It has been a truly awesome week.

[Bram]

It has been a truly awesome week. In no particular order of coolness, I:

...met Jacob Orlove and was able to shoot both the breeze and some pool with the Time Traveller himself.

...completely owned a 7 person revised / legends / CoK draft with an awesome Uwr build sporting Meloku, Jushi Apprentice, Air Elemental, and Fireball,  beating aformentioned moderator in the proces ;-)

...finally recieved the grade for my very last exam, which turned out to be good enough to allow me to graduate 'cum laude', thereby receiving my Master's title. Henceforth, you shall refer to me as either:
- Bram, M.Sc.
- Ir. Bram (the Dutch equivalent for a university graduate technical engineer)
- hey dude

Just felt like telling you guys ;-)

[BigMac]

Euh... you mean,you out-meloku-ed us?

[Komatteru]

hey dude

Congrats!!

[Revvik]

...finally recieved the grade for my very last exam, which turned out to be good enough to allow me to graduate 'cum laude', thereby receiving my Master's title. Henceforth, you shall refer to me as either:
- Bram, M.Sc.
- Ir. Bram (the Dutch equivalent for a university graduate technical engineer)
- hey dude

To the esteemed Bram, M.Sc.:
Congratulations.  What was your Master's in?

...completely owned a 7 person revised / legends / CoK draft with an awesome Uwr build sporting Meloku, Jushi Apprentice, Air Elemental, and Fireball,  beating aformentioned moderator in the process

You Timmy 

[Bram]

Euh... you mean,you out-meloku-ed us?

Out of the 14 games I played (out of which I won 11) Meloky came out 4 times. One of these times I actually lost because of it, since Jacob played Disharmony on it and fed his entire manabase through my Meloku. Face it, I just had the best deck by far...partly because I was the only one in blue, and partly because you passed me the Meloku ;-)

Congratulations.  What was your Master's in?

It's a M.Sc. in energy technology. However, my faculty changed radically (both in focus as in structure with the introduction of the bachelor/master system and the minor/major system and as in name) over the past years, so I wonder what exact term will actually appear on my diploma ;-)

[Matt]

So, Jacob. Does Bram have a weird accent?

[Bram]

Hahahaha! What the hell kinda question is that?

Jacob will be backpacking / hiking in Norway with his cousin, starting, I believe, today. I doubt if trekking huts have internet connections, so he might be incommunicado for a while. So I guess you'll either have to wait for an answer to that, or give me a call.

My accent is quite strange indeed. It's Texan, or so I'm told

[BigMac]

Just for the record. I was the one passing moloku, so i deserved to lose a lot that day. I was not the one posting in response to you Bram, it was RVS behind my computer and as i logs on automatically he wrote it with my name above it.

I do not think your deck was best, just luckiest. You two times beat me with beatdown, while my deck was supposed to be the beatdown. So you lucked out and i lost luck. I did that all day btw, so probably my deck was just bad.

We had a load of fun though and we should do it again soon. Pity the big cheese will no longer be close to join in. Was fun to meet Jacob and have a load of magic fun.

One last thing Bram. Back in the future you will be lying in the swimming pool together with your dogs. I was temped but with the result we now know, that temptation will be even greater, back in the future.

When are you stopping by for the future marathon?

[Bram]

Just for the record. I was the one passing moloku, so i deserved to lose a lot that day.

This has been discussed on IRC, and as CF pointed out, there may be in some situations, valid arguments for passing Meloku. It was the 3rd pack, and if one were, say, in black and there was Hideous Laughter in there, for example. I dunno. It may have turned out bad for you, but it may not have ben the wrong pick.

it was RVS behind my computer and as i logs on automatically he wrote it with my name above it.

Kinda like how Jacob posted is Britanny last week, eh?

I do not think your deck was best, just luckiest. You two times beat me with beatdown, while my deck was supposed to be the beatdown.

