by Hugh Kramer, Grade 9

Alright alright alright alright alright alright alright alright now fellas!  Yeah? What’s cooler…than drafting Theros?! Ice Age. I said what’s cooler, than drafting Theros. ICE AGE. Man I miss that song. I miss a lot of things from when I was just a wee lad. But you know what I don’t miss? Drafting Henry David Theros all the time since it’s a fanfreakingtastic format!

If you are a loyal reader of my bi-weekly column here at Hipsters, then you know I had some predictions about the format two weeks ago. As of today I can say that a many of those predictions are definitely holding up! Again these opinions are about draft and are not necessarily my views on sealed! White heroic decks are still the decks to beat but they are certainly not unbeatable. Gods pretty much suck. I would predict, at least in draft, people lose more games having a God than winning with a God in play. As I’ve come to see it, that’s certainly been the case. Black still continues to not impress me. People sing the praises of Gray Merchant and I think it’s an okay card but really, think about everything that you are actually doing to set it up. First of all, it’s a vanilla 2/4 for five mana which in this format, is going to often be too slow and too irrelevant a body, even with some drain life. The bigger the drain life effect you get means the more black permanents you will have to have in play. Since in my opinion, most of the black permanents at common suck, you are gain having to play lack-luster cards to make a “good” card better. This I think is a cardinal sin that a lot of players make in limited. You should not have to play bad cards to make good cards better. Sometimes you will just not draw your good cards and hence your weak “enablers” will simply lose you the game.  I’d rather just play a card that is going to be good on it’s own no matter when I play or draw it.

I could say more but I’m going to stop here and get to the draft! Up to this point, in nearly every draft I’ve done I’ve been pretty much forcing Wu, Wg, Wr, or UG tempo/aggro decks. Over the past week I’d read a few articles and opinions that the ramp decks in this format are pretty good so I decided to give it a try in my draft last night.  Let’s see how it went!

Pack 1 pick 1:

So, passing Phalanx leader was not only the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life, but also almost certainly incorrect.  Still, we have a plan and we have to stick to it!  A turn three Karametra’s Acolyte off of a turn two Voyaging Satyr can give you a turn four six drop and this card is certainly one of the better cards in any ramp deck.

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 2:

The best card in this pact is Ordeal of Heliod. And it certainly was a big ordeal for me to pass it. There are no good ramp cards in this pack though there is a decent finisher in Centaur Battlemaster.  I’m not thrilled to pick it here since a ramp deck will presumably not have much in the way of heroic triggering but even turning it into a 6/6 or 7/7 can sometimes be enough. I’m also not worried about finding finishers and at this point I was was bemoaning how good of a white beatdown start I would’ve had.  Still, onward and upward!

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 3:

Gross. No green to speak of. I guess we will just take the best card and possibly still move into white in some form. Also, interesting sidenote, a buddy at my LGS (20 Sided Store) Nick H, pointed out to me that Prowler’s Helm is basically unblockable as the only “wall” in this set is Mnemonic Wall. All the other defenders in this set do not have the “wall” creature type. Fascinating stuff!

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 4:

Easy pick here.  I’ve said this before and I’ll keep saying it.  This card is the best common in the set.  Don’t stop me now.

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 5:

At this point I’m not really committed to anything. I really really like ordeals, and the blue one is probably the best one. I took it here in case I’m transitioning into a blue based tempo deck. Losing out on a green three-drop is not much of a concern this early. In this set especially I’ve often felt I’ve never had an issue getting enough playables as there seem to just be so many.

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 6:

Yet another white ordeal. The sadness continues. Burnished Hart is a decent ramp card though after playing with it, I will say I was less than impressed, especially when compared to the other options in green.

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 7:

I’m going to keep complaining about passing the great white aggro cards like God’s Willing but am reasonably okay with taking a mana-sink/finisher here.

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 8:

I’m pretty sure I’m not wrong about ordeals being insane. I guess the news just hasn’t spread yet that they should not be going this late.

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 9:

This card has over-performed in many of the decks I’ve seen it in.

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 10:

More ramp. Certainly not exciting but a card I will most likely play.

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 11:

I have no problem hate drafting cards that will be good against me ever.

