I drafted 3x Theros about 25 times and did quite well. I liked the format a lot, even though it tended toward two general archetypes -- Heroic that included White, and Control that included Black. I still felt the gameplay was challenging and each of these archetypes had enough subtle variations to be interesting even if certain color pairs were quite bad.
I drafted Theros-Born of the Gods about a dozen times and frankly did not do well at all. I didn't win a single BTT queue, after taking down about 25% of my TTT queues. As we all know by now, BTT was largely characterized by a Red-White Aggro deck which could only be balanced by players overdrafting it. I was also disappointed that Born of the Gods brought very little tactical variation to Theros block. It felt like Theros Version 1.1. It still didn't have any ways to really punish the Voltron strategy, and on top of that there were all sorts of pressures in the format that can be summarized as "Blocking is never a good plan." I tend to strongly dislike formats where blocking is bad by default. I stepped away from this format earlier than I usually do, just because I was not enjoying it.
Now here we are with Journey into Nyx. I'm hopeful that it balances the format a bit, and I have plenty of reasons to think that might happen -- namely, Journey is chock full of spells that punish Voltrons. "Play a creature and then Bestow on it 3 times" is no longer an automatically good strategy. This is my hope going into the format, and we'll see how it goes. On to the good stuff...
As always, I appreciate any commentary you may have!
Note: This draft is being played under special "no art for the new cards" rules! Thanks WotC for focusing so much on your Wide Beta Spotlight that you couldn't even program the little squares of art for the new set you're featuring...great job...
The Draft
------ JOU ------
Pack 1 pick 1:
Countermand
Pensive Minotaur
Armament of Nyx
Font of Fertility
Flamespeaker's Will
Aspect of Gorgon
Oppressive Rays
Pin to the Earth
Renowned Weaver
Flurry of Horns
--> Nessian Game Warden
Kiora's Dismissal
Brain Maggot
Battlefield Thaumaturge
Swamp
This is not a strong pack. Thaumaturge is cute but requires specific situations to be anything better than a vanilla 2/1. There are various conditional removal spells here: Pin, Armament, Rays. They're all good but I'm not dying to first pick any of them. I defaulted to the Nessian Game Warden, which in my opinion is as close to an automatic 2-for-1 as you can get in Green. It does require a heavier Green commitment but that's fine because it's early in the draft.
Pack 1 pick 2:
Feast of Dreams
Hubris
Satyr Hoplite
Akroan Mastiff
Humbler of Mortals
Font of Return
Stonewise Fortifier
Rise of Eagles
Pheres-Band Thunderhoof
--> Bladetusk Boar
Skyspear Cavalry
Tormented Thoughts
Gnarled Scarhide
Plains
On color we have Thunderhood and Humbler -- so clunky! Game Warden is very different from these cards, because it offers a reasonable promise of card advantage. In the absence of that, I'm not interested in loading up on 5 or 6 drops. I considered Feast of Dreams but I'd like to see it in action a bit to determine just how conditional it is. I'm honestly not sure about Akroan Mastiff vs. Bladetusk Boar. They have similar drawbacks (easily killed) but of course one is defensive while the other is offensive. I decided to tend toward the offensive.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Feast of Dreams
Hubris
Satyr Hoplite
Akroan Mastiff
Humbler of Mortals
Stonewise Fortifier
Rise of Eagles
Pheres-Band Thunderhoof
Bladetusk Boar
--> Whitewater Naiads
Disciple of Deceit
Riptide Chimera
Island
I'm a big fan of Whitewater Naiads. Blue just does not get 4/4s for 5 very often, let alone with a relevant ability. It's really weird that I got the exact same print runs as the previous pack...
Pack 1 pick 4:
Nature's Panoply
Phalanx Formation (FOIL)
Aerial Formation
Satyr Hoplite
Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
Supply-Line Cranes
Rise of Eagles
Satyr Grovedancer
Font of Ire
--> Nessian Game Warden
Leonin Iconoclast
Island
Here I thought the Green had dried up, but if 4/5 + Draw a creature was good enough to first pick, it's good enough here too. Someone downstream is probably getting all tittilated about their trio of Satyr Hoplites.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Font of Return
Font of Fortunes
Magma Spray
Harvestguard Alseids
--> Golden Hind
Returned Reveler
Bloodcrazed Hoplite
Ravenous Leucrocota
Tormented Thoughts
Gold-Forged Sentinel
Plains
Just what I need, something to accelerate into good 5-drops.
Pack 1 pick 6:
Countermand
Pensive Minotaur
Armament of Nyx
Font of Fertility
Flamespeaker's Will
Aspect of Gorgon
--> Pin to the Earth
Flurry of Horns
Rollick of Abandon
Mountain
This is about where I prefer to draft the "Protection against Voltrons" removal spells.
Pack 1 pick 7:
--> Hubris
Akroan Mastiff
Humbler of Mortals
Font of Return
Stonewise Fortifier
Rise of Eagles
Armory of Iroas
Gnarled Scarhide
Forest
That's a late Mastiff I think, but that ship has sailed. Note that while some decent White and Red is going around, it's not the kind of White and Red that you really want -- namely the Aggro stuff. I think one trap in Journey is to not accidentally draft Red-White Control, a concept that is not supported in the other two packs.
