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With the Scars of Mirrodin prerelease coming up, soon we won't be drafting Magic 2011 anymore. So it's time for a last look. Hopefully, the lessons we learn from drafting M11 can be used when power drafting Scars and other sets. Let's start with my last M11 power rankings. If I was picking first pick, first pack, this would be my order of preference for non-rares:
Final M11 Power Rankings
- Crystal Ball - It doesn't affect the board and even after you invest four mana into it, it doesn't even draw you any cards. Yet if you play it in M11 Limited as much as I do, I'm convinced you'll see what a game-breaker Crystal Ball is no matter what colors you play. It's incredibly powerful to make sure you draw something useful every turn for the rest of the game. So often you find yourself in the position of desperately hoping to draw land or to draw useful spells and this card makes it happen, turn after turn.
- Fireball
- Mind Control
- Air Servant
- Serra Angel
- Lightning Bolt
- Blinding Mage
- Doom Blade
- Foresee
- Prodigal Pyromancer - Can win M11 games almost singlehandedly. Can pretty much shut down entire decks.
- Chandra's Outrage
- Aether Adept
- Pacifism
- Quag Sickness
- Assassinate
- Water Servant
- Cudgel Troll - Amazing four drop that continues to drop, because of my reluctance to draft Green in M11.
- Azure Drake - Stops every common flyer (four mana or less) in M11, plus almost every ground dude too. All this and it attacks in the air!
- Garruk's Packleader
- Augury Owl - Trades with many good two drops and sets you up for a smooth early game.
- Jace's Ingenuity
- Gargoyle Sentinel - Super efficient colorblind blocker and attacker.
- Juggernaut
- Stormfront Pegasus
- Acidic Slime - Makes it back onto the list, even though it's five mana and Green. I've lost too many games to having a key land or enchantment blown up, not to mention Gargoyle Sentinels.
Rada and I decided to do an M11 draft using this list as a reference and planning on drafting either Red or Blue and not drafting Blue/Green:
Pack 1 - Pick 1
If we're just taking the best card, we take the Packleader. Since we're only willing to draft Green with Red and we don't have any Red cards yet, there is a concern it would be a wasted pick. Sleep and Lava Axe are the best cards in my favorite colors, but they're both situational enough that they don't always make the cut, even when playing those colors. Specter is good in both Red/Black and Blue/Black, while always making the cut, so it's the pick. If you like Green, I can totally understand taking the Packleader, however.
Pack 1 - Pick 2
Mana Leak, Terramorphic Expanse and Pyroclasm are attractive, but Child of Night is one of the best two drops in any Black deck and we already have a Black card, so we keep cutting Black.
Pack 1 - Pick 3
This pick is mainly about my unwillingness to draft Black/White. Rada has had some success with it, but I'm not happy with the way those colors synergize.
Pack 1 - Pick 4
Rada advocates the Vampire to go with our first three picks, but I love the Pyromancer and Red/Black. Also, getting him fourth pick might even be a signal that Red is available in our seat.
Pack 1 - Pick 5
Mountain (FOIL)
There is nothing super exciting here. A good two drop is more compelling than a decent four drop like the Minotaur. After three straight packs without a playable Blue card, it looks pretty clear we're going Red/Black, not Blue/Black.
Pack 1 - Pick 6
Seems pretty clear at this point that we're in a good seat for Red/Green, but given that we've been cutting Black and passing Green, we're sticking with Red/Black. The main point of concern is we've had six picks and by far the most exciting card we've acquired is the Pyromancer.
Pack 1 - Pick 7
Another weak pack, but happy the best card is in our colors.
Pack 1 - Pick 8
As much as I dislike Green in M11, it looks like we're paying for not drafting Red/Green. This pack has better cards than any pack we've seen yet, must have been a great pack to open. I rarely play Berserkers in the main deck, so sadly this pick is mainly about cutting off Red. I'm really surprised to see two good Blue cards here.
Pack 1 - Pick 9
Happy to get an Axe here.
