Nico is a level 4 member of the Pro Players Club, he has 79 lifetime Pro Points and is one of the best Limited players worldwide! Some of Nico’s MTG accomplishments include:
Winning Grand Prix Torino
Top 8 at Pro Tour Hollywood
Winning the team World Championship
Apart from playing high-level tournaments, Nico judges various Magic tournaments. In addition Nico is the original designer of the BW token deck. He was also spotted winning matches with 20/20 avatar tokens (or as he says “Chuck Norris tokens”) from Dark Depths at Nationals ;-).
Hi everybody!
It's time for another draft!
If you missed the last episode of "Drafting with Nico" you can find it here:
Level 4 pro player Nico Bohny takes us through a Zendikar 8-4 draft queue on Magic Online. He shares some comprehensive thoughts about both the picks and the games, and talks us through each step of the way! If you're looking to improve your Limited game, this is the article series for you!
I'm glad to open this
booster in a Magic Online draft instead of the Pro Tour. It doesn't contain lots of good cards - Baloth Cage Trap, Heartstabber Mosquito
and Kor Hookmaster are all fine, but never ever first pick material. Still, Kor Hookmaster is clearly the best of those three, so he'll be this deck's
firstborn.
The pick from this pack
looks like it’s going to end up in our sideboard. Ok, Vampire Lacerator could
very well be maindeck material, so could Tuktuk Grunts. I'll just go and get
something from the refrigerator and hope for better packs.
Time to write something
about the pack again... As empty as this looks, I may be ending up splashing
some cards if the card quality doesn't rise in the next few packs. I don't like Khalni Gem in Red/White, neither do I like splashes, but it’s still better than Noble Vestige, isn't it?
Hmmm, a foil Wrath of God... with no real other options... It seems promising, even though it doesn't
fit at all in our deck right now. But maybe, if we get some more Zektar Shrine Expeditions, or some lategame cards, Day of Judgment could prove to be quite
useful.
I really liked this pack.
And it's not just because of the whisky. My mana curve looks nice; the card quality
is improving quite a bit. We're getting there!
There's always some
bitterness in passing Vampire Nighthawks, but it's not like we don’t get the
weapons to fight the plague. Just wait to be exiled, in case we meet again,
little vampire!
Ok, enough is enough,
sorry, Devout Lightcaster. Kor Aeronaut looks more attractive to me. Much more!
And by now, we're white enough to even support his mana cost.
Aaaaah, the Giant/Slinger
pick again. This time I choose you, Torch Slinger. Kor Skyfisher likes your
kind, and since I'll not play the Tuktuk Grunts, I like some company for the
angels in the 5 mana slot.
This deck turned out to be
way better than I expected after pack 1. I really like it. I have to cut the Tuktuk Grunts and Kor Cartographer to improve the mana curve though.
Level 4 pro player Nico Bohny takes us through a Zendikar 8-4 draft queue on Magic Online. He shares some comprehensive thoughts about both the picks and the games, and talks us through each step of the way! If you're looking to improve your Limited game, this is the article series for you!
I win the die roll and keep
3 Plains, Mountain, Plated Geopede, Journey to Nowhere, Day of Judgment. This
hand is interesting, because it already provides some kind of plan - push
through early damage, hold your creatures back (hopefully also drawing into a Zektar Shrine Expedition, and then wrath his guys away and rebuild with Journey to Nowhere as a backup
plan. My second turn Plated Geopede meets his Frontier Guide, who isn't exactly
the right man to stop my furious insect. Plated Geopede bashes in for some
damage, but since I keep drawing lands, there's nothing to follow up.
Making things even worse,
my opponent shows no intentions to play more guys, he just starts fetching some
lands, eventually plays Soul Stair Expedition and shuts down my attacker with Paralyzing Grasp. Wow, that really ruins my plan so far. The shuffler helps a
lot, and after delivering me land number 11 (which is number 7 in a row without
any spells), I feel like playing another game...
That’s another plan gone
wrong. With Goblin Bushwhacker, I can bring my opponent down to 8, losing some
power in the progress. With Kor Skyfisher, I have to return my Journey to Nowhere to my hand, timewalking myself for a turn, and try to finish the
enchanted beast. But Vines of Vastwood is ready to steal a game which I
expected to win several turns ago.
I log off, and look for
something else to do other than playing Magic Online. Never play another draft queue after losses like that!
More whisky for me instead!
Thanks for
reading,
Nico
Pick Votes
Deck Analysis and Ask the Pro
Make sure to bid on my latest auction and submit your
questions for the next installment of Ask the Pro:
Announcement by Editor Andy on Thu, 06/18/2009 - 17:58
I would like to announce the amazing new feature called "Ask the Pro", as well as introduce you to Pro Player Nico Bohny who is joining Blackborder.com as a feature writer!
I want to provide you with some details about him as well as explain to you the "Ask the Pro" feature where you can collect a lot of Blackborder points!
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As sweet as Pamela Anderson used to be!
Best comments ever.
Drink more whisky.
The picks looked good. But I guess 7 lands in a row...
I think the shuffler is rigged, its been causing others problems as well...
bad beats are always annoying; you dont have to make votes for every pick, it seems like a lot of work; but when picks are close it is interesting
Really, you need to play more magic After that !!
Only one pick i discuss, maybe the peaks over the giant.
Is green became a good color to draft, in zendikar ? seems yes ...
No, it's a joke !!
I voted "never mind" for the poll, but i think it's better to have one for tough pick.
It seems fine but i like shieldmate blessing for a blocking combat trick!
I so feel your pain! That shuffler can be more of a pain than any bad deck. Not nearly as much land screw/pocket in the real world. Of course, its not nearly as acceptable to be sipping a fine whiskey down at your local Magic shop in your favorite bunny slippers as it is in the comfort of your own home. So, what are ya gonna do?
I still enjoy the draft articles you do. Win or lose, it helps my game improve when I read about the picks you make and why, even if its a bad pull. Thanks.
return the pick votes, but could you allow people to pick from ANY card each pick, instead of just the blessed few you deem worthy?
Thanks for the feedback regarding pick votes. It looks like we might bring them back. :)
Unfortunately we can't make it possible to pick any of the cards in each pack, because that takes way too much time to set up and most of the cards are not relevant for the decision.
You still could have won game one. You never mention him playing other creatures, meaning he still had the 1/1. You were at 17. You had 17 turns to draw into your spells. Maybe 11 lands in a row isn't fair, but you could have still played it out.
The pick votes are an interesting exercise - it makes people pay more attention to each pick.
i would like to see the top 2 or 3 choices for voting but i really dont want every card in the pack
Thanks for another installment of my favorite series on Bb :) I must say I'm a bit concerned Nico. I can understand your desire for strong drink after that first pack and indeed after recieving a serious boning thanks to the shuffler. That being said, my concern lies in the fact that this draft took place between 9 and 10 in the morning! I'm sure there is a chapter of AA in your area. There is no shame in admitting you have a problem... ;)
@ Game 1: Forgot to mention the Baloth that was added to the board before I conceded...
@ Early morning hours: Other people drink coffee and go to work, I do drafts and Whisky. What would you prefer? ;-)
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