Lorwyn Eclipsed Draft (WUBRG Drafting)

I missed Friday night's draft event at my FLGS, but I heard about one happening yesterday afternoon at Doombrowski Games and Comics in Winter Haven (about a half hour away for me) so I went.  I had never played there before, but it was very nice.  The draft drew a big crowd of sixteen people (I don't know any others of worth in the area on a Saturday afternoon) so we had two full pods!  I went with a friend and saw three other people there I knew, so it's clear that people are willing to travel a bit for this hobby.  (Or maybe this block.)

There's probably an interesting analysis here of the Universes Beyond/Within controversy motivating people to vote with their wallets, but I don't know how to do that analysis.  It's just as likely that people are excited for Lorwyn itself.   

On the way there I had a great chat with my friend who talked about how they almost went five-color vivid.  I hadn't done a good study of the cards in this set, so I paid close attention to what they said.  One card they mentioned, Puca's Eye, stuck in my mind and I'm glad it did. 

I got into one of the pods sitting directly to the left of the two other people there who knew what I was up to.  Nevertheless, I was able to make some good picks.  Here are all my picks:

It's always fun to see a rare dual land in the mix.

There's a lot going on here.  Not only did I get two of the aforementioned Puca's Eyes, but I got other great vivid cards, especially Glister Bairn.  (I think I took a Puca's Eye over that and I should have taken the Bairn in the first round.)  If Blue or Green are main colors in your deck (and they probably will be) then casting it shouldn't be hard.  Maybe the biggest disappointment here is that I didn't get any Stratosoarer.  I saw one, but it was in a pack I opened, and I had to take something else.  Also, I took the two Stalactite Daggers hoping for some good Changeling synergy, but I took them out by the end of the draft because they are not good with vivid.  One card I really wish I'd gotten more of was Foraging Wickermaw, possibly the best support card for WUBRG drafting in this set.  

I had a hard time making cuts, but I decided to go with only sixteen lands instead of the normal seventeen because I had both two Kulrath Zealots and two Puca's Eyes.  Here's the deck I ended up with:

Got a bit of a Dutch angle on this one, whoops!  Also, that empty sleeve is for the Glen Elendra Guardian, because I traded it away before I took the photo.

You may note the three Wildvine Pummelers in the four-mana slot.  They fit there, I promise.  I'm sure nothing would happen that would put them in a higher slot in the deck!  (That's clumsy sixshadowing.)  

I was up against someone I'd never met in the first round, running a swift Orzhov-Kithkin deck.  I mulled twice in the first game and they beat me on turn five as I didn't have any fast plays.  (They curved out: Timid Shieldbearer to Wary Farmer to Gallant Fowlknight.)  

In game two, I played Boggart Cursecrafter on turn two.  On their third turn, they dropped Reluctant Dounguard and I played out my Glen Elendra Guardian.  They played Prideful Feastling on their next turn.  Thankfully on my fifth turn I drew into Puca's Eye and that drew me into Foraging Wickermaw.  On their next turn they took out my Guardian with Keep Out, then used Auntie's Sentence to force me to discard Eirdu.  Thankfully I also had Dose of Dawnglow in my hand, which was an awesome card all day.  They attacked with the Dounguard trading with the Cursecrafter.  I played a Wildvine Pummeler on my sixth turn (it would have been two mana cheaper if I hadn't blocked!) and my opponent dropped Reaping Willow, which is another great card.  I attacked in on the next turn, putting the life totals to me: 17, them: 8.  On their next turn, they had a great sequence of plays!

Byebye four -1/-1 counters!

Reaping Willow could bring back the Dounguard, which then lost both counters when Clachan Festival hit the board.  I cast Dose of Dawnglow on their turn, however, bringing Eirdu to the board.  I flipped it on my turn, cast a second Puca's Eye, and attacked big.  

These slips of construction paper I cut out months ago paid off big!

My opponent started their turn and then scooped.  They gathered their cards up, but hadn't shuffled yet and I realized their life total was underrepresented.  They hadn't gained six life from their two lifelinkers and should have been at 9, not 3.  I told them and also said I was okay with them "unscooping".  We successfully restored the board state and continued.  They attacked, I attacked, they played Dream Seizer, then I played Ashling's Command to win for real.  

They started off the third game with Goldmeadow Nomad.  I played Puca's Eye, they replayed the Prideful Feastling, I played the Foraging Wickermaw, they got their Reaping Willow again, then the Timid Shieldbearer.  It wasn't looking great, and I had to Blossombind the Willow.  I immediately wished that I'd saved it, because they followed it up with Moonshadow.  I drew into Grub's Command and took out the Moonshadow, but it came back immediately with the Willow.  I drew into my other command, though, and Ashling took care of the board and drew me two cards.  They played the Clachan Festival, but I played my Prismatic Undercurrents with a vivid count of five.  After that my draws were all gas.  My opponent flooded out and I won.  1-0.

In round two I faced up against the friend I'd rode with.  They had managed to draft mono red elementals.  In game one, they hit Flame-Chain Mauler on turn two and I answered with a Foraging Wickermaw.  They played Enraged Flamecaster and I countered with Boggart Cursecrafter, but they had a Cinder Strike waiting for it on their turn.  I played a Stalactite Dagger and they played Flamekin Gildweaver, triggering the Flamecaster.  (It wouldn't be the last time.)  On my fifth turn, I played Eirdu, but they had End-Blaze Epiphany ready to kill it as well as exile another Gildweaver.  They kept attacking through all of this.  On their seventh turn they first played another Flamecaster, then the second Gildweaver, triggering both of them.  I was dead on their next turn.  