I don't know about that. I'd like to hear everyone else's opinion. I made one major design mistake (including the blue Myojin which I meant to play off Rasputin Dreamweaver...how Timmy), but other than that, I guess it was pretty solid.  I had an insane mana curve, virtually guaranteeing a turn 1 Lantern Kami, turn 2 Zephyr Falcon and turn 3 Soratami Rainshaper. After that, I could basically hold down the board with permission and/or bounce up to the point where I drew Air Elemental, Meloku, or Fireball. I'm not an experienced drafter (this was my 3rd draft ever) so I guessed I lucked out in being the only on in blue.

We had a load of fun though and we should do it again soon. Pity the big cheese will no longer be close to join in. Was fun to meet Jacob and have a load of magic fun.

I second that.

[Ivantheterrible]

 I dont know about cituations where you can pass meloku. Granted i'm used to it in pack one but still its a bomb. One of the guys i draft with recently told me this for how to look at cards. BREAD. Bombs Removel Evasion Average Dregs. Bombs are first and should be picked as such.

I don't know about that. I'd like to hear everyone else's opinion. I made one major design mistake (including the blue Myojin which I meant to play off Rasputin Dreamweaver...how Timmy), but other than that, I guess it was pretty solid.  I had an insane mana curve, virtually guaranteeing a turn 1 Lantern Kami, turn 2 Zephyr Falcon and turn 3 Soratami Rainshaper. After that, I could basically hold down the board with permission and/or bounce up to the point where I drew Air Elemental, Meloku, or Fireball. I'm not an experienced drafter (this was my 3rd draft ever) so I guessed I lucked out in being the only on in blue.

Yeah the blue myojin is not draftable. You didn't exactly luck out in being the only mono u player. In draft there is a concept of signals which states i'll be in this color and you'll be in that color and we wont fight over it so that our decks can work in the end. Also after a while you will be able to play one color and get a lot of stuff in that one color while everyone else fights over colors. For example in the top 8 of Pro Tour London Geoffrey Siron drafted almost all the playable red cards. Everyone one else was fighting over black and there was a buch of white going around. In fact it was so bad that Masashi Oiso got almost no deck at all. As a result Siron one the draft.

[rvs]

It was clear though that Oiso made a mistake in his draft, by not moving into red. In any case, the color scheming doesn't apply as stricly to a LG-RV-CHK draft, simply because there are not a lot of valid signals to give in LG, although I can concede that it goes a little better in RV, although not much better. Those sets are just not tested for limited, and therefore, should not be drafted as such. As a general strategy, your first 3 picks should be the objectively best cards, and then you start looking on how you turn those into a deck with synergy. Now for CBS drafts there are standard archetypes people will move into based on their first picks, and thus you know you will get shipped certain cards at certain picks. However, in a draft like we do, this is typically not the case.
It is however interesting to note that usually the best drafters still win, since I won the last 3 drafts, and from the people that generally sit at our fun table, I have the most experience with limited (although I'm by no means any sort of expert or even good. I just do ok enough on modo to not have to spend a lot of money on it).
However, since the rest of the table often ONLY drafts the wacky stuff we do, you will see a lot of unconventional draft strategy, and not recognising the power of certain cards, which are often more hidden and sometimes less obvious in the newer 'tested' sets (at least, I think that's the case) then in the older sets, where a lot of the cards are just totally useless (try generating a few packs of LG and see what's playable!). In any case, this is probably the reason Meloku was passed, while it is a total powerhouse. If Marco had any clue about CBS draft, he would've rightaway decided to be a blue mage and splash for the Meloku, perhaps picking up some more blue cards. Also, the blue was only really good enough to support 1 drafter. If a 2nd player had moved in on it, both their decks would've been terrible.

Oh well, enough rambling heh, since problaly, nobody cares :p

The reason I whines is because Bram bragged and confused his luck with skills, since I saw games where he was horrible, but because he had a more powerful draw (which I'll admit, was due to drafting sometimes), still won, even tough he was putting a lot of effort into fucking it up.

[Bram]

The reason I whines is because Bram bragged and confused his luck with skills

Where, pray tell, did I do that? Really. Please, I'd like you to point that out to me. Maybe it was this?

I just had the best deck by far...partly because I was the only one in blue, and partly because you passed me the Meloku

Oh no wait, that couldn't have been it because those things are obviously objectively true AND not at all bragging, not to mention almost exactly what you said. Maybe it was this?

