The window is open, and a cool night breeze blowing through the blinds is making the faint humming whistle of a large reed instrument.  This is the night of the fabled magic draft...  The exotic wind that carries the dreams and wishes of the clay painted shamanistic hordes and answers the prayers of the devout and just...  But this is not the kind of magic draft I wish to talk about.  No, I am going to talk about a Magic the Gathering Online draft tournament.

Those of you familiar with the card game known as Magic, probably already know that a draft is a fun little tournament format where the players gather in a circle and 1)open a pack of random cards 2)choose 1 card from the pack and pass that pack to the next player in the circle 3)repeat step 2 until all the cards in the pack are gone and 4) repeat steps 1-3 until each player has 3 packs worth of cards.  From this pool of cards each player builds the deck with which they will compete in several rounds of 1-on-1 match-ups.

This style of playing Magic is known as a Limited Format, because you are limited to playing with the cards you get at the beginning of the tounament.  the other format of sanctioned play is Constructed Format, where each player can build their deck from any cards in their collection.

I gave up constructed deck tournaments a long time ago.  My card collection and play habits are far too casual to be competitive in that arena.  But doing well in a Limited Format, where each player has an equally small and random card pool with which to work, has always been within reach.  I find that the Friday Night Magic drafts and Pre-release tournaments are quite enjoyable, and I often finish at or near the top of the event.

But I was not always so active in playing these casual tournaments.  For years I played primarily the "Honeymooners" casual style.  My wife likes this because there was no time wasted on deck construction at all.  You just grab 2 tounament packs, shuffle and play.  You can choose one of two cards each time you draw, and ditch the other.  You also have the option to draw the card that your opponent ditched instead.  Each game was very much about playing the cards that came, and you would see card interactions that you might never choose in a constructed format.

The Online Advent

At the 2002 GDC, I attended the collectable object game presentation by Richard Garfield.  He (and Skaff Elias) spoke much about the Magic Online project.  At E3 of the same year, I went to check it out at the Wizards of the Coasts' room.  This new game product seemed like a great way to keep up my casual interest in playing Magic, without all the hassles associated with trying to maintain a collection.  And for me, the unforseen side benefit was always being able to find a casual tournament -complete with prizes.

When the Mirrodin Block premiered at the end of 2003, I also stated to seek out more offline casual tournaments.  My wife joined me in these, and for a little over a year this was a source of some shared Magic time.  I maintained activity in Magic Online for almost 3 years before she got her own account.  I am not sure why it took so long, seeing how so completely committed to it she is now.  It does make me a little sad that we have not played paper Magic together for over 3 months.

We played casual games online for a while, but she has developed a much greater affinity for the sociality and economics of this Online community than I ever did.  Nowadays, when we do a draft tounament together, it means that she signs up to play draft, and I sit next to her at the computer and coach her in her draft picks, deck construction, and game plays.  It is a bit of a challenge, because we have slightly different play styles.  And I have learned that what is absolutely the right pick or play for me, won't always work for her.

The Draft

She logs in and joins the queue for a 4-3-2-2 (prize payout for 1st, 2nd, etc.) CCB (Kamigawa Block 2 packs of Champions and 1 pack of Betrayers) Draft.  Now we sit at the computer to wait for the critical mass of 8 (+3 minutes), and wonder what cards the packs will bring this time.  Not every draft will yield an uber-Black spirit deck with a Foil Kokusho and 3 Devouring Greeds (but man, were those some sick games...).  But with a little metagame preparation and some skillful picks it is not too hard to avoid a really bad deck.  This means you have to know what the cards are, what they can do, and how they interact.

Currently Green Spiritcraft can be a strong deck theme, but neither of us have a lot of experience with it, as it doesn't really suit either of our play styles, and so we tend to avoid it.  It is usually not an effective strategy to play outside your personal strengths, but it is good to experiment a little to understand different options.

First Packs

The draft begins and the first pack has a Kite, Black Honden, Thief of Hope, Befoul, Cloudskater, Hearth Kami, Scuttling Death, and sundry others.  There is a chance that the next person to see this pack will draft black, even if we take a Black card - There are just too many good black here.  But the other colors just aren't juicy enough, and we set ourselves up for a spiritcraft deck and take the Thief.

The next choice boils down to Pull Under, Moss Kami, Nezumi Ronin, and Kami of the Hunt.  The big trampling Moss Kami could be a is a good finisher creature, but we follow the spiritcraft theme and take the Kami of the Hunt.  I am a little wary of passing another black removal card.

Next pack presents A Yamabushi's Flame, Cage of Hands, Gibbering Kami, and another Moss Kami.  Both Kami have a form of evasion, and would be a great addition to the deck.  But the allure of removal proves too strong and we take the Flame. There was a desire to draft red instead of green from the beginning, but not committing to what were 2 solid fist picks could prove to be a big mistake.

