|
I don’t want to make this report too long so I’m keeping it short on non draft related comments. I ended up playing a stock [Emek the Equalizer] deck. Work has been crazy lately so I wasn’t able to test much, meaning I went with something solid and fairly easy to play. I started off 2-0 and then lost my next three :( I won my last draft going 3-3 in Core and now I get to share with you the draft portion.
Before this draft my plan was to draft Horde. Since the Alliance allies are better than their Horde counterparts you will often find the table split 5/3 or 6/2. Dragonkin allies help this happen. I would rather have more options with Horde and cherry pick the best drops instead of fighting for Alliance allies and being forced to pick certain drops higher than I wanted because I was being squeezed out. This type of plan can backfire if the guy in front of you opens up a bomb Horde ally or decides to draft Horde anyway. I would be open to drafting Alliance, but Horde was the plan.
With the plan of drafting Horde I wanted the class to be either Warrior or Death Knight. Most of the Alliance flips are better than the Horde equivalents. With Warrior and Death Knight I do not feel this is the case. If other classes were flowing or if bomb rares were opened, I would be open to playing Shaman, Hunter, Warlock, or Druid. I would not draft Priest, Rogue, Paladin, or Mage. These classes range from bad to unplayable and I could write a whole article about why, but let’s keep this to just what I was thinking going in to the draft.
I was able to write down all the set numbers of the packs, but they were written quickly and I write like a two year old so I might have messed up a couple. I want to thank the rest of the table for allowing me to do this, I know it slowed down the draft considerably, but nobody complained. Well let’s get on with this
Pack 1
Pick 1:
I often look to draft quests with picks one through three. I want to have six to seven quests in my decks so I really put a priority on them early. Also with the early picks I’m not sure what faction or class I will end up, I may have a plan but the draft might present other options. Picking quests early insures the pick you make will be in your starting deck 100% of the time instead of seeing some early pick ally ride the pine in the sideboard. This pack presents three picks: [What's Haunting Witch Hill? ], [Marius Jator], and [Oruk Starstorm]. To me this was pretty easy, I wanted to draft Horde so passing [Marius Jator] was fine, and while I like [Oruk Starstorm] I don’t need to use a first pick on him. [What's Haunting Witch Hill? ] is one of the good quests in the set, as it can be pretty cheap to complete, so for me this was an easy pick.
Pick: [What's Haunting Witch Hill?]
Pick 2:
Tricky, Tricky. The drafter in front of me just passed [Dark Extortion], an amazing card but this upsets me. With [Dark Extortion] and [Divine Fury] in the set Priest is the biggest trap class. While these rares are amazing, the commons you will fill the rest of your deck with are going to be terrible. The trick is to open one of these, pass it, and hope your neighbor falls for the trick and drafts it instead. Since I am seeing this second pick the person in front of me is also tricky, and I don’t want tricky drafters in front of me.
For the rest of the pack I consider [Challenge to the Black Flight], [Zuur], [Neboz Tombwex], and [Earthen Blast] as the best cards. It’s too early to pick a class and taking one that isn’t in my preferred classes makes even less sense so no to [Earthen Blast]. [Zuur] is a great card but he’s Alliance and isn’t even the best ally in the pack. [Neboz Tombwex] is an amazing Horde ally. His power and health is standard, but being a Protector and allowing us to get rid of opposing equipment is what makes this guy shine. There aren’t a ton of ways to remove equipment in the set, and for Horde allies there is only [Neboz Tombwex] or [Drizzie Steelslam] as a temporary solution. The last option is a good quest in [Challenge to the Black Flight], this is another cheap quest that at times can be a draw two quest. I took a long time to decide between staying open or taking a good ally. In the end I decided to take the ally to try and send a signal to the drafters downstream that no good Horde allies were coming.
Pick: [Neboz Tombwex]
Pick 3:
The top picks for me here are [Corrosion Prevention], [Guardian Steelhoof], and [Zulanji]. Here the choice for me was to pick up more quests and wait for the Horde allies to come around later. [Guardian Steelhoof] is the better ally but I value quests more than these two allies.
Pick: [Corrosion Prevention]
Pick 4:
Now we’re talking! [Vala Carville] and [Mahna Lightsky]. Games can be won or simply having bigger allies than your opponents, getting your bigger allies to kill two of their smaller ones. While I love [Mahna Lightsky], [Vala Carville] is huge for the cost and one of the best common horde drops. I take note of the [Raging Shout] in the pack; I would love if this came back around but for now I want to keep my options open for DK.
