With Pro Tour Theros on the horizon and MTGO Release Events in full swing, it is time to jump into a draft queue. But not without proper preparation: Check out the opening discussion for my take on the mechanics of Theros and what they tell us about this limited format.
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Informative, well drafted, and (with a small exception) well played. In
a word, superb.
Great stuff Simon. I wasn’t sure during your drafting, but your picks worked out great together. I would suggest not to overlook Aqueous Form – in a blue devotion deck for a 1-drop, it’s much cheaper than activating either Agent Of Horizons or Thassa’s unblockable ability, activates heroic triggers and, most importantly, counts towards devotion so that you can get Thassa online for maximum value all the quicker. Otherwise, occasional slight misplays aside, this was an excellently played draft. Thanks very much!
I was really hoping you would open Thassa. Bomb mythic aside, you Pro Tour players make drafting look a lot easier than it really is. Great vids, from the intro through to the end. I learned some things about evaluating new formats. Thanks!
For what it’s worth, I much prefer this video format with the intro, compared to the format with the recaps. I also think there are clues that the set might be faster than you give it credit for in the mechanics: the fact that both Bestow and Monstrous are two part abilities that let you get something at lower costs probably indicates that Development sees them being useful at both the lower and higher cost. If Hill Giants are going to be relevant, then we’re not exactly talking about ROE in terms of speed.
thx simon, awesome draft
(although i find the format kinda boring, seems like there are no gimmick decks)
thx for the draft as always. i think u value thassas bounty a little bit too high and it seems u think it is an instant, which it isnt …
though, still lookiing for more videos in the future !!
Thassa is even good without enough blue devotion! The Sedge Skorpion is very good, it helps to survive and stops some big Monster! Nobody likes to attack in a 1/1 Deathtouch! Much better in defense than this 3/2 agent! Because Removal is very rare the new prey-upon is good… You only had griptide and the 2-damage-dudes!
I lost to a Thassa at the prerelease and I knew then and there the power of Thassa. I suspect it will be a hit in Standard at some point as well. For only 2U, the card is severely undercosted.
Thanks for the great draft video. I hope you have a chance to [successfully] draft the Heroic deck archetype. I suspect your last round opponent relied too heavily upon instants rather than bestow/auras.
So much poor play. Misplays:
-Missing attacks with 3/4 Flier & 3/2 Unblockable.
-Playing 1/2 ramp Satyr before 1/3 Scry blocker. (Time Walks yourself.)
-Trading 3/2 Unblockable for 3/3 with perfect information. (His attack indicates he wants to trade either 3 dmg for 3 dmg or creatures 1 for 1 or pump. His tapping MP1 indicates desire to play permanent. You gain 3 life, gain him 3 life and 3 2/2 Tokens by not observing his obvious play.)
-Wasting Scry triggers when offensive Scrying is needed for answers.
-Not casting 2/1 Fly-only blocker when 1/2 Satyr was not going to block.
-Not casting Thassa Bounty when your lands were going to untap. (Then lying, claiming you didn’t know this when turn before you untapped attacked, untapped 5 land + creature, and flashed in a creature–all three functions of your rare.)
Overall, it’s obvious that you:
1. Only submit draft videos you win.
2. Only win when drafting excessive rares or absurd decks.
3. Can barely win through numerous misplays.
@touch your nose
When did he miss attacks with the 3/4 flier and the 3/2 POTENTIALLY UNBLOCKABLE. A key point there is Simon usually had things he wanted to do with his mana every turn.
I agree with this. The 1/3 blocks better and scrys to get land. Serves a similar function, but does it better. I can see Simon’s reasoning for playing the 1/2. However, this is minor in my opinion.
I think the opponent missplayed when he attacked with the 3/3. The 3/3 is WAY more powerful than Simon’s 3/2. It isn’t unblockable. It is potentially unblockable for THREE mana. Especially in the early game, those 3 mana are used to actually improve your board state. And the 3/3 of the opponent has WAY more late game potential. Trading your low potential guy for his high potential guy is always a good play.