They started game two off with Soulbright Seeker and got a ton of value off of it.  I played Stalactite Dagger and they Cinder Struck the token.  I played a Wickermaw and they Seared it.  I played a second Dagger and they played a Gangly Stompling.  I cast a pathetic Prismatic Undercurrents for one land (thanks colorless tokens!) and then they Giantfell my token and played a Flamecaster.  I got my Boggart Cursecrafter, but they played both a Feisty Spikeling and a second Flamecaster.  With the Cursecrafter out I was able to play a Wildvine Pummeler on my seventh turn, but they played a third Flamecaster and killed me on their next turn.  Sheesh!  1-1

But then we had a third bonus game, because those were done so fast.  This time they killed me on turn five, after this stunning sequence of plays:

Kyle, if they won a third time, that's not a "but", that's an "and".

They went on to win our pod.   

In my third round I was up against a real old-schooler.  They started playing in 1993 and were running a Dimir control deck.  Also, this was their first competitive event in over twenty years!  It was awesome to play against them and chat about rules changes over the years.  I went first in game one and played the Cursecrafter on turn two, which they followed up with a Summit Sentinel.  I played my Wickermaw and they got out a Voracious Tome-Skimmer.  I used the Wickermaw's color changing ability to power out a turn four Wildvine Pummeler.  They played a Requiting Hex on my Cursecrafter, but I still got to attack in with the Pummeler.  They played a second Summit Sentinel and an Heirloom Auntie, but I had an Ashling's Command on my next turn to put myself well ahead.  After that attack, I was up 18 life to 3.  Glister Bairn and a Blossombind gave me the win on my next turn.  

In game two, they elected to go second.  I had a really slow hand and they got out a Wickermaw before I did.  When I cast mine on turn four, it was the first time I'd remembered to surveil, and only because they'd just done it.  I also played Dundoolin Weaver that turn, with no trigger.   They used the Requiting Hex on the Wickermaw, which put me in a bind with all three Wildvine Pummelers in hand, five lands, and only a single green permanent on my fifth turn.  They played a Blighted Blackthorn and then a Stratosower in subsequent turns.  On my seventh turn, I was finally able to play a Pummeler... but then they played Wanderwine Farewell.  On turn eight I drew into another land and tapped out to get a Pummeler back down.  They played a Gnarlbark Elm, but I confidently played land eight, a second Pummeler to stay alive, and the Dundoolin Weaver to bring the Wickermaw back to my hand.  I was not expecting a second Wanderwine Farewell, though, and they attacked for the win.  What a game!

I rushed a bit in the third game, but I got a Puca's Eye on turn two.  They played a Summit Sentinel on theirs, then attacked on turn three.  I cast Unforgiving Aim to get an elf blocker so they bounced.  They played Merrow Skyswimmer on their fourth turn and I spent my fifth turn casting Ashling's Command to level the playing field a bit and get more cards.  They played a Chaos Spewer, which I answered with Kulrath's Zealot, which they had the Wanderwine Farewell for (and my elf token).  I replayed the Zealot and exiled a Pummeler.  They played Shinestriker.  I played the Glister Bairn and the Pummeler.  They played a Nightmare Sower on their eighth turn as time was called with 18 life to my 20.  On my next turn (time turn 1) I played Grub's Command to pave a path, but they played Glamermite before I could attack, tapping down my Zealot.  Nevertheless, I got in with the Bairn-powered-Pummeler to put them at 8.  They played down the Gnarlbark Elm and Tome-Skimmer, but my next attack killed all three faeries.  They weren't able to play enough on turn four to soak all the damage I was going to hit with and I escaped with the win.  2-1.

So many of my games were so intense and down-to-the-wire!  It was really fun, even in the loss I took to the Wanderwine Farewells.  I thought I had stabilized, but then I got caught completely off guard.  Also, all three of my opponents were really nice to play against.  The games were quite fun.  

I do look forward to drafting more of this set, but there is one big downside here that I've experienced before, in sets like Ravnica Allegiance and Conflux: people aren't surprised by the five-color strategy.  I know that when I'm drafting at home against my friends they all know what I'm up to, but at a store with people I don't know, I hope to elicit a bit of a "wow".  That's not going to happen here as "five color vivid" is a genuine draft strategy.

I also found a new reason for liking the simplicity of pack-per-win prizes at stores.  That was the same case here, but at the end of the tournament they had a whole announcement of the overall results.  I don't know whether people got extra prizes or what, but they ran down all sixteen of us in order to go up and collect our packs.  The unfortunate side effect of that is that we were the last game of the whole draft and we went to time and each turn needed significant consideration to make sure we did as best as we could.  A judge came over to see us many minutes in and we were only on turn two of five.  Everyone else was waiting to collect their prizes.  I wish that kind of pressure weren't necessary and people who had finished their third round early could have left way beforehand.  Oh well!

If you've never gone WUBRG before, Lorwyn Eclipsed is a great time to give this a try!  Happy Magicking! 

Also, I kept typing Dourguard instead of Dounguard.  Over and over.

Ravnica Clue with Assorted Jumpstart Packs

I had some extra Jumpstart packs and some students wanted to play Ravnica: Clue, so we cracked them open and did it earlier this week.

There were five of us and I only had eight assorted packs, so we used some of the actual Ravnica: Clue packs and everyone got one of those and one of the other packs I had.  I was really excited to do this because I really wanted to see how this worked.  Here are the packs we all opened:

I started with a Jumpstart 2022, but switched to Brothers' War when I saw no one else was using that.

Five players is not "Ravnica: Clue kosher" by the original rules, but I tend to think it works just fine.  We shuffled the cards up, put the three cards into the Confidential envelope, removed and revealed three rooms (Secret Passage, Library, and Study) and dealt three Clue cards to each person.  (I got Commander Mustard, the Ballroom, and the Conservatory.)  We tore open our packs to discover the themes and put all that in the center:

I love that the pack theme cards have real Magic backs.  I hoard them.  Why do I do that?

We were each in three colors, which was fun to me.  We decided to play with 20 life, partly because the night before we had finished a game with lots of life after a lot of Clue suggestions.  I won the roll to go first, so the players were:

• Me: Welded Azorius Senate
• P2: Golgari Swarm Law 
• P3: Adaptive Orzhov Syndicate
• P4: Selesnya Conclave Spirits
• P5: Fiery Simic Combine

P2 cast the first spell of the game with Gideon's Lawkeeper.  P3 followed that up with Twilight Panther.  

