Pack 1 pick 1:

Master of Etherium, Knight of the Skyward Eye, and Arcane Sanctum are the top choices. Master of Etherium functions quite well in a very heavy Esper deck, but not anywhere else. The same is true with Knight of the Skyward Eye, but to a much lesser extent. Knight of the Skyward Eye is at its best in a green/white-based deck aggressive deck like Bant, Naya, or just straight green/white. One of the biggest problems with Master of Etherium and Knight of the Skyward Eye is that if you’re drafting in a situation where you can’t justify committing to an archetype early for whatever reason, you will be better served by picking Arcane Sanctum. Arcane Sanctum can be included in many decks and is quite good in all of them. It’s clearly at its best in a straight-Esper deck and would still be good in a deck that’s splashing two of the three colors that it adds mana of. I don’t really want to move in on such a dedicated archetype so early, so Master of Etherium is out. The same is true with Knight of the Skyward Eye. I like the green/white deck when it’s good, but I haven’t been impressed when it’s only an average version.

My pick: Arcane Sanctum

Pack 1 pick 2:

Resounding Thunder and Cruel Ultimatum are our choices. Resounding Thunder is the benchmark removal card. It’s versatile, has incredible reach, and is cost-efficient. Cruel Ultimatum is a bomb. If you cast it, you should win most games. The only time that you will still lose is if you’re too far behind on the board. The games where you’re even or any bit ahead, you’re going to win barring weird situations like Karrthus into Banefire. The upside that Resounding Thunder has to Cruel Ultimatum is it’s much easier to cast and playable regardless of whatever direction the draft goes. In this situation, I don’t think that the difference in cost is going to matter. We already have Arcane Sanctum which means that if we play both it and Resounding Thunder, we’re going to end up Grixis or at least blue/black-based. If that’s the case, having Cruel Ultimatum would be much better. We only get punished by passing Resounding Thunder if we end up being forced into another color combination to where it’d be difficult to cast Cruel Ultimatum.

My pick: Cruel Ultimatum

Pack 1 pick 3:

Savage Lands is the easy pick here. It’s going to make casting Cruel Ultimatum much easier and is miles better than Obelisk of Grixis (which will hopefully wheel). It’s hard to make Where Ancients Tread good in a Grixis deck. Ridge Rannet, Incurable Ogre, Thorn-Thrash Viashino, and Igneous Pouncer are the common spells that have synergy with it, none of which are very good with the exception of Igneous Pouncer.

My pick: Savage Lands

Pack 1 pick 4:

We’re blessed with another pack with Arcane Sanctum in it. The only comparison to make would be Grixis Panorama because it’s more on-color than Arcane Sanctum, being able to fetch out the missing red mana for Cruel Ultimatum. The previous point is valid, but in the end being able to make two colors for free is much better.

My pick: Arcane Sanctum

Pack 1 pick 5:

Kederekt Creeper beats Obelisk of Grixis and Undead Leotau. As anyone who actually knows me will tell you, I love myself an Undead Leotau and can almost claim the record of attacking with the most in a single attack phase (Sorry, I think my four Leotau won’t be beaten - LSV). That being said, Undead Leotau isn’t going to be as helpful as Kederekt Creeper in this deck. We want to be able to stall the board if need be (so we can draw into Cruel Ultimatum), but not draft in a manner which lets us win only in the extreme late-game. We want to be able to go on the offensive if need be. Kederekt Creeper being a three-drop helps us do that. While it’s true that Undead Leotau hits a lot harder than Kederekt Creeper, it’s not going to be relevant when we need it to be: the early game.

My pick: Kederekt Creeper

Pack 1 pick 6:

Vithian Stinger, not close. I’m not really sure which is more likely: this pack originally being a monster, incompetent drafters to my right, or just no one being in red and still choosing not to be after seeing the pack.

My pick: Vithian Stinger

Pack 1 pick 7:

Like any true Magic player, I like value. Sedris, the Traitor King lets you get a lot of value out of your creatures. Combine his stats with the fact that the only card ‘competing’ against him is the all-powerful Ridge Rannet and it’s not hard to make the right choice.

