Date XX, 2004  Pro Tour Prep

Getting Ready to Rochester Draft in Amsterdam
by Jeff Zandi

Today is Friday, January 16th, 2004, and I'm playing in the pro tour.
Literally, right now, today. The format for Pro Tour Amsterdam is Rochester
draft using Mirrodin booster packs. All players are required to be seated in
the tournament area for a players meeting this morning at 8:45am. The
atmosphere of this meeting is pretty loose and the head judge of the event
gives us our instructions for the day as quickly and as painlessly as
possible. For a large number of veteran pros in the room, this meeting has
become a boring formality that they have endured dozens of times. This is
only my fifth time to be called up to "The Show", so I'm very attentive in
the players meeting, as though I'm going to find out something new about the
rules requirements of tournament Magic.

There is something unusual planned for today. Normally, day one of a pro
tour event is seven rounds with a cut made at the end of the day. After
seven Swiss rounds on day one, a score of at least fifteen match points
would be necessary to advance to day two, that's a record of 5-2. Today,
we're doing something very different. After six rounds of Swiss, the field
will be cut down to players with twelve match points, a record of 4-2 (or
better). Then a third draft will take place and round seven will be played
today including only the players who make the cut. Tomorrow, the players who
made the cut will play rounds eight and nine with the deck they drafted at
the end of the day on Friday. At the end of the day Saturday, FIFTEEN rounds
of Swiss will have been played to determine the top eight field for Sunday's
single elimination championship rounds.

I'm writing these words a few days before the Pro Tour, in between packing
up clothes and trade binders and Mirrodin boosters, trying to remember where
I put my passport and my plane tickets. I don't know what my results will be
Friday. I expect to make it to day two and get myself into the top
sixty-four, and the money, on Saturday. While the immediate future is up for
speculation, the fact is that I've worked hard to prepare for this
tournament by drafting Mirrodin over and over and over with the best players
that can be assembled in my area, the Texas Guildmages and the extended
Guildmage family.

Last night, at our 347th weekly team practice, we had ten players in the
Guildhall but only drafted with eight in order to make the draft results
more realistic, largely for my benefit. I played four matches with the
green/red deck that I drafted. After the draft, three of my teammates who
aren't going to Amsterdam gathered around a computer monitor with me to look
at all the cards in Mirrodin (using my collection on Magic Online) and going
over draft preferences among all five colors and, of course, artifacts.
Jonathan Pechon is a two time Grand Prix top eight finisher and a veteran
pro tour player. Jeremy Simmons has been to several pro tours in the past
few years. The primary input, however, was from Brent Kaskel, the young Pro
Tour rookie who has really raced to the top of the local rankings and who
had a great first experience at Nationals last year and who is currently has
the number one composite ranking in Texas. After quite a lot of success as a
junior player, a successful Nationals and a near-top eight a few months ago
at Grand Prix Kansas City , Amsterdam was supposed to be Brent Kaskel's
first Pro Tour. Unfortunately, there was a snafu with his plane ticket that
sunk him just days before the event.

With a great deal of help from teammates Kaskel, Simmons and Pechon, the
following draft preferences were created for me to study and use for Pro
Tour Amsterdam. The lists for each color include rares, mostly just to
provide perspective. The real value of a weighted list of card preferences
is among the uncommons and commons that will be seen a lot more often in a
draft. When two cards were very close to the same value, the card that can
be played more often with a smaller dedication to that color is considered
better.

The First Rule of Kaskel Drafting is that you stay out of colored cards as
long as you can. The Second Rule of Kaskel Drafting is to take the best card
available. These two rules work together for Kaskel because he often thinks
the best card available is also an artifact.

In red, the consensus first pick, rares and all, is the uncommon
game-changing Grab the Reins. Next are two rares, Megatog and Arc Slogger.
The remaining top tier includes, in order, Spikeshot Goblin, Shrapnel Blast,
Shatter SLIGHTLY over Electrostatic Bolt followed slightly by Detonate. The
remaining red cards that my team thinks should be considered includes
Rustmouth Ogre, Krark Clan Grunt, Vulshok Berserker, Ogre Leadfoot and Slith
Firewalker.  What makes red GOOD is that only two of the best red cards are
rare, meaning that there are more of the best red cards available. What
makes red BAD is that players will splash it as a third color for the
Shatter or Goblin Replica that they feel they must have in the
artifact-heavy world of Mirrodin.

