This pack presents several good options for consideration. Momentary Blink and Tendrils of Corruption are inferior in power to the rest of the pack so they, along with their colours, can be dismissed. Telekinetic Sliver is one of the strongest cards to break out into the Sliver archetype, especially now that Homing Sliver has provided a consistent way of finding him. However, there are still cards with higher raw power than the potential this Sliver has to offer. Rift Bolt is obviously great, but it is the depth of Green that intrigues me here: Spike Tiller, Penumbra Spider and Sporesower Thallid.

I actually think that Spike Tiller is the most inferior of the three options, despite being a very powerful card that can easily swing games. It is the most expensive of the three, but it is because I feel the other two 'do' more for green than the Tiller that it is ranked the worst. Penumbra Spider is one of my favourite cards, providing green with both card advantage and an answer to evasion. Being able to deal with flyers is more important with the release of Future Sight than before. It brought Lucent Liminid, Whip-Spine Drake, and Knight of Sursi—all of whose effective three power the Spider trumps. It fills the hole in the colour that the introduction of Thornweald Archer fails to fill. However, Sporesower Thallid is just too good. A 4/4 for four is massive. Given that Saprolings are now better thanks to the introduction of Sporoloth Ancient and Sprout Swarm, the Thallid gets even better.

The decision between Thallid and Bolt was close before Saprolings improved. Whichever we pick, the decision is in no way influenced by the fact that there are plenty of green cards and only one red card. We could take the Bolt because we want to let others get involved in the green quagmire; but if we take a green card, then the player on our left will take the Rift Bolt and the green traffic jam we feared will never occur. This pick is so close that, if in doubt, the nod would easily go to Rift Bolt because it has a higher likelihood of making your final deck as it is less of a colour commitment and a card you would happily splash for. Colour preference also has little to do with this pick as both colours are very strong throughout the three sets. I came close to timing out on this pick and eventually went with the safer Bolt. In hindsight, my pick is completely wrong. The Thallid is just too powerful a card to justify taking the Bolt over it. Bolt is good, whereas the Thallid is great. Not off to the best start...

Pick: Rift Bolt

This pack once more provides some similarly powered options. There are no red cards worth considering, but with the rare missing this means nothing to us. Neither of the two combat tricks are powerful enough at this point (as we are neither of the colours, times a little bit more for the Thrill) so we can focus on the three creatures. Nantuko Shaman is a great card, underrated in my opinion, but is inferior to the other two, especially given that we just passed three great green cards (again, not the reason for passing it). This brings us to a decision between Spiketail Drakeling and Outrider en-Kor. If these cards were very close in power then I would opt for the Drakeling, because I prefer blue and I think that blue-red is a great colour combination. So I picked the Drakeling.

Here I made another grievous mistake, even worse than normal given last week's words of wisdom and my last pick. The Drakeling and en-Kor are not so close in power as to advocate a pick based on colour preference, as I did at the time. The Rebel is the better card by quite a long way. At the end of the draft, I will reflect on the impact this pick had on the draft. But for now, a mistake has been made, but it shouldn't be enough to shake you. Put it behind you, analyse the impact on the signals you are sending to the left, and focus on what is flowing from the right.

Pick: Spiketail Drakeling

A strong pack with many options. Red continues to be weak, presenting cards that are not worth considering given the power of the alternatives. We have our first black card of quality—Dark Withering, going up against Mangara of Corondor, Viscerid Deepwalker and Search for Tomorrow. Search for Tomorrow has decreased slightly in value with the introduction of Edge of Autumn, but here it is still an indicator that green might be open. The Deepwalker would be a nice addition to follow up the Drakeling but the draft is still young and, like the Search, the Homarid is just not powerful enough to be picked over wither of the two 'removal' spells. The decision between Dark Withering and Mangara of Corondor is, again, tight. I'm not particularly partial to either colour—I prefer white with blue and black with red. Both represent quite large colour commitments, Mangara slightly more so. The Withering opens the door to the madness deck/trap (you end up with too many madness spells and not enough outlets, or vice versa, or you get there. Either way, trying to keep the madness engine going will often cause you to make incorrect picks along the way.), whereas Mangara is combo-licious with Momentary Blink and cards like Stonecloaker.

