Eldraine, what a set! Definitely on my personal favorites, it really had it all for me. Fantastic draft experience with build-around rares & uncommons, intriguing deckbuilding managing Adamant, and really interesting gameplay with Adventure… top it off with great flavor and art and it’s one of my all-timers. I also put together what may not have been my BEST deck ever… it was certainly my favorite. Owls.

Listen, I love UW. UW skies is my original love from Unlimited and I am definitely subconsciously drawn to the colors of order and life. And Serra Angels. So it’s not a big surprise that I loved Arcanist’s Owl. It’s the most white-ish, blue-ish flying creature you could possibly get. 8 white and blue mana symbols! White and blue art!

A powerful flier that digs you into more action in an artifact/enchantment heavy set? Yes please! Go get me more action!

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Eldraine got a bit of a bad rap since–as an early set on Arena–it only had bot-drafts who routinely ignored the Merfolk Secretkeeper. So the human drafters would scoop up these busted turbo-mill decks and then face off with each other in mirror mill. Not fun magic. But it was still a great card and great in multiples.

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The folio was also a hilarious card where you sit there and suddenly you’re milling them for 6+ cards multiple turns in a row. This deck had such an elegant plan, with plenty of early defenses (Secretkeepers, Monitors) and some great win-conditions (fliers, milling). Frequently it would do both at once! While not as focused as other Hall of Fame decks, the joy of piloting a “ooo, am I mill deck or am I ‘kill em in the air’ deck?” was a lot of fun. No wrong answers!