Second FNM Draft
I went to my second Friday Night Magic last week. I have no goals, except to expand my card pool, and having fun. I read a lot of Magic articles before going to Two Stompas and I learned a lot of meta decks, like Abzan Midrange, Sidisi Whip, and some U/R Burn. Mas Malik lended me the first two decks for me to try. I love the Sidisi Whip better though, because I always love big cards (am a big fan of Eldrazi cards). I also watched some MTGO draft and I felt like I have more information about the set than last week so I'll be able to evaluate the card I draft better.
This is the pool that I opened
My first pick of the first pack was a Trap Essence. It was a rare and I found it a cool card. However, the Trap Essence did lock me to G/U/R deck, which later I was told that it is called a Temur deck. So I pick a lot of Green cards, and I mean the big green cards. Wooly Loxodon, Hooting Mandrill, Tusked Colossodon, and Temur Charger for the early push.
I picked a lot of Scout the Border and some Delve spells, like treasure cruise and set adrift, but I never used it. I also cut out the removal spell, such as Savage and Bring Low. I'm just content with using big creature strategy and overpower my opponent. In the second pack, I got a Thousand Wind, and in the Third pack I got a Crater's Claw. In the process of drafting, I also discovered some obscure gems, like Temur Ascendancy and Mindswipe. Somehow I managed to complete my Temur deck.
I felt like I got my deck right. The strategy is to push with Temur Charge or hide behind Archer's Parapet in early game; pressure with big creatures in mid-game while protecting it with some counter spells, like Stubborn Denial, Mindswipe, and Trap Essence; and finish the opponent with Crater's Claw. I think I fell in love to the deck in first sight and I'm ready to play some Magic.
The first match is against Nathan, he's using a Jeskai aggro deck. However, he didn't draw enough creatures, so Temur Charger really destroyed him. Second game, he got some of his combos, and push me pretty hard, but not able to finish me quick enough. In the 6th turn, my big creatures are already wrecking havoc in the board and it just overpowered all of his creatures.
The second match is against Patrick. I lost to him last week, but I felt like I can fight on par with him, so I want to have a better result. He's using a B/W aggro deck with a lot of aura and enchantment to buff up his creature. He pushed me really hard with 4 creature against my one morph and one Temur Charge and put me down to 4 life.
However, I managed to get 7 mana in my field and I flipped up my morph which is actually a Thousand Wind, returning all of his tapped creatures to the hand. A 5/6 creature with flying is just too much for Patrick. Next turn, I buffed it up with an Incremental Growth and it won me the game.
In the second game, I got aggro'ed really hard and with a mana screw problem. I lost really fast. Game 3 is a reccurence of game 1 where he pushed me down to a critical position but I manage to come back with a Thousand Wind. That card is truly an MVP in my second match.
Third match, I fight against Nick Kasli, a veteran player. I got a bit intimidated but I said to myself, "I'm not here to win, I'm here to learn" and what could be better than learning by fighting against a pro player? I said, this is a good opportunity for me and I will use it as best as I could.
Nick is using a Mardu Midrange deck, a deck that can spawn a million token out of nowhere really fast. I draw four spells and three lands, but I got only 2 colors meanwhile 2 of my spells are multicolored. I made a mistake by thinking I will get the third color eventually and I got punished by that decision. Nick constantly pressuring me with his tokens and eventually he got to 11 goblin tokens with Ponyback Brigade which makes me concede game 1.
In game 2, I got all of the colors I need. I put the Temur Ascendancy in turn 3 and life is easier after that. Nick only manage to cast a single creature while I keep pressuring him with Highland Game, Bear's Companion, and Tusked Colossodon afterwards. The Haste from Temur Ascendancy won me this game.
While siding for game 3, Nick asked whether I have played Temur before and I said I just played Magic last week which surprised him. Nevertheless, game 3 starts in his favor with 2 outlast creature casted right before I can cast anything else. I was drawing only Wooly Loxodon and 5 lands which I debated whether I should mull'd or not. I decide not to because I believe Wooly Loxodon and strong creatures I draw afterwards can beat Nick's small creatures.
At first I thought I made a mistake by not mull-ing that hand because his creatures keep pressuring me. Meanwhile, I keep drawing lands which is contrary of what I was expected. Luckily, I draw a Bear's companion right after Nick has pushed me down to 5 life. Bear's Companion with his strong Bear token keeps me alive there.
