Chaos Gets Some Games in Late

I got a chaos draft running on Thursday evening.  We had a couple of young drafters, which was excellent.  Things ended a bit early and I only got one single-game round in on the draft that night.  I'm hoping to catch some of the drafters to play our games in the next few days.  If so, I'll update with those.

We had seven total people and decided to do single game rounds.  I actually like seven for drafts!  It's big enough that you get a lot of diversity in packs and being odd means that if we run single-game rounds on the fly, then the person sitting out usually doesn't have to sit for very long.  Anyways, here's what we opened:

Applejack approves of these packs.

The Wilds and Innistrad Remastered packs are some I've won recently and... I like opening LotR.  Here were my picks:

Cryptolith Rite seems like a sign that I'm doing the right thing.

I got enough cards that seemed good that I didn't even run Phial of Galadriel.  Here's the deck I put together:

Lots of green is fine with me!

In the first round I played against a temur deck with lots of efficient creatures.  In this game, I actually started off strong.  I got WUBRG lands out, dropped Treetop Snarespinner, and kept my life at 21.  I didn't draw much else, but I spent my mana putting counters on creatures with the spider.  My opponent dropped Kavu Primarch and then attacked for 15 when my spider wasn't ready to block safely.  Down to 6, I dropped more counters on Snarespinner so it could block the Kavu and live.  On the next attack, I was able to take out three attackers without losing anything, though I did take more damage and went to 2.  My opponent still had a few creatures, but I figured I needed to hit back, which I safely could with one creature given what was on the board.  I had three blockers and they had three creatures with a smallest power of 2.  

Then they drew into removal... and that was the end of that.  0-1.

See that tapped Faunsbane Troll?  I shouldn't have attacked with that.

Three Days Later...

I didn't get to get in any other games that night.  Thankfully I was able to catch up with two of the other drafters on Sunday and get our games in!  I love that we were able to make these happen!

In this second round, I was up against a Mardu (mostly Orzhov) aristocrats deck.

Some nifty combo pieces here!

Bartolomé del Presidio hit the board on turn 2.  I had Worldsoul's Rage in hand, but Bartolomé was always out of range because they kept playing other creatures.  On turn 4, I had two other land in hand and Karakyk Guardian.  I tried casting the Rage on their Mardu Devotee, an obvious play mistake.  They sacrificed it to Bartolomé, fizzling the spell so I didn't get to play out my extra lands.  I died before I got the Guardian out.  0-2.

My third round was against a speedy Jeskai deck of efficient creatures.  This time I used the Worldsoul's Rage successfully, taking out Heartfire Hero before it got bad and ramping me into the Karakyk Guardian on turn 5.  That was enough to keep me on top for the win.  1-2.

This was not a great showing for me, but it doesn't whet my desire to draft at all.  I'm ready for another one!  I... wait, what?

Bonus Round!  3-Player Cutthroat!  

The three of us decided to play an extra game together.  Getting to use your draft deck for extra innings is great!  We shuffled up (two of us took our free mulligan) and we were off to the races.  

The cutthroat rule is that when you attack, you attack both opponents, who can block together.  Damage that goes through is dealt to both opponents.  (Combat-damage-to-players effects only trigger once.)

I started off slow in the first three turns, but became the archenemy after getting Faunsbane Troll out, then Wildwood Scourge with five counters.  The board continued to develop and I got even more creatures out.

Stormkeld Vanguard is on its adventure, but it came out soon after.

The end of the game drew near.  My left opponent had a Mist-Syndicate Naga with Spirit Mantle on it, getting in for damage each turn.  I had the most life, but my right opponent had Transcendent Master at level 12.  I drew New Way Forward.  Excellent!  No longer needing my left opponent's unblockable naga to kill the other player, I attacked with my Sagu Wildling to kill them.  My remaining opponent then attacked with the Transcendent Master.  I played the New Way Forward.

... and I only had seven cards atop my library.

Oof.  Does that make my record 1-3?

I couldn't draw the eighth card, so I was dead.  What a great way to end a game, though, with everyone relevant right up to the last turn!

I hope you get some great games in too!  Happy Magicking!

Outlaws of Thunder Junction 2 (WUBRG Drafting)

Once again my Friendly Local Game Store, Intergalactic Plastic, took a dip into the past to run an older draft, this time Outlaws of Thunder Junction.  My only other Thunder Junction draft was just about a year ago.  We had a big turnout (14) and I got put in the pod of 8 which had two new drafters.

