The place was NG Galleria, the format was booster draft, three rounds of Lorwyn-Lorwyn-Morningtide followed by three rounds of Shadowmoor-Shadowmoor-Shadowmoor.
I went in a bit confident; I had a drafted a couple of times in the past month with decent results (2-1 and 3-1), so I figured I could probably manage at least a 4-2 here or better. I was quite wrong.
For the LLM draft, I went with a Treefolk-based build around Battlewand Oaks. I luckily opened a Bitterblossom in pack 3 so my splash went to black, gaining additional removal from the Morningtide pack.
Round one vs U/B was close, we went to game 3. But eventually, he decided to gamble and play Stenchskipper with only a Mothdust Changeling as backup. Unfortunately both of my removal cost five and neither were in my hand at that time. I easily lost to the 6/5 flier.
Round two vs Monowhite Kithkin was close again, but in game 3 I walked into a Coordinated Barrage that resulted in bad trades and was unable to recover.
Round three I got a bye since there were only seven people in my pod.
1-2 and no wins (meaning no Limited Points!) was pretty sucky, so I hoped to recover in SSS. I felt my LLM draft was decent, although I could have gotten more black removal in packs 1 and 2. The games I did play were very close and I felt that I made only mostly minor mistakes. Unfortunately, my draft deck seemed too “fair”, relying on honest attacking creatures to win the game.
In SSS, I started out U/W but with the possibility of shifting into red due to second-pick Flame Javelin. I had grabbed early Aethertows and Thistledown Duos, but my mistakes came when I saw two Tattermunge Duos passing by late and my not shifting into the the obviously open R/G. I would realize the mistake in later packs as I would be passed more Tattermunge Duos, Puncture Bolts, Runes of the Deus and the Deus of Calamity itself.
I lost round four – I don’t even remember the battle anymore. But I was really frustrated with how it turned out, so I dropped from the tournament right then.
Final record 1-4: No limited points gained, a bunch lost. Not a good day, obv. Still, the draftaganza was a good experience and hopefully NG will hold more similar events in the future.
See Also