I had another draft earlier this week. Yet again we did a Clue draft! (I don't think I'll be able to get away with this for very long, so I'll take it while I can.) When we don't pre-plan these things, everyone in the draft group has veto power to return to a "normal" wacky draft. I'm really glad we did this, though, for a few reasons!
- I like the social aspect of playing games with lots of people. (I don't dislike duels!)
- I like doing variant formats.
- The Clue stuff is just really fun!
There were four of us. Here's what we opened:
Two interesting things happened while we were drafting:
- The player across from me "bought out" the first two packs of Avatar they opened. This is an option that I need to make sure is more official. Basically the idea is that if you open some really expensive cards, instead of making you pass them, you're allowed to keep that pack and open a different pack instead. It's called "buying out" because when playing in an official draft at a store, you have to buy the new pack from the store (if they allow this practice). I first heard of it in Journey to Nyx when there was the possibility of "God packs".
- We decided to use the "Andrew McLoughlin Magic: The Gathering Addendum" rule. According to this rule, you're allowed to replace your third turn draw with selecting any basic land from outside of the game and adding it to your hand. Andrew (one of the drafters there) proposed it and we all agreed. (I was very clear that this practice was probably really powerful for people like me who drafted a lot of colors.) This was apparently the first time it's ever been used. Unfortunately everyone decided to draw their third card as normal in the game.
Here's everything I picked:
I rolled to go fourth and was dealt the Clue cards Lead Pipe, Rope, Ballroom, and Billiard Room. The Library and Hall were removed from the deck for everyone to see. Let's go! (Update: we started at 30 life.)
Here's the deck I built:
My opponents were:
- P1: Selesnya
- P2: Rakdos
- P3: Dimir
I had a distinct advantage because I was the only one who had played this format before. Nevertheless, everyone seemed to have a real good grasp of the rules, and P2 and P3 seemed to have really good Clue skills.
In the first round, I played Mardu Devotee, the only 1-drop, but in the second round, P2 played a Callous Inspector, which is a great card for the format. Sadly, they didn't have it on turn 1. I attacked P3 with my Devotee and guessed Green, Wrench, and the Billiard Room. They showed me Emissary Green!
In the third round, P1 played Friendly Ghost and P3 played a Pirate Peddlers, which they realized would be great in the format because you get extra treasures! They attacked P1 with their Callous Inspector and guessed White, Candlestick, and Ballroom. P1 showed them a card.
In the fourth round, P1 hit me with Casper. They suggested Green, Candlestick, and Billiard Room. I showed them the Billiard Room. P2 attacked P1 again with the Inspector and me with the Pirate. I flashed in Brineborn Cutthroat to make the blocking trade (before they got any treasures). They guessed (on P1) Mustard, Knife, and Conservatory. P1 showed them another card. I attacked P2 with my Devotee, but they Firebending Lessoned it. I played my Gadget Technician face down and passed.
P1 started the fifth round of turns by hitting P2 with Casper. They guessed Scarlett, Pipe, and Dining Room. Again they got one right and P2 showed them a card! It was tough for those of us not getting in many of the attacks! P2 played Krenko's Buzzcrusher and I spent my outgoing land's mana to flip the Technician. They hit P3 with the Inspector and guessed Scarlett, Wrench, and the Billiard Room. Finally, P3 passed. Whew! I hit P1 and guessed Plum, Rope, and Lounge and they passed. Bummer!
In round six, P1 hit me with Casper and guessed Peacock, Pipe, and Kitchen. I showed them the Lead Pipe. P2 hit P3 with the Inspector again and claimed to be close. They guessed White, Rope, and Secret Passage; P3 passed. Then they dropped Kavaron Turbodrone and Tiger-Dillo. They gained Archenemy status real quick! P3 hit me with Flexible Waterbender, guessing Green, Candlestick, and Billiard Room. I showed them the Billiard Room. I continued to attack, hitting P3 with my Thopter token. I guess Mustard, Rope, and Study, and they showed me the Study.
