In our first ever Origins draft, I pieced together a fairly solid blue/red tempo deck, despite my dodgy drafting technique. It went 2-1, but it could have easily been a 3-0.
The Draft
Looking over the draft a second time, it's easy to see that green is pretty open during pack 1. White falls off after the first few picks, which isn't really surprising, and black is nowhere to be seen after the first couple picks. What's surprising, however, is that even though Ghirapur Gearcrafter is really the first decent red card that comes around, on p1p7, I still think it's correct to speculate on red at this point. The card is fairly strong, and the pack would have had to have been quite amazing for 6 other cards to get drafted above it, and probably at least two other better red cards. My pack coming back around with the only two red cards from the back just cliches it. Enthralling Victor sits pretty squarely in "middle of the pack" where red is concerned, as does Titan's Strength, but if the pack went all the way around the table without a single person taking either card, that's a pretty big sign that nobody's drafting red.
I still think it's acceptable to dip into green at the beginning of pack 2. Though it would have been nice to pick up Lightning Javelin or Skyraker Giant in p2p1, I've only got 2 red cards at this point, and green was open for quite a while in pack 1. The green falls off fairly quickly, though, and I correctly move back into red, though I think I waffled, mentally, about the decision way longer than I should have. Even though I had a handful of good green cards, it doesn't change the fact that green dried up about 3 picks into pack 2, which means somebody else already moved into the color.
In the end, it looks like the only card I lost for my speculation is Lightning Javelin in p2p1. Even the Maritime Guard I passed in p3p3 wheeled back around. So, even though I felt divided during the bulk of the draft, I can't honestly say that I made any egregiously bad picks that appreciably weakened my overall deck. The biggest difference would have been if I took Skysnare Spider in pick 1 instead of Harbinger of the Tides, which would have rewarded me with open green in the first pack, and probably would have landed me in a fairly strong GR beater deck by the end of the draft. But I chalk that difference up to a matter of playstyle preference.
I still think it's acceptable to dip into green at the beginning of pack 2. Though it would have been nice to pick up Lightning Javelin or Skyraker Giant in p2p1, I've only got 2 red cards at this point, and green was open for quite a while in pack 1. The green falls off fairly quickly, though, and I correctly move back into red, though I think I waffled, mentally, about the decision way longer than I should have. Even though I had a handful of good green cards, it doesn't change the fact that green dried up about 3 picks into pack 2, which means somebody else already moved into the color.
In the end, it looks like the only card I lost for my speculation is Lightning Javelin in p2p1. Even the Maritime Guard I passed in p3p3 wheeled back around. So, even though I felt divided during the bulk of the draft, I can't honestly say that I made any egregiously bad picks that appreciably weakened my overall deck. The biggest difference would have been if I took Skysnare Spider in pick 1 instead of Harbinger of the Tides, which would have rewarded me with open green in the first pack, and probably would have landed me in a fairly strong GR beater deck by the end of the draft. But I chalk that difference up to a matter of playstyle preference.
Deck Construction
There isn't much to say about the deck, itself. With so few sideboard options, the deck sort of built itself. There could have been an arguable case for Ringwarden Owl and Act of Treason mainboard, but I didn't feel like the direction of my deck warranted either card.
The owl, while a solid evasive threat, works better in a slower control deck that wants a hard-to-block win condition. The card itself is low impact for a 5-drop, and doesn't do much to make your opponent feel like they have to answer it right now. Sure, maybe after getting hit with it for 3 turns they'll start to get nervous, but my deck wants to be explosively aggressive on the turns it's not setting my opponent back on the board with bounces and counterspells. If I'm playing a 5-drop, I want it to feed into that same explosive gameplan.
Act of Treason, on the other hand, allows for explosive bursts of damage to the face, but if I'm not swinging for lethal, it just rots in my hand. Since I'm not playing black, I don't have any outlets to sacrifice my stolen creatures to. This is where great cards like Nantuko Husk and Blazing Hellhound come in, which turn conditional cards like Act of Treason into straight up removal spells for your opponent's biggest creatures. Without some interaction like that in my deck, it's just a card that lets me attack in with my team for a turn, and I've already got enough cards that do that, and actually come with creatures attached to boot.