Pack 4 offers nothing to compete with a Rend Flesh, and Packs 5 and 6 yield nothing better than a Gutwrencher Oni (not so bad, but some ogres would be nice), and a Blood Speaker (fortuitous?).  Pack 7's best cards are A River Kaijin (not really going blue), and Sachi (mana acceleration is one of green's redeeming qualities).

Next we pull a Hana Kami over a Hearth Kami, further solidifying the green presence.  Packs 9-11 give us the Kite, Serpent Skin, and A venerable Kumo.  And the last 4 packs in this round give us nothing we can use.

Second Packs

Before we continue, lets take a look at what we have so far:  Mostly Black, with some green and a Flame.  We have a Kite, and if we pick up some Sakura Tribe Elders and Petal Mane Baku, we could easily splash for some red removal... But it is still iffy.

We open the first of the next packs to find an Earthshaker, Glacial Ray, Scuttling Death, and a Burr Grafter.  Earthshaker is an amazing card, but it is not a splash by any means.  Ray is also an amazing card, and I'm amazed that we passed it. I reasoned that we could play the Scuttling Death and its amazing 3-for-1 ability of Spirit creature, limited removal, and graveyard recursion.  My wife picks the Burr Grafter, because it costs 1 mana less.

Next up is a debate about Azusa and Cruel Deceiver.  Frankly, I don't see Azusa ever being good in a limited environment, and I extol the Deceivers merits of being a 2 power for 2 mana spirit.  Sure it's fragile, but this is the perfect example of "creatures as removal" (a concept that says that a creature that kills a creature is as effective as a spell that kills a creature, and which also happens to be green's only option for removal).

Next we take A Wicked Akuba over a Villainous Ogre, and then a series of easy to no choices, including a Vine Kami, Villainous Ogre, Distress, Humble Budoka, Konda's Banner, Kami of Lunacy, and a Kitsune Mystic...  So ends the second packs.  On to the Betrayers.

Last Packs

Everybody hopes to bust open a pack and see a Jitte, but that has never happened to us.  No, the rare that we see unnaturally often is Chisei, and this time is no exception.  At this point we are no longer considering cards that aren't black or green because trying to play them will only hurt the deck.  So this first pack offers nothing better than a Gnarled Mass, a 3/3 spirit for 3 mana - very good actually.

The second betrayers pack has my wife wanting to rare draft Ishi-Ishi, but I am adamant that we take either the Takenuma Bleeder or the Budoka Pupil.  The Bleeder is a great card in an aggressive deck, being another 3/3 for 3.  But this time we go with the uncommon spiritcrafter that flips into a trampling pumps-you-up game finisher.

Pack three offers Scourge of Numai, Scaled Hulk, Horobi's Whisper, and another Bleeder.  The big oni Scourge is a major target for enchantment removal and therefore a liability without an ogre in play. The Hulk is like the granddaddy of all Kami of the Hunts, and with some mana acceleration can be a very strong threat.  But we really have to go with the efficient removal of the Whisper here.

Next two picks are straightforward/boring with a Child of Thorns and a Mark of Sakiko.  But pack six presents a tempting decision:  Genju of the Realm, Sakura Tribe Springcaller, or Bile Urchin.  In a fast spiritcraft deck, the Urchin is the right pick.  In a green fatty deck, its the Spingcaller.  We need to identify what kind of deck we are building here.  I feel like we are lacking in small creatures, so either direction seems to be valid.  My wife decides that we are building a 5 color kite combo deck, and pulls the Genju.  You know, I really do love her.

Next we pass another Scaled Hulk in favor of a Traproot Kami, so it looks like fast spirits beat out the fatties after all.  We then pick up 2 vital surges and 2 Uproots, and the Hulk from pack three that made it all the way around the table back to us.  the final three pick are inconsequential.

The Deck

The deck we put together has a nice bell curve peaking at 3 mana.  It sports 18 creatures (13 spirits), and a couple of vital surges for cheap instant spliceable arcane spiritcraft triggers.  If they had cost more than 2, they would not make a reliably useful surprise.

Spirit Surge
GB Draft Deck

8 Swamp
8 Forest

1 Child of Thorns
1 Hana Kami
1 Traproot Kami
1 Cruel Deceiver
1 Humble Budoka
1 Wicked Akuba
1 Budoka Pupil
1 Gnarled Mass
1 Kami of the Hunt
1 Thief of Hope
1 Villainous Ogre
1 Blood Speaker
1 Burr Grafter
1 Sachi, daughter of Seshiro
1 Gut wrencher Oni
1 Venerable Kumo
1 Kami of Lunacy
1 Scaled Hulk

2 Vital Surge
1 Horobi's Whisper
1 Rend Flesh
1 Befoul

Round 1

The fist game is a blow out, and by turn 8 we have drawn no more land than the 2 that were in the opening hand.  Meanwhile our charming opponent with an evasion heavy Black/Blue deck (let us call him BUd-eh), has pummeled us to death with a Jetting Glasskite.

