Drafting with Kyle - RTR/RTR/RTR #3

Kyle Boggemes

About Kyle Boggemes

Kyle is a tournament Magic player who enjoys writing about the game and Drafting is his favorite format. He has a number of high-profile finishes under his belt:

• Second place finish at Pro Tour San Diego
• 4th place GP: Washington DC
• Two Limited GP top 16s

Drafting with Kyle - RTR/RTR/RTR #3

Booster 1 - Return to Ravnica

Pack 1 pick 1:

My Pick: Corpsejack Menace

The pick is basically between Corpsejack Menace and Selesnya Charm.  I know GW is a better color combination, but how much better?  I’m about to find out because I generally try to avoid this guild like the plague.

Pack 1 pick 2:

My Pick: Dreg Mangler

I could say I’m a multi-color green deck and take Axebane Guardian, but I want to stick with straight Golgari until something derails me.  I haven’t got a chance to play with this card, but it always pains me to pass it.  Not today!

Pack 1 pick 3:

My Pick: Giant Growth

This was a tough pack because I was considering going into another color for Common Bond or Voidwielder.  I generally don’t like to splash because I have to pick guildgates high to ensure a stable manabase, but Golagri will take a longer time to get going which gives me time to stabilize.  I’ll stick with Golgari for now since neither of the splashes are insanely powerful.

Pack 1 pick 4:

My Pick: Sluiceway Scorpion

I really like the creatures with a cheap scavenge cost because there are plenty that are expensive to use already.  This creature is very good and I’ll take it as a signal I can move in on Golgari for sure.

Pack 1 pick 5:

My Pick: Soul Tithe

I can possibly splash this card, but I’m not excited about it.  Nothing in this pack for most of the popular strategies.

Pack 1 pick 6:

My Pick: Mind Rot

That’s a late Izzet Charm, but I would rather someone gets put into a different guild next to me.  I don’t mind Mind Rot for these rock-style decks.

Pack 1 pick 7:

My Pick: Slum Reaper

I like this card way more than Perilous Shadow.  Golgari already has plenty of mana sinks that I don’t want to spend too much time pumping the shade.

Pack 1 pick 8:

My Pick: Stonefare Crocodile

This is a solid body, but not much else.  I want to send the signal Golgari is not for sale.

Pack 1 pick 9:

My Pick: Sewer Shambler

This is a great signal that this card tables.

Pack 1 pick 10:

Downsize Rakdos Guildgate Cancel Druid's Deliverance Sphere of Safety

My Pick: Rakdos Guildgate

I can possibly splash a red card with this bad boy.

Pack 1 pick 11:

Selesnya Sentry Chronic Flooding Batterhorn Faerie Impostor

My Pick: Batterhorn

Not a terrible splash versus keyrunes.

Pack 1 pick 12:

Zanikev Locust Mind Rot Bellows Lizard Horncaller's Chant

My Pick: Zanikev Locust

Flying seems important with the scavenge creatures.  I don’t want too many high drops because of the large number of scavenge creatures I have already.

Pack 1 pick 13:

Urban Burgeoning Firemind's Foresight

My Pick: Firemind's Foresight

Has anyone ever done something effective with this card?  I want to hear about it in the comments.

Pack 1 pick 14:

Doorkeeper

My Pick: Doorkeeper

Monsters Inc. called...

Booster 2 - Return to Ravnica

Pack 2 pick 1:

My Pick: Drudge Beetle

I check the price of Supreme Verdict (1 tic) and forget about raredrafting.  Then I check my mana curve and realize it’s pretty high so I want to take an early beater.  Another consideration is Grisly Salvage since I have so many scavenge creatures as well as a bomb I want to find in Corpsejack Menace.

Pack 2 pick 2:

My Pick: Auger Spree

This card is worth the splash and I already have the Rakdos Guildgate.  My next consideration is Grim Roustabout since it’s actually better as a defensive monster in Golgari than an aggressive creature in Rakdos.

Pack 2 pick 3:

My Pick: Korozda Guildmage

That’s what I get for forcing a guild.  Since many players are averse to picking Golgari, the 1-2 drafters at the table usually end up with pretty solid decks.

Pack 2 pick 4:

My Pick: Rakdos Keyrune

There isn’t much for me, but this could help my splash.

Pack 2 pick 5:

My Pick: Launch Party

I would prefer a 1-1 mix of Launch Party and Slum Reaper since the token decks could make me look like a fool.  This makes my deck a little more diversified.

