- Gary Wise

Having just passed the midway point of Day 1 of US Nationals, the second draft of the day has just been completed. We observed the goings on at table one, which was occupied by the following competitors:

Seat:

1. Dave Humpherys
2. Mike Flores
3. Justin Fisher
4. Alan Comer
5. Jamie Parke
6. Mike Turian
7. Brian Hacker
8. Ron Schubert

Once again, the first pack opened was used as a communication device by the players, but some the choices just came down to the quality of the cards:

• Humpherys: Pestilence
• Flores: Sanctum Custodian
• Fisher: Veiled Serpent
• Comer: Goblin Patrol
• Parke: Pendrell Drake
• Turian: Goblin Raider
• Hacker: Breach
• Shubert: Congregate

While Humpherys' and Flores' initial choices were releatively easy ones, Fisher's choice came as a surprise to the other seven competitors, as it was easily the second best Blue card in the pack. 'It was pretty obvious from that pick that he was pretty random' said one of the other drafters, who requested be remain unidentified. One would think that anyone at the 3-0 table would be a capable drafter, but Fisher repeatedly proved this to be false, drafting what seemed to be a four color deck splashing Blue for Frantic Search.

Comer's choice of Goblin Patrol Marked his interest in staying away from a color fight with Fisher, while Parke eagerly jumped on the Drake, which was probably the third strongest card in the pack. The second pack went like this:

• Flores: Morphling
• Fisher: Vug Lizard
• Comer: Falter
• Parke: Ravenous Skirge
• Turian: Treetop Ranger
• Hacker: Shower of Sparks
• Shubert: Monk Realist
• Humpherys: Congregate

Opening the best card in Urza's Saga can make a color choice pretty simple. Flores took Morphling, essentially declaring himself to be U/W, one of the strongest archetypes in the environment. Fisher followed with the Lizard, declaring his desire to fight Comer for red. Comer, vigilant to the end, followed with the Falter in an attempth to stay true to his first pick, while Parke grabbed the Ravenous Skirge in what some would say was a failed opportunity to go U/W.

In the end, the decks looked like this:

Humpherys: B/W Pestilence with Pariah and Karmic Guide

Flores: U/W with Morphling, another Karmic Guide, Field Surgeon and Wizard Mentor, a very solid deck

Fisher: a four color monstrosity splashing Frantic Searches? All we know is that he has No Mercy and will likely play his three Vug Lizards.

Comer: A disappointing B/R deck in a draft which saw Alan get victimized by another player's poor drafting

Parke: A Strong B/W deck with a potential to splash blue, featuring a number of flyers, Eradicate and Jasmine Seer

Turian: A very strong G/R deck with more burn than can be named here

Hacker: A B/G deck with Corrupt, Thran Golem and THREE RANCORS!

Schubert: A very solid U/W deck with life gain and damage prevention capabilities.