AE says GG to CB - PTQ Cambridge 7th November

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

Firstly, i hope everyone in Leeds and elsewhere is ok. Leeds WNM is proving as popular as ever, nearly 3 pods turned out this week for draft, despite missing a couple of people that might be expected. I think it is a massive testament to the work of, primarily Rob Wagner, who had to fill the void left by Rik, always a very popular and efficient Tournament Organiser, yet Rob has more than risen to the challenge, and the increase in attendance is fantastic for the Team Leeds and the wider magic community.

The PTQ season is in full swing now with Gravesend, Cambridge yesterday and next week Birmingham, ands zendikar is proving to be a highly popular format, from pros to players of relative inexperiance.


Err.....i don't really know where to start this PTQ report, if at all to be honest. Since getting back from the PTQ i have been struggling to think of any funnier experiances than those i had over the last two days with Martin and Beard, and yet i think the simple fact is that this weekend has been an absolute cracker; hilarious, dusgusting and succesful.

Before i do get started however, i want to firstly both thank and congratulate the staff of Inner Sanctum Collectables for a highly succesful first PTQ, im sure the success of this one means it will be a mainstay of English PTQ's in years to come. Also, it's good to see the hard work of shopkeepers/TO's paid off by being rewarded events like this, especially when they rise to the occasion and make it a day to remember.

On friday Martin and Andy picked me up to head down to my house for a night spent before the PTQ on Saturday. After a short discussion we decided that despite an agreement to take Mick down as well, he would probably win, and thought that by leaving him here it would be a far more level playing field for everyone else going to Cambridge. So the three of us made our way down to Bury St Edmunds, leaving at 2 to avoid the friday rush our traffic, sadly meaning we had to go down as a threesome. (why can't i write this without thinking a nasty, cheers you two)

Leaving early also meant arriving early, and we got back to my place about 5ish. After frequenting the local gaming shop to find they didn't have boosters, we went to our second form of sanctuary, the pub....for dinner.

Sadly, dinner turned in to the three of us getting quite severly drunk on a short tour of some of the fine pubs in town, oops.

Saturday morning was difficult, with all 3 of us basically spending the early part of the day 'holding in', with mixed levels of success.

I had been given a good pool, i felt (even if the judge decided there wasn't an issue when it did not have 4 vampire nighthawks in it). The deck i made was u/w, with dubs skyfisher, dubs umara raptor, welkin tern, sky ruin drake, world queller and celestial mantle, which after a "days" play and conversations with others still leaves me unsure of it's power level. Either way, annoyingly my only removal was 1 pitfall trap, with an into the roil and whiplash trap to support, but i wasn't sure i could deal with either huge men if i wasn't fast enough, or lots of quick small men if i was too slow....so hopefully i could get decent draws with some of my many flyers.

After going out of the tournament i saw i probably misbuilt by not putting 2 makindi shieldmates in my deck. I thought long and hard about their inclusion but i didn't think their benefit to the raptor was great enough to put them in over other guys. However, i think now i should have decided my deck was going to hopefully stall the ground long enough to push through with flyers, never mind, i was pissed.

Round 1 - Lee Wood

Mulligan to 5 both games....

I think i conceeded the second game when i was on 40 life, after my celestial mantle'd guy got in. Sadly, both my celestial mantle and luminarch ascencion got kor sanctified, sigh.

Round 2 - Craig Jones

Luckily, my mulligans are met with some from my opponant, which makes this match at least a little fairer, especially as i draw some flyers, which it turns out my opponant cant really deal with. His deck has a decent amount of removal but dubs skyfisher gets there.

Game 3 i finally keep a 7 card hand and again find some flyers to get some damage in. skyfisher and adventuring gear gets me a good way into Craig's life total, and despite finding a blocker or two, my flyers push through.

I take a lot of confidence from this match, because i was pretty happy with my pool and deck, at least to some extent, so i was sure i could go at least 4 or 5 rounds in, if not sneak in with some luck.

