I am lucky enough that I got a draft going on Wednesday night with some friends. We had five and the group wanted to play Star, so we did a Star draft. Awesome! I love multiplayer drafts! We didn't employ the Cutthroat Rule, which I generally like, but I understand the reluctance and it can make things less fun by limiting decisions.
The most important thing, of course, is that we were Wacky drafting. Here opened a very eclectic set of packs:
I got a lot of mana-fixing this time around. Here are all my picks:
I did not go heavy into green, despite how good Archdruid's Charm would be in wubrG. The following cards just did not go that way, even though I got Studious First-Year shortly after. As you might be able to see from my picks, I went deep into white instead. Here was my deck:
We sat down to play. We used (my preferred) configuration in Star where our enemies sat next to us and our teammates were across the table. (I like this because otherwise it's so easy to not skip over a player when advancing turns around the table.)
- I won the die roll so I was P1.
- P2 (my opponent) was running Jund Wizards.
- P3 (my teammate) was in Witch-Maw Green. (wubG)
- P4 (teammate) had built a Jeskai artifacts deck.
- P5 (opponent) was running Izzet. P4 and P5 are close friends who come to a lot of my drafts and often (randomly) get teamed up together, so it was a change to see them on opposing sides.
I opened the game with a Studious First-Year on the first turn. P2 played Unwilling Ingredient and P4 played Ominous Parcel.
On turn two, I cast the prepared Rampant Growth and attacked P5. P2 cast Witherbloom Apprentice, which wound up triggering a lot. P4 cast HYDRA Assault Robot, which was one of their planned paths to win the game. P5 cast Surveillance Phantasm and passed the turn.
I started off turn three by casting Guy in the Chair. P2 cast Command the Stage, which the table immediately realized was part of a great Team Combo ("Teambo"?) with the Assault Robot. Unfortunately, my opponent would get the payoff for that combo, not my teammate. P2 continued their turn by attacking P3. P3 got in the game by casting Field Trip to get their mana in an even better place. P4 cast Echo, Perceptive Prodigy and P5 passed.
On turn four I made a play mistake with Roll-Roll-Roll-Roll for the second time. I thought it would return the Studious First-Year to my hand, but it just exiles it until the end of turn phase. That slows down the use with comes-into-play prepared sorceries, but I used it with my studious bear anyways. P2 made another big play with Red Mage's Rapier, which combos with Command The Stage! They attacked P3 again. P3 finally played something substantial with Pizza Face, Gastromancer. P4 cast Forecasting Fortune Teller, but P5 Rejected it and P4 didn't pay the three mana. P4 attacked both of their opponents. P5 cast Treetop Freedom Fighters, but didn't attack. At the end of the turn the life totals were Me: 18, P2: 21, P3: 15, P4: 20, P5: 19.
Turn five started off with me casting the prepared Rampant Growth and then summoning Long Lake Nuisance. P2 cast Ancestral Anger then attacked me and P3. P2 cast Bladebrand during combat, so they hit me with a 6/1 Red Mage. P3 cast Old Fat Spider, a big upgrade to Pizza Face for blocking. P4 cast Backstreet Bruiser and P5 cast EPF Point Squad. We ended the turn with life totals at Me: 9, P2: 23, P3: 13, P4: 20, P5: 19.
I Roll-Roll'ed my Studious First-Year again on turn six. I attacked in on P2 and then played Ice Flan. P2 sent Gandalf, Goblins' Bane on the adventure to Flameshape and then played Michelangelo, Weirdness to 11. P3 cast Spider Bot and Ant Man's Army and P4 cast Stitched Assistant, using Echo to copy the Exploit ability. P5 ended the turn by playing Gandalf, Wandering Wizard. I was up against Team Gandalf! The turn ended with life at Me: 8, P2: 21, P3: 12, P4: 20, P5: 19.
On turn seven I cast the Rampant Growth yet again and Roll-Roll'ed my Ice Flan to freeze the Witherbloom Apprentice down. P2 cast Gandalf, Goblin's Bane, then Reverent Howl. I hit Gandalf with Pinecone Strike before the trigger resolved. P3 cast a big Enlisted Wurm, cascading into Infirmary Healer, then attacked P2. P4 cast Mechanized Ninja Cavalry and Goblin Plate Mail. I cast Grounded for Life on the Witherbloom Apprentice at the end of turn, but I still took a bit of damage. The life totals were now at Me: 6, P2: 11, P3: 13, P4: 20, P5: 15.
Turn eight began with me attacking P2, but I didn't get through because they blocked with their Unwilling Ingredient. I cast Ahirman and passed the turn. P2 cast Command the Stage again. I cast Study Break to tap their creatures down so P3 could get in. P5 didn't like that and pressed X with Reasonable Doubt. I paid the two, tapped the creatures, and dug into my extensive learn-board to put Azula Always Lies in my hand. P3 attacked P2, but didn't take them out, then cast Duskwatch Hunter. P4 cast the card I picked The Sentry, Golden Guardian over: The Sentry, Golden Guardian. That was good, except that The Void went to P5, who untapped and turned to me. I blocked, but they cast Enthusiastic Study. I cast Azula Always Lies to live, but they cast their own Pinecone Strike. I took seven damage and died. P5 cast Lunar Rejection to bounce the Sentry, then ended their turn. The remaining life totals were: P2: 2, P3: 16, P4: 15, P5: 15.
When one player dies in Star, the rest of the game generally goes pretty quick. The two teammates who just killed an opponent are now each on the good side of a 2-on-1, so they can focus up real quick. If either of them takes out their opponent, then they step out of the game as a winner, leaving the remaining two players to finish their duel. There was a chance P2 and P5 could win this game together, but P2 would have to survive on their very low life total!
P2 started turn nine by exiling their Unwilling Ingredient from their graveyard. P3 attacked them, then cast Scuttling Butler. P4 recast The Sentry and gave The Void again to P5. P5 immediately attacked them, but they just blocked. The life totals were the same except that P2 was down to 1.
On turn ten, P2 cast Tomik, Izzet Sparkmage, but it wasn't enough. P3 swung over them to take them out. It was now a clear 2-on-1. P3 cast Grizzly Ghoul with four +1/+1 counters on it. P4 cast Aettir and Priwen and held back to try and stay alive. P5 cast K'un-Lun Warrior and Molten Man, Inferno Incarnate, then swung out against P4. The life totals were P3: 15, P4: 15, P5: 10.
P3 took the last turn on round eleven. They cast Restore with Empathy on a Roiling Canopy in their graveyard. They swung everything at P4.
It was enough to kill P4; P3 and P5 shared the victory!
This was a great way to spend a draft. I just enjoy playing with everyone and watching to see what happens. I might have been able to stick around longer if I'd've played better, but I don't think it would have changed the fact that I was getting beaten up!
Happy Magicking!
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