My pick: Sedris, the Traitor King

Pack 1 pick 8:

This pack bodes well for our pack three. There are three completely playable cards in blue/black/x which means that we’ll be likely to see more of the medium cards like Sewn-Eye Drake, Mistvein Borderpost, Jhessian Zombies, and Architects of Will later than normal. We don’t really want to take Esper Charm or Windwright Mage over a second Kederekt Creeper. They would be out of place in our deck.

My pick: Kederekt Creeper

Pack 1 pick 9:

Thunder-Thrash Elder could be good with Sedris, but that’s going to be unlikely. Taking Volcanic Submersion as a sideboard option is going to give us more mileage out of this pick.

My pick: Volcanic Submersion

Pack 1 pick 10:

We might play Dregscape Zombie, but only if we don’t get enough two-drops to defend our self or if we end up being some weird aggressive deck with perfect mana and Sedris, the Traitor King/Cruel Ultimatum as finishers. Ad Nauseam is also good in an aggressive deck, being able to refuel in the mid-game after trading cards. However, it’s probably going to be out of place in this deck.

My pick: Dregscape Zombie

Pack 1 pick 11:

If we do end up being forced into an aggressive role, we’re going to need some beaters. We could take Where Ancients Tread just so we don’t potentially have to play against it, but that doesn’t seem likely to matter. As explained above in pick three, we wouldn’t be able to use it effectively in our deck.

My pick: Dragon Fodder

Pack 1 pick 12:

My pick: Dragons Herald

Pack 1 pick 13:

My pick: Demons Herald

Pack 1 pick 14:

My pick: Shadowfeed

Pack 1 pick 15:

Pack 2 pick 1:

We could take Drag Down, but there are some problems that I have with it. Primarily, I don’t like playing Drag Down unless it’s going to be -3/-3 or better every time. When you have less than domain-three, Drag Down isn’t very impressive. On the other hand, we can take Armillary Sphere which is going to serve us quite well. We already have multiple cards that are both mana-intensive and color-intensive that we are planning on including in our deck. While we don’t have any true removal yet, we do have Vithian Stinger, two Kederekt Creepers, and the remaining draft packs to pick up a few more which isn’t unlikely to happen.

My pick: Armillary Sphere

Pack 2 pick 2:

This pick is pretty unusual. It’s not very often that we get to compare Voices from the Void with Charnelhoard Wurm and Nyxathid. Voices from the Void is similar to Drag Down; it’s very underwhelming when you have domain-two. Domain-three is fair. What you really want for it to be busted is Domain-four. At that point, it becomes close to a bomb. As of now, it’s unlikely that Voices from the Void will be more than Fugue in our deck. Additionally, Voices from the Void is more likely to wheel compared to the other cards we’re considering taking. I’ve only had limited experience (har har) with Nyxathid. One of the problems with Nyxathid is that its impact on the gamestate can be swingy. At times, the opponent will just have too many cards in their hand (like in the early game) to play it and have it not die in combat or to a generic removal spell. Other times, it will be a 5/5 or larger and bash the opponent. Charnelhoard Wurm isn’t going to come into play any earlier than Nyxathid, that’s for sure. What Charnelhoard Wurm does have is the ability to break games wide open. In heavy attrition matchups, it’s going to be better than Nyxathid because it gets back cards from your graveyard if it hits the opponent. If you assume you’re going to wait until the late-game to play either pick, then it would be better to take the one that is better during the late-game. The mana might be an issue, but considering our fixing already, it won’t be difficult to cast Charnelhoard Wurm.