Round 3 - can't remember

My opponant is playing naya colours, which is ok but im a bit threatened by the possibility of green because my deck has very little which can deal with fat men.

Game 1 i go to 5 and despite decent draws i cant fight a territorial baloth and vastwood gorger.

Game 2, my opponant goes to 5, which is nice.....but my deck doesn't serve me quite the aggressive start i need (i.e the god draw), and i find that i still cant beat territorial baloth and vastwood gorger, especially when pitfall trap meets vines of vastwood.

1-2 droop.

So, not quite the droid i was looking for here. I was pretty annoyed becaus in the space of 3 rounds i felt like i had played more non-games than actual games. I felt dissapointed because the deck could, and probably should have done better, but ultimately thats the way the cookie crumbles some times.

Luckily, Andy Edwards was having a much better time with his deck, which didn't seem like it was a great deal better than mine. But after a loss early on decided he had also made a drunken misbuild and decided and 18 card transformational sideboard was the best way to get there. Rumour has it that a certain tog batters from the board proved itself to be crucial in countless victories in the tournament, what a guy.

....and it was.

Serving him the 4 straight wins in a row that he needed to get into top 8 with a 5-1-1 record.

Annoyingly, i was not able to watch the top 8 draft because i had joined a team draft against some guys from London which sadly we lost to some very close matches, meaning they got picks 1-3 of the rares when we rochester drafted them

This wasn't the worst outcome in the world however, seeing as the 18 boosters we used served up these gems.

2 x Sorin Markhov
2 x Day of Judgement
1 x Lotus Cobra
1 x Marsh Flats

so everyone got a nice card, i ended up with a day of judgement, and paying £6.50 for that and a giggle getting it wasn't the worst in the world.

Anyway, i come back to see Andy's deck, which is very small, aggressive b/r men, with a very good removal suite and a couple of tricks. It seems ok, not the best in the world because clearly other people are in red, but if his little guys can do enough his burn can get him home.

The long and short of it is that Andy Edwards won the draft, and the PTQ, getting some help along the way: firstly by certain matches going his way in the top 8, meaning Andy dodged 2 very nasty looking decks which could have been trouble, but secondly by drawing his 4th and 5 land in a sad end to a good day when he won the final in an epic mana screw on both sides of the table. Luckily, Andy's cheap deck meant he could play a few spells, and finding land meant he could then unleash a shatterskull giant to his opponants empty board thanks to a swamp drawn for gatekeeper of malakir. No 4th land for his opponant meant the slaughter cry in hand was for exactsies, even without the hideous end or spire barrage in hand, squelch.

Another crazy story from the PTQ was in Andy's semi final, after Andy had gome 1-0 up. Andy ships an ok, but not amazing 7...then gets back a terrible 6, then 5, then 4?!?. He scoops up his 4 dejected and stares back at double vampire lacerator, verdant catacombs, mountain....seems good. Turn 1; lacerator. Turn 2; draw mountain, in, lacerator. Turn 3; draw goblin bushwacker, kick and in for 8!!!!

Congratulations to Andy Edwards for winning the PTQ, there are few magic players who deserve this kind of success more than Andy, and its nice to see good guys going to the pro tour to represent England at a game where being good has a strong correlation with being a cock.

wow, what a crazy couple of days. Another member of Team Leeds on the tour, another Edwards, at least someone can keep Potter company on his travels.

Highlights

1. Andy tripping over the ramp in the game room.

2. Bum dribble

3. Nick not finding the droids he was looking for

4. Tog batters getting there for Andy, alllllllll the way to the top 8

5. An 11p Shivan Dragon

6. Chiqito's

Lowlights

1. Leaving Potter behind

2. Me being a scrub AND not getting a fetchland

3. Whatever happened in the queue to register for the PTQ

4. Not thinking of putting 4 vampire nighthawks in a condom up my arse


I wish all PTQ's were like this, except i wouldn't mind a bit of success and Andy scrubbing next time tbh. But aside from the PTQ, the experiance was crazy, i went home with a sore head, a bunch of hilarious memories, and a mouth that badly needs washing out with soap....bring on Birmingham next week.

