The LiquidLegends Lounge - Page 1705

Nothing really struck me in my pack so I picked the Supreme Will for constructed purposes. Then some more U (early unquenchable thirsts) and B. G was cut and R had nothing great so I waffled a bit between B and W as second colour, then Hour of Revelation wheeled, so I figured why not? Appeal // Authority too. My right neighbour is GW and will get it pick 12, wtf.
Pack 2 I figure I'll chose between W and B, and B appears cut, even U there isn't much, so I pick a bunch of zombies and a couple deserts (the U one in pack 1 didn't wheel). Consign // Oblivion made me hesitate, but I think I could have picked it just for Consign and potentially splashed Oblivion (my left neighbour is UB, dunno why he didn't pick it, the guy in front of me is UB too and pretty happy tho). I didn't pick Grind // Dust either and I've got no excuse for that,although that's my only way to put counters if I'm splashing it it's still worth it.
Pack 3 the guy in from of me opens Counterspell invocation, rants about opening something he can't play again (it's Glorybringer, it's the 3rd one he opens without being in R, I'm at 2 myself) and is about to counterpick, then he realises it's not Counterbalance and take the invocation. Meanwhile I open a pack I'd legitimately pick 6 cards from, which is blegh since pack 2 was pretty poor for me.

So I'm UW zombies, with a couple counterspells, tap auras, bounce, and my creature base is made of 2/Xs while I didn't pick enough flyers pack 3.
Oh and a Vizier of the Anointed, opened it at each sealed but never went U, gonna try!

Here's what my left neighbour opened each pack:
- Scarab God
- Razaketh
- Liliana's Mastery
B made sense but I don't think he saw much U pack 1 past like pick 5, he probably should have went with BR or BW.

Round 1 vs GW midrange
He scoops game 1 after I go Combattant - Paramount - Spellweaver Eternal - Vizier and he's apparently land heavy.
Game 2 I do something similar (Fanbearer instead of combattant t1), but after the Vizier puts Sinuous Striker in my hard ready to be eternalized while cycling a card next turn, Disposal Mummy gets rid of it. I topdeck my own Disposal Mummy right after he embalmed a cycled Oketra's Attendant, dammit! I can't really go through his board but trade Spellweaver up thanks to prowess + Unsummon on his token, but then he gets to 7 mana, exerts Hope Tender and drops Overwhelming Splendor. I'm at 5 lands, 2 plains, topdeck Hour of Revelation. If I topdeck a W source I should be fi- he drops Overcome so I can't even chump and die. Dreams crushed.
Game 3 goes much like game 2, but this time I've got my Spellweaver + Blue Cartouche to punch a bit, and Regal Caracal to hold the ground! ... until he drops Angel of Condemnations and Appeal // Authority in the same turn, forcing me to chump to avoid dying. Then, with 6 mana, I cast Unquenchable Thirst on one of his creatures, counter it with Countervailing Winds, and Unsummon the angel. That's 3 prowess triggers, flying blocker is gone, he's at 6 and extends the hand.
(On one hand I'm pretty proud of finding the line, on the other I had 6 lands and these 3 cards in hand so it was elementary... )

That's the guy who had the silly pool for launch (with 8 on-colour/fixing rares), and whom I had the crazy end of game 3 resolution (where I forgot that I can discard to the torments like a dummy). When I said we've got a history of unconventional games...
... he's also graduating as a teacher and affected almost 3 hours from here so in a few weeks we'll stop having him.

Round 2 vs UB flyers
The usual winner of the drafts (tho he only won once in AKH apparently?).
Game 1 I keep 2x Thirst, Hour, 4 lands. Proceed to draw 3 lands, what a start... and he goes Sniper, Ruin Rat, Aerial Guide. Not the fastest clock but still a clock. When he sees me not play anything he assumes I have the wrath and doesn't overextend (cycles instead), and while true I simply don't have anything to play because Vizier of Deferment can't ambush because of the Guide. So I run thirst into his counterspell (works because he looks wrong and thinks I only have one W source), then turn 7 wrath the board. So he drops... his P3P2 Glyph Keeper. Fuck me, let's move on (I can Thirst it but I'm out of answers and he plays other flyers).
Game 2 is another "what the hell!" moment with me keeping 6 lands + Hour. By turn 6 I've played a topdecked Naga Oracle (who gets shrinked EoT then during his turn by Sniper (again) so he can't even trade with the rat (again) and I only have 2 other spells in hand, the flood is real. He's got counterspell again and holds it this time so I just lose.

Meh, I couldn't beat his deck in any fashion anyway, he had mostly flyers which I can barely interact with and can't really race, and several of them embalm (and Glyph Keeper obviously).
He's himself super happy because he "got to play U." I point out to him that U was always open in hour AKH drafts, if weaker (and not great at control) but it comes down to him not being willing to gamble on the "mediocre but quantity says it's open, move in and get all the goods, praying enough good is open tonight" angle which a couple others did.