My pick: Charnelhoard Wurm

Pack 2 pick 3:

We’ve got a few options here. There’s Blood Tyrant, Ignite Disorder, Armillary Sphere, Absorb Vis, and Goblin Outlander. We can narrow the choices down. Absorb Vis isn’t as good as Armillary Sphere. Since we already have one Armillary Sphere, the pick between the two is actually mildly debatable (although still very one-sided in favor of Armillary Sphere). Considering that we’ve got a decent amount of late-game action already, Absorb Vis doesn’t seem needed which makes Armillary Sphere the better choice. I’d rather have Goblin Outlander in this deck than Ignite Disorder. Both are similar, in that they neutralize white creatures from attacking you. Ignite Disorder has the additional benefit of being able to stop Esper Cormorants and other assorted flyers from killing you. However, Goblin Outlander can stop multiple creatures for multiple turns from killing you while Ignite Disorder is a one-shot deal with whatever is in play. Ignite Disorder also doesn’t do much against big fatties like Sigiled Behemoth without help from other sources. Then we have a giant dragon in the form of Blood Tyrant. We might be able to wheel an Outlander. The pick comes down to Armillary Sphere or Blood Tyrant. We have two Arcane Sanctum, one Savage Lands, and one Armillary Sphere already. Even though we have Sedris, the Traitor King, Cruel Ultimatum, and Charnelhoard Wurm already, having another giant dragon won’t hurt.

My pick: Blood Tyrant

Pack 2 pick 4:

Wretched Banquet is what we’re looking for: cheap removal. While we do have one Vithian Stinger, it’s going to be better than the other choices: Traumatic Visions, Zombie Outlander, and Bloodhall Ooze. The problem with Bloodhall Ooze is that you really want to be able to have both green and black permanents to make it grow as quickly as possible. Bloodhall Ooze is fine if it’s played on turn one or two in an aggressive deck that can only trigger one half of it, but this isn’t one. Zombie Outlander has gotten a lot better going from Shards-Shards-Conflux to Shards-Conflux-Reborn draft, but isn’t going to help us as much as Wretched Banquet will. Traumatic Visions is going to serve mostly as mana-fixing because we’re going to be tapping out a lot to cast our late-game cards.

My pick: Wretched Banquet

Pack 2 pick 5:

Zombie Outlander and Worldheart Phoenix are our choices. Worldheart Phoenix can potentially be a 4/4 flyer with buyback. We’re probably going to have three sources of green mana (Savage Lands, Armillary Sphere, and Forest) and two sources of white mana (2 Arcane Sanctum) to reanimate it if it ever dies. As a 2/2-flyer for four mana, it’s only mediocre. Zombie Outlander is good; one of the best out of the cycle of Outlanders. To be fair, we should have taken the Zombie Outlander because it would serve us better in the deck. However, the allure of recurring Worldheart Phoenix was just too much to resist. Zombie Outlander helps fill our two-drop slot as well as facilitates our ability to reach the late game against many decks.

My pick: Worldheart Phoenix

Pack 2 pick 6:

We’ve got enough mana fixing at the moment to pass up Absorb Vis for Goblin Outlander. The multicolor theme in Alara Reborn makes the Outlander cycle quite good.

My pick: Goblin Outlander

Pack 2 pick 7:

Brackwater Elemental is a good card. One problem with taking it for our deck is that we’re not going to be able to make use of it unearthing as well as we’d like to. What that means is that while we can unearth it and attack our opponent, that’s not going to go hand in hand with our deck’s strategy: last until the late-game when our cards are just better than our opponent’s. Unearth is best when the damage you can do by unearthing a creature actually matters enough to the point that the opponent must trade a creature for whatever you’ve unearthed. That gamestate isn’t very achievable in this deck (so far). The card that we want is Controlled Instincts. Think of it as a blue Reciprocate for green and red creatures. It’s a very efficient card.

My pick: Controlled Instincts

Pack 2 pick 8:

We don’t have the creature composition to the point of wanting to play Elder Mastery. We might play Fusion Elemental, although it’s not likely.

My pick: Fusion Elemental

Pack 2 pick 9:

Suicidal Charge is going to serve us better than Brackwater Elemental Will, even as a sideboard card.

My pick: Suicidal Charge

Pack 2 pick 10:

Like we hoped, Voices from the Void has wheeled. It’s the only card that we will play out of this pack. It’s better to take the Voices from the Void and pass the Nacatl Outlander. The Outlander isn’t going to cause us significant problems if we play against it.

