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...