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Kadar, Forker, and I had a draft-a-thon that started Friday at 2pm and ended Saturday at 3am. 13 hours of Khans of Tarkir. Here are photos of the amazing people we drafted with, a couple of highlights from the day, and the four decks I drafted.

Draft One

Carrie, Morse, Zac, Forker, me, and Kadar. 2pm. Six person flight.

The mood: Jovial.

The deck:

Mardu Jund

Creatures (12) 1 Mardu Hateblade 1 Mardu Skullhunter 2 Ainok Tracker 1 Hordeling Outburst 1 Sidisi’s Pet 1 Canyon Lurkers 1 Alabaster Kirin 1 Burtcher of the Horde 1 Unyielding Krumar 1 Ponyback Brigade 1 Venerable Lammasu Spells (10) 1 Feat of Resistance 1 Tormenting Voice 1 Mardu Charm 1 Arc LIghtning 1 Rush of Battle 1 Bitter Revelation 2 Arrow Storm 1 Dead Drop 1 Rite of the Serpent

Lands (18) 7 Mountain 6 Swamp 4 Plains 1 Bloodfell Caves

This deck played more like a Jund deck and less the aggro Mardu decks I keep hearing about. As I’m more of a midrange player, I loved this.

I beat Zac and Kadar. Round three never happened as my team won five by the close of round two. 2-0.

Best cards: Butcher of the Horde, Arc Lightning, Ponyback Brigade, Arrow Storm, Dead Drop.

Draft Two

Kadar, Dave, Morse, Pappa Longo, Carrie, me, Dominator, and Forker. 5pm. Eight person flight.

The mood: Saucey

The deck:

Temur Monsters

Creatures (16) 1 Jeskai Elder 1 Smoke Teller 1 Bloodfire Mentor 2 Mystic of the Hidden Way 1 Sagu Archer 1 Hooded Hydra 1 Witness of the Ages 2 Ainok Tracker 1 Alpine Grizzly 1 Jeskai Windscout 1 Sultai Flayer 1 Hooting Mandrills 1 Bear’s Companion 1 Riverwheel Aerialists Spells (7) 1 Savage Punch 1 Force Away 1 Roar of Challenge 1 Temur Charm 1 Weave Fate 1 Dragonscale Boon 1 Master the Way

Lands (17) 17 Lands

This deck had no fixing save one GR dual land.  The mana was still ok most of the time cuz there was so little red requirements.

I lost to Carrie’s very good Junk mid-range deck (many powerful cards) and won my two other matches, one of which was with Forker, the other I can’t remember. 4-1 overall.

Best cards: Roar of Challenge, Master the Way (both of them won me multiple games), and Cancel (out of the board).

Draft Three

Longo, Forker, Morse, Derek, Hugh, me, Abe, Pena, Dave, Dom, Monique, and Kadar. 12 people. Two pods of six. Team draft. 8pm.

Mood: Getting sleepy.

Pack one I open this:

So there was a lot at stake.

The deck:

Abzan Get-Run-Over-By-All-the-Aggro-Decks

Creatures (15) 1 Rattleclaw Mystic 1 Archers’ Parapet 1 Smoke Teller 2 Sagu Archer 1 Sage-Eye Harrier 1 Woolly Loxodon 1 Krumar Bond-Kin 1 Kheru Bloodsucker 1 Abzan Guide 1 Unyielding Krumar 1 Shambling Attendants 1 Armament Corps 1 Tusked Colossodon 1 Vernerable Lammasu Spells (7) 1 Kin-Tree Invocation 1 Abzan Banner 1 Bitter Revelation 1 Dragonscale Boon 2 Ride of the Serpent 1 Duneblast

Lands (18) 2 Jungle Hollow 1 Blossoming Sands 1 Abzan Tri-Land 2 Plains 6 Swamps 6 Forests

I lost all three matches. Jon beat me quickly. Kadar smarmily beat me faster. Sean had a deck that Abe said I had a chance to beat, and he ran me the fuck over. Worst draft of the night by far. There was never anything I could do and I was bummed out. 4-4 overall.

Abe trolled Kadar by knocking him to 2-1 with a win. That meant they had a three way tie at 2-1 and had to roll for the foil Wooded Foothills. Sean won the roll.

I thought it was over and I could go home and get to sleep so I’d have a productive day in the studio Saturday. Dom tricked me and I ended up in one final unscheduled draft.

The Bad Idea Draft (aka Draft Four)

Dominator, Hugh, Pena, Sean, Abe, Dave, Kadar, and a very hungry me. Eight bros. Eight bro pod. 11:30am.

The pizza arrived shortly after the draft and we wolfed down some slices.

Mood: On edge but high on an 5 Hour Energy shot.

The deck:

Mardu Rares

Creatures (15) 1 Ruthless Ripper 1 Monastery Swiftspear 1 Mardu Hateblade 1 Gurmag Swiftwing 1 War-Name Aspirant 1 Ponyback Brigade 1 Witness of the Ages 1 Krumar Bond-Kin 1 Bloodfire Expert 1 Canyon Lurkers 1 Ashcloud Phoenix 1 Unyielding Krumar 1 Butcher of the Horde 1 Ankle Shanker 1 Mardu Roughrider Spells (8) 1 Debilitating Injury 1 Tormenting Voice 1 Ride Down 1 Mardu Ascendancy 1 Rush of Battle 1 Raiders’ Spoils 1 Bring Low 1 Arrow Storm

Lands (17) 4 Plains 4 Swamp 5 Mountains 3 Bloodfell Cave 1 Scoured Barrens

I crushed Hugh. I crushed Sean. I nearly crushed Pena but the bastard dared to defeat this deck by Becoming Immense out of no where and then overwhelming me game two, too. FUUUUUCK! HAHA! Who cares? This deck was insane, fun, and my number two favorite deck of all time (number one favorite deck of all time is a Modern Masters deck from a couple weeks ago that I’ll eventually write about). Overall record: 6-5. If I don’t have that shitty 0-3 draft I’m 6-2 which ain’t bad! HA!

Best cards: Ride Down, Ponyback Brigade, Butcher of the Horde, Mardu Ascendancy, Ankle Shanker, Ashcloud Phoenix.

And that’s it! 13 hours of Magic. I know what the cards do now. I know that Khans of Tarkir is the most fun Limited Magic set since Innistrad. For this I am very grateful!

I’m ready for Team Draft League Season Four!

Thanks for reading and looking!

Much love,
Matt

Matt Jones (born 1980, Rochester, New York) is an artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY. Matt works between a variety of inter-related genres that explore mythology, archaeology, ancient history, theoretical physics, comedy, and the paranormal—all developed and inspired by research and personal experience. Together his bodies of work form a way for Matt to evaluate, negotiate, and play with the world around him. You can check out his art at www.mattjonesrules.com. Matt’s played Magic since early 1995, took a break for a decade or so, and came back to the game the weekend after the Scars of Mirrodin release. With Hugh Kramer he formed New York’s Team Draft League and is one of the original writers for Hipsters of the Coast. Matt’s been sober for seven years.