Untill then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on this article, or anything related or unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any pictures, ideas or articles to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Drafting with Wagz (and Andy) #5 - Being Responsive

By Wagz

Tonight I had Andy Edwards round for some draft action. We did a draft where we 2-0'd twice then got the old screw-flood in the final. We had a Malfegor for kicks which we topdecked at precisely the right time, and during the draft I called a 4th pick Armillary Sphere and the exact slot it was going to appear in before the booster showed so we felt that whatever is the source of luck was being pretty nice to us. We therefore decided to go into another draft, one which was much more fraught with decisions.

In reports on drafting we often hear about 'signals'. These are important but it is never really made clear why. For the most part it is a matter of course of being responsive and seeing that our desired strategy is being taken, such as not getting any good fat creatures for a fatty Naya deck. Rather than pig-headedly carrying on with the picks we have, we need to exercise more self-control and respond to the signals. This can involve abandoning your previous picks completely (I once abandoned my first 6 picks to take the deck being shipped to me and won the draft) or simply altering your strategy to cope with the situation - such as taking WG weenie when the RG fatties are drying up.

The draft presented here is an extreme example - taking cards which fit in multiple strategies and being aware of those strategies and what we can easily abandon, so as to be completely aware of what's being shipped in time to salvage our picks:

------ ALA ------

Pack 1 pick 1:

Naturalize, Obelisk of Grixis, Resounding Scream, Bloodthorn Taunter, Knight of the Skyward Eye, Cavern Thoctar, Shore Snapper, Waveskimmer Aven, Coma Veil, Soul's Grace, Rockslide Elemental, Necrogenesis, Swerve, Clarion Ultimatum, Island

Nothing obvious here. When you have an unobvious opening pack there are two choices really - take something okay and force it, or take the best card and pretend the booster you get passed was the first. Knight of the Skyward Eye, Rockslide Elemental and Necrogenesis are the only cards worth considering here.

GW aggro is always terrible for me due to a lack of removal and bad exalted creatures in Alara Reborn, which means Knight is forcing Naya aggro = 1 strategy.

Rockslide Elemental fits in any deck playing red and most befits an aggro deck. Goes well in unearth, devour and weenie decks = 3 strategies.

Necrogenesis is a powerhouse, but is in an awkward colour combination. It looks like it fits only in Jund but secretly (don't tell anyone) you can splash it in a deck with only one of the colours main. Hence, this fits in control decks playing black and/or green = lots of stratgies, all of which are control.

We take the Necrogenesis after a lot of discussion and were prepared to abandon it but it is powerful, turning off Unearth and working wonders against Exalted.

Pack 1 pick 2:

Vectis Silencers, Resounding Silence, Deathgreeter, Kederekt Creeper, Cancel, Obelisk of Jund, Volcanic Submersion, Rakeclaw Gargantuan, Onyx Goblet, Spell Snip, Fatestitcher, Qasali Ambusher, Kiss of the Amesha, Plains

No card here clearly goes with the 'genesis, but we are prepared to change. The best cards are Resounding Silence, Fatestitcher and Kiss of the Amesha. Qasali Ambusher used to be great but has lost lustre recently as if you're not attacking in GW then you're not doing it right which means you generally have to hardcast the guy. So it therefore falls to the three blue-white cards. These all want to be in control decks and Kiss is the best in that role, so we take it. A GB and a UW card so far, great..

Pack 1 pick 3:

Cancel, Rakeclaw Gargantuan, Bloodthorn Taunter, Naturalize, Angelsong, Blister Beetle, Sighted-Caste Sorcerer, Tortoise Formation, Coma Veil, Skeletonize, Corpse Connoisseur, Jhessian Infiltrator, Plains

Best card here is Red.. We notice the second Rakeclaw Gargantuan and realise we are probably shipping Naya, which means some kind of UB based deck is mostly likely to be rewarding. At this point a 5-colour control deck could be the order to use all our picks and we're certainly not being shown a good aggro deck. Take Skeletonize.

