At least a gate means it's one less card we have to cut from our deck at the end, plus it's a blue splash for our blue split cards.

Quite.

I think the Torturer is the pick here. But debate guys.

A few cards I have some thoughts on;

Profit / Loss is a nice boardwide combat trick or weenie killer that fits right in with our colors.

Deputy of Acquittals is nice for protecting a single creature or just getting an extra bounce for a gatekeeper, assuming we do include blue, which is seeming more likely.

Hired Torturer is that sit-back-and-deal-damage guy, which is nice if we lock up a board.

Armored Wolf-Rider is a solid vanilla creature if we want one. Helpful for any evolve we have, and generally beefy but otherwise... vanilla.

I can see any of these choices having a beneficial effect on our deck. What do you guys think?

For me it's a tossup between Hired Torturer and Armored Wolf-Rider . I'll let you guys debate about it, and then I'll vote. I could really go either way.

For me it's Hired Torturer . Fits with our plan.

Hired Torturer all the way! This is something we want to take, another way to win while we stall with our gatekeepers.

I want to make the argument for Profit / Loss late game, if the board is stalled, it sets us up for a suprise board wipe or an alpha. +1/+1 to all our creatures can turn the tide of a battle, -1/-1 to all of theirs is brutal, especially when fused. (think about a gatekeeper stall... we swing our gatekeepers into theirs, then land this fused, they lose their side of the field... then what do they do? It also takes out that pesky druid and tithe drinkers from them.

As much as I like torturer, and wolf, I have to go with Profit / Loss

+1 Profit / Loss (it's considered a pseudo bomb in limited, and no one on the side passing to us is b/w)

+1. Armored Wolf-Rider

You don't get much better than a 4/6 for 5 mana. Its a great followup to a turn 4 gatekeeper. It can take care of opposing gatekeepers. And its incredibly tough to get rid of at 6 toughness.

That's my second pick honestly. A 4/6 for 5 is strong and in our colors, it takes out a gatekeeper, it would be a solid target for unflinching. But I think the one sided board wipe in Profit / Loss is too powerful to give up, especially when we are planning on locking the board up to begin with. They will not see it coming and will lose, probably the next turn, if it's played right.

Honestly, I see Profit / Loss as more of a defensive combat trick. In the right situation it would be nice. I'm going to vote for it anyway seeing as the people down from us, those that we assume are playing R/B/W, would find this card extremely valuable.

+1 Profit / Loss

Truthfully, the most appealing thing about it is if we run against another stally deck running Tithe Drinker s, or Zhur-Taa Druid s, we can nuke all their 1 toughness dudes. It also deals well with a huge Feral Animist , or a Woodlot Crawler .

Loss is a powerhouse in limited on it's own and is often drafted without white in the deck. It just seems bad to let someone else have access to a card that could wipe our field in the right situation... Think about it: Board is stalled, they swing at us, we block favorably, they drop that and we lose our board presence. Next turn, we probably lose because we no longer have any blockers, and they have lethal on board.

This is tough, but we'll get a good pick either way. I think I'm leaning towards Profit / Loss. The other cards are more likely to re-appear, as they aren't uncommons.

I have no interest in Profit / Loss to be honest.

http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11137

Take a look at what Conley Woods says about the card. He's a pro, and he's very good at limited.

He says the loss part is first pickable most of the time.

Plenty of pros have varying opinions. So one pro saying its the best card ever doesn't persuade me. Also, Conley Woods is talking about the card in the regular draft format. It is significantly worse in Triple Dragons Maze

How so? It kills off most things that can do incremental damage to us which is a potential problem. It is also a 1 sided board wipe sometimes. Most of the time, it will at least allow us to trade favorably. With our strategy to lock the field down... I can only see how it would be better in this format.

I also really don't want that aggro W/B/R getting a hold of something can that sing the game that far in their favor. This is the card they are looking for. I'm usually not an advocate of hate drafting in general... when it's that good for your deck, and that bad for another deck that we will be playing against to not get... I see only a win win.

As always, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I just feel really strongly about this pick and I haven't really gotten a good reason why my opinions are off yet.

Otherwise I think the Hired Torturer is over the Wolf Rider, more consistent damage and a nicer spot on the curve for us.

Allright. I can't do this. I think we've been wrong on half of these picks, and I disagree with most of you. Of course I think I'm right just as I am sure that all of you think you're right. It's pretty clear I'm the odd man out when it comes to this draft group, and therefore have little to contribute.

I have spoken to KrazyCaley about leaving the draft and just becoming an observer. Good luck to you guys. May you draft many gates and gatekeepers.

Wat?

Okay, so far it's profit loss or Torturer.

I can swing either way on this, still.

Dragon's Maze has about 15 creatures that loss kills outright. A Profit/Loss strike with gatekeepers allows us to kill anything that is 4 toughness or less, which is probably 90% of Dragon's Maze creatures. Profit/Loss would be consistently useful.

But, Hired Torturer is a way to consistently deal direct damage and gain information, as well as being a decent blocker. It's less bomb-y than Profit / Loss, more slow/steady.

Well, since nobody else has addressed this. Farewell, Arachnarchist, I'm sorry you felt that you were the odd man out.

Now, my vote end up going to Profit / Loss . I think it week prove itself to be a game changer. Possibly a game winner. And, not to hate-draft or anything, but I don't want it to fall into the hands of the B/R/W deck to the left of us. Also, we well have plenty of chances to get a torturer I'm pack 3. At least I'm about 80% sure. So, yeah...

In* pack 3

Stupid phone.