I got to hold a draft with three other people on Tuesday last week. I was really hoping I might be able to convince people to do a Clue draft, and then one of the participants suggested it.
The other two participants had not played before, so we explained the rules. (There's a lot to it, but I think I did a good job going through everything. I tried to reexplain things as they came up during play, in good board-game-hosting fashion.) We dealt out the Clue cards, picked our packs, and then got down to drafting. The Hall and Conservatory were the excess revealed cards.
There were a lot of reject rares that came around during drafting, and I realized that is one of my big weaknesses. It's a kind of FOMO, along the lines of, "I may never get to draft this card again". That's probably true. Many times I made the wrong choice in the-card-I-want versus the-card-I-should-take. It's probably clear from the cards I picked:
Michelangelo's Technique seems specifically bad in a limited format where hitting with unblocked creatures is core. Nevertheless, I managed to get enough mana fixing to put a pretty good deck together:
We decided to start with 20 life (for time reasons), shuffled up, and sat down to play. Twenty life isn't super low, and I reminded the group that it's not smart to kill people until you think you can solve the murder, as all their clue cards get revealed.
- Player 1 was running Mono Red.
- Player 2 was on Orzhov.
- I was going third.
- Player 4 had built an Esper deck. They were the only other person that had played Ravnica Clue before.
For Clue cards, I held the Rope, the Knife, the Lounge, and the Billiard Room.
I took careful notes on the Clue-actions again, which turned out to be a really good idea on multiple occasions. (I highly recommend this at least with first-time players. Write down what each guess was (do this before anything else, even if you're involved in the guess) and then write down whether the result was a pass or show.) It's very common for people to ask exactly what was just asked.
Before anyone took a turn, Player 4 announced Leyline of the Void from their hand. This was a really big deal because until we could remove it, it shut off the Collect-Evidence-6-based suggestions for three of us.
In the first round, Player 1 dropped Blisterspit Gremlin and Player 2 cast a Diregraf Ghoul.
The gremlin hit me at the beginning of the second round. Player 1 named Headliner Scarlett, the Knife, and Billiard Room. I showed the Billiard Room and took my treasure token. Player 1 then played Oreplate Pangolin. Player 2 followed that up by hitting me with the ghoul. They named Peacock, Candlestick, and the Ballroom, which I had to pass to. I used my treasure to play Spineseeker Centipede. Player 4 played Arrogant Poet. I love wacky drafts!
In the third round, Player 1 hit Player 2 with the pangolin. They named Scarlett, Lead Pipe, and Dining Room. Player 1 showed them a card. The ghoul served up some retribution and Player 2 guessed Peacock, Candlestick, and Ballroom again. Player 1 passed. Player 2 played Venomized Cat, then passed the turn. I hit P4 with my centipede, then guessed Green, Rope, and Study, which was a miss. With the tapped creature I was able to web-sling in Spider-Man, Brooklyn Visionary and search up another land. All my ramping was coming together! Player 4 cast Novice Inspector, then hit Player 2 with the Poet (flying). They guessed Peacock, Pipe, and Dining Room and P2 showed them a card.
In the fourth turn, Player 1 cast Kavaron Turbodrone. Player 2 played Web-Shooters, then sicced their cat on Player 4, who took it out with a Desculpting Blast. I apologetically hit Player 4 with my Spider-Man and guessed Plum, Wrench, and the Lounge. They had none of them. I replayed my Centipede for my third land search and to have WUBRG basics on the field. Player 4 attacked me with another creature they had. They named Scarlett, Knife, and the Billiard Room. I showed them the Billiard Room I'd already revealed to Player 1.
Player 1 started off the fifth round by attacking P2 with their pangolin, but they had a Dire Tactics to fend it off. Player 1 played a Battle-Scarred Goblin and passed. Player two dropped a Heraldic Banner (naming Black), then struck back at Player 1 with the Web-Shooting Diregraf Ghoul. They named Mustard, Knife, and Billiard Room and Player 1 passed. I hit P1 and P2 with my two creatures and guessed White, Knife, and Kitchen. P1 showed the Kitchen and then I dropped my Spectral Snatcher. Player 4 hit Player 1 with the Poet and guessed White, Wrench, and Kitchen. Player 1 showed a card (Kitchen?) and then Player 4 mutated Cavern Whisperer onto the other creature and we all learned more about how mutate works because the question came up of what would happen if the mutated creature no longer existed.
Player 1 decided to grab the archenemy mantle on turn six and cast Overlord of the Boilerbilges. They hit me for four, gave it haste with the Turbodrone, then swung in to kill Player 2. Player 2 revealed their hand of Clue cards: Peacock, Scarlett, Ballroom, and Secret Passage. They did not make an accusation, however, a very dangerous move! I took my turn and attacked both of my remaining enemies with my big creatures, but they both chump blocked. I played my Daemogoth Woe-Eater, then played Wurmwall Sweeper and tapped my Centipede to station the Sweeper half way.
Player 4 hit my Woe-Eater with Mage Hunters' Onslaught and I was suddenly without any blockers. They passed the rest of their turn and then Collected Evidence 6 to make a guess: Green, Wrench, Dining Room. We both passed, but they did not make an accusation; safe to figure Player 4 had one of those three cards themselves.
In the seventh round, Player 1 cast Heated Debate to kill Player 4's Arrogant Poet. Then they swung out at the two of us, killing me and hitting Player 4 as well.
Player 1 guessed Mustard, Candlestick, and Kitchen. Player 4 showed him a card. Then Player 1 spent their Accusation: Plum, Pipe, and Dining Room. They looked at the confidential envelope; they were incorrect!
Player 4 attacked for four and guessed: Green, Wrench, and Library. Player 1 showed a card. Then Player 4 accused: Green, Wrench, and Dining Room. They looked at the envelope. Incorrect!
Player 1 revealed that they had Emissary Green. Player 4 suspected a mistake had been made. Thankfully I had my notes; so we looked back to see that Player 4's guess on the previous turn had shown a mistake. Player 1 had passed on a previous guess with Green. The best solution here was to award the game to Player 4, who would have won otherwise.
Making these kinds of mistakes is very common! It's best to go slow when resolving guesses. I'm not sure we did a good job of that, especially with some new players.
Even though there was a mistake and even though I got killed, this was really fun! I'm not sure Player 1 made the most strategic choice by taking people out, but the outcome was still really fun. I love this format and want to do it more!
Now that it's made a difference in a game, I really want to know which happens first when a player dies in combat. Does the attacking player make a guess or does the dying player reveal their hand first?
Happy Murder-Solving Magicking!
No comments:
Post a Comment