Pack 1 pick 4:

Skeletal Kathari, Goblin Deathraiders, Mosstodon, Dragon Fodder, Gift of the Gargantuan, Filigree Sages (FOIL), Outrider of Jhess, Grixis Panorama, Infest, Scourge Devil, Behemoth's Herald, Mountain

Before this booster came up Andy and I were just saying how a 5cc deck really needs a mass removal spell. If you don't get Jund Charm this usually means opening Volcanic Fallout or Martial Coup. We get passed an Infest here and are very happy with it. 5 colour control with a black base is being presented to us here if 3 people passed Infest (which got better with the Blades).

Pack 1 pick 5:

Sanctum Gargoyle, Rip-Clan Crasher, Lush Growth, Gift of the Gargantuan, Obelisk of Bant, Incurable Ogre, Grixis Panorama, Carrion Thrash, Grixis Battlemage, Scourglass, Swamp

This booster is a very curious one. Clearly the person that opened it wanted to pass Esper signals by shipping Sanctum Gargoyle and Scourglass. However, the next 3 people didn't want to know about it. Therefore, it's decision time. If we take a Scourglass (Gargoyle is not an option due to power and decktype reasons) then we may put the guy to our left in Esper but we have already shipped some mediocre Naya and the guys to our right will pass us Esper in pack 3 (the better control cards are in pack 3, the better aggro ones in pack 2). If we take Grixis Panorama then we get a better manabase but are losing out on a fantastic card. We take the Scourglass and are tempted by 5-colour Esper control.

Pack 1 pick 6:

Cylian Elf, Lightning Talons, Naya Panorama, Onyx Goblet, Obelisk of Esper, Godtoucher, Gustrider Exuberant, Esper Battlemage, Scourge Devil, Mountain

Esper Battlemage is a great Esper control card and helps us ship Naya more.

Pack 1 pick 7:

Yoked Plowbeast, Kederekt Creeper, Savage Hunger, Coma Veil, Shadowfeed, Waveskimmer Aven, Tidehollow Sculler, Exuberant Firestoker, Forest

Tidehollow Sculler is a very good card for us. I always wondered when this guy gets taken, and now I know.

Pack 1 pick 8:

Ridge Rannet, Courier's Capsule, Akrasan Squire, Dispeller's Capsule, Godtoucher, Cathartic Adept, Lightning Talons, Plains

That's a very late Akrasan Squire, but the Courier's Capsule is for us. We have found our stategy and are going with it - hooray for being responsive to the cards!

Pack 1 pick 9:

Obelisk of Grixis, Resounding Scream, Bloodthorn Taunter, Shore Snapper, Coma Veil, Swerve, Island

Obelisk of Grixis is a card which is very good in 5cc decks.

Pack 1 pick 10:

Kederekt Creeper, Cancel, Volcanic Submersion, Onyx Goblet, Spell Snip, Plains

This pick isn't automatic but we took Kederekt Creeper as a sideboard card (deathtouch, you see).

Pack 1 pick 11:

Bloodthorn Taunter, Naturalize, Tortoise Formation, Coma Veil, Plains

One less Naturalize to face.

Pack 1 pick 12:

Filigree Sages (FOIL), Grixis Panorama, Behemoth's Herald, Mountain

Tabled the Panorama, nice.

Pack 1 pick 13-15

Carrion Thrash, Godtoucher, Forest

------ CON ------

Pack 2 pick 1:

Sedraxis Alchemist, Beacon Behemoth, Darklit Gargoyle, Unsummon, Armillary Sphere, Kranioceros, Valiant Guard, Grixis Illusionist, Yoke of the Damned, Vectis Agents, Hellspark Elemental, Elder Mastery, Viashino Slaughtermaster, Mark of Asylum, Forest

Nothing hugely exciting here, but Armillary Sphere is an auto-include in 5cc. It'll certainly help us splash anything off-colour if we want to. We are on the lookout for manafixing in Conflux, as always.