I thought I drafted five colors pretty well, but I did pass on a bunch of dual desert lands.  I also forgot to maximize my crimeability.  That became vital during the night.  Here are all of my picks:

I often forget just how many crazy things there can be in Play Boosters.

 

I took that Annie Joins Up to heart and went hard into legendary creatures.  In the end, it was ready to combo with Magda, Vial Smasher, Baron Bertram (2), Ertha Jo, Bruse Tarl, and Honest Rutstein.  Cutting cards was hard, but here was the deck I put together:

Is it easier to read with the basics up top?

In the first round I was up against an Izzet deck ready to plot a course through the storm.  In the first game I opened up with High Noon on turn 2.  While I got things set up, my opponent plotted cards on turns 2, 3, 4, and 5.  I should have seen what was coming, though it wouldn't have made any difference.  On turn 6, they Failed Fording the High Noon, then cast the four plotted cards.  The third of these was Outlaw Stitcher.  That was the fourth spell, so they got an 8/8 zombie.  The fourth was Visage Bandit, which became a stitcher and created a 10/10 zombie.  

The definition of a You've-Got-to-Hand-it-To-Them moment.

 

I had removal in my hand, but it wasn't fast enough and I fell quickly.  The second game went much better for me and ended up in a race between their Stingerback Terror (and three Mercenaries) and my Boneyard Desecrator, Rattleback Apothecary, and my own collection of mercenaries from At Knifepoint.  I lost the race, but it was close.  0-1.  They went on to win the pod and the deck continued to storm out.

In the second round I faced one of the new drafters who is apparently the Selesnya prison warden.

Seriously!  That Mystical Tether without a creature voided my 11/11 Dance of the Tumbleweeds token.

Removal on both sides kept anything from happening for turns and turns.  I finally got Bruse Tarl to work with Annie Joins Up, but, as shown in the picture, that got taken by Buried in the Garden.   That might have been the correct choice, because I got Ertha Jo a bit later.  After a long stalemate, I finally got in a big attack with Ertha Jo and two other small creatures, but powered by six mercenaries.  That 18 damage won me the game.  We started a second, but time got called before we got any big hits in.  1-1.

In the third round I was up against a Grixis deck centered around casting Cruel Ultimatum.  (They told me about their deck before any matches started.)  In the first game, they used three treasures to cast it.  Oof.  In the second game I mulliganed into a 6-land hand and kept drawing lands.  They got ahead with Tinybones and were able to pave a path through my blockers with removal.  That allowed Tinybones to steal those recently-removed creatures and use them against me.  Stealing my Magda allowed them the treasures needed to cast Cruel Ultimatum again.  Because of all the land draw, I didn't have much on the board to lose to the ultimatum.  It didn't matter, though, because it put them up so much further that they killed me a few turns later.  1-2.

This was not an improvement on my showing last year when I also went 1-2.  That's a total of 2-4.  I definitely need more experience in this format.  Here are some lessons I have to learn:

• Take the dual deserts!  I passed one up for a Trick Shot because removal has done me so well in the past.  In the end, though, I just didn't run it.  
• Spinewoods Armadillos are not going to come around.  They are bombs.  Take them early! 
• Extra ways to commit crimes are useful.  Cards like Sandstorm Verge commit crimes!  Take them!

I hope I get the chance to try drafting Thunder Junction again and improve a bit.  It really seems like WUBRG should be good here. 

Wilds of Eldraine 5 (WUBRG Drafting)

My Friendly Local Game Store, Intergalactic Plastic, ran a draft for FNM yesterday.  In their delightful fashion, they went back in time a bit and we drafted Wilds of Eldraine.  On one hand, I haven't yet drafted Tarkir Dragonstorm.  On the other hand, I have a pretty good record at my four previous Wilds drafts, a total of 10-2.  Maybe I could continue my performance here.

There was a torrential downpour that ended right around the start of the draft, so that may have kept people away.  We only had six people, but that's enough to draft!

I started off opening Questing Druid and knew it was going to be a good draft.  I only managed to draft three fixing lands, one Scarecrow Guide, and a single Rootrider Faun.  And a lot of treasure generating spells.  Here are all my picks:

Johann, a familiar Wilds-draft friend!

