Kirblinx v Jason: non-white 4C Grid Draft

[Jason Waddell]

Going to record some grid drafts later. Idea is to draft in a thread (on stream), then build the decks in MODO and duel on stream. We will have to copy the cards into a .txt, so I am testing new output so that it's easier to copy your picks into a .txt. Keep in mind that you would have to delete a card if you take a two-card row or column.

Grid Drafting!

Pack 1

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Polluted Delta
1 Dig Through Time
1 Curse of Shallow Graves

Row 2:
1 Squelch
1 Complicate
1 Abrupt Decay

Row 3:
1 Goblin Bombardment
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Flinthoof Boar

Column 1:
1 Polluted Delta
1 Squelch
1 Goblin Bombardment

Column 2:
1 Dig Through Time
1 Complicate
1 Green Sun's Zenith

Column 3:
1 Curse of Shallow Graves
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Flinthoof Boar

Pack 2

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Mark of Mutiny
1 Control Magic
1 Xathrid Necromancer

Row 2:
1 Polluted Delta
1 Opposition
1 Evasive Action

Row 3:
1 Young Pyromancer
1 Brindle Shoat
1 Hero of Oxid Ridge

Column 1:
1 Mark of Mutiny
1 Polluted Delta
1 Young Pyromancer

Column 2:
1 Control Magic
1 Opposition
1 Brindle Shoat

Column 3:
1 Xathrid Necromancer
1 Evasive Action
1 Hero of Oxid Ridge

Pack 3

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Eternal Witness
1 Volcanic Island

Row 2:
1 Steam Vents
1 Treachery
1 Arrogant Bloodlord

Row 3:
1 Spell Pierce
1 Bitterblossom
1 Magma Jet

Column 1:
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Steam Vents
1 Spell Pierce

Column 2:
1 Eternal Witness
1 Treachery
1 Bitterblossom

Column 3:
1 Volcanic Island
1 Arrogant Bloodlord
1 Magma Jet

Pack 4

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
1 Karn Liberated
1 Languish

Row 2:
1 Stomping Ground
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Basilisk Collar

Row 3:
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
1 Mulldrifter
1 Bloodbraid Elf

Column 1:
1 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
1 Stomping Ground
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One

Column 2:
1 Karn Liberated
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Mulldrifter

Column 3:
1 Languish
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Bloodbraid Elf

Pack 5

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Wasteland
1 Hooting Mandrills
1 Grim Lavamancer

Row 2:
1 Rakdos Cackler
1 Tundra
1 Bone Shredder

Row 3:
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Izzet Charm

Column 1:
1 Wasteland
1 Rakdos Cackler
1 Inquisition of Kozilek

Column 2:
1 Hooting Mandrills
1 Tundra
1 Bloodstained Mire

Column 3:
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Bone Shredder
1 Izzet Charm

Pack 6

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Edge of Autumn
1 Bloodghast
1 Murderous Cut

Row 2:
1 Delver of Secrets
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Murderous Redcap

Row 3:
1 Snuff Out
1 Tropical Island
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror

Column 1:
1 Edge of Autumn
1 Delver of Secrets
1 Snuff Out

Column 2:
1 Bloodghast
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Tropical Island

Column 3:
1 Murderous Cut
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror

Pack 7

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Abbot of Keral Keep
1 Innocent Blood
1 Blasphemous Act

Row 2:
1 Pyroclasm
1 Bayou
1 Phyrexian Reclamation

Row 3:
1 Breeding Pool
1 Flooded Strand
1 Keldon Marauders

Column 1:
1 Abbot of Keral Keep
1 Pyroclasm
1 Breeding Pool

Column 2:
1 Innocent Blood
1 Bayou
1 Flooded Strand

Column 3:
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Phyrexian Reclamation
1 Keldon Marauders

Pack 8

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Blood Artist
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Expedition Map

Row 2:
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Liliana, Heretical Healer
1 Deathrite Shaman

Row 3:
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Huntmaster of the Fells

Column 1:
1 Blood Artist
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Verdant Catacombs

Column 2:
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Liliana, Heretical Healer
1 Hero's Downfall

Column 3:
1 Expedition Map
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Huntmaster of the Fells

Pack 9

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Epochrasite
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Sylvan Library

Row 2:
1 Bloodsoaked Champion
1 Grave Titan
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Row 3:
1 Stormblood Berserker
1 Inferno Titan
1 Forbidden Alchemy

Column 1:
1 Epochrasite
1 Bloodsoaked Champion
1 Stormblood Berserker

Column 2:
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Grave Titan
1 Inferno Titan

