Draft

More streaming in written form. It’s like a draft video, except fewer “Ums” and more grammar errors.

Pack 1
Pretty clear Boreal Elemental in P1p1. In pick 2, there was a Hydra? Must have been one hell of a foil (all three uncommons are also in the pack) so not a signal per se, but ye gods. I’ll take it! Blue presented itself as a clear lane (though maybe I should have taken that Gift to help make the Hydra possible…). I wondered how far the white would wheel. The green was thoroughly cut, with rando black or white also looking open. In pack 2, I could look to move hard into green or solidify Esper.

Pack 2
Hey the Eagle! I think I take that over the winged words. Probably too greedy to try and wheel it. Some strong black though, so I push into there. Black wasn’t OPEN open, but it seemed a decent 2nd choice color in pack 1. Weird lack of blue in this pack.

Pack 3
Ew, the red certainly did open up in pack 3.

Review
Okay, looking back maybe the Shock at P1p6 was a signal. But man, red was just SO DRY after that. It is probably more disciplined drafting to take the Shock there over a C+ like Octoprophet, but that’s a tough in the moment.

Draft Log

Deck

Well, not the worst deck I suppose. A bit disappointing to be in black without a single piece of removal. That’s… not ideal. Some pockets of synergy: Weaponsmith + Raptor, fliers & Heart-Piercer. Not the greatest, looks like 2-1 to me, with a little luck.

Results

• Round 1 vs. BW: I kept a 2-lander with 3-drops and don’t draw land. Oppo gets Audacious Thief + Knight and promptly overran me with Inspired Charge. Game 2 oppo got Murder x2 with fast little dudes and just kept me on the back foot. Total match time: 8 minutes. Yikes. Oppo had a good deck. Went under with 1-2 drops and solid removal.
• Round 2 vs. RG: After we both complain about how bad our decks our, we played out our hands except they don’t have any flying blockers. They YOLO’d out with an Overcome, but it only dropped me to 8. Game 2, I mull to 6 and oppo hammered me with a Scorch Spitter for three turns until I could put something on the battlefield. But they flooded out and I eventually could cast my spells.
• Round 3 vs. UB: I mulled to 6 but drew some fliers. I miss my 4th land drop three turns in a row and start losing ground to Audacious Thief. With their removal, I don’t have a blocker and permanently fall behind. In game 2 I mull again, get ahead on the board, but oppo starts looping Cavalier of Night with Salvager of Ruin (when the Cavalier dies it can bring the Salvager, which can then be sacrificed to bring the Cavalier back). I stall for a heroically long time, but racing a 4-power lifelinker was not going to work out well for me. The dagger was a flashed in Spectral Sailor, which with 12 lands, was going to pull ahead in resources. It was a heroic defense of the Alamo… but they all died at the Alamo.

Learnings

Some bad luck with the mulls which is just variance for you. Not a very good deck, 1-2 seems entirely justified. I do like the “cavalier of night/Salvager of Ruin” combo that I faced again. Hard to beat a creature that won’t die!

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