Since it was a special event, they had a special promo Emmara from the upcoming set for everyone who participated (photo at bottom of post).
Here was my draft, bottom left to top right:
Pack 1 I ended up taking the rare, but it was close against Murder, Psychic Corrosion and maybe another good uncommon. I like trying out rares I haven't gotten to play before. There was also a foil Stitcher's Supplier, which is a $9 card, and I was surprised that it came back around and snapped it up for value. Second pick I took the Skeleton Archer over a Runic Armasaur, maybe not correct but I've had good success with Skeleton Archers. Boggart Brute and Shock made me think maybe I could get into the coveted "White-Red Go-Wide" deck, and I drafted toward it for the rest of the pack.
Pack 2 I opened Death Baron as my rare, and in hindsight maybe I should have tried moving into red-black (the 3 black cards I drafted in Pack 1 all work fine with Death Baron and my red cards). I kept rolling with white-red though, and I managed to get a lot of cards I wanted. Blue was wide open and no one seemed to be moving into it.
Third pack I was happy to get the Valiant Knight to go with my Gallant Cavalry and Cavalry Drillmasters, and then I also got several more Gallant Cavalry. The Lightning Strike was also nice because I was having no luck finding Luminous Bonds, the removal spell I was really hoping for. I did miss several chances in the first couple packs to grab a Take Vengeance, but I have not been impressed with that card in this style of deck and assumed I would find better removal. The other common card I was sorely missing was Angel of the Dawn, and I wasn't the only one at the table who mentioned it -- apparently we had zero in the entire draft (21 packs).
Here's my deck:
I ended up with a lot of the cards I wanted but I was missing some role players. I also had a glut of 4-drops competing for deck slots between the Valiant Knight, 4 Gallant Cavalry, and 3 Inspired Charge. I've had decks in the past that had too many 4-drops, and it isn't fun sitting on 3 lands with a hand full of good 4-drops that you'll never be able to cast before the game ends even if you do get that 4th land. So I cut a Cavalry and an Inspired Charge and instead played cards I wouldn't normally want in this deck like Daybreak Chaplain. She isn't aggressive, but she goes well with Knight's Pledge, Marauder's Axe, and the pump spells.
All in all, this was somewhat worse than the white-red deck I had a month or so ago, and definitely a suboptimal example of the archetype. It was missing fliers and powerful removal, but it still had a good curve, aggressive creatures, and a couple good rares.
Sideboard had some flexibility. Smelt is obvious, and I used Gargoyle Sentinel against 2/1's like Child of Night and Knight of the Tusk against the 6/6 Colossal Dreadmaw. If nothing else, Lava Axe or Trumpet Blast came in on the draw in place of a land depending on the matchup. I technically had enough white and blue cards to switch to White-Blue, but I don't think that would have been better.
Round 1 vs. White-Green Dryads
First game I was on the play and managed to get him with pump spells. There was an agonizing moment where I attacked all out and waited to show him I was going to win with Lightning Strike no matter how he blocked. I maybe should have just showed him the Lightning Strike, but I couldn't remember if there was a spell he could have used his 1 green mana on to live, so instead he spent 2 minutes rearranging his creatures for optimal blocks before I cast the Strike. Second game he had two Dryad Greenseekers but could not hit a land for the life of him. Win, 2-0.
Round 2 vs. White-Black Lifegain
This guy was the other one at my table wanting Angels. He and I were competing for white cards, but things went his way more than mine, as he ended up with the Murder that I passed to go along with Resplendent Angel, Transmogrifying Wand, Cleansing Nova, and Sigiled Sword of Valeron and some great synergy cards. I made a mistake in game 1, forgetting that I had a Shock in hand when he cast a combat trick that I could have blown out. Then I just straight up couldn't keep up in Game 2. Loss, 0-2.
Round 3 vs. White-Green Auras.
He was going heavy on the +2/+2 and +3/+3 auras with things like the Rustwing Falcon. First game I had the tools to outrace him, although I did make a mistake tapping the wrong colors of mana once that left me in a race against a Colossal Dreadmaw that I otherwise could have killed with Shock. Second game he played turn 2 Remorseful Cleric (which I had passed in the draft!), and I had a choice between casting Oreskos Swiftclaw (3/1) or Dismissive Pyromancer on Turn 2. I played the Swiftclaw, then he followed up with Oakenform to make the cleric a 5/4. Next turn I played the Pyromancer and he pumped the Cleric again up to 7/6, which I simply couldn't beat. If I had played the Pyromancer first, I would have been able to handle it or at least caused a standoff. I took that wisdom into game 3, where I held back from casting a creature on turn 3 so that I could Lightning Strike his Falcon if he buffed it -- and it worked! It always feels good to make a successful play based on past experience. I won the game and the match, 2-1.
Round 4 vs. White-Red Lathliss.
There were 2 people at 3-0 who could draw into the top 8 and then 8 of us at 2-1 who had to play to get in. My opponent had a similar deck, but with more Luminous Bonds and a Lathliss. We played a very competitive 3-game match, and he came away with the win. Loss, 1-2.
But luckily, I was able to get into the top 8 at 2-2 based on strength of schedule! I got a special Top 8 deck box and a foil FNM promo token from Ixalan, with the possibility to win more.
Round 5 vs. White-Black Lifegain.
My opponent was the same guy I lost to in Round 2. In game 1 I lost to the Sword (side note: I learned from asking a judge that if you Act of Treason a creature with the Sword equipped and attack, the other guy gets the Knight token because he still controls the Sword). Second game had some epic life total changes. I was sort of ahead for a while, but his long game was stronger, and he eventually put together a combo of Ravenous Harpy and Reassembling Skeleton that I couldn't break up with my weak removal. Loss, 0-2.
The total record isn't great, 2-3 in matches and 5-7 in games, but I am glad I played it out. This is probably my last M19 draft, and I have had fun with this set. Guilds of Ravnica will be a big step up in complexity.
I didn't get a photo of the deck box, but it's not super exciting. I drafted 4 rares and 7 uncommons, vs. 3 and 9 on average. Two of my rares and several of my uncommons were just late picks that I took just because there was nothing good left in the pack. The foil Stitcher's Supplier is around $9 with potential to go up. The Emmara promo is probably a couple dollars at best once the dust has settled, although she does have some combo potential to make unlimited Soldier tokens. Everything else is basically bulk. The token card is City's Blessing on one side and the Elemental token for Rekindling Phoenix on the other.
Thanks for reading!
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