My pick: Voices from the Void

Pack 2 pick 11:

My pick: Goblin Outlander

Pack 2 pick 12:

My pick: Molten Frame

Pack 2 pick 13:

My pick: Mana Cylix

Pack 2 pick 14:

My pick: Asha’s Favor

Pack 2 pick 15:

Pack 3 pick 1:

Esper Stormblade is the best card in the pack. It’s not really close. We can’t use Thopter Foundry effectively. Valley Rannet, Deny Reality, and Brainbite might wheel. Skyclaw Thrash is just a mediocre dude. We have enough spells that cost at least five mana that are better.

My pick: Esper Stormblade

Pack 3 pick 2:

This is an even easier pick than the first one. Bituminous Blast is by far the best card in the pack.

My pick: Bituminous Blast

Pack 3 pick 3:

Here is a more interesting pick. Sewn-Eye Drake, Mistvein Borderpost, Firewild Borderpost, and Jund Sojourners are our picks. We can exclude the two Borderposts. There will be more packs with them. Jund Sojourners is a fine card. It’s going to be used mainly as Zap in this deck. It helps dig to Cruel Ultimatum. Sewn-Eye Drake is the more aggressive card, although when labeled as ‘aggressive’, that’s not the same thing as bad. In the late-game, it still holds its weight. I prefer to have Sewn-Eye Drake than Jund Sojourners; you get more value out of it than a Zap.

My pick: Sewn-Eye Drake

Pack 3 pick 4:

There isn’t much of a choice here. Terminate is easily the best card for us in the pack.

My pick: Terminate

Pack 3 pick 5:

Here’s another pack where I’d prefer to take a real spell over the mana-fixing that is available. Grixis Grimblade is going to finish up the two-drop slot. We’ll be able to wait a bit longer on the mana-fixing.

My pick: Grixis Grimblade

Pack 3 pick 6:

Here’s another pack laden with mana-fixing cards. Between Igneous Pouncer and Mistvein Borderpost, it’d be better to have the Borderpost for a few reasons: it functions better with the two ‘blades’ we’ve drafted and it won’t take up a spell slot in our deck. Cloven Casting would be pretty sweet with Cruel Ultimatum, but we don’t have enough other synergy to warrant taking it.

My pick: Mistvein Borderpost

Pack 3 pick 7:

We already have Voices from the Void. Brainbite won’t serve us as well as Architects of Will. The Architects will help us find Cruel Ultimatum by cycling or using it like a Sage Aven. We also need to pick up a few more creatures.

My pick: Architects of Will

Pack 3 pick 8:

We don’t have enough removal spells in relation to two-mana creatures to count Demonic Dread as removal itself. Jhessian Zombies will be better in our deck than it. We might be able to play Putrid Leech, but it’d be better to keep the green splash to a minimum. Anathemancer is an unexciting card in limited.

My pick: Jhessian Zombies

Pack 3 pick 9:

Brainbite is a fine card. We’ll probably end up playing it even though we have Voices from the Void because it helps us resolve our good spells against decks with counters. It also helps us draw into the necessary mana to cast those spells.

My pick: Brainbite

Pack 3 pick 10:

Again, here’s another Jhessian Zombies to help us fix our mana. Another reason to take the Zombies over Putrid Leech is because of Cruel Ultimatum. We want to be able to cast it as soon as possible. Putrid Leech won’t help in that regard.

My pick: Jhessian Zombies

Pack 3 pick 11:

Jund Sojourners wheeling out of this pack is a nice treat.

My pick: Jund Sojourners

Pack 3 pick 12:

Architects of Will

My pick: Architects of Will

Pack 3 pick 13:

We might have to sideboard into a more defensive deck with Marrow Chomper, Dregscape Zombie, and Dragon Fodder. The potential life gain makes it better than Etherium Abomination even though Marrow Chomper is significantly harder to cast.

