Subject: Mirage Series Booster Draft report Date: Mon, 15 Sep 1997 13:54:02 -0400 From: "Peter F. Varcoe" I didn't feel like I drafted at my best. I knew a few of the players tended to like playing Green in MirViLight and thought that White might becoming more popular, too. BTW, we play where the winner gets to choose a single card from the loser's selection, so that people come away with something. However, it can affect how people draft. We were using 2 packs of Weatherlight, and alternated for a pack of Mirage and Visions. I started with a pack of Mirage. My first choice was between an Incinerate, Preferred Selection, and Griffin that can sacrifice to counter a Red spell and I chose the Incinerate. My next choice was between Hulking Cyclops and a few 5 CC creatures that were about 3/3's, so I went with the Red. My next choice was between Flare and Sandbar Crocodile and I went with the Flare. I think the Croc would have fit my deck well, but the Flare did win me at least a pair of games. It seemed like others drafted Mirage/Visions in this order: Green, Red, Black-White-Blue It seemed like the Weatherlight was mostly being drafted from Green, White, Red, Blue-Black Now on to the cards: Winnings: Preferred Selection, Call of the Wild, Bone Dancer MIRAGE Igneous Golem -- Pay for Trample was actually usefull! Dream Cache -- Decent 40th card for early-mid game Ether Well -- Didn't try using this creature removal?!? Kukemssa Serpent -- Brought in vs. Blue deck Flare -- Good anti-magi, anti-Elves, extra finisher Incinerate -- Good anti-Boa/creature removal Mtenda Griffin -- Flyer, had passed 1-2 Griffins before this Noble Elephant -- I tend to use Banding better than average VISIONS Lead-Belly Chimera -- Best of later, poor lot Breezekeeper -- Flying is good (4th pick) Breezekeeper #2 -- Got this on 6th card, lucky? Impulse -- Almost always wanted to just reorder 4 cards Mortal Wound -- Mostly anti-draft, but could be useful Hulking Cyclops -- Big is good, esp. if playing primarily Red Remedy -- Single biggest saver for my deck WEATHERLIGHT Dingus Staff -- Had some weenies and some creature removal Jangling Autmaton -- Stuck with this one Abyssal Gatekeeper -- Counterdraft later on Doomsday -- Hey! I didn't have it and no better choice Spinning Darkness -- Counterdraft vs. heavy black Abjure -- Not terrible CounterMagic for this draft Avizoa -- Much more useful than I would've thought Disrupt -- Could be useful vs. spell-heavy deck? Disrupt -- Misread as Force Spike while drafting (Doh!) Flux -- Could be 40th card to get combo going Fog Elemental -- Mini-Ball of Lightning Fog Elemental -- Happily surprised to see this Paradigm Shift -- Well, it was a later draft... Psychic Vortex -- See Paradigm Shift and Doomsday Sage Owl -- Flying is OK, but mostly re-order effect Teferi's Veil -- Exceptional after drafting 2 Fog and Breeze Harvest Wurm -- Anti-creature draft Liege of Hollows -- Anti-creature draft Aether Flash -- Drafted early in first Weatherlight booster Bloodrock Cyclops -- Could be useful creature Dwarven Berserker -- Exceptional Armor target Fire Whip -- Drafted early, could be good removal Fire Whip -- Drafted in last draft (CounterDraft?) Ardent Militia -- Big enough to survive most 1-to-1 combats Benalish Infantry -- I tend to excel with Banding Empyrial Armor -- Can be outstanding enchantment esp. on Flyer Empyrial Armor -- Unsure if had enough White to use both Guided Strike -- VERY useful in this format Volunteer Reserves -- It's a creature and I have good luck w/Banding Volunteer Reserves -- Passed over 1st time around, still got it I eventually played W/U/r, splashing Red just for the Incinerate and Flare as later-game removal. First round opponent: Ross (W/G/r) Ross has been steadily improving his play and may have gotten the best draft. We had a standoff where my Banding forced him to wait. His Spider Climbs helped to hold back my Flyers until he got out the Balista. When he dropped the Quirion Ranger I got really worried. This game kept on going back and forth, with my Removal and Combat-Effects coming just in time. Here, I realized that I could use the Avizoa to keep my Breezekeepers in play. I made a mistake by waiting two turns before deciding to use my Flare on his Ranger, allowing my Breezekeepers to finish off his remaining Flyer. I was fortunate to be able to use my Incinerate to kill one Flyer earlier and used the Guided Strike as additional creature removal. After a LONG first (only) game, I finally got out the Fog Elementals in phase with a Breezekeeper and was able to Fly in under my Teferi's Veil, while holding back an alternating Breezekeeper. This was a really great and exciting game and we are keeping our decks for a rematch. Ross used Vitalize, the Ranger and Balista extremely well. 2nd Match vs. Aron (G/U/w) Aron had a good selection of Green creatures and a couple of weaker flyers in Blue, primarily Sage Owls and a 5/4 flyer. I was able to come out quickly in the second game, drawing removal at opportune times. Aron felt like he should have won the first game, but he made a key mistake that cost him a couple of turns of development. This game went back and forth with my Guided Strike giving me the ability to get a 2-for-1 and THEN draw a card. The Remedy kept me in the game during the mid-game and the Flare and Incinerate popped up at perfect times to finish off a Big Creature and a Cloud Elemental, respectively. Aron tends to have great potential, but often makes careless mistakes. He plays Blue well and has a lot of experience on the Net and is steadily improving. Final Round : Forget his name (B/R fast kill deck) This guy drafted LOTS of quick creatures and I was worried about this one. However, the 2nd game he double-mulliganned and only drew 1 Land in the game. I offered to throw that one out, but he had to get going. The first game he quickly knocked me down to something like 11 life, before I played alternating Breezekeepers as blockers. He couldn't quite afford to waste the creature each turn to deal damage. Then, I was able to drop my Ardent Militia and gradually wore him down. When the Teferi's Veil hit the table, it was just a matter of 2 or 3 turns' attacking with Breezekeepers. I had a fairly good time, just wishing that some of my last 5 booster drafts would have been sanctioned (won 4 of them and the 1st I made it to the finals). I definately suggest the "Winner takes choice of 1 card" as even those who don't have many cards (and might not have as much familiarity) can walk away with something. Those who win still tend to get a worthwhile selection of cards. There is even a little strategic decision on whether to draft for Rarity or stress winning the whole thing. Pete