So, the title is a bit misleading. This is more like "Re-Drafting with Mike" because I didn't actually do this draft. One of my good friends, Chad, sent this interesting draft to our play group's mailing list. I disagreed with enough picks that I felt having two competing views would help.

Chad's draft is in a 4-3-2-2 at a very weak table, with six people rated below 1610. Chad's DraftCap is below, but skip to the bottom for the commentary and the important picks. Just check up if you want to see the full pack, but my commentary pretty much covers it.

Draft:

Pack 1:

Orcish
Cannonade, Amrou Scout, Keldon Halberdier, Durkwood Baloth, Fathom
Seer, Sidewinder Sliver, Viscid Lemures, Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, Two-Headed
Sliver, Pull from Eternity, Aspect of Mongoose, Nightshade Assassin,
Kaervek the Merciless, Merfolk Assassin, Plains

Pick: Durkwood Baloth

Pack 2:

Icatian
Crier, Dark Withering, Goblin Skycutter, Crookclaw Transmuter, Strength
in Numbers, Pit Keeper, Divine Congregation, Jhoira's Timebug,
Chameleon Blur, Subterranean Shambler, Thick-Skinned Goblin, Paradox
Haze, Gemstone Caverns, Browbeat

Pick: Crookclaw Transmuter

Pack 3:

Spinneret
Sliver, Keldon Halberdier, Ivory Giant, Mindstab, Slipstream Serpent,
Clockspinning, Bogardan Rager, Sangrophage, D'Avenant Healer, Haunting
Hymn, Calciform Pools, Claws of Gix, Mountain

Pick: Spinneret Sliver

Pack 4:

Nantuko
Shaman, Coral Trickster, Benalish Cavalry, Feebleness, Viscid Lemures,
Ground Rift, Dream Stalker, Wormwood Dryad, Venser's Sliver, Paradox
Haze, Yavimaya Dryad, Suq'Ata Lancer

Pick: Nantuko Shaman

Pack 5:

Drudge
Reavers, Goblin Skycutter, Cancel, Pentarch Ward, Foriysian
Interceptor, Aetherflame Wall, Detainment Spell, Thallid Shell-Dweller,
Skittering Monstrosity, Restore Balance, Greenseeker

Pick: Greenseeker

Pack 6:

Strength
in Numbers, Errant Doomsayers, Corpulent Corpse, Viscerid Deepwalker,
Sage of Epityr, Ghitu Firebreathing, Greenseeker, Outrider en-Kor,
Plated Pegasus, Spike Tiller

Pick: Spike Tiller

Pack 7:

Urborg
Syphon-Mage, Aether Web, Cloudchaser Kestrel, Cyclopean Giant,
Screeching Sliver, Psychotic Episode, Jedit's Dragoons, Harmonic
Sliver, Magus of the Candelabra

Pick: Urborg Syphon-Mage

Pack 8:

Gorgon
Recluse, Mystical Teachings, Two-Headed Sliver, Prismatic Lens,
Clockspinning, Firewake Sliver, Might Sliver, Flamecore Elemental

Pick: Might Sliver

Pack 9:

Keldon Halberdier, Sidewinder Sliver, Two-Headed Sliver, Pull from Eternity, Aspect of Mongoose, Merfolk Assassin, Plains

Pick: Keldon Halberdier

Pack 10:

Pit Keeper, Divine Congregation, Jhoira's Timebug, Chameleon Blur, Subterranean Shambler, Paradox Haze

Pick: Pit Keeper

Pack 11:

Clockspinning, Sangrophage, D'Avenant Healer, Haunting Hymn, Mountain

Pick: Haunting Hymn

Pack 12:

Coral Trickster, Viscid Lemures, Ground Rift, Paradox Haze

Pick: Coral Trickster

Pack 13:

Goblin Skycutter, Foriysian Interceptor, Detainment Spell

Pick: Goblin Skycutter

Pack 14:

Errant Doomsayers, Plated Pegasus

Pick: Plated Pegasus

Pack 15:

Psychotic Episode

Pick: Psychotic Episode

Pack 16:

Stingscourger,
Whitemane Lion, Erratic Mutation, Midnight Charm, Reality Acid, Citanul
Woodreaders, Pallid Mycoderm, Keldon Marauders, Bog Serpent, Primal
Plasma, Simian Spirit Guide, Riftmarked Knight, Cautery Sliver,
Dunerider Outlaw, Intet, the Dreamer

Pick: Intet, the Dreamer

Pack 17:

