This was my first JBT draft after a hiatus of about 4 weeks. I needed to cleanse my palate and rethink my strategies. The thing about this crazy, beautiful game is that the itch always comes back.
The Draft
------ JOU ------
Pack 1 pick 1:
Countermand
Pensive Minotaur
Armament of Nyx
Font of Fertility
Rotted Hulk
Godhunter Octopus
Oppressive Rays
War-Wing Siren
Satyr Grovedancer
Flurry of Horns
Interpret the Signs
Rollick of Abandon
Spirespine
--> Setessan Tactics
Forest
If you read the last draft before my break, you might remember that I went 3-0 with a deck featuring a pair of Setessan Tactics. I guess I'm headed down that path again. It's still a card that is worth forcing to a degree. I'm not going to pick Green if it's completely dry, but I have one of the better incentives to try to make it happen.
Pack 1 pick 2:
Nature's Panoply
Nyx Infusion
Godhunter Octopus
Sigiled Skink
Font of Vigor
Kruphix's Insight
Renowned Weaver
Flurry of Horns
Thassa's Devourer
Gluttonous Cyclops
--> Nessian Game Warden
Kiora's Dismissal
Gnarled Scarhide
Plains
Pack 1 pick 3:
Sigiled Skink
Ajani's Presence
--> Golden Hind
Feast of Dreams
Cloaked Siren
Lightning Diadem
Bloodcrazed Hoplite
Oreskos Swiftclaw
Ravenous Leucrocota
Squelching Leeches
Consign to Dust
Reviving Melody
Plains
Lots of good cards here in all colors, but no reason yet to deviate from Green.
Pack 1 pick 4:
Sigiled Skink
Ajani's Presence
--> Golden Hind
Feast of Dreams
Cloaked Siren
Lightning Diadem
Bloodcrazed Hoplite
Oreskos Swiftclaw
War-Wing Siren
Ravenous Leucrocota
Gold-Forged Sentinel
Forest
Nearly identical to the last pack. I know it's random but this seems to happen to me all the time in Journey -- back to back identical common runs.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Cloaked Siren
Rouse the Mob
Armament of Nyx
--> Humbler of Mortals
Rise of Eagles
Pheres-Band Thunderhoof
Dreadbringer Lampads
Thassa's Devourer
Spiteful Blow
Strength from the Fallen
Swamp
Works pretty well with the ramp I've been taking.
Pack 1 pick 6:
Font of Return
Font of Fortunes
Returned Reveler
--> Pin to the Earth
Pheres-Band Thunderhoof
Gluttonous Cyclops
Ritual of the Returned
Stormchaser Chimera
Revel of the Fallen God
Forest
I am not a big fan of Pheres Band Thunderhoof. It's too slow to execute the Hero strategy effectively, and there are just better 5 and 6 drops for Green that you can draft late anyway.
Pack 1 pick 7:
Rouse the Mob
Armament of Nyx
--> Humbler of Mortals
Rise of Eagles
Pheres-Band Thunderhoof
Dreadbringer Lampads
Supply-Line Cranes
Thassa's Devourer
Plains
That Supply-Line Cranes shouldn't be there, but I haven't seen much other White. Probably just an aberration. I have to be careful here with too many 6 drops.
Pack 1 pick 8:
--> Font of Fertility
Font of Fortunes
Cast into Darkness
Font of Ire
Goldenhide Ox
Ritual of the Returned
Reviving Melody
Forest
Ramps into Humblers OR triggers them! Seems like a good fit for this deck.
Pack 1 pick 9:
Countermand
--> Font of Fertility
Rotted Hulk
Godhunter Octopus
Oppressive Rays
Rollick of Abandon
Forest
Pack 1 pick 10:
--> Nature's Panoply
Godhunter Octopus
Font of Vigor
Kruphix's Insight
Kiora's Dismissal
Plains
Pack 1 pick 13:
Rise of Eagles
--> Strength from the Fallen
Swamp
A pet card from LRCast, but I'm lacking synergy with it so far. It's effectively a Green-Black gold card since it needs some graveyard synergy to become relevant.
Pack 1 pick 14:
--> Returned Reveler
Forest
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Plains
------ BNG ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Marshmist Titan
Nyxborn Wolf
Floodtide Serpent
Rise to the Challenge
Griffin Dreamfinder
Reckless Reveler
Grisly Transformation
Snake of the Golden Grove
Elite Skirmisher
Temple of Plenty (FOIL)
Kraken of the Straits
--> Noble Quarry
Acolyte's Reward
Herald of Torment
Island
I'm so heavy Green at this point that the Herald feels wrong. I did not get many Black signals in Pack 1, just a couple of early Feast of Dreams. Better to stay the course. I debated Quarry vs. Nyxborn Wolf and decided that since I was more ramp than aggro, the Lure effect would be more desirable to place on a fattie. I have a feeling this was wrong, as Quarry has never quite worked the way I've wanted it to but I keep getting...lured...back toward it.
Pack 2 pick 2:
Satyr Wayfinder
Retraction Helix
Nyxborn Eidolon
Bolt of Keranos
Mortal's Ardor
Eye Gouge
Aspect of Hydra
Mortal's Resolve
Divination
Archetype of Imagination
Akroan Conscriptor
Bile Blight
--> Fated Intervention
Island
A random reward for being heavy Green! I'll have no problem with the triple Green cost with 2x Hind and 2x Font.
Pack 2 pick 3:
Floodtide Serpent
Felhide Brawler
Ephara's Radiance
Bolt of Keranos
Claim of Erebos
Deepwater Hypnotist
Nyxborn Shieldmate
--> Fall of the Hammer
Karametra's Favor
Oreskos Sun Guide
Skyreaping
Dawn to Dusk
Mountain
There's no Green here worth taking. I'm not committed to a 2nd color so let's take the best card and see where this goes.
