Roto Cube Draft - July 2014

Roto = rotisserie (the method of picking cards... 1 through 12 down, then 12 picks again going pack up. First and last people gets 2 in a row.)
Cube = the Spencer/Greg/Jeff/Russell cube of power
Draft = pick your cards one at a time to build your deck. 40 picks

The place: Spencer and Jesse's garage (thanks guys!)
The mascot: Loki the dog

We mostly got started at 10:15am complete with 15 bottles of champagne for mimosas. All cards out on table by color and casting cost. Spencer's garage was full of nerds.

Jeff got first pick and took Black Lotus. I got second and took Sol Ring. You get the idea. People brought food and drinks and Marina made pies... Mmm, pies.

Picking cards takes the longest since there are so many good ones - the best in Magic! This time we added some Conspiracy cards: Backup Plan, Worldknit, etc. The cube supports many classic strategies like mono red, Reanimator, Sneak and Tell, green ramp, white weeny, etc. I will list deck types and fun gameplays below.

Jeff recorded the picks on his spreadsheet and around 2pm, we were building decks.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-Wxf4wok9OgMv0YM_6-F6T4nP6tvBHHc6spypgwoh6U/edit?usp=sharing

On to the highlights:

Spencer ran UW creatures with Control Magic effects. Went 2-2, but deck was good for 4-1. All star was Elesh Norn (duh). Best creature in cube?

I ran WB tokens. My second pick after Sol Ring was Elspeth. Then I stayed in white until I saw black was under drafted and went in on Lingering Souls and Sorin. Green was another option. Picked up some equipment late, much to the artifact decks shagrin. Went 0-1 because I had to leave way early.

Alex ran WG with Stoneforge, Swords and Thragtusk/RestoAngel. He also picked Backup Plan first and enjoyed two hands to choose from each game. But he said his mid-range deck was slow and was outclassed by more powerful decks. Went 1-4.

Boland ran UR with Delver and counters and was 5-1 - much success! Disruption, burn and flash guys did their job. His 2nd pick, Advantageous Proclamation made his deck smaller and much more efficient. Also had Snapcaster, Bolt and Young Pyro.

Marina ran 5 color Pod with many tutors (demonic, mystical, enlightened, survival). She went 3-2 and was able to adapt her plan to whatever her opponent was doing. Sweet deck!

Jordan ran mono green ramp going 1-1 and also had to bail out early. Remember kids, roto is a 6+ hour commitment! He got the green Mox and Rofellos, but competed for the key green picks like Noble and Birds. Still ended up with a decent deck, dropping lifelinking 4/4s.

Dan drafted Naya Zoo and had lots of 1-drops. Red Mox, forest, Goblin Guide, Rancor was a powerful first turn. He went 3-2 and thought more early picks on burn spells would have been good.

Jeff ran UBr splashing for Sneak Attack. Turn one Black Lotus and Dark Ritual into Grave Titan was a cool play! He said Sneak Attack + Ashen Rider was pretty good.

Jason run UWr "Value Town" with flickering effects. Brago, King Eternal and Venser were winning some games, but he went 2-3. Still, he felt his deck was competitive, but the Conspiracy cards were too good.

Ryan ran a tricky artifacts combo deck - so unlike him. Crucible, Strip Mine, Metalworker, Mind Twist and Tinker were some of the highlights. Read more about his games here.

Bodhi was RG midrange with the world-famous Channel/Fireball combo. He went 2-2. He liked the Courser/Lotus combo for big mana. Also Jitte and a Sword for more fun.

Mike's deck was UG with Jace, Meloku, Opposition and Garruk. Not sure about his record, but you know that was a crazy fun one.

All in all, a grand time was had. Even Loki was pleased...

Ryan's Roto

I spent the first couple hours bitching to Marina about taking Worldknit and the last 30 minutes bitching to John about taking my Plating. You already had 2 swords and a Skullclump, what more did you need?

I punted a little by not keeping track of how many picks were left with, then Spencer hacked our last pick for the rub ins. In the end I left a few great sideboard cards on the table after taking some speculative combo pieces. Voltaic Key and Ensnaring Bridge mocked me from the sidelines every time I wanted The Abyss and Steel Overseer. To be fair, John was probably about to take the Overseer with his last pick, so no big. 

Rnd 1: Dan dispatched me as mentioned with turn 1 mox, mountain, gob guide + rancor before curving in to more beats. We had an interesting 2nd game where I had wasted his 1 red source and he needed to rip another to burn me out and keep me from gaining a bunch of life every turn thereafter. Dan's a nice guy and his deck was very good so he deserved to rip it the turn before I was going to stabilize.

Rnd 2: I offered Mike B, whoever the hell that is, a potpourri of proper spell sequencing, minor misplays, and savage punts on immensely complicated boards. In the end my draws of pure gas trumped his flooding and cautious play I was able to get there despite my best efforts.

