Invasion/Planeshift Drafting Questions

[Killer Joe]

I try to put together a deck with this template in mind:
16x Land
16x Creatures
8x Tricks (removal mostly)

For creatures in Invasion and Planeshift I think I want to try to get creatures with Flying or "FEAR" (likw Duskwalker with paid Kicker).
What are some other good picks from either set?

For tricks, I usually only take Burn, Bounce or Destroy spells like Repulse, Recoil, Terminate, Agonizing Demise, Rushing River, Magma Burst, Scorching Lava and Soul Burn.
What others are there?

"The Rule" is "If you CAN, draft Black/Blue/red."
Is this still true? (In your opinion)

 

[arhar]

First of all, as Randy Buehler wisely put, the Rule is that there is no Rule. Draft what you like, and if you build a good deck, you'll win. I personally have been liking R/B/G more and more, but that's just me, last draft I played I won with a U/W/b deck. Don't be afraid to switch colors relatively early if you see no one is drafting a certain color. Also, imo, 16 lands is too few, 17 is a little better. Also, cards like Harrow and Quirion Trailblazer are awesome in this format. There is no "right" number of creatures, but you shouldn't imo go below 14 creatures, unless you have mad removal. Don't be afraid to try to draft a "theme" deck - some of the best decks I've seen resulted from the player first-picking Elvish Champion or Lord of the Undead or Deadapult and drafting every elf/zombie from there on. Be aware of things like that - for example, if you're drafting R/B/U and got a Shivan Emissary early on, try to get your hands on black apprentice and / or appropriate gating creatures so you could abuse the combo. Don't ALWAYS counterdraft, in a 8-people single-elimination draft, it's almost never good to counterdraft.

Hope I helped!

 

[Gizmo]

16 land is definitely too few, you need 17 minimum, possibly 18 if your deck is going to struggle to get it`s colours together.
Don`t draft Planeshift cards, they are by and large weak, especially in White and blue. Hunting Drake and Rushing River are the standout blue spells but white is very weak indeed. Caldera Kavu is a house.

I agree with Arhar - draft the good cards, whatever they are. if drafting UGW gives you 2 Armadillo Cloaks and 3 Glimmering Angel then what`s your problem.

By far the most important thing is to get enough tricks - if you get good tricks then middling creatures will do the job, but good monsters rarely make up for bad tricks. I won a Draft where my best monsters were 3 Morgue Toads and 2 Hunting Drakes - but my spells were astounding and I won the draft easily.

Add to your list of tricks - Confound, certainly. Anything with the words 'Target creature' and 'destroy' or 'owner`s hand' on them. Arguably the best Invasion common is Harrow.

Build a fast deck, everybody agrees that the route to victory is to slap down 2/1 guys and drive for a quick win, which is why BRU is popular - it`s where the removal is to run the deck past their defenses, but if you don`t get a fast rush build then a slower green fat deck is going to be better for you. And the 5c deck is generally accepted as the second best deck, after BR aggro.

 

[rakso]

Checking out that template (and upping it to 17-18 land), I'd differentiate removal from tricks.

Good removal is as good as another creature, especially when you can trade it for a big, fat one (of your opponent's).

Other tricks, however, can get you into trouble. By far the most tempting thing for a first-time Limited player is to put all sorts of powerful game-altering or global cards in his deck (non-removal, again), but simply get overrun because he is unable to draw enough blockers.

 

[Istanbul]

Another good guideline is that lifegain is almost worthless, and damage prevention is only good if it's *strong*. Samite Pilgrim can be good because, if you're playing three colors, 'T: Prevent 3 damage to a target' is pretty good. But otherwise, remember that the reverse of the flavor text on Blood of the Martyr is true: the ability to inflict harm outlives the ability to endure it.

Oh, and I beg to differ about the Planeshift cards...but I'll get into that when I get home. (Not currently at my own terminal.)

 

[Killer Joe]

Friday Night Magic at the new shop, one of my students and I went to the draft together and he and I were talking about drafting stratagy, and I DID say that whatever good cards come by, take them. He took alot of Blue/Black and Red and so did myself and three other dudes in the 8 man draft. The guy that got the 2x Terminates won the single elimination draft. I thought I had a good deck with several removal spells like Agonizing Demise, Soul Burn, Magma Burst and Scorching Lava but my first round opponent drafted 5CG and rocked the house with Charms and Draco.

The only real way, IMO, to get better at drafting IS to draft alot, I guess that's what I'll have to do.