However, I found an interesting development. Nick didn't put his fifth land in turn 5 so he's stuck with his two creatures. I had my chance for comeback by flipping Wooly Loxodon face up and casting a Tusked Colossodon. I keep pushing him for three turns and Nick still hasn't draw a land.
Eventually, he drew a black land and cast an extra creatures. But by God's mercy, I drew a crater's claw while having 9 land in my board. I do my math. If I can attack with all of my creature, at the very least I can drop him down to 9 life. With Crater's Claw's ferocious ability, I can burn him for 10 damage and I will win.
Win?
I can win?
I can't describe my feeling at that time. I have felt this feeling when I was gonna kill a hero in DOTA for the first time. I have felt this feeling when I was gonna beat mas Novan, a Yugioh Duelist I respected so much. I felt that again. The increasing heart beat, the blood pressure. I rechecked my math again, is there any way he can counter my Crater's Claw, I thought. But all 5 of his lands are tapped after casting the extra creature a turn before so there is no way. Yes, I can win.
I did it. I attacked with all of my creatures and drop the Crater's Claw right after.
Nick was shocked and so am I. I really win against him. That was the most satisfying moment I've ever had in playing a card game. It even beat the satisfaction I had when I defeated mas Novan's Lightsworn with Quickdandy.
The best part is, Nick doesn't feel Salty at all because he was beaten by a lucky newbie. He showed an Arrow Storm in his hand which could easily win him that game had he draw a red land instead of a black land during the last turn. He was lost by luck to a newbie, but he still praise me.
He even gave me a High Sentinels of Arashin as a reward for defeating him. That's what I can say, the best attitude to be shown to a newbie, something I don't think I have ever seen in Yugioh community. I grew my respect to Nick Kasli with that game.
So that was my second FNM. I can say I really love playing Magic and I love the community in Two Stompas for their friendly attitude and their eagerness to teach Newbies to be better in the game. I won't play Standard any soon but I will try to do more draft. There are still many things to learn.
Yes I did win a draft tournament in my second try but it doesn't mean anything just yet. After all, the success of drafting is also subject to the probability of pack opening. And yes I did win against Patrick and Nick but I felt like I'm always on the edge of losing and I win just because I manage to get the time to draw the right card. Nevertheless, It's going to be a long and perilous journey, but I will not fall back, I promise.
This is the pool that I opened
My first pick of the first pack was a Trap Essence. It was a rare and I found it a cool card. However, the Trap Essence did lock me to G/U/R deck, which later I was told that it is called a Temur deck. So I pick a lot of Green cards, and I mean the big green cards. Wooly Loxodon, Hooting Mandrill, Tusked Colossodon, and Temur Charger for the early push.
I picked a lot of Scout the Border and some Delve spells, like treasure cruise and set adrift, but I never used it. I also cut out the removal spell, such as Savage and Bring Low. I'm just content with using big creature strategy and overpower my opponent. In the second pack, I got a Thousand Wind, and in the Third pack I got a Crater's Claw. In the process of drafting, I also discovered some obscure gems, like Temur Ascendancy and Mindswipe. Somehow I managed to complete my Temur deck.
I felt like I got my deck right. The strategy is to push with Temur Charge or hide behind Archer's Parapet in early game; pressure with big creatures in mid-game while protecting it with some counter spells, like Stubborn Denial, Mindswipe, and Trap Essence; and finish the opponent with Crater's Claw. I think I fell in love to the deck in first sight and I'm ready to play some Magic.
The first match is against Nathan, he's using a Jeskai aggro deck. However, he didn't draw enough creatures, so Temur Charger really destroyed him. Second game, he got some of his combos, and push me pretty hard, but not able to finish me quick enough. In the 6th turn, my big creatures are already wrecking havoc in the board and it just overpowered all of his creatures.
The second match is against Patrick. I lost to him last week, but I felt like I can fight on par with him, so I want to have a better result. He's using a B/W aggro deck with a lot of aura and enchantment to buff up his creature. He pushed me really hard with 4 creature against my one morph and one Temur Charge and put me down to 4 life.
However, I managed to get 7 mana in my field and I flipped up my morph which is actually a Thousand Wind, returning all of his tapped creatures to the hand. A 5/6 creature with flying is just too much for Patrick. Next turn, I buffed it up with an Incremental Growth and it won me the game.
