2011)

Recently I've run out of time for Magic. I have a baby on the way, lost my job, got a new job, moved, and just ran out of time. That meant no more Standard tournaments for me. I'm ok with that as I've been drafting more than playing Standard over the past three years or so at FNM's.

With the release of M12 a change of luck occurred for me. I started winning drafts. Before M12 I had only finished first in three 4-3-2-2 drafts. To date I have won five 4-3-2-2 M12 drafts. Did I get better all of a sudden or have I been getting lucky? A bit of both actually.

First off, do not rare draft if you want to win. For far too long I have done just that. It is very tempting to see a Sunpetal Grove or Mesa Enchantress and start Rare drafting just to get some money back. It's even more tempting when you open up off color third pack cards such as Inferno Titan or Gideon (although I would still take them in the third pack).

Second, Blue is power in M12. Every draft I have won blue is one of my two colors. Here are the cards to look for.

Aether Adept - Disrupting your opponent’s tempo while beating them down is a good thing. In a draft I did this past week I went against my strategy and passed three straight Aether Adepts. I saw seven pass me in the draft. What was I thinking?

Ponder - Being able to manipulate what you are going to draw while digging deeper into your deck is a powerful thing. Many times you will see Ponder come back to you the second time around in a pack.

Divination - More ways to dig deeper into your deck.

Cancel/Mana Leak/Negate/Flashfreeze - Four counter spells are good. Two are situational and Mana Leak gets worse as the game goes on. Try to get a Cancel or two when drafting Blue to stop their big threat bomb cards.

Azure Mage - She is unbelievable. When she is online, you are able to keep mana open for a counterspell, and then draw a card when you don't have to counter something. First pick this when you can, otherwise the person you pass to will probably go Blue.

Frost Titan/Jace, Memory Adept - These are bombs that can win the game on their own and can make you switch to blue pack three if you are a risk taker!

Jace's Archivist/Merfolk Looter - Powerhouses of Blue. The Looter will be picked early but surprisingly the Archivist can make it to you pick 5 or 6 sometimes. The Looter helps you toss useless lands to get something useful while digging deeper into your deck. It is usually killed immediately. Jace's Archivist is a monster. Worst case scenario you activate him after your opponent has drawn during their draw phase. It's like you are milling for one while you draw one! It also works great if you can Unsummon one of his creatures first!

Mind Control - They play a great creature it becomes yours. Awesome! Just watch out for Stave Off!

Turn to Frog - Oh the tricks you can play with this one! The most common (and arguably the best) is to turn their massive attacking creature into a frog and block. Sure, I’ll trade my 1/1 token of some sort for your Titan or Serra Angel or whatever it was a second ago.

Sphinx of Uthuun - Great while not so great. High casting cost. Nice ability. Pair it with Unsummon and you are looking at drawing a whole bunch of cards!

Unsummon - See above! Every Blue deck needs to play a few of these!

Visions of Beyond - In draft this card is usually nothing more than a card cycler, but I will draft it every time while playing Blue. I expect to draw the game out long enough with Blue that the second ability of drawing three cards occurs frequently!

Elixir of Immortality - I have to draft this card EVERY draft I am in! Paired with Blue this card lets you shuffle all your dead creatures back in along with all your counter spells and bounce spells! Make sure you draft this if you can.

If you can get the cards above you need to play Blue! Below I will list cards to look out for when choosing your second color:

When drafting a complimentary color for Blue, you should remember Blue is about control and control wants to play things on their opponent’s turns. So you should be drafting control cards to go along with Blue. In order I would draft Black, Green, Red, then White. Here are the cards in those colors to look for to draft those colors:

Black:
Brink of Disaster - Usually a very late pick, but it’s a decent removal spell, even though it sucks against Hexproof creatures and Serra Angel.

Call to the Grave - I love this card. But this card needs either a zombie subtheme, a token maker or Reassembling Skeleton to be very effective. When this is in play it will stop or really slow down your opponent. It is also a very effective way to get around hexproof. Draft this first pick if you can.

Cemetery Reaper - Goes along with Call to the Grave and also fits in with control theme being able to make tokens on your opponent’s turn allows you have plenty of time for tricks!

Consume Spirit - You do not have to be heavy Black to play this. Many times just being able to remove a 2/2 creature is worth it, but if you are half Blue half Black this can often times take out their best creature or be the finishing blow to your opponent.

Deathmark - Situational cheap removal.

Distress - More ways to control your opponent.

Doom Blade - This doesn't need to be explained!

Grave Titan (or any other Titan) - draft no matter what, even if it does not fit in with your theme. The same can be said about the planeswalkers; they are all too powerful to give to an opponent. Grave Titan also can help giving you plenty of creatures to stall out long enough until you can gain control of the game.