Pack 2 pick 4:
Marshmist Titan
Floodtide Serpent
Rise to the Challenge
Griffin Dreamfinder
Reckless Reveler
Grisly Transformation
--> Snake of the Golden Grove
Elite Skirmisher
Oreskos Sun Guide
Springleaf Drum
Acolyte's Reward
Forest
Pack 2 pick 5:
Forsaken Drifters
Excoriate
Scouring Sands
Chorus of the Tides
Acolyte's Reward (FOIL)
--> Swordwise Centaur
Nyxborn Shieldmate
Pheres-Band Tromper
Thunderous Might
Pinnacle of Rage
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 2:
Mnemonic Wall
Viper's Kiss
--> Lightning Strike
Pheres-Band Centaurs
Two-Headed Cerberus
Aqueous Form
Silent Artisan
Blood-Toll Harpy
Disciple of Phenax
Ray of Dissolution
Mogis's Marauder
Coordinated Assault
Temple of Silence
Swamp
Geez no Green at all? I'm still not clear on Blue vs. Red. It might be both as my 2 Red spells are quite powerful and splashable.
It's just bad luck to get Picks 2 & 3 with no playable Green cards at all.
Pack 3 pick 4:
--> Nessian Courser
March of the Returned
Dragon Mantle
Returned Centaur
Commune with the Gods
Hopeful Eidolon
Spark Jolt
Scholar of Athreos
Warriors' Lesson (FOIL)
Shipwreck Singer
Tymaret, the Murder King
Plains
Pack 3 pick 5:
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Fleetfeather Sandals
Lost in a Labyrinth
Pharika's Cure
--> Feral Invocation
Returned Centaur
Scholar of Athreos
Felhide Minotaur
Hunt the Hunter
Arena Athlete
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 6:
--> Bronze Sable
Messenger's Speed
Returned Phalanx
Coastline Chimera
Pharika's Cure
Defend the Hearth
Leonin Snarecaster
Fleetfeather Sandals (FOIL)
Vanquish the Foul
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 7:
Chosen by Heliod
Last Breath
Scourgemark
Satyr Hedonist
Satyr Rambler
Scholar of Athreos
Spellheart Chimera
--> Artisan of Forms
Mountain
Pack 3 pick 8:
March of the Returned
Returned Phalanx
Lagonna-Band Elder
Opaline Unicorn
Ray of Dissolution
Peak Eruption
--> Warriors' Lesson
Plains
Pack 3 pick 12:
Commune with the Gods
Scholar of Athreos
--> Warriors' Lesson (FOIL)
Plains
Pack 3 pick 13:
Returned Centaur
--> Felhide Minotaur
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 14:
--> Messenger's Speed
Defend the Hearth
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Mountain
The Deck
The Theros pack kinda screwed me, huh? I was expecting the Green hookup. I hope those packs were just as bad for everyone else as they were for me. At least I wasn't seeing a bunch of Wingsteed Riders going around instead of Green cards.
The last cards out were Artisan of Forms (not enough targeting) and Snake of the Golden Grove #2 which is an OK creature but I felt like I had enough beef. The deck is a little creature-light (14 if you count Invocation as a creature) and therefore vulnerable to decks with a lot of hard removal. This is why Golden Hind is so good though because it functions as both ramp and a relevant early creature that can trade with an X/2 once the mana is no longer needed.
The Matches
Round 1 vs. RU
Game 1 I worked on ramping with Font of Fertility & Golden Hind. He threatened me with a pair of Sigiled Skinks. Golden Hind was Magma Spray'd, though I did kill one Skink with Fall of the Hammer to avoid falling too far behind. Snake of Golden Grove let me stabilize back to 20 life. He traded his 2nd Skink and 2nd Magma Spray for my Snake, and played Bladetusk Boar. Nessian Game Warden landed on my side and found Ravenous Leucrocota. He had a clock with the Boar but only 1 card while I had 3 spells in hand so I just needed some time. He put Dragon Mantle on Boar, followed by Stormchaser Chimera, and put me squarely on the back foot. Oh thank goodness I drew Lightning Strike! I killed his Chimera after activation made it 6/3. I was still in trouble though with no way to deal with the Boar. He played Deepwater Hypnotist as a random blocker to stall me though I was beating him down with ground guys. He got me down to 7 life, so if he drew 1 more Mountain or a trick, I would be dead from the Boar. I guess he drew a blank, because he conceded after his draw. That was tense.
I'm not sure if it was correct to kill the Stormchaser Chimera rather than the Boar. He had 3 Mountains in play, so the Boar could become 6/2. The Chimera requires 4 mana to activate but its power is more variable. (I had Stratus Walk that I could have put on my 2/4 Leucrocota to block, though the Chimera would have killed it easily, so that wasn't a great option either. I didn't have 7 mana yet to guarantee that the Leucro would get large enough in time to handle the job.) To me the tiebreaker was cutting off his ability to Scry in addition to pumping power, plus I mostly wasted a turn of his mana by waiting until after the activation. He had the unblockable threats in the race so I figured it was more important to keep spells out of his hand that could give him any further advantage. It was close though and I may have played incorrectly.
I brought in Skyreaping from the sideboard for Consign to Dust, as he didn't seem to be playing much of a Bestow strategy but probably had more fliers.
Game 2 I mulled to 6, he mulled to 4 on the play. He never got a 2nd land and conceded when I played a Snake on Turn 4. I can't take credit for this of course, he lost to the shuffler.
1-0
Round 2 vs. RB
Game 1 I had a slow hand while he opened with Bloodcrazed Hoplite into Ordeal of Purphoros. Early Ordeals on Heroes are usually gg in this block. He followed up his Ordeal with another Hoplite, Necrobite, and Feast of Dreams to prevent me from stabilizing.
I sideboarded out Noble Quarry which seems bad in a fast matchup. RB can't really block anyway, I won't need a Lure to break through.
