M10 Limited Review and Guide to Drafting Part II
This is the second part my drafting guide and will focus on the blue cards in M10. For any of you who missed the 1st article I advise you check it out as it contains the details of my card evaluation system that should give a better understanding of what my ratings and comments mean. First up though I’d like to say that Sam Black’s early observation; that this format totally revolves around uncommons both during the draft and the games after is pretty much spot on. Sam pointed out that there are only 10 uncommons for each colour, yet for most colours at least 2 of these cards are so powerful they can normally turn the game around whatever non-removal common spells are being played given reasonable draws. These cards are: Serra Angel, Air Elemental, Mind Control, Fireball, Dragon Whelp, Overrun, Howl of the Night Pack and to a lesser extent Harms Way, Sleep, Consume Spirit, Howling Banshee, Pyroclasm, Goblin Artillery and Acidic Slime. What this means is that if you can cram more of these cards into your deck than the opponent your chance to win significantly increases.
The way to go about getting more of these in draft is to use their presence as a signal particularly if you receive them after 3rd pick in pack 1 it will often be a great plan to move right in on the colour as one of your main choices. I personally have had reasonable success with this, both on the Friday night FNM scene at Vagabond City and Sunday FNM draft over at Vagabond Takapuna where I usually play. At Vagabonds in the City I went 2-1 twice, bot times ending with utterly broken UR decks that were only stopped by awesome draws from Sean then Jonathan Renner respectively. Meanwhile in Takapuna I split the finals with Alan Hale in an hilarious draft where Aaron failed to open one of his packs thus not getting Platinum Angel or passing a foil Earthquake!!!
Every new Magic set it seems when it comes to Blue a curious phenomenon occurs. Firstly WotC announce how they’re cutting power from blue especially in constructed, then people play constructed and long-term it turns out blue is still awesome if not dominant; see Teachings-Control, Fae then 5CC (based on Cryptic). Then people act like WotC made this announcement for limited and incredibly under-draft it especially on MTGO until at some point people realise blue may well be the best: see Esper and then over-draft it at the end of the season. Right now while White feels over-drafted most of the time Blue is an excellent choice to slide into since many seemingly reasonable players (ratings over 1700 eg. they have won some events) still love to ship Air Elemental and Mind Control for seemingly no reason.
Blue Review
Air Elemental
Blue’s answer to Serra Angel only not quite as good (no vigilance). This is a clear first pick but not as amazing as Mind Control, which is the best non-rare. This is a great signal blue is open if you receive it 3rd pick or later. For those of you who don’t subscribe to StarCity big cheap flyers are good in limited.
Rating 8.9
Alluring Siren
This card can be great at breaking down board stall scenarios but only where you have a big blocker to mop up the forced attackers. This is a situationally decent card that isn’t great in a race or when you’re behind and as such whilst a few of this kind of card can be a good thing you don’t want too many for your deck. This is probably best in UG where you will have most large beaters to ally it with but is in any case only a mid to late pick around 8th-10th.
Rating 4.9
Cancel
This is a lot stronger in M10 limited than it has been in past formats due to the fact this is a relatively slow and bomb-based format with creatures tending to be more defensively than offensively stated. With their being a preponderance of wins generated by bomb level uncommons being able to stop one even at the hefty price of having to leave this mana up is often well worthwhile. This is a reasonable mid pick and may be higher if you have a lot of bombs or great tempo to get ahead in the first place then use this to stall their defenses.
Rating 6
Clone
This is a very good card as it will always be the joint best creature in play whenever you play it. The relatively cheap mana cost will often allow you to copy a bomb late and cast a spell on the same turn. Clone’s only downside is that in a vacuum it cannot be good and sometimes when you have it early it may need to come down as something really unexciting thus wasting it potential. I feel the pick between Clone and Air Elemental is very close with the Elemental just winning out since it is the better aggressive card when neither player has a bomb. If you have a very defensive deck or a bunch of bomb creatures to copy already the Clone may be better. I’m always happy to 1st pick Clone and don’t understand why in so many drafts I’ve seen this 6th-8th or later.
Rating 8.8
Convincing Mirage
This card does nothing. Well not quite, it’s like the worst Rampant Growth ever with the possibility to turn on land walk from a few fairly weak creatures. There is no good limited deck that could play this effectively and therefore no reason to draft it.
Rating 0.7
Coral Merfolk
This is really, really unexciting but it can do the job. If you can play aggressive or just desperately need something to do for 2 mana this may be the card for you. Toughness 1 ensures this becomes redundant faster than Gary Glitter working an after school creche and is an equal liability before that, but sometimes beggars can’t be choosers. Pick this really pretty low but higher than you feel you should.
Rating 3.7
Disorient
This is yet another blue common that is pretty terrible but that just about makes the cut when you need it. The card allows you to often gang block the opponents best creature then just kill it doing an approximation of divine verdict only a lot more risky since they can pump their creatures or remove yours and you must have enough power in the first place. This gets better if you have multiple deadly recluse or Gorgen Flail, coming a lot closer to straight removal but is still a higher risk. Overall this is a playable 23rd card I’m just never happy about it and for every time it will perform well it will be dead in hand another and get you blown out another.
