Guilds of Ravnica
Drafts: 25
Record: 40-30
Finals: 3
Trophies: 2
Welcome to my draft log! This is mostly a tool to force myself to go back and study what I did well/poorly and not just slam draft after draft after draft. If you have any suggestions/questions, please drop me a line!
12/8/18 Golgari @ Gamma Ray
Draft Log
Ugly draft as I didn’t move into Boros when it was clear, as I got overly attached to the single signal of a P1p5 Dead Weight. Yes, in disciplined drafters that’s a pretty strong signal. But there’s a lot more noise at an LGS. My deck is pretty messy, bland curve-out deck with some power.
Game Log
- Lost to a fellow Golgari that just had stupid 4/5 Dowser of Lights that just stone-cold blocks everything. Some very fun games
- Beat a bad Selesnya deck that was trying to run the Angel-maker… to limited success.
- Beat Chris in round three who was running a good Selesnya deck that was cruelly sabotaged when opponent #2 cut him. Had some sweet curve-outs topped by Izoni.
Learnings
The Glaive remained very useful in a deck that lacked finishers, quintessential “good card in a bad deck”. Also I need to work harder when the board gets confusing. I had a complicated match against Drew where the board was getting clogged and I gave him way too many outs by being slow.
11/28/18 Selesnya @ Optimism
Draft Log
I was the only player sleeving up Forests. It actually kind of discombobulated me because I kept waffling between Golgari and Selesnya (a Findbroker tabled). But I had the rares: late Beast Whisperer, 2x Assure // Assemble, Camaraderie (so good), Hatchery Spider along with power uncommons like the friendly Indrik, Conclave Cavalier, &c. Dire shortage of removal, hence the splash for Necrotic Wound. But we can make this work!
Games
Well I lose my first two rounds. First, Chad drew his Niv Mizzet. Twice. Playing Gravitic Punch (and drawing more cards) basically hit me for 15 in *one* turn. That was ignoring the Erratic Cyclops he had in play. This deck was also poorly positioned against Chris’s Dimir deck in round two, since it wasn’t quite fast enough (lacking Rosemane Centaurs) to pressure him early. I beat Dan in round three (despite one horrid game when he Thief of Sanity’d BOTH Camaraderie and Assure//Assembly to use against me) to salvage my pride. Felt like an underperformance, but I think there should have been more Rosemane Centaurs. WHAR!?
1-2
11/26/18 Selesnya
Draft Log
You can see my spirit leave my body as my initial excitement at going into Izzet gets cut and I ease into, sigh, Selesnya. Definitely the right choice: the P3p7 Bounty of Might says it all really. But so dispiriting. I should have nabbed a gate at P2p11 instead of a Swathcutter Giant, as I was really far from red & controlling Naya at that point. That’s only bad choice, though taking the first Crushing Canopy over a useful Okapi and then IMMEDIATELY getting a second hurt a bit. But it was definitely “my lane”.
Games
- Facing a pretty good Golgari curve-out beater deck. I got “got” by his blocking my first-striking creature with a Spinal Centipede, causing me to lose a key combat. Second game opponent got screwed and on the third (capping out at 4, which isn’t really “screw” I suppose) which was enough for me to not be sunk by some misplays. I had a Rersurgence (the double-attack step) for the win and I just clicked straight to attacks! So bad at magic.
- Facing aggro Selesnya. Lost to the hexproof convokey guy in game 1. Applied the beats on the play (with a shockingly effective Candlelight Vigil when I’ve seen no removal). I flooded pretty hard in game three (10 lands by turn 8), and didn’t have answers for his army of Convoked 4/4s.
- Facing janky Naya mirror. Kept a three-lander to no additional lands, but eventually started grinding it out with the Cavalier and Candlelight Vigil until he re-stabilized with a hatchery spider. I beat him down in game 2 with the Bounty of Might and ground him down in three with Candlelight Vigil on a Fresh-Faced recruit.
2-1
11/24/18 Izzet (IRL)
3-0’d at Gamma Ray with a deeply mediocre Izzet Control deck. Won the finals off double-flood by my opponent and I never faced a curve-out deck that would have crushed me. Missing a lot of pieces, but 2x Chemister’s Insight, 1x Radical Idea, 3x Command the Storm, 1x Inescapable Blaze can do a lot of work. Dream Eater and Connive/Concoct were houses. Biggest Surprise: Book Devourer is a perfectly legit win-con. Classic Izzet deck where I would durdle around, get pressured and then slam out lethal damage in two turns.