The owl, while a solid evasive threat, works better in a slower control deck that wants a hard-to-block win condition. The card itself is low impact for a 5-drop, and doesn't do much to make your opponent feel like they have to answer it right now. Sure, maybe after getting hit with it for 3 turns they'll start to get nervous, but my deck wants to be explosively aggressive on the turns it's not setting my opponent back on the board with bounces and counterspells. If I'm playing a 5-drop, I want it to feed into that same explosive gameplan.
Act of Treason, on the other hand, allows for explosive bursts of damage to the face, but if I'm not swinging for lethal, it just rots in my hand. Since I'm not playing black, I don't have any outlets to sacrifice my stolen creatures to. This is where great cards like Nantuko Husk and Blazing Hellhound come in, which turn conditional cards like Act of Treason into straight up removal spells for your opponent's biggest creatures. Without some interaction like that in my deck, it's just a card that lets me attack in with my team for a turn, and I've already got enough cards that do that, and actually come with creatures attached to boot.
The Games
The game plan for my deck panned out better than I'd hoped, even though I was missing instant-speed interactions like Disperse. Whirler Rogue, double Seismic Elemental and Enthralling Victor, not to mention my evasive threats in the way of multiple thopter generators, made it simple to push hard into my opponent's face, even when they had a solid board presence. Without any card draw, I always had to worry about closing out the game before the matches ran long, but between three Titan's Strength and a Lightning Javelin, I had a fairly consistent way to filter out dead draws in clinch situations.
The interesting odd card out in this deck is Clash of Wills. This card usually finds its home in a control deck, but with a lack of playables, I ran it here to fill out my 23rd card slot. Holding up mana for Clash flew directly against my overall game plan, but I still managed to make use of it, especially if I didn't have a play for that turn. I would have definitely been happier with a Disperse or Anchor to the Aether in that slot, but you make due with what cards you manage to draft.
But no matter how good your deck, you can still fall short if you fail to pilot it correctly. Several times during the draft, I found myself playing out my turn without thinking too hard about it first, often playing out whatever I decided to do while waiting on my opponent to move, instead of re-evaluating my options after drawing my next card. My propensity for quick play made me overlook obvious plays, like using Whirler Rogue to get in 2 extra damage, attacking my full board in when I have no good blocks on the next turn anyway, and failing to properly count the amount of mana my opponent has available before they dropped their game-winning bomb. I have a long history of auto-pilot playing, and if I want to improve my game, I have to take my time during each turn and consider all my possible options before playing out. Remember, every second you have left on the clock at the end of the round is another second you could have been considering your options!
The interesting odd card out in this deck is Clash of Wills. This card usually finds its home in a control deck, but with a lack of playables, I ran it here to fill out my 23rd card slot. Holding up mana for Clash flew directly against my overall game plan, but I still managed to make use of it, especially if I didn't have a play for that turn. I would have definitely been happier with a Disperse or Anchor to the Aether in that slot, but you make due with what cards you manage to draft.
But no matter how good your deck, you can still fall short if you fail to pilot it correctly. Several times during the draft, I found myself playing out my turn without thinking too hard about it first, often playing out whatever I decided to do while waiting on my opponent to move, instead of re-evaluating my options after drawing my next card. My propensity for quick play made me overlook obvious plays, like using Whirler Rogue to get in 2 extra damage, attacking my full board in when I have no good blocks on the next turn anyway, and failing to properly count the amount of mana my opponent has available before they dropped their game-winning bomb. I have a long history of auto-pilot playing, and if I want to improve my game, I have to take my time during each turn and consider all my possible options before playing out. Remember, every second you have left on the clock at the end of the round is another second you could have been considering your options!
Wrap-up
Origins has been tougher to draft than the last set, with signals being harder to read, and the overall power level of cards being lower; even so, I still managed to piece together an acceptable blue/red tempo deck with an explosive burst at the top end. The deck could have gone 3-0, but I made two significant mistakes in the last round that cost me the win in each game. Slowing down my game play should increase my win percentage a few points, if I can just keep it in mind during the heat of a close match.
Thanks for following my first ever Origins draft; I'll have a new article up for my next draft next Tuesday, so make sure to check back! I'm also on Facebook and Twitter, so feel free to hit me up on either of those sites as well!
<-Assembly Line
<-Nuts & Bolts
<-Stress Test
Thanks for following my first ever Origins draft; I'll have a new article up for my next draft next Tuesday, so make sure to check back! I'm also on Facebook and Twitter, so feel free to hit me up on either of those sites as well!
<-Assembly Line
<-Nuts & Bolts
<-Stress Test