Game 2 he played Ordeal again, this time on Deathbellow Raider. Annoying that he got it in his opening hand in both games. I was cheating a bit too though, as I ramped into Turn 3 Emissary and Turn 4 Fated Intervention. The race was on. I had Fall of the Hammer for his Mogis's Marauder and that seemed to turn the game. With his Raider unable to stay back and block, my Centaurs had just enough time to beat down.
Game 3 he mulled to 5, I mulled to 6. He missed his 2nd land drop and said gg but didn't concede -- that's bad karma. He drew a Swamp and played Tymaret the Murder King so his gg was a bit premature. Still I had a good ramp hand with an early Swordwise Centaur, then Snake, Humbler, and Horizon Scholar. He got back into the game somewhat and might have had a shot against a bad hand, but I was able to overwhelm him.
2-0
Round 3 vs. Mono Black
Game 1 he started with Gnarled Scarhide and Bloodcrazed Hoplite. Mono Black Aggro?! That's not a thing. My Nessian Courser held them at bay, which was a relief. I had Setessan Tactics so I was preparing to spring a trap of some kind. He played Shrike Harpy. I let it be 4/4 since I had Humbler coming and could hit it with Tactics the next turn. (It seemed a better gamble than sac'ing a creature and potentially falling behind to his aggro draw.) He untapped and played Asphyxiate + Feast of Dreams and wiped my board. Oh well, I wasn't getting around all that removal either way. That left me wide open and he quickly beat down with his Harpy and finished me with a Gray Merchant.
I sideboarded in Mortal's Resolve as a counter to removal, since he didn't seem to have many targets for Consign to Dust.
Game 2 I mulled to 6 and got to ramping. He gave my Hind a Grisly Transforming, I guess just to cycle it. My Snake was Cast Into Darkness. He wasn't producing threats to ambush so I played Fated Intervention on my turn to Scry 2. From there I just swarmed him with more creatures and he was not able to stabilize.
I put Consign to Dust back in for Mortal's Resolve, now seeing that he did have some relevant enchantments, and probably enough removal that countering just 1 with Resolve wouldn't matter.
Game 3 I kept a slow hand. I figured his deck was more control than aggro. He got a Scarhide early but his only other play was Returned Phalanx. I drew Swordwise Centaur which helped ensure I wouldn't fall behind. He ran his Scarhide into my Feral Invocation which put me ahead. I attacked back with it thinking "Phew no Feast of Dreams"...and he played Feast of Dreams! Bad misplay by him to not play Feast after I played Feral Invocation in the previous combat. It cost him his Scarhide. Based on how quickly that combat went (no stops), I think he hit F6 for "Pass priority for the rest of the turn" after attacking, not anticipating that I could enchant my Centaur mid-combat and "turn on" his Feast. Don't use F6 when you're holding an Instant unless your clock is going to expire! My Snake was allowed to be a 7/7 which is the official code for "I have the removal spell and it's dead next turn." Sure enough he had Spiteful Blow which also took out my only Island. I did draw Font of Fertility though to get an Island back and play Horizon Scholar. I bestowed my Scholar with Nylea's Emissary and pressed the attack. He did not draw removal for it and was dead in 3 attack phases.
3-0
I didn't resolve Setessan Tactics but I'll never complain about a 3-0 result. I got lucky with the shuffler, as my opponents mulliganed 3 times more than me in total. This was a fun deck to play since it had the right components for both ramp and 2 secondary colors for power. Mana was never my problem. It played about as well as expected.
I can't think of a card that really under or overperformed, except maybe Font of Fertility just because this deck is built to exploit it in various ways. Consign to Dust didn't do much, but then again I don't think my opponents Bestowed even once in this tournament which is quite unusual.
p1p5 -- I really hate Humbler. I avoid picking it early at all costs, since you can always get expensive creatures later. Cloaked Siren or Spiteful Blow seem strong.
p1p6 - I'd have taken Pin too after Cloaked Siren. But without the Siren and with double Golden Hind and no 2nd color yet, thet Revel of the Fallen God looks pretty sweet. People avoid that card, but it basically reads "win the game if you can ramp to 7 mana". Most decks can't hit 7 reliably, but yours should. 8-power haste spread over 4 bodies is nothing to sneeze at.
p1p7 - This is why I don't grab Humblers early. There are always more fatties. Cloaked Siren doesn't wheel. Also, someone next to you is grabbing 3 Thunderhoofs and trying to play green heroic. Whether or not their deck is good, they might cut you from tricks in pack 2.
p1p9 - And this is why Revel. 4 ramp spells in 9 cards and you want the "win the game" 7-drop.
p2p1 -- Herald is a good card. There was a late Cast of Darkness too. Not a huge black signal, but along with Feast of Dreams it means there probably aren't MANY black drafters. You could probably pick up enough black playables to be heavy green and light black. Nyxborn Wolf also seems good.
p2p8 -- You pass multiple green Heroic creatures (3 Thunderhoof, 1 Setessan Oathsworn) for average cards, which is fine if you don't want to play a heroic strategy, but then grab an off-color heroic enabler instead of Mischief and Mayhem? Confused.
p2p10 -- Aspect didn't wheel because you passed all the green heroic creatures earlier. Thunderhoof guy probably got greedy, whether or not it was the right call for him. Resolve is fine too, probably did its job for you.
p3p7 - Artisan of Forms seems wrong with almost no enablers. Hedonist is at least ramp if you are playing red. Or an off color card?
p3p9 -- How many colors are you playing?
If you didn't end up playing black, why grab all those black cards?
How were the 2 Humblers? Was 3 6s too many? Congrats on 3-0.
Thanks for the feedback, there's a lot to respond to!
