Invasion Booster Draft : Strategy + my report

[Landkiller]

I like to play 4-5 color green.

Today I got

Harrow
Fertile Ground
Quirion Explorer
Primal Growth
Rampant Growth (we were drafting Invasion-Planeshift-7th)
3 x Geothermal Crevice ( I took 3 consecutively)
Ancient Spring
Dromar's Lair

as good mana-fixers. I was never mana screwed.

All this mana fixing let me play ...

B/G/R/w

Tahngarth, Talruum Hero
Abyssal Specter
Tribal Flames
Terminate
Breath of Darigaaz
That 4/4 Kavu you can pay R for Haste
Restock
Necrologia
That 1/1 White guy who taps to prevent 1 damage for each basic land type
2 Volcanic Hammers
Slingshot Goblin
Darigaaz's Charm
Plague Spitter
Grafted Skullcap
The 5/4 vanilla green common in 7th. It costs 4G
Thornscape Battlemage

My basic land went like so...
1 Plains
3 Swamps
3 Mountains
6 Forests

So there's my draft deck. Personally, I believe it was amazing.

Here's some controversial picks :
1st Pick in Planeshift
I open Flametongue Kavu. I look at the Rare, Talruum, and take it.
Also of note, was the Darigaaz's Charm that made it back to me!

In the 7th pack, I am forced to decide between Stream of Life and Necrologia as a 6-7th pick. I took Necrologia, which I drew twice, and cast once to draw 5. (Winning the game for me.) The other time, I was at 3 life, and the last thing I wanted was friggin' Necrologia. What can I say? Which would you pick?

Sideboard :

Bog Down
extra Slingshot Goblin
15th pick Reviving Dose
Yavimaya Barbarian
nothing else of note


My Results?

It went 1-1. No mana screw ever.

We're playing FNM. Any loss means elimination.

I won the first match(vs. a somewhat weak B/R/U) on the strength of my deck, plus a couple poor plays by my opponent. Not a lot to talk about. Well, there is one thing. Imagine a totally sick hand. Plague Spitter, Breath of Darigaaz, Talruum, Forest, Harrow, Rampant Growth, Tribal Flames. Do you keep? 1 land, but any drawn land gets the whole thing going. I kept it, and drew 3 consecutive lands, and eventually a Restock, and won the game.

I lost the second (hard-fought vs. G/R aggression)match on no board error, but a basic misplay. I attacked for the kill, but should have held back to block. I certainly could have won the long game, so I should have maintained a high life total rather than tried to race. That's what I learned today. To remember to consider a basic strategy. Think about the future of the game rather than simply it's current state. I was at 4 life, ready to attack for 9 and the kill, but he came up with burn for the victory on his last turn. Had I taken my time at the beginning, I could have stopped about 6 damage to myself and only cost myself a turn later on.

So I drop from the draft and offer to play draft-deck ante. I win a recoil in one game, and my friend buys it back for 25 cents. I lose a mountain in the next game, but I trade 5 commons from my sideboard for it since it belongs to the store. Now this mountain thing is it's own issue. Gathering Ground St. Louis had NO MOUNTAINS. When I was done drafting, the land stacks had no mountains. They had to go searching in the back room to get mountains. It's like when a blood-bank is low on type O blood. The Gathering Ground should hold a Mountain Drive!

Anyway, share your draft experience to enrich us all, or let me know what you think of the deck I drafted.

 

[Ransac]

I always try to play U/B/R in Invasion block, unless I can get some good mass removal from white.




Ransac, cpa trash man

 

[Salacious Crumb]

I don't have much invasion...

Hoipa

 

[Cateran Emperor]

Missing Cards:
Samite Pilgrim
Serpentine Kavu
Spined Wurm

I've recently taken to drafting W/U/G (my LEAST favorite color combination) with splashes of B and R to allow me to play domain cards. Last night, I actually passed a Tsabo's Decree in my first pack on a hunch, taking a HARROW over it. A Harrow. That was still quite a hunch there. It was the right one though methinks, as my deck turned out like this:

1 Questing Phelddagrif (The Mighty Lord Hippington!)
2 Allied Strategies
1 Chromatic Sphere
1 Tribal Flames
1 Exotic Disease
1 Pledge of Loyalty
2 Strength of Unity
1 Nomadic Elf
1 Harrow
3 Primal Growth
1 Fertile Ground
2 Stone Kavu
1 Wayfaring Giant
1 Worldly Counsel
1 Wandering Stream
1 Fires of Yavimaya
2 Sunscape Familiar

1 B
1 R
3 U
4 W
8 G

Best turn ever - full domain in play along with several other lands.

My side of the board: 2 SuS Familiar, Fires of Yavimaya, Stone Kavu, Chromatic Sphere. Fertile ground in hand, opponent at 5 life with a Crosis and a Mire Kavu (both untapped) on the board.

Draw a card - It's a Forest, so I play it. Crack the Chromatic Sphere for green by tapping the forest and draw Allied Strategies, which I immediately play. I draw:

Land
Strength of Unity
Allied Strategies
Pledge of Loyalty
Primal Growth

I play the Primal Growth and get a Plains. Then I Allied Strategies again (10 cards for 6 mana, not bad at all )

Strength of Unity
Wayfaring Giant
Nomadic Elf
Land
Worldly Counsel

Still, this isn't going to get me through and I'm going to die next turn. So I tap an Island and cast Worldly Counsel (this being about the 10th minute of my turn now)

Land
Land
Land
Land
Questing Phelddagrif

I cast the mighty Lord Hippington and give him a Strength of Unity, use his Super-Hippo ability, then attack for nine. Crosis just sits there as the Hippo flashes by him.

So funny it's amazing.