My pick: Marrow Chomper

Pack 3 pick 14:

My pick: Monstrous Carabid

Pack 3 pick 15:

Mountain

Deck:

There are obviously some different ways that we could have gone with deck construction. As you can see, Dregscape Zombie, Monstrous Carabid, and Dragon Fodder have been left in the sideboard along with Worldheart Phoenix and Fusion Elemental. Both groups of cards lend themselves towards a side of the spectrum which we could have leaned towards, whether it is aggressive or controlling. Ultimately, it seemed best to seek a medium which wouldn’t punish us for running cards that we’d have a hard time casting (Fusion Elemental) versus cards which aren’t very powerful (Dregscape Zombie and Dragon Fodder).

The slower cards like Worldheart Phoenix and Fusion Elemental (which would be almost free because of the three tri-lands that we have) ended up being cards that we weren’t looking for. Consider the need for the late-game punch that these cards provide and then look at what else we have: Cruel Ultimatum, Charnelhoard Wurm, Blood Tyrant, and Sedris, the Traitor King. We do not need more late game than that, especially when it would destabilize our mana with the addition of a basic Plains.

Round 1:

Game 1: We’ve got a modest opener for this deck which would be good for a normal one (Island, Mistvein Borderpost, Arcane Sanctum, Voices from the Void, Architects of Will, Sedris, the Traitor King, and Esper Stormblade). Evil wins the roll and takes the initiative with a Jund Hackblade on turn two. Not to be outdone, we one-up Evil with a fully-powered Esper Stormblade. Fate gives Evil a view into the future with a Gift of the Gargantuan, revealing a Plains and Bloodbraid Elf. Foolishly, Evil doesn’t attack with his cowardly Jund Hackblade. Maybe he thinks we are cowardly as well and will block, fearing the pain that we are ready to bear. He is wrong though. Blocking is for chumps. We aren’t anything of the sort. We crack in with our Esper Stormblade, sailing over in the air high above Evil’s defenses. As a reward, we feast on the Jund Hackblade with a Wretched Banquet and play Arcane Sanctum.

Evil refuels with Bloodbraid Elf cascading into Knotvine Mystic, threatening to summon a monstrous animal on the next turn. We are mildly concerned. Having run out of lands to play but not spells, we look into our future with Architects of Will and see three lands. It’s time to step on the gas. The tireless Esper Stormblade hacks into Evil for another three. Evil cracks in again with his Bloodbraid Elf and falls in combat along with our loyal Architects of Will. We brace for impact as Evil uses his Knotvine Mystic to make Vagrant Plowbeasts. Dangerous curves ahead indeed. Yes folks, it’s turn five.

Our one-man army, Esper Stormblade, is unrelenting in his pursuit of carnage as he hacks into Evil’s Nayan hide for a third time. Momentarily dazed, Evil stares off into the abyss as we reply back from it with Voices from the Void. The fugue leaves Evil with one card left in hand as he cracks in with his team and passes the turn. He surely has a removal spell.

We have just taken a massive blow and are now at nine life to Evil’s eleven. We are not finished though. Our victory is close to hand. We give our Esper Stormblade an ally in combat; a Sewn-Eye Drake which should have been worded as “put this into play tapped and attacking”. Like a true-striking arrow, we launch our team at Evil. Our flying duo is lightning quick; too quick in fact for lazy old Evil. Weakened from his wounds, he plays Intimidation Bolt after attackers are declared. We are not impressed. Grixis Grimblade holds our back as we brace for Evil’s counter-attack.

Evil sees the finish line coming into view and decides to reach it first. With a sudden sprint, he plays Cerodon Yearling and swings with his team. The Vagrant Plowbeasts is too strong to fall victim to the Grixis Grimblade and his poisonous broad sword. Unwavering, we step in front of the Cerodon Yearling and go to one life. We are on the edge of death and must hold back with our Sewn-Eye Drake as we summon our champion: Sedris, the Traitor King.