Pick: [Vala Carville]
Pick 5:
This pack is bummer, nothing I’m excited about at all. Bully might be the pick for some of you but I hate rouge and wouldn’t draft it if you put a gun to my head. I take the best horde drop available.
Pick: [Cadon Thundershade]
Pick 6:
Once again, not a good pack. It does surprise me that [Alister Cooper] is in here, as I feel this guy should have been drafted before 6th. I already have two 5 drops that are better than [Toz'Jun], so I take the bigger guy.
Pick: [Zulbraka]
Pick 7:
Wow, that is one late quest. [The Witch's Bane] isn’t the best quest ever, but it is far from being unplayable or even a 7th pick. I like to see this, it means the rest of the table doesn’t put much of a priority on quests and I can wait a bit longer on picking them. We have another appearance by [Mahna Lightsky] and I don’t have any four drops so that looks like a solid pick. But remember a few picks back when I took note of the Raging Shout in the pack? Here is another one. If I pass on this one I’m not going to get it back, I need to take the Raging Shout now and hope the other one comes back.
Pick: [Raging Shout]
Pick 8:
The four drops in the set are plentiful and [Kistix Shockvat] is not one of the highly rated ones, the big guy however can help bring you back from the brink of death.
Pick: [Ruon Wildhoof]
Pick 9:
Wow, I guess this table really doesn’t like [The Witch's Bane].
Pick: [The Witch's Bane]
Pick 10:
Once again it becomes apparent that this table would rather set themselves in a class or faction and then take quests. After the draft many of the players had low quest counts, looking back you can see why. It is interesting to note the [Earthen Blast] is still here, as is the playable [Huruk Lightvow].
Pick: [Challenge to the Black Flight]
Pick 11:
Right now I already have two 5 drops and with two more packs to go it’s unlikely [Ruby Skyrazor] will start but still a good side deck card especially against Alliance Druid.
Pick: [Ruby Skyrazor]
Pick 12:
Now this is nice to see. The [Raging Shout] I hoped would table did, this gives me two good abilities in warrior. It doesn’t commit me to the class but I feel great with them in my stack.
Pick: [Raging Shout]
Pick 13:
Nothing much here so I hate the best card.
Pick: [Savage Bear Form]
Pick 14:
Since it sort of looks like I’m Warrior, [The Grimtotem Weapon] is actually playable, there is nothing else in here worthwhile anyways.
Pick: [The Grimtotem Weapon]
Pick 15:
Take the good trick so I don’t get blown out by it.
Pick: [Earthen Embrace]
Pick 16:
Pick: [Sacred Shield]
Pick 17:
Pick: [Ancestral Purge]
Pick 18:
Pick: [Wand of Ruby Claret]
Right now I’m very happy with my quest count of four or five if you count [The Grimtotem Weapon]. This will allow me to pass on quests and grab more important allies. I have no one, two, or three drop allies, so I’ll need to try and pick up a few this next pack. I do have two good Warrior abilities so I’m leaning towards that as my class. I saw no Death Knight cards at all, none opened or passed. It’s possible that the drafter in front of me is drafting Death Knight.
Pack 2
Pick 1:
It feels great to open a bomb weapon and there isn’t anything in this pack that is close. The only problem is that the cards I’ve drafted are all expensive and this doesn’t help, but I won’t complain.
…If only I had gotten one of the [Dread Pirate Ring]’s from the first pack to table around.
Pick: [Bloodied Arcanite Reaper]
Pick 2:
At this point I’m not desperate enough to take [Telor Sunsurge] or Emerald Captain this early. I’m going to hope one of them tables around. I do have the interesting choice between [Challenge to the Black Flight] and [Vala Carville]. I’m not considering [Huruk Lightvow] because four drops are easy to come by. I don’t have any Dragonkin that I want to start, the table is letting quests table around, and I already have four quests after one pack. I already have two 5 drop allies and a five drop weapon so I’m getting full at the five spot. I’ll take the ally with the thought of now being completely full at five.
