The Raptor Hatchling went down for a nap right on schedule (given the ease of her as a baby right now, I’m going to be karmically punished hard come the teenage years, I can just tell already) so it’s time to frantically squeeze in a draft! Going to try and shake off all of Chris’s bad mojo and try to build something respectable. Unfortunately I forgot to capture the draft log (had to reinstall MTGO) so you just have the video plus some highlighted picks.

Pack 1 Pick 1

Well that’s not the most inspiring set of cardsto open but… serviceable. Interestingly, I think the most recent episode of Limited Resources had a Forerunner vs. Waterknot debate. I take the removal. I’m not wild about how unsplashable it is (compared to say, Luminous Bonds) but it is good removal and is good in every deck.

Pick 2

Huh, it’s like slightly worse versions of each card I had in pack one! I’m not wild about the summoner, it’s fine but it’s not unstoppable. Baffling End is conditional removal, and Expel is nice enough I suppose. I take the thing that looks the most like removal with the Baffler.

Pick 3

Still nothing I’d really consider a signal. I like the Martyr plenty, good little two-drop. Divine Verdict is fine, Rivals is slow enough where you’ll get time to play it and catch something decent. It is somewhat interesting that there are two decentish white cards, so (stop me if this sounds familiar) I take the thing closest to removal.

Pick 4

Ahhh, pick 4 gold cards. Right where I want them to be! The Griffin is a pretty easy pick here. While not a bomb (and isn’t the greatest on defense) it is a very threatening evasive threat that can get out of hand in a hurry.

Pick 5, 6, 7

These feel like pretty good white to be picking up here. I’m a little concerned that there’s almost no blue playable of any kind to be seen and black is showing some depth (e.g. both a Fathom Fleet Boarder and a Recover in pick 6). But the 7th pick Griffin pretty much soothes my fears, perhaps a little prematurely.

I finish up pack 1 with another Snubhorn & Skymarcher quite late and a shocking pick 12 Secrets of the Golden City. So I’m starting to feel that white/blue is definitely my seat or at least under-drafted at the table. What could change my mind?

Pack 2, Pick 1

Son of a…! Okay, well do I dare go full Esper and try to take Chups? The Arch is nice in a real grindy deck like mine and Squire’s Devotion is the dream with 4 aerial threats already. I take the lower-variance choice with the enchantment. I was feeling really uncomfortable with a manabase with lots of double-white, double-blue and now adding double-black. Ugh. Tough choice, would love to hear your thoughts on this one.

Pick 2

Well that’s a little cruel, don’t you think? I sigh, take the decent (and even somewhat evasive!) one-drop.

Pick 4

Oh come ON. Now MTGO is just actively trolling me. Well there will be a very very happy black player somewhere at the table. I take the Scoundrel as I’m digging this evasive + enchantment gameplan that is coming together (I have two Squire’s Devotions at this point)

Interestingly, the white got real dry for me on Pack 3 but the blue flowed a little more freely, so I don’t know what happened there.

The Deck

So… this looks fun! Evasive + hexproof + enchantments looks like a game plan. I’m a little dubious of the overall power level but the proof is somewhere in the pudding.

Results

Woof, sorry about the heavy breathing into the mic. I’ll work on that for sure.

The first match was a pretty easy win. BW deck that wasn’t fast enough to pressure me and then I got to Ascend superiority. I did learn some valuable lessons: Soul of the Rapids is flying, not unblockable and Baffling End hits CMC three or less, not power three or less. Reading the card is truly fundamental.

The other two rounds went more-or-less according to plan. I got pretty lucky in round 3, when an opponent miscounted Ascend and played a Vona’s Hunger without it, thus letting me scamper by with just sacking a Gleaming Barrier. But the evasive + lifelink proved a potent combo.

So yeah! I got a trophy! Wooooo! And some packs to blow on other drafts and not having the courage (or too much courage) to switch colors pack 2.