Pack 1 - Pick 10
Cutting Red and still kind of wishing we were in Green.
Pack 1 - Pick 11
Solid eleventh pick before the pack dries up.
Pack 2 - Pick 1
We're staying patient, waiting for our careful cutting of Red/Black to pay off. I kind of wish were taking Water Servant or Packleader.
Pack 2 - Pick 2
Our draft just got lots better. This is my first smile since drafting the Pyromancer.
Pack 2 - Pick 3
This pack doesn't reflect our work cutting Red and Black. Rada inquires if it's too late to get into Blue.
Pack 2 - Pick 4
There is still nothing playable in Red or Black. We take the best available card, just in case we are forced to change one of our colors.
Pack 2 - Pick 5
Cudgel Troll is further proof we should be in Green, kind of surprised the player to our left apparently isn't in Green. Maybe they have been reading this column.
Pack 2 - Pick 6
Howling Banshee is a pretty exciting sixth pick.
Pack 2 - Pick 7
Apparently Blue was just a mirage. Manic Vandal is probably the best card in any color this pack.
Pack 2 - Pick 8
Solid eighth pick.
Pack 2 - Pick 9
A fine ninth pick, but sadly the pack doesn't offer us anything after this pick.
Pack 3 - Pick 1
Finally, we get a solid first pick. Rada suggests we might want something more resembling a bomb, like Mind Control or Magma Phoenix. I feel the Blue ship has sailed and not only do I not like the Phoenix as much as Rada, I think our base black deck is desperate for some removal.
Pack 3 - Pick 2
Perhaps our draft is going poorly enough we should gamble on the Hellkite, but we stick to our normal preferences.
Pack 3 - Pick 3
Tough pick over Fling and the Skeleton, but at least Rada and I are in agreement.
Pack 3 - Pick 4
At least things are going better than the first two packs.
Pack 3 - Pick 5
I've never been so excited to get a fifth pick Outrage. Perhaps it's not too late for this draft to turn around.
Pack 3 - Pick 6
We feel better about passing the last Hellkite now, since we don't really want two seven drops.
Pack 3 - Pick 7
This is a solid pick at seven that will probably make the cut.
Pack 3 - Pick 8
Vandal is the best available card in our colors.
Pack 3 - Pick 9
This is further evidence that this pack is better for us than the first two. Hellhound is exciting at nine.
Pack 3 - Pick 10
I rarely play the Runner except in mono-red, but I hate Duress in Limited.
Pack 3 - Pick 11
We're always on the lookout for a solid sideboard card.
Pack 3 - Pick 12
Probably a meaningless pack.
Pack 3 - Pick 13
The draft ends on a good note with a terrific 13th pick, for a spot in our curve that we needed some help.
This is the deck we played:
[cardlist]
[Lands]
8 Swamp
8 Mountain
1 Terramorphic Expanse
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
1 Canyon Minotaur
1 Fiery Hellhound
1 Earth Servant
1 Ancient Hellkite
2 Liliana's Specter
1 Gravedigger
4 Child of Night
1 Prodigal Pyromancer
1 Chandra's Spitfire
1 Howling Banshee
1 Bloodthrone Vampire
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
1 Chandra's Outrage
1 Rise from the Grave
1 Quag Sickness
2 Thunder Strike
1 Crystal Ball
1 Barony Vampire
1 Diabolic Tutor
[/Spells]
[/cardlist]
So the deck ended up light on bombs and light on removal (at least for Red/Black.) We did end up with a decent mana curve, some card advantage, good flying for Red/Black and a pretty solid late game. This was enough for Rada to win the first round, but in round two games one and three involved double mulligans and that was too much to overcome.
One might say this was a case of my power drafting preferences getting me in trouble because we didn't draft Green. However, if I had followed my own power rankings, we would have picked the Packleader first overall and probably had an excellent Red/Green deck. I've enjoyed drafting M11, but now I'm ready for some new surprises. I'm looking forward to the Scars prerelease and to exploring with you what the best way to power draft Scars will be.