I am more willing to abandon my Rift Bolt at this point than my Drakeling, as neither pack from the right has contained a red card of worth (although it is still too early to know), and there is a higher chance that I can splash the Bolt than the Drakeling. I also feel that I should have picked the en-Kor the pick before, which would have made Mangara an easy pick here, and it is likely that the guy on our right will assume we are in white and will consequently veer away from it (even though he shouldn't care too much about what we, as the guy on his left, do).

Pick: Mangara of Corondor

This pack was so dry I almost considered picking the Chromatic Star just to ensure the likelihood that I would play Rift Bolt by the end of the draft. However, this would have been just wrong, as there are still some good cards left in the pack. Either Tolarian Sentinel or Flowstone Channeler (a card I prefer to Blazing Blade Askari, unless my deck is already looking very aggressive) link back into colours I have already picked and the Sentinel is a great combo with Mangara. Yet I think that Trespasser il-Vec is strong enough to pick above both of these cards. Black might well be open given that it has the strongest card in this pack and was one of the best in the last pack.

Pick: Trespasser il-Vec

This pack is very weak. If it suggests anything, it is that red might be open, with Empty the Warrens, Bonesplitter Sliver and Stormcloud Djinn still here, but this is far from a strong signal. This is so weak that I almost picked the Dodecapod, and there is a good argument to suggest that I should have done. However, I think that this block in general has several Hill Giants (more on these and my love for them later on), and for now I am still all about taking the most powerful cards if in doubt.

Pick: Empty the Warrens

A typical mid pack full of mediocre cards. The black cards are too much of a colour commitment for their effects (the Magus is awful), the Wormwood Dryad and Scarwood Treefolk are too weak to consider going green, and the D'Avenant Healer is also too feeble a card to take over the real options. It took me a long time to chose between the Slipstream Serpent and the Bogardan Rager as I think they are very close in power. I eventually sided with the Rager. Looking back, this pick is easily the Rager as I have picked no other blue cards since the Drakeling, whilst I have picked up a few cards that suggest I'm headed red.

Pick: Bogardan Rager

Here is what I would normally refer too as a good signal. The Thallid Germinator is too good to be here this late. It must have been a strong booster to have made it this far, but it is a sign that green is underdrafted. It might well have been correct for me to take it. However, this draft has reached a point where it is unlikely to really benefit me by dipping into green given that the only strong signal that I have passed to the guy on my left is that green is open. Peculiar to this draft, the guy on my left probably picked exclusively green cards for his first three or four picks (as I would have done had I picked the Sporesower Thallid). It is therefore unlikely that I will receive any strong green in Planar Chaos. It is also unlikely that I will receive much green of consequence from what is left of Time Spiral, meaning that I would be relying solely on the third pack. This is one of the few examples where I haven't cut a colour—in fact I have done the exact opposite, to my own detriment, and it is therefore too late for me to switch into green. Any other colour would be fine.

Pick: Aetherflame Wall

Were I green I might have picked the Fungal Reaches over Jolrael, because I think she is a very overrated card. However, I also love 3/3s, so might still have picked her, although the introduction of Fomori Nomad and Sporoloth Ancient (were I red-green) means that the five drops in that archetype are plentiful. However, relevant to my current situation, my choice is between Flamecore Elemental and the land. This is pretty close. Normally, a storage land is better than the Elemental, because it is either a mana fixer or gives you the potential to splash another colour. In this case, that splashed colour would be green, and for obvious reasons, this is not a strong thing.

Pick: Flamecore Elemental

Not a red card in sight, so I'm forced to make an awkward decision straight off the bat. This choice boils down to blue versus white in the form of Ovinize or Saltfield Recluse. The Mangara I have is more powerful than the Drakeling, but the cards you have are of less of a consideration than the hook-up you think you are or will be getting. I feel that blue is more likely to be open, I also prefer blue so it helps match the colour preference as well. As far as power is concerned, the two are, once more, very close in level. The Recluse might be more powerful, but Ovinize has the ability to deal with almost any creature. I chose the latter because I felt that blue would be more forthcoming.

Pick: Ovinize

Shivan Meteor is the easy pick here. Erratic Mutation might also be a good removal spell, but the Meteor has the capacity to deal with practically everything.

Pick: Shivan Meteor

This is a nice reward. In an almost completely empty pack, there is nestled a bomb in the colour of our uncertainty. Thanks.