Pack 1 pick 8:
Font of Return
Magma Spray
Harvestguard Alseids
Returned Reveler
Oreskos Swiftclaw
--> Ravenous Leucrocota
Reviving Melody
Swamp
Pack 1 pick 9:
Countermand
Pensive Minotaur
--> Font of Fertility
Aspect of Gorgon
Pin to the Earth
Flurry of Horns
Swamp
While I think Pin is the better spell, I have a lot of cards that want a lot of mana -- so I'm prioritizing ramp.
Pack 1 pick 10:
Akroan Mastiff
Font of Return
Stonewise Fortifier
--> Rise of Eagles
Tormented Thoughts
Plains
So are Mastiffs not good? They look better than 10th pick.
Pack 1 pick 11:
Stonewise Fortifier
Rise of Eagles
--> Bladetusk Boar
Disciple of Deceit
Island
Boars are definitely better than 11th pick...
Pack 1 pick 12:
Phalanx Formation (FOIL)
--> Rise of Eagles
Font of Ire
Island
Pack 1 pick 13:
Font of Return
--> Harvestguard Alseids
Plains
Pack 1 pick 14:
--> Pensive Minotaur
Mountain
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Forest
------ BNG ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Epiphany Storm
Servant of Tymaret
Great Hart
Satyr Wayfinder
Retraction Helix
Nyxborn Eidolon
Nullify
Impetuous Sunchaser
Culling Mark
Necrobite
Ephara's Enlightenment
Eternity Snare
Mischief and Mayhem
--> Nessian Wilds Ravager
Island
Lucky I was already drafting Green ramp.
Pack 2 pick 2:
Bolt of Keranos
Mortal's Ardor
Eye Gouge
--> Nyxborn Triton
Epiphany Storm
Kragma Butcher
Loyal Pegasus
Elite Skirmisher
Mortal's Resolve
Pillar of War
Archetype of Imagination
Everflame Eidolon
Temple of Malice
Swamp
Pack 2 pick 3:
Bolt of Keranos
Setessan Oathsworn
Marshmist Titan
--> Chorus of the Tides
Mortal's Ardor
Fearsome Temper
Asphyxiate
Cyclops of One-Eyed Pass
Gorgon's Head
Lightning Volley
Bile Blight
Felhide Spiritbinder
Island
Red is more open BUT -- keep in mind that Red is by far at its most powerful in the BNG pack and then is terrible in Theros. That's mainly why I'm sticking to Blue which also seems fine and is definitely not being cut.
Pack 2 pick 4:
Nyxborn Triton
Forsaken Drifters
Revoke Existence
--> Nyxborn Wolf
Evanescent Intellect
Karametra's Favor
Oreskos Sun Guide
Stratus Walk
Nullify
Thassa's Rebuff
Skyreaping
Forest
Pack 2 pick 5:
--> Chorus of the Tides
Felhide Brawler
Griffin Dreamfinder
Eye Gouge
Evanescent Intellect
Deepwater Hypnotist
Crypsis
Grisly Transformation
Odunos River Trawler
Everflame Eidolon
Plains
Pack 2 pick 6:
Hold at Bay
Setessan Starbreaker
Weight of the Underworld
Warchanter of Mogis
Snake of the Golden Grove
Divination
Springleaf Drum
Sunbond
--> Nessian Demolok
Island
Pack 2 pick 7:
Warchanter of Mogis
Forsaken Drifters
Revoke Existence
Evanescent Intellect
--> Karametra's Favor
Shrike Harpy
Sanguimancy
Plea for Guidance
Plains
I normally don't like these, but my deck is going to be desperate for ramp.
Pack 3 pick 3:
Fleshmad Steed
Cavalry Pegasus
--> Nylea's Disciple
Returned Phalanx
Coastline Chimera
Defend the Hearth
Leonin Snarecaster
Traveler's Amulet
Boulderfall
Peak Eruption
Glare of Heresy
Spellheart Chimera
Island
Pack 3 pick 4:
Divine Verdict
Sip of Hemlock
--> Bronze Sable
Satyr Hedonist
Unknown Shores
Crackling Triton
Island (FOIL)
Boulderfall
Kragma Warcaller
Dark Betrayal
Ember Swallower
Mountain
Ugh. What's the deal with Red in this draft. Someone should be taking these cards. I can't switch now, I'm too heavily into Blue. Sable is actually a necessity because I'm painfully short on 2-drops.
Pack 3 pick 5:
Dragon Mantle
Omenspeaker
Vulpine Goliath
Asphodel Wanderer
Titan's Strength
Ray of Dissolution
--> Wavecrash Triton
Gainsay
Shipwreck Singer
Sentry of the Underworld
Swamp
The deck looks just OK. Not enough early game, too much reliance on ramp, not enough disruption really. When this deck curves out, it's probably going to do very well but it can't survive much stumbling. The last cut was the 2nd Nylea's Disciple -- I just couldn't find anything I could cut in good conscience, since I sort of need those Karametra's Favors.
The Matches
Round 1 vs. UBR
(I couldn't figure out the exact composition of his mana base, but all 3 colors were definitely more than a splash.)
Game 1 I kept a 5-lander on the play, opponent mulled to 6. Of course I had to avoid getting blown out or flooded -- this was a big risk with my opening hand, but my deck also loses to not enough mana so a mulligan would also have been risky. Opponent did not have a fast start but I also didn't draw into any good early drops. Opponent stalled on 3 lands which I tried to punish with Demolok. He Voyage'd it to buy a turn. Second time around I destroyed his lone Mountain. I also played Sable to block his Bladetusk Boar. Triton Cavalry joined his side. Naiads made the Demolok unblockable for a turn but then ate a Feast of Dreams. He used a trick to kill my Sable and open up room for his Boar. Horizon Chimera felt the Fall of the Hammer. I ripped Game Warden into Leucrocota and blew him out from there with too much power on the board for him to control.
