Draft

Well I need to get the taste of that GW failure out of my mouth. Felt bad from start to finish it did. Nothing beats drafting angry!

Draft Log

Early Picks

P1p1: Easy Bag of Holding, since it’s colorless. Chandra’s Outrage would have been #2.
P1p2: Audaction Thief vs. Aerialist vs. Syphon. Tricky! I think the recurring advantage potential of Audacious Thief outweighs the inefficient removal of Syphon, but that might be wrong.
P1p3: Rabid Bite vs. Barkhide Troll vs. Ancestral Blade vs. Evolving Wilds. I have no idea, so I fall back on a pretty good removal card. I think Ancestral Blade is #2.
P1p4: Barkhide Troll over nothing. Still nothing I would consider a signal.
P1p5: Well that’s a late Goblin Smuggler! Signal-ish, but nothing resembling red earlier keeps me from being too enthusiastic.
P1p6: the first big fork! Embercat (a good red 2-drop) vs. Griffin Protector. I think the Griffin Protector wins games more than the efficient 2-drop does. But the recency of Smuggler (and importance of 2-drops) should have swayed me.

I finish out pack 1 with some medium black and white cards. Not sure why I picked the Fencing Ace over Gorging Vulture, that was a mistake.

Pack 2: eh, i get some feel-bad red cards coming by way, including a P2p3 Chandra’s Outrage, criminally late Goblin Smugglers (P2p6! P2p11!!!!). Pack 3 I trudge through, looking mournfully at the red that went by. I wheeled a Raise the Alarm though, so that’s cool.

Assessment

The big question is whether or not I should have gotten into red in pack 1. If I went Smugger –> Embercat –> Pack Mastiff in 5/6/7, then maybe So many Goblin Smugglers! I give myself a B, maybe B-.

Deck

What’s the plan? Well, I little pockets of synergy, with drawing Battalion Foot Soldiers to sacrifice, or put an axe on, or trigger Griffin Protector repeatedly. Herald of the Sun boosts the team, and some card advantage with Soul Salvage and Bag of Holding.

Results (Pending)

• Round 1 vs. RU: I make some misplays a throw away a winnable game. Little stuff, passing with open mana up. Came down to the last turn and I was literally one life short. A little frustrating but I only have myself to blame. Game 2 I stayed on the front foot and eventually ground them down. Game 3 I gain some board advantage with the Battalion Foot Soldiers (I’m just as surprised as you) and win with two life remaining. Whew!
• Round 2 & 3: I was playing and not recording what was happening because I had such low hopes. And then I won. Uh, both of them. With this deck I thought was terrible.

Learnings

So I keep my streak alive of 3-0’ing a draft with a deck that I thought was terrible. Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean that I drafted correctly, but it doesn’t mean it’s a guaranteed disaster either. You gotta play the games. Variance!

Card Evaluation: Bone Splinters is legit, but you have to build something around it to make the sacrifice not be a 2-for-1 each time. In related news, Battalion Foot Soldier is surprisingly good with some reasons to make them good. Marauder’s Axe, Bone Splinters, shamelessly double-blocking, ETB triggers, etc.

3-0