I didn't get to play any games during the draft. But I might as well get some use out of that $50 draft recap button that Jason commissioned on drafts.in. Jonas did this for us a few months back, and I had a hoot reading through it, so I figure I would pitch in this time.
So here it is, the draft recap you didn't want and never asked for!
P1P1
A fetchland might be the safe route, but who wants safe. Certainly not me! Noble Hierarch and Kitchen Finks are considerations that would put me into green, while Grave Titan is one of the strongest control finishers in this list. Nothing else really jumps out at me as being first pickable. Maybe it's because I don't get to cube with him in my own list, and maybe it's because I know how dominant he is when unanswered, but I feel inclined to go with the unbeatable token making machine.
P1P2
Wowza. There are a lot more toys to play with here. Dismember is a great removal spell. Deathrite Shaman is a house and can be downright oppressive. Courser of Kruphix is a strong man for any kind of midrange deck. Mulldrifter is a classic control card, though I suspect he's worse in Jason's fast cube environment than in your typical unpowered singleton list. Wolfir Silverheart beats down like no other, but he doesn't jive with our first pick as much as the other cards. In the interests of staying open and picking a versatile card, I figure Deathrite is even more likely to make our deck than GravyT, no matter where we end up.
P1P3
Here's where we make a stand. Aggressive zombie Gravecrawler action, or midrange Birthing Pod shenanigans? Even at this early juncture, I've already abandoned any pretense of drafting a control deck, so I have to admit I don't remember seeing cards like Nevinyrral's Disk. The zombie archetype is probably still the best deck in Jason's cube, and two crawlers in the same pack is a strong signal, but my personal biases have me leaning towards getting some mileage out of that Grave Titan.
P1P4
Immediately, we're greeted with another Gravecrawler, but by passing two in the last pack, I feel like I've let that ship sail. On the Pod side, though, there are all sorts of goodies. Abyssal Persecutor, Lifebane Zombie, Perilous Myr, and Voice of Resurgence are all considerations. I'm not Dougggg, so I don't even consider the Kiki-Jiki, because there's no way I can pilot the Kiki-Pod deck with his level of razor-sharp precision. Lifebane has a strong comes-into-play effect and is on colour, even though Voice of Resurgence is probably the better card overall for this archetype. There's also a Bloodstained Mire, but I barely even notice it while swimming in these riches.
P1P5
This pack is considerably less exciting when we're looking to fill out our Pod chain. In the absence of good, poddable creatures, my eyes are drawn to the cheap spells, Inquisition of Kozilek and Tragic Slip. I'm not sure which one is correct here, and I err on the side of removal, figuring that morbid will be easy to trigger with Pod activations. In retrospect, I think the discard spell would've been more valuable.
P1P6
Man. Why them packs gotta break like this? There are multiple excellent creatures for our deck here, but this late in the pack, it's unlikely anything of value will wheel. Avenger of Zendikar is a superb green finisher, but my concern again is that it's a mite slow for this environment. The pick then comes down to Nekrataal and Wall of Roots. As badly as I want the ETB kill creature, I figure that my deck will be choked on mana, and that picking up the accelerator will be for the best. I also don't have any two-drops, yet, so it helps fill out that spot on the chain.
P1P7
Good news! It looks like no one's fighting us over this archetype. There isn't a whole lot to see here, so picking up the second Pod is academic.
P1P8
Hello! That's a signal. Welp, at least we're in the right archetype. As good a removal spell as Go for the Throat is, it would be criminal to pass Primeval Titan at this point. Massacre Wurm is also a consideration, but I feel like the Titan has more potential, especially with the utility land draft to come. Also, is that a Lightning Bolt...?
P1P9
A lot of aggro red cards are coming back, but having passed all those Gravecrawlers, it wouldn't make much sense to jump in now. Even though we might not have the best shell for a 2/1 can't block creature, Bloodghast can at least be a reusable body to start Pod chains.