Pick: [Vala Carville]
Pick 3:
I thought this might happen. In the first pack I didn’t see any DK cards, so I didn’t pass any. Now I see the lynchpin to the DK deck staring back at me. What can happen at this point is I could take [Withering Decay] and hope a wave of DK cards comes after, taking advantage of cut job the drafter to my right did. The other choices are [Oruk Starstorm] and [What's Haunting Witch Hill?]. I don’t have any three drops so it’s a tough choice. I only have two warrior cards and I feel that [Withering Decay] is better than both of the [Raging Shout]s combined. I also take note of the [Execute], there were none in the first pack, it would be nice to see it table around in case the DK thing doesn’t work out.
Pick: [Withering Decay]
Pick 4:
Another two quests to choose from with the fourth pack, I however already have four and I wouldn’t mind having a stashable three drop.
Pick: [Sava'gin the Reckless]
Pick 5:
Now here is the real turning point in the draft. Here I can back up the [Withering Decay] pick, hope the love keeps coming and maybe even frustrate the drafter to the right of me enough to jump classes…or I could get one of the best horde three drops in [Oruk Starstorm]. I already passed on a one with the [Withering Decay] pick so I’m not sure how many more I can expect to see. I decide to take a chance with [Black Blood]. After looking back at it I think this is a mispick. I am already packed at the five cost and [Black Blood] isn’t going to help. [Black Blood] isn’t the card that I should have been hoping for; if this was [Grip of the Damned] it would have been worth the risk. I should have taken [Oruk Starstorm].
Pick: [Black Blood]
Pick 6:
This is really late for [Blast Trap] but I’m trying to decide between Warrior and Death Knight, so I can’t take another class ability here. There is another [Vala Carville] but I’m done with five drop allies. Now we can decide between [Mahna Lightsky] and [Emerald Captain]. This time I can’t pass up [Mahna Lightsky], as the nature resistance can sometimes be board dominating.
Pick: [Mahna Lightsky]
Pick 7:
It seems like the dream of Death Knight is dead. The choice here is between [Zakis Trickstab] and [Execute]. [Execute] will combo great with the two [Raging Shout]s I have, but I don’t have any three drops. After thinking about it I take the ability, since removal is just too good.
Pick: [Execute]
Pick 8:
I guess nobody is drafting Hunter or someone is very greedy. There is nothing in here for me so I take the best card.
Pick: [Blast Trap]
Pick 9:
Well here we do have a three drop, a very bad one but sometimes that’s the way it goes.
Pick: [Gorz Blazefist]
Pick 10:
Alright, this was great. The [Telor Sunsurge] tabled back around. I have zero 2 and 1 drops so passing on the better ally ([Huruk Lightvow]) is easy
Pick: [Telor Sunsurge]
Pick 11:
Another [Execute], the one we thought might come back around
Pick: [Execute]
Pick 12:
Another big guy. It’s doubtful he’ll start as I have enough expensive guys.
Pick: [Zulbraka]
Pick 13:
While under sized, he at least will give me options.
Pick: [Ceraka]
Pick 14:
Here was a close pick. [Dorladris Spellfire] is a fine ally and can turn into card advantage late.
[Locked Away] can be awesome when paired with [The Key to Freedom]. I take the quest, if I see [The Key to Freedom] next pack I won’t be passing it.
Pick: [Locked Away]
Pick 15:
Pick: [Robe of the Waking Nightmare]
Pick 16:
Pick: [Track Dragonkin]
Pick 17:
Pick: [Wand of Ruby Claret]
Pick 18:
Pick: [Elemental Vision]
I’m pretty disappointed in how this pack went. It started out great with the axe but went downhill with me dipping into Death Knight. I’m not angry about taking [Withering Decay], I feel it’s worth the risk, I’m angry about the [Black Blood] pick. There were also no other good Warrior abilities passed and my allies are still expensive. I did manage to pick up one 1 drop and 2 three drops, but I have no 2 drops and my 3 drops suck. I am now desperate for any early game and will jumping at any chance to pick up twos and threes.
Pack 3
Pick 1:
I think about taking [Jezziki Shinebog] because I’m in love with her, but as I said before I’m hurting for early drops.
Pick: [Rosalyne von Erantor]
Pick 2:
Not much here to help me with my early game. I already have a few four drops but some of them are sketchy so I upgrade the four position.
