Riding a little bit of a heater, with three trophies in my last four drafts. Of course when you’re trapped in a hotel room in an airport hotel, the alternatives are lacking. Plus I’m convinced there’s a conspiracy where hotel internet throttles streaming video (all kinds, not just THAT kind) to get you to pony up the extra $9.95 for Mega Hilton Marriott Plus or whatever. It certainly sounds plausible, which is good enough for me to leap to a firmly held belief!

Draft

Draft Log

Early Picks

P1p1: easy Vivien
P1p2: Cloudkin is strongest card in pack. The Temple is sorely tempting, but too soon.
P1p3: Ember Hauler vs. Pacifism. I like the Ember more overall.
P1p4: I think that’s the second Weaponsmith? Seems weird. I take it.

Pack 1 I’m somewhere in Naya, only knowing white for sure (I think)

Self-Assessment

Did I draft the hard way? Well, falling in love with Vivien and Golos warped my draft a little. I think I should have taken the Silverback Shaman over a GW tapped land, but I had so many 5-drops already! Definitely the hardest choice.

Deck

Not sure if the Golos confused the hell out of me in pack 2, but I think I have some reasonable bombs (Golos, Vivien) but the manabase is very shaky. Not great having only two pieces of bad removal too.

Results

• Round 1 vs. UW: Golos and a bunch of Sage’s Row Denizen? Oppo got the Golos up and running, but not soon enough to save them from my airforce. Game 2: similar but without having to face down a Golos.
• Round 2 vs. BG: Oppo started fast with a bunch of Audacious Thieves and then Soul Salvaged them. And then got the Bloodsoaked Altar going. And then the Wakeroot Elemental. I got Golos out with 4 colors of mana. Which isn’t as good. Oppo made a bunch of 5/5 lands and ran me over pretty easily. In game 2, oppo showed me the Nightpack Ambusher, a second temple land, Embodiment of Agonies, holy cow. But they started slow and couldn’t catch up to my air force. Game 3: I got Golos online, only to eat a Murder. This was a mistake as I had Gods Willing in my hand and under no pressure to reveal it. I clawed out of that and kept the board pressure presence up and won! To a *vastly* superior deck.
• Round 3 vs. RG: I mull to 6 but oppo played a turn 4 Tectonic Rift. Uh, okay. I raced them down to 2 through to air only for them to topdeck a removal spell. I almost pull it out, but the Cavalier of Flame alpha strike was strong. Game 2, oppo mulled to 5 and never had an answer for the air force. Game 3 I actually drew Vivien! And Golos! Oppo pulled off a nice Act of Treason to Mask of Immolation sacrifice which leveled the game. But Vivien’s ability is pretty good so yeah, pulled it out!

Learnings

Board presence matters people! A won many (if not most) by simply having some early pressure and then demanding an answer for a flying creature (or two).

3-0