From: tkehoe@bbs.mpcs.com
Subject: Mi/Vi/Wl Booster Drafting:  Visions
Date: 11 Jul 1997 11:56:29 GMT


  Well, I have been urged to forge on, despite the basic incoherency of
my long post about the Mirage set, in terms of Booster Drafting.  All I
can say in my defense is that this is the sort of thing I type at 7 AM,
when the world of sleep and I don't see eye to eye.

  Ah, Visions.  I will go out on a limb and say that it's the strongest
expansion printed, for Draft purposes.  (Admittedly, I can only evaluate
from Ice Age onward, a couple Ital-legends drafts nonwithstanding...
I've always wanted to draft from the Dark...)  Strong, as in, *highly* 
competetive decks, a fair number of game-swinging rares, and more 
dangerous commons than one knows what to do with.  The interesting 
thing about the set, for me, is how miserable the uncommons are, as a 
whole.  For every Nekrataal or Dragon Mask, there are two or three 
Heat Waves, Summer Blooms, or what have you.  Of course, there could 
only be one Time and Tide.  But that's beside the point.  

  Where to begin?  Each color will always have it's seperate merits, but
when you throw them all together, one of the 5 in Visions is a little 
less flashy than the others, and therefore, I think, a better bet due
to availibilty in the mid-to-late passes.  So let's start with White.

  Well, as the rares go, only one is indesputably strong.  Noone likes
being on the business end of a Zhalfirin Crusader.  Find a way to 
damage him yourself for extra yuks.  Beyond him, the rares are fairly
bland.  Archangel, is expensive, but if any color can last that long, 
it's white.  The uncommons offer up one of the premiere cards in the 
set, Miraculous Recovery.  Don't be shy of it's price.  It's better than
a Ray of Command.  Anyhow, Instant-speed blocking, graveyard manipulation,
and the +1/+1 to boost.  Lord.  I would also the fairly innocuous Daraja
Griffin, and Honorable Passage, as above-average.  Longbow Archer is 
excellent, and Teferi's Honor Guard is nice for U/W.  Then, it's on to
those wacky white commons.  
  Sun Clasp.  Well.  It's just about the best creature enchantment ever
printed.  (Spirit Link?  AoT?)  Usable on defense, useful for all the
coming-into-play creatures... also decisively useful as a one-turn 
breakthrough to unsummon someone's blockers... Gossamer Chains is
nice, and unkillable w/o hand destruction.  The Infantry Veterans are 
like baby dragon masks, they push home the attackers very well early on.
And those Lions are dangerous.  Super-Flanker (yes, okay, nobody calls
him Knight of Valor down here) *is* virtually unblockable, save for 
another flanker.  Anyhow, the clutch card is Remedy.  It has been 
getting more and more respect as of late, which is good, I suppose, 
although I'm going to miss stuffing 4 into my Crypt Rat decks.  
Remedy is one of those cards that often proves decisive once your 
opponent knows you have one.  In fact, I try to always show one off
early on, against certain people.  You can get a lot of people to 
take repeated attacks from theoretically mutual-kill blockers, with the
mere threat of Remedy.  Anyhow, it's way too strong.  Parapet is quite
nice, as well.  Some people talk it up like the strongest card in the
set, though.  It's not.  Anyhow, virtually every good card in white is
one-white to cast - and they lend themselves to 'splashing' very well.
Especially Remedy.  :)  
  
  Now, Green is, admittedly, my least favorite color.  And it got 
some lame ducks in Visions.  I won't submit to peer pressure and dis 
the Lichenthrope - but the rares hardly bear mentioning, save for the
wicked Quiron Druid.  He wins games, but only long ones.  
  The uncommons are a mess.  The Wildebeests are very strong, and the
Orangutan is, if nothing else, good for a few sound effects.  And a 
word of praise for Creeping Mold.  But then there's a lot of drek.  I
think some of the stuff like Summer Bloom and Elephant Grass should'a
gotten switched down to commons.
  Why?  Because the green commons are LUDICROUS.  As a whole, they are
not THAT threatening, but they represent such a quantum leap forward 
in what green USUALLY has to play with - it's sort of like seeing the
North Koreans all start driving McLaren F1's or something.  When the
least dangerous common creature is a *4/4* for 4 mana... something is
wrong.  Sincerely, the "Bloa" and the warthog are so easy to use, they
should be sold on late-night infomericals.  (yes, i've seen the ads
for Portal, really late on Mtv)  The Warthog is about as hard to 
excuse as the OJ Verdict, in particular.  Then, there's the Panther
Warriors, which aren't THAT expensive... i've seen many drafts decided
by people getting (rightfully) fearful of an early warthog or boa or
what have you, and burning whatever creature removal they have, only
to be mercilessly killed by the 6/3.  Feral Instincts will ALWAYS come
very late, and my advice is, PLAY EVERY ONE.  Finally, Elven Cache 
is really underrated in draft.  I'll gratefully forsake the element
of suprise for a second Miraculous Recovery or whatever.

