Magic Online - First Impressions

So, being that I get to play 6 rounds of M11 draft at the biggest event I've ever been to (Nationals this August - which will also be my 5th major event ever), I figured I should probably practice up some on drafting M11. There is not a very big drafting scene in South Bend (or if there is, I don't know about it), so I won't be able to get in a ton of live drafts. I also have only played in (checks DCI) 8 sanctioned drafts so far in my entire Magic career, so I need to get cramming. I have two (possibly three) live drafts scheduled before Nats, but that isn't going to be nearly enough to get me feeling comfortable with it. There's only one answer - Magic Online. And, luckily enough, it's got M11 up a couple of weeks before Nats, so I can practice. Yay!

Step 1: Create an account. Done.

Step 2: Learn the basic interface - since the program itself doesn't seem very interested in helping you, I went over to Chunk's place after work Wednesday and watched him crank a draft, asking questions and getting a feel for it. After watching him go through the draft and lose 2-1 to a collection of doom blades and flings, I felt pretty comfortable with it. I then went to Wed night magic, auto-lost the first round due to being late, and crushed the loser's bracket 3-0 with my new Jund brew. Still not sure if it's good or not - the loser's bracket in South Bend is not exactly tier one competition.

Step 3: Buy some packs - I already had the two tix from signing up, so after dropping $12, I was good to go.

Step 4: Sign up for a draft - this being my first time in, I decided to go for the 4-3-2-2 instead of the 8-4 - learn to walk before you run, right?

Step 5: Drafting!

In the M11 drafts I've done so far, U/W fliers is by far my favorite archetype. When I saw Vengeful Archon as my first rare, I figured an unmitigated limited bomb was a good place to start; pick 2 was a Blinding Mage, solidifying me into pushing white hard. Pack 1 ended up being mostly white, forcing all of the good blue cards I saw (Harbor Serpent and not much else). Pack 2 was the money shot - Baneslayer!!! I'm paying for a few more drafts with this one, win or lose! Pick 2 was a Mind Control and I was off to the races. By the time I was 11/12th picking Stormfront Pegasus I started to wonder what everyone else was drafting. I don't normally hate-draft, but I picked off a couple of Combusts over borderline-playables since I didn't want to pass kryptonite. I ended up with what I felt could be an absolutely insane deck, worrying only that I was going to somehow mess up playing it due to inexperience.

Step 6: Play some games!

Game 1 I was in the U/W fliers mirror, but I had all of the bombs and he didn't. I called his bluff at one point and walked my Baneslayer into a Diminish, but I had the Archon in my hand and mana to cast it, so it wasn't a problem. Note to self for the future - other people are way less likely to bluff than I am.

Game 2 I ran into a very frustrating experience - I got a blinding mage down and was ready to lock the game up - he had a Serra Ascendant with the white enchantment ready to fly over and life-gain me to death, but I had Mage all set to keep it tapped down forever. Then he went to declare attackers and I hadn't had the chance to respond and tap him down! It took me 4 turns to figure out how to monkey the interface around so that I could actually play magic; by that point I was at 4 life and he was at 31. However, I also landed the Baneslayer while I was figuring it out, and I had Cancel up for protection. It took a lot more turns than it should have, but I put him away.

Second round, I ran into a fairly mean B/R deck. I have new respect for Mind Rot, Corrupt, and Chandra's Spitfire now. I stole the first game through some lucky top-decks (including Mind Control), got hosed in the second game, and in the third game I got stuck on 3 lands for what seemed like an eternity. However, he was busy being mana-flooded, and I stuck a couple early fliers, so I stayed in the game until I hit 5 mana. At that point I had Serra Angel and Baneslayer in my hand - I told myself "drop the Serra first and bait out his removal", but like a donk I played the Baneslayer anyway. Unsurprisingly it got deathmarked, but I had enough dorks on the board that I was able to power through (as I said, he got land-flooded).

Third round, my opponent never showed up, so I think I won by default - however, the software didn't give me any prize packs, so I'm not sure exactly what's going on. I filed a customer service complaint, so hopefully I have 4 packs coming to join my Baneslayer winnings.

So, first experience - really annoying interface, seemingly makes it as hard to set up as possible, but I think I have the hang of it. Drafting - I still suck at playing limited, but opening sick cards is a great cure for what ails you, and I do think I did a good job making my picks. Hopefully Wizards hooks me up with my 4 packs soon!

**Update: got my packs. They were just delayed**