Game 2 fared better, with a 3rd turn Thief of Hope, Followed by a Kami of The Hunt.  On turn 5 the Kami of the Hunt attacks and is blocked by a Minamo Sightbender equiped with a No Dachi.  We respond by playing 2 vital surges, pumping the Kami up to 4/4 to survive the first strike.  On the following turns we play the Oni and the Kami of Lunacy, which die to the attrition of consecutive all out attacks.  The combination of superior numbers and spirit craft leads BUd-eh to concede on turn 8, the score 34 to 2.

In game 3 BUd-eh drops the sightbender on turn 2 yet again, and plays nothing on his turn 3.  We again play the Thief on turn 3, but kbullo counters it.  Turn 4 brings us the Kami of the Hunt again, followed by Sachi on turn 5.  on turn 6 BUd-eh plays out the Jetting Glasskite, and it looks like we may suffer the same fate as game 1.  But we get out the Scaled Hulk next, and after BUd-eh swings for 4 in the air, he has no blockers big enough to deal with the Hulk.  The race is on. 

We have 3 spirits in hand, and actually have the mana to play them all in one turn, but without any trample, it makes more sense to pace the spiritcrafting to keep the attackers a consistent size over the next few turns.  And who knows but BUd-eh will run out of blockers... The first spirit we play out is a Child of Thorns.  The instant extra point of power and toughness will make a nice combat trick, should we need it.  Still, a 6/6 Hulk will naturally be blocked, allowing the other creatures to get through.  And since nothing is big enough to survive the Hulk, we gain card advantage through the chump blocking.

But the problem is that since the Glasskite attacked first, BUd-eh has the lead on damage dealing.  Even with our 5 points of damage in reprisal to his 4, it will take us too long to catch up.  We keep hoping (to no avail) that he will forgo the attack to bring the Glasskite in as an additional blocker.  Then on turn ten we draw our Horobi's Whisper.  To get around the Glasskite's protective ability, we sacrifice the Child of Thorns to target it with the +1/+1 effect.  Then we follow up with the Whisper.  BUd-eh concedes at the end of our turn, the score, 6 to 7.

Round 2

We noticed that our next opponent seemed a little grumpy during the drafting, but he did pull together an excellent aggressive Red/White spiritcraft deck (I shall hereafter refer to him as S-WoRd).  He lays down a turn 2 Emberfist Zubera.  On turn 3 we play Thief of Hope, and he plays a Shinka Gatekeeper.  He attacks with the Zubera, and in a lapse of judgment, we block with the Thief, and they both die.  Turn 4 we play Kami of the Hunt, and S-WoRd plays Cage of Hands on it.  He attacks with the Gatekeeper.  Next we play a Bloodspeaker, and he plays a Kami of the Painted Road.  Again he attacks with the Gatekeeper, and we allow the ogres to kill each other.

On turn 6 we play a Budoka Pupil and Child of Thorns, and he plays Brutal Deceiver, which gives the Painted Road protection from our green blockers.  Turn 7 only give us land, where we desperately need a big spirit.  S-WoRd plays another spirit, and attacks.  The 3 unblockable points from the Painted Road are really eating away at out life total, so we block the Deceiver with the Pupil. S-WoRd seems willing accept this trade, so we sacrifice the child of Thorns to give the Pupil +1/+1.  S-WoRd responds by revealing a land, giving his Deceiver first strike.  I can't believe we fell for that.  It the old "pass-them-priority-so-they-will-sac-their-creature-and-then-punish-them-with-first-strike" trick.

S-WoRd's large damage lead, strong board development, and consistent triggering of spiritcraft lead us to call it a game.  A "good game".  Then we concede.  Maybe the next game will go better...

Game 2 gives us an unbelievable opening hand: 7 lands.  We mulligan down to a 6 card no land hand, and then again to a 5 card 1 swamp hand.  We do have some 2 drops, and a Child of Thorns, so we only need to draw into a forest.  It is risky, but so is mulliganning down to 4 cards, so we keep this hand.  Incredibly, we draw no land until turn 6, and we will never be able to recover from S-WoRd's early tempo.  We concede the match, and are out of the tournament.

Conclusion

It was a good ride, but it was ended by a random poor mana draw.  It happens.  And that's why matches are best of 3.  Even the best deck can have a random bad game, but the odds will favor the better deck over a series.  I feel that this deck we drafted was not the better deck in round 2.

We have played drafts since the one that I detailed above, and it seems like we do rather well with black, blue, and spiritcraft.  Like many block mechanics, spiritcraft is very powerful when exploited.  It adds value to even simple, cheap spirits like Wandering Ones.  I also really like pulling multiple copies of Devouring Greed in a draft.  I never regret including that card in a deck, even when only half my creatures are spirits.  I have just won far too many games with Greeding for 6 to 16 points by turn 8.  This is why Hisoka's Defiance should be a high pick for any blue mage's sideboard.

You can often find my wife online - listing in the auction room, buying and selling cards, and valiantly supressing the urge to rare draft.  And if you find me online, it is because you are drafting.