Drafting Shadowmoor - First Analysis
May 16th, 2008First and foremost, I think Shadowmoor is a great set. Shadowmoor seems exceptional for drafting, which in turn makes for great constructed decks too. When I first drafted Shadowmoor, I noticed two cards right off that I thought would be great in draft: Hungry Spriggan and Ballynock Cohort. While Hungry Spriggan has a huge upside, I soon learned of it’s bigger downside. It’s a 1/1 that is way too easy to kill with any burn spell, i.e. Scar (for 1 mana), or with any 1/1 creature with Wither. Ballynock, on the other hand, doesn’t really have any downsize and I believe is still one of the best cards to draft if you are going to run with any white at all. Two other Shadowmoor cards that I thought would do great in draft is Tattermunge Maniac and Shield of the Oversoul. Tattermunge Maniac is good on turn 1, and great if you drop a Bloodmark Mentor on turn two, but otherwise it too can be too easily disposed of. Shield of the Oversoul is great with no real drawbacks, but really needs to be played on something Green and White to get it’s full usefullness, and if not and played early to beef up a small fry (creature), could be a potential fodder for your graveyard, after all enough -1/-1 counters can even kill industructible.
Shadowmoor is great block for drafting with a good balance of removal, creatures, and other spells. I haven’t got to draft Shadowmoor since the release but plan on it this weekend so look for more on Drafting Shadowmoor in the coming weeks.
