Kind of a murky draft. The Lawmage’s Binding versus the CCDD Sphinx of New Prahv is an interesting P1p1 decision. I went with the more flexible removal. Then some blue, then a P1p5 Frenzied Arynx and P1p6 Grasping Thrull caused me to veer around a little but running Sphinx’s Insight at both P1p11 and P1p12 solidified in me in Azorius. I eventually pick up both a Dovin’s Acuity and a High Alert for a Azorius deck that is a little generic.
We’ve got two sets out of the return to the return to Ravnica, so it’s time to peer again at the basic land box and see what we want to put in. Neither Guilds nor Allegiance had basic lands in the packs, just guilds. So it’s a little tricky to find “basic lands”. But we have our ways.
First, Ravnica Allegiance had “Guild Weekends”. None of which I’ve ever seen but they do have a basic for each guild!
I’m not sure how I feel about the guild watermark flooding the box. The Gruul looks pretty sweet I admit (and I also like how it’s more than just a city tinted blue/green/etc.). I also badly need new plains that are more than just a flat landscape. Azorius looks good too. I’m not wild about the giant guild watermark in the box (though the ‘flaming tree’ is pretty sweet), might have to see how they look in real–
(record screech)
Whoa, GUILDS of Ravnica had these special basic lands too?
Wow, some of those are spectacular! I particularly like the Selesnya one, since its not just a ‘white-tinted cityscape’. That has always been my gripe with a lot of the Ravnica basic lands: they’re just a color-shaded skyline. But holy ground does often have well manicured lawns, so having that be the ‘plains’ is a pretty neat way of having the land be more than just a building.
Well that was easy.
Easy Bedeck in P1p1, then some good Gruul with a P1p4 Savage Smash and P1p5 Burning Tree Vandal feeling pretty good. I saw a late Slimebind and then was passed a Mass Manipulation in pack 2. Definite “Hmmm” moment where I explored a more of a blue base, but the lack of gates (and continued stream of Savage Smash cards) put me back on the Gruul train.
Interesting draft! Pretty good power cards early: Bedeck//Bedazzle, Consecrate//Consume and then a Skewer the Critics. From there the draft was pretty open. Was Skitter Eel a signal? No… So I veer around, grabbing a couple gates thinking Temur midrange… and then Gates Ablaze wheels at 14. I am… agog.
P2p1 was an interesting pick: Precognitive Preception vs. Troll-Bred Guardian. I think PP is more powerful in the vacuum, but where I was at (questionable mana strewn across three colors) made me pick the more sure-thing in TBG.
Gate payoffs come to me in pack 3, including a free Gateway Sneak. Rakdos was empty at the table, given how the Firewheeler wheeled (no pun intended, I promise) in pack 2, but I can’t see how I could have gotten in there.
A bit of a feels-bad-man draft. A late Depose // Deploy, followed by playable blue & white commons makes me think that Azorius is open. But the Sunder Shaman that I open in pack 2 wheels. It WHEELS. That makes me sad. Azorius feels a little cut on pack 2 but opens back up. Doesn’t feel like this deck got all the way there, though some beef with a Gate Colossus might help.
This felt like a tough draft. Pretty easy early picks but a real lack of clarity on what’s open. The midpack Sauroform Hybrids nudged me into green, which looks correct in hindsight, but yeesh. Felt like Simic really dried up in pack 3 too.
So I can’t complain about the power level, but that curve looks clunky. Quench put in as emergency early interaction; not a good sign. Still–if I can stay alive–I have some good card advantage and powerful upside with the Gate Colossus, Mass Manipulation, the notorious TBG. If it doesn’t get run over, I think it stands a chance.
Read moreOnce again I had hopes for Rakdos and once again they were dashed with a P1p7 Consecrate // Consume. Powerful removal suite but the creatures don’t feel like they ever really got there.
It’s not a great sign playing Orzhov without a single Grasping Thrull to be seen. Good removal and some good card advantage tools but this feels a little fragile. I’d be pleased with 2-1.
Read moreStarting to wonder if I should just call this Gruul Dad? P1p1 Ram followed by a brief dalliance in Rakdos & Simic, only for a P1p7 Savage Smash to bring me back home. Two more rams to follow, so I started snapping up gates of any shape. The big question is how much am I curving out vs. more midrange. In P3p1, it’s a choice between Smelt-Ward Ingus and Rubblebelt Runner. I had a ton of 3-drops (so many BTVs & Rams) so that pushed me a bit cheaper, but with so many gates I’m not sure how often I’m really beating down.
Benalish Dad 