Pick: Jodah's Avenger

Needlepeak Spider is a filler card at best. Dreamscape Artist is a great card, but it's not in the same league as the reprinted Giant Growth.

Along with the Jodah's Avenger pack, this is the kind of thing you want to see when drafting. It's where you breath a sigh of relief at having reaped the rewards from either cutting or staying fast to the correct colours and having them come in spades. Ironically, out of the three red cards the Blood Knight is the worst—it's simply a great card. Stingscourger is phenomenal as well as being underrated. Its echo isn't as expensive as it looks, and even if you don't intend to pay it, a sorcery bounce spell in red is a brilliant addition to any deck. Added to that is the fact that your opponent will often not be able to find a good attack the next turn as it lies there with the echo unpaid, and if you do pay it then you have netted your self a tempo-based two for one. It is, however, still not the strongest card in the pack. This right is reserved for Tom.

Pick: Prodigal Pyromancer

In an unexciting pack with no option for us, the Artist provides us with a much-needed two drop.

Pick: Dreamscape Artist

Ignore the Spider; it's not in the same league as the two blue cards. I've picked both cards before when faced with this option, as it will often come down to the makeup of your deck and its mana curve. All things excluded, the Primal Plasma is the better card in a vacuum and, for us, the better card for our deck, which is currently lacking any serious late-game power other than the Avenger.

Aside: I love Hill Giants. They may be the standard for four mana, but they're slightly better than that. Gray Ogres have been outclassed again and again—three mana should buy you something more nowadays—whereas a Hill Giant is still a great deal. Amen.

Pick: Primal Plasma

It's pretty hard to find a more disappointing pack. Our lucky options are between the off-colour flashback of Marshaling Cry or the off-colour morph Lumithread Field. Both might be splashed off the Calciform Pools but will almost certainly not make the deck. I opted for the Cry, just in case the deck ended up appalling and the only real way of winning was to dig to any bombs we might have.

Pick: Mashalling Cry

This pick was quite difficult. The deck is in need of both removal and fatties and this pack offers Leaden Fists versus Boldwyr Intimidator. Leaden Fists is basically a superior Assasinate that can backfire on occasion, whereas the Intimidator is a monster. Seven mana might be a bit daunting, but it will win the game in short fashion. Future Sight has four red common removal spells and right now I'm looking for fatties.

Pick: Boldwyr Intimidator

A clear sign that blue is indeed open.

Pick: Infiltrator il-Kor

Coalition Relic is a card I enjoy having in control deck or decks with a very expensive or decks with colour issues. This deck is none of these, meaning that we can happily pick the Fomori Nomad and fulfill the fatties quota the deck was needing.

Pick: Fomori Nomad

Pick: Foresee

The late Death Rattle is surprising but of no concern to us. Skizzik Surger is a card that I always see going really late. This guy is massive. Half the time you won't ever need to pay echo for the guy, because either he will have been killed or your opponent will have been. The echo isn't even that big considering that the Skizzik will be the last thing you play in your hand and you will have little to do with your mana then anyway. However, we have picked up enough expensive guys, and the Leaden Fists is one step closer for us to complete the removal quota.

Pick: Leaden Fists

I find the late Nomad surprising, but unfortunately it's not what I'm looking for anymore. Venser's Diffusion might have made the final cut—it might not be the best bounce spell out there but it gets the job done. We're lacking two drops, though, which leaves us deciding between Emberwilde Augur and Storm Entity. I experimented with a card that I haven't played very much and picked the Entity. It didn't make the final cut, whereas the Augur would have, so in that respect I should have picked the other card, but I believe in experimenting when it comes to crazy cards like this. In some decks, the Entity is crazy, but I didn't have quite enough suspend or cheap cards in the end to make him worth it—my four drop was already quite full and what I needed was a two drop.

Pick: Storm Entity

The first thing I saw when this pick popped up was the Zoetic Caverns, which I was overjoyed to see, and it's a great card, as it let's you cheat on your land count. Then I noticed that Spin into Myth was somehow still in the pack. This had to have been a pick anomaly—the card is brilliant. It is a blue Dark Banishing with a lil' extra on the side. It often 'kills' the guy and leaves them with a useless land for their next draw. It is certainly a first pick card and one that even now, writing this, I am amazed came this late. Another sign that blue was indeed open.

Pick: Spin into Myth