Sometimes… it just all comes together. That perfect mix of good luck, finding a lane, and hilariously unlikely cards being opened in a draft pod. I’ve had a couple of these, a Merfolk Machine gun in Ixalan, triple Arcanist Owl in Eldraine…[announcer voice] and yesterday was another such day for the Benalish Dad.
Read moreQuick Post: 10-10-21
Let’s briefly discuss the miracle of carpooling. With Lil Chandra and her friend Lil Nissa enrolled in the same Lil Kickers (actually called that) soccer lessons, this allows for the miracle of carpooling. One parent takes two kids. This leaves one couple with an empty house and leaves me with an hour to pound out a guilt-free draft. Or two. In my defense, I’m also running two loads of laundry.
draft
Quick Post: 10-4-21
Building with the Dads
I started a draft and it was bonkers. And then I was joined by the Benalish Dad and Matt_Daemon for deckbuilding. Part II will be the match recap. Let’s go!
The Draft
link to draft recap: https://www.17lands.com/draft/6a4c9538b1c64ca7bc8be0696dfa1317
The Build
This draft was very heavy on payables, here are the late cuts.
My interest in Sungold Barrage comes from wanting a way to clear out a big blocker. In the end we decided to go with pump spells.
My interest in Lunarch Veteran came from listening to Lords of Limited (link) and their discussion about the card. I still think I should have found a way to fit them in but is 5 one drops really the way to go? Is it really better than Chaplain of Alms?
Follow up on these points in the match recap post.
Come back for part 2 to see how it went!
editor’s note
That deck is pure fire! I might have put the lunarch veteran back in and cut an Odric’s Outrider (which is a fine card, but grinder than this deck)
Draft Report: RW Control?
Post-Game: 9-17-21
It’s time for a delicious new set! I’m definitely excited for Midnight Hunt, looks like a good, synergy set with a lot of complexity. I am less excited for little Chandra waking up at 3:40, asking to go potty, and not making it. However, she DID make it to the hardwood floors, so it ended up a B+.
Draft log
I Installed 17 Lands
So I finally got around to doing a security check on the 17 lands software. The code is on github here (https://github.com/rconroy293/mtga-log-client), and they could try to snake you since you give over admin rights, but I figured, “hey, live a little”.
Here is a link to the draft: https://www.17lands.com/draft/675bf21b1b4e4af4aba957d6e610eb86. I also recorded commentary on this draft just for you, Benalish Dad.
Pack 1
Packs 2 and 3
Deckbuilding notes
There wasn’t anything really tricky here. All of the two drops and three drops were very powerful. The four drops were just 3x Inspiring Bard which is ideal for a Roper infused Pack Tactics deck. And due to the Goblin lords the five slot was very easy. We didn’t need the dragon as a finisher and green is the worst dragon anyway.
Match Results: 7-1
*trophy emoji*
Fortunately for me I was only play in three quarters of the games. That really boosts the chances for the pack tactics deck. Unfortunately the patch for AFR busted the game logs so we can’t dig into it. You will have to be satisfied with the ledger. Specific notes:
- g1: I flooded hard
- g2: As you can see in the record I only saw swamps from them, safe to say they had a color problem
- g3: They misplayed pretty severely for a platinum player
- g4: I got the dream curve
- g5: I got the dream curve
- g6: I made a minor play error but my opponent got mana problems
- g7: Curved well but they had removal and such so it took a while longer
- g8: They stumbled on land so it wasn’t close.
[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE] PSA: Play 3 Colors
Attn: Everyone
I was drafting along, minding my own business when all of the sudden I got passed Bahamut p2p2. I wasn’t in white but said, “let’s do it”. I wound up in “3 color good stuff” and it worked. I was 6-1 and then in game 8 was RNG away from the win.
Here’s the deal, there is a ton of fixing in this set. The power you get from going to three colors is bonkers. You get multiple bombs. So let’s talk about fixing.
Here are the bombs I played
And here is the late game gas I never had trouble casting
Part I: Fixing
First of all, please ignore all the comments you have heard about this set being not a good set for splashing because there is no color fixing. Those were early reports and they did not realize that every card that says ‘treasure’ or ‘venture’ is a color fixer. See this post.
Secondly, there are two lands that help with fixing and the dragon land is a doozy. In this set if you want dragons you get dragons so it is on point.
Oh, and there is one more thing about lands. Play 18 lands. I’ll say it again. Play 18 lands. Your 23rd card is not as good as having that clutch 3rd color producing land. And the power you get from being able to play more bombs is all you need.
