obsession with Vivid lands—especially when we have a bunch of Imperiosaurs.)

Pack 3, Pick 4:

My Pick

Me: Durkwood Baloth is a solid fatty if my Thallid plan somehow is dismantled.

Pack 3, Pick 5:

My Pick

Me: Sporesower Thallid!

Pack 3, Pick 6:

My Pick

Me: Pallid Mycoderm is Overrun on wheels for my deck. I’m more than happy to play another color for this card.

Ari: Thallid Shell-Dweller (most likely, Pallid Mycoderm wheels). (I'm not really sure about that.)

Pack 3, Pick 7:

My Pick

Me: Saltfield Recluse is a good card to board in against the heavy evasion decks again.

Pack 3, Pick 8:

My Pick

Me: Terramorphic Expanse gives me another way to power up Tromp the Domains here. Bound in Silence is somewhat close.

Ari: Terramorphic Expanse is regrettably unnecessary here.

Pack 3, Pick 9:

My Pick

Me: Amrou Scout is the most likely card to beat me here (finding a bunch of Amrou Seekers).

Ari: Tribal Flames

Pack 3, Pick 10:

My Pick

Ari: Citanul Woodreaders (It’s Mulldrifter.)

Pack 3, Pick 11:

My Pick

Ari: Vivid Marsh (because it wheeled)

Pack 3, Pick 12:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 13:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 14:

My Pick

Pack 3, Pick 15:

My Pick

"G/w/u Thallids Draft Deck"

My thoughts on the deck:

This is an extreme example of what it looks like to have a powerful linear deck. All the pieces came together because we were open to moving all-in on the second Thallid Germinator. I’ll admit this doesn’t happen too often, but this deck is extremely strong and did not drop a game in its three rounds.

I think Ari also values removal and tappers much more highly than I do (perhaps colored by his Drafts of W/B Rebels), whereas I think having the powerful linear deck just overrides the removal spells by a wide margin.

Ari’s thoughts:

I would play Cloudgoat Ranger over Durkwood Baloth (which then entails quite a shift in the mana base, probably like three to four more Plains over Forests).

Other thoughts I have on Modern Masters Draft:

Above, we went over a W/B Rebels deck, a (sort of trainwrecked) R/G ramp deck, and a green-splashing-two-colors Thallids deck. There seem to be many more archetypes (from what I’ve seen in replays). I saw Rizer win the Top 8 of a sixty-four-man Draft with U/R storm with Pyromancer's Swath and Grapeshot. I’ve also seen aggro Affinity and control, artifact-based Draft decks (Auriok Salvagers comes to mind with Spellbombs). Two-to-three-colored Arcane-based control (with Glacial Ray and Dampen Thought) also exists, as do various tribal decks (U/B Faeries, B/R Goblins, R/W Giants).

All in all, I think Wizards did a great job of developing a Limited format that feels nostalgic to me as well as bearing a lot of resemblance to Cube. I unfortunately will not be in attendance at Grand Prix: Las Vegas this weekend, but I wish all of you the best of luck there, and I hope that those of you who manage to make the second day have a lot of fun drafting powerful decks.

I welcome comments or constructive criticism here or on Twitter @jkyu06.

TAGS articles, draft, limited, drafting, analysis, jarvis yu, recap, ari lax, modern masters