Pack 2 pick 2:

Absorb Vis, Kranioceros, Mana Cylix, Gleam of Resistance, Wild Leotau, Goblin Outlander, Constricting Tendrils, Tukatongue Thallid, Asha's Favor, Dragonsoul Knight, Spore Burst, Skyward Eye Prophets, Sigil of the Empty Throne, Island

Absorb Vis is manafixing and a decent control card. The pack is a bit light though, we don't expect to wheel anything significant.

Pack 2 pick 3:

Beacon Behemoth, Darklit Gargoyle, Unsummon, Armillary Sphere, Kranioceros, Valiant Guard, Grixis Illusionist, Yoke of the Damned, Vectis Agents, Gluttonous Slime, Fusion Elemental, Sludge Strider, Swamp

Decision time - think fast! Armillary Sphere, Fusion Elemental or Sludge Strider? Sphere removes our mana worries, Fusion Elemental is a huge creature and Sludge Strider pushes for Esper. Though we are resolved to be 5-colour, a stable manabase and on-colour spells is a good thing to have, splashing only for the best cards. If we are to take a creature, I much prefer Sludge Strider here as it stops leaking Esper control signals and Fusion Elementals do sometimes table.

Pack 2 pick 4:

Esper Cormorants, Aven Trailblazer, Kaleidostone, Toxic Iguanar, Scattershot Archer, Yoke of the Damned, Nacatl Savage, Wandering Goblins, Corrupted Roots, Fusion Elemental, Skyward Eye Prophets, Swamp

Another Fusion Elemental is good, sure, but Esper Cormorants is so on colour and a very big flier.

Pack 2 pick 5:

Zombie Outlander, Matca Rioters, Darklit Gargoyle, Asha's Favor, Nacatl Outlander, Grixis Illusionist, Exploding Borders, Lapse of Certainty, Paragon of the Amesha, Controlled Instincts, Island

At this point we are satisfied with the Esper strategy and take Darklit Gargoyle. We would still like to splash the off-shard bombs but a more solid spellbase is the key to 5cc really. He has evasion and allows us to play aggro if we need to.

Pack 2 pick 6:

Absorb Vis, Kranioceros, Mana Cylix, Gleam of Resistance, Constricting Tendrils, Tukatongue Thallid, Asha's Favor, Paragon of the Amesha, Aerie Mystics, Forest

Absorb Vis or Gleam of Resistance? Both are fine but we go Absorb Vis for the black focus to the deck (Infest etc).

Pack 2 pick 7:

Pestilent Kathari, Matca Rioters, Bone Saw, Constricting Tendrils, Court Homunculus, Molten Frame, Infectious Horror, Manaforce Mace, Forest

I want to take Court Homonculus, but Andy convinces me to take Matca Rioters. Both are unlikely to make the deck but I concede we have more support for a 4/4 or 5/5 Rioters.

Pack 2 pick 8:

Traumatic Visions, Zombie Outlander, Kaleidostone, Brackwater Elemental, Maniacal Rage, Nacatl Savage, Countersquall, Mountain

Traumatic Visions, Zombie Outlander or Brackwater Elemental? All require us to play blue, in which event manafixing is very much needed so we take the Visions.

Pack 2 pick 9:

Sedraxis Alchemist, Unsummon, Kranioceros, Valiant Guard, Grixis Illusionist, Elder Mastery, Forest

Sedraxis Alchemist. Some cards don't need thinking about.

Pack 2 pick 10:

Kranioceros, Constricting Tendrils, Tukatongue Thallid, Asha's Favor, Skyward Eye Prophets, Island

Skyward Eye Prophets. It's looking a bit slow now, hope Reborn is alright for us.