Thankfully I had a second-turn play to prevent cheap shots.  I cast War Screecher.  P2 immediately played Kraul Harpooner, but didn't realize they could use it to kill my bird and passed.  (I think I said something during P3's turn; I did not think of it while the Harpooner hit the battlefield as I was trying to keep up with my notes.)  P3 hit P5 with the Panther and made the first guess: Green, Knife, and Lounge.  P5 showed them a card.  P4 played a Murmuring Phantasm.  

I took advantage of my flier in the third round to hit P4.  I guessed Plum, Knife, and the Conservatory.  They showed me Mastermind Plum.  I played a Scrapwork Mutt to be a chump blocker.  P2 hit P3 with the Lawkeeper and guessed White, Pipe, and Hall.  P3 showed them a card.  P3 played Angel of Vitality on their turn, then hit P5 with their Panther again.  P3 guessed Plum, Knife, and Conservatory and P5 passed.  P4 played Winged Words to get some extra cards and P5 played Spiteful Prankster, which was a great card for this format!    

In the fourth round I hit P3 and P4.  I guessed Scarlett, Rope, and Kitchen.  P3 showed me Scarlett.  I played Azorius Justicar and detained the Angel of Vitality and Kraul Harpooner.  P2 played a Midnight Guard on their turn.  P3 played Princess Yue and Katara, Bending Prodigy.  P4 played a Departed Deckhand.  P5 played Chandra's Spitfire and hit me with the Spiteful Prankster.  They continued the pattern of guessing Plum, Knife, and Conservatory, and I had to show them my Conservatory.  

The board around this point.

I played Bitter Reunion and Trusted Pegasus in the fifth round, then hit P4 again.  (There's something about flying over a wall.)  I guessed Peacock, Rope, and Billiard Room.  They passed.  P2, who was stuck on three lands, hit me with their Midnight Guard and guess the same thing.  I also showed them the Conservatory.  It was getting problematic that everyone knew I had that card!  P3 hit P4 on their turn and guessed Plum, Candlestick, and Ballroom.  P4 showed them a card.  P4 cast Roaming Ghostlight then hit me with the Departed Deckhand.  They also guessed Plum, Knife, and Conservatory.  I also showed them the Conservatory.  P5 played their own Roaming Ghostlight and hilariously bounced P4's!

Competing Roaming Ghostlights!

Then P5 attacked me with their Spiteful Prankster and P2 with Chandra's Spitfire.  I blocked with my Scrapyard Mutt and P2 blocked with their Kraul Harpooner.  P2 cast Righteousness, one of the coolest cards ever, but P5 had a response.

Rapid Hybridization!

In the sixth round, I hit P2 and P5.  I guessed White, Knife, and Lounge.  P2 showed me the Knife.  Then I dropped Mishra's Juggernaut and passed the turn.  P3 played The Blue Spirit and hit P4 and P5.  They guess Plum, Knife, and Conservatory.  P4 showed them a card.  I got annoyed about this because with people repeatedly making the same suggestions, my card wasn't getting filled out at all.  That might be a good strategy for me to replicate in the future!  P4 replayed their Roaming Ghostlight and bounced my War Screecher.  P5 hit me and P2, guessing Mustard, Wrench, and Ballroom.  I showed them the Ballroom.  

I had been holding Supreme Verdict for one or two turns and I thought this (the seventh round) was the time to use it.  I hit P2, P3, and P5 with my creatures and guessed Peacock, Candlestick, and Lounge.  I got the most value from this, as P2 and P3 passed and P5 showed me the Lounge.  Before I could continue with my big player, P3 said out loud they knew something I had because of that.  They claimed my guesses always included a card I had... which is something I do a lot!  But not this time!  They thought I had Peacock in my hand.  Without denying or confirming P3's suspicions, I dropped the Supreme Verdict.  As we gathered the dying creatures, the ball was in P5's court because they had sixteen Spiteful Prankster triggers to dole out.  They first thought about killing me, then thought about killing P3, but finally decided to leave P3 at 1 life.  The life totals were now at 9 (me), 15 (P2), 1 (P3), 13 (P4), and 11 (P5).  

Still in my main phase, P2 cast Fungal Rebirth on their Kraul Harpooner and cashed in on the two saproling tokens.  Since they had done that before my end step, my next play of recasting my War Screecher was a complete misplay, because P2 dropped the Harpooner on their turn.  This time they didn't miss the trigger and shot my bird out of the sky.  I thought I would have an entire turn without anyone else attacking, but because of the Fungal Rebirth, P2 hit both P4 and P5, guessing Mustard, Pipe, and Dining Room.  They both passed.  P3 cast Syndicate Heavy, but spent the rest of their mana to recast Katara (I don't remember how it got back in their hand... maybe Boomerang Basics?) so they couldn't extort and replenish their life total a bit.  They collected evidence 6 and guessed Green, Pipe, and Dining Room.  I got real nervous because P4 passed, P5 passed, I passed, but then P2 showed them a card.  Then they accused Mustard, Pipe, and Dining Room.  I knew that was wrong because I had Commander Mustard.  Whew!  P3 had ruled Commander Mustard in because they thought I held Peacock, which is why they were so confident.  My accidental ruse had saved the game!  

Still in the seventh round, P4 cast Affectionate Indrik and killed the Harpooner.  P5 skipped the majority of their turn and confidently collected evidence six, guessing Peacock, Knife, and Billiards.  I passed, but P2 showed a card.  Then they accused: Peacock, Pipe, and Dining Room.  It was correct and they won!  P5 had figured out that P3 was wrong about the suspect but right about everything else.  They knew it wasn't Commander Mustard and ruled Senator Peacock in from that.

What can I say?  This was amazingly fun!  Let's wrap it up with some notes:

• This worked great with the assorted packs plus Clue packs.  I think it leveled the playing field a lot.
• 20 life was fine.  No one was in danger before the Spiteful Prankster enjoyed the thrill of a big board wipe.
• I don't think I'm super good at playing the Clue aspect of the game yet and I do want to get better.  I also think that taking all the notes I am prevents me from attempting any deep analysis of what's going on.  I can't say I mind that much.  