P1P10
The removal spell made it back!
P1P11
Geez, all that red removal. Still, I haven't seen a lick of fixing so far, so I feel wary about branching out. Gravecrawler might not attack in this deck a lot, but like his cousin Bloodghast, we could use him in a Pod.
P1P12
A two-drop, and a great Poddable one at that! This is our lucky day.
P1P13
I don't think we'll run it because of the speed of the format, but Phyrexian Arena might be a worthwhile sideboard card.
P1P14
This is working out.
P1P15
Doin' it.
P2P1
There are a number of decent poddable creatures here - Flametongue Kavu and Blade Splicer leap to the front - but fixing has been curiously scarce thus far. There's also three dual lands (!), all blue, and none of which we're interested in. Seeing as the zombie horde hasn't been fought over this draft, there's a chance Geralf's Messenger will wheel. But I also don't think I'd play anything else out of this pack, so I figure it's not worth the risk to send it around, however small that risk might be.
P2P2
Bob! My best buddy Bob. Boy, I really want that Bob. Yet I know I have two six-drops already.. and my deck won't win any awards for speed. The considerations then turn to Kitchen Finks and Vorapede. While I like the idea of chaining a huge five-drop into a monster six-drop, I feel like the stabilizing body is more important. Hopefully, the
casting cost of the 'pede will scare away other players enough that it'll come back.
P2P3
Hmmmm. How well does Vengevine work in a Pod deck? After thinking about this for far too long, I come to the conclusion of "probably not that well". There isn't a whole lot here again, but a removal spell will suffice.
P2P4
Woooo. A seven-drop! I admittedly get distracted by the shiny Myr Battlesphere here, and spend less time than I should deliberating this pick. Because I can honestly say I barely remember the Birds of Paradise being here. Looking back, that or Misty Rainforest was probably the right call, given the sad state of fixing in my deck to this point. But... a man can have his vices, no?
P2P5
Green Sun's Zenith has me wondering how effective it'll be in my deck configuration, until I tell myself that I can't really dilute my precious spell slots with utility cards like this, no matter how good they might be. I don't have a strong lineup of green creatures to work with, either, and passing up that Birds is feeling more painful now. At least it would be, if I'd even known that I'd passed one. The big, fat lifegainer in Obstinate Baloth is the next best choice by default, even though he durdles harder than LSV on a slow summer afternoon.
.
P2P6
Well, that Joraga Treespeaker looks enticing, even if it's a pure ramp card, and can't fix my mana. And certainly not for, say, a Geralf's Messenger. Hmmm. Growth Spasm merits a once-over, but it's not a creature for Pod, and, as with most three-mana ramp spells, is somewhat unwieldy.
P2P7
Oh dear Lord. Fixing. On colour. Hallelujah! It's a miracle! There's a Bone Shredder here too, but I pay it no mind.
P2P8
Good God do I want that Lingering Souls. All those bodies. All that value. I think for a long while trying to justify drafting it to myself, before I eventually snap out of it. With my pitiful collection of one fixing land to date, a white splash is probably not in my best interests. The Skinrender is perfectably Poddable, though, and has a relevant creature type if we choose to start Gravecrawler.
P2P9
The Blade Splicer came all the way back - as big a surprise to me as any - but I still feel like it's a trap to step into a third colour at this juncture. I take the safe route, figuring that if I want to ramp out a Battlesphere and a bunch of Pods, there are worse cards to do that than Edge of Autumn.
P2P10
This is the pack with the Vorapede, right? Awww. So much for that plan. Welp, Pernicious Deed is a great sweep spell for control decks, and it's on colour. This is a decent enough anti-aggro gift.
P2P11
Ramp to the max!
P2P12
Nothing for us here. I hate draft the card I feel is most likely to put a damper on my plans.
P2P13
I can't really complain about cheap removal, especially if it works with Gravecrawlers and Bloodghasts.