Pack 2 pick 6:

My Pick: Trestle Troll

This card seems like one of the main reasons to be Golgari.  It’s a great blocker to help you stall for the later turns.

Pack 2 pick 7:

My Pick: Korozda Monitor

I don’t want a ton of this guy because the scavenge is so expensive, but it’s a solid beater.  The trample is decent when you get to the stage where you want to start scavenging.

Pack 2 pick 8:

My Pick: Perilous Shadow

I can pick up one of these guys now.

Pack 2 pick 9:

My Pick: Tavern Swindler

The grizzly bears are pretty solid in this deck since you can pump them up with scavenge.  I haven’t used the ability yet, but it could screw up some math at some point.  My curve is high so I want something early.

Pack 2 pick 10:

Blistercoil Weird Blustersquall Tablet of the Guilds Traitorous Instinct Chorus of Might

My Pick: Traitorous Instinct

I can definitely see myself splashing for this out of the sideboard versus a large monster.

Pack 2 pick 11:

Downsize Cremate Traitorous Instinct Street Sweeper

My Pick: Cremate

A fine sideboard card for the mirror.

Pack 2 pick 12:

Aquus Steed Chemister's Trick Chorus of Might

My Pick: Chorus of Might

Pack 2 pick 13:

Search Warrant Catacomb Slug

My Pick: Catacomb Slug

Pack 2 pick 14:

Chronic Flooding

My Pick: Chronic Flooding

Booster 3 - Return to Ravnica

Pack 3 pick 1:

My Pick: Rix Maadi Guildmage

This card is very strong and I have the guildgate already.  There isn’t much for me in Golgari and I expect one of the scavenge creatures to table.

Pack 3 pick 2:

My Pick: Golgari Guildgate

I think I should have taken Grisly Salvage after reflecting on the draft.

Pack 3 pick 3:

My Pick: Daggerdrome Imp

I want one of these in the deck since it’s a decent two drop and has evasion.

Pack 3 pick 4:

My Pick: Brushstrider

He seems decent with scavenge and blocks down three drops.  It was a close call between this and the roustabout, but the +1+1 counters on an unleash creature isn’t the best.

Pack 3 pick 5:

My Pick: Mind Rot

I don’t want Terrus Wurm in my deck since I already have enough stuff to do with my mana.  The focus on the draft at this point is to keep my curve low because scavenge gets worse as your curve increases.

Pack 3 pick 6:

My Pick: Deviant Glee

This card is getting the respect it deserves and you need to pick it higher.  Even if I have a lot of scavenge, this is a great pump spell.

Pack 3 pick 7:

My Pick: Sundering Growth

I don’t have any good ways to kill artifacts and enchantments so I’ll take it for the sideboard.  There’s no way I want 2 crocodiles.

Pack 3 pick 8:

My Pick: Golgari Charm

Sometimes some cool cards come your way.  Don’t forget this card kills key enchantments!

Pack 3 pick 9:

My Pick: Sewer Shambler

Pack 3 pick 10:

Rootborn Defenses Azorius Guildgate Rakdos Ringleader Trostani's Judgment Dispel

My Pick: Rakdos Ringleader

Pack 3 pick 11:

Mizzium Skin Counterflux Catacomb Slug Shrieking Affliction

My Pick: Counterflux

Pack 3 pick 12:

Tenement Crasher Survey the Wreckage Axebane Stag

My Pick: Axebane Stag

Pack 3 pick 13:

Heroes' Reunion Street Sweeper

My Pick: Street Sweeper

Pack 3 pick 14:

Survey the Wreckage

My Pick: Survey the Wreckage

Here’s the deck I ended up playing:

Notable exclusions:

• Rakdos Keyrune
• Rix Maadi Guildmage
• Rakdos Ringleader

I cut the Keyrune at the last second because I needed to draw one of the two remaining red sources to make the creature side useful.  When you splash the keyrunes, they will typically be worse than an Axebane Guardian since you need the splash mana to make it a creature.

I left Rix Maadi Guildmage on the sidelines because I would need two of my red sources to make it useful.  It can be good to activate it once, but I don’t think it’s good enough to splash.  My error in the draft was not taking these things into consideration.  The damage ability is also pretty weak outside of an aggro deck if it means a little over one point a turn on average.

Overall, I’m happy the way the deck turned out.  Corpsejack Menace, Dreg Mangler, and Golgari Charm are top picks for the archetype.

Onto the rounds!

Match 1 game 1

I lose the die roll and he chooses to play.  We both keep seven cards.