Rating 3.5
Divination
This is straight up very solid. In the slow world of M10 limited he who draws more removal and bombs generally wins, ergo seeing more of your card is mostly really good and at this reasonable cost I’m willing to play 2-3 of these in most decks. This is a very solid mid pick.
Rating 6.2
Djinn of Wishes
Wow, see Serra and Air Elemental then x2. This card is quite possibly the best blue limited card, since it offers at worst an air elemental and can often just win the game outright if not killed by generating plus 3 cards and maybe even a gain in tempo. This is an awesome first pick and as a testament to how under-drafted blue is I got one 3rd pick in pack one at Vagabonds FNM last week (thanks boys nice to see you care enough to boost my rating).
Rating 9.3
Essence Scatter
This card is very good in this format since bombs are all important and a lot of the best bombs are creatures. I actually like this better than Cancel due to the fact it’s so much easier to leave up 1U than 1UU and unlike Negate there will pretty much always be a target for this if you are in a position where you need to just trade cards. This is a solid earlier pick since it offers blue something which is nearly as good as removal and with come into play effects even better. I am happy to grab this 3rd pick onwards and run 2-3.
Rating 7.1
Fabricate
There are virtually no artifacts to search in this format but if you have Platinum Angel or Magebane Armour this could be okay, otherwise its just trash. I guess this could double as a second Gorgon Flail but that’s probably not worth it. This is a last pick and even if you can use it you’d never have to take it high.
Rating 1.5
Flashfreeze
This is an excellent side-board card that is too narrow to run in the main. As I previously stated maintaining 1U up is way easier than 1UU so it really helps to have this in the relevant matches. Until your maindeck is full I would take cancel over this for sure but switch that around when your 1st 23 slots are covered. In general grab this 6-10th when you just need to power up.
Rating 5-8
Hive Mind
This is far too unpredictable and expensive to play. Don’t draft or play this.
Rating 0.8
Horned Turtle
This is not that strong in a slow format but against non-green decks it holds the ground okay while your flyers do the job. This isn’t terrible but very unexciting and a low pick 9th-12th.
Rating 4
Ice Cage
This card is far poorer than Pacifism due to the fact cards such as Giant Growth or Blinding Mage or equipment are able to get rid of it for profit. The downside is a lot worse here than on Illusionary Servant because the tempo provided by the servant helps to win before the opponent gets a solution where as this card drags the game out in general so is more likely to be disposed of. This card can be main-decked but will need to be removed if the opponent has many solutions to it. In the right match-up this is even better than Pacifism but the variability is a very bad thing making it a mid-late pick probably 6th-10th.
Rating 4.6
Illusionary Servant
This is a really strong creature due to awesome stats for cost and evasion. In games where you play a 2-drop followed by this you may be able to bash the opponent out of the game very fast. The downside is not too bad since most things that can target a creature remove it in some way anyhow but if they have multiple Blinding mage or other targeting effects you may have to board this out. This is a solid high pick that can be amazing but can be a little unpleasantly swingy but should still be grabbed 3rd-6th.
Rating 6.5
Jace Beleren
Jace is great in this format. He is pretty much always Divination but the vast majority of the time he will be so much more and his ultimate can outright win making him all the more dangerous. Jace is powerful enough to be a clear 1st pick and is better than all the commons and only outshone by Air Elemental and Mind Control in the uncommons, I wouldn’t say this is a bomb but it’s very close.
Rating 8.5
Jump
Total trash, play a land instead or just jump off something tall.
Rating 0.9
Levitation
This is everything Jump always wanted to be. Evasion for all your men all the time is awesome if you have plenty fatties that can benefit eg. when you’re playing green. This isn’t excellent for every deck because often blue creatures fly anyway but if you have plenty of high power non-flyers this can be game breaking. Depending on your archetype this can be a very high pick or pretty miss-able.
Rating 4-8
Merfolk Looter
According to many the best common in the set. I personally don’t like this better than Doomblade or Lightning Bolt or Probably even Pacifism but it is very good and over a number of turns the advantage from this can easily win the game for you. Filtering your spare land and no longer necessary early game card is very powerful and can approximate to casting Tidings in a mid-length game thus making you much more likely to win. This is a high pick 1st-3rd and very strong the only downer is it doesn’t win on its own in any way and provides advantage quite slowly over time.
Rating 7.2
Merfolk Sovereign
This is decent but not amazing since there are only a few merfolk in the set, it would be awesome were there more. The stat bonus is okay and the unblockable very solid. This is a mid-low pick but I’m never unhappy to have one.
Rating 5.2
Mind Control
Possibly the best uncommon in the set this beats Air Elemental and most of the rares! The huge swing of you getting the opponents best creature pretty much always hands you the win unless they can stop this effect. In this format the Naturalise is okay in the main and Acidic Slime exits but that doesn’t really dent how excellent this is. What makes this truly amazing is generally the more powerful your opponents bombs the more powerful this will be. Pick this first pick every time you see it and often switch 2nd colour just to play this if it’s in pack 2.