P2P14
I like Mac 'n' Cheese. That has nothing to do with any of what's going on, I just need to fill up this space.
P2P15
That man looks aggrieved.
So here it is, the draft recap you didn't want and never asked for!
P1P1
A fetchland might be the safe route, but who wants safe. Certainly not me! Noble Hierarch and Kitchen Finks are considerations that would put me into green, while Grave Titan is one of the strongest control finishers in this list. Nothing else really jumps out at me as being first pickable. Maybe it's because I don't get to cube with him in my own list, and maybe it's because I know how dominant he is when unanswered, but I feel inclined to go with the unbeatable token making machine.
P1P2
Wowza. There are a lot more toys to play with here. Dismember is a great removal spell. Deathrite Shaman is a house and can be downright oppressive. Courser of Kruphix is a strong man for any kind of midrange deck. Mulldrifter is a classic control card, though I suspect he's worse in Jason's fast cube environment than in your typical unpowered singleton list. Wolfir Silverheart beats down like no other, but he doesn't jive with our first pick as much as the other cards. In the interests of staying open and picking a versatile card, I figure Deathrite is even more likely to make our deck than GravyT, no matter where we end up.
P1P3
Here's where we make a stand. Aggressive zombie Gravecrawler action, or midrange Birthing Pod shenanigans? Even at this early juncture, I've already abandoned any pretense of drafting a control deck, so I have to admit I don't remember seeing cards like Nevinyrral's Disk. The zombie archetype is probably still the best deck in Jason's cube, and two crawlers in the same pack is a strong signal, but my personal biases have me leaning towards getting some mileage out of that Grave Titan.
P1P4
Immediately, we're greeted with another Gravecrawler, but by passing two in the last pack, I feel like I've let that ship sail. On the Pod side, though, there are all sorts of goodies. Abyssal Persecutor, Lifebane Zombie, Perilous Myr, and Voice of Resurgence are all considerations. I'm not Dougggg, so I don't even consider the Kiki-Jiki, because there's no way I can pilot the Kiki-Pod deck with his level of razor-sharp precision. Lifebane has a strong comes-into-play effect and is on colour, even though Voice of Resurgence is probably the better card overall for this archetype. There's also a Bloodstained Mire, but I barely even notice it while swimming in these riches.
P1P5
This pack is considerably less exciting when we're looking to fill out our Pod chain. In the absence of good, poddable creatures, my eyes are drawn to the cheap spells, Inquisition of Kozilek and Tragic Slip. I'm not sure which one is correct here, and I err on the side of removal, figuring that morbid will be easy to trigger with Pod activations. In retrospect, I think the discard spell would've been more valuable.
P1P6
Man. Why them packs gotta break like this? There are multiple excellent creatures for our deck here, but this late in the pack, it's unlikely anything of value will wheel. Avenger of Zendikar is a superb green finisher, but my concern again is that it's a mite slow for this environment. The pick then comes down to Nekrataal and Wall of Roots. As badly as I want the ETB kill creature, I figure that my deck will be choked on mana, and that picking up the accelerator will be for the best. I also don't have any two-drops, yet, so it helps fill out that spot on the chain.
P1P7
Good news! It looks like no one's fighting us over this archetype. There isn't a whole lot to see here, so picking up the second Pod is academic.
P1P8
Hello! That's a signal. Welp, at least we're in the right archetype. As good a removal spell as Go for the Throat is, it would be criminal to pass Primeval Titan at this point. Massacre Wurm is also a consideration, but I feel like the Titan has more potential, especially with the utility land draft to come. Also, is that a Lightning Bolt...?
P1P9
A lot of aggro red cards are coming back, but having passed all those Gravecrawlers, it wouldn't make much sense to jump in now. Even though we might not have the best shell for a 2/1 can't block creature, Bloodghast can at least be a reusable body to start Pod chains.
P1P10
The removal spell made it back!