Column 3:
1 Sylvan Library
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Forbidden Alchemy

Pack 10

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Damnation
1 Porcelain Legionnaire
1 Tuktuk the Explorer

Row 2:
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Hell's Thunder
1 Wasteland

Row 3:
1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
1 Nature's Claim
1 Electrolyze

Column 1:
1 Damnation
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest

Column 2:
1 Porcelain Legionnaire
1 Hell's Thunder
1 Nature's Claim

Column 3:
1 Tuktuk the Explorer
1 Wasteland
1 Electrolyze

Pack 11

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Far // Away
1 Kiora, Master of the Depths
1 Jace, Architect of Thought

Row 2:
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Man-o'-War
1 Thrun, the Last Troll

Row 3:
1 Plated Geopede
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Pernicious Deed

Column 1:
1 Far // Away
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Plated Geopede

Column 2:
1 Kiora, Master of the Depths
1 Man-o'-War
1 Scalding Tarn

Column 3:
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Pernicious Deed

Pack 12

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Grafted Wargear
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Thragtusk

Row 2:
1 Serendib Efreet
1 Satyr Wayfinder
1 Tribal Flames

Row 3:
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Noble Hierarch

Column 1:
1 Grafted Wargear
1 Serendib Efreet
1 Bloodstained Mire

Column 2:
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Satyr Wayfinder
1 Zealous Conscripts

Column 3:
1 Thragtusk
1 Tribal Flames
1 Noble Hierarch

Pack 13

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Strangleroot Geist
1 Windswept Heath

Row 2:
1 Oona's Prowler
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Mogg War Marshal

Row 3:
1 Perilous Myr
1 Coalition Relic
1 Overgrown Tomb

Column 1:
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Oona's Prowler
1 Perilous Myr

Column 2:
1 Strangleroot Geist
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Coalition Relic

Column 3:
1 Windswept Heath
1 Mogg War Marshal
1 Overgrown Tomb

Pack 14

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Chasm Skulker
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Snapcaster Mage

Row 2:
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Hellspark Elemental
1 Birthing Pod

Row 3:
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Windswept Heath
1 Brainstorm

Column 1:
1 Chasm Skulker
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Coldsteel Heart

Column 2:
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Hellspark Elemental
1 Windswept Heath

Column 3:
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Birthing Pod
1 Brainstorm

Pack 15

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Reckless Charge
1 Daze
1 Memory Lapse

Row 2:
1 Red Sun's Zenith
1 Collected Company
1 Sensei's Divining Top

Row 3:
1 Flesh Carver
1 Cryptic Command
1 Fact or Fiction

Column 1:
1 Reckless Charge
1 Red Sun's Zenith
1 Flesh Carver

Column 2:
1 Daze
1 Collected Company
1 Cryptic Command

Column 3:
1 Memory Lapse
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Fact or Fiction

Pack 16

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Flooded Strand
1 Badlands
1 Life from the Loam

Row 2:
1 Skaab Ruinator
1 Courser of Kruphix
1 Gravecrawler

Row 3:
1 Nekrataal
1 Frost Walker
1 Mind Stone

Column 1:
1 Flooded Strand
1 Skaab Ruinator
1 Nekrataal

Column 2:
1 Badlands
1 Courser of Kruphix
1 Frost Walker

Column 3:
1 Life from the Loam
1 Gravecrawler
1 Mind Stone

Pack 17

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Psionic Blast
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Growth Spasm

Row 2:
1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1 Tragic Slip
1 Stromkirk Noble

Row 3:
1 Gravecrawler
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Delver of Secrets

Column 1:
1 Psionic Blast
1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1 Gravecrawler

Column 2:
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Tragic Slip
1 Consecrated Sphinx

Column 3:
1 Growth Spasm
1 Stromkirk Noble
1 Delver of Secrets

Pack 18

Spoiler

Row 1:
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Rancor
1 Vampire Nighthawk

Row 2:
1 Searing Blaze
1 Condescend
1 Malicious Affliction

Row 3:
1 Fire // Ice
1 Yavimaya Elder
1 Catacomb Sifter

Column 1:
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Searing Blaze
1 Fire // Ice

Column 2:
1 Rancor
1 Condescend
1 Yavimaya Elder

Column 3:
1 Vampire Nighthawk
1 Malicious Affliction
1 Catacomb Sifter

 

[Kirblinx]

For future reference the deck I ended up with:

Kirblinx's GUr Aggroish Value

Ended up going 0-2, then 2-0 in our two matches.
Got to the live the dream of CoCoing out an Epochrasite for full value.
Also managed to Bloodbraid out a Strangeroot Geist for some hasty beats after a wrath.