Shaper
Parasite, Battering Sliver, Whitemane Lion, Mire Boa, Utopia Vow, Dust
Corona, Vitaspore Thallid, Dash Hopes, Primal Plasma, Vampiric Link,
Skirk Shaman, Kavu Predator, Serra's Boon, Roiling Horror

Pick: Shaper Parasite

Pack 18:

Stingscourger,
Saltfield Recluse, Veiling Oddity, Midnight Charm, Aquamorph Entity,
Evolution Charm, Pallid Mycoderm, Brain Gorgers, Essence Warden, Brute
Force, Mana Tithe, Shrouded Lore, Fatal Frenzy

Pick: Evolution Charm

Pack 19:

Needlepeak
Spider, Shaper Parasite, Spitting Sliver, Aven Riftwatcher, Dust
Corona, Uktabi Drake, Sinew Sliver, Gossamer Phantasm, Seal of
Primordium, Mantle of Leadership, Jodah's Avenger, Retether

Pick: Shaper Parasite

Pack 20:

Dawn
Charm, Shaper Parasite, Dash Hopes, Shade of Trokair, Vitaspore
Thallid, Brain Gorgers, Mana Tithe, Simian Spirit Guide, Necrotic
Sliver, Venarian Glimmer, Ovinize

Pick: Shaper Parasite

Pack 21:

Dreamscape
Artist, Ridged Kusite, Firefright Mage, Wistful Thinking, Keldon
Marauders, Fa'adiyah Seer, Merfolk Thaumaturgist, Lavacore Elemental,
Kavu Predator, Mycologist

Pick: Dreamscape Artist

Pack 22:

Synchronous
Sliver, Dawn Charm, Spitting Sliver, Fury Charm, Wistful Thinking,
Merfolk Thaumaturgist, Healing Leaves, Stormfront Riders, Sophic Centaur

Pick: Synchronous Sliver

Pack 23:

Veiling Oddity, Ridged Kusite, Saltfield Recluse, Uktabi Drake, Ghost Tactician, Healing Leaves, Revered Dead, Timebender

Pick: Uktabi Drake

Pack 24:

Whitemane Lion, Midnight Charm, Reality Acid, Bog Serpent, Primal Plasma, Simian Spirit Guide, Cautery Sliver

Pick: Primal Plasma

Pack 25:

Battering Sliver, Vitaspore Thallid, Dash Hopes, Primal Plasma, Vampiric Link, Serra's Boon

Pick: Battering Sliver

Pack 26:

Veiling Oddity, Midnight Charm, Brain Gorgers, Brute Force, Mana Tithe

Pick: Brute Force

Pack 27:

Spitting Sliver, Gossamer Phantasm, Seal of Primordium, Mantle of Leadership

Pick: Seal of Primordium

Pack 28:

Dash Hopes, Mana Tithe, Venarian Glimmer

Pick: Venarian Glimmer

Pack 29:

Wistful Thinking, Fa'adiyah Seer

Pick: Wistful Thinking

Pack 30:

Wistful Thinking

Pick: Wistful Thinking

Pack 31:

Knight
of Sursi, Grave Peril, Wrap in Vigor, Samite Censer-Bearer, Infiltrator
il-Kor, Ghostfire, Fomori Nomad, Patrician's Scorn, Logic Knot, Nessian
Courser, Spin into Myth, Witch's Mist, Boldwyr Intimidator, Gibbering
Descent, Char-Rumbler

Pick: Infiltrator il-Kor

Pack 32:

Marshaling
Cry, Kavu Primarch, Foresee, Emberwilde Augur, Putrid Cyclops, Augur
il-Vec, Mass of Ghouls, Lucent Liminid, Thornweald Archer, Flowstone
Embrace, Frenzy Sliver, Aven Mindcensor, Arcanum Wings, Snake Cult
Initiation

Pick: Foresee

Pack 33:

Ichor
Slick, Petrified Plating, Bogardan Lancer, Mesmeric Sliver, Patrician's
Scorn, Sarcomite Myr, Henchfiend of Ukor, Thornweald Archer, Death
Rattle, Emblem of the Warmind, Imperiosaur, Ramosian Revivalist,
Veilstone Amulet

Pick: Imperiosaur

Pack 34:

Oblivion
Crown, Saltskitter, Cutthroat il-Dal, Llanowar Augur, Blind Phantasm,
Lumithread Field, Grinning Ignus, Edge of Autumn, Deepcavern Imp,
Street Wraith, Storm Entity, Intervention Pact

Pick: Edge of Autumn

Pack 35:

Lost
Hours, Wrap in Vigor, Leaden Fists, Gift of Granite, Grave Scrabbler,
Mesmeric Sliver, Deepcavern Imp, Flowstone Embrace, Fleshwrither,
Skizzik Surger, Augur of Skulls

Pick: Leaden Fists

Pack 36:

Rift
Elemental, Augur il-Vec, Llanowar Empath, Grave Peril, Mass of Ghouls,
Vedalken Aethermage, Blade of the Sixth Pride, Grinning Ignus,
Fleshwrither, Pact of the Titan

Pick: Pact of the Titan

Pack 37:

Putrid
Cyclops, Rift Elemental, Llanowar Empath, Unblinking Bleb, Grave
Scrabbler, Henchfiend of Ukor, Lymph Sliver, Phosphorescent Feast,
Narcomoeba

Pick: Llanowar Empath

Pack 38:

Samite Censer-Bearer, Aven Augur, Fomori Nomad, Logic Knot, Virulent Sliver, Frenzy Sliver, Spellwild Ouphe, Zoetic Cavern

Pick: Aven Augur

Pack 39:

Grave Peril, Wrap in Vigor, Samite Censer-Bearer, Fomori Nomad, Patrician's Scorn, Boldwyr Intimidator, Gibbering Descent

Pick: Fomori Nomad

Pack 40:

Emberwilde Augur, Putrid Cyclops, Frenzy Sliver, Aven Mindcensor, Arcanum Wings, Snake Cult Initiation

Pick: Emberwilde Augur

Pack 41:

Oblivion Crown, Saltskitter, Llanowar Augur, Grinning Ignus

Pick: Grinning Ignus

Pack 42:

Lost Hours, Grave Scrabbler, Skizzik Surger

Pick: Grave Scrabbler

Pack 43:

Rift Elemental, Grave Peril

Pick: Rift Elemental

Pack 44:

Mountain

Pick: Mountain

Draft recording done by Blargware's MTGO DraftCap. Support Blargware!

The first pick is juicy. Trimming the chaff, we have Amrou Scout, Durkwood Baloth, Fathom Seer, Nightshade Assassin, and Kaervek. Tough. Color preferences will truly dictate where this goes. I cut it down to Baloth, Kaervek, and Fathom Seer, and I would've ultimately taken the Seer. Amrou Scout is at its best in WB, and passing the Assassin and the huge fatty legend will put two black mages to our left. Now, we must remember that Planar Chaos is the pack that we'd be cut from black, and, frankly, that's not that big a deal. However, Assassin requires a heavy black commitment; frankly, you just need playable black cards to maximize his effect, and losing out on a pack's worth of playable, albeit mid-tier, black cards weakens this pick. Kaervek just dominates games when he resolves. He is a splashable legend in either red or black, and he is clearly the strongest red card in the pack. That said, he is seven mana. I've always been a huge fan of the Suspend 1 guys, and Durkwood Baloth is the best of the bunch. On top of that, he's the best green pick. Finally, Fathom Seer. I feel the Seer, as the only blue card, is the most profitable cut in Planar Chaos. Blue is also the most consistently strong color throughout the packs.

Most importantly, however, the table is very weak. Being able to maximize power and consistency is, I feel, the key to winning limited formats. Not enough of either makes the draft a blow out. (See my 4c Control draft, and imagine without either the bombs or the fixing. Yuck.) Being able to cut blue early, setting yourself up for a windfall in PC accomplishes both. Doing this as early as the first pick seems to be the best way to go about doing this.

Pick 1 -

Chad's pick: Durkwood Baloth

My pick: Fathom Seer

The second pick is curious indeed. The choice is between Dark Withering, Strength in Numbers, and to a lesser extent Crookclaw and Thick-Skinned Goblin. If I had taken the Baloth, I would go with the Strength in Numbers to start setting myself up for a ridiculous green deck. Otherwise, I would go with the removal spell. I like Withering the most in UB or BR, because of access to decent enablers like Looter, Lightning Axe, and Flowstone Channeler. I can't understand the Crookclaw here unless you were trying to accomplish what I was trying to do with the Fathom Seer pick above, which is cut blue. If you passed the Seer, the Transmuter is simply not the strongest card in the pack. Playable, yes, but it doesn't accomplish the goal of "strong, consistent deck" as well as the other cards in the pack.

Pick 2 -

Chad's pick - Crookclaw Transmuter

My pick - Dark Withering (Strength in Numbers)

(At this point, I'm going to start taking picks along Chad's route, which is Green-based instead of UB.)

