Plaid Magic: April 2015

Thanks to all that joined our April cube event. I think it's safe to say that everyone had a great time yesterday and things went relatively smoothly given it was our first physical draft, first time with 10 people and first time drafting a (hastily put together) 90 card extension.

Thanks to all who contributed. A special thanks to the CommanderHQ guys (Alex and Nate) for coming and giving some new insight, to Jon Fromm for hosting and Steve for the after party and Andy for hosting that piece., here's the rundown:

Ranking Overview

Totals:	Previous	April	Year Total
Andy	55	15	70
Eric	36	15	58
Steve	36	15	58
Dan	51	6	57
Dave	42	12	54
Jeff	44	6	53
Jake	32	9	50
Alex	N/A	15	30
Jon	N/A	15	30
Mark	16	N/A	16
Nate	N/A	0	0

The Decks:

Rakdos Aggro Suicide

This deck focused on ending the game as fast as possible at any cost. With four 2/1 one drops, on average ending the game faster is a huge advantage.

Rakdos Cackler

Bloodsoaked Champion

Gnarled Scarhide

Zurgo Bellstriker

Now for the Suicide side of the deck. With both Sulfuric Vortex and Forsaken Wastes, there is no were to go but down. With Dark Confidant in play the game went into over drive.

Finishers were ether some variety of burn spell’s or removal to take the last blocker out of the way. If nether were drown then you just pass… no wait Hellrider for the win?

This deck was for the most part straightforward, but it had some fun combos and interesting plays. Horobi, Death's Wail plus, Cauldron Haze or Grim Lavamancer were a lot of fun. Young Pyromancer plus Molten Birth and Hellrider created some longer game potential.

Round 1: Lost 1 – 2

Round 2: Won 2 – 0

Round 3: Won 2 - 0

Dan: Black Blue Tempo

I was running a UB Tempo deck that was a little too far into the midrange strategy than I would have liked. Many of the low CMC black creatures were gobbled up before I committed. Fun was had, including some strange interactions with a Jake's deck.

Steve: Golgari Shenanigans

"B/G with mana-ramped phatties (Deadbridge Goliath, Wurmcoil Engine, Sidisi - Undead Vizier, Foe-Razer Regent and the devastatingly effective Grave Titan) and the usual Golgari suspects (Deathrite Shaman, Lotleth Troll and Varolz the Scar-Striped). Of note other than those are Green Sun's Zenith and the Palladium Myr, which both showed up in nearly every game (often with one leading into/feeding into the other) and were responsible for the big nasties seeing play predictably on turn 4-5. Games were short (or at least not exhaustively long), with nail-biter moments, and so there was enjoyment overall. That said, I won't be drafting B/G again unless I find a very different angle on it, as the deck almost played itself in most games."

- Steve

Eric: Green/Black/White Trike & Mike

Eric went for Thunefeeder again, but missed the feeder. Not to worry, in the same colors, he still gets TickyMicky! A smooth running deck driven by a Reanimotor and control pieces was interesting to watch. To be concise: Answers+Bombs = Win

David: Black Red Aggro/Burn

Straight forward aggressive strategy here with very few frills. The strategy worked around fast unleash creatures, removal resilient creatures some new splashy reanimation-ish cards (Necroskitter and its like) as well as burn/removal. Performed very well and was fun to play with/against. This is the type of aggressive interactive strategy we were really hoping to accomplish in the cube for Wakdos.