For prerelease, I got a pool that was distinguished by amazing mana fixing -- 3 Traveler's Amulet; 2 Ilysian Caryatid; Omen of the Hunt; Dryad of the Ilysian Grove; and some other cards that dig a few cards deep for a land. So I was pretty sure my best bet was to play as many bomby creatures as I could -- Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath; Nightmare Shepherd; Thryx, the Sudden Storm; Gravebreaker Lamia (to find Uro); etc.
My original deck was slightly different than depicted here, but a couple people helped me refine it after 2 rounds. Here's the adjusted version of the deck (apologies for the glare):
I originally had all 5 colors. I stuck with red just for the 4/4 Wardens of the Chained because they're such a good curve out after Ilysian Caryatid, followed by a 4-power 4-drop or 5-drop. With 2 Traveler's Amulet, I only needed 16 lands -- I originally had 3 Amulets and 15 lands, but the other guys convinced me it was too clunky and a bad top deck. While that's true, I maintain that it isn't the worst top deck when some of your better late game plays are cards escaping from the graveyard, which need cards like Amulet to exile.
So how did it go?
Round 1 vs. White-Green Auras
This deck had Siona and a bunch of powerful auras and aura payoffs. In the first game I chose to be on the draw, which was almost certainly incorrect. He built a pressuring army that I couldn't keep up with. In the second game, I had a great turnaround, managing to flash Thryx in when he didn't have anything to block fliers, and make a winning attack. Unfortunately, our games were very long (he's a notorious slow player), and we were at a draw. There is no benefit to a draw, but he didn't want to random for the win, so I told him I'm happy with a draw, but he didn't want neither of us to benefit. After a lot of back and forth, to the entertainment of other people watching, he offered me the win as long as I give him the win next time it happens. I agreed. Win, 1-1.
That match also featured a judge call to fix a timing issue. He had Dreadful Apathy on my 4/4 Minotaur, and I started my turn with it and an Ilysian Caryatid. I stated, out loud, with pauses in between, "Draw for turn," drew a card, then, "First main phase," then "I tap the dryad for 2 white mana." He says "Wait, I want to exile the minotaur so you can't tap for 2." I said we were already in main phase and it's my priority, so he can't do that. He says he wanted to do it before my main phase, so I called judge and explained, and judge said he missed his chance. It's a good reminder to always be clear about what actions you are doing and what phase you are in.
Round 2 vs. Black-Green
This guy had a bunch of strong green cards, between creatures that fight, creatures that pump, and just generally strong creatures like Voracious Typhon. He also had a Return to Nature to exile my Uro from the graveyard before I could recast it. Loss, 0-2.
Round 3 vs. Red-Green Klothys
This match was much the same as the one before. In the first game he had Klothys to exile my Uro from the graveyard while also slowly killing me, and Tectonic Giant to make sure I couldn't get back into the game. In the second game, he just had too much pressure again while removing my bomb enchantment creatures with multiple copies of Return to Nature. Loss, 0-2.
For the last round, I had a bye, so I found a game of Commander to lose instead. :)
Lessons learned:
- Green is amazing in sealed, and everyone was playing it.
- My 4/4 rare enchantment creatures and Uro were super vulnerable to Return to Nature, which is just straight up premium in this format. Furthermore, they were also bad at blocking commons like Loathsome Chimera. Maybe it was just bad luck with Uro, but he never made it back from the graveyard in 3 tries.
- On the other hand, Thryx was great with the extra 1 toughness and not having the enchantment type. I didn't see it enough, but I feel like it was the most reliable creature in my deck.
- Medomai's Prophecy was a card I didn't have in my original build, but it was suggested for the card draw. It was weird to play because it can be awkward naming your play a turn ahead of time. The second and fourth chapters don't really have much value, so I'm not sure it's worth it for a weird suspend Divination.
- I was notably very short on removal, especially the ubiquitous enchantment removal. One copy of Drag to the Underworld doesn't go very far.
- With all the deck searching, I felt like I was playing a really bad Modern deck. :)
As for value, that was pretty good, mostly because I had a great promo.
Given an extra week for the prices to settle by about 30 - 40%, promo Uro is around $32 and Dryad of the Ilysian Grove is around $6.50. Nightmare Shepherd is around $3 and foil showcase Callaphe is...well, it's pretty?
Anyway, I hope I have better luck drafting this set than I had at prerelease! It looks like it has some fun directions that are different from normal (I'll be looking for Return to Nature at the beginning of packs...).
Thanks for reading!
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