Draft Traps #002

Draft aware!  Don't let friends fall into these draft traps!

Blue Green

With a heightened power level in Oath of the Gatewatch green cards, it may seem like this pairing would be a good route to go through. Blue, typically one of the most sought-after colors, has dropped off in power, and besides the usual spat of flyers that remain viable, has few spells that are very compelling to play. Much of the design of the set went to empowering Surge cards, and many of the most-played cards of the color will be these surge cards. The ability makes a color more efficient, but in the color blue, the power level of non-creature spells has noticeably dropped. When your best bet is Containment Membrane, which is double-pseudo removal, 

If you are going to play Blue Green, you want to be playing devoid.  If you see plenty of Stalking Drones, open a Dimensional Infiltrator, or stumble across some blinding drones, you might fall into this lane.  You want all of these cards, you will want Nissa's Judgement, one of the best removal cards in the set, and you will want lots of colorless mana. You will be looking for Eldrazi Skyspawner in pack three, but there will not be a lot of removal for you in this deck. Sweep Away and similar effects would be better off as a late Murk Strider.

Reflector Mage

Blue/White Skies has been a widely recognized draft strategy. White is a very fortified color in the current draft format. Picking White cards can allow you to end up in one of any of the the three best color pairings. Where you do NOT want to end up, however, is in Blue/White. As previously discussed, the power of blue has been shifted to the devoid side.

You may be tempted by the appearance of Reflector Mage to head towards a control deck of this ilk. We would encourage you not to do this. You may still find flyers to attack with, and you may fill your deck with counterspells that will cause you to over-strategize, leave mana unused, and allow your opponent to dictate the pace of the game. Reflector Mage is a great play in limited, but the deck has very little synergy without devoid, blue creatures. You may also be able to build a curve with white creatures, but you are still playing a polarizing deck dependent on a single tempo play to keep flyers in the sky.

Until next time, keep drafting, and keep your head up!