P1.5 -- I'm not that high on Humbler either. I can see why you'd go for Cloaked Siren. (I think that's a better choice than Spiteful Blow which is a fine card but sometimes too slow.) Bear in mind, I had already passed 2x other Cloaked Sirens plus 2x War-Wing Sirens. The first few packs of Journey were quite deep in both Green & Blue. If I went back and forth between them, I would risk putting my neighbor in literally the same color pair, or maybe sharing at least one color with the next 2 players down the line. That's why I was trying to lean on Green specifically to stake my claim on at least one color.
P1.6 -- I can't say I'm convinced on Revel of the Fallen God. It's like a 7 mana Lava Axe. It seems like a good finisher in an aggro deck, but you can't put a bunch of ramp and 7 drops in an aggro deck. In a more midrange deck, it's less likely to be 7 mana Win The Game. Plus it's double Red, and my ramp at this point was Green only. It still puts some pressure on the mana base. (You can't look at the subsequent Fonts and say "See, should have taken Revel" because I had no guarantee they were coming.) I've never seen Revel in play so I can't judge it definitively, but I'm not buying.
P2.1 -- No doubt Herald is a great card. I had passed a lot of good Black though. This Journey round was challenging because the packs were so deep and had playables for everything except Red. I had no idea what was going on downstream. If the Black went around for a while, then sure I could move in. If the person next to me was Green-Black (entirely possible) then moving in would be damning. Herald isn't splashable so it's a lot tougher to pick there.
P2.8 -- I humbly disagree with literally everything you said about this pick. I think Thunderhoof/Oathsworn are far more mediocre than the cards I picked, I don't think of Stratus Walk as just a Heroic enabler because when you're playing big creatures, it's a Flying aura that cantrips. And Mischief & Mayhem is garbage, I've never seen anyone win anything with that card. I only even consider it in Green-Blue when I have a lot of fliers as a finisher.
As for "all those Black cards" (I count 3?) they were just the only playables left at the back end of the Theros pack, I was never intending to run them.
The Humblers were fine. If I had any sort of advantage on the board, they usually put me over the top. I didn't think 3x 6 drops was too many since I had ramp -- they were effectively 5 drops. It was never a problem in this small sample of games.
I get wanting to avoid blue if you were trying to push someone else into it, but then why grab Pin to the Earth immediately after? Seems inconsistent. Either you're avoiding it or you're not. If you're not, might as well grab the Siren over the 6-drop. You can always grab fat later.
Have you ever played with Revel? The only thing against it is the mana cost. Otherwise it's basically a double Flurry of Horns, and people started eventually realizing Flurry of Horns isn't just a bad Lava Axe. You can stabilize from an empty board when opponent is attacking you. You can get enough extra attackers to break through any stalemated blocking scenario. I've especially enjoyed it in RG ramp decks that also had 1 Flurry or 1 Fated Intervention, as you get so many extra bodies they can't keep up. That said, red was cut pretty hard so Gr isn't where you want to be, but you do end up with red in the end...
Yeah, there are good reasons to pass Herald. Just saying that black wasn't completely cut (at least not as bad as red, but you still grabbed Hammer). But no Nyxborn Wolf? 6-mana Lure seems like a curve topper in an aggro deck rather than a powerful tool for a ramp deck.
If you weren't intending to run the black cards, why not grab Pheres-Band Centaurs or other cards you could actually play instead? Centaurs is a strong way for ramp to stabilize against an aggressive start as it's just bigger than any single guy + bestow and even a combat trick won't always kill it.
There are plenty of reasons not to play the heroic strategy. It's just that it seemed like you were waffling on picks for a lot of the draft, which probably accounts for why you didn't see much you liked in pack 3.
That said, can't complain about 3-0. When you get 2 Golden Hinds early, green tends to go well.
It's hard to discuss this because we seem to have very different opinions about the format. To me there is a world of difference between a RR spell and a R spell. Revel is a commitment to having at least 5 or 6 Mountains in my deck. Fall of the Hammer I can splash with just 1 thanks to the Fonts. When you're discussing whether or not I'm "in" Red, I don't think taking a Fall of the Hammer or Lightning Strike is relevant, those are easily splashed cards.
I also don't consider Pheres-Band Centaurs a particularly playable card. A 5-drop is not insurance against an aggro start, if that's my big solution, I'm probably dead either way. It definitely wouldn't have made my deck considering I cut a Snake of the Golden Grove that I already had.
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The Draft
------ JOU ------
Pack 1 pick 1:
Countermand
Pensive Minotaur
Armament of Nyx
Font of Fertility
Rotted Hulk
Godhunter Octopus
Oppressive Rays
War-Wing Siren
Satyr Grovedancer
Flurry of Horns
Interpret the Signs
Rollick of Abandon
Spirespine
--> Setessan Tactics
Forest
If you read the last draft before my break, you might remember that I went 3-0 with a deck featuring a pair of Setessan Tactics. I guess I'm headed down that path again. It's still a card that is worth forcing to a degree. I'm not going to pick Green if it's completely dry, but I have one of the better incentives to try to make it happen.
Pack 1 pick 2:
Nature's Panoply
Nyx Infusion
Godhunter Octopus
Sigiled Skink
Font of Vigor
Kruphix's Insight
Renowned Weaver
Flurry of Horns
Thassa's Devourer
Gluttonous Cyclops
--> Nessian Game Warden
Kiora's Dismissal
Gnarled Scarhide
Plains
Pack 1 pick 3:
Sigiled Skink
Ajani's Presence
--> Golden Hind
Feast of Dreams
Cloaked Siren
Lightning Diadem
Bloodcrazed Hoplite
Oreskos Swiftclaw
Ravenous Leucrocota
Squelching Leeches
Consign to Dust
Reviving Melody
Plains
Lots of good cards here in all colors, but no reason yet to deviate from Green.
