Draft

Hello Gruul my old friend! At first it seemed like it wasn’t open, and picks 3-7 spent wandering the wilds of Esper. But late playables in pack one like the 3/2 Sylvan Brushstrider and the sheer density of green & red convinced me that this was my seat at the table.

The only really tough pick was Electrodominance vs. Gatebreaker Ram in P2p1. I haven’t played with ED, but I suspect the ceiling is higher. I passed on an Amplifire for a safe 2-drop. A wheeling Clan Guildmage in the 3rd pack cemented it.

Draft Log

Deck

Fourth Gruul deck in a row! Only two question marks here: Glass of the Guildpact with 7 payoffs (8, if you include Thrash//Threat). Is that worth it? Also, I cut an End-Raze Forerunners. Yes, it’s an unbelievable house, but at 8 mana (and zero ramp) I don’t think this is the deck for it. I’m also a little high on tricks, but the double Storm Strike is what I’m using to give myself permission for 16 lands. After the first round I swapped out the Gift of Strength for another Gravel-Hide Goblin.

Results

• Round 1 vs. Rakdos: I stall out on 3 lands after pounding him down to 3. A little frustrating to draw 1 land on 8 turns but that’s this game sometimes.
  I keep a solid hand on the play, only to not draw any creatures for 6 turns. It was a good Rakdos deck, but felt like a blah loss.
• Round 2 vs. Orzhov: Kept another 2-lander with action, did not draw land for 4 turns (~9% according to hypergeometric calculator) I stabilize, but opponent gets more resources with Locket + Dead Revels. I eventually grind him out. Game 2 was slower when he landed the 3/6 Watchful Giant (good sideboard tech against me) but once again Clan Guildmage did a lot of heavy lifting.
• Round 3 vs. Rakdos: well my opponent played the Awaken the Erstwhile, both players discard their hand for 2/2 zombies. I flood a bit in game 2, but Sauroform Hybrid really is a great answer for flooding.

Learnings

Saw Glass once… in the game I drew two creatures. So not really enough to learn there at all. Also Light up the Stage is great, I didn’t realize that you can play the exiled cards until the end of your *next* turn. I can see why Lords of Limited are high on it.

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