11/18/18 Selesnya Control
Draft Log
Interesting P1p1. I went with the big angel but I think the Dead Weight is the better choice. Then it seemed like Dimir was open (particularly the P1p4 Thoughtbound Phantasm) but starting in picks 6 & 7 there was just nothing in blue or black. So I took some Selesnya to stay open. I got overly attached to walls (?) and should have just taken the Skyline Scout in P2p11, but I think my controlling seat was pretty clear.
Games
- First round against a really good Dimir deck piloted by Mister Meternome, of LoL (I’ll try and link it). He took game one with Etrata and card advantage, I was able to muscle through with Garrison Sergeants in game two, and I had him down to 2 life in game three with my monster angel… only for him to dig through enough of his deck to slow it with a Dead Weight and then gradually overwhelm it. With two cards left in his library to boot. Very fun.
- Faced a bad dimir deck. Lost a game when Nightveil Sprite on two followed by Deathblade Agent when I stumbled on blockers (then he removed them, Artful Takedown is vicious when behind). However picking off a Nightveil Spite with Kraul Harpooner felt amazing and I was able to overwhelm him twice.
- Beat a weird control deck pretty handily. My molasses-slow curve out was sufficient.
Learnings
Uhhh, not much. Seemed a pretty mediocre deck that overperformed slightly. Don’t forget about the 3/2 flash creature (that was a misplay). Also I might have been undervaluing the Ledev Champion in this deck that wanted to go long. I shouldn’t have been so aggressive to trade it off.
2-1
11/16/18 Dimir
Draft Log
Sweet rare in Trostani, but a shocking zero in both green & white pushed me off it pretty easily. Zig-zagged around until noticing a lot of playable blue & black cards later on, so I moved into Dimir. Power level seems moderate, but looks what my seat wanted to do.
Games
Ran over by a Boros and lost to a bad Dimir. Are my decks really that bad? Could be!
0-2
11/10/18 Dimir
Draft Log
Opened some great early red, but it dried up FAST and I moved into black with some late blue playables reinforcing the move. The card quality seemed fine, with good removal but no real good card draw outside of a late Notion Rain.
Games
- Whomped by a superior control deck.
- Whomped by a bad golgari deck.
I think this deck was just… bad.
11/9/18 Boros
Draft Log
After being tempted by pick 4 & 5 Hypothesizzles, it looked like some combination of Naya was more open. But there wasn’t any real green and eventually the steady dream of Fresh-Faced Recruit was too much for me to overcome. Settled into Boros that felt pretty empty. Wheeling Hammer Dropper and a Take Heart in the same pack? Underdrafted.
Games
- first round mirror versus Boros. Both times he got out Legion Warboss and both times the pressure was oppressive. A bit of flood certainly didn’t do me any favors either.
- fought off a pretty decent Dimir deck but they flooded out in game 3.
- Another Dimir, sweet game where I stalled out, ground him down to six with Inescapable Blaze, one turn left, and the bastard Thought Erasure’d me. Flooded hard in game 3 (9 lands by turn 11). Fortunately, Risk Factor turned it around!
Learnings
It actually felt like too many 2-drops, yet oddly I didn’t draw many in my opening hand. Risk Factor remains amazing in Boros.
11/6/18 Boros
Draft Log
Felt like Boros was a little crowded and maybe I forced it. But looking back, there wasn’t anything tempting me through the first 8 picks and the Boros seemed WIDE open. It was a bummer passing a bunch of RW, so I knew someone to my right was definitely going to be in Boros (a feeling vindicated in pack 2), but I don’t see an offramp in pack 1.
Games
- 1st: facing mediocre Izzet, I mull to 6 and stall looking for white mana. But when you play a bad player (sub-optimal blocks, etc.) you end up winning. The Minotaur x2 with the spells is pretty spicy in Boros.
- 2nd against good Golgari. Won the first game on the back of double-minotaur powering through his high-end curve. Then curved out (into a vicious Barge Sarge and his expensive removal wasn’t going to save him.
- Finals against Boros mirror. Opponent mulled to 6 both games and frankly had a mediocre deck that I saw. Hunted Witness?
3-0 Trophy!
Learnings
Once again, I feast on the irony on being down on a deck that 3-0/6-0. I think that’s overperformance (it wasn’t THAT good) but it just goes to show that I know nothing. The ‘spells-matter Boros’ is going to be extremely niche, but it’s good to know that it does exist.
