MATT'S DRAFT DECK #1 ROTTING TESTOSTERONE

PLANESWALKERS OF MIDGARD PRESENTS

MATT'S DRAFT DECK #1 ROTTING TESTOSTERONE

Into the fourth day of testing, we saw a return to form from the first day of serious testing, and both of the decks introduced the test pull were a serious pull away from Justin's Pilfering Pirates Deck. Matt found success with a creature heavy ramp-up of black/green.

A note about some of the overall feelings I have about the repeat of black/green in this draft; there was a lot of mana ramp in the first iteration of the set and, overtime, I've worked hard to phase it out. Yet, between some very solid black creatures and some solid green mana ramp it is exceptionally easy to ramp up some nasty mechanics. One such mechanic is Corrupt (When this creature enters the battlefield, gain control of target creature with a lower mana cost then this creature); and this mechanic may be a little overpowered when combined with other abilities. I decided to make it a black/blue mechanic that would help define witches/nullnauts. I'm considering options to balance out this mechanic which gives black a perhaps too strong creature mechanic...speaking of which, vampires! The Vampire Poet and Vampire Lover combo are a favorite in the draft, but so much so that I am thinking about whether it is overpowered. Black is a powerful color right now and time will tell how I balance this out...

And without further ado, lets discuss a deck with a record of 4 wins and 0 losses, challenging Justin's pirates as the draft heavyweight.

CONTAINS 40

CREATURES

(16 Creatures: 7  Black Creatures, 9 Green Creatures )

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? We start out a look at Matt's deck by talking about this nifty defender. He starts out as a weenie but, the longer he stays on the battlefield,t he beefier he gets. He is a good green blocker and a good addition to the creature pool of the deck.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? One of the challenges of this set was to create new niches for spiders that make them more effective ways for green to deal with flyers. Cave Spider has done a fantastic job of securing a defensive niche in green that is difficult to surpass in the set. Matt used it to great effect.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? One of the major problems with Matt's pool of creatures was that he had a lot of effective monsters, but he had no big finishers. Craw Wurm King gets that job done nicely...even if Matt didn't draft any other wurms.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? Green elk has rightfully seen a lot of attention in the drafts because he is one of the best bang for your buck cards to get mana. Matt didn't get a chance to use Green Elk but it assuredly would've helped shore up his defensive lines and build mana ramp.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? The vampires of Lacrozia are classy and organized; they always bring an entourage. Lacrozian Poet's ability to net Vampire's Lovers makes him a real efficient card and, in matches against control decks, discourage being returned to its controller's hand for the chance to play and get another annoying vampire wench.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? A potent card in the drafts; The Mother has been effective due to her abilities to control many mid-level creatures and here extremely potent control ability. Matt used her effectively to take control of a Lacrozian Baron and flipped it around on opponent that thought he had the upperhand. Corrupt seems to be a pretty potent keyword and we're doing some serious work to figure out how to compensate to make the cards still effective without being overpowered. One possibility is to muddle their prices and another is to change the ability to only last as long as the original creature with corrupt is on the battlefield.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? Black had secured a special niche in this set with the staying power of its creatures...and that might also be too potent (it certainly has been in the draft format). Nullnaut Plagueling certainly fills a nice place in its owners deck but is arguably outclassed by Plague Skeleton.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? Nymble Berserker potential is pretty potent in the set and Matt was able to use it round out his creature pool nicely with some variety.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? The ever-popular draft pick, Nymble Scout gets added because he served as a possible aggressor and a possible defender. The flexibility of this fellow is quite admirable.

Deck contains. 2.

Reasons? Org Ranger is a wonky but respectable orc version of the Borderland Ranger and served a niche as a mana-getter for orcs and a reach creature for the orcs. You trade the speed of your mana get for reach but, arguably,. she is worth it. Matt used her to great effect as coverage/mana-get.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? And here we have the arguably fan favorite of the mana getters; he nets you one mana right off the bat, one on your next turn, and puts his 1/1 buttocks on the field.

Deck contains. 2.

Reasons? Plague Skeleton is almost undoubtedly OP for a common. Matt used this extraordinarily removal resistant creatures to great effect. Solutions for his OP-ness: Change cost to BB or 2B, or make it so instead of having wither he puts a wither counter on a creature whenever he dies.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? Vampire's Lover is a simply brilliant card that may need a little clipping. When combo'd with Vampire Poet, it makes no sense not to put as many of them in the same deck, and I see this building the base of any coming vampire decks when we get into pre-con stuff.

NON-CREATURE SPELLS

(8 Non-Creature Spells:1 Artifact, 1 Black Enchantment, 2 Black Sorcereys, 1 Green Enchantment, 2 Green Instants, 1 Green Sorcery)

 

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? Matt asked me why an aura like Cobra Hood costs 3. Simply, deathtouch turns a creature, especially a big creature, into death on a stick.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? Cower is a potentially nasty and potentially OP card. I haven't even seen it used in one of the ways that I can see it breaking the set....but Matt used it smartly to net himself a win by making most of his creatures essentially unblockable.

 

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? And this card was really one of Matt's best tricks tonight. Gargantuan Growth turns what seemed like an obvious block into a devastating humiliation every time.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? A strange find but the appeal to this card in a limited format is obvious; sometimes getting five life or a couple of saproling tokens can be the game-maker.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? Hunter's Moon pissed off both of Matt's opponents, myself included, when he used it to pumping up his already difficult to remove creatures. This is the "testosterone" that made Matt's wimpiest creatures into lethal threats.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? A card that got a surprising hand up since last it saw its inclusion in Zach's deck, Imp Circle really sets up an annoying situation, and maybe, just maybe, changing the price was a bad idea because it really gave Matt a frustrating advantage. This card demands Aura Shatters as a sideboard.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? An artifact that has become completely salvaged since the earlier drafts of the set, Spear of the Badger-Lord is almost a must have in any nymble deck and even in a deck without white creatures it still an admirable card. Matt used it to help boost up his rotting army for the win at least once in the games we played.

Deck contains. 1.

Reasons? Another reason black might need a kick in the gonads to nerf it is the number of nifty creature raisers in the first set. Matt didn't get a chance to use this but combined with Craw or a Vampire Lover and the advantages of such cards are obvious.

 

LANDS

(16 Lands: 6 Forests, 2 Other, 8 Swamps)

CONTAINS: 6

CONTAINS: 1

CONTAINS: 8

CONTAINS: 1

And that's all folks. With six testers and counting, this is becoming more and more exciting. I can't see what another week of testing will do. Expect to start seeing info about the next set soon.