Pick: [Huruk Lightvow]
Pick 3:
[The Key to Freedom]!…wait, [Guardian Steelhoof]. I know I said I would take [The Key to Freedom] high but I only have two 3 drops and [Guardian Steelhoof] is really good at holding the fort.
Pick: [Guardian Steelhoof]
Pick 4:
Here we can see my desperation for two drops. I have none at this point so I’ll take [Grazzle Grubhook] with the fourth pick…sigh.
Pick: [Grazzle Grubhook]
Pick 5:
…and again.
Pick: [Grazzle Grubhook]
Pick 6:
At least this time I get a good two drop.
Pick: [Zulanji]
Pick 7:
This is a mispick. The choice is between [Execute] and [Crystals of Power]. If you paid attention I have like three nature allies at this point. Remember kids, count nature allies between packs so you won’t make this mistake.
Pick: [Crystals of Power]
Pick 8:
Now there is a huge difference between searching for nature allies ([Crystals of Power]) and dealing nature damage once or twice. I have [Sava'gin the Reckless] which will reliably turn on [Corrosion Prevention] and I also have the late game [Ruon Wildhoof] that can help out with [Corrosion Prevention] on a clear board. Also, there is literally nothing in here for me but [Corrosion Prevention].
Pick: [Corrosion Prevention]
Pick 9:
Very nice, the ally I thought about taking first comes back around.
Pick: [Jezziki Shinebog]
Pick 10:
I’m short on abilities, and who knows maybe this will be an unexpected star…
Pick: [Defender's Vigil]
Pick 11:
I told you four drops are cheap in this set.
Pick: [Huruk Lightvow]
Pick 12:
Hate the axe killer.
Pick: [Terina Calin]
Pick 13:
Pick: [Jinie Swizzleshade]
Pick 14:
Pick: [Earthen Embrace]
Pick 15:
Pick: [Stasis]
Pick 16:
Pick: [Nami Dabpox]
Pick 17:
Pick: [Laenthor Shademoon]
Pick 18:
Pick: [Elemental Vision]
Deck:
Allies: 17
1[Rosalyne von Erantor]
1 [Telor Sunsurge]
1 [Zulanji]
2 [Grazzle Grubhook]
1 [Guardian Steelhoof]
1 [Gorz Blazefist]
1 [Sava'gin the Reckless]
2 [Huruk Lightvow]
1 [Jezziki Shinebog]
1 [Mahna Lightsky]
1 [Cadon Thundershade]
2 [Vala Carville]
1 [Neboz Tombwex]
1 [Zulbraka]
1 [Ruon Wildhoof]
Abilities: 5
1 [Defender's Vigil]
2 [Execute]
2 [Raging Shout]
Equipment: 1
1 [Bloodied Arcanite Reaper]
Quests: 6
2 [Corrosion Prevention]
1 [The Witch's Bane]
1 [Locked Away]
1 [Challenge to the Black Flight]
1 [What's Haunting Witch Hill?]
Not the best deck I’ve drafted but not an 0-3 deck either. A few things went wrong in this draft. First I tried to switch to Death Knight when I already had two [Raging Shout]s. I think it was fine to take a chance on [Withering Decay], but I think the [Black Blood] pick should have been an [Oruk Starstorm] instead. There have been plenty of drafts in the past where I have switched classes in the second pack and ended up reaping the reward, but this just wasn’t one of them. Also, after getting two late [Raging Shout]s in the first pack I got no other good warrior cards passed to me. This wasn’t because someone else was also drafting Warrior, they simply weren’t opened. The last thing to go wrong was there was a Horde drafter to my right. We were both drafting different stratagies, him aggressive and me defensive, which led to me getting some good late allies like [Jezziki Shinebog] and [Ruon Wildhoof]. However, it prevented me from getting two and three drops, which lead me to desperation pick [Grazzle Grubhook] in the third pack and to play the awful [Gorz Blazefist].
First round (technically seventh): Peter Sundholm – Alliance Hunter
Peter is a good man, I’ve seen him around at many of the other card games I used to play and it was good to formally meet him. I win the die roll but he’s got the early game beats. I opened the game with [Bloodied Arcanite Reaper] in my hand so I’m trying to limit the damage I’m taking so I can let the axe do its job. I took my third turn to flip my hero so that the fifth turn axe would take down most allies. A forth turn [Jezziki Shinebog] helps the cause by limiting the damage I take from attacking with my axe. He concedes to a board of [Bloodied Arcanite Reaper], [Vala Carville], and [Neboz Tombwex].
