SHM draft UB (3-0)

There seems to be a trend, Mono Red and UB are my two favourite colours. I've done well with UW and GW but I find my decks never quite compare with what i draft in UB or Mono Red.

The Draft.

Yes this deck is strong. No I'm not a lucksack who opened the packs. My first picks from each pack were: Godhead of Awe, Thoughtweft Gambit, Leech Bonded.

I started off in UW, however quickly delved into UB when inkfathom infiltrator was passed (its a fantastic card)

The final pack pays incredible dividends for my cutting off blue. 6th pick Wasp Lancer, 7th pick Ghastlord of Fugue and two helm of ghastlords get passed, but I believe are hated out before they can table.

I like parapet watchers, it gums up the ground versus land creature decks (GW, RG etc) and totally screws with combat maths, not only that but it makes hiding open mana for tricks not seem so obvious, especially if you're keeping your 4 aethertow mana open and he has a 6 power creature out.

Why UB is nice.

I believe it has to do with the strong U creatures and spells combined with the evasion of flying and removal (River's Grasp, Blight, Gloomlance, Biting Tether, Curse of Chains, Turn to Mist, Aethertow, Consign to Dream and if desperate, Sinking Feeling). With these you can almost always table some kind of control back to you. And what fantastic control, you can make them discard, you can tap down their critters, you can timewalk them, remove enchants, save your own creatures, the list goes on!

UW and GW decks are difficult to play past turn 10 as they have very low toughness creatures, and lots of competition, people love playing mono white, blue players steal your picks, and green players steal everything. That said, they also have the two most powerful enchants.

Matches (2-0 2-0 2-1)

Match 1 vs. Lepauli 1733 rated Green White enchant fest.

Game 1:
River's Grasp his turn 5 Ghastbark to see his hand, I'm shocked. Shield of Oversoul, Shield of Oversoul, Armored Ascension. I feel like I've literally dodged a bullet. I make him discard his only relevant creature and bash to the face with Wasp Lancer, Wingrattle Scarecrow and my 3/3 Leech Bonder (who is basically 2 lots of removal due to the number of crazy 1 toughness creatures).

Game 2:
He concedes at 13 life (which starts an interesting trend) with the board showing Wasp Lancer, Leech Bonder and Wingrattle Scarecrow. Once again he can't cast anything as the board is removed by Bonder, and flying is impressive in SHM as it is very rare.

He has Wooded Bastion. Must be nice.

Match 2 vs. Penumbra 1571 rated with Green White enchant fest.

My opponent concedes at 16 life on turn 6, im on 14 life . The board is Kinscaer Harpoonist, Wingrattle Scarecrow and Inkfathom infiltrator. I'm holding Ghastlord of Fugue, Wasp Lancer, Prismwake Merrow and Gravelgill duo.

Another classic 'interaction' was a major misplay by my opponent, which I have done before:

Board is Mistmeadow Skulk and 3 lands. He taps 3 and then slowly untaps. Well it could be a bluff, but more likely it's an enchant. Instead he passes the turn and casts Wildslayer Elves turn after.

I'm holding River's Grasp with the mana to play it, but I wait, attacking with my evasion fliers.

He gets one attack in with his Shield of Oversoul protected Wildslayers before I 2 for 1 him with River's Grasp.

In fact my biggest fear is early aggro before i can get all my 3 drops online. This seems unfounded as by the time I get my guys online, my opponents weenies are generally irrelevant.

Match 3 Finals vs. PlusEV 1747 rated UW with TRICKS

Game 1: Win with overwhelming aggro, Ghastlord just cuts off his defense and River's Grasp and Leech Bonder slowly but surely remove his board.

Game 2: It's a close game, and my Leech Bonder is surprised by a Plumeveil... Which utterly annoys me as all my critters are flying.

I die when he is at 4 life. He has a 6/6 Faerie Swarm and a Cemetery Puca copying my Wasp Lancer.

I made a big misplay here, He attacks with Kinscaer harpoonist and 5/5 Faerie swarm, I'm at 7 life and I've got Wasp Lancer as my only blocker. I choose to block faerie swarm to reduce damage, but I end up dead on the board as he still has his Kinscaer which can stop my blockers and now he has a Wasp too using his Cemetry Puca.

Let this be a lesson to myself that life totals only matter when you're at 0.

Game 3:

12 turns.

He has many tricks, including verbal.

When I cast Leech Bonder he mentions his dismay with how much he hates that card on turn 3.

Leech Bonder gets surprised blocked by Plumeveil again.

From then on I refuse to read any of his text.

Godhead of Awe pops out, but he Consigns it to Dream. I actually never cast it again for the rest of the game, as my critters are stronger than his.

I stabilise at 12 life with two fliers out, and I trap his fliers down with curse of chains and torpor dust.

In the end I River's Grasp his Cemetary Puca and take his second Consign to Dream.

Then I Flow of Ideas for 6 cards.

Lesson learned here: Take your time to consider your options and never listen to an opponent trying to be nice. Flow of ideas is a great card, I'm glad it tabled back to me!

A conspired Aethertow later, and I'm the proud owner of my 4th Reaper King Avatar!

It's been a great release season and I've been humbled and been victorious, I sometimes feel it's a little bit swingy with the enchants, but long term, skill will last out as always!

Cheers

AAZipzop2