  And the problems don't stop there.  Black has a couple rares I 
would never play with, but the Necrosavant is just vicious.  I am 
not wild about the Spite, either:  if you're going to play it, 
please side it out against ANYBODY with white or blue... someone 
*will* bust your ass with a Salve or somesuch from the sideboard.
Use the Tutor at your own judgement.
  Black's uncommons, well, theres the Nekrataal, and the Necromancy
action.  It hardly needs to be elaborated on, how many ways there 
are to hook into the mighty power of the Nekrataal.  As for the 
other uncommons... oh, there are others?  I guess I will have to 
admit to a giddy love of Desolation since day 1 of Visions, and, yes,
it has a place in Booster Draft.  Beyond that, you're on tenuous 
ground.  Play a Brood, if you have a 'Savant.  Kids stuff.  :)
  As for the commons.  The righteous fury of the Crypt Rat is now
known to all.  I suppose I will never again be able to draft 6 of
them, (out of only 2 packs!!)  but still - my honest advice is this.
He is sooo strong, in combination with all the white commons, that 
you really can't go wrong in assuming from the point you have your
first Rat onwards, that you will be splashing White.  The University
of Florida still cringes en masse at the word "RATAPET".  But it's
the Remedies much more than the Parapet.  One of the more 
entertaining of decks.  Then, black has all its usual signature
goodies... Fallen Askari is nice.  Coercion is *remarkable* - but
unfortunately, sometimes you just aren't playing against someone who
doesn't draft anything worth Coercioning.  Don't laugh!  It happens.
The Wake of Vultures, frankly, is superior to anything blue has to
offer the Fliers.  A word of warning, though - Tar Pit Cyclops are
waaay too killable, in Visions.  Take a coercion instead.  I also
wouldn't really play with more than one infernal harvest.  

  Onward to blue, much hyped in Visions.  At least it's not 
constucted we're talking about here... I've seen a few too many 
games of late with two blue players, teeth clenched, eyes wild,
both with, like, 4 Manowars in hand, and no creatures on the board.
Anyhow, blue got some of the best and worst of the set.
  I may just be way too tired, but are any of the blue rares 
worth drafting?  Sorry for the moment of weakness.  I'm almost done
here and *not* going to go root through my cards like a truffle-
rooting pig or somesuch.  Oh, Flooded Shoreline is pretty groovy.
Desertion, on the other hand, is *not* enough reason to play blue 
and hang back with 5 mana all the time.
  In the uncommons department, blue got the Ovinomancer, which 
always makes games amusing, at least.  Less amusing, and far 
scarier, is the Waterspout Djinn, which, frankly, seems overpowerful.
Tip for Kidz:  Don't play two at once unless you REALLY HAVE TO.  
heh.  Shimmering Efreet is vaguely useful, in a Sidar Jabari-esque
way.  Lord knows i would prefer a Cloud Elemental.
  Speaking of which, he is part of the almost too-fast blue (dare
i say it) beatdown.  Combined with the well-known Breezekeeper
Problem (as in, there are too MANY of them, and they dont COST
ENOUGH) - blue can really overrun someone in the sky.  There isn't
much good defence in blue, really, in Visions, but there is an
incredible amount of STALL of course, in the form of Undo, and
Manowar.  They are in high demand in a draft with good players, 
but if you think you have more than one or two of each, I would say,
draft and design your deck around the principle of a fast, fast 
kill.  Leave out the fluff, and stick in the 1-3 CC rushers.  
It's one of a couple really viable Visions-based deck templates 
for drafting, usually combined with red or white.  And finally, 
there is Impulse.  Which, I think, is like a Christmas Treat for 
all us blue players out there.  I would highly recommend splishing
blue for them alone and the occasional stray Manowar or what have 
you, if you have something truly focal in your deck, like a Snake
Basket or something.