Evil, cowardly and faint of heart, holds back with his team. Taking advantage of our brief respite, we dig through our graveyard with Sedris, unearthing Architects of Will and Grixis Grimblade. As if paralyzed with despair, Evil can only look as our reanimated horde rushes at him. Evil loses his Knotvine Mystic in combat and succumbs to our flyers the next turn as he is torn asunder.

Game 2: We gamble on the competency of Evil in this duel and keep a slow hand on the draw (Mistvein Borderpost, Bituminous Blast, Brainbite, 2 Swamp, Jhessian Zombies, and Blood Tyrant). Our slow start is mirrored by Evil as he recruits a Naya Battlemage on turn three. The Vithian Stinger drawn the previous turn makes his debut as well. Evil is playing a game without Mountains, but can still make a Cliffrunner Behemoth. We are curious about Evil’s plan and lunge at him with Brainbite. Unsatisfied, we leave him with two Plains and a Dragonsoul Knight as we feast upon his Nacatl Outlander while drawing into the fifth mana needed to play Bituminous Blast next turn.

Evil is momentarily stunned and can only attack us for seven after playing a Jund Panorama. We feign weakness as we pass the turn with five mana untapped. Sensing weakness, Evil makes a Dragonsoul Knight and cracks in with his Naya Battlemage and Cliffrunner Behemoth. With a deafening noise, Bituminous Blast eviscerates Evil’s Cliffrunner Behemoth and cascades into Goblin Outlander. The goblin and Naya Battlemage fight valiantly, both succumbing to their wounds. We see Evil in his state. Despite a hearty eighteen life, his hand is quite weak. We begin to craft the plan for his demise with Architects of Will, seeing into his future. “Yes, you might be drawing land next turn.”

Evil is now without hope and his actions are a clear indication of it. Evil summons a Jund Hackblade only to have it poisoned by our deadly Vithian Stinger. We punish Evil for his sub-par play and make a Blood Tyrant. The end is near. There is no way out. Not even Bloodbraid Elf can save Evil from our vampire as it sucks the life out of him.

Round 2:

Game 1: We win the roll and have a nice opening hand (Esper Stormblade, Grixis Grimblade, Mistvein Borderpost, Arcane Sanctum, Swamp, Mountain, and Vithian Stinger). Our plays are much more aggressive than Evil; Esper Stormblade hacks into Evil for three as we play a Grixis Grimblade. Evil is only using expensive mana-fixers and has a devious trick for us on our fourth turn: Bant Charm banishes our Esper Stormblade to the bottom of our deck, never to be seen again. We can only replace him with a Kederekt Creeper. Evil’s Bant Sojourners threatens to impede our Grixis Grimblade, so we circumvent his forces with our Vithian Stinger.

The army of monsters continues to grow on both sides; Rhox Meditant, Steward of Valeron, and Algae Gharial join the side of Evil compared to our singular Goblin Outlander. Evil should have prepared for this fight better by anticipating the devastating affect that Goblin Outlander has on his forces. A deadly game is being played as Evil’s life total is being chipped away at by our duo of Goblin Outlander and Vithian Stinger. The end is almost in sight. Realizing this, Evil makes futile attempts to grow his Algae Gharial by attacking with his Steward of Valeron and Bant Sojourners. We are at full life and don’t need to block, not with the end so near.

Our plan to slay Evil is temporarily foiled as Cruel Ultimatum is countered by Offering to Asha. Now Evil is back up to eight and out of range for us to not be able to block anymore. We must devise another plan for victory. Our Kederekt Creeper, Vithian Stinger, and Goblin Outlander are too much for his team to handle. The Vithian Stinger is being especially brutal, as it takes down his creatures. Flurry of Wings tokens perish. A Soldier token from Bant Sojourners becomes a victim of the Vithian Stinger as well.

Kathari Screecher threatens to finish us off. We’ve taken more damage than would normally occur due to our devotion to the original plan using Goblin Outlander and Vithian Stinger. Now we’ve been attacked by Evil’s forces down to eight life and must Terminate the Kathari Screecher and stabilize. Evil unearths his Kathari Screecher and sends it in for a final strike before it is exiled forever.

