Chaos hears the Call of the Ring (WUBRG Drafting)

I got real lucky and a little draft that almost failed turned into a draft with seven people!  I'm starting to think that seven is my favorite number.  (I haven't yet been confident enough to suggest two Ravnica Clue games (3 and 4 people) instead of duels, but I'm sure I'll get there.)  That doesn't mean I would be disappointed to have eight or more, but seven is probably the largest where it's possible to get all the single-game matches (21) in on a week night, which is exactly what we did.

And we had a great selection of packs too!

I don't draft black-heavy very often.  Of the five colors, it's the one that I have the fewest cards of, meaning it's likely my least-drafted color.  For this draft, I went heavy into black.  Here were all of my picks:

I have drafted so many Mythoses.  :-\

Here's the deck I put together:

The missing card is Bandit's Talent, which won me some games.  I traded it away before I took the deck photo.

Warning: my notes are a bit spotty here!  It's been over a week since we played! 

 

I was paired up against a Glint-Eye player first (everything but white).  Sinkhole Surveyor really showed up for me here.  I put a bunch of counters on it until I thought it was big enough, then started making tokens.  I played Bandit's Talent and started reusing creatures from my yard.  I got really lucky because I won at 10 and my opponent had Hidetsugu's Second Rite in deck!  1-0

In round two I faced a Jeskai deck packing a devastating Endstone to stay alive late game.  Demon Wall came down for me turn two, which was a great play for me multiple times.  I need to remember how good that is for me in the future!  Spineseeker Centipede helped fix my mana on turn three and then I curved right into Fungal Colossus on turn four.  They got a Rooftop Percher on the next turn, but I still swung in.  They played Omni-Cheese Pizza and swung back, and some instant-speed removal went both ways.

Condemn versus Seized from Slumber.

I pumped my Demon Wall and started to swing in.  My opponent played Hare Apparent and Patched Plaything.  I attacked and played Feed the Cycle to come out on top on the blocks.  We both attacked in the next turn, then my opponent dropped The Endstone, gambling they would be safe going down from 16 to 10 life.  I had already played Debris Field Crusher, which now had two counters on it.  I played Spectral Snatcher, tapped to fully station the Debris Field Crusher, then swung in for exactly ten damage!  2-0.

In round three I was up against a mean Grixis deck.  I had a turn five Wick's Patrol, but it wasn't enough.  My opponent played Dream Harvest and hit well.

The Mythos of Brokkos and Dragon's Prey!

I did not recover.  2-1.

In the fourth round I was up against a tough Bant deck.  They played Lita, Little Orphan on turn two.  I spent a Dragon's Prey on it two turns later.  I got some flying support, but perhaps I should have held on to my removal.

Treetop Snarespinner ruined my game.  All by itself.

I couldn't get around it and it ended up killing me.  2-2.

In the fifth round, I got Bandit's Talent out on turn two against a swift Boros deck.  They played Brightspear Zealot and I responded with Gravestone Strider.  They played Unsettling Twins and I dropped the Demon Wall and Swiftfoot Boots.  Whisperquill Scribe came down and they started swinging in.  I got Morbius down shortly thereafter and the life gain kept me in the game.  My opponent played Unswerving Sloth, which I hit with Feed the Cycle before it could be saddled next turn.  They played Rite of the Dragoncaller.  I saw that with Demon Wall I could attack for the win without casting a spell, so I went for it.  They didn't have a play so I won!  Whew!  If I had cast something, they had Reprieve in hand and could have punished me.  3-2.

Also, I can't remember the last time I drew a hand of seven lands!  Thank you, free mulligan!

In the sixth and final round, I was up against a player running Gruul Lizards.

Nearly Team Lagac!

I got Demon Wall out early and used Call of the Ring over and over.  (I'm not sure I've ever maxed out tempting the ring before!)  Late in the game I played Fungal Colossus for one green.  My opponent played Wheel of Potential for three, but I drew far more cards than them and used that economy to win.  4-2.

Quick notes:

• I did well because I had plenty of fixing, good creatures, and loads of removal.
• When we opened the first pack, one person bought out a pack and opened something else.  I expected it to happen more, but it didn't.  I still like using this rule!  

 

Wacky drafts are still my favorite.  Happy Wacky Magicking!