Game 2 he kept 7, I had to mull and keep a sketchy 2-land six. He produced Felhide Spiritbinder which I hoped to hold at bay with my Courser and Nyxborn Triton. He gave his Spiritbinder a Nimbus Naiad. Pin to the Earth only solved half the problem. He still got to copy stuff. I was mana screwed in an unfortunate way -- 4 lands and 3x 5 drops in hand. Burnished Hart arrived too late. We scuffled for a while once I got some mana but he was too far ahead by that point, eventually finishing me with an Aerial Formation on 2 beefy creatures as I was trying to stabilize.
Game 3 I kept a 2-land hand. This time I drew into enough lands though, and quickly got ahead with Horizon Chimera and Chorus of Tides. Horizon got shot down and Chorus got bounced to stall. He was missing Black mana. Spiritbinder showed up again but this time I had a Leucrocota to block it, and I was slow rolling Curse of the Swine while pecking away with my flier. Chorus was ambushed by an Aerial Formation which I sniffed out and at least avoided the 2-for-1 (I didn't have any way to not make it a 1-for-1). Then Sea God's Revenge cleared my board and he hit for 8. Ugh. This forced me to pull the trigger on Swine. He landed War Wing Siren and Nimbus Naiad on the next turn as I desperately tried to rebuild from the Sea God's. War Wing Siren got Everflame Eidolon and I was nearly hopeless. He also landed Baleful Eidolon on the Naiad and I was finished.
That last game really hurt. I felt like I drew well. His removal went 1 for 1. I correctly played around a 2-for-1 trap. It was really just the Sea God's Revenge that single-handedly won it by bouncing 3 of my creatures at a phase in the game where I still had gas (clogging up my hand) and letting him hit for 8 so that I had to block for the rest of the game instead of having any breathing room. Very frustrating to lose to just one card that way but I suppose he got ideal value out of it. (Note: I think Sea God's is great, I've just never seen it completely turn a game this much.)
0-1
Round 2 vs. BG
Game 1 opponent went to 6. I accelerated into a Turn 3 Chorus, and another Chorus on Turn 4. One Chorus got a Lash of the Whip but he was so far behind on life. I chained one Game Warden into another and he couldn't stabilize.
Game 2 he opened with Renowned Weaver and Servant of Tymaret. Hall of Triumph made his Black creatures bigger. I upped the ante by landing Game Warden and drawing into Demolok. His stuff was suddenly outclassed. Demolok destroyed his Hall. He never got anything going that could deal with my fattie, Servant was just too slow for the job.
1-1
Round 3 vs. GU
Game 1 I accelerated into early Chimera and Game Warden. He oddly bounced my Game Warden (thanks for the extra card??). He had a couple of Heroic green guys but seemingly nothing to trigger them. I cast Hubris on his Pheres-Band Thunderhoof at end of turn, and he sprung the trap with Setessan Tactics. He misplayed it by targeting an Oathsworn that had come into play that turn -- no fighting for him. Luckily it only went 1-for-1 and gave his Oathsworn a couple of counters. As Setessan Tactics goes, that was actually a huge waste of the card so it must have been a misplay, not realizing that summoning sickness prevents the Fight ability. Archetype of Imagination took away my Flying advantage. I had him down to 4 life though, so he kept having to trade. We went to topdecks with him at 2 and me at 25, so I wasn't too concerned. I eventually drew into enough creatures to force one through for the win.
My opponent disconnected before Game 2 so he lost about 6 minutes, but he came back.
Game 2 he mulliganed to 5. Similar to my Round 2 opponent, he was running Renowned Weaver. I really don't like that card and don't believe it should be in main decks. He produced War Wing Siren, I played out a Nyxborn Triton to accelerate with Karametra's Favor. This game was frustrating because my opponent kept stalling for 10-20 seconds even with no plays. There was no enjoyable flow to this game. He even had a pointless autostop on his own upkeep. Back to the action -- His Siren got Feral Invocation but I had Pin to the Earth to turn it into a glorified defender. He attacked with it anyway with -2 power so I wonder if he was even really paying attention to this game? I had Curse of the Swine for his Archetype of Imagination and Thunderhoof. He interpreted the Signs for 3 cards...geez this game is just going to go on forever! He eventually produced a Reverant Hunter which was just massive since it was played late onto a stalled board. He pumped it up with Nyxborn Triton and a trigger from Oakheart Dryads. I gang-blocked and he had Savage Surge plus another pump by converting his Weaver, so I fell way behind in that combat. I feel like I had to try to block the thing -- in fact had I not blocked, he would have nearly killed me right there. Oh well, sometimes they just have the trick. I realized at this point I had 20 cards left in my deck, and 13 of them were lands...He was down to topdecks and of course ripped 4 creatures and 2 spells off the top. Sigh. I was stuck chumping his Hunter until I could set up a defense. I decided at this point to work his clock. He was down to 4 minutes and we were only in Game 2. I stopped attacking altogether. I eventually gang blocked the Hunter. I don't have the patience to write out the whole recap for the next 8 turns or so, but he played too conservatively relative to his dwindling clock and while he won the battle, he lost the war because he ended this game with 20 seconds to live.
