Okay, I’m not going to lie. The pressure of drafting a P1p1 Tetzimoc and a P2p1 Chups is very, very real. If I can’t put together a 3-0 out of this then I should quit and ritually tear up my Chaos Orb just to make the urban legend come true.
Hail Tetzimoc! Some fun choices late in pack 3 on whether or not to go for the killer splash, but overall very straightforward draft. I liked how much this deck felt like it had a “game plan”. Stall, draw your winners, and profit. Good payouts when hitting the city blessing, both with big fatties and evasive threats. I think I can do this.
But for this article, I want to focus on my mulligan decisions. One of the weakest parts of my game is my mulligan decision-making. It feels like I punt it pretty often and I’m so obsessed with card advantage that I death grip seven mediocre cards. One thing I learned from the Merfolk Machine Gun with Chris is that if your deck is capable of unfair things, mulligan until you start doing unfair things. Now I think this deck is a little more grindy, has more card advantage (Chups, Secret, &c) and shouldn’t be quite so quick to mull… but it does need to survive.
Round 1
Game One (draw)
Not the greatest hand, but action with lands in hand and a barrier to get me there, sounds good.
Game Two (draw)
I don’t think I can ask for a more perfect hand. Easy keep. Result: 2-0.
Round 2
Game One (draw)
ooof, now this feels sketchy. But I also have the best card in my deck that can EASILY catch me up from a losing position and an early Opt allows me to mitigate SOME of the flood. I keep.
Game Two (draw)
Rough one, and I look forward to opinions on this. I keep, good action on two mana (even if I get unlucky and have to crack the Amulet for a Swamp). Dusk Legion Zealot shines here for sure.
Game Three (play)
Oof. I mull. Feels bad, I think with those being two swamps I probably keep, but too far from any action.
Hmmm, a little shaky. I keep this one.
Disappointing round–losing in three–mostly due to my own incompetence. I punted horribly. In Game 2, I forgot that Traveler’s Amulet doesn’t put the land into play like EW, then my panicked clicking on the discard step discarded it. Never really recovered. I probably should have mulled to 5, but I after I scryed, leaving a swamp on top, I cracked Evolving Wild whisking it away. Just… very ugly.
Round 3
Game One (play)
Given that any land gets me to Sailor, which then gets me anywhere, I keep.
Game Two (draw)
Hmm, the best card in my deck and three sources of mana (along with the EV). Easy keep. Another easy 2-0 win. So I went 2-1 with Tetzimoc and I think I left value on the table. I think the R2g2 keep was the correct choice, having the two mana to the Dusk Legion Zealot to early action (including Chups) should have worked. The R2g3 keep was very, very loose. A lot of unplayable cards before I get to Vanquish the Weak. I might not have won that second game (he had a pretty dangerous RG aggro deck) but I could have done better.
Benalish Dad 