Legacy Payoff Amidst Chaos: WUBRG Drafting

We opened a really fun set of packs last night in a chaos draft.  We had a variety of normal draft boosters, Mystery Boosters, and boosters for alternative formats (Conspiracy and Conspiracy 2).  Here's the whole assortment:

This draft went really well.  I had a sufficient mix of multi-color lands as well as land cyclers.  Here were my picks:

Smuggler Captain named Absorb Vis.  I should've been more patient there.

I ran 17 lands, which I think were too many.  I think I need to compensate for lots of land cyclers.  I got mana-flooded often.  Here's the deck I built:

A tall 2-MV slot this time!

I named "cycling" for Inspirational Antelope's Legacy mechanic (I refused to actually write on the card) because it counts basic landcycling and swampcycling.  (We looked it up!)  That means I had 4 cards that could become cheaper with it.  As it turns out, it probably would have been better to name "flash".  Nevertheless, I was determined to get a discounted spell off the antelope!

We played single-game rounds and were able to get all three rounds in.  In the first round I was up against aggro Grixis.  I got steamrolled.  I made a big play mistake, removing a bigger creature instead of a smaller creature with Followed Footsteps.  It wouldn't have made a difference, though.  I lost so fast that we played two more games and I lost them both.  0-1.  (I did not get the antelope out.  In any of the games.)

In the second round I was up against aggro Boros.  Daring Skyjek was good against me in Return to Ravnica block, and it hit the battlefield on turn 2.  Two turns later and it was flying in to my life total.  I tried to get some blockers down, but couldn't keep up and lost even faster.  0-2.  (No antelope.)

In the third round, I was up against value Selesnya with a bunch of toxic creatures.  I got the antelope out early, but didn't get to cast any cards with cycling.  (Sadly, the benefit doesn't help with Ketria Triome.)  I went down to 9 as the battlefield supremacy went in my opponent's favor, then wavered back and forth.  My opponent became The Monarch and then With the ground gummed down, I got Spire Monitor out and that turned the tide for me until we were both near 10 life, then it died to a Smell Fear.  Then I played Juniper Order Ranger and creatures over the next few turns gave me the power to break through the ground lock.  The turn before I swung for lethal, I cashed in on the Legacy mechanic and cast Gloomfang Mauler for 6.  Yes!  1-2.

I was inspired to share the +1/+1 counters around.

This draft was wicked fun.  I often feel more comfortable flipping through Mystery booster cards than recent packs, because I'm less familiar with many of the newer cards.  Also, as soon as we were done I was ready to draft again.  (That actually happens a lot.  I wonder how many drafts I would have to do in a row before I needed a break.)

I do really want to know how things would have been different if I had run one or two fewer lands.  (I need to actually remember this lesson during the next draft!)

Modern Horizons 3 (WUBRG Drafting)

I got into a 10-person Modern Horizons draft last night at my local store, Intergalactic Plastic.  I knew to look out for the tri-color lands and MDFC (Modal Double-Faced Cards) dual lands.  At the end of the first pack, I had taken 8 lands (only one basic).  Unfortunately, I didn't keep myself balanced and (probably) went overboard.  Here're my picks:

Sorry for the weird angle!  I had to lean way over to avoid the glare.

The second pick of The Necrobloom prompted me to take even more lands.  The Wight of the Reliquary didn't help, and I really thought I was on my way to excellence.  When I opened Six in pack three, I thought I was home free.  

Deck construction was quick; I only needed seven basics and had to cut from 26 reasonable spells to 23.  However, I'm pretty sure I made a mistake with how I accounted for the MDFCs: I considered them all as spells, but perhaps should have counted half of them as lands.  I found myself mana-flooded a few times, but I don't recall whether that was during games I had already played one or more MDFCs as land.  Maybe with The Necrobloom and the Wight of the Reliquary, I made the right choice.  I don't know.  Here's what my deck looked like:

I'm sure it's okay to run nearly no interaction.  Right?  Right?

Either way, I got run over by Gruul Eldrazi-counters aggro.  In the first round, my opponent outpaced me in two games.  Temperamental Oozewagg nullified my chump blockers and I didn't draw enough from the Snapping Voidcraws I got out. I did use Abstruse Appropriation in both games to grab Wumpus Aberration, but both times after I'd already suffered enough damage that I didn't recover for.  0-1

In round two, I was up against Eldrazi + counters again, this time Naya-flavored.  My deck ran better, but any combo-rificness I could have imagined was far overshadowed by Branching Evolution + Writhing Chrysalis.  That combination was absolutely brutal.  Our game 1 board got crazy and just kept on going with no breaking point in sight:

This board state is brought to you by Infinitokens.

Well... there was a breaking point, I just didn't see it coming.  With Propagator Drone, Path of Annihilation, and that dang Oozewagg, their Chrysalis got 39 +1/+1 counters during one attack, which was enough to trample over all my blockers.  In the second game, I got The Necrobloom out earlier and seemed to get the upper hand near the end, but we didn't finish in time.  0-2.

In round 3, I faced down a tough Rakdos artifact deck with some value synergy.  This time I finally got some combos going with parts of Six + The Necrobloom + Wight of the Reliquary, though sadly not all at the same time.

Removal stops the triple-threat from assembling.

In the first game, Six filled up the graveyard for the Wight to take advantage of a few turns later.  A vigilant 8/8 is good way to win a game.  In the second, The Necrobloom got a few turns with Six, and then my zombie legions won the game in turns.  1-2

I played with and met a bunch of new people and had a blast!  I think the big mistake here is that I didn't take enough removal for me to keep up with the rest.  After a few recent outings where I underdrafted land, I may have overcompensated this time.  However, in the games I was competitive in, The Necrobloom really helped make that come together.  What should I do if I draft MH3 again?  Is WUBRG a viable strategy for this set?