Round 3 vs RW aggro
Game 1 he keeps a 1-lander + Bloodlust Inciter on the draw, super greedy, doesn't get a land and dies.
Game 2 he locks the board with God-Pharaoh's Faithful 'cause I can't punch through, kills my cartouche'd Spellweaver and gains life through a bunch of R spells, also Oketra's Avenger doesn't fear my 2/2s and 1/3s. I'm afraid for my 2/4s because of Thorned Moloch and the Avenger but apparently it's enough to slow his attacks, and embalmed Sinuous Striker gets to trade 2-for-1 (Faithful couldn't wall it—hope!).
He ends up using Cast Out on a Thirst because I threaten going wide and he's short on creature (I even countered a Caravan Supply), but I'm flooding (11 spells 15 lands when I check) and creature quality is poor.
In the end, Champion of Wits pushes a bit of damage thanks to cunning Survivor (play it after I topdeck a land, draw 2 lands... ), then next turn I swing with everything and Saving Grace backup (if he blocks I trade, if he doesn't the aura protects me from the crackback). He blocks, I use the aura to make sure Champion dies, I'm safe from retaliation.
Next turn I embalm Champion with a Bindin Mummy on the field, tap a blocker, draw 5 discard 2 buffing the Survivor, and find Fanbearer and Unsummon to get rid of his board and kill him.
I had 3 cards left in my library (Plains, Mummy Paramount and Supreme Will in that order).

As for the UB good openings guy?
He only drew the Scarab God once, where it got Consigned to Oblivion—the other card in his hand was Razaketh.
He mulled to 5 once and scrying, laughed and shoved Razaketh on the bottom.
RIP.
(He let Merciless Eternal wheel back to me and passed Consign // Oblivion in pack 2 so I dunno what he built tho.)

I end up 3rd, my r1 opponent beats my r2 opponent and wins the draft. Razaketh and the God go so I end up with Solemnity which I'm certainly fine with.
Opening for a 6-man pod was pretty good, 4 mythics and a couple standard playable cards on top of it.

The format does seem slower, you're allowed to block more often, and I really should stop drafting 2/Xs 'cause that never lets me end games.
Or I draft all the Mummy Paramounts and punches my opponents with 3/3s and 4/4s regardless.
I'm not sure what UW is supposed to be in this format. Still embalm/flyers, but with better zombie synergies thanks to the eternals, and eternalizes grants you actual creatures this time, but... it doesn't feel very focused.
I think I'll prob steer away from it if I can, prefering BW and UR for these kind of zombies or tempo shenanigans, respectively.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBkHHoOIIn8

P1P1 Pride Sovereign, pack is full of black so I'm feeling great about my left neighbours. My right neighbour makes a comment suggesting his pack has Open Fire and Ambuscade, so I'm kinda hoping he won't move into G... and he passes me Ambuscade. I decide to pick Hour of Promise over it tho, to try it out and get a go-wide/tokens theme.
Next pack has an Ambuscade too, and again I pass it because Steward of Solidarity looks great for a GW go-wide deck.
Rest of the pack is decent playables, I pass ways to ramp and pick up a desert, U looks open too and W cut a bit.

Pack 2 starts great, another Steward and Dauntless Aven (combo yay!), back-to-back Sand Blasts, a mid pack Overcome then a late Appeal // Authority—we're on, boys!—but every time I pass a W desert (3 Deserts of the True in 8 packs and the uncommon one too, dang) and obviously none of them wheel. On the other hand I don't have to worry about split between tokens and ramp in theme. The end of the pack is a lot poorer tho, and although Unsummon in pick 6 surprised me, I figured only one person was in U (again) because it wheeled for pick 14...

Pack 3 has a bunch of nothing. My right neighbour actually moved into G a bit later (he said the other colours were cut but he just didn't want U I guess), I still pick up Aven Windguide for all my tokens, Colossapede, a cradle for more tokens... I get a midpack Dusk // Dawn which is situationally great as it

In the end my deck has Colossapede, Hippo and Sharpshooters at top end but mainly relies on going wide with my token makers then use one of my payoffs cards to get through.

Round 1 vs RG monsters feat Samus (creature)
+ Show Spoiler +

Round 2 vs BR aggro
+ Show Spoiler +

Round 3 vs RGu monsters (splashing The Locust God)
+ Show Spoiler +

I end up with the score I expect my deck to get in the end tho, 'cause the decks in the finals are way over mine.
BW zombies wins, usual winner, and I'm not sure whether he's trying to screen or something when he's half-complaining that he's not playing any rares in his deck and barely uncommons. He's got 2 binding mummies and at least 1 mummy paramount, if he's got another one he's set up for super consistent starts and that's really all the deck needs as it's full of 2/Xs and lacks reach, having these crucial 2-drops and critical mass of zombies is what makes the deck tick, the rest is gravy—sometimes very good gravy, like the lord or Stir/Mastery, or... the Unconventional Tactics he repped with 10+ zombies. That's what won him the finals, 'cause even when his opponent had Struggle // Survive in the yard there was only one turn where Tactics didn't go right back to his hand before he passed.
BW/RW both work mostly off of commons and managing to get consistent starts, especially with multiples of the key commons, who needs rares anyway. They're also amongst the best archetypes in AKH (and I think BW looks extremely strong in HOU too).

And the 2nd deck was our only U drafter (fucking Unsummon last card in the pack, there's no respect!), who P1P1'd Bolas, and got passed Sarcophagus in pack 2.
I watched the end of his match against my r3 opponent: no removal for his stuff, then he drops Bolas, +2 into Puncturing Blow, next turn +2 into Open Fire. I think his opp would have scooped even if he still had a board afterwards. He also had 5 cycling cards in the yard at one point then dropped Sarcophagus. The value!

I envy him, not for Bolas, but for the Sarcophagus. As much as I'm not sold at all on cycling, I really want to draft around it at least once, it's a sweet and interesting card.