Game 3 he timed out.
2-1
I know some people feel weird about working the clock, but I think it's a fair tactic. To be clear, I was not intentionally wasting time with pointless triggers or anything like that, I just stopped trying to attack his life total. I feel bad if his disconnect was not his fault (IP problem or something) but he was also playing haltingly and with lots of unnecessary pauses. He also would have lost much earlier with normal 25 minute clocks instead of prerelease 30 minute clocks.
Overall the deck performed about as well as I expected. It was clunky but had plenty of mid and late game, and really shined when I got acceleration. I never even drew my Nessian Wilds Ravager, even in that last game where I drew 75% of my deck, so thanks for your effort Mr. Ravager...on this day you were as useful as a Chimney Imp, I hope you're proud of yourself.
The Game Wardens were as good as I expected and swung the game every time. 4/5 is a tough body to get around, and drawing cards never hurt. Nothing really surprised me, performance-wise. I know the math on Wardens is complicated, but if you're running a deck like this with 10 Forests and 18 creatures you can safely assume it's going to hit "a lot."
I'm glad to see these games were relatively balanced. I didn't play against White at all, so who knows if that deck is still busted or now just very good. Time will tell. For now I'm still interested in JBT, though I might take the rest of the weekend off unless they fix this weird art glitch. (You never notice how much you rely on the art for quick recall until it's gone.)
The deck was slower than I would have liked. Needed more 2 drops for sure, and also ideally some better ramp than Karametra's Favor but that's what was available.
Decks were definitely slower than the average BTT but 1) it's a small sample 2) of a loser's bracket and 3) during a prerelease when people are still learning and experimenting with cards -- so I wouldn't read too much into it yet. Not enough data yet to form any conclusions.
Any reason you think it's very good? What exactly does it do in this format? There aren't a lot of 2/1s that stay that size, so at best it's a speed bump against an aggro deck. The instant speed constellation trigger is cute but how often does that come up? (And to get it, you're playing a subpar creature so it's not exactly free and after a while people will stop being tricked by it.)
I'm just not seeing how this adds up to 1 card's worth of value. You wouldn't be excited to play a 1/3 Reach. If the spider had deathtouch, then you'd have something.
A speed bump is more than enough vs the fastest aggro decks. And creatures do tend to stay small with less bestow going around. It's not the most exciting card but it's an early drop that can chump twice.
I've only played 2 events online so far (1 Prerelease Sealed, 1 JBT) and the Prereleases IRL so it's hard to comment (since sealed is typically slower, especially with triple J), but the "fastest" aggro decks seem slower now with only one pack of theros. Don't know how valuable that speed bump is. Especially when there are several GOOD bears and 1/3s in the format that make far better speed bumps.
Can you speak to P2P4 - Nyxborn Wolf over Nyxborn Triton? Was that a nod to mana or what you already had in your pile? Or do you prefer Wolf over Triton in UG?
I've found that whenever you Bestow Nyxborn Wolf, they can often trade with you creature you enchant. While it definitely goes better on evasive creatures, wouldn't you rather have higher toughness when you need to create awkward blocks?
Looks like a fun draft. So far I'm really impressed with full block Theros as there seems to be much more room for interesting gameplay.
Good question about Triton vs. Wolf. It was more a nod to mana, since I wanted to be heavier Green for the Game Wardens. In a vacuum I do prefer the Triton for the toughness, but I think they're really close so I decided to go Green to play more Forests.
Still not sold on the Weaver. If the best case is "it chumps twice" -- I prefer cards that trade most of the time or can race. I'll keep an eye out for it but it's the kind of card I'm not going to start playing until I start losing to it.
In addition to being a cheap speed bump, it's also one of the few ways to activate Constellation at instant speed. As others have said, the concentration of bestow has gone way down in proportion to the number of 2/1s running around, so I've found it's actually a very efficient speed bump at that.
I'd have taken white in the first pack and gone WG. I may be over-valued akroan mastiff. That would have changed a lot of the other picks in the following packs.
I'd have taken triton over wolf. I don't like the 1 toughness.
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I drafted 3x Theros about 25 times and did quite well. I liked the format a lot, even though it tended toward two general archetypes -- Heroic that included White, and Control that included Black. I still felt the gameplay was challenging and each of these archetypes had enough subtle variations to be interesting even if certain color pairs were quite bad.
I drafted Theros-Born of the Gods about a dozen times and frankly did not do well at all. I didn't win a single BTT queue, after taking down about 25% of my TTT queues. As we all know by now, BTT was largely characterized by a Red-White Aggro deck which could only be balanced by players overdrafting it. I was also disappointed that Born of the Gods brought very little tactical variation to Theros block. It felt like Theros Version 1.1. It still didn't have any ways to really punish the Voltron strategy, and on top of that there were all sorts of pressures in the format that can be summarized as "Blocking is never a good plan." I tend to strongly dislike formats where blocking is bad by default. I stepped away from this format earlier than I usually do, just because I was not enjoying it.
Now here we are with Journey into Nyx. I'm hopeful that it balances the format a bit, and I have plenty of reasons to think that might happen -- namely, Journey is chock full of spells that punish Voltrons. "Play a creature and then Bestow on it 3 times" is no longer an automatically good strategy. This is my hope going into the format, and we'll see how it goes. On to the good stuff...
As always, I appreciate any commentary you may have!
