Monday, June 24, 2019

Drafting WUBRG in War of the Spark

Do you want to draft 5-color Super Friends?  Of course you do.  Although I've only done two War of the Spark drafts, I already like it way more than Allegiance and I really hope I get the chance to do it more.

Yes, this can be your hand.


The strategy here is still pretty simple:

Prioritize Color Fixing:  There aren't gates in every pack, but there are still lots of good things.  Gateway Plaza continues to be excellent.  Interplanar Beacon is really good (though the planeswalker-only part isn't great).  Mana Geode is great, Centaur Nurturer is real good, and Prismite is a body that may come in handy.  Mostly, though, I'm relying on the lands.  I pulled two Gateway Plaza in pack three on Friday night for a total of three and that plus one Interplanar Beacon really made the deck, to the point where I cut Prismite.

Planeswalkers: Draft them all.  I got passed two Nahiri on Friday which was nuts.  Ashiok was integral in two of my wins (I decked one person, even milling their Lab-Maniac-Channeling-Jace so they couldn't pull off the win.  Another opponent got Bolas's Citadel out, but I managed to kill them with zero cards left on their library.)

Proliferate: This keyword appears a lot.  On creatures that can do it, it's extra good.  Grab 'em when nothing else shines out.

Friday's draft deck.  My curve is not usually this focused!

Don't forget that you will need creatures to protect your friends.  And removal is always good, though some of that will probably come with the planeswalkers.

The hardest draft decision here is choosing between Gateway Plaza and a planeswalker.  Of course, this depends on the 'walker, but in pack one, I recommend going hard into the mana fixing.  Many of the planeswalkers will get snatched up early in that first pack as the rest of the table picks colors.  In packs two and three, a bunch of planeswalkers will show up.  Grab 'em.

When playing, go slow and make sure you are always checking in on the static abilities of your planeswalkers (and Interplanar Beacon, which triggers upon casting, not entering the battlefield).  I missed things and paid dearly for it.  Thankfully, my opponents also missed things (Nahiri granting first strike is real good). 

In my two drafts at my FLGS, I've gone 2-1 both times.  I hope I have another shot at going 3-0.  Either way, I've had a blast!  I'm bummed that this format is going to be gone soon.