Rnd 3: Marina, my draft Opponent, I was hoping to beat with my most evil cards. Mind Twist, Tinker, and Metalworker fired on all cylinders to get her in two, once again despite some misplays. Game 2 was the second game of the draft where my opponent had to rip a land to win. While Dan needed a red source, Marina, who had correctly spent the afternoon knitting like a champ, needed any land. The Gods were good, my metal worker lived a turn, and the little robot proceeded to explode my hand on the board to the tune of 8 mana (shoulda been 10, but I slammed my top deck Mox like a boss). On the 50th time I counted my mana I was sure my mistake did not matter and I indeed had enough to cast everything in my grip. There's no justice in the world.

Rnd 4: Jeff and I were both trying to do broken things. The cheapness of his reanimation spells made a crucible+strip lock a slower and unlikely proposition, and Twisting, while still good, could fuel the most busted of top decks. Thankfully he decided to beat me the old fashion way, by playing very well. In one game I had stripped and wasted him to no lands. In response to targetting his last swamp he Vamp Tutored for Bazaar. No lands in play, no problem. He dug through his deck over a few turns while I prayed to draw business or crucible. Eventually he set up swamp + reanimate a fatty. Gutsy move on his tutoring, but definitely correct as he had neither side of his combo in hand and had the read on me that I didn't have crucible. 

Rnd 5: Game 1 I stuck to my strategy from my matches against Marina and Boland to punt and still win. Unfortunately, the best laid plans can fall apart. I had the option to play Revoker naming his Master that was about to spit out wolves and eat everything but instead I chose to mind twist his goyf to epic proportions. Apparently there's a downside to 5 for 1s. Game 2 I got the strip + crucible combo against him. He dug in Bolandish fashion with Sylvan Library but the lock was too strongu and his life too low. Game 3 I can't recall what happened, but I think I did something broken. Got it 2-1.

In honor of J2H here's some props and slops

Props: 

The Hosts - Thanks for having us and, as always, cleaning up our mess. I trust you inherited a bunch of food for your efforts.

Loki - As well behaved as I've ever seen him. He was a delight the entire day aside from the bomb he dropped on the lawn.

The Food - Thanks to everyone that considered the lighter options to compliment what's usually a rich spread. Extra props to Marina for going all out and baking up some deliciousness again. Her personal touch of adding booze to something that doesn't need it was the best part. Classic Marina.

The Decks - Everyone seemed to have executed their plan very well, or at least audibled in to a deck that read the signals well. 

The Pool - A perfect end to a day spent sitting inside. Twas great to do something physical for once with all you cerebral types. 

Slops:

Not enough time with Jordan and John.

At the end of the day people talking about Worldknit being broken in roto. Don't take it out too soon, please.

All the rough play going on in the pool. The sign clearly says no rough play.

M15 Pre-release July 12, 2014

Core sets are a lot like a greatest hits playlist. There's the old classics (Gravedigger, Cancel, Heat Ray, Liliana Vess...), and there's also a few new cards sprinkled in as well. I had had my fill of Theros (and wasn't too successful I'm sorry to say), so I was more than ready for M15. $25 to play and about 35 players at Mythic downtown that morning.

Looking over the promo cards for each color, I was thinking black was the most powerful.

A 5/3 flying demon that could draw an extra card sounded great. The next best to me was the red dragon. Even though expensive at 7 mana, when it hits the table, it would do some serious damage. White had the annoying "get 20 life" angel. I could feel the frustration of anyone playing against this, especially when you had your opponent down to under 10 life. Green and blue just seemed bad.

So I opened my black box and a large Garruk card was staring back at me. Also, wolf tokens, packs and a black spindown. There was a mini-game to play with the Garruk and tokens, but I was here to build a sealed deck. Let's see what rares I got.

Um, wait... that's 9 rares out of 6 packs? Well, the promo demon was extra and the foil Shield was too. But that accounts for 8 of them. WTF? Not sure what was in each pack, but this is what I had. The Star City Games price guide says that's $10.50 in value. Big Whoop! Here's the rest of the pool...

Blue:
Quickling (flash & flying? sign me up)
Armpit Pathmage
Research Asst. (looter 'r good)
Peel from Reality
2x Welkin Tern (hi Jordan!)
Frost Lynx (kittah tapper)
Encrusty
2x Glacial Crasher (should be in green?)
Negate
Statute of Denial
Invisibility (this looks as if it could be good)

Green:
Nissa's Expedition (expensive land fixer)
Restock
Paragon of Eternal Wilds
2x Venon Slivers (new scorp 2 drop)
Roaring Primadox
Naturalize
Titanic Growth
Ranger's Guile
2x Hunter's Ambush (sweet fog, bro)
3x Plummets
Elvish Mysty
Living Totem
Siege Wurm (good as it ever was)
2x Charging Rhino (take its Visa away)

