Draft Report: 1/4/17

Drafting live and "IRL" with the Nird crew. After slurping some udon with Patrick and Elliott we got down to some serious business and cracking some packs. As always, pick 1 is in the lower left hand corner, going up.

Pack 1

Pretty unspiring P1P1 but I get passed an Oviya. It's like the universe was listening to my blog and deigned to test me again! So I snatch that up with visions of being ready to fight FIGHT for my green inevitability card. Hunt the Weak follows, excellent, and then STONE NOTHING. Literally not a single green playable comes through, not even a Highspire Artisan. So I veer around blue and black, taking late Dhund Operatives (yes please) and some late Malfunctions. I mean, sure.

Pack 2

Pretty sure the P2P1 rare was the R/W dual land; so probably not that. I still have dreams of getting green on the swing so I take Hunt. Still not a lot flowing my way, I recall P2P2 having a Peema Outrider and Tidy Conclusion; not really sure why I took the Unlicensed Disintegration instead. But the blue flowed mighty and true: pick 11 Peafowl, pick 7 Aether Theorist. Definitely in blue... but still veering between black and green for the second color.

Pack 3

I open ANOTHER dual land, the U/G one this time, which isn't the kind of help I need to make a decision. So I take the always-correct Pain Train for P3P1. The rest of the picks explain themselves with the gift of a P3P5 Padeem and another P3p10 Dukhara Peafowl standing out.

Table

Patrick
Rainer
Chad
Your Hero, Jed
Grant
Mason
Daniel
Elliott


Messy. Clearly red and white were overrepresented. I'm a little baffled why green felt so empty in packs 1 and 3 since I had two people passing green to me. That's about as good as you can reasonably hope for to find an empty color. RNG will RNG I guess.

Deck

Take a look at this absolute pile of cards

Isn't it just a breathtaking pile of mediocrity? Seriously, what's my win condition? Bashing in with Hightide Hermits? Hope you die of embarrassment? Sure it has a few tricks and a few decent value plays, but what is it going to do?

It went 3-0.

I won't lie: luck was HUGELY on my side. I faced three R/W decks in a row. In addition to the R/G drafter and Daniel being a happy-go-lucky Bant, this meant that I faced three flawed aggro decks in a row. There would be a little early pressure, then I would plop down a 4/4 defender, and then time was on my side. Additionally I benefited from my opponent's flooding out a bit and topdecking some answers at a key time. The lesson is that you should never take too much credit for your victories nor too much blame for your defeats. There are always outside factors beyond your control that play a very significant, perhaps even dominant, role in the outcome. Do the best you can, learn what you can, and don't draw too much from winning or losing.