Drafting with Kyle - GTC/GTC/GTC #1

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 - GTC/GTC/GTC #1

Booster 1 - Gatecrash

Pack 1 pick 1:

My Pick: Basilica Screecher

This pack is pretty awful and I have two options; Screecher or Slaughterhorn?  I prefer the white guilds in this set so far and Dimir is also under drafted so I go with the black card.

Pack 1 pick 2:

My Pick: Guardian of the Gateless

I’m hesitant to pick Cloudfin Raptor even though it’s a good card because I just passed Slaughterhorn and may end up in Simic.  Guardian is great in Orzhov so both picks give me a good flyer for their archetype.

Pack 1 pick 3:

My Pick: Cloudfin Raptor

At this point, I may be missing the boat on blue so I decide to give it a shot (jumping into Dimir).  I’m only missing out on Assault Griffin which is not the end of the world.

Pack 1 pick 4:

My Pick: Smite

I really like Smite in Orzhov so I take it over Hands of Binding.  Ideally I would like to stick to my guild now to avoid not having enough playables.

Pack 1 pick 5:

My Pick: Debtor's Pulpit

This card is very good in control decks and that’s what I’m looking to draft.  Smite is a cheap removal spell, but the pulpit can completely take over a game (and go much later).

Pack 1 pick 6:

My Pick: Aerial Maneuver

This trick is pretty good and goes up in value when Orzhov doesn’t get enough removal spells.  The ability to grant flying can dramatically change a race.  The tiger is the other option and I would rather not pick up four drops in pack one if I can help it.

Pack 1 pick 7:

My Pick: Corpse Blockade

This card isn’t as good as Basilica Guards, but can be an annoying roadblock nonetheless. 

Pack 1 pick 8:

My Pick: Skullcrack

I want to pass some green cards to signal Simic is open.  Might as well take a neat standard foil.

Pack 1 pick 9:

My Pick: Riot Gear

I saw this card in action on Michael Jacob’s stream and it showed me the potential.  While this card isn’t amazing, an extra damage on a flyer can add up if your game plan is to use extort.  It also makes attacking awkward for your opponent as you move it over post-combat.

Pack 1 pick 10:

Dutiful Thrull Predator's Rapport Millennial Gargoyle Psychic Strike Shattering Blow

My Pick: Dutiful Thrull

This card seems pretty solid in a deck that tries to go long.  I like that it costs a single mana because it will turn on extort more frequently.

Pack 1 pick 11:

Dutiful Thrull Predator's Rapport Burst of Strength Mindeye Drake

My Pick: Dutiful Thrull

The more the merrier.

Pack 1 pick 12:

Midnight Recovery Paranoid Delusions Tower Defense

My Pick: Midnight Recovery

I’m not crazy about this card, but I suppose it can be boarded in versus removal-heavy decks.

Pack 1 pick 13:

Scatter Arc Tower Defense

My Pick: Scatter Arc

Pack 1 pick 14:

Primal Visitation

My Pick: Primal Visitation

Pack 1 pick 15:

My Pick:

Booster 2 - Gatecrash

Pack 2 pick 1:

My Pick: Devour Flesh

It sucks to open a great Simic card when you’re in black and white, but it’s important to not lose sight of your plan when it does happen.  There are tons of great cards in this set and you will feel bad for playing your colors in nearly every draft at some point.  I prefer to stay two colors and not get greedy.

Pack 2 pick 2:

My Pick: Deathcult Rogue

When you set up your defenses, this card can steal games.  I will try to end up with a Shadow Slice that makes this rogue insane.

Pack 2 pick 3:

My Pick: Basilica Screecher

Pack 2 pick 4:

My Pick: Syndicate Enforcer

I like to take extort creatures over the tier 2 removal spells whenever possible.

Pack 2 pick 5:

My Pick: Urbis Protector

I don’t want too many expensive spells in Orzhov because the extort becomes less valuable in the process.  If I could have a single 6-drop in my deck, I wouldn’t be upset if it’s Urbis Protector.

Pack 2 pick 6:

My Pick: Death's Approach

I don’t expect this to kill anything huge, but it’s a mid-game shock-effect that can trigger extort easily.

Pack 2 pick 7:

My Pick: Aerial Maneuver

Hopefully I don’t have to play two of this card because you need a creature in play for it to be useful.

Pack 2 pick 8:

My Pick: Assault Griffin

This card should come around late because Boros will ideally pick less expensive cards early.

Pack 2 pick 9:

My Pick: Martial Glory

Pack 2 pick 10:

Leyline Phantom Guildscorn Ward Clinging Anemones Act of Treason Serene Remembrance

My Pick: Act of Treason

Pack 2 pick 11:

Aerial Maneuver Boros Guildgate Beckon Apparition Hellraiser Goblin

My Pick: Boros Guildgate

Maybe I’ll splash an Aurelia's Fury I open in the next pack.

Pack 2 pick 12:

Structural Collapse Gutter Skulk Mortus Strider

My Pick: Gutter Skulk

I like the stats on this rat.  It’s important to interact early in this format and the rat does just that.

