Draft Report: Kingpins lacking contraband 12-10-16

Drafting at the Gamma Ray! Sitting in a six man pod with many of the usual suspects (Chris, Joe, Omar, Nicholas, and Scott) so let's get ready to draft!

My pack 1 was pretty uninspiring. No removal, no generic powerful cards. So I decided to speculate on Deepala.

a 1/1 Dwarf token can pilot a 6/5 freighter, just to be clear

Got some good luck in the following packs with some solid white
 

And then poof! No more white. Pick 4 or 5 had an interesting choice
 
This would be my first foray into black. Both are played in aggressive decks. I went with the two-drop thinking that, in the event I'm building a B/R aggressive deck, I'd need more help with the fast creature slot. But this is arguably wrong, since the upside of Midnight Oil is much higher. Hard to say.

Eventually I notice that Contraband Kingpin wheeled. When combined with some open blue signals, I went full-bore black/blue control. This turned out to be the Right Call at the table.

Joe
Scott
Chris
Omar
Your Hero, Jed
Nicolas

I'm not entirely sure how at a 6 person pod three people end up fighting over R/W but that's where stubbornness can take you sometimes. I ended up getting a ridiculous set of blue cards, a pick 13 Tezzeret's Ambition &c. I also have the most useful skill in sealed: opening a Smuggler's Copter. Well done!

The Deck

Deck Listing

It's pretty amusing to have three contraband kingpins. Great two-drops that just slow down the board, gain life, and help filter your deck. It's a little LESS amusing to have relatively few artifacts to activate it. Where the hell were all the Consulate Skygates and Peafowls? I passed a Skygate early and never saw another. Very strange. Apparently Omar (on my right) was making W/R artifact affinity which makes no damn sense to me unless vehicles? Very strange. Using the Kingpin with artifacts that ALREADY SCRY is clearly a bit subpar. Still, had five pieces of very solid removal, good high end, and a reasonable way to survive until then.

Performance

I went 2-1, which sounds about right. I was victorious against Nicolas by topdecking a Tidy Conclusion to take care of his Combustible Gearhulk and then whapping him with the Gearseeker Serpent while he flooded out. I lost to Scott in the second round when he W/R deck was just fast enough. I also made a horrific misplay when after boarding in Make Obsolete (opponent creatures get -1/-1) I then discard it to my smuggler's copter to keep my big huge 5/6 drops in hand. Which is fine, but he was developing his board very rapidly and I should have been focused on survival, not being greedy. Then played Joe in the final round for some good games but I closed it out when he had red mana and white cards.

Overall, pleased with my deck and finding my lane.