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 12:

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Pack 1 pick 13:

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Pack 1 pick 14:

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Pack 1 pick 15:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 1:

The weapons are certainly better than the Gods, I don’t think that’s up for debate. With that said I still don’t think they’re insane or anything but the bow is probably one of the better ones so it was the easy pick here as green is most likely to be my main color.

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 2:

Nessian Asp is a great finisher and coming down on turn four or five will certainly throw a wrench into the plans of most decks. I’m still not passing the best common in the set for it however.

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 3:

I will unashamedly admit this was a straight hate draft for me. It’s probably that this card isn’t even that good against me but Prescient Chimera might trigger 2-3 times a game which is pretty weak as is the double blue in it’s cost so I wasn’t too worried I was giving up anything here.

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 4:

Heliod’s Emissary is the best card here by a mile but Horizon Chimera has continued to impress me as well. If you’re drafting UG you’re pretty much guaranteed to pick up every copy of this card that’s opened…and that’s a good thing.

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 5:

Deathtouch.  Deathtouch is insane in this format. Nessian Asp is a roadblock on turn four to five. Scorpion is a roadbock on turn one that will likely gain you more life over the course of a game. Again, we’re not worried about picking up random fatty finishers and would much rather take cards that will let us get to the point where we can cast our behemoths.

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 6:

Time to feed is okay, but Artisan’s Sorrow can lead to many a blowout and is probably stronger overall.

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 7:

I think I should’ve taken Time to Feed here as one is pretty good for most green decks and Ordeals lose a ton of value for decks that are not beating down as mine does not look to be

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 8:

Burnished Hart really did not impress as a ramp spell when compared to Voyaging Satyr and Karametra’s Acolyte. I think the scorpion was the correct pick here. The card just buys all the time you need.

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 9:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 10:

This tabling is an easy pick up as a finisher/stabilizer.

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 11:

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Pack 2 pick 12:

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Pack 2 pick 13:

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Pack 2 pick 14:

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Pack 2 pick 15:

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Pack 3 pick 1:

Preeeetty weak pack for us here. For me the pick was between the two green three-drops and I chose the one that could potential win the game over the extra toughness.

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 2:

Not much to say here.

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 3:

This pick was a bit more interesting.  I already had two Voyage’s End’s and as highly as I sing the praises of the card, I did not feel I needed a 3rd.  Thassa’s Emissary has impressed me so much that I felt it was the pick here over a second Karametra’s Acolyte as my deck looking like it was going to have sufficient ramp already.

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 4:

Best green common for this deck and the first one I’ve seen all draft, was a snap pick.

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 5:

2nd Scorpion, probably should’ve had three.

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 6:

I’ll play two foxes as fine finishers.

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 7:

Didn’t need a 3rd fox and buying back a lot of my sweet spells seems fine.

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 8:

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Pack 3 pick 9:

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Pack 3 pick 10:

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Pack 3 pick 11:

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Pack 3 pick 12:

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Pack 3 pick 13:

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Pack 3 pick 14:

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Pack 3 pick 15:

My Pick:

Ended up going 3-0 with the decklist below.  In large part due to the scorpions just buying me again, all the time I needed.  Ramp is definitely a viable and fun archetype but making sure you don’t just die early as always is the key!

UG Ramp

Creatures (17)
2 Sedge Scorpion
2 Nessian Asp
2 Burnished Hart
2 Vulpine Goliath
1 Mnemonic Wall
1 Voyaging Satyr
1 Karametra’s Acolyte
1 Horizon Chimera
1 Opaline Unicorn
1 Nessian Courser
1 Agent of Horizons
1 Thassa’s Emissary
1 Prescient Chimera

Spells (6)
2 Voyage’s End
1 Artisan’s Sorrow
1 Bow of Nylea
1 Thassa’s Bounty
1 Ordeal of Thassa
Lands (17)
9 Forest
8 Island

Thanks for reading!

Hugh

World-renowned punster Hugh Kramer is also a skilled Limited Magician. He’ll share his thoughts on each format as it rears its ugly head, and continue his analysis well after the format fades into the darkness of rotation. Hugh was able to single handedly drive Matt Jones from the Limited format with his love of the Spider Spawning archetype in Innistrad Limited.

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