I got a group together for a five-player Clue draft last night. We decided to play starting at 25 life, though we forgot about that until after the game had started. I actually think 20 would have been fine. Here's how it all went down.
We had a real good mix of packs for this Wacky Draft:
With five players you reveal and remove three of the room cards before you deal out the Clue cards to all players. I was dealt Emissary Green, Mastermind Plum, and the Kitchen. (I didn't start filling out my sheet yet because I like to put the players in turn order. I waited and then almost forgot to do it afterwards.)
During drafting I did pay attention to mana fixing, but I also had some other priorities. I pulled Homunculus Horde in pack two, so I looked for ways to draw extra cards and get that trigger. I also dipped into some life gain combos after getting Pest Mascot later on in that pack. I got real lucky with vivid cards, though, including the second-to-last pick of Wildvine Pummeler. Good mana fixing came around late too, including the Bebop and Entish Restoration. Here were all my picks:
I made cuts pretty quickly and put this deck together.
I rolled to go last. Against me were:
- P1 playing "American Robots"
- P2, running "Orzhov Othello"
- P3 on "Azorius Merfolk", and
- P4 with a defensive Jeskai build.
In the first round of turns, P2 cast Dream Beavers to get the only creature on the board.
In the second round, P1 played Knowledge Seeker, an excellent card for the format. P2 cast Sanguine Syphoner and then hit P3 with their Beavers. They guessed Apothecary White, Knife, and Ballroom. P3 passed. The case was on! I ended the round by casting my Delighted Halfling.
On their third turn, P1 played Flaring Cinder, immediately buffing their Knowledge Seeker, which they sent at me. I didn't want to lose my Halfling yet, so I took the three. They guessed the same trio: White, Knife, and Ballroom. I had to pass. P2 kept up the attack on their turn and hit P4 and me, guessing Green, Candlestick, and Billiard Room. I gulped, but P4 revealed a card first so Emissary Green was safe in my hand. P3 cast Farfinder, P4 cast Brazen Scourge (but didn't attack!), and I cast my Homunculus Horde.
P1 started the fourth round by playing Gathering Stone, naming Warrior, and immediately getting a card off of it. (I don't remember what it was.) Then they hit me with the Knowledge Seeker again, guessing Mustard, Pipe, and the Library. I passed again, but I had already leaked a ton of information. P2 attacked and snuck in Oroku Saki to hit P3 and P1. They guessed Scarlett, Wrench, and Secret Passage. P3 showed a card. P3 hit P2 back and guessed everyone's favorite: White, Knife, and Ballroom. P2 passed. P3 then dropped a Chitinous Graspling. P4 also hit P2 and guessed Green, Pipe, and Billiard Room. P2 passed again. Then they dropped Tanufel Rimespeaker. The tide had turned away from me, but I played Dreadwing Scavenger and my Homunculus got a copy, expecting I might get a target from that. P2 still had lots of life and I could get through on them, so I joined in on the dog pile. I guessed Peacock, Rope, and Kitchen; P2 passed.
P1 played Oreplate Pangolin on their fifth turn. P2 cast Leering Onlooker and then hit P3 and P1 again. They guessed Mustard, Rope, and Kitchen, and P3 showed a card. P3 played Mondo Gecko but couldn't swing in safely. P4 cast Kavaron Skywarden and also held off. (We knew nothing about their hand yet!) I attacked with my bird, which doubled my Homunculuses to 4. I hit P1 and guessed Plum, Wrench, and Study. He showed me the Wrench. I played Larval Scoutlander and tapped three of my Homunculuses and the Halfling to immediately fully station it. Although I had picked up the Archenemy mantle, P4 was still way ahead on relative Clue-knowledge.
On the sixth turn, P1 played Hovel Hurler and Burdened Stoneback. They attacked but didn't get through. The Gathering Stone had been packing their graveyard, however, so they were able to Collect Evidence 6 and made a guess on everyone: Scarlett, Candlestick, and Conservatory. P2 passed, but P3 revealed a card. P2 cast Bile-Vial Boggart and Dream Seizer, then hit P1. They guessed Peacock, Wrench, and Study. P1 showed a card (maybe the Wrench?) P4 cast Tablet of Discovery and continued to hold back. I realized I couldn't just keep doubling my Homunculuses or everyone would start swinging in to me. I attacked, but sent some of my horde to their death so that I was attacking everyone. They still doubled at the beginning of combat. Out of all the attacks, I only hit P1. I guessed White, Pipe, and Kitchen. P1 passed. I cast Squawkroaster and Foraging Wickermaw and ended the turn with six Homunculuses. I also had lands to generate two white, one red, and one black (among other colors). There's no reason that's important.