I drafted a lot of crazy fun cards that I wanted to try to cast.  Unfortunately, I just didn't have the right deck for them.  Thunderous Debut?  I didn't have any big creatures to search for.  Forced Fruition?  I drafted that in my last draft and it wasn't all that fun.  Hatching Plans?  I didn't have a lot of Bargain stuff.  Leyline of Abundance?  Let's make it happen!

Here was my deck:

Yeah, I actually remembered to take this photo before I left the store.

In the first round I was up against a relatively new player with an aggressive Boros deck.  He had some good value in the first game with Dragon Mantle and Stockpiling Celebrant.   

The mantle of the dragon weighs heavily on a young hero's shoulders.

I got Talion out on turn 4, and chose 4 for the mana cost.  (I should have chosen 3.  I should have chosen 3.  I should...)  That meant I only got to profit on the Cut In that killed her.  Nevertheless, I was able to get a big board going.  Dream Spoilers was amazing, taking out three creatures with its ability and I won with a board that was way too big.  In the second game the Boros aggro paid off and I lost in turns while my opponent was at 25. 0-0-1.

In the second match, I was up against a regular drafter at the store, wielding a brutal Glint-Eye deck.  (The colors, not the actual card.)  I got the Questing Druid out early in a pattern of turn 2 Seek the Beast (it's adventure) on their turn. (Actually their turn 3, because I lost all my die rolls.)  Then I could decide whether to play the Druid on turn 3 or use the cards I'd exiled.  Usually I cast those spells and dropped the Druid on turn 4.  He played a turn 6 Hamlet Glutton, but it never came in because the Druid outgrew it within a few turns.  I won with a very wide board and eight +1/+1 counters on the druid.  In game 2, he put Decadent Dragon on an adventure and stole two of my cards.

Hey, that's my Plains!

He got to WUBRG before I did off the back of my plains.  I played Talion again, this time guessing seven due to the threat of Hamlet Glutton.  Instead of that being important, he killed her with the other stolen card: Frantic Firebolt.    I took a lot of damage from those Minstrosities, dropping to three life.  I got some of the engine going with Johann and was able to play my swarm of creatures.  I won using the Leyline to pump my team in the end.  So far all of my wins are from outlasting my opponent until my battle line is longer than theirs.  That is totally in line with my play style.  1-0-1.

In the third round I was up against the tournament organizer, running a deck titled "Abzan Groceries" with lots of food-based tricks.  The first game was a war of attrition, with removal keeping the board pretty clear.  This slow form worked in my favor, though, and I outpaced them with lots of good card draw that gave me the gas to win.  (Thank you, Quick Study!)  The second game was back to the long battle lines.  I got turn five natural WUBRG (woo!) but their Howling Galefang got in for a bunch of damage.  I got Greta on the board twice (thanks, Woodland Acolyte) and sacrificed both foods to put her to 5/5.  I took some more damage here and there, but then they flooded out and I was able to extend the battle line far enough again and win.  2-0-1.

The real winning point here was in all of the instants.

• Instants as adventures are great!  I started with Sleep-Cursed Faerie, but I replaced it with Grabby Giant because it worked so much better with other things.
• Card draw and mana fixing instants were amazing.  Flick a Coin was good, but Quick Study was the MVP.  I cannot overstate just how helpful this card was at giving me gas.  I would have run two more copies if I'd drafted them!
• All these instants were especially good with Johann, Questing Druid, and Dream Spoilers.  Even a simple Flick a Coin could change the damage balance in a potential fight by 3.  (1 damage itself, +1/+1 counter for the druid, -1/-1 with the Dream Spoilers.)  

If you count the adventure-creatures, I had 12 instants in the deck.  It was a real 5-color spellslinger!

Total record in Wilds of Eldraine drafts: 12-2-1

There are many other sets I want to draft, but I don't think I'll ever turn down one of these!  Happy Magicking!

Chaos, Heavy on the Duskmourn (WUBRG Drafting)

We snuck in one more April draft on Monday.  This is finals week for me.  I tried to pick meaningful packs:

• Strixhaven, because the school year is ending.  
• Amonkhet, because it's the beginning of the summer and it's about to get HOT here.
• Streets of New Capenna... this was not on theme, I just like opening this set!

Here's what we all picked:

Yeah, Magic 2012, baby!

Notice those three interesting packs to my right.  Those were opened by my WUBRG Rival, whom I've mentioned in prior posts.  They were sitting just to my right, which is the worst place for me!  That means they can take all the multicolored lands before I even see them! 

