Magic Origins Draft #11: Game Day Draft!

I had hoped to play Standard during Magic Origins Gameday, but work conspired against me, putting me on a Saturday evening flight.  The store I frequent was running a draft in parallel.  Eh, good enough!

The Draft and the Deck

I decided to try and exert some discipline this draft, keeping a careful eye on my curve and making sure I had the requisite early board presence that this format seems to require.  That led to pack 3 picks such as Topan Freeblade over Knightly Valor.

In the meantime it felt like my Red/White deck was being cut hard from removal.  Still, my creatures looked good and I had combat tricks, so maybe... ?

CREATURES (17)   Akron Sergeant x2 Anointer of Champions Boggart Brute Charging Griffin Cleric of the Forward Order Iroas's Champion Kytheon's Irregulars Mage-Ring Bully Prickleboar Sentinel of the Eternal Watch Stalwart Aven x3 Thopter Engineer Topan Freeblade War Oracle

ARTIFACTS (2)   Brawler's Plate Sword of the Animist   ENCHANTMENTS (1)   Suppression Bonds   INSTANTS (1)   Enshrouding Mist x1   SORCERIES (2)   Act of Treason Lightning Javelin   LANDS (17)   Mountain x8 Plains x9

SIDEBOARD   Cobblebrute Enlightened Ascetic Enthralling Victor Firefiend Elemental Gold-Forged Sentinel Kytheon's Tactics Mage-Ring Network x2 Ringwarden Owl Separatist Voidmage Timberpack Wolf x2 Totem-Guide Hartebeest Touch of Moonglove Undercity Troll Valeron Wardens Veteran's Sidearm Volcanic Rambler Yeva's Forcemage --- Knightly Valor --- Celestial Flare Fiery Impulse Anchor to the Aether Bone to Ash Fetid Imp Mage-Ring Responder

Round 1

My round 1 opponent also played Red/White, and I quickly discovered when the White removal had went when he played Celestial Flare after Celestial Flare.  He was a newer player though, so he played his removal far too fast, leaving my bigger threats such as Sentinel of the Eternal Watch free to wreak havoc.

Result: W (2-0)


Round 2

My first round opponent had the White removal, and my second round opponent had the Red, with three Fiery Impulses to go along with his Blue control cards such as Anchor to the Aether and Bone to Ash.  He only had nine creatures though, and my creatures wore out his removal before slamming through to victory.

Result: W (2-0)


Round 3

My opponent and I agreed to an intentional draw before playing out a friendly game.  His Blue/Black control deck was a bit slow for my aggro deck - my 2/2 2-drops outclassed his Fetid Imps - and I rode my aggressiveness to victories in game 1 and 3.

In game 2 he pulled out a Mage-Ring Responder which I narrowly defeated by using Enshrouding Mists to save my Sentinel of the Eternal Watch before triple-blocking the Responder to death.  But after that 1-for-3 trade I was too far behind on the board, and he overwhelmed my lone creature for the victory.

Result: ID; friendly game W (2-1)


Summary

This was not the most exciting draft, although I feel like it was one of my more consistent ones, and a victory is always something to be proud of.  But I think I'd like to work up the courage to try one of the more extreme draft strategies - mill or sacrifice or control.