Pack 1 pick 4:
Sigiled Skink
Ajani's Presence
--> Golden Hind
Feast of Dreams
Cloaked Siren
Lightning Diadem
Bloodcrazed Hoplite
Oreskos Swiftclaw
War-Wing Siren
Ravenous Leucrocota
Gold-Forged Sentinel
Forest
Nearly identical to the last pack. I know it's random but this seems to happen to me all the time in Journey -- back to back identical common runs.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Cloaked Siren
Rouse the Mob
Armament of Nyx
--> Humbler of Mortals
Rise of Eagles
Pheres-Band Thunderhoof
Dreadbringer Lampads
Thassa's Devourer
Spiteful Blow
Strength from the Fallen
Swamp
Works pretty well with the ramp I've been taking.
Pack 1 pick 6:
Font of Return
Font of Fortunes
Returned Reveler
--> Pin to the Earth
Pheres-Band Thunderhoof
Gluttonous Cyclops
Ritual of the Returned
Stormchaser Chimera
Revel of the Fallen God
Forest
I am not a big fan of Pheres Band Thunderhoof. It's too slow to execute the Hero strategy effectively, and there are just better 5 and 6 drops for Green that you can draft late anyway.
Pack 1 pick 7:
Rouse the Mob
Armament of Nyx
--> Humbler of Mortals
Rise of Eagles
Pheres-Band Thunderhoof
Dreadbringer Lampads
Supply-Line Cranes
Thassa's Devourer
Plains
That Supply-Line Cranes shouldn't be there, but I haven't seen much other White. Probably just an aberration. I have to be careful here with too many 6 drops.
Pack 1 pick 8:
--> Font of Fertility
Font of Fortunes
Cast into Darkness
Font of Ire
Goldenhide Ox
Ritual of the Returned
Reviving Melody
Forest
Ramps into Humblers OR triggers them! Seems like a good fit for this deck.
Pack 1 pick 9:
Countermand
--> Font of Fertility
Rotted Hulk
Godhunter Octopus
Oppressive Rays
Rollick of Abandon
Forest
Pack 1 pick 10:
--> Nature's Panoply
Godhunter Octopus
Font of Vigor
Kruphix's Insight
Kiora's Dismissal
Plains
Pack 1 pick 11:
Lightning Diadem
Squelching Leeches
--> Consign to Dust
Reviving Melody
Plains
I like this card in the format and may run it main deck. It's not that hard to make it a 2-for-1 with ramp.
Pack 1 pick 12:
Lightning Diadem
Oreskos Swiftclaw
--> Ravenous Leucrocota
Forest
Pack 1 pick 13:
Rise of Eagles
--> Strength from the Fallen
Swamp
A pet card from LRCast, but I'm lacking synergy with it so far. It's effectively a Green-Black gold card since it needs some graveyard synergy to become relevant.
Pack 1 pick 14:
--> Returned Reveler
Forest
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Plains
------ BNG ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Marshmist Titan
Nyxborn Wolf
Floodtide Serpent
Rise to the Challenge
Griffin Dreamfinder
Reckless Reveler
Grisly Transformation
Snake of the Golden Grove
Elite Skirmisher
Temple of Plenty (FOIL)
Kraken of the Straits
--> Noble Quarry
Acolyte's Reward
Herald of Torment
Island
I'm so heavy Green at this point that the Herald feels wrong. I did not get many Black signals in Pack 1, just a couple of early Feast of Dreams. Better to stay the course. I debated Quarry vs. Nyxborn Wolf and decided that since I was more ramp than aggro, the Lure effect would be more desirable to place on a fattie. I have a feeling this was wrong, as Quarry has never quite worked the way I've wanted it to but I keep getting...lured...back toward it.
Pack 2 pick 2:
Satyr Wayfinder
Retraction Helix
Nyxborn Eidolon
Bolt of Keranos
Mortal's Ardor
Eye Gouge
Aspect of Hydra
Mortal's Resolve
Divination
Archetype of Imagination
Akroan Conscriptor
Bile Blight
--> Fated Intervention
Island
A random reward for being heavy Green! I'll have no problem with the triple Green cost with 2x Hind and 2x Font.
Pack 2 pick 3:
Floodtide Serpent
Felhide Brawler
Ephara's Radiance
Bolt of Keranos
Claim of Erebos
Deepwater Hypnotist
Nyxborn Shieldmate
--> Fall of the Hammer
Karametra's Favor
Oreskos Sun Guide
Skyreaping
Dawn to Dusk
Mountain
There's no Green here worth taking. I'm not committed to a 2nd color so let's take the best card and see where this goes.
Pack 2 pick 4:
Marshmist Titan
Floodtide Serpent
Rise to the Challenge
Griffin Dreamfinder
Reckless Reveler
Grisly Transformation
--> Snake of the Golden Grove
Elite Skirmisher
Oreskos Sun Guide
Springleaf Drum
Acolyte's Reward
Forest
Pack 2 pick 5:
Forsaken Drifters
Excoriate
Scouring Sands
Chorus of the Tides
Acolyte's Reward (FOIL)
--> Swordwise Centaur
Nyxborn Shieldmate
Pheres-Band Tromper
Thunderous Might
Pinnacle of Rage
Swamp
Pack 2 pick 6:
Felhide Brawler
Ephara's Radiance
Setessan Oathsworn
Claim of Erebos
Nyxborn Shieldmate
Karametra's Favor
Oreskos Sun Guide
--> Kiora's Follower
Thunderous Might
Forest
An incentive to go back toward Blue, especially since the Red dried up.
Pack 2 pick 7:
Floodtide Serpent
Ephara's Radiance
Claim of Erebos
Deepwater Hypnotist
Nyxborn Shieldmate
Karametra's Favor
Thassa's Rebuff
--> Skyreaping
Forest
Pack 2 pick 8:
Mortal's Ardor
--> Stratus Walk
Cyclops of One-Eyed Pass (FOIL)
Impetuous Sunchaser
Culling Mark
Mischief and Mayhem
Astral Cornucopia
Plains
Fits my plan quite well actually.