Onyx Mage - Makes it possible to kill any creature in combat.

Reassembling Skeleton - Blocks everything on the ground and comes back for more!

Royal Assassin - Surprisingly you will see people pass on him early and you can usually get him 6/7 pick but if you see him earlier do not pass on him. If you can combine him with anything to tap your opponent’s creatures then you will win easily. Just watch out for hexproof.

Sorin Markov - Do not worry about knocking your opponent down to 10 with his second ability. Use his first ability to kill off small creatures or hit your opponent, then when you can use his ultimate ability, be sure you make it worthwhile.

Sorin's Thirst – Instant removal gaining you life fits in with the theme.

Vengeful Pharaoh - Great with Merfolk Looter and will often win you games just getting in play. Nice thing is that you do not have to worry about him getting countered because he will keep coming back for more!

Wring Flesh - A nice combat trick or just a way to get rid of most turn one or two plays.

Green:
Acidic Slime - One of the few ways to deal with multiple cards. Use it to get rid of an artifact (creature or not), enchantment, or even a land when they are having mana problems. It’s very effective as a blocker, killing everything on the ground.

Arachnid Spinner/Arachnus Web/Giant Spider/Stingerfling Spider – These guys can sit there blocking flyers and non-flyers all day long. Add in the Stingerfling Spider's ability to destroy a flyer and the Arachnus Spinner's ability to search out the Arachnus Web and these are the creatures you want protecting you from the opposing army.

Cudgel Troll - Only good as a blocker in control.

Jade Mage - Another first pack first pick every time. The Jade Mage is a force you do not want to go against if you do not have a way to deal with it but it will win games while on your side.

Plummet - Another card that usually will go around and around the table. Don't be surprised to see this card pick 14 but at the same time it can be so powerful!

Reclaim - Another one of my favorite cards that I have to fit into a deck if I'm playing green. There are so many possibilities that this card opens up.

Even though I did not list a lot of Green cards I feel that it's the second best color to combine with Blue on the strength of the Jade Mage and Spiders so if you are unable to get any of these then avoid Green.

Red:
Red is only good if you get the removal it offers.

Act of Treason - Combine it with Fling and it is good. Without Fling, it's not so hot but you can get it late and that can make it playable.

Chandra, the Firebrand - Powerhouse! If you get more instants and sorceries to use such as Divination or Ponder then it gets insane!

Chandra's Outrage/Combust/Fireball/Incinerate/Shock - These are the core cards you need to draft in a Blue/Red control deck. If you get an Elixer of Immortality then these can be your win condition as well.

Flameblast Dragon/Goblin Fireslinger/Inferno Titan - Possible win conditions in Blue/Red. And yes Goblin Fireslinger is a win condition, albeit a slow one.

White:
It may surprise you that I list White as the least compatible with Blue but that’s because its best support cards are cards you have to play on your turn, leaving you to play catch up all game. Here are the White cards to look for:

Arbalest Elite - Only removes a creature every other turn and only if the creature attacks or blocks. It is slow but not to be taken lightly.

Day of Judgment - Wrath of God can't be passed up.

Gideon Jura - Use his ability to prolong the game, making your opponent attack it instead of you. Or kill his tapped creatures. Or swing with a 6/6 who doesn’t take damage.

Gideon's Lawkeeper - Tap their best creature then kill with Gideon!

Oblivion Ring - A first pack first pick into White!

Pacifism - More ways to deal with creatures and also a card that is picked highly.

Timely Reinforcements - This is the card that you will want to go White for in a control deck as it will give you three creatures often and six life almost every time.

Artifacts are complementary cards in Blue-White but like I said before Elixir of Immortality is a necessity! Here are other artifacts to look for:

Crown of Empires/Throne of Empires/Scepter of Empires – These are really good, especially if you can get all three. If not then avoid the Scepter unless that is your win condition. I get the Throne often but am always missing one of the other two pieces.

Druidic Satchel - What don't you like about this? An instant creature? A land in play untapped as an instant? Or gaining two life? I like unpredictable cards that have all good outcomes.

Overall Blue is the way to go. If you want to send a signal to the person you are passing to make sure you do not pass them any of the following cards:
Aether Adept, Azure Mage, Djinn of Wishes, Frost Titan, Jace, Memory Adept, Merfolk Looter, Mind Control, or Sphinx of Uthuun.

The rest of the Blue should come back around to you.

Best Blue Rare: Jace, Memory Adept
Best Blue Uncommon: Mind Control
Best Blue Common: Aether Adept

This article has been typed out on my brand new iPad!! Enjoy! Next article I will discuss a Blue Black M12 deck I built and ways to make it Standard legal while still being fun as well as competitive!

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