Pack 2 pick 11-15:

Vectis Agents, Scattershot Archer, Controlled Instincts, Constricting Tendrils, Forest

------ ARB ------

Pack 3 pick 1:

Wildfield Borderpost, Sewn-Eye Drake, Mistvein Borderpost, Glassdust Hulk, Bant Sureblade, Terminate, Demonic Dread, Offering to Asha, Firewild Borderpost, Naya Hushblade, Mask of Riddles, Wall of Denial, Etherwrought Page, Knight of New Alara, Swamp

We take Wall of Denial. An excellent control card. We would still like some kind of creature with which to win but are in some kind of decent shape.

Pack 3 pick 2:

Winged Coatl, Deadshot Minotaur, Veinfire Borderpost, Esper Stormblade, Deny Reality, Rhox Brute, Sigiled Behemoth, Zealous Persecution (FOIL), Grixis Sojourners, Ethercaste Knight, Kathari Remnant, Mage Slayer, Anathemancer, Island

Esper Stormblade is a fine creature with which to swing. We could occasionally aggro with it too, but just having a 3/2 flier is good.

Pack 3 pick 3:

Wildfield Borderpost, Architects of Will, Terminate, Cerodon Yearling, Deny Reality, Grizzled Leotau, Valley Rannet, Bant Sojourners, Sanctum Plowbeast, Shield of the Righteous, Sigil Captain, Tainted Sigil, Plains

*enter Dalek mode* TERRMINATE!!

Pack 3 pick 4:

Sanity Gnawers, Island, Grixis Sojourners, Valley Rannet, Sanctum Plowbeast, Igneous Pouncer, Demonspine Whip, Singe-Mind Ogre, Bant Sureblade, Pale Recluse, Stormcaller's Boon, Brainbite

This pick took a while, but we settled on the UW 2-drop in Bant Sureblade. There are a few manafixers in here which would have been nice, but you need spells to cast with all this fixed mana.

Pack 3 pick 5:

Unbender Tine, Forest, Godtracker of Jund, Igneous Pouncer, Esper Sojourners, Grizzled Leotau, Ardent Plea, Jhessian Zombies, Ethersworn Shieldmage, Naya Sojourners, Gorger Wurm

I wish Shieldmage had Fear so he would truly be the Spanish Inquisition SURPRISE! What a guy.

Pack 3 pick 6:

Architects of Will, Deny Reality, Grizzled Leotau, Valley Rannet, Bant Sojourners, Sanctum Plowbeast, Skyclaw Thrash, Drastic Revelation, Mind Funeral, Swamp

Andy makes me take Skyclaw Thrash. Very good pick, we are splashing anyway and he's an artifact.

Pack 3 pick 7:

Wildfield Borderpost, Architects of Will, Valley Rannet, Bant Sojourners, Sanctum Plowbeast, Enlisted Wurm, Double Negative, Flurry of Wings, Forest

I repeat - "Pack 3 pick 7:". Enlisted Wurm...

Pack 3 pick 8:

Offering to Asha, Vithian Renegades, Mountain, Putrid Leech, Demonic Dread, Magefire Wings, Arsenal Thresher, Glassdust Hulk

Putrid Leech...

Pack 3 pick 9:

Wildfield Borderpost, Mistvein Borderpost, Demonic Dread, Offering to Asha, Mask of Riddles, Etherwrought Page, Swamp

Just the droid we were looking for, GW borderpost.

Pack 3 pick 10:

Deny Reality, Sigiled Behemoth, Kathari Remnant, Mage Slayer, Anathemancer, Island

Kathari Remnant is a solid control card, keeping dirt away all game and fetching up a creature to make up for the fact that you're playing a wall.

Pack 3 pick 11:

Bant Sojourners, Sanctum Plowbeast, Shield of the Righteous, Tainted Sigil, Plains

Sanctum Plowbeast helps us fix our mana.