Note: This draft is being played under special "no art for the new cards" rules! Thanks WotC for focusing so much on your Wide Beta Spotlight that you couldn't even program the little squares of art for the new set you're featuring...great job...
The Draft
------ JOU ------
Pack 1 pick 1:
Countermand
Pensive Minotaur
Armament of Nyx
Font of Fertility
Flamespeaker's Will
Aspect of Gorgon
Oppressive Rays
Pin to the Earth
Renowned Weaver
Flurry of Horns
--> Nessian Game Warden
Kiora's Dismissal
Brain Maggot
Battlefield Thaumaturge
Swamp
This is not a strong pack. Thaumaturge is cute but requires specific situations to be anything better than a vanilla 2/1. There are various conditional removal spells here: Pin, Armament, Rays. They're all good but I'm not dying to first pick any of them. I defaulted to the Nessian Game Warden, which in my opinion is as close to an automatic 2-for-1 as you can get in Green. It does require a heavier Green commitment but that's fine because it's early in the draft.
Pack 1 pick 2:
Feast of Dreams
Hubris
Satyr Hoplite
Akroan Mastiff
Humbler of Mortals
Font of Return
Stonewise Fortifier
Rise of Eagles
Pheres-Band Thunderhoof
--> Bladetusk Boar
Skyspear Cavalry
Tormented Thoughts
Gnarled Scarhide
Plains
On color we have Thunderhood and Humbler -- so clunky! Game Warden is very different from these cards, because it offers a reasonable promise of card advantage. In the absence of that, I'm not interested in loading up on 5 or 6 drops. I considered Feast of Dreams but I'd like to see it in action a bit to determine just how conditional it is. I'm honestly not sure about Akroan Mastiff vs. Bladetusk Boar. They have similar drawbacks (easily killed) but of course one is defensive while the other is offensive. I decided to tend toward the offensive.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Feast of Dreams
Hubris
Satyr Hoplite
Akroan Mastiff
Humbler of Mortals
Stonewise Fortifier
Rise of Eagles
Pheres-Band Thunderhoof
Bladetusk Boar
--> Whitewater Naiads
Disciple of Deceit
Riptide Chimera
Island
I'm a big fan of Whitewater Naiads. Blue just does not get 4/4s for 5 very often, let alone with a relevant ability. It's really weird that I got the exact same print runs as the previous pack...
Pack 1 pick 4:
Nature's Panoply
Phalanx Formation (FOIL)
Aerial Formation
Satyr Hoplite
Lagonna-Band Trailblazer
Supply-Line Cranes
Rise of Eagles
Satyr Grovedancer
Font of Ire
--> Nessian Game Warden
Leonin Iconoclast
Island
Here I thought the Green had dried up, but if 4/5 + Draw a creature was good enough to first pick, it's good enough here too. Someone downstream is probably getting all tittilated about their trio of Satyr Hoplites.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Font of Return
Font of Fortunes
Magma Spray
Harvestguard Alseids
--> Golden Hind
Returned Reveler
Bloodcrazed Hoplite
Ravenous Leucrocota
Tormented Thoughts
Gold-Forged Sentinel
Plains
Just what I need, something to accelerate into good 5-drops.
Pack 1 pick 6:
Countermand
Pensive Minotaur
Armament of Nyx
Font of Fertility
Flamespeaker's Will
Aspect of Gorgon
--> Pin to the Earth
Flurry of Horns
Rollick of Abandon
Mountain
This is about where I prefer to draft the "Protection against Voltrons" removal spells.
Pack 1 pick 7:
--> Hubris
Akroan Mastiff
Humbler of Mortals
Font of Return
Stonewise Fortifier
Rise of Eagles
Armory of Iroas
Gnarled Scarhide
Forest
That's a late Mastiff I think, but that ship has sailed. Note that while some decent White and Red is going around, it's not the kind of White and Red that you really want -- namely the Aggro stuff. I think one trap in Journey is to not accidentally draft Red-White Control, a concept that is not supported in the other two packs.
Pack 1 pick 8:
Font of Return
Magma Spray
Harvestguard Alseids
Returned Reveler
Oreskos Swiftclaw
--> Ravenous Leucrocota
Reviving Melody
Swamp
Pack 1 pick 9:
Countermand
Pensive Minotaur
--> Font of Fertility
Aspect of Gorgon
Pin to the Earth
Flurry of Horns
Swamp
While I think Pin is the better spell, I have a lot of cards that want a lot of mana -- so I'm prioritizing ramp.
Pack 1 pick 10:
Akroan Mastiff
Font of Return
Stonewise Fortifier
--> Rise of Eagles
Tormented Thoughts
Plains
So are Mastiffs not good? They look better than 10th pick.
Pack 1 pick 11:
Stonewise Fortifier
Rise of Eagles
--> Bladetusk Boar
Disciple of Deceit
Island
Boars are definitely better than 11th pick...
Pack 1 pick 12:
Phalanx Formation (FOIL)
--> Rise of Eagles
Font of Ire
Island
Pack 1 pick 13:
Font of Return
--> Harvestguard Alseids
Plains
Pack 1 pick 14:
--> Pensive Minotaur
Mountain
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Forest
------ BNG ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Epiphany Storm
Servant of Tymaret
Great Hart
Satyr Wayfinder
Retraction Helix
Nyxborn Eidolon
Nullify
Impetuous Sunchaser
Culling Mark
Necrobite
Ephara's Enlightenment
Eternity Snare
Mischief and Mayhem
--> Nessian Wilds Ravager
Island
Lucky I was already drafting Green ramp.