P1P11
Geez, all that red removal. Still, I haven't seen a lick of fixing so far, so I feel wary about branching out. Gravecrawler might not attack in this deck a lot, but like his cousin Bloodghast, we could use him in a Pod.
P1P12
A two-drop, and a great Poddable one at that! This is our lucky day.
P1P13
I don't think we'll run it because of the speed of the format, but Phyrexian Arena might be a worthwhile sideboard card.
P1P14
This is working out.
P1P15
Doin' it.
P2P1
There are a number of decent poddable creatures here - Flametongue Kavu and Blade Splicer leap to the front - but fixing has been curiously scarce thus far. There's also three dual lands (!), all blue, and none of which we're interested in. Seeing as the zombie horde hasn't been fought over this draft, there's a chance Geralf's Messenger will wheel. But I also don't think I'd play anything else out of this pack, so I figure it's not worth the risk to send it around, however small that risk might be.
P2P2
Bob! My best buddy Bob. Boy, I really want that Bob. Yet I know I have two six-drops already.. and my deck won't win any awards for speed. The considerations then turn to Kitchen Finks and Vorapede. While I like the idea of chaining a huge five-drop into a monster six-drop, I feel like the stabilizing body is more important. Hopefully, the
casting cost of the 'pede will scare away other players enough that it'll come back.P2P3
Hmmmm. How well does Vengevine work in a Pod deck? After thinking about this for far too long, I come to the conclusion of "probably not that well". There isn't a whole lot here again, but a removal spell will suffice.
P2P4
Woooo. A seven-drop! I admittedly get distracted by the shiny Myr Battlesphere here, and spend less time than I should deliberating this pick. Because I can honestly say I barely remember the Birds of Paradise being here. Looking back, that or Misty Rainforest was probably the right call, given the sad state of fixing in my deck to this point. But... a man can have his vices, no?
P2P5
Green Sun's Zenith has me wondering how effective it'll be in my deck configuration, until I tell myself that I can't really dilute my precious spell slots with utility cards like this, no matter how good they might be. I don't have a strong lineup of green creatures to work with, either, and passing up that Birds is feeling more painful now. At least it would be, if I'd even known that I'd passed one. The big, fat lifegainer in Obstinate Baloth is the next best choice by default, even though he durdles harder than LSV on a slow summer afternoon.
.P2P6
Well, that Joraga Treespeaker looks enticing, even if it's a pure ramp card, and can't fix my mana. And certainly not for, say, a Geralf's Messenger. Hmmm. Growth Spasm merits a once-over, but it's not a creature for Pod, and, as with most three-mana ramp spells, is somewhat unwieldy.
P2P7
Oh dear Lord. Fixing. On colour. Hallelujah! It's a miracle! There's a Bone Shredder here too, but I pay it no mind.
P2P8
Good God do I want that Lingering Souls. All those bodies. All that value. I think for a long while trying to justify drafting it to myself, before I eventually snap out of it. With my pitiful collection of one fixing land to date, a white splash is probably not in my best interests. The Skinrender is perfectably Poddable, though, and has a relevant creature type if we choose to start Gravecrawler.
P2P9
The Blade Splicer came all the way back - as big a surprise to me as any - but I still feel like it's a trap to step into a third colour at this juncture. I take the safe route, figuring that if I want to ramp out a Battlesphere and a bunch of Pods, there are worse cards to do that than Edge of Autumn.
P2P10
This is the pack with the Vorapede, right? Awww. So much for that plan. Welp, Pernicious Deed is a great sweep spell for control decks, and it's on colour. This is a decent enough anti-aggro gift.
P2P11
Ramp to the max!
P2P12
Nothing for us here. I hate draft the card I feel is most likely to put a damper on my plans.
P2P13
I can't really complain about cheap removal, especially if it works with Gravecrawlers and Bloodghasts.
P2P14
I like Mac 'n' Cheese. That has nothing to do with any of what's going on, I just need to fill up this space.
P2P15
That man looks aggrieved.