One excellent thing I did was to take a Snow-Covered land mid way through pack 1.  That paid off when I grabbed a Frostwalk Bastion late in pack 2 and an Arcum's Astrolabe in pack 3.

I definitely got greedy in the draft, and often picked fancy-looking cards over lands.  I have a problem with that.  Here are all my picks:

When I took the Forced Fruition, I told myself I had to run it and I did... but I never had a good time to cast it.  

I took the Depopulate, promising to myself that I would pick a bunch of multicolored creatures.  As you can see, I failed to stick to that.

When the Grim Lavamancer was passed to me, I told them (my WUBRG Rival) that they should look it up first.  They did and it is apparently now only worth a fraction of a dollar.  Freaking power creep!  

This deck was relatively easy to build.  I kept in as much removal as possible.  I'm really glad I kept The Jolly Balloon Man in.  I managed to accidentally include some great combo pieces.  Here's the finished deck:

Five snow permanents, let's go!

We played single game rounds (with a free first-mulligan) and I think we managed to get 20 of the 21 possible matches in, and the last match happened afterwards to complete the Round Robin.  (That's a sign of a great draft... to me anyways.)

In the first round I was matched up against a nifty Temur deck.  I got Charred Foyer out on turn four, generating sweet value.  I opened the Warped Space side a few turns later, but then it drew the hate.

Naturalize destroys the rooms in your house!

I kept my lead in the value race, however, and pulled out the win. 1-0.

In the second round, I faced a speedy Boros deck.  I got steamrolled.  I kept a land-poor hand after the free mulligan with mostly islands.  I continued to draw Islands as I died to Endrider Catalyzer and Most Valuable Slayer with Lightwheel Enhancement thrown in for good measure.  I thought I bought myself some extra turns with some chump blockers, enough for me to get the land down and unleash The Rollercrusher Ride.  Unfortunately those chumps got removed and then a Turn Inside Out beat me before I was expecting it.  1-1

The Lavamancer didn't have time to Lavamance.

 

My third opponent was a Golgari player who was also able to take me out with a two-creature team.  

Team featured here.

Both the Gluttonous Slug and the Conceited Witch have menace, putting me constantly on the backfoot.  Many times I was one or two mana short of doing something smart with the Mirage Mirror and the Lesser Masticore.  Sometimes I was able to pull off a kill.  Unfortunately, Supernatural Stamina and Fake Your Own Death negated two of those.  (They didn't happen at the same time, but I made my opponent pull them out for photo evidence of the repeated crushing blow.  Is black death escapism a kinship?)  1-2  After that match, my opponent revealed that they had refrained from playing Terramorphic Expanse because they didn't want me to copy it and sac my mirror to solve my mana problems.

In the fourth round, I was against a tight Simic deck (actually Bant, but only white for Salvation Engine.  Gastal Thrillseeker was good early on, but it did and the game became a war of attrition where both of our removal played a big role.  I ran out of it when the Salvation Engine came out, but at that point there wasn't enough to crew it.

So many creatures are dead, exiled, or frozen... except for some 1/1s.

Haunted Screen helped me break the stalemate here and I won before more creatures showed up to crew the Salvation Engine.  2-2.

Haunted Screen showed up for me in the next round too, but my Mardu opponent was ready with an Untimely Malfunction to take it out.  

I did still kill the First Sliver's Chosen.

Thankfully I had enough other gas to stay ahead and I won.  3-2.

Once again, my WUBRG Rival had engineered things so that we didn't play until the very end of the night.  Thankfully my deck decided to shove combos in my face so hard that I couldn't miss them.  My opponent played Springbloom Druid, a card I would have loved to have.  My Jolly Balloon Man couldn't copy that since it's my opponent's, but I could copy it with the Mirage Mirror, then make a copy of my own.

Ragavan is standing in for a Springbloom Druid token.

It was an expensive combo, but I used it two or three times before the druid died.  The mirror powered another combo, though.  You can only activate Haunted Screen's ability once... but if you can get some +1/+1 counters on Mirage Mirror first, then you can activate it on multiple turns.  

Hi.

Thanks, Revival of the Ancestors for those initial counters.  4-2.

Takeaways: 

• Three snow lands was enough to run the snow splash.
• I think I lost at least one game to a lack of mana fixing.
• I love drafting!
  

I hope you have some great drafts yourself.  Happy Magicking!