Pack 2 pick 2:
Bolt of Keranos
Mortal's Ardor
Eye Gouge
--> Nyxborn Triton
Epiphany Storm
Kragma Butcher
Loyal Pegasus
Elite Skirmisher
Mortal's Resolve
Pillar of War
Archetype of Imagination
Everflame Eidolon
Temple of Malice
Swamp
Pack 2 pick 3:
Bolt of Keranos
Setessan Oathsworn
Marshmist Titan
--> Chorus of the Tides
Mortal's Ardor
Fearsome Temper
Asphyxiate
Cyclops of One-Eyed Pass
Gorgon's Head
Lightning Volley
Bile Blight
Felhide Spiritbinder
Island
Red is more open BUT -- keep in mind that Red is by far at its most powerful in the BNG pack and then is terrible in Theros. That's mainly why I'm sticking to Blue which also seems fine and is definitely not being cut.
Pack 2 pick 4:
Nyxborn Triton
Forsaken Drifters
Revoke Existence
--> Nyxborn Wolf
Evanescent Intellect
Karametra's Favor
Oreskos Sun Guide
Stratus Walk
Nullify
Thassa's Rebuff
Skyreaping
Forest
Pack 2 pick 5:
--> Chorus of the Tides
Felhide Brawler
Griffin Dreamfinder
Eye Gouge
Evanescent Intellect
Deepwater Hypnotist
Crypsis
Grisly Transformation
Odunos River Trawler
Everflame Eidolon
Plains
Pack 2 pick 6:
Hold at Bay
Setessan Starbreaker
Weight of the Underworld
Warchanter of Mogis
Snake of the Golden Grove
Divination
Springleaf Drum
Sunbond
--> Nessian Demolok
Island
Pack 2 pick 7:
Warchanter of Mogis
Forsaken Drifters
Revoke Existence
Evanescent Intellect
--> Karametra's Favor
Shrike Harpy
Sanguimancy
Plea for Guidance
Plains
I normally don't like these, but my deck is going to be desperate for ramp.
Pack 2 pick 8:
Ephara's Radiance
Setessan Starbreaker
Forsaken Drifters
Scouring Sands
Impetuous Sunchaser
Sunbond
--> Siren Song Lyre
Plains
Pack 2 pick 9:
Epiphany Storm
Servant of Tymaret
Great Hart
Impetuous Sunchaser
Culling Mark
--> Eternity Snare
Island
Given my mana curve, I probably will not play this.
Pack 2 pick 10:
Mortal's Ardor
Eye Gouge
Epiphany Storm
--> Kragma Butcher
Pillar of War
Swamp
Pack 2 pick 11:
Marshmist Titan
--> Fearsome Temper
Cyclops of One-Eyed Pass
Lightning Volley
Island
Pack 2 pick 12:
Evanescent Intellect
--> Karametra's Favor
Skyreaping
Forest
Pack 2 pick 13:
Felhide Brawler
--> Eye Gouge
Plains
Pack 2 pick 14:
--> Setessan Starbreaker
Island
Pack 2 pick 15:
--> Plains
------ THS ------
Pack 3 pick 1:
Guardians of Meletis
Battlewise Valor
Loathsome Catoblepas
Wild Celebrants
Two-Headed Cerberus
Time to Feed
Asphodel Wanderer
Breaching Hippocamp
Boon of Erebos
Setessan Griffin
Tormented Hero
Flamespeaker Adept
Spellheart Chimera
--> Curse of the Swine
Plains
Pack 3 pick 2:
Stymied Hopes
Nessian Courser
Lash of the Whip
Asphodel Wanderer
Wingsteed Rider
Two-Headed Cerberus
Vulpine Goliath
Annul
Deathbellow Raider
Savage Surge
--> Burnished Hart
Flamecast Wheel
Shipwreck Singer
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 3:
Fleshmad Steed
Cavalry Pegasus
--> Nylea's Disciple
Returned Phalanx
Coastline Chimera
Defend the Hearth
Leonin Snarecaster
Traveler's Amulet
Boulderfall
Peak Eruption
Glare of Heresy
Spellheart Chimera
Island
Pack 3 pick 4:
Divine Verdict
Sip of Hemlock
--> Bronze Sable
Satyr Hedonist
Unknown Shores
Crackling Triton
Island (FOIL)
Boulderfall
Kragma Warcaller
Dark Betrayal
Ember Swallower
Mountain
Ugh. What's the deal with Red in this draft. Someone should be taking these cards. I can't switch now, I'm too heavily into Blue. Sable is actually a necessity because I'm painfully short on 2-drops.
Pack 3 pick 5:
Dragon Mantle
Omenspeaker
Vulpine Goliath
Asphodel Wanderer
Titan's Strength
Ray of Dissolution
--> Wavecrash Triton
Gainsay
Shipwreck Singer
Sentry of the Underworld
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 6:
Fleshmad Steed
Cavalry Pegasus
--> Nylea's Disciple
Scourgemark
Satyr Hedonist
Satyr Rambler
Leonin Snarecaster
Setessan Battle Priest
Evangel of Heliod
Island
Pack 3 pick 7:
Cavalry Pegasus (FOIL)
Rage of Purphoros
Returned Centaur
Hopeful Eidolon
Opaline Unicorn
Ray of Dissolution
--> Horizon Chimera
Triton Fortune Hunter
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 8:
Nylea's Presence
Fleetfeather Sandals
Demolish
Ephara's Warden
Annul
Wild Celebrants
--> Anger of the Gods
Plains
Really? I'm guessing someone at this table is forcing Red but doesn't know how to draft, thereby leaving us with these bizarre signals.