Pack 3 pick 12-15:

Grixis Sojourners, Esper Sojourners, Sanctum Plowbeast, Forest

Another Plowbeast helps us fix the manas if we needs it. We came through with a good control deck in the end. We got a 4-11 one match with the Scourglass. Blew out a 12/9 First Strike creature with Shieldmage in the same game. One guy Unsummoned our Enlisted Wurm too, when he was in approximately zero danger, much appreciated.

With this article we make special mention to say goodbye to Damage on the Stack. Magic Online's update tomorrow brings with it the new rules. Farewell old friend, R.I.P. xxx

Noobflogger Boss

By Wagz

Wagz here again with another exciting edition of my Draft watching series. This is only the second episode so I imagine it will be a sporadic series, but the last draft I watched - Jim Marlow's - won the pod. Lets see if we get a repeat success!

Pack 1:

P1: Broodmate Dragon... There was also a Fatestitcher and an Oblivion Ring in here and some unexciting picks so nothing great will wheel, but it might help with the signals.

P2: Bloodpyre Elemental was taken over a Resounding Silence, a Dregscape Zombie and a Quietus Spike. This is a good removal spell and is going towards a Jund or Grixis style deck. I say not Naya as we are leaving the Silence in and the two cards so far are not really quick or having power >5. The Quietus Spike is worth consideration, however, as well as the Silence for moving towards a 5 colour style deck - worth it with so many players who typically draft green at the table.

P3: Court Archers. I hadn't really considered this card as the other picks were Dragon Fodder, Sigil Blessing, Elvish Visionary or a bad Exuberant Firestoker in there. The Blessing and Firestoker can be easily dismissed, but if we are moving into Jund then the 2 drops are much more synergistic, the Visionary more so now we have only 1 pack of the uncommons which get bigger when stuff die. There are so many good 2 drops in Conflux and Reborn that I don't think the Court Archers is a high pick any more. The card went on to be good for Andy in the games however, letting Broodmate Dragons fly over Pale Recluses.

P4: A very quiet pack here contained a Bant and a Grixis Panorama, a Sigil Blessing and a Cloudhearth Drake. The Drake being by far the strongest cards could be a signal, but it's not strong enough to change just yet. The Grixis Panorama is taken as Mana-fixing is good.

P5: Undead Leotau is taken with Call to Heel, Excommunicate and Esper Obelisk being the next best cards. This is pretty early for the cards to dry up this much so we should be on the lookout for some other shard to move in to if possible.

P6: Skeletal Kathari is taken but there's a Waveskimmer Aven and a Deft Duelist in there. I personally would take the Duelist here and see about changing to Esper splashing the Broodmate and Bloodpyre as the Esper cards in Conflux are awesome so it is the perfect time to switch. 3/2 fliers for 5 aren't terrible though.

P7: Dregscape Zombie is a nice surprise after some dry packs. A Naturalize and a Kederekt Creeper are in there too with a Guardians of Akrasa, so it looks like we are in the right colours anyway, hmm.

P8: Cavern Thoctar? Fist Pump! Another Dregscape Zombie and a Grixis Obelisk too mean we are happy in the colours again, carry on.

P9-15: Glaze Fiend, Cancel, Grixis Battlemage (people don't like Looters?), Death Greetest, Swerve, Soul's Grace and Mountain.

Pack 2:

P1: Wild Leotau is fine but a relatively boring pack. There is a Viashino Slaughtermaser, a Cylian Sunslinger and a Filigree Fracture in here too. The Sunslinger is obviously Naya only and the Slaughtermaster is fine but this isn't a quick deck at the moment. I think Filigree Fracture has gone up in my estimation to a top 4 pick but Wild Leotau is a solid creature.

