Last draft before I turn 40! Also might kick off a long streak of drafting if the northwest goes into Wuhan-esque lockdown for COVID-19. I gotta admit, it still feels like it’s just an above-average case of influenza with a really good PR firm. Hopefully this post doesn’t age too poorly when we’re fighting over who runs Gas Town.

Draft log

Well, Heliod seems a pretty easy choice here. Shame I got immediately knocked off white. I eventually nestle into RB midrange. Not exactly where one wants to be here.

There was a very interesting choice in pack 2. Right after picking up the Skophos Maze-Warden, I was presented with the opportunity to “live the dream” with the Labyrinth. Or take a Mire’s Grasp.

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I went with the Labyrinth, even though my heart knew that Mire’s Grasp was the correct choice. Given how light I ended up in removal, I guess I deserved it.

I had two different builds of this deck. At first I went my normal, allergic-to-18-land self. But then I looked again at my curve (2x Bleeps, lots of double-pips) and leaned into the game plan of slowing down. Added a Thrill of Possibility and cut a Rage-Hound (since they can’t block) to go up to 18 lands and hopefully a higher chance of running the game long to get to my more powerful cards. Feels a little bad that I couldn’t work Heliod into this at all, but such is life.

Summary

Ended up 2-1, making the finals. I lost to a mediocre GB deck that lacked win conditions, but I guess the same could be said of my deck as well I suppose.