I ran an impromptu free draft last week with repacked cards for some students. It initially looked like there were going to be three of us, but then the number jumped up to six! Four of the six of us were relatively new drafters with one here for their first draft ever.
During drafting, there were some comments about how a lot of my packs have a lot of eldrazi in them. That's not on purpose; I've been sorting through a bunch of donated cards from Battle for Zendikar, so that's just how the cookie crumbles right now.
Also, the person sitting to my left told everyone they were going five colors, so I had to put in some extra work getting the lands I wanted. After the first pack I thought I was in trouble, as they'd be passing to me. However, I got four lands in a row early in pack two, so I felt pretty good midway through the whole thing. Here's everything I drafted:
From these cards, I built this deck:
We decided to play best-of-one rounds in order to get as many matches in as possible. (Note: this doesn't work as well with an even number of people.) I was matched up first against an Izzet Eldrazi build. Thankfully I drew well and got Tunnel of Hate online on turn six, with the manifested 2/2, Oran-Rief Invoker, Ulamog's Nullifier, and a Ghostly Sentinel on the board. I won two turns later. 1-0.
In round two I was up against a Rakdos deck. I dealt with their scary Valakut Predator with a turn four Torch the Witness. In the next three turns I played 4W-cost fliers back to back: Ghostly Sentinel, Charmed Clothier, and Ghostly Sentinel. I won the turn afterwards. 2-0.
In round three I was facing down a Dimir enchantments deck. I was stuck on five mana for a while while they played a good defense with Grim Guardian (triggering off things like Necrogen Communion) and Pharika's Chosen. I got Kozilek's Channeler down which got me unstuck. Soon I had Eldrazi Devastator out and my Oran-Rief Invoker was looking a lot more imposing. I lost both the Pharika's Chosen, which came back due to shenanigans, but not after dealing enough excessive damage in subsequent attacks for me to win. 3-0.
Round four was set to be exciting. One person had already left without playing me, so this was to be my final round. My opponent, running Mardu Life Drain with a bunch of effects like Drana's Emissary, had just come back big to win their fourth straight. Only one of us would remain undefeated. And, unfortunately, they got mana flooded. They played their own Grim Guardian, but thankfully never the Emissary. Kozilek's Channeler hit the board for me and nearly got there on its own. 4-0.
These little drafts are great! I love getting together with students to reuse these cards that might otherwise be discarded!
Wrap up your own packs and Happy Magicking!
No comments:
Post a Comment