Second game I don’t get the axe going but all my allies were just bigger than his. Double [Vala Carville] can be pretty hard to deal with.
Second round: Jeramie Jensen - Horde Rogue
I win the die roll, which was good because he had a quick deck. I’m able to slow him down by clearing the board with my allies before taking too much damage. [Balanced Heartseeker] makes an appearance on his side of the board to finish off my guys and then start attacking me. He flips, adds an heirloom counter and now the damage is adding up on my hero, but now I start to draw my protectors. The key turn is turn six where I cast [Zulbraka]. He attacks the 6/4 thinking the counter on his dagger and his flip will give him four attack…well that’s true if you are attacking a hero but not if you are attacking allies. After the mistake he concedes.
The second game he gets to go first and now his deck has the advantage. Every turn my hero is taking damage, and I’m struggling to control the board. I land a [Jezziki Shinebog] that helps but I’m still on the back foot. I play the axe which I’m able to finish off some allies with but I take more damage. Turn six he passes the turn with all his resources ready, I’m thinking he is going to refill his hand by completing his quests. I attack his hero with the axe and out comes [Thrandis the Venomous], that sucks! I cast [Ruon Wildhoof] to stop an attack and put some damage on [Thrandis the Venomous] but instead he attacks a different ally (I forget which one) so I’m able to finish off [Thrandis the Venomous] with an ally that isn’t [Ruon Wildhoof] and keep [Ruon Wildhoof] around. I stabilize with 23 to 24 damage on my hero and then have the choice of killing snake tokens or attacking him. The 1/1s seem innocent enough but there is no need to chance it so I send my allies in to the snake tokens. Turns out to be a great decision when he shows me [Excessive Force] and [Aggressive Exploitation], enough to kill me if I left one of the tokens alive to get the plus three attack.
Third and final round: Peter Beckfield – Horde Rogue…again
Peter beat me in the Core portion of the tournament so I’m out for revenge. We look at the standings and we both have low tiebreakers so it looks like we are playing for 10th or 11th. Peter was also the drafter to the right of me. It’s interesting to note that he isn’t Death Knight because I figured DK was being cut from the right. He starts to brag about the number of [Oruk Starstorm]s he has in his deck. Well sorry buddy but that’s only one turn, he’s not going to fabulous on turn five.
I win the die roll and have the best opening yet.
My turn one: [Rosalyne von Erantor]
His turn one: Nothing
My turn two: [Zulanji]
His turn two: [Zulanji]
My turn three: Stash [Raging Shout], my hero kills [Zulanji], play [Gorz Blazefist]
His turn three: [Oruk Starstorm]
My turn four: [Rosalyne von Erantor] attacks [Oruk Starstorm], play [Huruk Lightvow].
From there it wasn’t too hard to win.
Second game he has the quick start, but I’m able to contain it with only 10 damage on my hero. On his turn six the board is clear and he plays [Boki Earthgaze] no cards left in his hand. I play [Mahna Lightsky] and complete a quest. On his turn he draws and plays [Gouge] on [Mahna Lightsky]. My turn I play [Guardian Steelhoof]. His turn another gouge on [Guardian Steelhoof], wow now I’m in trouble with 28 damage on my hero. My [Mahna Lightsky] untaps and I cast [Ruon Wildhoof] looking to get out of range. Well that was not to be as he plays [Toz'jun]. That was frustrating, he needed to [Gouge], [Gouge], and [Toz'jun] to win that game. If he bricks on one of those draws I’m in much better shape.
Third game I mulliganed in to a hand with one quest. By the third turn I’ve drawn both [Vala Carville], [Neboz Tombwex], and [Bloodied Arcanite Reaper], I’m forced to face down both [Vala Carville]. The game is back and forth and enters in the late late turns with me wishing I had the twins in my deck instead of the quests I’m drawing. That’s how it goes sometimes, those draws are part of the game. I almost win on the back of [Bloodied Arcanite Reaper] but it was not to be.
I hoped you enjoyed getting a look in how I approach a draft and what I think about the packs that I get passed. This is a farewell to the triple Worldbreaker draft and in the coming weeks I’ll be looking at how War of the Elements affects the drafting of certain classes and factions.
-Rob Swarowski
|