In round seven, P1 dropped Astelli Reclaimer, then hit P3 with Casper, guessing Mustard, Candlestick, and Study. They showed P1 a card. P2 sacrificed the Lander they just got to cast Deadly Precision on the Reclaimer. They played a Marauding Blightpriest, Turbodroned it, and P1 with it while the Tiger-Dillo came at me. I blocked with my Gadget Technician for the trade and P1 chumped with one of their creatures. P3 voiced that they had given up on Clue and was trying to win with Magic rules. They hit me and P1 with their creatures, guessing Green, Candlestick, and Study. They were expressly trying to give away zero information, so they guessed with cards they already had! Naturally we both passed. I played Kylox and hit all three of my opponents with my creatures. I guessed Peacock, Knife, and Kitchen. P1 passed and P2 showed me the Kitchen. I was unfortunately in a "shields down" position with no blockers.
P2 played Cruel Administrator on their eighth turn, then Turbodroned it. They attacked me and P1, but P1 blocked. They suggested White, Rope, and Ballroom and I showed them the Ballroom. P3 joined in and hit me also, asking Green, Rope, and Hall. I showed them the Rope card. I lashed back out, hitting both P2 and P3. I guessed Mustard, Knife, and Conservatory. P2 showed me Commander Mustard. At the point the life totals were P1: 13, P2: 17, P3: 20, and me: 13.
On their ninth turn, P2 hit me and P1, guessing Green, Rope, and Secret Passage. I showed them the Rope. At this point I had six treasures! I was giving away too much information! I Collected Evidence 6 and guessed Plum, Wrench, and Secret Passage. P1 showed me the Secret Passage.
P1 led off the tenth round by Collecting Evidence 6 and guessing Plum, Rope, and Lounge. P2 passed, but P3 showed a card. P2 attacked P1, hitting and guessing Plum, Wrench, and Secret Passage. I thought they showed the Secret Passage, but they actually showed P2 the Wrench, as I later learned! P2 made an Accusation: Plum, Knife, and Secret Passage. It was incorrect! "Violence Prevails!" they proclaimed, ready to try to win via normal magic rules. P3 hit P1 and P2. They guessed Green, Wrench, and Hall. Both P1 and P2 passed, but this is where P2 should have shown the Wrench. Oops! I hit P2 and guessed Scarlett, Rope, and Dining Room. They showed me Headliner Scarlett. There were a lot of creatures on the board, so I let loose with the Beyond the Quiet that had been in my hand the entire game. I hadn't solved the murder, though, so I passed the turn, with Ambush Wolf in hand, plenty of mana, and life totals at P1: 6, P2: 4, P3: 21, and me: 8.
An eleventh round! P1 played Rebellious Captives and hit P3 with the earthbent land. They guessed Peacock, Knife, and Kitchen. I think P3 passed on that suggestion. They were stuck without any creatures in hand, so we were hoping we could come back and defeat them in their big lead. I hit P2 on my turn, guessing Peacock, Knife, and Dining Room. They passed. I still didn't have all the answers!
Round twelve! We're still going! What a game! P1 hit me and guessed Plum, Knife, and Kitchen. I passed, then they played Cat-Owl. P3 Collected Evidence 6 and guessed Peacock, Knife, Secret Passage. P1 showed them the Secret Passage. They P3 made their accusation: Peacock, Knife, and Dining Room. It was correct! P3 won! I should have accused from my guess the turn before!
This was especially crazy because they had appeared to give up on the Clue aspect back on turn seven! They did a great job figuring it out late.
Notes:
- I'm surprised how the game can go quite long or quite short with the murder being solved. It's excellent! I think this is the longest I've gone.
- People didn't want to kill opponents until they were confident they could solve the murder. It's dangerous to kill someone and reveal all their cards if you can't make an accusation and win that same turn.
- I feel like I should have been able to solve the murder ahead of time, but I didn't know. I'm not yet super awesome at Clue. I haven't even decided my favorite way to make notes.
This is such a great format for WUBRG drafting, though. The treasure mechanic really makes a difference. It wasn't as necessary for me this time, since I got Barrels of Blasting Jelly down on turn two, but the extra mana always helps.
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