As you can see from the picture, the game was completely dominated by Jarad (that’s Jarad!).  I could have pumped up my swindler, but it would only end up trading (it can only be Jarad!).  The powerful bomb was going to be tough to handle considering he had Grisly Salvage (I should have picked it higher).

Sideboard in: Traitorous Instinct and Cremate

Sideboard out: Mind Rot and Tavern Swindler

Match 1 Game 2

I’m on the play and we both keep seven.

The powerful cards in my deck decided to come and play.  Dreg Mangler and Corpsejack Menace did a number on him.  After he stabilized, Daggerdome Imp got really big from scavenging and there was nothing he could do.  The flying combined with scavenge was everything I had hoped for and more.

Sideboard in: Batterhorn (he had a lot of keyrunes)

Sideboard out: the other Mind Rot

Match 1 Game 3

He’s on the play and we both keep our openers.

The game starts out with us both playing mediocre creatures and jockeying for a good position.  This changes when he casts Jarad's Orders for a footlong (Korozda Guildmage and Jarad, himself).  He declines to return it to his hand immediately and I draw my sideboard card- Cremate.  Once he sacrifices the lands, I remove it from the game in response.

After this interaction, he’s a little low on resources for the guildmage (which wasn’t amazing anyway since we were playing the same colors).  The Batterhorn took out a keyrune and the locust grew quite large thanks to Corpsejack Menace.

The popular perception of Corpsejack Menace is that he’s a vanilla 4/4, but you have to be very conservative to get the full effect (which will win you the game).  I don’t want to risk losing it to a pump spell or any other shenanigans.

Now that I got all of those Jarad puns out of my system, let’s go to the next round!

Match 2 Game 1

I win the die roll and go first.  We both keep seven.

He’s playing Rakdos, but I have the fast draw with Korozda Guildmage, Daggerdome Imp, and Corpsejack Menace.  An opposing Splatter Thug gets unleashed, but I have the upper hand.  The imp makes sure my life total doesn’t drop too low and Slum Reaper kills his only source of recurring damage (Splatter Thug).

No sideboard for this matchup.

Match 2 Game 2

He goes first and we both keep.

His draw is once again quite slow with a turn 3 Splatter Thug (which I promptly Augur Spree).  Korozda Guildmage gets aggressive versus his red creatures so he can’t block any of my attacks.  Traitorous Instinct makes the game interesting because he can randomly kill me from a decently high life total.

Match 3 Game 1

I win the die roll and mulligan while he keeps seven.

This was another game where I had to use restraint to not attack into creatures with Corpsejack Menace.  The possibility of Giant Growth, Swift Justice, or Common Bond was too risky.  Once we had a nice little staredown, I attack and regenerate my team with Golgari Charm.  He has two Swift Justices to keep most of his team alive and gains some life in the process.

We both start to flood out in the later turns and he’s afraid of my Sluiceway Scorpion scavenging for double counters.  He ends up declining to block it until he goes down to two life while I don’t attack or block with the Corpsejack Menace.  After he trades with the scorpion, I draw Korozda Monitor and the trample plus scavenge took the game.

Sideboard in: Rakdos Ringleader

Sideboard out: Mind Rot

I think one Mind Rot is enough because the grindy nature of this deck means the second one will likely be a dead card later.  The ringleader can hold off centaur tokens quite well.

Match 3 Game 2

He goes first and we both keep seven.

We have another game where we both draw a bunch of creatures that stare at each other for a while.  His Security Blockade was holding off my Daggerdome Imp.  I once again had Corpsejack Menace that sat there until counters started going onto the imp.  There was a turn where I attacked with almost everything and he had a Rootborn Defenses to blow me out.  That card is very good and I certainly rate it higher after this draft.

I’m pretty low on creatures and he still has a ton of them thanks to the Rootborn Defenses, but Daggerdome Imp is a 5/5 lifelinker.  I hide behind the imp while I pump it up each turn.  After it becomes a 9/9, I attack to give myself some life and he goes down to 15.  After I chump block with two creatures (Dreg Mangler and Sewer Shambler), I pump up the imp to a 19/19 on the following turn thanks to Corpsejack.

Victory.

I have to say I was a fan of the way this deck played out, but I certainly got lucky to draw Corpsejack Menace so many times.  This was a good exercise for me because I think it’s important to be familiar with all of the guilds.  You never know which bomb you will open so being flexible and comfortable is crucial.

Corpsejacks for all!

Thanks for reading,

Kyle

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