Seated A-B-A-B... around the draft table
As the teams sat down I had decided not to follow any one individual for too long but rather make the rounds around the entire table and get more of an overall feel for the draft. The draft started fairly innocently with a few bomb rares being opened. Andrew Garlow quickly snapped up a Broodmate Dragon with his first pick, a card that he would do anything to have in his final Forty. Shawn opened a Cruel Ultimatum that would be passed and collected third by Timothy.
Everyone appeared to be avoiding Esper like the plague even though it has become the best archetype in the current format. Late Tidehollow Strix and Courier Capsules were barely finding homes when finally; with a 7th or 8th pick Tezzeret the Seeker, Shawn decided to move into the underdrafted archetype. He was rewarded with a few more late blue white and black goodies.
The second pack started with Mark taking a 3rd Sigil Blessing and attempting to cement a blistering aggro strategy, but passing a Bull Ceradon in the process which was snapped up by Timothy. Andrew Garlow continued to take mediocre Jund themed cards to insure the Broodmate Dragon. Just about everyone else seemed to be floating in a strange 4-5 color region. Each had some shard focused in, but were also taking fringe cards that shared 2 colors with that shard.
Walking around after the review revealed that Timothy had managed 2 different Jund Charms to go along with his Bull Ceradon and Cruel Ultimatum, prime territory for a 5 color strategy. Branson, Luke, and Andrew O had cards spanning multiple archetypes and figuring out their strategy was near impossible without knowing what was going on internally.
Pack 3 seemed to all go Shawn’s way with multiple Esperzoa’s including one as late as 6th pick. Mark Managed to grab 2 Spore Bursts to go along with all of those Blessings, and I still could not make out exact color combinations for most of the players. Shawn’s deck remained the obvious standout with an 8th pick Sedraxis Alchemist although according to fellow viewers, Luke’s deck began to take shape which is reflected in his 3-0 finish. A few suspect choices for quite a few players seemed to end the pack, with Shawn passing up a Zombie Outlander around 11th pick for a much weaker card. I still couldn’t get over to catch on to what Chris was doing as every pick I saw of his was either an artifact or a mono colored card that limited my knowledge of his pool.
At the end of the draft, everyone’s deck seemed to be weaker than we are normally accustomed to in this format. While this would normally be a disadvantage, with every deck being in the same power range, we could count on some balanced play still. Ultimately after 3 rounds of play, including the teams being tied up through the first 2 rounds, fellow Fort Collins team “On a Boat” emerged victorious.
First round, A1 vs. B1, etc:
Table | Player | Result | Opponent | |
1 | Buell, Shawn C | Won 2-0 | vs. | Garlow, Andrew |
2 | Ohlschwager, Andrew | Won 2-1 | vs. | Mitchell, Branson J |
3 | Hagerling, Luke D | Won 2-1 | vs. | Sinnott, Timothy M |
4 | Farr, Chris G | Won 2-1 | vs. | Gerken, Mark J |
That left it tied, 2-2. Second round:
Table | Player | Result | Opponent | |
1 | Buell, Shawn C | Won 2-0 | vs. | Gerken, Mark J |
2 | Hagerling, Luke D | Won 2-0 | vs. | Mitchell, Branson J |
3 | Farr, Chris G | Won 2-1 | vs. | Ohlschwager, Andrew |
4 | Sinnott, Timothy M | Lost 1-2 | vs. | Garlow, Andrew |
OK, now we're tied at 4-4! Third round:
Table | Player | Result | Opponent | |
1 | Ohlschwager, Andrew | Won 2-0 | vs. | Sinnott, Timothy M |
2 | Gerken, Mark J | Lost 0-2 | vs. | Mitchell, Branson J |
3 | Garlow, Andrew | Won 2-0 | vs. | Farr, Chris G |
4 | Hagerling, Luke D | Won 2-0 | vs. | Buell, Shawn C |
That's decisive, with On A Boat taking the round 3-1, and 7-5 total.
Presenting the first ever FrontRangeMagic Team Challenge Champions!