Pack 3 pick 9:
Guardians of Meletis
Loathsome Catoblepas
Asphodel Wanderer
--> Boon of Erebos
Setessan Griffin
Spellheart Chimera
Plains
Pack 3 pick 10:
Stymied Hopes
--> Nessian Courser
Vulpine Goliath
Flamecast Wheel
Shipwreck Singer
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 11:
--> Coastline Chimera
Boulderfall
Peak Eruption
Glare of Heresy
Island
Pack 3 pick 12:
Island (FOIL)
--> Kragma Warcaller
Dark Betrayal
Mountain
Pack 3 pick 13:
--> Vulpine Goliath
Sentry of the Underworld
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 14:
--> Satyr Rambler
Island
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Swamp
The Deck
1 Golden Hind
1 Bronze Sable
1 Nyxborn Triton
1 Nyxborn Wolf
1 Wavecrash Triton
1 Nessian Courser
1 Burnished Hart
1 Horizon Chimera
2 Chorus of the Tides
1 Ravenous Leucrocota
1 Nylea's Disciple
2 Nessian Game Warden
1 Whitewater Naiads
1 Nessian Demolok
1 Nessian Wilds Ravager
1 Font of Fertility
1 Pin to the Earth
1 Hubris
2 Karametra's Favor
1 Curse of the Swine
Land (17)
10 Forest
7 Island
1 Harvestguard Alseids
2 Rise of Eagles
1 Eternity Snare
1 Coastline Chimera
1 Eye Gouge
1 Boon of Erebos
2 Bladetusk Boar
1 Pensive Minotaur
1 Fearsome Temper
1 Kragma Butcher
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Satyr Rambler
1 Setessan Starbreaker
1 Nylea's Disciple
1 Vulpine Goliath
1 Kragma Warcaller
1 Silent Song Lyre
The deck looks just OK. Not enough early game, too much reliance on ramp, not enough disruption really. When this deck curves out, it's probably going to do very well but it can't survive much stumbling. The last cut was the 2nd Nylea's Disciple -- I just couldn't find anything I could cut in good conscience, since I sort of need those Karametra's Favors.
The Matches
Round 1 vs. UBR
(I couldn't figure out the exact composition of his mana base, but all 3 colors were definitely more than a splash.)
Game 1 I kept a 5-lander on the play, opponent mulled to 6. Of course I had to avoid getting blown out or flooded -- this was a big risk with my opening hand, but my deck also loses to not enough mana so a mulligan would also have been risky. Opponent did not have a fast start but I also didn't draw into any good early drops. Opponent stalled on 3 lands which I tried to punish with Demolok. He Voyage'd it to buy a turn. Second time around I destroyed his lone Mountain. I also played Sable to block his Bladetusk Boar. Triton Cavalry joined his side. Naiads made the Demolok unblockable for a turn but then ate a Feast of Dreams. He used a trick to kill my Sable and open up room for his Boar. Horizon Chimera felt the Fall of the Hammer. I ripped Game Warden into Leucrocota and blew him out from there with too much power on the board for him to control.
Game 2 he kept 7, I had to mull and keep a sketchy 2-land six. He produced Felhide Spiritbinder which I hoped to hold at bay with my Courser and Nyxborn Triton. He gave his Spiritbinder a Nimbus Naiad. Pin to the Earth only solved half the problem. He still got to copy stuff. I was mana screwed in an unfortunate way -- 4 lands and 3x 5 drops in hand. Burnished Hart arrived too late. We scuffled for a while once I got some mana but he was too far ahead by that point, eventually finishing me with an Aerial Formation on 2 beefy creatures as I was trying to stabilize.
Game 3 I kept a 2-land hand. This time I drew into enough lands though, and quickly got ahead with Horizon Chimera and Chorus of Tides. Horizon got shot down and Chorus got bounced to stall. He was missing Black mana. Spiritbinder showed up again but this time I had a Leucrocota to block it, and I was slow rolling Curse of the Swine while pecking away with my flier. Chorus was ambushed by an Aerial Formation which I sniffed out and at least avoided the 2-for-1 (I didn't have any way to not make it a 1-for-1). Then Sea God's Revenge cleared my board and he hit for 8. Ugh. This forced me to pull the trigger on Swine. He landed War Wing Siren and Nimbus Naiad on the next turn as I desperately tried to rebuild from the Sea God's. War Wing Siren got Everflame Eidolon and I was nearly hopeless. He also landed Baleful Eidolon on the Naiad and I was finished.
That last game really hurt. I felt like I drew well. His removal went 1 for 1. I correctly played around a 2-for-1 trap. It was really just the Sea God's Revenge that single-handedly won it by bouncing 3 of my creatures at a phase in the game where I still had gas (clogging up my hand) and letting him hit for 8 so that I had to block for the rest of the game instead of having any breathing room. Very frustrating to lose to just one card that way but I suppose he got ideal value out of it. (Note: I think Sea God's is great, I've just never seen it completely turn a game this much.)
0-1
Round 2 vs. BG
Game 1 opponent went to 6. I accelerated into a Turn 3 Chorus, and another Chorus on Turn 4. One Chorus got a Lash of the Whip but he was so far behind on life. I chained one Game Warden into another and he couldn't stabilize.