I highly recommend doing this!  Any Jumpstart is great with the Clue format and don't be afraid to mix in your Ravnica: Clue packs like we did.  Happy Magiclueing!

Lorwyn Eclipsed Clue Draft (WUBRG Drafting)

I got together with three friends for a Lorwyn Eclipsed draft and we decided to play a single Clue game instead of doing duels.  We played with 30 life, which was probably too much for this set!  (I need to keep track of all of this somewhere.)  Here's how it went!

All Lorwyn Eclipsed!

I was really hoping for more basic landcyclers, but as it turns out there are only two in this set, not five.  Yikes!  One of those was in the same pack as the only Evolving Wilds I saw, so I didn't even get any Evolving Wilds!  I did try to pick changelings highly so I could make use of kinship synergy.  Here are all my picks:

Some real fun cards here, but very little mana fixing!

I built a deck that had very little Black and Red, but it still counts!

My first time using new Dragon Shield non-glare sleeves.  Did they work?

We dealt the Clue cards, rolled to see who was going first, and got down to playing!

My hand: Commander Mustard, Mastermind Plum, Secret Passage, and Library.  Revealed to everyone were the Lounge and Dining Room.  

 

The turn order was:

• P1: Golgari Bitterblossom
• P2: Sultai Elves
• P3: Mardu 
• Me: WUBRG 

The only play in the first round of turns was when P3 dropped Wanderbrine Trapper, a great aggressive creature!  

P1 made a big statement in the second round by playing Bitterblossom!  What a great card for a 30-life game!  P2 laid down Surly Farrier and P3 played Timid Shieldbearer.  P3 hit P1 with the trapper, guessing Mustard, Knife, Conservatory.  P1 showed them a card and took their treasure.  I did not have a play.  

Round three started off with another big play from P1.  Not only did they get their Faerie token, but they popped the treasure to play High Perfect Morcant.  What a sequence of plays!  P2 attacked and hit me for one, guessing White, Wrench, and Hall.  I had to pass.  Then they played a Dawn's Light Archer.  P3 dropped Springleaf Drum, then hit P2 and me.  They guessed Mustard, Pipe, and Kitchen.  I showed them Commander Mustard.  I landcycled my Kulrath Zealot, then on my turn used the treasure to play Nightmare Sower.  I was already quite mana flooded at this point with four lands sitting in my hand.  

In round four, P1 played Unforgiving Aim to get an elf token.  That triggered Morcant and we all suffered a blight of 1.  Then they attacked P2 with a faerie token but P2 blocked with the archer.  P2 used that archer to hit me and guessed Peacock, Candlestick, and Ballroom.  I had to pass.  P2 played a Great Forest Druid and passed the turn.  P3 played Mudbutton Cursetosser and the new Ajani, Outland Chaperone.  They hit P2 and guessed Scarlett, Pipe, and Passage and P2 showed them a card.  P3 played Elder Auntie, then passed the turn to me.  I hit P1 on my turn and guessed White, Rope, and Kitchen.  P1 had nothing.  I played Sizzling Changeling and ended my turn.  

P1 started round five off by hitting P3 with a faerie token.  They guessed White, Candlestick, and Ballroom and P3 showed them a card.  Then they cast Lys Alana Dignitary, triggering Morcant again.  P3 blighted their Cursetosser and used the trigger to kill the Dignitary.  P2 dropped another cool card, casting Maralen, Fae Ascendant.  Still on P2's turn, P3 cast Bogslither's Embrace to kill Morcant, opening P1 up so P2 could attack them with the Archer.  (P2 and P3 were starting to work together too much!)  P1 still had their 2/2 elf token, so they blocked with that.  P3 then attacked P2 with one of their Kithkin tokens, and P2 let it through.  (This was part of the teamwork.)  P3 guessed Plum, Knife, and Library and P2 passed.  I played my fifth land for natural WUBRG.  

It's beautiful!

I attacked P3 with my Sizzling Changeling and they blocked with a Kithkin token.  Boo!  I needed some info!

The sixth round of turns was also eventful!  P1 hit both P2 and P3.  They guessed Peacock, Candlestick, and Ballroom.  P2 passed, but P3 showed them a card.  P2 played Eclipsed Elf.  They exiled cards from P3's library on Maralen's trigger and got Goldmeadow Nomad.  P2 said they were going to combat and didn't give me a strong indication of where they were going.  So, I played Glamermite for two triggers: one from the Glamermite herself (untapping my Sizzling Changeling) and one from the Nightmare Sower, targeting Maralen.  P2 didn't like that and responded with Blossoming Defense.  They used their now 6-power fae to hit and kill Ajani.  (The teamship was over!)  They also hit P1 with their Archer, but P1 blocked with one of their faeries and played Gilt Leaf's Embrace.  

P3 continued the sixth round by attacking and getting through on both P1 and P2 with their Kithkin tokens.  P3 guessed Green, Knife, and Secret Passage.  P1 passed, but P2 showed them a card.  Then they cast Darkness Descends.  P1 responded by casting Blight Rot on Maralen.  P2 responded by playing Bitterbloom Bearer to get a final trigger on Maralen.  Sadly, that was a whiff on cards from P1's deck.  Everything came off the stack and the entire board got wiped.  I exiled Merrow Skyswimmer via the Sizzling Changeling.  I just cast the Skyswimmer on my turn and passed, but P3 used my end step to cast Keep Out on the Bitterblossom.  

With the board nearly reset, P1 started off round seven with a Mistmeadow Council.  P2 cast Blossombind on the Council on their turn.  P3 played their own Sizzling Changeling.  With my creatures, I hit both P1 and P3.  I guessed Scarlett, Wrench, and Hall.  P1 showed me the Hall.  I cast Tend the Sprigs and got the land and treefolk token.  

