Notorious WUBRG: Repack Draft

I held a repack draft three days ago with five other people.  These are mostly from cards that were donated to me about 8 years ago.  I decided to build packs from those cards to run (nearly) free drafts with students.  I first separated them by color, then used a little recipe to build 15-card packs: 2 of each color, 2 multicolored, 1 non-land colorless (usually artifacts), 1 land, and 1 random non-land card.

The power level of these packs is understandably low, but I got some great cards to build a WUBRG deck with!

I wasn't shy about taking Opaline Bracers, though they might have tabled.  I do think Shoreline Ranger was probably undervalued; I managed to get some of them pretty late.  After I got Airborne Aid at the end of pack 1, I tried to build a tribe out of them.  Unfortunately, though I ran it, I never saw Aid itself, so I didn't get to cash in on that value.  Here's how I built my deck:

I went 2-0, but just barely won the first round.  My opponent had skillfully drafted 3 Orzhov Euthanist, and kept landing killing blows with them.  I had my back against the ropes in game 3, down in life around 6-16.  However, I had a flier with the Opaline Bracers, a Baton of Courage with some counters, and drew into Uncaged Fury.  I swung unblocked for the win.

I was hoping to play a third round, but it had gotten a bit late, so we ended early.  It was really fun, especially since I got to play with some new people!

Notorious WUBRG: Phyrexia: All Will Be One Draft (Round 2)

I got a second ONE draft in!  I figured I was going to be in the same sort of shape as the first time (Red/Blue Oil + Equipment with a splash of everything else).  Instead I ran a mostly-Red Oil deck with a lot of other good stuff in all colors.

Here's what I drafted.  Pack 1 is on the left and Pack 3 is on the right.  (I was really sad to get the Obliterator so late!)

I took Kemba because it was neat, but it turned out to be real good!  From those picks, I built the following deck.

Although there's only two Terramorphic Expanses, I was pretty lucky with my colors.  I think I probably should have found room for the other Sawblade Scamp, however.  That card did a lot of work, especially with Churning Reservoir and Urabrask's Anointer.  The big surprise was that Volt Charge just kept coming around, so I kept taking them.  

Overall I went 2-1, losing my first match, then winning the remaining two.  However, only one of my games was a blowout: one of the first round losses.  I barely squeaked by with a win in Round 2 and Round 3 was also very tight.  In the last two rounds, The Filigree Sylex won me a pair of games.  Although it's not as amazing as Pernicious Deed, that second ability was enough of a threat for me to charge up the third ability.  In Round 3, I won a game with my opponent starting the turn at 16 (I think) life. 3 combat damage, a Volt Charge (3 more damage and 3 more oil counters, putting me at 11), and then the Sylex made that happen.

I was hoping (planning?) to see more equipment, but things worked out fine.  I really wish this draft season was longer so I could do more of these, but I think next Friday might be the last one.

Notorious WUBRG: Phyrexia: All Will Be One Draft

I made it to a ONE draft.  However, I failed mightily at WUBRG drafting.  I was a bit greedy and took something over a second Terramorphic Expanse.  I also passed over a ton of Prophetic Prisms.  Bad choices.

My deck at the end of the three rounds.

This deck is real bad.  Fun, but bad.  0-3 bad.  I had some good late-game power, but it wasn't enough.  I won only one game, in the third round.  It seemed like everyone else had a ton of toxic creatures.  I quickly realized that I needed to stay at 2 poison counters or less to avoid Corruption.  

Nevertheless, it seems like the overall strategy isn't terrible.  I got passed a lot of Blue-Red cards, and they worked well together.  There is a lot of equipment synergy and I wish I had got more.  I didn't start off with the full playset of Vulshok Splitters in, but they worked great.  The For Mirrodin! mechanic worked quite well.  It works well with Trawler Drake and Cephalopod Sentry, both of which came around.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't build a WUBRG deck for the first round.  I just ran Izzet, realized it would be more fun with some extra colors, and then threw in a few things for the remaining rounds.  The WUBRG deck was definitely more fun.

I hope I get to draft ONE again!  I really enjoyed the format and I think I could do better with another try.

Notorious WUBRG: Brothers' War Draft

I finally got to do a Brothers' War draft!  It was excellent!  I was at a store I'd never been to before and everyone was quite nice.

Surprisingly, I pulled to draft five mana-fixing lands, and had quite an effective deck.  I really wish I had more chances to draft this set.  Here's what I picked, pack by pack (left-to-right), from bottom to top in order of the picks:

My first three picks were all lands, which seemed pretty good.  I picked up a lot of bombs as I went, as well as a bunch of rares that I didn't wind up running.  Here's what my deck looked like at the end:

I had some exciting grabs and combos that I wasn't expecting:

• Drafna + Ivory Tower: Drafna was great with lots of artifacts, but especially great with Ivory Tower.  Multiple times I put the tower ability on the stack, then bounced it to my hand to get an extra life.  (It didn't hurt that I could then replay Ivory Tower and copy it later.)
  
• Sarinth Greatwurm + Evolving Wilds: Yeah, this was real nice.  I think I missed a bunch of triggers from opponents' land drops, though.
• Astral Cornucopia + Battery Bearer: When X=2, this is a 6-mana spell.  If you also have Drafna, then you can recur it if you need cards.  Both of these spells were just great, though!
• Door to Nothingness: There's a bit of a story here.  I was in a draft pod of 8, all 7 people I hadn't played with before, quite a few of who were newish players.  (There were at least two first-time drafters.)  The group was very fun, and there was some friendly table talk while packs were getting passed around.  At one point, people start commenting on the Door to Nothingness and how funny it was and that it kept getting passed.  Well, I pulled it when it came to me and I told people I would try to activate it. 
       I finally did in round 3!  My opponent had a howling mine out, so I was at a ton of life on Ivory Tower, and then I got to the door and cast it.  I activated it the following turn and won the game.  I feel like this has to be some kind WUBRG-drafting achievement.
• The prototype artifact creatures are really good to draft.  They're flexible, so you can either use them early or late game, and if you don't have the needed color for them, you can bring them out later.  I would say I should have drafted more of these, but other cards were really good too, so I'm not sure.
  

