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Planeshift Thoughts

Thought 1: Phelddagrif is broken. No really. It's a whole lot of rubbish to come up with a four mana costed 4/4, but to have it damn near unkillable with the Protection from White, flying and pumpability is nonsense. It almost warrants a player to go U/G/W if he opens it in his pack. I didn't and suffered painfully.

Thought 2: Black and Red got absolutely shafted aside from the one card...Terminate.

Thought 3: Previous experience of playing Invasion draft till my eyes became dazed was that the ultimate killer deck had the likes of Breath of Darigaaz, Soul Burn, Agonizing Demise and Recoil, with a whole lot of Grizzly Bears. (Vodalian Zombies, Firebrand Rangers and Shivan Zombies). Not true any more. The creature base in Planeshift has a majority toughness of 3, if not 4 and most of these are Gold with a Black component, making it unkillable except for Terminate and Exotic Curse. As for other colours, Green has got some serious fat, Red/Green has got some stupendous undercosted gating creatures, and Green/White and White/Blue has got some miracles. Really. So out with the old methodology of drafting. You can draft as many Grizzly Bears as you want. If a Shivan Wurm hits the table you're stuck, unless you have a Terminate in hand. If a Shivan Wurm hits the table with an Acolyte in play, you are REALLY SHAFTED. If a Shivan Wurm hits the table, and follows it up with an Armadillo Cloak...go home. But "that's not all!". Phelddagrif. That's unkillable. You need a Blind Seer against it.

Thought 4: Battlemages rock. The Blue Battlemage is your solution. It is a first pick on the draft, due to the fact that it can do a Terror on a Phelddagrif. Plus it lets you gain life as well. And combine it with Cavern Harpy, you have a serious combo, unless someone Excludes it.

Thought 5: Confound kicks ass. It is the choice card for defence of your creatures. I'd rather draft Confound over a creature booster now. It saves creatures and is a cantrip. Absolutely awesome.

Thought 6: The Lairs are great. Allows VERSATILITY. That's the main thing. And you can tap it for mana before it gets sacrificed if you really don't want to return land to your hand.

Thought 7: The Charms are great. Read above. With the Lairs, the Charms become really viable.

Thought 8: Drafting 3 colours is going to be the way to go. If you can't force three colours into a draft deck, you're not playing optimal Magic, because most of the cards now have 2 separate abilities with its casting cost different in colour (Battlemages, Apprentices, Masters, Familiars).

Thought 9: Flying is evermore important now. The amount of powerful flyers in White and Blue now really make Canopy Surge an important card.

Thought 10: Familiars are awesome. If nothing else, the Green Familiar is a 2/1 for 2. Brilliant stuff.

Here are my draft picks for commons and uncommons:

Commons:

1st pick: Terminate
2nd pick: Confound
3rd pick: Any Apprentice (Super sick!)
4th pick: Stoned Kavu (Equally super sick!)
5th pick: Horned Kavu (Sick!)
6th pick: Caldera Kavu (Equally sick!)
7th pick: Magma Burst (6 damage capability. What more can you ask for?)
8th pick: Hobble (It's a CANTRIP!!)
9th pick: Cavern Harpy (I challenge anyone to kill it)
10th pick: Silver Drake (3 for 3/3. That's gotta be good.)

Uncommons:

1st pick: Any Battlemage
2nd pick: Any Familiar.
3rd pick: Lashknife Barrier (Absolutely sick!)
4th pick: Strafe (3 damage for 1 mana. Garfield must be drunk)
5th pick: Flametongue Kavu (Think combo!!!)
6th pick: Alpha Kavu (It's a KAVU!!! It can pump itself)
7th pick: Gainsay (Sideboard against blue players, even in limited.)
8th pick: Fleetfoot Panther
9th pick: Voice of All
10th pick: Any Charm

Roy