P2: RG and RB outlanders are fine two drops and there's an unsplashable Scepter of Insight in the pack but the pick is between Drag Down and Fiery Fall. The Fiery Fall is obviously better in a vacuum but we might look to go BGr to maximise the Putrid Leech count in pack 3 so Fiery Fall is only a removal spell then, rather than a super-powered manafixer. Andy picks the Drag Down but later said it wasn't the right pick. I still don't know for sure but I would have taken the Fall.

P3: Exploding Borders is taken as we have little manafixing so far. Beacon Behemoth is also good, but there's an Esper Cormorant and a Traumatic Visions in here too - maybe changing decks was a good idea? Too late to tell as you can't change what you do based on future information.

P4: Scarland Thrinax is a great pass, but there's another Traumatic Visions in there.

P5: Another Exploding Borders helps the manafixing - there are great GW cards in Alara Reborn so it is worth picking up ways of fixing White now. Another Cormorants is in here and there's also a Fusion Elemental, a Voices of the Void and a Nacatl Savage. Too early for sideboard cards but the 5 colour deck has some good options.

P6: Andy picked the Wretched Banquet. I like this card a lot and he certainly was light on removal up to this point. Sludge Strider and Parasitic Strix confirm a wide-open Esper deck but we're going pretty well now. There was also a Matca Rioters here but removal is more important, even though this guy would be easily 3 or 4 big.

P7: Hellkite Hatchling is taken - wish we had the Visionary or Dragon Fodder at pick 3 now :p. GW outlander isn't worth splashing for and I'm not sure if Unstable Frontier is worth taking for a deck with expensive cards.

P8: Absorb Vis is good manafixing (even if Black is the 3rd colour) and a way of winning games for no reason. There was an Aerie Mystics in here too.

P9: Scattershot Archer is good sideboard card with a UW Outlander in the pack still.

P10-15: Molten Frame, Traumatic Visions (???), Vectis Agents, Esper Cormorants (?!?!?!?!?), Lapse of Certainty and Forest.

Pack 3:

P1: Intimidation Bolt is the pick over Filigree Angel, Sewn-Eye Drake and Valley Rannet. It means splashing White but we took the Exploding Borders for largely that reason. Sewn-Eye Drake would otherwise be my pick - people seemed to be scared of playing a 1 toughness guy but he flies in for 3 which is a great deal.

P2: Madrush Cyclops. Woot! Great dude for the deck. Had to pass a Sangrite Backlash but cards which win games are better than cards which stop the opponent from winning in Limited - no TurboFog here.

P3: Vithian Renegades is a solid dude and the potential to Stone Rain your opponent (via. Borderposts) for free is great. However, Enlisted Wurm is more than huge (first time I played this guy I was using the GW theme deck, Cascaded into Mighty Emergence... Oh Yeah!!) so takes the biscuit and stomps all over it.

P4: Gorger Wurm is picked. There was also a GW post, an Igneous Pouncer and a Colossal Might in the pack. The Post might be taken with the two white cards but Gorger Wurm is a 5/5 for 5 which is big anyway.

P5: Jund Sojourners is an uncounterable Zap which can sometimes be played as a 3 mana 3/2 so is in fact, very good.

P6: Kathari Bomber is taken. There was also a Monstrous Carabid but there are a few Devour guys in here so it's good synergy. There was another Jund Sojourners too but I like the flier.

P7: Vithian Renegades is a great pick and came quite late. This was taken over a Colossal Might - better watch out for those in the play then.

P8: Another Jund Sojourners - woot!

P9-15: Filigree Angel, Singe-Mind Ogre, Cerodon Yearling, Soul Manipulation, Sanctum Plowbeast, Illusory Demon and Swamp.

I don't have Andy's decklist but it mostly writes itself if you take the playable Jund Cards and picks 1 & 3 from Reborn. There was a good Esper deck went round but not enough of a sign to switch to it early enough and no bombs that make switching mandatory (e.g. Crovax the White in TPF draft).

Needless to say, he stomped all over the opponents thanks to Dragons and stuff - looks like Noobflogger Boss has produced two perfect drafts - who wants to be watched next time?