In the second game, I got aggro'ed really hard and with a mana screw problem. I lost really fast. Game 3 is a reccurence of game 1 where he pushed me down to a critical position but I manage to come back with a Thousand Wind. That card is truly an MVP in my second match.
Third match, I fight against Nick Kasli, a veteran player. I got a bit intimidated but I said to myself, "I'm not here to win, I'm here to learn" and what could be better than learning by fighting against a pro player? I said, this is a good opportunity for me and I will use it as best as I could.
Nick is using a Mardu Midrange deck, a deck that can spawn a million token out of nowhere really fast. I draw four spells and three lands, but I got only 2 colors meanwhile 2 of my spells are multicolored. I made a mistake by thinking I will get the third color eventually and I got punished by that decision. Nick constantly pressuring me with his tokens and eventually he got to 11 goblin tokens with Ponyback Brigade which makes me concede game 1.
In game 2, I got all of the colors I need. I put the Temur Ascendancy in turn 3 and life is easier after that. Nick only manage to cast a single creature while I keep pressuring him with Highland Game, Bear's Companion, and Tusked Colossodon afterwards. The Haste from Temur Ascendancy won me this game.
While siding for game 3, Nick asked whether I have played Temur before and I said I just played Magic last week which surprised him. Nevertheless, game 3 starts in his favor with 2 outlast creature casted right before I can cast anything else. I was drawing only Wooly Loxodon and 5 lands which I debated whether I should mull'd or not. I decide not to because I believe Wooly Loxodon and strong creatures I draw afterwards can beat Nick's small creatures.
At first I thought I made a mistake by not mull-ing that hand because his creatures keep pressuring me. Meanwhile, I keep drawing lands which is contrary of what I was expected. Luckily, I draw a Bear's companion right after Nick has pushed me down to 5 life. Bear's Companion with his strong Bear token keeps me alive there.
However, I found an interesting development. Nick didn't put his fifth land in turn 5 so he's stuck with his two creatures. I had my chance for comeback by flipping Wooly Loxodon face up and casting a Tusked Colossodon. I keep pushing him for three turns and Nick still hasn't draw a land.
Eventually, he drew a black land and cast an extra creatures. But by God's mercy, I drew a crater's claw while having 9 land in my board. I do my math. If I can attack with all of my creature, at the very least I can drop him down to 9 life. With Crater's Claw's ferocious ability, I can burn him for 10 damage and I will win.
Win?
I can win?
I can't describe my feeling at that time. I have felt this feeling when I was gonna kill a hero in DOTA for the first time. I have felt this feeling when I was gonna beat mas Novan, a Yugioh Duelist I respected so much. I felt that again. The increasing heart beat, the blood pressure. I rechecked my math again, is there any way he can counter my Crater's Claw, I thought. But all 5 of his lands are tapped after casting the extra creature a turn before so there is no way. Yes, I can win.
I did it. I attacked with all of my creatures and drop the Crater's Claw right after.
 |
| Boom, 10++ damage out of nowhere |
Nick was shocked and so am I. I really win against him. That was the most satisfying moment I've ever had in playing a card game. It even beat the satisfaction I had when I defeated mas Novan's Lightsworn with Quickdandy.
The best part is, Nick doesn't feel Salty at all because he was beaten by a lucky newbie. He showed an Arrow Storm in his hand which could easily win him that game had he draw a red land instead of a black land during the last turn. He was lost by luck to a newbie, but he still praise me.
He even gave me a High Sentinels of Arashin as a reward for defeating him. That's what I can say, the best attitude to be shown to a newbie, something I don't think I have ever seen in Yugioh community. I grew my respect to Nick Kasli with that game.
So that was my second FNM. I can say I really love playing Magic and I love the community in Two Stompas for their friendly attitude and their eagerness to teach Newbies to be better in the game. I won't play Standard any soon but I will try to do more draft. There are still many things to learn.
Yes I did win a draft tournament in my second try but it doesn't mean anything just yet. After all, the success of drafting is also subject to the probability of pack opening. And yes I did win against Patrick and Nick but I felt like I'm always on the edge of losing and I win just because I manage to get the time to draw the right card. Nevertheless, It's going to be a long and perilous journey, but I will not fall back, I promise.
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