I almoooost 3-0′ed the draft last night at Game Kastle. I think I was in the weaker of the two 8-man pods and I ended up with a decent, aggressively-curved deck (deck list): Rip-Clan Crasher / Goblin Deathraiders / Jund Hackblade at the two, Ember Weaver / Vithian Renegades at the three, and Marisi’s Twinclaws / Rhox Brute at the four leading into Apocalypse Hydra as a finisher. I had good pump spells though (Colossal Might / Demonspine Whip / Maniacal Rage), so the hydra wasn’t necessary. I ended up only drawing it twice and playing it once.
What kept me from 3-0 was back-to-back, out-of-left-field beatings in round 1 from a Predator Dragon that my opponent added to his deck five seconds before we shuffled up. In game 1, I even stabilized the board with Apocalypse Hydra only to get blown out by Predator Dragon two turns later.
Of course, I blame his dragon, but the real problem was that I badly needed another Swamp in my deck so I could reliably play my RB two-drops. In both games of round 1, there were several turns where I couldn’t do anything because I had Mountain+Forest in play, but a hand full of red-black cards. After round 1, I swapped a Mountain for a Swamp and the next two rounds went swimmingly. (Ember Weaver + Demonspine Whip = awesome).
2 Goblin Deathraiders
1 Goblin Outlander
1 Jund Hackblade
2 Rip-Clan Crasher
1 Viashino Slaughtermaster
2 Ember Weaver
1 Shambling Remains
1 Vithian Renegades
1 Marisi’s Twinclaw
1 Rhox Brute
1 Voracious Dragon
1 Pale Recluse
1 Apocalypse Hydra
1 Colossal Might
1 Demonspine Whip
1 Maniacal Rage
1 Magma Spray
1 Resounding Thunder
1 Skeletonize
1 Exploding Borders
1 Grixis Panorama
1 Naya Panorama
5 Forest
5 Mountain (6 in round 1)
1 Plains
4 Swamp (3 in round 1)