Pick 4 is interesting because Chad's foray into Green gets spicy, as Yavimaya Dryad and Nantuko Shaman both get passed, while my UB route sees only Dream Stalker and Feebleness. I feel that the choice between Dryad and Shaman is strictly a judgment call. The Shaman is better in UG because the solid morphs in Blue, like the Seer, Shaper Parasite, Aquamorph Entity, etc. tend to make the three-slot kind of thick. This makes the Shaman and his extra card more attractive to the UG mage. However, the Dryad provides a body and a mana accelerant, which is very important in this archetype that typically gains control not through removal but through fatties. Because of this, I would take the Dryad, even in UG.

Pick 4 -

Chad's pick - Nantuko Shaman

My pick - Yavimaya Dryad

Browsing the rest of the Time Spiral picks, Chad largely stays on target with monoG, pausing to take Urborg Syphon-Mage. In Pick 6, I feel he drastically overvalues Spike Tiller, ignoring the insane, in-my-humble-opinion first-pickable Strength in Numbers. I feel this is just wrong, though I have seen many players I respect make this decision in the past. Maybe I'm missing something?

Planar Chaos is where thing truly get interesting. Opening Intet gives the draft a direction in color. Shaper Parasite in pack 2 keeps it going that way. Then I think Chad gets a tad bit excited. Shaper Parasite is great and all, but taking it over Jodah's Avenger? Let's examine that pick. First, THREE people have taken cards over the highly splashable Avenger. This is a perfect example of the utility of analyzing the table. People are obviously taking weak cards for their weak decks. I can find little to no excuse for Jodah Avenger to still be in a pack with a rare and both uncommons around. Maybe a Damnation and a foil Pyrohemia were both in the pack, but barring that unlikely scenario, one common and one uncommon (or timeshift Rare) have been taken over the Avenger. In either case, the fatty boom-boom not the most powerful card in the pack.

Pick 19 -

Chad's pick - Shaper Parasite

My pick - Jodah's Avenger

Similar scenario, but entirely different logic applies to the next pick. Currently in the draft, Chad has the little creatures outclassed. A Shaper Parasite, two-for-one creatures like Nantuko Shaman or Yavimaya Dryad, and fatties like Intet and Baloth all serve to marginalize small creatures. However, opposing win conditions (like the passed Jodah's Avenger) could prove particularly difficult for the removal-light GU Mage to handle. Without the benefit of the bounce and tempo spells of Time Spiral (Snapback, Temporal Eddy, etc.), the GU mage is forced to rely instead on Utopia Vow for its removal needs. This is not an enviable position to be in. Ovinize is a great way to deal with opposing fatties, and a card this deck desperately needs. I think Chad fears the uncommon.

Pick 20 -

Chad's pick - Shaper Parasite

My pick - Ovinize.

The rest of Planar Chaos goes swimmingly, and then we are hit with a monster Future Sight pack. Infiltrator il-Kor or Spin Into Myth? Ghostflame, while solid and on-color (yay, Intet!) is simply outclassed. I'm pretty sure I would take the Spin Into Myth here, again because GU is never aching for creatures. It aches for removal. Spin Into Myth is simply a monster removal spell in these colors, and my obvious pick. However, the Infiltrator pick is quite defensible in light of the previous picks. With THREE Shaper Parasites, this version of GU is much more aggressive than the builds that have popularized this archetype. No Penumbra Spiders or Fathom Seers, instead we have Durkwood Baloth and Shaper Parasite. With that logic, the best two-drop in the colors, not to mention some very attractive evasion, makes this pick much more difficult than my immediate pick would make it seem. Nevertheless, I'd take the removal.

Pick 31 -

Chad's pick - Infiltrator il-Kor

My pick - Spin Into Myth

Imperiosaur and Pact of the Titan are wonderful gifts, making this deck quite the beater. The last pick I want to cover is Pick 38. I value Logic Knot quite highly in deck's like the one Chad ended up drafting because it is a cheap answer to any possibly mass removal spell that my opponent could have to answer the ridiculous threat this deck can produce. Aven Augur is simply not an optimal four-drop, in light of Imperiosaur, Nantuko Shaman, and Foresee all vying for the four-slot spotlight. Logic Knot, on the other hand, fills a key hole in the decks middle game.

Pick 38 -

Chad's pick - Aven Augur

My pick - Logic Knot

And that sums up this edition. Chad ended up winning the whole draft 3-0. That probably makes all my suggestions look like crap; after all, I'm a results-oriented guy. And a hyphen-oriented typer. So be it.

-MW