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:
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:
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.
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.
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!
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