P1 had nothing in the eighth round, but P2 played a Surly Farrier.  P3 played Liminal Hold on my treefolk then attacked me with their Changeling.  I blocked with my Skyswimmer, then bounced it with Flock Impostor.  I hit P1 and P3 and guessed Plum, Wrench, and Billiard Room.  P1 passed, but P2 showed me the Billiard Room.  My mana flood paid off because I was able to cast Champions of the Perfect and also drop the Skyswimmer again..

The ninth round started with P1 having to pass again.  P2 cast Lluwen then attacked and connected with P3, guessing White, Wrench, and Ballroom.  P3 showed them a card.  P3 attacked and hit P1, guessing Peacock, Knife, and Secret Passage.  On my turn, I attacked all three opponents, but P2 blocked the Champions so I only got to guess on P1 and P3.  I guessed Plum, Pipe, and Kitchen.  They both passed.  With that knowledge, I had P1's hand almost entirely figured out.  I played Kithkeeper and felt real good about winning on my next turn.  

Unfortunately, P1 felt even better.  They collected evidence 6 on their turn to make a broad guess of Plum, Knife, and Ballroom.  I showed them Mastermind Plum.  Then they made an accusation of Peacock, Knife, and Ballroom.  They checked the envelope and it was correct!  "I was 80% confident," they said, but knew they needed to take the chance because the game would be done that round.

Quick thoughts:

• 30 was too much life this time.  P1 was the lowest at the end with 17 remaining.  I really don't know how to choose this correctly!
• I need to get better at gauging when the game is close to ending via Clue.  I probably should have made an accusation on my turn, though I don't know what that accusation would have been.
• I am so glad the whole group wanted to do this.  I really like playing group games in limited and especially draft formats.

Happy Magicking! 

Lorwyn Eclipsed Prerelease

Eventide was released on July 25, 2008.  I attended a Lorwyn Eclipsed prerelease last night, though the set officially releases on January 23 of this year (2026).  Using that release date, there are 6391 days between these sets that take place primarily on the same plane without any between them.  Is this the longest in magic history?  (I think there were about 6103 days between Saviors of Kamigawa and Neon Dynasty.)  

On top of that long Lorwyn drought, there's a lot of enthusiasm for returning to an actual Magic setting.  People were very excited.  The Friday night event at Intergalactic Plastic was sold out and it was hopping.  I saw at least two people dressed up as Lorwyn elves, one with antlers.  It was rad.

I don't usually use a playmat, but I took an appropriate one out of mothballs for this event.

Yes, I know, it's the same mat I use in a lot of my sorting videos.  I don't have a lot of playmats, okay.

This time I actually remembered to take a photo of all of my packs!  Here's the entire pool I was working with:

Six packs and one (no longer stamped) promo card.

I was really excited to see the new Doran as one of my rares, but I didn't pick up just how good it comboed with Formidable Speaker until I got to playing.  I was obviously happy with the Blood Crypt and the two Foraging Wickermaws for running five colors.  On the flip side, I was disappointed to not get any Evolving Wilds nor Changeling Wayfinders.  I did feel a bit rushed during deck construction, but then I finished with plenty of time left.  I had a hard time making cuts and went with only 16 lands in the end.  I also did make a bunch of changes throughout the event.  Here's what the final version looked like:

The Kinbinding was not in my deck in the first round, but it was definitely a good card to add later.

In the first round, I was up against a friend who had built an Azorius deck, "Sygg and Friends".  The first game went well as I learned I had a bit of an aggro deck.  They played Merrow Skyswarm on turn four, but I cast Doran on my turn four using a Foraging Wickermaw.  They Blossombinded my Doran, but then I played Wildvine Pummeler, who also benefits from Doran's ability.  When I went to swing on my next turn, they scooped.  In the second game, they got Sygg out on turn three, and I Tweezed it on my next turn.  They followed that up with Thoughtweft Imbuer, which turned out to be an absolute beast even with only two Kithkin.  I did get Doran out on turn 6, but this time they hit it with Noggle the Mind, which was the right thing.  The game slowed down and I wound up hitting other things with removal (e.g. Gravelgill Scoundrel) when I probably should have focused on the Imbuer instead.  In the end, they played value creatures and ground me out.  The third game was another fast one.  I got Rooftop Percher out on turn 4 with Springleaf Drum, but they just had so many killer enchantments (e.g. the Blossombinds, Noggle the Minds, and Spiral into Solitude).  I managed to cast Shinestriker, draw three creatures, and then play them all on that same turn, but they did not have a big effect.  We went to turns, but I died on turn 3.  0-1.

Between rounds one and two, the Wizards tournament software crashed, so there was a bit of a break.  I don't know whether it got restored or the judge had to hand-match us, but we got moving again.  This time I was up against a new opponent playing a Sultai deck.  I blew game one by keeping a (second) hand that I shouldn't've.  Game two looked tough, but then I played Shinestriker and got Kinbinding from it.  I won off of that value.  In game three I had some gas but I drew land after land.  I thought I would be able to come back multiple times, but it just didn't happen.  0-2.

In the third round I was again paired with a new opponent.  They were running a nifty Selesnya deck.  In the first game they were stuck on only white mana and I was able to capitalize with both Foragming Wickermaws into Doran on turn four to win quickly.  (The Wickermaws' color changing ability even let me cast Prismatic Undercurrents with vivid of five on the next turn.)  In game two, they played Wistfulness and built up quite a board.  I did get Doran down, but I made some bad value judgments.  They played a Celestial Reunion for seven to find Kithkeeper and won with that.  In game three I got my favorite turn three Formidable Speaker to find and cast Doran on the next turn.  We went to time, but I won on turn two of five.  1-2.

This deck was wonderfully fun to play.  All of my games seemed good and the losses were really hard fought.  It was weird how I could aggro out some times if I dropped Doran early on.  I know that's not a thing you can plan on, but it is definitely fun.  I'm really looking forward to drafting this set!

Happy Lorwyn Magicking! 