At this point people were talking about being close to solving the murder. I did not feel that way. I don't know if that's because I was too busy taking notes and not analyzing the situation, but there was still a lot of empty space on my sheet. I had deduced very little.
The seventh round of turns started and P1 dropped Sourbread Auntie and then Collected Evidence 6 again and guessed White, Pipe, and Library. P2 immediately showed them a card. P2 continued the gravy train and also Collected Evidence 6 to guess Plum, Pipe, and Lounge. P3 and P4 passed so I had to show Mastermind Plum to P2. I took my treasure token. P3 played Honorbound Page then hit P2 and guessed Mustard, Wrench, and Secret Passage. P2 showed a card. P4 played Stone of Erech, really good at slowing down players using their graveyards to make guesses. They cast Temporal Cleansing on my bird, ending my combo with the Homunculus Horde (I put it second from the top) and finally Collected Evidence 6 themselves to guess White, Knife, and Kitchen. I showed them the Kitchen and took another treasure token. White, White, Red, Black, Foraging Wickermaw for another Red and then my two treasures: I cast the Ruinous Ultimatum that had been in my hand all game. P4 immediately used the Stone of Erech against me, dumping my graveyard. With a clean board, I hit everyone with creatures. I guessed White, Rope, and Secret Passage. P1 passed and P2 showed me the Secret Passage. I ended my turn, but everyone was still at above ten life. I didn't want to kill anyone because I figured I would lose the Clue battle.
The unexpected downside of that play was that everyone now had a full graveyard. To start off the eighth round, P1 Collected Evidence 6 for Mustard, Candlestick, and Lounge. P2 showed a card right off the bat. P2 killed my Scoutlander and then Collected Evidence 6 for Green, Wrench, and Study. P3 passed but P4 showed a card, saving me from having to reveal Emissary Green. P3 also Collected Evidence 6, guessing White, Candlestick, and Study. P4 showed another card. P4 cast Kinbinding and also Collected Evidence 6 for White, Pipe, and Ballroom. Pass, pass, pass... pass. Thankfully there was a bluff in there. They spent their accusation and guessed White, Pipe, and Billiard Room. The checked the envelope... incorrect! I took my turn and played the Dreadwing Scavenger again to put my Homunculus count to 12. I was pretty confident about Apothecary White and the Pipe, but I didn't know between the Ballroom, Lounge, and Study. (I should have been able to rule out the Ballroom, but I didn't realize that yet.) I didn't think many people knew that I held Mastermind Plum, so I hit everyone with creatures to guess Plum, Pipe, and Lounge. (I didn't have a weapon to cover up that guess.) All four of my opponents passed! It was the Lounge. I accused White, Pipe, Lounge, and was correct. I won!
I know I got lucky in this game. I got the Scavenger with the Horde at just the right time so I could start doubling them. If I hadn't had all those Homunculuses, I couldn't have been attacking to make two wide guesses at the end. I also got super lucky with the two treasures right in time to cast the Ultimatum. Finally, I got lucky that things lined up so I could solve the murder right at the end.
It sounded like if I hadn't won, it would have been won by any of the next three players. Whew!
Here are my takeaways:
- I think 20 life is probably best with five players. No one was in any danger of losing to life loss, which might have been different if we'd all had 20 instead of 25. I still like 25 for four players and I'm not sure for three players.
- We didn't make any mistakes this time! The last two clue drafts had had a mistake on each of them, which changed who won. I'm not sure what we did that prevented an issue this time. I said at the beginning that I wanted to be very deliberate with resolving guesses, but I'm not sure I actually did anything to slow us down and be more careful.
- On that note, it was really helpful that I was taking notes about each guess. Many times people asked me what had just been asked.
- This is my favorite format and I don't know why. I like big multiplayer games, but why this Clue thing specifically? I'm not even particularly good at the Clue part! I think it's because the game doesn't go too long and anyone can pull out a win in the end. It also does work really well with chaos drafting.
Happy Magicking and Murder-solving!
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