Pack 2 pick 9:
Marshmist Titan
Floodtide Serpent
Rise to the Challenge
Griffin Dreamfinder
Reckless Reveler
--> Snake of the Golden Grove
Island
Pack 2 pick 10:
Satyr Wayfinder
Mortal's Ardor
Eye Gouge
--> Mortal's Resolve
Divination
Island
Disappointed that the Aspect of Hydra didn't wheel but I guess the pack wasn't that deep.
Pack 2 pick 11:
Floodtide Serpent
Ephara's Radiance
Claim of Erebos
--> Skyreaping
Mountain
Pack 2 pick 12:
Floodtide Serpent
Griffin Dreamfinder
--> Elite Skirmisher
Forest
Pack 2 pick 13:
--> Scouring Sands
Thunderous Might
Swamp
Pack 2 pick 14:
--> Ephara's Radiance
Forest
Pack 2 pick 15:
--> Forest
------ THS ------
Pack 3 pick 1:
Fleetfeather Sandals
Demolish
Ephara's Warden
Fade into Antiquity
Satyr Rambler
Observant Alseid
Scourgemark
Coastline Chimera
Setessan Griffin
Triton Shorethief
Kragma Warcaller
Pharika's Mender
--> Nylea's Emissary
Psychic Intrusion
Forest
Pack 3 pick 2:
Mnemonic Wall
Viper's Kiss
--> Lightning Strike
Pheres-Band Centaurs
Two-Headed Cerberus
Aqueous Form
Silent Artisan
Blood-Toll Harpy
Disciple of Phenax
Ray of Dissolution
Mogis's Marauder
Coordinated Assault
Temple of Silence
Swamp
Geez no Green at all? I'm still not clear on Blue vs. Red. It might be both as my 2 Red spells are quite powerful and splashable.
Pack 3 pick 3:
Divine Verdict
Divine Verdict (FOIL)
Prescient Chimera
Fate Foretold
Thassa's Bounty
Lagonna-Band Elder
Priest of Iroas
Opaline Unicorn
--> Horizon Scholar
Anvilwrought Raptor
Spellheart Chimera
Steam Augury
Mountain
It's just bad luck to get Picks 2 & 3 with no playable Green cards at all.
Pack 3 pick 4:
--> Nessian Courser
March of the Returned
Dragon Mantle
Returned Centaur
Commune with the Gods
Hopeful Eidolon
Spark Jolt
Scholar of Athreos
Warriors' Lesson (FOIL)
Shipwreck Singer
Tymaret, the Murder King
Plains
Pack 3 pick 5:
Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Fleetfeather Sandals
Lost in a Labyrinth
Pharika's Cure
--> Feral Invocation
Returned Centaur
Scholar of Athreos
Felhide Minotaur
Hunt the Hunter
Arena Athlete
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 6:
--> Bronze Sable
Messenger's Speed
Returned Phalanx
Coastline Chimera
Pharika's Cure
Defend the Hearth
Leonin Snarecaster
Fleetfeather Sandals (FOIL)
Vanquish the Foul
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 7:
Chosen by Heliod
Last Breath
Scourgemark
Satyr Hedonist
Satyr Rambler
Scholar of Athreos
Spellheart Chimera
--> Artisan of Forms
Mountain
Pack 3 pick 8:
March of the Returned
Returned Phalanx
Lagonna-Band Elder
Opaline Unicorn
Ray of Dissolution
Peak Eruption
--> Warriors' Lesson
Plains
Pack 3 pick 9:
Fleetfeather Sandals
Demolish
Ephara's Warden
Setessan Griffin
Triton Shorethief
--> Pharika's Mender
Forest
Pack 3 pick 10:
Mnemonic Wall
Viper's Kiss
Pheres-Band Centaurs
Silent Artisan
--> Blood-Toll Harpy
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 11:
Thassa's Bounty
--> Priest of Iroas
Opaline Unicorn
Spellheart Chimera
Mountain
Pack 3 pick 12:
Commune with the Gods
Scholar of Athreos
--> Warriors' Lesson (FOIL)
Plains
Pack 3 pick 13:
Returned Centaur
--> Felhide Minotaur
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 14:
--> Messenger's Speed
Defend the Hearth
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Mountain
The Deck
The Theros pack kinda screwed me, huh? I was expecting the Green hookup. I hope those packs were just as bad for everyone else as they were for me. At least I wasn't seeing a bunch of Wingsteed Riders going around instead of Green cards.
2 Golden Hind
1 Swordwise Centaur
1 Kiora's Follower
1 Noble Quarry
1 Nessian Courser
1 Nylea's Emissary
1 Ravenous Leucrocota
1 Nessian Game Warden
1 Snake of the Golden Grove
2 Humbler of Mortals
1 Horizon Scholar
2 Font of Fertility
1 Setessan Tactics
1 Fall of the Hammer
1 Lightning Strike
1 Pin to the Earth
1 Stratus Walk
1 Feral Invocation
1 Consign to Dust
1 Fated Intervention
Land (17)
11 Forest
4 Island
2 Mountain
1 Elite Skirmisher
1 Ephara's Radiance
1 Artisan of Forms
1 Returned Reveler
1 Blood-Toll Harpy
1 Felhide Minotaur
1 Messenger's Speed
1 Priest of Iroas
1 Scouring Sands
1 Nature's Panoply
1 Strength from the Fallen
1 Mortal's Resolve
2 Skyreaping
1 Snake of the Golden Grove
2 Warriors' Lesson
1 Pharika's Mender
1 Bronze Sable
The last cards out were Artisan of Forms (not enough targeting) and Snake of the Golden Grove #2 which is an OK creature but I felt like I had enough beef. The deck is a little creature-light (14 if you count Invocation as a creature) and therefore vulnerable to decks with a lot of hard removal. This is why Golden Hind is so good though because it functions as both ramp and a relevant early creature that can trade with an X/2 once the mana is no longer needed.