Chaos Jumpstart Clue

Can it be considered Chaos if you have Jumpstart packs from four different sets?

I'm really enjoying this Clue format and I had some extra Jumpstart packs on hand.  I hate opening packs without using them in some game and three of my friends wanted to play, so we did!

We picked these packs:

The brown bags have the two tutorial packs from the Avatar Beginner's Box.

And then opened them to get these decks:

Two mono-color decks!  Wild!

Of the four of us, only one had not done Clue before, but they picked it up totally easy.  We decided to play starting at 30 life.  We dealt out the Clue cards, revealing Billiard Room and Lounge to everyone, and I got Candlestick, Lead Pipe, Ballroom, and Conservatory.  I sleeved my deck without looking at the cards I'd opened, Welded + Zuko won the die roll to go first (so they're P1), I took two mulligans (the first one's free) and we were off!

I was the only one with a first turn play: Young Wolf.  In the second round, I hit P1 guessing Peacock, Pipe, and Dining Room.  They showed me Senator Peacock.  I cast Pestilent Wolf and passed.  P4 dropped a Selfless Spirit, which put in a lot of work.  

In the third round, P1 played Fire Nation Soldier and hit P2.  They named Green, Pipe, and Hall.  P2 showed them a card.  P2 played Sledding Otter-Penguin and passed.  I hit P4 with the Young Wolf and suggested Scarlett, Rope, and Conservatory.  They showed me Scarlett.  I dropped my Ferocious Pup and ended the turn.  P4 hit P2 with the Selfless Spirit and guessed Plum, Wrench, and Library.  P2 passed.  P4 then played Pilgrim of the Ages.  

In round four, P1 turned the Fire Nation Soldier on me, which I blocked with my 2/2 wolf parent.  I thought I was fine, but they played Run Amok!  Oof!  They guessed Plum, Wrench, and Library, which I had to pass on.  This is really bad because it cost me both a blocker and information.  P2 dropped an Aardvark Sloth, then they also attacked me with the Sledding Otter-Penguin.  I really wanted to stop revealing information, so I threw my Pup in the way.  I wanted more info from P2, though, so I hit them back with Pestilent Wolf.  I guessed Mustard, Knife, and Secret Passage.  They showed me the Knife.  At this point I was stuck with an all-land hand.  It was not looking good!  P4 kept up the pattern and hit me with the Selfless Spirit.  They guessed Peacock, Pipe, and Secret Passage, and I showed the Lead Pipe.

P1 started off round five by playing Draconic Destiny on the Fire Nation Soldier.  Thankfully they sent it at P4, suggesting White, Wrench, and the Billiard Room.  P4 passed.  "I think I'm almost there," P1 said, which was more terrifying than the Fire Dragon Soldier they'd created.  (This is the Clue way of declaring yourself the Archenemy.)  P2 played Tundra Wall and Sokka, Wolf Cove's Protector.  Then they attacked me and P4 with the Otter-Penguin and Sloth.  We both blocked (me with the Young Wolf on the Otter-Penguin).  I sent my 2/2 Young Wolf at P1, but they hit it with Explosive Shot.  I played Chandra's Magmutt (I'm team Canidae) and left Pestilent Wolf back to scare off would-be attackers.  P4 hit P1 and me with flyers.  They suggested Peacock, Rope, and Hall.  P1 showed them a card.  (I knew they had Peacock.)

P1 had another big turn to start round six off.  They tapped out and used two treasures to drop Fallaji Dragon Engine at full cost.  "I don't think there'll be enough turns for someone to die," they said confidently.  Then they sent the Fire Nation Soldier at P2, but they killed it with Razor Rings.  P2 played Katara, Heroic Healer, pumping up their whole team.  Yikes!  They swung in on P4, who was able to block one of the two attackers.

Block and kill the Aardvark Sloth!

They suggested Scarlett, Wrench, and the Study.  P4 showed them a card.  I attacked P4 (the only vulnerable person) with my Magmutt, but they Divine Verdicted it!  Oof!  I played Master of the Wild Hunt, then decided to use my whole graveyard to Collect Evidence 6, suggesting White, Candlestick, and Study.  P4 and P1 passed, but P2 showed me the Study.  I was getting closer, but still had lots of rooms to figure out.  P4 then made the big move and cast Hour of Reckoning.  They had three 1/1 flying Spirit tokens, which they used to hit everyone.  They suggested White, Rope, and Ballroom.  P1 showed them a card.  I already knew they didn't have Apothercary White, so they must have showed the Rope!  That means the only weapon left was the Wrench; Guildmage Boddy was murdered with the Wrench!  I got real excited.

P1 immediately killed my excitement.  They played Fire Nation's Conquest, then Collected Evidence 6, suggesting White, Rope, and Library.  We all passed, but I knew they had the Rope.  Maybe that wasn't a final guess.  Well, it was final enough, because they immediately accused White, Wrench, and Library.  They were right and with that they won!

This was another blast of a game.  Maybe 30 life was too high (I don't remember what the final totals were) but it was okay.  The game was definitely about getting in for little amounts of damage to make good guesses, which is the way it should be.  I don't know whether any of the jumpstart sets were over- or under-powered with respect to the others, but I had a blast and the rest of the group seemed to too.

Some notes for myself for the future:

• P1 said I had been suggesting only cards not in my hand, which was not the case at all.  I thought they would get stuck by this, but they didn't.  Oh well!
• I think I made a play mistake by not leaving the Pestilent Wolf back to block.  Deathtouch is a good Rattlesnake ability!

I recommend the random (chaos?) JumpStart packs with Clue.  I do expect that the Clue packs that come with the set would be more powerful, but I'm not certain.  In any case, Happy Magicking! 

Chaos is Clued In (WUBRG Drafting)

I had another draft earlier this week.  Yet again we did a Clue draft!  (I don't think I'll be able to get away with this for very long, so I'll take it while I can.)  When we don't pre-plan these things, everyone in the draft group has veto power to return to a "normal" wacky draft.  I'm really glad we did this, though, for a few reasons!