Rating 9.2
Mind Spring
Excellent, this is a trifle slow but drawing an extra 4-5 cards will often straight win the game. This is a solid 1st pick and should go very high in this slow card-advantage based format.
Rating 8.2
Negate
This is a solid spell at a solid cost. There are many key spells this can stop such as Mind Control, Overrun, Fireball etc. and the better decks will most likely use them so playing 1-2 of this is generally good. Pick this after Essence Scatter or Cancel but still around 6th-9th.
Rating 5.6
Phantom Warrior
This is very good, like a better Wild Griffin and one of the absolute best targets for Oaken Form. The warrior is not huge and cannot block flyers but offers an efficient win condition if defended suitably. This is a good high-mid pick 2nd-5th.
Rating 6.6
Polymorph
This is a decent way to deal with bombs but generally worse than most other removal making it an okay mid-late pick. It is good to board this in if your opponent has a crazy bomb like Baneslayer.
Rating 3.9
Ponder
This is a cheap cantrip that aids selection so is always playable just never great. The only danger of this in large numbers is it can make mulligan decisions harder. If you have bombs to hunt out though this can really help. Pick this whenever there is no better card and you need filler.
Rating 5
Sage Owl
As discussed for ponder card selection is good but getting a 1/1 flyer instead of a replacement card is a really bad deal in this format. This can act a filler but is only a 23rd card.
Rating 3.3
Serpent of the Endless Sea
This card can be a very good blocker while your flyers power in and when they have islands can be excellent. This is a solid mid pick that becomes an excellent side-board card if not needed maindeck.
Rating 4-6 (depending on no. of islands)
Sleep
A great card that can turn any race into a rout since it double falters your opponent. In a stalled situation this can win on the spot but even at other times often forces the opponent into a very bad spot. This isn’t quite as good as Overrun since you still need to have about 6 power on the board to make it really relevant but it is very solid indeed. Pick this 1st pick onwards the more tempo you have the better.
Rating 8.6
Snapping Drake
Good stats, decent cost, much better than Hill Giant. This is one of blue’s best commons since it is simply a very respectable threat. A great mid-high pick this is the meat and veg of the blue deck.
Rating 6.6
Sphinx Ambassador
A true bomb. This isn’t Djinn of Wishes but better than everything else that isn’t. The high cost is this cards only fault but it’s still a pretty decent deal and once you get there the opponent has to kill it only the spot or surely loose the game. The ability is pretty awesome and normally means you can grab their 2nd-4th best creature each turn.
Rating 9.1
Telepathy
This card does nothing and therefore is terrible especially in a format with comparably few tricks. Wasting cards in this format will make you lose so don’t pick or play this.
Rating 0.4
Time Warp
This is a bomb for the simple reason it will either be awesome and win you the game by getting through a bunch of extra damage at the right time or will cycle for free and get you plus one land drop. This is like a more reliable Sleep that won’t be quite as awesome at the best but is never bad even when you’re behind. This is a fine first pick but probably not quite as good as Air Elemental.
Rating 8.3
Tome Scour
Unless you have 7 of these or 4 plus Traumatise it does nothing; see Telepathy.
Rating 0.7
Traumatize
If you can slow the game right down this could provide a decent alternate win condition but my general feeling is this is not a solid strategy. I would never try to end up with this but if it ends up in my draft pile I might give it a shot at a pinch.
Rating 3
Twincast
This is decent to copy your own removal or theirs and can even double on bombs like Fireball or Overrun making it usually solid but unpredictable. I think this is a good early pick that will mainly end up as a solid removal but be a little tricky to use.
Rating 7.3
Unsummon
This is surprisingly solid as it effectively counters any removal and negates a lot of tricks with the crucial ability to prevent Mind Control or change the tempo of a game at a critical moment. I think this is currently very underrated and never mind to have 2 in my deck despite damage no longer using the stack. This is a solid mid pick from 4th-8th.
Rating 5.6
Wall of Frost
This is the ultimate ground defence while your flyers win the game and very few creatures or removal can break through. I really like this as the opponent often has to spend removal on it or have no hope to race. This often goes very late but should actually go 3rd-5th pick.
Rating 6.8
Wind Drake
This is just very solid. The pick between this and Snapping Drake is really tight depending on what your curve needs more. Both are reasons to play blue and should go high-mid pick around 3rd-6th.
Rating 6.4
Zephyr Sprite
This card is fast but too weak, it just does too little and I dislike to play it but can suffer it occasionally. If you have massive speed it may be okay but I don’t really consider it playable and try to avoid picking it.
Rating 2.9
Overall Blue is an excellent colour that I feel is currently under-drafted, so watch out for the signals and grab a slice of the blue action to fly to victory. On a slightly different note it’s getting quite late in the M10 format and James and I pondered whether you as the reader would like an end to this series in the run up to Zendikar or think there is a more relevant topic you’d like me to discuss. Let us know on the forums and I’m happy to satisfy your article-based requests.