  Finally, there's Red.  Nominally the mightiest of drafting 
colors.  Here it's taken a bit of a hit, in my opinion.  Without a
doubt, there are some fine cards.  Relentless Assault *is* a game
winning card - sadly, red's ground forces just aren't that 
scary to back it up.  Lightning Cloud seems like a great idea, but
in practice it usually isn't.  The Phoenix requres too much 
commitment to red, and the other rares aren't very impactful.
  Red's got some lame uncommons, more than the other colors.  The
Piper is NOT a replacement for a honest to goodness Lure.  
Overcosted.  Spitting Drake is all right, but in draft, the
Sandstalker might get through once, but he will just be traded 
off for something.  Even the Cyclops is pretty tame.  
  Red's commons... suffer in competition with the other colors.
Rockslide's great, but everything flies.  Talruum Minotaurs are
okay, but they get undone or something.  If you try to hit the
ground fast with keepers, goblins, lancers... you open yourself
up to losing card advantage big time, to a 2 point rat, or 
some equally feeble measure.  They just don't DO much, with the
exception of the Vigilantes of Love (thanks to Brian Lee for the
*perfect* card nickname, IMHO) - I suppose Fireblast is adequate,
but in a draft, it makes me yearn for a good old bolt.  Nothing
beats bolt.  All in all, red in Visions is going to need some 
good infusion from other sets, to compete with other colors.  
Note that the usual rule of weakest color = bargain cards does not
hold true in this case, because, well, everybody drafts red 
anyhow.  

  Some excellent multi-colored cards out there.  Army Ants and
Mundungu are both very real threats.  I am fond of the Tempest
Drake, especially with a Sun Clasp or some such good white support.
I don't even want to think about Scalebane'e Elite...they kill me.
The bigger fliers aren't very manageable, i'm afraid - but there 
are lots of nominally weak drafting rares that just skyrocket 
under the right conditions.  Squandered Resources being one.  
(with an x-blaster, duh.)  Righteous War... etc.  An overlooked
drafting card is Breathstealer's Crypt.  It's easier to play 
with than you might think.  Also, you can usually let it pass 
once, draft accordingly, and pick it up really late.  Give it
a whirl.  :)   
  
  There are two magnificent artifacts, Snake Basket and Dragon 
Mask.  The Basket, of course, doesn't require much thought.  
Subtle players like the Dragon Mask, and with good reason.  It 
is almost definately the best card in the set.  So many cards
become ghoulishly effective with the Mask... and then there's 
the sad fact that you can get away with attacking past stronger
creatures, afraid to block because of the mask, then dropping 
a creature, and still having the mask for defense.  Frankly, it
alters every aspect of the game.  Mana intensive, but WORTH IT.
Play at least 18 land with it.  More, even.
  Beyond these two, the only artifacts worth mentioning are
the Kaleidescope, which, well, I am a fiend for color-bridging 
AND token-creatures, but frankly it's too expensive to work 
well all the time, ... and the Chimeras.  Now, a word of caution.
Drafting only one Visions pack, the chimeras are likely, dead
weight.  not worth drafting.  But with more than one Visions, 
if you commit to taking every chimera (stop laughing) *and* 
can grab a little graveyard manipulation (stop laughing)...
the Chimeras become, well, nasty.  Hard to target, hard to 
deny.  Oh, yeah, goofy old Relic Ward is out there in Visions,
too.  A 6/6 Flying, Nontapping, First Striking, Untargetable
Chimera - well, yes, it's dangerous, but it is also, I SWEAR,
not as impropable as you might think, with creative drafting.
Now, if I have ruined what little credibility I have accumulated
 in speaking up for Chimeras, then so be it.  I was going
to go off to sleep anyhow.  :)

  Remember, though:  The assortment of packs is TERRIBLE with
Visions.  I can't say how often i've seen one set of 8 packs
produce 8 solfataras and NO breezekeepers, and another set of
8 produce 8 breezekeepers and no Solfataras.  Now, this is,
admittedly, a real problem if you are going to draft a Solfatara
deck.  (laugh)  But it is worth bearing in mind that you are 
going to see lots of the same cards over and over again.  Some
cards don't really become radically more effective the more 
you have... and some cards do.  
  Also, it's worth mentioning, virtually 95% of Visions 
packs have their 11 commons in a 3/2/2/2/2 split, allowing for
the odd phyrexian walker or Ring.  There are freakish packs,
of course, but if you see the rare and all the uncommons, 
you can usually tell whethere the schmuck in front of you has
got himself a undo, crypt rat, rockslide, or whatever.
It helps.


laters

Lee Hendricks
University of Florida

- "What *more* can we do?" they asked, implying by the word 
"more" that the alternative might be an effort of quantity.
Or they asked each other, "What *else* can we do?" assuming
that the answer might be in the "else" - something different.
Their real problem was that they assumed themselves able
to formulate the questions, and ignored the fact that the 
questions were every bit as important as the answers. -