I made one major design mistake

Yeah, I was definitely bragging there :-/ Oooh, I found another great example:

I'm not an experienced drafter (this was my 3rd draft ever) so I guessed I lucked out in being the only on in blue.

Man, I'm such a trashtalker. Thanks for pointing that out to me....  :shock:

Nowhere did I brag. Both on the board and in IRC I stated that I am an inexperienced drafter, lucked out with both the Meloku and a horrible choice in colors, and played badly.  It hurts that you accuse me of bragging, just because I won. I know I am not a good player, and I have never stated that I am. The only positive thing I said about myself was that I had a powerful deck in spite of a huge design mistake. And let's face it, that must be the case. We all know that there's three factors that decide the outcome of a game: skill, luck, and deck quality. We've already established that the first is not present, and we can safely say that you don't win 11 out of 14 games* on sheer luck. I must therefore have had a good deck. And this, again, was all I claimed happened. It makes me sad that you can't bring yourself to admitting that.




* = and as you well know, I lost one of those three games to playing like an ass and not at all to my deck or opponent (the one where I Fireballed Hero for the kill to which he responded with lifegain, while I could have just as easily killed off his creatures and swung two or three turns for the win). Another one of those three was lost, as I'm sure Nico will testify, to mulliganing to 4 and not drawing any land. The only game I actually lost lost was against Jacob.

[IHESM]

Another one of those three was lost, as I'm sure Nico will testify, to mulliganing to 4 and not drawing any land.

And, I guess, if you hadn't scooped, your Greater Realm of Preservation still would've won the race vs my Underworld Dreams/Honden of Night’s Reach/random creatures board position

The draft was nice though, even though I had by far the worst deck (due to a lot of wrong picks (including picking the wrong colors)). I guess black was drafted too much (Jacob, Rudy, Hero and me), and it went wrong when I didn't change color in time (and a lack of bombs (no Fireball/Disintegrate/Hurricane/Meloku etc)). But, drafting weird sets is always fun, even if you fail miserably

[Bram]

True, true. And it was a very educational experience for me. I really should draft more, maybe even play a little T2 here and there. I could sure use the practice, if only to up my combat math skills, as Rudy correctly pointed out over IRC.

[BigMac]

I must point out that with the sets we drafted a certain amount of luck is generated by the first card you get out of your boosters. That i made a mistake with one of those is totally my fault but still the disintegrates and fireball are just pure luck to get first pick.

Nevertheless i want to point out that next to Rudi i probably have the most experience in drafting. I see however a difference in drafting for fun or drafting for results. When i draft for fun i want an easy to play deck that has nice cards in it. When i go to a limited tournament i surely try to win and will probably know all ins and outs of the sets i am going to draft. Otherwise you make mistakes like the one i made in this one.

To be honest i do not have a clue how to draft the kamigawa block as it surely doesnt mean a rats ars to me as i am a type 1 player, and not a limited or type 2 player anymore. I am a casual player who happens to have most cards and likes to make crappy decks that surely do well every once in a while. Once, a long long time ago, before most of my magic friends of now even knew what magic was, i was like a good player in limited as well. Was once a long long time ago. Seems like ages, and well it is ages. But that is a story for another time my children...

All in all, credits to Bram for not screwing up enough with a good deck. And when you win it doesnt matter how, nobody will remember how somebody won, just that they did win.

About more drafts, well, we sure can do some more drafts, play some prefabdecks, play sealed a bit. We have numerous possibilities and it is all gonna be a load of fun.

[Jacob Orlove]

That draft was a ton of fun, although my first three Champions picks were insane. Blind, Ray, Blind? Sign me up.

If I had remembered that Bram had a Fireball, I might have used Blind a lot earlier in game 1, which could have saved me from taking enough Zephyr Falcon damage to keep Bram from Fireballing me out for at least a turn, which would have let me Disintegrate him. I didn't, though, and he won fair and square.

Fun fact: opening X-spells in revised boosters leads to winning. My lone disintegrate won me something like seven or eight games, five or six of which I didn't already have in the bag. How lucky!

Meeting dutch people was obviously super amazing, though.