In green, there was a lot of agreement about the best three cards.
Unfortunately, they're all rares, starting with Molder Slug followed very
closely by Troll Ascetic and Glissa Sunseeker. The best non-rare green card
is Fangren Hunter, a common, followed by the uncommon Viridian Shaman. The
rest of the top tier is One Dozen Eyes, Deconstruct, Creeping Mold, Plated
Slagwurn, Tel-Jilad Archers, Tel-Jilad Chosen and Predator's Strike. The
remaining playable green cards starts with Tel-Jilad Exile, Trolls of
Tel-Jilad, Copperhoof Vorrac, Living Hive, Slith Predator and Battlegrowth.
If you are a playable green card in Mirrodin, you are either an artifact
answer, an instant power-up or a ground pounding, generally expensive
fattie.

In black, the list is very much tempered by the idea that in most Rochester
drafts, only one player will draft black cards that are not splashable. This
list, therefore, indicates the preferences for picking cards for a mono
black (or ALMOST mono black) draft deck. Most of the playable black cards
are uncommon, just another thing that makes life hard for the black drafter
in Rochester. First on the list is Promise of Power, followed by Betrayal of
Flesh, then Barter in Blood, Consume Spirit, Terror and Irradiate. The next
tier starts with Nim Shambler, followed by Nim Shrieker, Slith Bloodletter,
Woebearer, Nim Devourer, Flayed Nim and then Reiver Demon. If Reiver Demon
seems to be getting no respect here, then let me share an anecdote with you.
Two nights ago, I reached the finals of an online draft against someone who
forced Reiver Demon into a deck that had little use for the large amount of
black mana that was included in the deck. My deck was the legitimate black
deck at the table, splashing only a small amount of red for a third color,
including only one creature, a Rustmouth Ogre, that could be destroyed by my
opponent's Reiver Demon when it came into play. I won the following turn by
removing the Demon with an Irradiate.

Blue has become more and more popular in Mirrodin draft, but the color is
deep enough with quality commons and uncommons (especially when you include
the blue-reliant artifacts) that three decks at one table can easily include
some blue. The rare Broodstar leads the pack, followed by Looming Hoverguard
and Domineer. The top common on the blue list is next, Neurok Spy followed
VERY closely by Somber Hoverguard. Next is Quicksilver Elemental, then
Thirst for Knowledge, then Thoughtcast, followed by Fatespinner, Lumengrid
Augur, Vedalken Archmage, Annul, Inertia Bubble and finally Regress.

White is another deep color that will be a part of three or even four of the
decks in a single eight man draft. The top pick is Solar Tide, followed by
Luminous Angel, then Arrest, Skyhunter Patrol, Leonin Skyhunter, Blinding
Beam, Slith Ascendant and Soul Nova. The second tier, which in the case of
white is still very good, starts with Leonin Den-Guard, Taj-Nar Swordsmith,
then Altar's Light followed by Auriok Steelshaper, Loxodon Punisher,
Skyhunter Cub, Razor Barrier and Awe Strike. Raise the Alarm and Roar of the
Kha are fairly playable cards that HOPEFULLY will not be good enough to fit
into your deck. Hopefully you have drafted enough of the better white cards
from this list that Raise the Alarm and Roar of the Kha can be left out. I
disagree with the wisdom of my team a little on the white cards, and I
actually treasure Roar of the Kha as a great combat trick or even as a teeny
little "giant growth" that can help you win the game a turn sooner when you
have an edge in the air.

The list of artifacts is so vast that we decided to leave rares off of the
list entirely. This, uh, doesn't mean that I won't be drafting any of the
amazing rare artifacts if they fall in my lap. Cards like Bosh, Oblivion
Stone and Clockwork Dragon MAKE themselves fit into your deck, even though
they are mana intensive.
Among commons and uncommons, our top artifact choice is, no big surprise,
Loxodon Warhammer, followed by Crystal Shard, Mask of Memory, Icy
Manipulator, Bonesplitter, Lightning Greaves, Sun Droplet, Pearl Shard, Myr
Enforcer, Leonin Scimitar, Fireshrieker, Needlebug, Banshee Blade, all five
Myrs, all five Talisman cards, Duskworker and Serum Tank.

On all of these lists, there are probably cards that we have left out
unintentionally. By and large, however, these are the preferences that I
will be using in Amsterdam.

On the subject of land and artifact mana sources, the team agrees that a
good standard is a two colored deck using sixteen lands and three artifact
sources. We prefer Myr over Talisman simply because Myr helps you more often
by being a chump blocker late in the game or attacks successfully after
being equipped more often than they are bad. (like when your opponent has a
Spikeshot Goblin or a Wail of the Nim) Generally speaking, here is the land
that we would run based on how many artifact mana sources we have (and we
count Viridian Joiner in this class in a deck playing heavy green): 1 or 2
artifact mana needs 17 land, 3 or 4 needs 16 land, 5 or 6 artifact mana
needs 15 land.

I wish you luck in your Mirrodin Rochester adventures.

Wish me luck today in Amsterdam.

Jeff Zandi
Level II DCI Judge
Texas Guildmages
zanman@thoughtcastle.com