Next time I face down Garruk, Arachnus Spinner and Sphinx of Unfun and it seems like I just got out-bombed, I’ll remember this and stay calm.

I mean for real, his voice didn’t even crack.

The name really throws me off.

Regarding the column title, I am contemplating alternatives to “Modern Magic”. However, I already recorded the fourth episode as I will be leaving for the US tomorrow. Once I return, I will decide how to name the show from then on.

@mkb: I don’t quite get what tilts you about me calling the first round the quarterfinal. It is an 8-man single-elimination tournament, isn’t it?

@Deathcloud9: In my experience, most Magic formats are much less shallow than most people think.
- Regarding Arbalest Elite vs Stave Off, I like both cards quite a lot but they are not really comparable. However, it is really easy to see the negatives in Arbalest Elite and all the potential upside of Stave Off. Once you untap with Arbalest Elite, combat becomes much more difficult for your opponent, and a 2/3 always has at least some impact as well. The disadvantage of not untapping is actually mitigated by the fact that the mere threat of the Elite is usually enough to not having to activate it in the first place (this is the Kabuto Moth effect, for those remembering Kamigawa Limited). While Stave Off is great against all Auras and Removal, you also need to keep open a plains. However, if you simply play it as a combat trick or to force through lethal damage, you open yourself up to removal spells or bounce. In the end, you simply can’t overload on creature-dependent spells and I also want to have some Auras in my white decks, so while I am happy to play 1-2 Stave Offs, I do not see it as a crucial piece to any white strategy. It becomes better than Elite when you are drafting a Griffin Sentinel deck, but that does not happen all that often.
- I believe Distress to be in the better half of black commons. If you are very aggressive you will take Tormented Souls and Duskhunter Bats instead, but even then I like to have at least one Distress in my deck to prevent my opponent from turning the game around with a single spell. In control, Distress is better than any common creature save for Gravedigger and Child of Night. It offers something quite unique, so if the mana cost is not a problem, you should always play them.
- I’m still exploring the archetypes of M12, but I think that there are a lot of viable archetypes. I have had a lot of success with black, and did not get to draft that much red because of how popular it is. Green is the hardest color to draft as the value cards (Spider, Web) are quite controlling but everything else rewards attacking (Bear, Crocodile, Wolf, Trollhide, Titanic Growth). Currently my favourites are Mono-Red, Mono-Black, UB Control and White/X with either a Griffin or Aura theme.
- I’ll play Griffin Rider with 3 Griffins, but I would want more for a deck with multiple Riders. When drafting, I will sometimes gamble on an early Rider as the potential upside is large, but abandon them if it does not work out.
@JFA: I try my best to give out fishing rods instead of fish, even though it takes quite a lot of work. Not every episode perfectly captures what’s going on in my head, but they come pretty close.

I am also very happy that you seem willing to draft more varied M12 archetypes, which in turn makes it far more interesting to watch after 95% of the other videos avalaible on the web are drafting mono-two-mana decks. Watching people show you how to win at a given limited format is fine, but I would much rather refine the deeper skills of how to analyse and evaluate the set for myself rather than be taught generic pick orders and general rules (draft bears and attack).

Please keep up the good work guys – MTGOAcademy has improved the quality and frequency of its content greatly over the last few months, even after losing half the Limited Resources team.