• I like the social aspect of playing games with lots of people.  (I don't dislike duels!)
• I like doing variant formats.
• The Clue stuff is just really fun!

There were four of us.  Here's what we opened:

Not actually very chaotic.

Two interesting things happened while we were drafting:

• The player across from me "bought out" the first two packs of Avatar they opened.  This is an option that I need to make sure is more official.  Basically the idea is that if you open some really expensive cards, instead of making you pass them, you're allowed to keep that pack and open a different pack instead.  It's called "buying out" because when playing in an official draft at a store, you have to buy the new pack from the store (if they allow this practice).  I first heard of it in Journey to Nyx when there was the possibility of "God packs".  
•  We decided to use the "Andrew McLoughlin Magic: The Gathering Addendum" rule.  According to this rule, you're allowed to replace your third turn draw with selecting any basic land from outside of the game and adding it to your hand.  Andrew (one of the drafters there) proposed it and we all agreed.  (I was very clear that this practice was probably really powerful for people like me who drafted a lot of colors.)  This was apparently the first time it's ever been used.  Unfortunately everyone decided to draw their third card as normal in the game.

Here's everything I picked:

I am apparently a magnet for board wipes.

I rolled to go fourth and was dealt the Clue cards Lead Pipe, Rope, Ballroom, and Billiard Room.  The Library and Hall were removed from the deck for everyone to see.  Let's go!  (Update: we started at 30 life.)

Apparently the murderer killed Guildmage Superman instead of Guildmage Boddy.

Here's the deck I built:

No swamps, but lots of black sources.

My opponents were:

• P1: Selesnya
• P2: Rakdos
• P3: Dimir

I had a distinct advantage because I was the only one who had played this format before.  Nevertheless, everyone seemed to have a real good grasp of the rules, and P2 and P3 seemed to have really good Clue skills. 

In the first round, I played Mardu Devotee, the only 1-drop, but in the second round, P2 played a Callous Inspector, which is a great card for the format.  Sadly, they didn't have it on turn 1.  I attacked P3 with my Devotee and guessed Green, Wrench, and the Billiard Room.  They showed me Emissary Green!

In the third round, P1 played Friendly Ghost and P3 played a Pirate Peddlers, which they realized would be great in the format because you get extra treasures!  They attacked P1 with their Callous Inspector and guessed White, Candlestick, and Ballroom.  P1 showed them a card.

In the fourth round, P1 hit me with Casper.  They suggested Green, Candlestick, and Billiard Room.  I showed them the Billiard Room.  P2 attacked P1 again with the Inspector and me with the Pirate.  I flashed in Brineborn Cutthroat to make the blocking trade (before they got any treasures).  They guessed (on P1) Mustard, Knife, and Conservatory.  P1 showed them another card.  I attacked P2 with my Devotee, but they Firebending Lessoned it.  I played my Gadget Technician face down and passed.   

P1 started the fifth round of turns by hitting P2 with Casper.  They guessed Scarlett, Pipe, and Dining Room.  Again they got one right and P2 showed them a card!  It was tough for those of us not getting in many of the attacks!  P2 played Krenko's Buzzcrusher and I spent my outgoing land's mana to flip the Technician.  They hit P3 with the Inspector and guessed Scarlett, Wrench, and the Billiard Room.  Finally, P3 passed.  Whew!  I hit P1 and guessed Plum, Rope, and Lounge and they passed.  Bummer!

In round six, P1 hit me with Casper and guessed Peacock, Pipe, and Kitchen.  I showed them the Lead Pipe.  P2 hit P3 with the Inspector again and claimed to be close.  They guessed White, Rope, and Secret Passage; P3 passed.  Then they dropped Kavaron Turbodrone and Tiger-Dillo.  They gained Archenemy status real quick!  P3 hit me with Flexible Waterbender, guessing Green, Candlestick, and Billiard Room.  I showed them the Billiard Room.  I continued to attack, hitting P3 with my Thopter token.  I guess Mustard, Rope, and Study, and they showed me the Study.

In round seven, P1 dropped Astelli Reclaimer, then hit P3 with Casper, guessing Mustard, Candlestick, and Study.  They showed P1 a card.  P2 sacrificed the Lander they just got to cast Deadly Precision on the Reclaimer.  They played a Marauding Blightpriest, Turbodroned it, and P1 with it while the Tiger-Dillo came at me.  I blocked with my Gadget Technician for the trade and P1 chumped with one of their creatures.  P3 voiced that they had given up on Clue and was trying to win with Magic rules.  They hit me and P1 with their creatures, guessing Green, Candlestick, and Study.  They were expressly trying to give away zero information, so they guessed with cards they already had!  Naturally we both passed.  I played Kylox and hit all three of my opponents with my creatures.  I guessed Peacock, Knife, and Kitchen.  P1 passed and P2 showed me the Kitchen.  I was unfortunately in a "shields down" position with no blockers.

P2 played Cruel Administrator on their eighth turn, then Turbodroned it.  They attacked me and P1, but P1 blocked.  They suggested White, Rope, and Ballroom and I showed them the Ballroom.  P3 joined in and hit me also, asking Green, Rope, and Hall.  I showed them the Rope card.  I lashed back out, hitting both P2 and P3.  I guessed Mustard, Knife, and Conservatory.  P2 showed me Commander Mustard.  At the point the life totals were P1: 13, P2: 17, P3: 20, and me: 13.

On their ninth turn, P2 hit me and P1, guessing Green, Rope, and Secret Passage.  I showed them the Rope.  At this point I had six treasures!  I was giving away too much information!  I Collected Evidence 6 and guessed Plum, Wrench, and Secret Passage.  P1 showed me the Secret Passage.