Pack 2 pick 13:

Contaminated Ground Razortip Whip

My Pick: Razortip Whip

Pack 2 pick 14:

Skyblinder Staff

My Pick: Skyblinder Staff

Pack 2 pick 15:

My Pick:

Booster 3 - Gatecrash

Pack 3 pick 1:

My Pick: Ogre Slumlord

I don’t have too many 5 drops and I already have an Urbis Protector.  The effect is pretty powerful and shines in the grindy games Orzhov enjoys.  I give an honorable mention to Thrull Parasite because playing such a cheap extort creature is ideal.

Pack 3 pick 2:

My Pick: Shadow Slice

This pack is mediocre and I want one copy of this card to close out games.

Pack 3 pick 3:

My Pick: Executioner's Swing

I take this over Grisly Spectacle because I already have a decent amount of expensive spells.  I have seen enough drafts where players let the power dictate each pick until the last ten picks and wonder why their curve is terrible; it won’t happen to me.

Pack 3 pick 4:

My Pick: Balustrade Spy

I don’t have any blue mana fixing for Soul Ransom so I’ll stay consistent with the solid flyer (great with Shadow Slice).

Pack 3 pick 5:

My Pick: Sepulchral Primordial

I haven’t played against this monster yet, but it seems powerful when the game is being dragged out.  A few bombs go a long way and I think this may be one.

Pack 3 pick 6:

My Pick: Executioner's Swing

Pack 3 pick 7:

My Pick: Armored Transport

I don’t love this card in Orzhov, but I haven’t seen a ton of three drops so far.

Pack 3 pick 8:

My Pick: Purge the Profane

I won’t play Righteous Charge in this deck because it’s too defensive.  On the other hand, the discard spell could be fine against five color control.

Pack 3 pick 9:

My Pick: Balustrade Spy

This spy went pretty late since the milling ability could work well with Death's Approach or the primordial.

Pack 3 pick 10:

Skyblinder Staff Last Thoughts Hydroform Ruination Wurm Murder Investigation

My Pick: Ruination Wurm

Pack 3 pick 11:

Horror of the Dim Guildscorn Ward Razortip Whip Serene Remembrance

My Pick: Horror of the Dim

Pack 3 pick 12:

Contaminated Ground Shadow Slice Sage's Row Denizen

My Pick: Shadow Slice

I know this card is better than a 12th pick.

Pack 3 pick 13:

Riot Gear Mental Vapors

My Pick: Riot Gear

Pack 3 pick 14:

Contaminated Ground

My Pick: Contaminated Ground

Pack 3 pick 15:

My Pick:

I didn’t end up with an insane deck, but I certainly didn’t mind it.

Notable sideboard cards:

• Shadow Slice
• Dutiful Thrull
• Midnight Recovery
• Purge the Profane

Match 1 Game 1

He mulligans to 6 on the play and I keep 7.

Boros begins with a basic curve of two drops and three drops to lay on the pressure.  I drew a few too many lands so I couldn’t attack and leave enough defense back.  A Righteous Charge provided an extra 8 power in an all-out attack that left me at 1 life.  I was almost able to attack back for the win with Shadow Slice on a flyer.

This was the first game I saw the Nav Squad Commandos untap and actually have it mean something crucial in the game.  I could have attacked for lethal assuming it was still tapped.

I sideboard in a second Dutiful Thrull for Armored Transport.

Match 1 Game 2

I’m on the play and mulligan to 5 (1 land and a 7 drop in hand) while he goes to 6.

This game isn’t real as I miss a ton of land drops and die.

What I Learned

• Smite and Executioner's Swing are two fantastic removal spells because Orzhov cards are on the defensive side.  The reason you tend to end up more defensive is because Boros picks up all of the aggro white cards.
• I don’t regret taking the swing over Grisly Spectacle even though the latter is a more powerful spell.
• The spells in my deck felt good casting because they were so cheap.  Despite feeling this way, I had to be on curve-control the entire draft and I still ended up with a fair amount of 4 and 5 drops.  The extort ability feels wasted when I played my more expensive spells.  My curve would be quite awkward if I didn’t take it into consideration until later in my picks.
• Hindsight is 20/20.  If I had taken Slaughterhorn, I would have ended up with a great Simic deck.  Since I went with the Basilica Screecher, I was left with an average Orzhov deck.  I do like that Orzhov has a great amount of depth compared to Boros.  Orzhov can play aggro or control whereas Boros control is pretty weak.
• Dutiful Thrull was very impressive in my first game as it took the game long.  Who wants to waste a removal spell on a 1/1 for 1?  If this is even a consideration, the card has to do some work.
• I could see playing 2 Shadow Slice since most of the 4 drops in Orzhov (and Dimir) have evasion making it a great curve.
• An Orzhov deck with an average curve probably wants 18 lands due to the extort ability.  I think taking the cheaper spells whenever possible will ensure you can play less lands and more threats.
• Creatures are more important in this format than removal because the most aggressive deck (Boros) wants nothing but random bodies.  When RW just jams random guys to trigger battalion, the value of each kill spell dwindles.  I see people making this mistake when drafting Boros because they value premium removal over premium two drops.  Gutter Skulk is great because it trades with two drops and also attacks.
• Just because I lost the first round does not mean I didn’t learn a ton about the format.  Gatecrash is still a new format and losing can make you reflect on where you went wrong.

Thanks for reading,

Kyle