Battle for Zendikar is a set I looked forward but I did not really have time to read the spoiler and thus played the very first prerelease sealed deck without knowing what the set looks like. This showed to be a big disadvantage since I really had no idea what kind of tricks I can expect andin this set it is vital to know. Synergy is the key in this set.
My first pool looked terrible and I made some kind of 4c Eldrazi deck out of it. I found out that cards like Eldrazi Skyspawner or Vile Aggregate are good and that certain cards simply work in a certain archetype but I wasn't really sure what works the best with what. I did not have enough Devoid cards to make it work, not enough Ingest cards to make it work and no reasonable way to ramp. I liked the Black-Green sacrifice deck similar to the one one could build in Modern Masters but I simple did not have enough token generators nor Bone Splinters. Ramping into Eldrazi is something that I did not really find as a good strategy but that also might be because of my pool lacking enough of those. Even with all those Eldrazi Scions it seemed to me that it is better to simply pump them somehow and attack but I lacked the 'overrun' spell. Black/Blue/Red Ingest control was something I wanted to try but I did not have enough noncreature spells for that. So this deck tried to win by slow but evasive creatures with ingest (blue), stop some frontal assault with red creatures because those were big and could trade or just buy more time with green cards. It did not work well...but I learned a bit about the set. From this tournament I learned that synergy and evasion is something very important.
In the second prereleased I played I put together a Ally deck that was at first a simple aggro deck splashing black for Kalastria Healer and Drana's Emissary. After the first game the power of the black cards showed to outlclass the rest of the deck so I put more black sources in and used those as my win condition (I won the rest of the matches, I lost the first one because I couldn't draw a single black source).
Anyway after some experience with this set I was still utterly lost in it. I can see some archetypes like Black/Red devoid aggro, U/B Ingest control, R/G landfall, Allies (either GW, BW or RW), BG Sacrifice or some awaken control but how the decks should really look like and what cards are good that was difficult for me to see. I mean it is easy to see that Oracle of Dust is a good card in a UB Ingest Control and that Eldrazi Skyspawner is simply good in any deck running blue. But there are some cards I can't really say where they belong if they belong somewhere and I'm not really sure how much I should value Ally cards compared to a better card but not simply being an Ally when drafting Allies.
I still haven't posted about Battle for Zendikar till this day and that is because my feelings about the set were pretty mixed and there wasn't much I could say about the sealed decks. But draft is different matter. Since seeing some of the cards when I was pricing them on Magic Card Market I got the impression that drafting this set will be fun. So I decided to finally try to record some video from Magic Online and bring it to some people who would be interested in that. (the videos are in Czech, but I plan to record in English as well - at least try).
Unfortunately my (nonintentional) streaming of the very first part and the most important one went awry because sound wasn't recorder. But since I have the video I can comment on the picks more than before (or at least write them down).
In the first pack I opened From Beyond as my rare. There were also Grove Rumbler, Rolling Thunder, Bone Splinters and Eldrazi Skyspawner in the pack. There were even more interesting cards but none that I would choose as my first pick. I would normally pick Skyspawner in this pack but I couldn't decide what the best choice is. In the end I decided to pass the card a pick From Beyond and see what the next pack would bring. The second pack did not contain any green cards. Looking at it the most interesting cards were Processor Assault, Sheer Drop and Makindi Siderunner. Since I expected to play some Eldrazi I expected to have some Ingest creatures or other ways to remove a card from the game. But the Makindi Siderunner seemed as a good creature and I rather have that than a removal I can't play. The card is not devoid of color but it is a good 2-drop. Vile Aggregate was my next pick and I was happy about it. There was also Eyeless Watched in the pack but that is a common and I don't even find the card good in most decks. I hoped to pick few of those though later. Next there was Blisterpod or Snapping Gnarlid. Since I did not play black as my second color I would rather pick the Gnarlid. But that creature is colored so in the end I decided to pick Blisterpod. It does not attack that well but would make my Aggregate(s) bigger and it can chump twice unlike the Gnarlid. My fifth pick was Turn Against because I simply wanted to try the card. This card was good at the prerelease because most people did not know that it is an instant and did not play around it. In draft I expected this card to be worse but still expected to be able to do something with it. There was also Molten Nursery and Oran-Rief Invoker. I was also a bit tempted to try the enchantment since draining life with allies work and this is similar but it is not a good card on its own so I just let it there for someone to have it. The Invoker is ok but that could still show up later. Among Jaddi Offshoot, Giant Mantis and Outnumber the choice was clear. Next pack had very nice cards in general but my decision was about Stonefury, Tajuru Stalwart and Valakut Invoker. I did not want to spend 5 mana to deal 5 damage somewhere so I was deciding between Stalwart and Invoker. Since I was in two colors the cards would have the same power and toughness and the Valakut Invoker could possible hit something/someone for 3 at least once during the game so I picked that. Tajuru Beastmaster or Boiling Earth that could possible kill all my creatures? Tajuru Beastmaster since I want to kill everyone with my 1/1s and Boiling Earth still can end up picked by a player that either won't play it or I he won't draw it. 5/5 body still sticks after this card wipes my board. My ninth pick was a surprise - Grove Rumbler. Processor Assault came back. Eldrazi Devastator (over Plummet), Lavastep Raider and Basic Lands followed.
In the second pack I opened there were cards I would first pick right away if that was my first pack but since I was already in RG I just had to pass them. For me there was Akoum Stonewaker, Makindi Siderunner and possibly Territorial Baloth even though I don't like the card and rarely pick it. The rare though was Brood Butcher and I decided to take that rather than any of the two cards I would prefer and would play in my deck.
In the next pack it was time to pick Eyeless Wacher (since there was nothing else).
The next pack contained only 1 green card and zero red cards so I picked the green card - Broodhunter Wurm - because it is not that bad.
In the next pack there was Akoum Stonewaker and Pathway Arrows. I picked the creature since I did not pick it earlier. Next I picked Bone Splinter over Kolizek's Sentinel. I wasn't so happy about that.
Outnumber or Earthen Arms was obvious. Nettle Drone, Tajuru Stalwart (over Stonefury), Akoum Stonewaker, Oran-Rief Invoker, Pathway Arrows, Basic Lands followed.
In the third booster pack I so wanted to pick the green retreat but in the end I picked Eyeless Watcher for some reason. Second pick was good though - another Vile Aggregate. Call the Scions, Outnumber, Touch of the Void, Blisterpod, Boiling Earth (since there was nothing for my deck and this card would be good against me), Eldrazi Devastator (not that I would plan to play it), Tajuru Beastmaster, Tandem Tactics, Mire's Malice, Altar's Reap and Shatterskull Recruit followed.
My deck was more or less fine, there were few cards I passed that I wanted but even without them it was good enough for winning a prerelease draft. Later I will have to be more picky about my picks and also play better so I don't end up attacking with a 3/2 Trampler into 2/2 First Strike. Remembering what is in my deck and what cards I have in my last ten cards would also come handy, that is something I remember usually but I was too distracted when recording this video.
So if interested in those games you can watch them.
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