White:
Paragon of New Dawns
Geist of the Moors (or less)
Seraph of the 'Asses
Trips Spirits (rolling peeps all weekend)
Pillar of Light
2x Tireless Missionaries (try something new!)
Sanctified Charge
Solemn Offering
Ephemeral Shields (prime battle trick)
2x Midnight Guards
Razor Griffin
Kinsbaile Skirmisher (who let the Kithkins out?)
Sungrace Pegasus
Raise the Alarm
Oreo Swiftclaw
Soulmender (it's really this big!)
Selfless Cathar

Red:
Circle of Flame
Cone of Flame (MoFo Cone of Flame!)
Paragon of Fierce Def
Brood Keeper (Kaleessi?)
Shrapnel Blast
Aflac Bloodseeker (Aflac!)
2x Lightning Strikes (might be good...)
Wall of Fire
Torch Fiend
Clear a Path (for this trash)
Rummy Gobby (looter 'r good)
Crowd's Favor (what do they know?)
Miner's Bane
Krenko's Enforcer (licky boom-boom down)
Inferno Fist

Black:
Wall of Limbs (could be handy)
Nightfire Giant
Festergloom
Flesh to Dust
Typhoid Mary's Rats
Sign in Blood
2x Shadowcloak Vamps
Child of Night (sing it!)
2x Black Cats
3x Carrion Crows (ca-caw!)
2x Witch's Familiar

Artis/Lands:
Meteorite (never wrong)
Hot Soup (you know it's a party when the soup arrives)
Darksteel Citadel
Radiant Fountain
2x Tyrant's Machines
2x Ornithopters

I'm a sucker for removal (call me crazy), so red/black jumped right out and slapped my momma. The three red rares all looked promising and you gotta love that promo demon. Two Lightning Strikes, Cone, Sign in Blood, the Gobbos looter and the three crows had game. Blue and green seemed shallow and I wasn't feeling the white. Here's my deck:

7cc: Siege Dragon
5cc: Burning Anger, Cone, Indulgent Tormentor, Nightfire Giant, Flesh to Dust, Shadow Vamp
4cc: Red Paragon
3cc: Rummy Gob, K's Enforcer, 3x Crows, Festergloom
2cc: Gob Kaboom, 2x Lit Strike, Aflac Blooddude, Inferno Fist, Sign in Blood, Child of Night
1cc: Crowd's Favor, Typhoid Rats
SB: Torch Fiend (for artifacts), Meteorite (just to try it) and Wall of Fire (vs. aggro)
A bit heavy on 5 drops, but they were all worth it. Slots 1, 2 and 3 seemed good, but not aggro.

My first round opponent was... a BYE! Running hot! Here's Ryan and Khaatim's match highlights instead.

Game one Khaatim got out the black promo demon with Burning Anger attached to it and Ryan drew like 7 lands in a row. Game two Khaatim got the demon out again, but Ryan answered with a Covenant of Blood. Then a Cruel Sadist came out as well as a Shadow Vamp. Ryan was hanging in there, but his Zof Shade got its flesh turned to dust and it was over. Round goes to Khaatim.

I asked George what cards he liked in the new set. Cone of Flame (of course) and the Generator Servant, because it speeds out the 5-drops.

My second round started vs. Thada, a relatively new Magic player. She was there with her boyfriend. She played a turn two Spirit Bond and made many 1/1 flyers. Then finished me with a Soul of Ravnica. Ouch. For game two, I came back with an unanswered Goblin Enforcer with an Inferno Fist on it. The 4 damage a turn was too much. In the rubber game, I got out a Child of Night with Fist and started gaining life. I should have played more aggressively, since she was able to stabilize the board. But I got out the big dragon and won just before time. Whew! Well played, Thada!

Round three, I faced Walter playing red white. Ut oh, that's an aggro deck! Remember what I said about the white promo angel? I was right... I mulliganed to 6 cards and he played two Triplicate Spirits for six 1/1 flyers. By the time I got my dragon out, I was down to 4 life. But he had the angel and I was outclassed in the air. Game two, I held the demon in my starting hand, so I just needed to get to 5 mana. He got out six spirits out again. Then when I played the demon, he used a Blastfire Bolt on it. Next turn, he played out a Siege Dragon of his own and it was over. Oof.

2-1 was my record and I needed 3 wins for prizes. Next up was Graham playing blue white. He started off fast with a Welkin Tern and Raise The Alarm for dudes. I tried to burn the bird, but he played Ephemeral Shields. I found more removal by way of Burning Anger on my Nightfire Giant. 5 damage a turn is tough! Game two, it was my turn to be aggro with drops 1-4 of little dudes and the demon on turn 5. It was over quick without much resistance. Good games, Graham!

Target prizes acquired! I had to get back home and dropped. I was happy to test out the new cards - M15 seems like a fun set. I asked Khaatim what he thought and he said that promo angel was nuts since opponents had to kill you twice with it. He said black and white had good spot removal and the format seemed slow with enough time to cast the bigger cards. We'll see how things shake out!