Every game was close would have liked to go one more match to see the victor but alas, it hit midnight on Sunday and I needed to get some rest before work.

 

[Jason Waddell]

Kirblinx, that formatting is atrocious

Here's mine. We played 2 matches, I won the first, Kirblinx won the second. It was streamed from the RipLab account, with bad audio quality.

 

[Jason Waddell]

Comments:
4 color grid drafting worked way better than 5 color.
I think I want to seed the dual lands into the draft pool to make sure they are there. Or, maybe seed the shocklands and let the others be random.
18 packs was too many for 4-color grid drafting. You get fewer off-color cards by a significant ammount, and I had way more playables than I needed. I think 16 is probably the way to go.

For my own calculations: 16 x 9 = 144 cards seen.

 

[James Stevenson]

What do you mean seed the dual lands into the pool?

 

[Jason Waddell]

What do you mean seed the dual lands into the pool?

I make a random sampling of the, in this case, non-white cards and put them into the 18 packs. (well, a script does).

Now I would:
1) select the 6 on-color shocklands
2) select 138 other cards at random
3) Randomize those to the 16 packs

This ensures there is at least 1 dual land for each color pair (possibly 2, if the original duals show up). I played UB today and there were no UB duals, which felt kind of lame.

 

[Chris Taylor]

Do you ULD with this?

 

[Jason Waddell]

Do you ULD with this?

Normally, yes, but Kirb was on a time constraint and we just hopped into the matches. Otherwise I may have tried to get the Tezz engine online.

In retrospect I probably should have cut one of the Delve spells. I didn't have enough fuel for them.

Additionally, I was really surprised with how frequently Languish was just straight-up better than Damnation. Malicious Affliction was a fun card to play with, and these games presented lots of interesting sequencing options.

Game 1 I played T2 Bitterblossom into T3 Phyrexian Arena, and managed to win despite taking 2 a turn.

 

[Jason Waddell]

For future reference the deck I ended up with:

Got to the live the dream of CoCoing out an Epochrasite for full value.

How'd you feel about CoCo in Cube? It seemed pretty good, from the other side of the table. A green deck putting out threats at instant speed is super useful, it seemed.

 

[Kirblinx]

Kirblinx, that formatting is atrocious

Hey, I fixed it like 2 minutes after you posted that
Now I know why people have trouble with the cubedeck tags. That was my first issue with them.

So now that I have finished my work shift after 5 hours sleep I can make a couple more comments about the draft now that I have had time to mull it over:

• Grid draft process was really easy. The hardest part was trying to remember my left from my right but webpage+notepad+skype made it real simple.
• The only problem (possible upside) is that you can't actively see what your opponent has drafted, you have to remember. Grid drafting is an active hatedraft format, so being able to cut your opponent on specific cards (ie. dual lands) and know what fetches they had is a luxury that didn't exist.
• Notepad isn't the best when trying to figure out your curve mid-draft.
• 18 packs was too many. Had way too many choices near the end and almost cut red entirely, try 16 then maybe even 14 packs for the next drafts.
• The trading card process is still something we need to get used to. Skrap's website should help with that.

Deck notes:

• Frost walker was mostly terrible. Couldn't get through bitterblossom or perilous myr. Had rancor in hand everytime I cast it too. The only plus side was it couldn't get treachery'ed
• Thrun I had in hand twice, never seemed worth it.
• Brindle Shoat was better than expected. Something to put rancor on, wrath protection and decent pod fodder. Never disappointed when I played it.
• I think I won everytime Edric drew me 2+ cards. Card is fun.
• Jason played Grave Titan, every. single. game. Card is such the stabilizer. Always had to think hard how to get around it.
• Way underrated haste. The three hastey dudes did so much from nowhere that I will prioritise them higher later on.

Edit:
CoCo was great. I mean I only ever saw it once, but I was hoping to draw it every game. Played with it a decent amount in standard and it really does a lot of work for green. It is worth probably doubling up on as it helps enable different decks in a different style than what pod does.
Great fun. Would love to do it again.

 

[Jason Waddell]

Turns out Haste + Rancor is pretty good. Also interesting that you played both Pod and CoCo in the same deck and it seemed to work out just fine.

I didn't get to play it much, but it should come as no surprise that Dig Through Time is amazing in cube.