I can’t comment on wasting scry triggers, as that is much more subtle aspect of the game. Could you give an example of one of those wasted scry triggers?
I’m not sure when this was. Could you provide match/time?
Simon actually acknowledged that mistake! What more do you want? He wasn’t lying, probably spoke wrong, or just forgot. He actually acknowledged the mistake one second after he made it.
I don’t know about those last three points, but if you look through the archives, you probably will find a number of game losses.
Overall, it is obvious that you:
1. Are a giant troll
2. Like to make yourself feel important by insulting others
3. Think a couple of minor misplays are major mistakes
Out of your 6 complaints, I only feel 2 (maybe 3) are valid. Only one of those was big, and no one plays perfect every draft, especially when recording.
You are a giant jerk. You can give constructive criticism by instead starting your thoughts off with “I believe you could’ve improved your play with X, Y, Z” instead of screaming “PUNT PUNT PUNT”. And then you insult him again at the end. No one is going to actually consider criticism if you are insulting that person the entire time. For example, you aren’t going to listen to my criticism because I have been insulting you.
@touch your nose
Were you one of the players that lost to him in this video?
touch your nose: I won’t keep you long since Stormblessed has already pointed out everything that is to be said here. Of one thing I can assure you, though. As a long time follower of Simon on different sites and platforms I can tell you for sure that he is not one to only post won drafts…Lots of first turn losses in tandem with his brother Dominik on a German mtgo related site stands proof for this…Besides, even in these revered halls it is whispered that Simon wasn`t always making the finals in each and every one of his drafts…Don’t have to go a long way back to find one btw…
Finally, what do you watch drafts of other players (who are way better than me and you) for? To see them lose first turn and to be able to claim that this was “the worst draft in the history of the game?”
For my part I, as a casual multiplayer player and part time limited drafter, watch to entertain myself and to learn about how a pro would do the job…I have never been disappointed…
@Everyone who responded to touch your nose: Don’t feed the trolls.
Trolls will be trolls… Great draft as always Simon. Your videos are a pleasure to watch and your insight is invaluable and, in my opinion, underrated.
Thanks for the content Simon! As it almost always is, not much to comment on in terms of playing the rounds, well done. That’s one of the things that makes watching your videos enjoyable, you play well and explain the choices you make when the reasoning is not obvious.
I do want to comment on 2 cards you could have picked up for your deck. Sedge Scorpion, and, to a lesser extent, Pheres-band Centaurs would have been, imo, good additions to a deck that needs to buy a bit of time to win with evasive threats. Being able to deal with large creatures seems like a must in Theros and you only had 2 ways to do that – Thassa and Griptide.
Also, running what was essentially a 19-20 land deck with only 2 Bounties (but no bestow or monstrosity) was, I would say, a bit greedy. Worked out well though. =)
PS. Trolling would have been more successful if I could see any single word of truth in that entire post… For example, blocking Centaur Courser was perfectly fine because the opponent might have been on anything, very likely something capable of blocking a 3/2 profitably.
What makes Theros so great for Limited is the fact that all the mechanics work for aggro and control strategies. Fast decks looking for a perfect curve can still make use of excess lands via bestow while slower ones can plan on creating a giant monster while still having early drops. In my opinion this is one of the best designed sets ever.
There are some gimmick decks out there FX: GBu graveyarddeck revolving around CIP effect of creature graveyard recursion and wall of memnoic. The basic idea is to recur either scorpions to block and devotion centaurs to gain life to stabilize and in the late game recur the graveyard spells with memnoic wall for infinite value. Its quite a master piece when it comes together. I also think the multi color Green ramp is quite gimmickie(resolving around the devotion acolyte), imean casting collosus like a boss. And the RU deck around flamespeaker and the chimera. I woud consider all those decks pretty gimmickie.