I also got hit with perhaps the best card to play against a WUBRG deck, especially one that is getting domain all the time.  I lost the first round decisively to mono-red.  It looked like I might pull game one out, as he was severely mana flooded.  However, he had an 8-drop that walloped me: Sundering Titan.  

I couldn't believe it!  I lost five lands, half my mana base, and bit it a few turns later.  (I still can't believe it.)

Overall I went 1-1-1 and had a great time!  I really hope I get to do this format again, but unfortunately I think the new set comes in before I'll have my next chance.

Notorious WUBRG: Chaos Draft (Fall 2022)

I am forcing myself to use the term "Chaos Draft" instead of "Wacky Draft".  I have been saying Wacky Draft for over a decade now and have resisted the change, but it's time to give in.  I don't like "Chaos Draft" as much, but... whatever.

Tuesday night was a very successful chaos draft.  This was my first time running a chaos draft with students at Florida Southern.  We've had a hard time getting drafts to happen, and we very nearly had to cancel yesterday, but we got a fourth at the last minute.

Here's what we opened:

My choices were the Ikoria, New Capenna, and Neon Dynasty.  They first two were good for WUBRG-drafting, but the Kamigawa wasn't great.  Nevertheless, I got a really fun draft pool:

 

These were probably stronger than they look.  I did a good job drafting lands, with five multi-colored lands.  These packs didn't have a lot, so I picked them pretty early.  The Skyclave Cleric turned out to be quite good as both an efficient little creature or a land.  Five multi-colored lands are not really enough, but I had a few land-search cards, and two treasure-creating cards, so it worked out. Here's the deck I built: (Sorry for the glare!)

We got off to a late start, so we only played three single-game rounds.  Nevertheless, I got to do some really fun things!

• I mutated for what I think is the first time ever.  That ability isn't as bad as my biases were led to believe.  I didn't get to use the Nethroi, sadly.
• I got to get a card from my sideboard using The Raven's Warning, so that was cool!  I took Shadow of Mortality, but I realized later that I should have taken Master Skald.
• I ventured into the dungeon with Planar Ally.
• I harnessed some citizen tribal synergy.
• I used Extraction Specialist to bring a little creature back (Skyclave Cleric).  That ability is kind of like "Champion a Mana-Value-2 creature from your graveyard".
  
• Dancing Sword was real good.
  

I went 2-1 and had a great time drafting and playing.  Chaos drafts really hit the spot for me!

Notorious WUBRG: Drafting Dominaria

I finally got to draft Dominaria last night.  I've been trying to draft this set for weeks, but plans kept changing, so I kept having to miss it.

I didn't really have a good grasp on what's in the set ahead of time, except that Domain was a keyword. That's both a good and a bad thing.  It's good because it's easier to go 5-colors, but it can be a bit bad if it's too easy.  

What I drafted, in order.  Pack 1 on the left.

The draft went about as you'd expect.  I got tons of the tapped duals.  A lot of rares came around, so I took them.  (Caves of Koilos went really late!)  I think someone else was drafting Domain (there were 5 drafters) so I missed out on a lot of Domain cards.

 What I ran.  Only seven basics!

I built my deck a bit hastily and I never made modifications, which was probably a mistake.  I think I needed a few more creatures.  I went 1-2, but as usual I still had a blast.  Some notes for the future:

• I don't think I need to grab the lands quite as quickly as I did.  It was great to have 10, but 8 or 9 probably would have been okay.  I'm not sure how many of them would have wheeled.
• It's great to take anything with different-colored kickers and not be afraid of being able to use it.
• I lived the dream and cast Yavimaya Sojourner on turn 3 in one game!
• I don't think I would bother with Salvaged Manaworker in the future.  Unless I didn't get enough lands.
  

 I really hope I get the chance to try this format again before things rotate!

Notorious WUBRG: Drafting Unfinity

Last night I drafted Unfinity.  It was not what I wanted to draft (I've been trying to find a Dominaria United draft for a long time, and I keep failing).  However, I had a great time, mostly because of a HUGE misconception I had about how the set works.

Anyways, here's what I drafted:

 

Yes, I first-picked Pair o' Dice in the second pack, mostly because I actually want that card.  I was really excited about Phone a Friend, but I never got to play it.

Here's the deck that I built from that pool:

 

At this point in the draft, I still didn't know that stickers aren't permanent.  (You take them off after each game.)  I did not know that.  To be fair, I did not read up on all things Unfinity before coming to this draft.

I went 1-2 and all of my rounds were fun!  I would certainly draft this set again!  However, I would definitely do some things differently next time.  What we care about here is what I would to be more 5-color-friendly:

• Nearby Planet: I'm not sure I saw any of these in the draft.  They go fast!
• Attractions: There are lots of attractions that create Treasure tokens.  Pick-a-Beeble is real helpful!  I would draft more of these next time.
• To get those attractions going, you're going to want to draft cards that open attractions.  Coming Attraction pulls double-duty here by helping mana fix as well.

The big thing to remember here is not to take these drafts seriously.  This is an Un-set.  Don't draft this if you aren't in the mindset to just have fun!