The general principle of chaos draft is that the table has a randomized mix of boosters, but for this one each player was allowed to choose and buy the boosters from anything available in store (plus a $5 buy-in that would go directly into the prize pool). Since it's a draft, you still only get your own booster for first and 8th picks, but it allows people to shoot for specific synergies or just add sets they are comfortable with. Since different tables might have different power levels (like if one table had more Masters sets than another), this was restricted to single elimination pod play.
The store has an impressive selection of sets right now, with Apocalypse ($8) as the oldest and lots of expensive Modern sets like Zendikar ($20) and New Phyrexia ($15), plus everything in Standard or from the last several years, all the Masters sets (including MM13 for $30 a pack) and Battlebond and Conspiracy sets. The cheapest buy-in was a $3 set for a total of $14. I spent a bit of time talking to others and thinking about what to play, and I settled on 3x Eldritch Moon ($4.50) because it's a fun set with a number of good cards that I wouldn't mind opening. So I paid $18.50 and they didn't have change so it was really $18.
A lot of people went with Iconic Masters ($8, or $29 buy-in) because it's a fun set with a lot of bomb rares, and that was fine by me because every Masters pack also improves the card quality across the board. My table had several 3x IMA drafters, so I saw a lot of those cards. The only person at my table who paid less than me was a 3x Dominaria drafter (I think it's $3.50 or $4 a pack).
So enough about that. Here's my draft, from bottom left to top right:
The odd thing about my EMN packs was that they all have at least one double-faced card (DFC), which I am required to reveal as I open the packs. This meant that everyone who was paying attention (the two people next to me) knew that I first picked Voldaren Pariah, a heavy-black DFC that asks me to have creatures to sacrifice and also likes me to have discard outlets. A rare DFC means my pack has 2 rares, and the other was the awful Providence. I followed the signals and found that black and red both seemed fairly open, so the pack was pretty easy to draft. Bladewing the Risen is a card that can be a bomb with enough other dragons, so I was happy to wheel it after taking the much more versatile Draconic Roar from the pack. I wasn't sure about Rescue from the Underworld, but it did support a possible sacrifice theme and provide potential bonus value.
My second pack rare was Lupine Prototype, a card that looks a lot better than it actually is. Thermo-Alchemist seemed like a great pick here because my first pack was full of instants and sorceries. At this point I figured I was probably going to be a red-black control deck, so I looked for cards that supported my possible sacrifice synergy as well as cards that blocked well. Doomed Dissenter, Goblin Rally, and Dragon Egg were great to go with my sacrifice cards, and Dragon Egg provides a way to win the game quickly. Olivia's Dragon gave me a straightforward discard outlet.
Pack 3 had yet another bad (but very cool) rare, Permeating Mass, and I was happy to get another Thermo-Alchemist. Second pick was a $10 cash grab, since I hadn't seen anything worth anything all draft. Crackling Doom was in a pack that also had a Mardu Banner, and I probably would have played it if the Banner had come back around. When the Battlebond pack came to me, I was astonished to see Blaze and Magmatic Force, plus maybe two other playable red cards. Magmatic Force pretty much wins the game if it gets into play, but at 8 mana it was hard to stomach, so I took the more versatile Blaze, which can also often end the game if you have 8 mana. When the draft ended, I saw that no one was drafting red except me, so that explained that and all the other great red cards I took.
Building the deck wasn't too hard. I just added as many removal spells as possible, then played the creatures that had the best synergy with each other. I was sad to cut Bellowing Saddlebrute, since I didn't have much big stuff, but I felt like I could hold down the fort until I could either win the attrition war with Thermo-Alchemists and Pyromancer or break through with a firebreathing flier.
Here are the best synergy cards with Voldaren Pariah (flipped side shown, Abolisher of Bloodlines) and Rescue from the Underworld:
And here's my sleeved sideboard. I could get a little more aggressive if needed, or add Galvanic Bombardment for small creatures. Cheering Fanatic (from Battlebond, which I've never played) is an interesting card, and when I sided it in I liked it pretty well. It's possible I should have played Tormenting Voice. I'm never sure whether it's actually good in Limited, and I usually cut it, but it does have synergy with Thermo-Alchemist and with Voldaren Pariah's madness cost.
Round 1 vs. White-Blue Weenie Aggro.
This was the person drafting to my right, and he notably had my Lupine Prototype. In game 1 he got it going along with a bunch of 2/2s, but I was able to hold him off with removal and then win with a dragon token after a pretty good Rescue from the Underworld where I forgot to make a zombie token but otherwise blew him out. In the second game, I had a full-scale blow-out when he attacked into Olivia's Dragoon and I discarded and madness cast Voldaren Pariah, set up blocks, and flipped her to wreck his board and take zero damage. I also got to use Mark of Mutiny as a removal spell on a Dauntless Bodyguard (he sacrificed it in response instead of letting me get an attack and then sacrifice it myself). Win, 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Blue-Green Monsters
This was the triple Dominaria guy. He first picked Cold-Water Snapper out of his first two packs, and then lucked into opening Helm of the Host in his third pack for the all out combo. Someone has also passed him a Courser of Kruphix, which is a massive card advantage engine. In game 1 he got the combo going, and I managed to block them for a few turns with all my little stuff but eventually gave in when he had 6 Snappers on board (2 real and 4 tokens). I had almost nothing to fight against hexproof and only one card to kill artifacts, so I tried to make my deck a little more aggressive to race him in the second game. But he just proceeded to play big things and I couldn't keep up. Loss, 0-2.
Chaos draft is mostly just a ton of fun, and it's good practice for generally getting better at Magic. I'd play this version of chaos draft again and I'd definitely go with the cheap packs. I think Masters packs are better when everyone else has them too (i.e. an actual Masters draft), and the old expensive packs are just lottery plays that have similar or worse general card quality compared to the recent stuff. I felt good about my deck and still do, and the second deck I played against was so outside my expectations that I just didn't have a good plan for it.
I didn't get a lot of value for my trouble, but the $10 Flusterstorm kept it from being a complete washout. The other rares are under 50 cents.
It's almost time for Guilds of Ravnica to be replaced by Ravnica Allegiance, so we'll have some fresh drafts soon! But in the meantime, hooray for Ultimate Masters and chaos draft providing some different experiences.
Thanks for reading!
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