"Ho ho ho! Midgets!"
Tribal Draft: Giants 

(Ed's note: This article was sent in last week (after GP Brisbane, before GP Bangkok) but was not posted due to technical issues.)

This past weekend, Anatoli Lightfoot took home the Australian Grand Prix Brisbane trophy with an unusual combination of Elves and Giants. The big red men can act as centerpiece to a successful draft deck, although it may require ingenious drafting or cooperative packs to make it happen. Fortunately the Giant tribe does have some very powerful weapons in its arsenal and they can laugh at the puny size of most other tribes. "Ho ho ho! Midgets!"

Last week I gave a rundown of my approach to writing a draft primer. Like the Merfolk, the Giant tribe has some key uncommon cards that can hold a deck together. They also have many cross-tribe interactions, so I'll go over different approaches to building a Giant-themed deck as I analyze the individual cards.

One problem with a red-based tribe is that several common cards (Lash Out, Tarfire, and even Consuming Bonfire and Mudbutton Torchrunner) have to be picked early, so either you start the draft without any tribal focus or you face the danger of competing with neighbors who did take those cards. For this reason, drafting Giants is best done as a reactive strategy when the packs allow it.

Thundercloud Shaman

Plague Wind for five mana? That's how one forum poster described this card. There just isn't any bigger bomb for the dedicated Giant deck. When you commit to a tribe early, you can be fairly sure that no one else at the draft table has a significant number of Giants, so this will probably kill all but the Changelings all of your opponents have, as long as you get your game plan working. At the very least (unless your opponent has one of the few tricks to stop it), it will kill 1-toughness creatures such as Goldmeadow Harriers, Silvergill Dousers, Pestermites, and small Elves and other creatures. Taking Thundercloud Shaman early is an enticement to draft as many Changelings and Giants as possible, but you do have to pay attention to your mana curve.

Giant Harbinger

The sheer size of this harbinger makes it a major threat when combined with another big creature on top, even another copy or two of the same card. It might not seem like a very good creature for five mana, but 3/4 stats are actually decent in this format and the fact that it will surely find one of your bigger creatures makes it an excellent deal. And like the other harbingers, you can always fetch any Changeling spell you might need. While it's not actually a bomb itself, this card lets you draw your bombs and makes them better.

Hearthcage Giant

Here's one really big man that most decks won't even try to cast. But a Giant draft deck can be built around the cost-reducing Stinkdrinker Daredevil, making this a real threat earlier in the game than you would expect. And there's another combination that will sometimes allow it on turn four: Smokebraider and Soulbright Flamekin. So if you get the Elemental/Giant combination in your draft, you can end games really quickly with this creature and its ability.

Crush Underfoot

Another card that only a Giant deck can play effectively, this one can be a very efficient removal spell late in the game as long as you don't lose your Giants at the wrong time. Considering how hard it is to get instant-speed creature removal, this is well worth it whenever you're committed to Giants.

Glarewielder

Not a Giant, but it deserves a mention here because I think it's very underrated and it is especially suited to the final turns of a game where your biggest creatures can do a lot more damage without any chump blockers in the way.

Cloudgoat Ranger

White also has Giants, and this is one of the best. Sometimes it will fly over for a lot of damage, and sometimes you just need a swarm of creatures for blocking or attacking. The Kithkin tribe has more synergy with Giants that I'll discuss further on.

Giants Big and Small

Luckily for this tribe, there is no shortage of common cards to draft. Many of them are not tribal, as I've said earlier. Instead of telling you why Lash Out is good, I will just mention some of the Giants and their friends and how they can be useful to you. In no particular (sensible) order:

Stinkdrinker Daredevil

Giants are lazy and they need friends to make them coffee so they can come out early to do some smashing. Although it is possible to build a Giant deck without the Goblin Coffee Boy, you'll find that it's much easier to get things moving in the morning when you don't have to tap so many lands to cast your beaters. The effect of this is very significant, and much better when you get two of them in play. Every Giant and Changeling you play is much better for you and worse for your opponent when a Stinkdrinker is hanging around.

Lowland Oaf

Here's another reason for Giants to keep company with Goblins. Mudbutton Torchrunner is even better when you can control its demise. And just being a 3/3 for four mana isn't bad if you're tangling with any other tribe besides Treefolk. It's important to have a decent-sized Giant at four mana so you can curve into the tribal effects of Thundercloud Shaman.

Axegrinder Giant 

Now here's a creature of respectable size. Nothing common short of an Oakgnarl Warrior will win a decisive victory in one-on-one combat against this color-shifted Craw Wurm. Sometimes size is all you need.

Blind-Spot Giant 

The biggest problem with Giants is that they do nothing for the first few turns. That's why you need Changelings or another tribe to help them. I am fine with playing this stupid-looking (and just stupid when it's alone) thing as long as I have enough other creatures that can actually do something early in the game.

Kithkin Greatheart

And here's a good reason to have a Giant in play on turn three. I'd still rather have Avian Changeling beside it than a Blind-Spot Giant. But this is actually the best reason to have white as the second color in a Giant deck. You can play Hillcomber and Lairwatch Giant, and they are both good as well, but this Kithkin gives the deck an aggressive two-drop that it desperately needs. And the Kithkin can do a lot to help your Giants by tapping blockers with Goldmeadow Harrier or flying over them with Kinsbale Balloonist.

Elvish Handservant

The lowly Elvish Handservant looks like it will be a 15th pick a lot of the time. But Grand Prix Brisbane showed that it can find its place in a winning deck.

Anatoli Lightfoot

1  Mosswort Bridge
8  Forest
7  Mountain

1  Axegrinder Giant
2  Blind-Spot Giant
1  Elvish Branchbender
3  Elvish Handservant
1  Fire-Belly Changeling
1  Giant Harbinger
2  Lowland Oaf
1  Lys Alana Huntmaster
1  Woodland Changeling

2  Blades of Velis Vel
1  Crush Underfoot
1  Fertile Ground
3  Gilt-Leaf Ambush
1  Incendiary Command
1  Incremental Growth
1  Lash Out
1  Runed Stalactite

This is an unusual two-tribe deck that takes advantage of some Changelings to power up its tribal triggers. It looks like junk, but apparently it works. Watch out for other inventive decks like this one at your draft tables.

Next time: Tribe three - Kithkin