Drafting

I went to draft tonight at First Pick. My first pick was a Sanctum Gargoyle over a Naya Charm and a Deft Duelist. I got passed a Deft Duelist (not sure if he's a high pick... I sure do like him and they didn't seem to come around really late), then an Agony Warp, so I was going to bias toward WUB.

The deck I thought ended up okay.... I got greedy again in the beginning of the second pack and picked a Rhox War Monk and Sigil Blessing hoping for a splash, but not doing so in the end... the packs were relatively weak in my opinion, but there were options that I thought I could get later. Guess not, next time I draft I should try sticking to my guns for once no matter what gets passed in the second pack.

Here was my deck:
1 Akrasan Squire
2 Tidehollow Strix
1 Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
1 Deft Duelist
1 Knight of the Skyward Eye
1 Blister Beetle
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Esper Battlemage
1 Kathari Screecher
1 Fatesticher
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Sanctum Gargoyle
1 Skeletal Kathari
1 Corpse Connoisseur
1 Steelclad Serpent
1 Kederekt Leviathan

1 Courier's Capsule
1 Esper Charm
1 Resounding Wave
1 Resounding Silence

1 Bant Panorama
1 Arcane Sanctum
6 Island
4 Plains
4 Swamp
1 Forest

Not making the cut:
Welkin Guide
Windwright Mage
Rhox War Monk
Sigil Blessing
Obelisk of Esper
Angelsong

Won't go into a whole lot of detail about the matches, because I either got blown out, mulliganed a lot, or they got mana screwed. But here are some highlights:

In Round 1 against Charles D. I made a swing with a Sanctum Gargoyle and an Esper Battlemage, knowing he probably has Branching Bolt, so I was going to save the Gargoyle with a bounce spell and get pack Strix... but he plays out a second Branching Bolt in response. Frown town :(

That same match I couldn't deal with a Algae Garial, I thought my only way to deal with it would be my big Upheaval guy or the Fleshbag Marauder. So I started trying to swing with my Deft Duelist... when he turns out to be an excellent way of holding him down. His deck was amazing though and I think he won the draft.

My last round I had only a Deft Duelist out and some pretty crummy cards in hand so I held him back when he had a clear board but a forest and a Naya Panorama. Ambusher's an uncommon, but I could have passed it to him in the draft (he was 2 to my right), and the game is over if he hits the board and sticks. I 2-2 dropped after that.

Maybe my deck was underwhelming, maybe I really was just getting mana screwed, because I mulliganed a lot. (I don't know how many times that freaking Forest was in my opening grip.) Not sure... I could have stood to play better in the first round, but the fourth round I mulliganed both games and were absolute blow outs. Le sigh... I'll debate my card selection later today.