11/4/18 4C Golgari
Draft Log
Strange draft, great blue in early picks led to great Golgari (P1p6 Findbroker) and then late C+/C playables in green & black. Coming back, the black was open. Then I get a little greedy and snag a Trostani (over Status/Statue) with P3p1 because of the Selesnya gates I already had. Oddly, Dimir was open (P3p9 Nightvale Predator?) but I took some judicious gates and have an interesting splashing around deck.
Games
- Round One: no mana for 5 draws (kept a 3-lander) but stared to grind Findbrokers for value. Game two had a baffling Dead Weight he cast on my Burglar Rat and he forfeited when I Findbroker’d back the Thief of Sanity. Success against Melvin!
- Round Two: Weird Grixis deck. First I grind him out. Then he grinds me out with double Lockets and that stupid X izzet spell that draws a billion cards (Explosion) in both games 2 and 3, and that’s just really hard to come back from. I got him low, but couldn’t overcome the card advantage. Still haven’t seen Trostiani fyi.
- Round Three: Beat a Melvin-y Selesnya deck.
2-1
Learnings
I love Chemister’s Insight, great splash card. The ‘sacrifice’ Golgari deck feels a little more delicate than the curve out, but sacking Burglar Rats to an Undercity Uprising DOES feel great.
11/3/18 Boros
Draft Log
Pretty easy to find the Boros lane, though it seems like I was one of two at the table (not idea). Lacking the , I went with a slightly higher curve option with more 5-drops. Would have been nice to pivot to the gate deck, but gates were nowhere to be found, nor gate payoffs.
Games
- Lost round 1 to a Vraska (where I learned that you can plus her WITHOUT the sacrifice.) and then mana-screw with keeping a 3-lander.
- Then a victory against an Izzet Aggro deck that had a surprising amount of Surveil. He drew his nut cards in game one, game two I beat him when he mulled to 5. Game three I kept a 2-lander on the draw, drawing no lands for 5 turns, but my opponent flooded out and screw really does beat flood.
- Final round my opponent first mulled to 3 (?) that I steamrolled. Then we raced where Hammer Dropper finally proved his worth when backed up with tricks!
2-1
11/1/18 Golgari
Draft Log
Seemed easy. The wheeling Charnal Troll made it seem like a clear Golgari. Vraska just sealed it. Funny moment with late Glaives (after our 100+ comment thread on whether or not it’s any good).
Games
- First, drawing Vraska twice is going to be pretty good.
- Round 2 had flood, then my sidebaorded Mephitic Vapors were just brutal against him. He spent a lot of time sideboarding, so I took out the Metaphic Vapors (which was correct! He removed his x/1s) but I fell to a slight stumble on black mana and the relentless pressure of Legion Warboss.
- Won the consolation bracket against an high-curve (?) Boros deck.
2-1
10/28/18 Boros/Naya
Draft Log
Drafting started in dimir then got strong Boros signals. No key commons in pack 2 so I veered into a touch of green, thinking that the curve-out Boros deck wasn’t there (true!). Lost to an Abzan deck with Vraska (cool sacrifice synergies with Sworn Companions). Beat a bad Dimir deck, and then was VERY close with a good Dimir deck, but got ground out by Disinformation Campaign.
1-2
10/27/18 Dimir
0-2
Draft Log
The draft seemed fine, but the gameplay was horrific, complete with me forgetting that I had a counterspell in my hand at a key moment. I don’t want to talk about it.
10/24/18 Boros
2-1
10/22/18 Golgari
1-2
Draft Log
10/17/18 Golgari (IRL!)
2-1
10/13/18 Dimir
0-2
10/13/18 Boros
2-1
10/12/18 Selesnya
2-1
Jeskai Control
2-1
Selesnya (Naya Splash)
2-1 (finals)
10/10/2018 – Selesnya Draft
2-1
10/8/2018 – Izzet Draft
2-1
Mediocre deck, didn’t really have the fast action necessary to really burst out. The Rampaging Monument was definitely meh. Hypothesizzle (great name) was the clear all-star. Honestly, the Maximize Altitudes weren’t too shabby either.
10/1/2018 – Selesnya/Abzan Draft
2-1. Learnings: Selesnya felt okay, though (as many have noticed) there is a tension between early plays (aggressive!) and sitting back and Convoking out a bigger threat. The Peacemaker (3/3, both players gain 4 life) plays fine in a midrange deck, though it hurts giving your Dimir opponent so much more extra time. I think this guild will want to be mid-range with aggressive Black or Red splashes for removal and beef.
Benalish Dad 