The battle with Evil has been long and hard-fought. We’ve manage to trade our pawns and come out ahead. Unfortunately, the gluttonous Algae Gharial has feasted on the remains of the fallen combatants growing to dwarf our Charnelhoard Wurm. Our Kederekt Creeper is holding off Evil’s Algae Gharial. All the while our Vithian Stinger is a clock of doom, ticking away to the time of Evil’s demise. With the end in sight, we hasten the clock a second Goblin Outlander and Architects of Will. We see an Oblivion Ring in Evil’s future and make a fervent charge to slay the enemy. Evil’s two-card hand offers no resistance and we are victorious.

Game 2: Evil realizes the inferiority of his deck and chooses to draw, knowing full well that he’ll need every card that he can get in order to beat us. We both keep our seven cards (Jhessian Zombies, Jund Sojourners, Terminate, Grixis Grimblade, 2 Swamp, and Mountain). Our Grixis Grimblade cuts into Evil, hacking away looking for brains to feast on. Evil replies back with a Jhessian Infiltrator. Evil’s Jhessian Infiltrator has a much grander fate than to die in battle with our Grixis Grimblade. We can only make an Armillary Sphere and Terminate his champion. We will not be cut down so easily by an evasive 2/2. Algae Gharial picks up the fallen banner of Evil.

Our Grixis Grimblade continues to feast on Evil as we follow suit with a smaller portion of his mind using Brainbite. We see Crystallization, Resounding Silence, Unstable Frontier, Sovereigns of New Alara, and Flurry of Wings. We feast upon his Sovereigns, leaving him with the rest. Evil can only respond with attacking with his massive 1/1 Algae Gharial. We are not impressed. Our plan is nearing completion as we peer into Evil’s future to secure our route to victory with Architects of Will. We see that the coast is clear. Cruel Ultimatum resolves as Evil must sacrifice his board, and discard his entire hand save one card, a Flurry of Wings. Evil knows that he’s done for. We too must discard, but only because we have too many cards in hand. Evil is vanquished, put down like the dog that he is.

Round 3:

Game 1: Evil is intimidated by his next opponent. The skulls of fallen opponents hanging from our dress demand a submissive request. Evil asks if we want to split. We are in no mood for a lame ending. We are Good and must vanquish Evil. We No-Sir him and proceed to the final chapter of this story with a voracious hunger. Our first hand is too good so we mulligan out of good sport and keep something a bit more fair (Sewn-Eye Drake, Jund Sojourners, Vithian Stinger, Mountain, Bituminous Blast, and Cruel Ultimatum). That’s right folks; we like to live vicariously through the top of our deck. Evil shows that he is a master of many colors, leading off with Plains and Veinfire Borderpost. We are much more skilled though and play Swamp and Island on turns two and three to make our Vithian Stinger. Unfortunately, we don’t draw our fourth land to make our Sewn-Eye Drake. Instead, we must be content with sending Jhessian Zombies back to the grave in order to find it. Evil can only muster cheap parlor tricks while we are finding our mana, cycling Glassdust Hulk and Sanctum Plowbeast. Evil’s finale is Esper Cormorants on turn four.

The lands we keep drawing off the top continue to power out the gas that we kept in our opener. Bituminous Blast reclaims the card disadvantage of our mulligan as we cascade into Architects of Will. The artificer prophets look into our future and reveal three lands, but not the correct assortment to cast Cruel Ultimatum. Evil rebounds back with Sphinx Summoner which tutors up a Sanctum Gargoyle. Evil’s sequence of plays is crushing as we realize the battle of attrition we’re embarking upon. Needless to say, we are not truly worried. We are masters of our craft and sure to win despite all that is stacked against us.

Sewn-Eye Drake crashes into the red zone alone with our Architects of Will holding back. As strange as it sounds, we don’t want to trade our Architects for Evil’s Sphinx Summoner because then our Sewn-Eye Drake will perish with the Sanctum Gargoyle after it raises the Sphinx Summoner from the dead. Like an Oracle, we saw Evil’s decision ahead of time as he trades his Sphinx Summoner for our Sewn-Eye Drake; the two falling from the sky in a tangle of scales and artifice.

