Hosted an M25 draft on Sunday and it was a genuine bucket of fun. Mostly just a really good excuse to play with some broken cards and we opened some doozies. But most importantly, it was an excuse to dress up the Baby Raptor.
Draft: Channel Benalish Daddies 3-8-18
Chris talked me into letting him back into the copilot seat after our less-than-impressive previous outing. First order of business: a new name to signify the fresh karmic start. Benalish Daddies. Sheer genius, should’ve thought of that decades ago frankly.
Channel Naptime 3-3-18
The Raptor Hatchling went down for a nap right on schedule (given the ease of her as a baby right now, I’m going to be karmically punished hard come the teenage years, I can just tell already) so it’s time to frantically squeeze in a draft! Going to try and shake off all of Chris’s bad mojo and try to build something respectable. Unfortunately I forgot to capture the draft log (had to reinstall MTGO) so you just have the video plus some highlighted picks.
Pack 1 Pick 1
Well that’s not the most inspiring set of cardsto open but… serviceable. Interestingly, I think the most recent episode of Limited Resources had a Forerunner vs. Waterknot debate. I take the removal. I’m not wild about how unsplashable it is (compared to say, Luminous Bonds) but it is good removal and is good in every deck.
Channel CJed 2-24-18
Let’s break in this channel with some throwback CJed action! Had a great binge with Chris on Saturday, broken up only by my computer throwing a gasket, dropping the connection, then politely requesting a fresh install of Windows. Fortunately the computer was really just protecting you, loyal viewer, as our drafts went RAPIDLY downhill.
A respectable finish, though certainly not one for the recordbooks. Broken unbeatable rare is broken and unbeatable! I did like how we totally failed on the ‘alpha’ strike, not realizing that the first-strike damage would turn all of our mighty 3/3 Saprolings into 1/1 pumpkins. This is what happens when I’m left unsupervised.
Other lessons from the binge and horrific drafts were missing more subtle signals. Yes, it’s one thing when pretty good removal comes to you 4th & 5th pick, but it’s another when a very good Vampire wheels around the table and is available 9th. Even if black isn’t “open” in your seat, a strong signal that no one else is in BW vampires is something worth considering very carefully.
The Journey Continues
You’re staring down a remorseless opponent, one absolutely dedicated to destroying this delicate equilibrium you’ve worked so hard to create. The clock is ticking and it appears you now have to face a wildly new set of threats and dangerous patterns than what you just got used to. What are you going to do?
Welcome to Benalish Dad, a blog dedicated to Magic cards, parenting hilarity, and the cross-section between the two. For reasons possibly linked to a mid-life crisis, I’ve really enjoyed delving into Magic cards lately. Of course time is also a premium and it’s difficult to explain to my offspring that dad is down to 11 minutes on his timer and he still has a third game to play. Maybe you want to chew on this toy instead of a while? No? Okay then, let me just mash F6 and see if I can come up with a different idea.
So this will be an area as I think about Magic cards (almost entirely Limited, barring some truly radical life change), post some drafts, occasionally throw in a picture of the Raptor Hatchling, and mess around with WordPress. Should be good times!
And yes, that is a Galaxy Quest reference for the post title. Well done
Benalish Dad 