Game 2 he opened with Renowned Weaver and Servant of Tymaret. Hall of Triumph made his Black creatures bigger. I upped the ante by landing Game Warden and drawing into Demolok. His stuff was suddenly outclassed. Demolok destroyed his Hall. He never got anything going that could deal with my fattie, Servant was just too slow for the job.
1-1
Round 3 vs. GU
Game 1 I accelerated into early Chimera and Game Warden. He oddly bounced my Game Warden (thanks for the extra card??). He had a couple of Heroic green guys but seemingly nothing to trigger them. I cast Hubris on his Pheres-Band Thunderhoof at end of turn, and he sprung the trap with Setessan Tactics. He misplayed it by targeting an Oathsworn that had come into play that turn -- no fighting for him. Luckily it only went 1-for-1 and gave his Oathsworn a couple of counters. As Setessan Tactics goes, that was actually a huge waste of the card so it must have been a misplay, not realizing that summoning sickness prevents the Fight ability. Archetype of Imagination took away my Flying advantage. I had him down to 4 life though, so he kept having to trade. We went to topdecks with him at 2 and me at 25, so I wasn't too concerned. I eventually drew into enough creatures to force one through for the win.
My opponent disconnected before Game 2 so he lost about 6 minutes, but he came back.
Game 2 he mulliganed to 5. Similar to my Round 2 opponent, he was running Renowned Weaver. I really don't like that card and don't believe it should be in main decks. He produced War Wing Siren, I played out a Nyxborn Triton to accelerate with Karametra's Favor. This game was frustrating because my opponent kept stalling for 10-20 seconds even with no plays. There was no enjoyable flow to this game. He even had a pointless autostop on his own upkeep. Back to the action -- His Siren got Feral Invocation but I had Pin to the Earth to turn it into a glorified defender. He attacked with it anyway with -2 power so I wonder if he was even really paying attention to this game? I had Curse of the Swine for his Archetype of Imagination and Thunderhoof. He interpreted the Signs for 3 cards...geez this game is just going to go on forever! He eventually produced a Reverant Hunter which was just massive since it was played late onto a stalled board. He pumped it up with Nyxborn Triton and a trigger from Oakheart Dryads. I gang-blocked and he had Savage Surge plus another pump by converting his Weaver, so I fell way behind in that combat. I feel like I had to try to block the thing -- in fact had I not blocked, he would have nearly killed me right there. Oh well, sometimes they just have the trick. I realized at this point I had 20 cards left in my deck, and 13 of them were lands...He was down to topdecks and of course ripped 4 creatures and 2 spells off the top. Sigh. I was stuck chumping his Hunter until I could set up a defense. I decided at this point to work his clock. He was down to 4 minutes and we were only in Game 2. I stopped attacking altogether. I eventually gang blocked the Hunter. I don't have the patience to write out the whole recap for the next 8 turns or so, but he played too conservatively relative to his dwindling clock and while he won the battle, he lost the war because he ended this game with 20 seconds to live.
Game 3 he timed out.
2-1
I know some people feel weird about working the clock, but I think it's a fair tactic. To be clear, I was not intentionally wasting time with pointless triggers or anything like that, I just stopped trying to attack his life total. I feel bad if his disconnect was not his fault (IP problem or something) but he was also playing haltingly and with lots of unnecessary pauses. He also would have lost much earlier with normal 25 minute clocks instead of prerelease 30 minute clocks.
Overall the deck performed about as well as I expected. It was clunky but had plenty of mid and late game, and really shined when I got acceleration. I never even drew my Nessian Wilds Ravager, even in that last game where I drew 75% of my deck, so thanks for your effort Mr. Ravager...on this day you were as useful as a Chimney Imp, I hope you're proud of yourself.
The Game Wardens were as good as I expected and swung the game every time. 4/5 is a tough body to get around, and drawing cards never hurt. Nothing really surprised me, performance-wise. I know the math on Wardens is complicated, but if you're running a deck like this with 10 Forests and 18 creatures you can safely assume it's going to hit "a lot."
I'm glad to see these games were relatively balanced. I didn't play against White at all, so who knows if that deck is still busted or now just very good. Time will tell. For now I'm still interested in JBT, though I might take the rest of the weekend off unless they fix this weird art glitch. (You never notice how much you rely on the art for quick recall until it's gone.)
You've got sick top-end. Did you feel like the deck was a bit slow with only 2 2-drops or did you find people's decks were in general slower than BTT?
Decks were definitely slower than the average BTT but 1) it's a small sample 2) of a loser's bracket and 3) during a prerelease when people are still learning and experimenting with cards -- so I wouldn't read too much into it yet. Not enough data yet to form any conclusions.
I'm just not seeing how this adds up to 1 card's worth of value. You wouldn't be excited to play a 1/3 Reach. If the spider had deathtouch, then you'd have something.
I've found that whenever you Bestow Nyxborn Wolf, they can often trade with you creature you enchant. While it definitely goes better on evasive creatures, wouldn't you rather have higher toughness when you need to create awkward blocks?
Looks like a fun draft. So far I'm really impressed with full block Theros as there seems to be much more room for interesting gameplay.
Still not sold on the Weaver. If the best case is "it chumps twice" -- I prefer cards that trade most of the time or can race. I'll keep an eye out for it but it's the kind of card I'm not going to start playing until I start losing to it.
I'd have taken triton over wolf. I don't like the 1 toughness.