Drafting WUBRG: Ikoria, Kaldheim, Cmdr Legends, and MH2

This weekend, I participated in a "Catchup Draft Weekend" where we drafted our way through as many sets that were released during the pandemic as possible.  I thought we would likely get 5 or 6 drafts in, but we were only able to get to 4: Ikoria, Kaldheim, Commander Legends, and then Modern Horizons 2.  We had six people for the first three drafts, then five for the last one.

I can't go into as much detail as normal, but I did take pictures of my pulls and my deck.  (In each of the photos of my pulls, the columns are in order of the drafts from left to right (with the front card as the first card I drafted).  Here's how it went:

Ikoria

Not only did I draft a WUBRG deck, I also drafted Keruga, who I used as my Companion throughout the tournament.  Here was my pool and then my deck:

In my first round, I managed to cast Mythos spells (with the bonus) three times, and ultimatums twice.  The other two rounds didn't go as well, however, so I was 1-2.  This might have been my favorite deck of the whole weekend, though.  It was so much fun to play!

Kaldheim:

I successfully drafted for WUBRG again, and got multiple copies of multiple legends.  (The first pack got a bit out of order, because I forgot to keep it in exact order, so the order in the photo is probably off by a bit.)  Otherwise, here are my picks: 

There was a bit of a giants theme to the deck I built, though I never cast some of them (e.g. Undersea Invader).  Multiple copies of Aegar were great, because that was a bit of a target.  Here's the deck:

I went 2-1, including a crazy win after being down 20-1 against Tristan!

Commander Legends:

It is not possible to draft a WUBRG deck here.  Nevertheless, I stayed "wide" in the first two packs, because I wasn't sure what to play.  When I opened pack 3, it became suddenly clear, and the first pick determined what I would be running.  Here are my picks:

I apparently didn't take a photo of my deck (oops) but it was very cascade-a-rific, with only one spell with mana cost lower-than-3 (Order of Nylea).  From our six-person pod, we played two "rounds" consisting of one three-player game each.  I won the first one, and lost the second.  In the second game, I had crazy amounts of mana, but Sengir, the Dark Baron and Liesa, Shroud of Dusk were too much to overcome.  

Modern Horizons 2:

I drafted for WUBRG again.  Here were my picks (yes, I first-picked a tap-dual):

I put together an affinity/tokens build without any black spells.  Nevertheless, I needed to be able to produce black mana for my two converge spells.  Here is my deck:

(Not pictured: basic land.)  I went 2-2 with this, and had a blast.  This is actually an excellent format for WUBRG drafting because of all the dual artifact lands. 

I had a blast drafting this weekend!

Retiring an EDH deck: Child of Alara

It's time to take Child of Alara apart.  With the rules changes that have been in place for about a year, the deck isn't as fun.  Prior to the change, "dies" triggers wouldn't happen if your general (commander) went back to the command zone instead of the graveyard.  Now, after your general goes to the graveyard, you can then choose to move it into the command zone.  This means that dies triggers resolve, and then you can still put it back in the command zone for easy recasting.

This makes Child of Alara even better!  Now you can nuke the world, and then just recast it from the command zone.  The announcement had such an impact that the price for Child jumped up to over $15.  

A significant portion of my deck was about getting it back from my graveyard.  This was a big part of the deckbuilding challenge: how could I put the right number of cards in to facilitate getting my general back into play after it died?  This challenge also provided a lot of the fun.  The difficulty in playing the deck is often based on picking and choosing when you have enough resources to get it back that it's worth sacrificing it.  Without that challenge, I don't think the deck is worth playing anymore.  (Especially since I don't think it's very fun to play against!)

I did play one final game with it last month, which got streamed and recorded.  (I'll update this with a link if it gets posted to YouTube.)   During that game, I ignored the back-to-command-zone rule.

I've really liked this deck for many years, so I want to just record what is in my current list as I dismantle it.  (This is one of very few EDH decks I've actually taken apart.)

Here's the list:

General: Child of Alara

Sac-Outlets:

• High Market
• Grim Backwoods
• Miren, the Moaning Well  (Sadly, I never acquired a Diamond Valley)
• Costly Plunder
• Momentous Fall
• Vexing Scuttler
• Altar's Reap
• Innocent Blood
• Devour Flesh

Resurrections:

• Moorland Haunt
  
• Beacon of Unrest
• Betrayal of Flesh
• Makeshift Mannequin
• Breaking / Entering
• Connive / Concoct
• Gift of Immortality
• Undying Evil
• Ever After
• Unburial Rites
• Artisan of Kozilek
• Athreos, Shroud-Veiled
• Minion's Return
• Faith's Reward
• Torrent of Souls
• Journey to Eternity

Man-Lands:

• Creeping Tar Pit
• Faerie Conclave
• Blinkmoth Nexus
• Treetop Village
• Stalking Stones
• Dryad Arbor
• Celestial Colonnade
• Lavaclaw Reaches
• Raging Ravine
• Stirring Wildwood
• Coastal Discovery (Yes, I'm counting these)
• Encircling Fissure
• Roil Spout

Land-Tutors:

• Blighted Woodland
• Tolaria West
• Hour of Promise
• Rampant Growth
• Sylvan Scrying
• Farseek
• Tempt with Discovery
• Kodama's Reach
• Shard Convergence
• Harrow
• Life from the Loam
• Solemn Simulacrum
• Mycosynth Wellspring
• Expedition Map
• Explosive Vegetaion
• Crop Rotation
• Cultivate
• Sakura-Tribe Elder
• Search for Tomorrow

Other Lands:

• 7x Plains
• 3x Island
• 7x Swamp
• 3x Mountain
  
• 11x Forest
• Cascading Cataracts
• Hanweir Battlements
• Exotic Orchard
• Command Tower
• Terrain Generator
  

Other Misc:

• Golden Guardian
• Wonder
• Thaumatic Compass
• Darksteel Ingot
• Hatching Plans
• Darksteel Pendant