Argothian Treehouse

with Andy Van Zandt

MMD Draft - Blue Affinity

I know, I already did one article on blue in draft, but Darksteel gives you

some nice new toys for the most offensive of blues, the affinity build.

Obviously what pops to mind is the constructed deck, and really, there are

a lot of similarities in what you want to draft. There are also

similarities to the "black affinity" draft build, particularly in the

non-creature picks. Blue is also my preference of colors in drafting in

general, and in Mirrodin in specific. That may have been what made

onslaught block so hard for me ;)

What to draft:

In the Mirrodin packs, Somber hoverguard. Every single one you see. Neurok

spy. Every single one you see that isn't in a pack with Somber hoverguard.

Those are the absolutes, and the most important picks. You really want a

couple of each to consider your deck strong. After that, you need

Thoughtcasts and Thirst for knowledges, to keep up your momentum. Mana myr

and talismans are your next focus, since they effectively supply 2 mana

apiece towards your affinity cards. Then Myr enforcers and frogmites, and

equipment. Like the black affinity deck, cheap equipment is key, but

ones that increase power take precedence, and hoversail is not needed at

all. Also, while tooth and scale of Chiss-goria aren't as strong as in the

black deck, they're still playable- they speed up your affinity guys and

pump them, usually for free. But I usually am picking artifact land way

before I start in on the tooth/scale. Off-color is just dandy, it still

provides an extra mana towards every affinity spell you cast. If none of

that is available, Wizard Replicas, blue removal/bounce, splash spells, and

spellbombs are your next choices. Now this all may sound strictly worse

than the black affinity build, since you're still generally dropping your

offensive creatures on turn 3+ anyways, and you don't get as much power

boost out of it, but this is made up for, in the most part, by-

Your Darksteel pack, aka Gimme Some Dudes That Fly. Evasion creatures are

what makes up for the lower power, when compared to the black affinity (as

does the lower amount of single toughness critters). You've hopefully

already got some hoverguards (looming or somber) and spies, and maybe some

other tidbits. Here, you get to acquire some Spire Golems, Neurok

prodigies, and maybe some Hoverguard observers. People often think the

prodigy is bad unless you have lots of stuff to pitch to him- not only are

they wrong (2 power in the air for 3 mana is still ok), but especially in

this deck, he should resemble a skywing aven (which was really really good

in his time, for those who don't know). Quicksilver Behemoth, while

resembling a sea serpent (reference my previous article on blue), is a much

more offensive creature, and a superb addition to this deck. In essence,

he's a 4/5 doesn't tap to attack creature... because you get to send him in,

do his 4 damage, then re-lay him for cheap to block with (he shines in this

position). Preferably for 3 mana or less. After you've stocked up on wings

and a behemoth or two, some nice equipment goes well, so your hoverguards

can be sure to win the air wars. Then some darksteel citadels and arcbound

runts to fill things out and speed things up; and maybe some

echoing-bounce-spells.

How to Play:

Get your guys out as fast as possible, and keep swinging. As a general

rule, you want two guys or more going for the throat at all times, and often

you'll start bouncing/chumping/losing card advantage to keep this up, but

you should have some behemoths for ground support and thoughtcasts for a

refuel, so no worries. But it shouldn't take long. While you're not -as-

worried about pingers in this deck, you will probably still want a splash

color, if just for removal, or delay, or burn. White gives you some nice

stalling power, red and black give removal/burn, black also gives you some

bonus nim shriekers to supplement your air army, and green gives you some

ground defense in the way of tel-jilad minions and artifact kill.

Have fun, and if I'm in the draft, stay away from my blue cards :P

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Email me.

You can reach Andy at: andyvanzandt@hotmail.com