The Matches
Round 1 vs. RU
Game 1 I worked on ramping with Font of Fertility & Golden Hind. He threatened me with a pair of Sigiled Skinks. Golden Hind was Magma Spray'd, though I did kill one Skink with Fall of the Hammer to avoid falling too far behind. Snake of Golden Grove let me stabilize back to 20 life. He traded his 2nd Skink and 2nd Magma Spray for my Snake, and played Bladetusk Boar. Nessian Game Warden landed on my side and found Ravenous Leucrocota. He had a clock with the Boar but only 1 card while I had 3 spells in hand so I just needed some time. He put Dragon Mantle on Boar, followed by Stormchaser Chimera, and put me squarely on the back foot. Oh thank goodness I drew Lightning Strike! I killed his Chimera after activation made it 6/3. I was still in trouble though with no way to deal with the Boar. He played Deepwater Hypnotist as a random blocker to stall me though I was beating him down with ground guys. He got me down to 7 life, so if he drew 1 more Mountain or a trick, I would be dead from the Boar. I guess he drew a blank, because he conceded after his draw. That was tense.
I'm not sure if it was correct to kill the Stormchaser Chimera rather than the Boar. He had 3 Mountains in play, so the Boar could become 6/2. The Chimera requires 4 mana to activate but its power is more variable. (I had Stratus Walk that I could have put on my 2/4 Leucrocota to block, though the Chimera would have killed it easily, so that wasn't a great option either. I didn't have 7 mana yet to guarantee that the Leucro would get large enough in time to handle the job.) To me the tiebreaker was cutting off his ability to Scry in addition to pumping power, plus I mostly wasted a turn of his mana by waiting until after the activation. He had the unblockable threats in the race so I figured it was more important to keep spells out of his hand that could give him any further advantage. It was close though and I may have played incorrectly.
I brought in Skyreaping from the sideboard for Consign to Dust, as he didn't seem to be playing much of a Bestow strategy but probably had more fliers.
Game 2 I mulled to 6, he mulled to 4 on the play. He never got a 2nd land and conceded when I played a Snake on Turn 4. I can't take credit for this of course, he lost to the shuffler.
1-0
Round 2 vs. RB
Game 1 I had a slow hand while he opened with Bloodcrazed Hoplite into Ordeal of Purphoros. Early Ordeals on Heroes are usually gg in this block. He followed up his Ordeal with another Hoplite, Necrobite, and Feast of Dreams to prevent me from stabilizing.
I sideboarded out Noble Quarry which seems bad in a fast matchup. RB can't really block anyway, I won't need a Lure to break through.
Game 2 he played Ordeal again, this time on Deathbellow Raider. Annoying that he got it in his opening hand in both games. I was cheating a bit too though, as I ramped into Turn 3 Emissary and Turn 4 Fated Intervention. The race was on. I had Fall of the Hammer for his Mogis's Marauder and that seemed to turn the game. With his Raider unable to stay back and block, my Centaurs had just enough time to beat down.
Game 3 he mulled to 5, I mulled to 6. He missed his 2nd land drop and said gg but didn't concede -- that's bad karma. He drew a Swamp and played Tymaret the Murder King so his gg was a bit premature. Still I had a good ramp hand with an early Swordwise Centaur, then Snake, Humbler, and Horizon Scholar. He got back into the game somewhat and might have had a shot against a bad hand, but I was able to overwhelm him.
2-0
Round 3 vs. Mono Black
Game 1 he started with Gnarled Scarhide and Bloodcrazed Hoplite. Mono Black Aggro?! That's not a thing. My Nessian Courser held them at bay, which was a relief. I had Setessan Tactics so I was preparing to spring a trap of some kind. He played Shrike Harpy. I let it be 4/4 since I had Humbler coming and could hit it with Tactics the next turn. (It seemed a better gamble than sac'ing a creature and potentially falling behind to his aggro draw.) He untapped and played Asphyxiate + Feast of Dreams and wiped my board. Oh well, I wasn't getting around all that removal either way. That left me wide open and he quickly beat down with his Harpy and finished me with a Gray Merchant.
I sideboarded in Mortal's Resolve as a counter to removal, since he didn't seem to have many targets for Consign to Dust.
Game 2 I mulled to 6 and got to ramping. He gave my Hind a Grisly Transforming, I guess just to cycle it. My Snake was Cast Into Darkness. He wasn't producing threats to ambush so I played Fated Intervention on my turn to Scry 2. From there I just swarmed him with more creatures and he was not able to stabilize.
I put Consign to Dust back in for Mortal's Resolve, now seeing that he did have some relevant enchantments, and probably enough removal that countering just 1 with Resolve wouldn't matter.
Game 3 I kept a slow hand. I figured his deck was more control than aggro. He got a Scarhide early but his only other play was Returned Phalanx. I drew Swordwise Centaur which helped ensure I wouldn't fall behind. He ran his Scarhide into my Feral Invocation which put me ahead. I attacked back with it thinking "Phew no Feast of Dreams"...and he played Feast of Dreams! Bad misplay by him to not play Feast after I played Feral Invocation in the previous combat. It cost him his Scarhide. Based on how quickly that combat went (no stops), I think he hit F6 for "Pass priority for the rest of the turn" after attacking, not anticipating that I could enchant my Centaur mid-combat and "turn on" his Feast. Don't use F6 when you're holding an Instant unless your clock is going to expire! My Snake was allowed to be a 7/7 which is the official code for "I have the removal spell and it's dead next turn." Sure enough he had Spiteful Blow which also took out my only Island. I did draw Font of Fertility though to get an Island back and play Horizon Scholar. I bestowed my Scholar with Nylea's Emissary and pressed the attack. He did not draw removal for it and was dead in 3 attack phases.
3-0
I didn't resolve Setessan Tactics but I'll never complain about a 3-0 result. I got lucky with the shuffler, as my opponents mulliganed 3 times more than me in total. This was a fun deck to play since it had the right components for both ramp and 2 secondary colors for power. Mana was never my problem. It played about as well as expected.
