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The Sentry™
Card# MTU-017

While his stats aren’t much bigger than those of the average 7-drop, Sentry’s “Pay ATK” power can drastically hinder an opponent’s attacking options in the late game.
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Draft Profile: Matt Oldaker

Billy Zonos

November 18, 2006

It’s Day 2 draft time! For the first draft of the day, I sat down with the only undefeated player left; Mr. Matt Oldaker.

Pack 1:

1. Mar-Vell ◊ Captain Marvel, Soldier of the Empire, Pressed into Service, Negative Zone, Shadow Dimension]

Yes, his first pack really was that weak.

2. Franklin Richards, Creator of Counter-Earth, Act of Defiance, Technarx, Lockjaw, Inhuman’s Best Friend

3. Crystal, Elementelle, Doom Needs Only Doom, Cosmic Order, Morg, Corrupt Destroyer

4. Final Decree, Admiral Galen Kor, Ruul Warrior

5. Himalayan Enclave

6. Warskrull, Admiral Galen Kor

7. Penal Colony, Morg, Corrupt Destroyer

8. Syphonn, Arsenal of Doom, Firelord, Harbinger of Havoc

Oldaker later told me that he picked Syphonn because he felt that the Negative Zone was coming back.

9. Super Genius

10. Invisible Woman, Flame On!

11. Supremor

12. Penal Colony

13. Astral Suppression, Sentry #459

14. Strategic Retreat

So far his draft looked a bit off. He seemed to be heading into Inhumans with a splash of Kree, but I think there were at least three other players at the table who were main-team drafting Inhumans at this point. The overall weakness of the first pack didn’t do him any favors, either. Let’s see if his luck changes with the second pack.

Pack 2:

1. Karnak, Interstellar Offensive, Firelord, Harbinger of Havoc, Blue Area of the Moon, Nahrees

2. Franklin Richards, Creator of Counter-Earth, Lockjaw, Inhuman’s Best Friend, Morg, Corrupt Destroyer, Pressed into Service

3. The Great Refuge, Act of Defiance, Divinity, Ethan Edwards

4. Extended Family, Act of Defiance, The Lunatic Legion, Black Bolt, Illuminati

Oldaker let out an audible sigh after seeing his third Act of Defiance. He seemed to be kicking himself for not heading in that direction.

5. Stargate, Hala, The Lunatic Legion

Oldaker let out another sigh. The signals pointed to the fact that Kree might be under-drafted at this table.

6. Arsenal of Doom, Armies of Doom

7. Power Struggle, Human Torch, Sparky

8. Lockjaw, Inhuman’s Best Friend

9. Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Soul Searcher

10. Mr. Fantastic, Illuminati

11. Ronan the Accuser, Starforce

12. Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Optimistic Youth

13. The Lunatic Legion

14. Maximus the Mad

For good or ill, Oldaker was locked in with the Inhumans pretty solidly. At this point, he was showing notable holes at 4 and 5 and he was in desperate need of a team-up. Although I agree that letting all those Acts go by may have been a mistake, the only time I would take an Act in this situation would be over The Great Refuge.

Pack 3:

1. Wolverine, Skrunucklehead, Battleworld, Nenora, Thing, Rockhead, The Uni-Power

2. It’s Slobberin’ Time, Wolverine, Skrunucklehead, San, Morg, Corrupt Destroyer

3. Clumsy Foulup, Ronan the Accuser, Starforce, Mr. Fantastic, Illuminati

This is the only time during the draft that I was truly confused. Oldaker would later say that at this point, he was hoping to pick up some stray low cost press drops. Considering his alarming lack of 4-drops, he probably should have taken the Ronan.

4. Blue Area of the Moon, Wolverine, Skrunucklehead

5. Ethan Edwards, Ultron, Ultron 11, Army

6. The Kyln, Mephisto, Lord of Hell

7. Valeria Von Doom, Remnant Fleet, Firelord, Harbinger of Havoc

8. Himalayan Enclave, Quicksilver, Inhuman by Marriage

9. Soul World, Ruul Warrior

10. Alaris, Himalayan Enclave

11. Maximus the Mad, Molecule Man

12. Time Thief

13. Space Gem

14. Human Torch, Sparky

He got some decent support cards in that last pack, but his curve is all over the place. With only one team-up, it’s going to be a pretty tough first three rounds. I took Oldaker aside to watch him build his deck and get his thoughts on his draft pool.