After an Obelisk of Jund is forged, the Sanctum Gargoyle becomes reality and revives Evil’s Sphinx Summoner; though it can’t stop our Architects of Will from bludgeoning its master. Maelstrom Pulse ends the life of our devoted Vithian Stinger. A Skyclaw Thrash is summoned and threatens to end our life. We are in need of blue mana and must cycle Jund Sojourners as we search for one to play our Cruel Ultimatum. Eureka! Arcane Sanctum reveals itself and we send in our Architects of Will once again. Fearing for his life, Evil commands his freshly constructed Skyclaw Thrash to block. We have no qualms about it and unearth our Vithian Stinger as it spits upon the Thrash with its last dying breath.

Evil’s Sanctum Gargoyle continues to assault us in the air as Evil finally opens his Courier’s Capsule in search of more options. He can only find a venomous Sludge Strider. We are not worried though. Only Lapse of Certainty can save Evil from his fate. We untap and cast Cruel Ultimatum; it resolves and Evil discards his hand of three cards. Evil is utterly decimated and can’t recover from this deathblow. The crippled Planeswalker ceases to exist as his spark is extinguished a turn later by our horde of ravenous Goblin Outlanders and Sewn-Eye Drake.

Game 2: Molten Frame and Volcanic Submersion come in from our sideboard, eager to deconstruct Evil’s minions. Evil is eager to strike back at us with a victory of his own as he plays first. We keep a hand that is questionable (Jhessian Zombies, Wretched Banquet, Swamp, Charnelhoard Wurm, Cruel Ultimatum, Vithian Stinger, and Island). Evil’s mana has slowed him, giving us time to cast our powerful spells. We have many of those in our hand, and thus foresee a crushing victory.

The calm before the storm lasts longer in this battle than all of the rest. Like a reminder of the first battle, Evil fixes his mana with Sanctum Plowbeast and Obelisk of Jund. We have drawn a Mountain to go with our other two lands but do not summon our Vithian Stinger. We do not want to be too hasty and would rather make good use of our Wretched Banquet. Evil continues to fix his mana as we opt to cycle Architects of Will and Jhessian Zombies, finding lands with both. Now we’re only a Swamp away from being able to play Cruel Ultimatum.

Sewn-Eye Drake leaps into the air and begins the assault on Evil, chomping away at the Planeswalker. Evil summons Sphinx Summoner summoning Skyclaw Thrash (say that three times fast). The Sphinx Summoner dies to our Wretched Banquet as our loyal Vithian Stinger enters play. Sensing his doom, Evil cries out for help from his ancient friend Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund. The legendary dragon does what dragons do best: ATTACK! Our Sewn-Eye Drake is only a fledgling compared to the mythic dragon, but still has the heart to match as it continues its relentless assault on Evil. We construct an Armillary Sphere to produce some lands.

Evil sends Karrthus at us again and we can’t stop him. In a flash, we have been cut down to a mere six life compared to that of Evil’s eleven. Evil backs up the air with an Esper Cormorants. Afterwards, we sacrifice our Armillary Sphere for a Forest and our third Mountain. We have set a trap for Evil; a trap for his mind. By not getting the third source of black mana, we clearly must not have Cruel Ultimatum. Our deception shows its effectiveness as Sewn-Eye Drake flies heads-first into Evil’s Esper Cormorants. The scene has been set. We play Swamp, Cruel Ultimatum. Karrthus, stricken by a greater power, falls from the sky in a molten ball of scales and ash.

The game is not over yet though. Evil, with his last fighting card in hand, uses Naya Charm to regrowth his Sphinx Summoner fetching a Windwright Mage that Evil plays. Despite this last valiant act of defiance, it is not enough to stop the forces of Good. Windwright Mage is blown up by a Volcanic Submersion as we reinforce the ground with Kederekt Creeper. Evil concedes defeat.

Happy drafting.

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