P1 led off the tenth round by Collecting Evidence 6 and guessing Plum, Rope, and Lounge.  P2 passed, but P3 showed a card.  P2 attacked P1, hitting and guessing Plum, Wrench, and Secret Passage.  I thought they showed the Secret Passage, but they actually showed P2 the Wrench, as I later learned!  P2 made an Accusation: Plum, Knife, and Secret Passage.  It was incorrect!  "Violence Prevails!" they proclaimed, ready to try to win via normal magic rules.  P3 hit P1 and P2.  They guessed Green, Wrench, and Hall.  Both P1 and P2 passed, but this is where P2 should have shown the Wrench.  Oops!  I hit P2 and guessed Scarlett, Rope, and Dining Room.  They showed me Headliner Scarlett.  There were a lot of creatures on the board, so I let loose with the Beyond the Quiet that had been in my hand the entire game.  I hadn't solved the murder, though, so I passed the turn, with Ambush Wolf in hand, plenty of mana, and life totals at P1: 6, P2: 4, P3: 21, and me: 8.

An eleventh round!  P1 played Rebellious Captives and hit P3 with the earthbent land.  They guessed Peacock, Knife, and Kitchen.  I think P3 passed on that suggestion.  They were stuck without any creatures in hand, so we were hoping we could come back and defeat them in their big lead.  I hit P2 on my turn, guessing Peacock, Knife, and Dining Room.  They passed.  I still didn't have all the answers!

Round twelve!  We're still going!  What a game!  P1 hit me and guessed Plum, Knife, and Kitchen.  I passed, then they played Cat-Owl.  P3 Collected Evidence 6 and guessed Peacock, Knife, Secret Passage.  P1 showed them the Secret Passage.  They P3 made their accusation: Peacock, Knife, and Dining Room.  It was correct!  P3 won!  I should have accused from my guess the turn before! 

This was especially crazy because they had appeared to give up on the Clue aspect back on turn seven!  They did a great job figuring it out late.

Notes:

• I'm surprised how the game can go quite long or quite short with the murder being solved.  It's excellent!  I think this is the longest I've gone.  
• People didn't want to kill opponents until they were confident they could solve the murder.  It's dangerous to kill someone and reveal all their cards if you can't make an accusation and win that same turn.  
• I feel like I should have been able to solve the murder ahead of time, but I didn't know.  I'm not yet super awesome at Clue.  I haven't even decided my favorite way to make notes.

This is such a great format for WUBRG drafting, though.  The treasure mechanic really makes a difference.  It wasn't as necessary for me this time, since I got Barrels of Blasting Jelly down on turn two, but the extra mana always helps.   

Ravnica Clue EDH over SpellTable

Over a month ago, I made a webpage to play Ravnica Clue remotely.  Since then I've failed to get a group together to play, until tonight.  I convinced two victims friends to play with our commander preconstructed decks and we set up to play on SpellTable.  I wanted someone else to be in charge, so we randomized the play order until I wasn't first, then P1 opened the site and started a new 3-player game.

... and there was immediately an error!  The buttons that were generating the links for everyone weren't working right.  I fixed it, uploaded the new version of the page, and we were off again.

We decided to play with 35 life instead of 40.  (Looking back, I think 40 is probably the correct amount.)  P1 was on Vren, the Relentless.  P2 was running Y'shtola, Night's Blessed.  I was going third, playing Celes.  

Here was my hand of Clue cards for the game:

 
One suspect and five rooms!  Yikes! 

The first two turns were all spent playing land and mana rocks, but P1 started off the third round by dropping Vren.  I played The Warring Triad and Phoenix Down, getting ready for Celes next turn.     

P1 started off the fourth round of turns by hitting me with Vren.  They suggested Mustard, Candlestick, and Ballroom.  I had to pass.  Then they cast Tribute to Horobi.  We took our tokens and they passed the turn.  P2 hit P1 with a Rat token, guessing White, Wrench, and Study.  P1 showed them a card.  I cast Crackling Doom, then hit P2 with a Rat.  I guessed Peacock, Knife, and Hall, and they showed me Senator Peacock.  

In the fifth round, P1 gave everyone another token, then cast Lord Skitter's Butcher.  P2 cast Y'shtola.  I attacked each of my opponents with one rat.  Both blocked and killed them, which was good because then they weren't going to go to P1 on their next turn.  I played Celes, discarded Strago and Relm, and then Reanimated them.  

In the sixth round, P1 hit me with Echo of Death's Wail, guessing Plum, Lead Pipe, and Secret Passage.  I passed.  P2 cast Lingering Souls.  I cast Priest of Fell Rites and attacked P2 with Celes, but they blocked with a Rat.  I was close to having Threshold and was feeling pretty good.

In round seven, P1 hit us both, naming Peacock, Candlestick, and Ballroom.  P2 showed a card, which didn't tell me anything since I already knew they had Senator Peacock.  Boo!  Then they cast Make an Example, which killed off my Priest and Strago & Relm.  They played a 3/3 rat token with Vren's ability and ended their turn.  P2 untapped and cast Eye of Nidhogg on their remaining spirit, then attacked and hit P1.  They guessed Mustard, Lead Pipe, and the Secret Passage.  P1 passed.

Now, note that I had already passed on those three things, from attacks by P1 in the fourth round and the sixth round.  P2 knew I didn't have them and they didn't have them themselves.  They also figured that P1 was asking about sets of cards they (P1) didn't have because in the turn prior, P1 guessed three cards that P2 had all of.  So they felt pretty confident P1 wouldn't have them.  They attacked to make sure, and then immediately accused the same, Commander Mustard, Lead Pipe, and the Secret Passage.  They used the site's accusation feature to try it out, and it worked!  

Prior to clicking the button.  (I checked their accusation on my page.)

After clicking the button!  They were right!

This game ended really fast, and seemed completely out of nowhere to me!  I learned two lessons:

• I should have been more defensive.  Yes, it's good to learn information by attacking, but it might be more important to make sure people don't learn information from you!
• It's important to include your own cards in some suggestions.  If you only ask about cards you don't have (which I did on my only guess) then you're revealing your own hand whenever you make a suggestion.   

I'm also really excited that the site worked!  (After some quick adjustments.)  I hope you and your friends can give it a try as well.

Happy Magicking and Murder Solving, even remotely!