I can't think of a card that really under or overperformed, except maybe Font of Fertility just because this deck is built to exploit it in various ways. Consign to Dust didn't do much, but then again I don't think my opponents Bestowed even once in this tournament which is quite unusual.
p1p6 - I'd have taken Pin too after Cloaked Siren. But without the Siren and with double Golden Hind and no 2nd color yet, thet Revel of the Fallen God looks pretty sweet. People avoid that card, but it basically reads "win the game if you can ramp to 7 mana". Most decks can't hit 7 reliably, but yours should. 8-power haste spread over 4 bodies is nothing to sneeze at.
p1p7 - This is why I don't grab Humblers early. There are always more fatties. Cloaked Siren doesn't wheel. Also, someone next to you is grabbing 3 Thunderhoofs and trying to play green heroic. Whether or not their deck is good, they might cut you from tricks in pack 2.
p1p9 - And this is why Revel. 4 ramp spells in 9 cards and you want the "win the game" 7-drop.
p2p1 -- Herald is a good card. There was a late Cast of Darkness too. Not a huge black signal, but along with Feast of Dreams it means there probably aren't MANY black drafters. You could probably pick up enough black playables to be heavy green and light black. Nyxborn Wolf also seems good.
p2p8 -- You pass multiple green Heroic creatures (3 Thunderhoof, 1 Setessan Oathsworn) for average cards, which is fine if you don't want to play a heroic strategy, but then grab an off-color heroic enabler instead of Mischief and Mayhem? Confused.
p2p10 -- Aspect didn't wheel because you passed all the green heroic creatures earlier. Thunderhoof guy probably got greedy, whether or not it was the right call for him. Resolve is fine too, probably did its job for you.
p3p7 - Artisan of Forms seems wrong with almost no enablers. Hedonist is at least ramp if you are playing red. Or an off color card?
p3p9 -- How many colors are you playing?
If you didn't end up playing black, why grab all those black cards?
How were the 2 Humblers? Was 3 6s too many? Congrats on 3-0.
P1.5 -- I'm not that high on Humbler either. I can see why you'd go for Cloaked Siren. (I think that's a better choice than Spiteful Blow which is a fine card but sometimes too slow.) Bear in mind, I had already passed 2x other Cloaked Sirens plus 2x War-Wing Sirens. The first few packs of Journey were quite deep in both Green & Blue. If I went back and forth between them, I would risk putting my neighbor in literally the same color pair, or maybe sharing at least one color with the next 2 players down the line. That's why I was trying to lean on Green specifically to stake my claim on at least one color.
P1.6 -- I can't say I'm convinced on Revel of the Fallen God. It's like a 7 mana Lava Axe. It seems like a good finisher in an aggro deck, but you can't put a bunch of ramp and 7 drops in an aggro deck. In a more midrange deck, it's less likely to be 7 mana Win The Game. Plus it's double Red, and my ramp at this point was Green only. It still puts some pressure on the mana base. (You can't look at the subsequent Fonts and say "See, should have taken Revel" because I had no guarantee they were coming.) I've never seen Revel in play so I can't judge it definitively, but I'm not buying.
P2.1 -- No doubt Herald is a great card. I had passed a lot of good Black though. This Journey round was challenging because the packs were so deep and had playables for everything except Red. I had no idea what was going on downstream. If the Black went around for a while, then sure I could move in. If the person next to me was Green-Black (entirely possible) then moving in would be damning. Herald isn't splashable so it's a lot tougher to pick there.
P2.8 -- I humbly disagree with literally everything you said about this pick. I think Thunderhoof/Oathsworn are far more mediocre than the cards I picked, I don't think of Stratus Walk as just a Heroic enabler because when you're playing big creatures, it's a Flying aura that cantrips. And Mischief & Mayhem is garbage, I've never seen anyone win anything with that card. I only even consider it in Green-Blue when I have a lot of fliers as a finisher.
As for "all those Black cards" (I count 3?) they were just the only playables left at the back end of the Theros pack, I was never intending to run them.
The Humblers were fine. If I had any sort of advantage on the board, they usually put me over the top. I didn't think 3x 6 drops was too many since I had ramp -- they were effectively 5 drops. It was never a problem in this small sample of games.
Have you ever played with Revel? The only thing against it is the mana cost. Otherwise it's basically a double Flurry of Horns, and people started eventually realizing Flurry of Horns isn't just a bad Lava Axe. You can stabilize from an empty board when opponent is attacking you. You can get enough extra attackers to break through any stalemated blocking scenario. I've especially enjoyed it in RG ramp decks that also had 1 Flurry or 1 Fated Intervention, as you get so many extra bodies they can't keep up. That said, red was cut pretty hard so Gr isn't where you want to be, but you do end up with red in the end...
Yeah, there are good reasons to pass Herald. Just saying that black wasn't completely cut (at least not as bad as red, but you still grabbed Hammer). But no Nyxborn Wolf? 6-mana Lure seems like a curve topper in an aggro deck rather than a powerful tool for a ramp deck.
If you weren't intending to run the black cards, why not grab Pheres-Band Centaurs or other cards you could actually play instead? Centaurs is a strong way for ramp to stabilize against an aggressive start as it's just bigger than any single guy + bestow and even a combat trick won't always kill it.
There are plenty of reasons not to play the heroic strategy. It's just that it seemed like you were waffling on picks for a lot of the draft, which probably accounts for why you didn't see much you liked in pack 3.
That said, can't complain about 3-0. When you get 2 Golden Hinds early, green tends to go well.
I also don't consider Pheres-Band Centaurs a particularly playable card. A 5-drop is not insurance against an aggro start, if that's my big solution, I'm probably dead either way. It definitely wouldn't have made my deck considering I cut a Snake of the Golden Grove that I already had.