Finally, the real reason this whole thing can fly. The mana smoothing algorithm in best of one matches on arena. Did you know that when arena presents you a hand at the start of the game it is actually the more color balanced of two random draws from your deck? Well if you didn’t I’m here to tell you that Wizards has your back and they give you two cracks at getting the color apple. In a three color deck this means you are gonna hit two of your colors in the first draw and then you just have to work your plan to get the third.
I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention my ramp all star
Results: 6-3
I started 6-1 was an RNG away from winning (they drew their dragon and I drew land, it could have gone the other way). I had no chance in the last game, it was the only game of the nine where I had color problems. It was all blue hand and no Islands.
Screenshots:
Decklist:
Deck
1 Minimus Containment (AFR) 24
1 Intrepid Outlander (AFR) 191
1 Purple Worm (AFR) 201
1 Gretchen Titchwillow (AFR) 223
1 Prosperous Innkeeper (AFR) 200
1 Shortcut Seeker (AFR) 73
1 Volo, Guide to Monsters (AFR) 238
1 Grand Master of Flowers (AFR) 17
1 Charmed Sleep (AFR) 50
3 Clever Conjurer (AFR) 51
1 Blue Dragon (AFR) 49
1 Rimeshield Frost Giant (AFR) 69
1 Loyal Warhound (AFR) 23
1 Drizzt Do’Urden (AFR) 220
1 Underdark Basilisk (AFR) 208
1 Half-Elf Monk (AFR) 19
1 White Dragon (AFR) 41
1 Temple of the Dragon Queen (AFR) 260
1 Secret Door (AFR) 71
1 Portable Hole (AFR) 33
1 Contact Other Plane (AFR) 52
6 Forest (AFR) 281
5 Island (AFR) 269
6 Plains (AFR) 265
Sideboard
1 Dragon’s Fire (AFR) 139
1 Leather Armor (AFR) 248
2 Circle of the Moon Druid (AFR) 177
1 You Meet in a Tavern (AFR) 215
1 Inspiring Bard (AFR) 189
2 Ranger’s Longbow (AFR) 203
1 Sylvan Shepherd (AFR) 206
1 Soulknife Spy (AFR) 75
2 Iron Golem (AFR) 247
1 Ranger’s Hawk (AFR) 37
1 You Find the Villains’ Lair (AFR) 84
1 Air-Cult Elemental (AFR) 45
1 Shocking Grasp (AFR) 72
1 Mimic (AFR) 249
1 Silver Raven (AFR) 74
1 Compelled Duel (AFR) 178
Draft Report: “Top” – Black/Green Morbid
This report goes into detail a different way than before. It was a pretty easy read on the table that BG was the place for me and that RW was open but not the right place for me. (Sidenote: the first deck I ever played was BG with a Force of Nature and a Lord of the Pit)
I want to touch on some solid cards and then get into draft deck talk. Here we go!
I have listened to the reviews on Limited Resources and read some articles over at channel fireball. I think things are starting to emerge.
- Commons and Uncommons – link
- Everything else – link
- Channel Fireball – link
Taking that advice influenced me to rank a few cards higher than I had before.
These pieces fit nicely into a BG deck along with a couple other very nice pieces. I was pretty good on my read of these three but I was timid on the Ghast. NO MORE!
The one thing I wound up in trouble on was removal. I had to run two Eyes of the Beholder instead of something more efficient.
Overall I thought it was solid and had the major components I’m looking for right now.
- Early action plan
- A plan to win
- The ability to handle big butts
There’s more of course but right now that serves for basis of conversation. Let’s drill into the ‘plan to win’. The format is young and in flux. The meta isn’t decided and drafts are going to fluctuate. You can put too much into it yet. There are open questions:
- Which archetypes are weak/strong?
- Which archetypes are aggro/mid range/control?
- How much do Bombs matter?
- Do people realize how easily treasure let’s you splash? – link
With all of that said, they way I go forward is to look for deck lists and see if I can draft that list. It’s tricky because early on in the format a lot of nonesense. As that frenzy decays we will see what decks are possible to draft. And then start to think, “Ok, I’m drafting BG and I have these pieces but I am missing X”. Once we get there, it is showtime, the format is mature, and we can begin to play magic.
ps: you may be wondering how the draft went. I was disappointed. It went 4-1 and then I went loss loss to finish on 4-3. Those last two losses were particularly tough because in each game I finished by drawing consecutive 5 lands and 4 lands respectively. They were tight games but I gotta feel that flooding out on both cost me at least one win and then I’d still be going.
Benalish Dad 