BNG Draft #16

This draft I went 1-2 with a WU heroic deck.  In the first round, my opponent got lucky with his draws and held off my deck with a few cards, while in the last round I barely fell short of wins twice.  The draft felt very strange as I seemed like I was caught fighting for every color.  I saw some late Battlewise Hoplites and took that as a sign that no one was in WU, but as it turns out, the player to my right was playing WR, and the players to my left were playing WG, and UG(W) respectively.  I didn't see many amazing black cards either, so I was left in an awkward position of trying to figure out what my second color was.

Given the options I had, I think I did a good job salvaging the draft, but it still sucks that I was cut off on both sides.

Entry

2 Tix, 1 BNG Booster, 2 THS Booster

Rares

Arbor Colossus, Temple of Enlightenment

Prizes/Sold

1 THS Booster, 15.18 Tix - Nylea, God of the Hunt (F)

Draft

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Pool

First pick was Temple of Enlightenment, and I was quite happy to continue to receive decent U cards in the first pack, and started going down the UW route.

In pack two, I started to consider going UG instead due to the lack of white cards.  I mainly stuck to blue cards where I could because to make it easier for me to maneuver.  Halfway through the pack, I started to get a lot of White cards, and the Green started to dry up.  My best guess was that people were starting to move around in the colors they wanted to be in.

In pack three, I went back to white, although I was very concerned whether I would have enough creatures.  Luckily, creatures started to flood in, but the draft still felt a little questionable as I felt like I had to switch colors several times.

Looking back at the draft log, I was able to confirm that I basically got screwed over in terms of card choices, as I played against a WG, and UG(W) player on my direct left, and a WR player on my direct right.  This would explain why I never saw any premium white cards as players adjacent to me were taking them, and why the Green cards disappeared during the second booster pack.

Decklist

I was not very enthusiastic about playing a Stymied Hopes, but I felt like it was a better option than a second Sphinx's Disciple, a Triton, or splashing a third color.  Also, I felt like it was my only chance against bombs.

I felt like I was able to salvage a playable deck this draft, but it wasn't the strongest heroic deck I have done before.  Strategy was a standard heroic strategy - build up a large creature and win with that.

Games

Round 1

First round was against a WG deck.  It seemed like they forced WG from the beginning, and had lots of rares to back it up.  I'm not sure if I just got unlucky, but it the round was super frustrating as it felt like I had no chance of winning as they always had something ready.  Looking at the draft results later, it seemed like I just got unlucky as this was the only round they managed to win.

Game 1 - 331205262

I open with a Traveler's Amulet while my opponent a Satyr Wayfinder.  I sacrifice the Amulet for a Plains and play a Leonin Snarecaster.  I play Chorus of the Tides and my opponent a Bow of Nylea.  I play Lagonna-Band Elder.  They kill my Chorus with their Bow, and play Leafcrown Dryad which I kill with a Last Breath.  I play Fleetfeather Sandals.  They Excoriate my Centaur and use the bow to put a +1/+1 counter on their Wayfinder.  I play a Traveling Philosopher and they gain three life with the bow.  They play a Great Hart.  I play Ephara's Enlightenment on my Philosopher but they kill it with the bow before it can get the counter.  I play Battlewise Hoplite.  I try to trade my Leonin with the Wayfinder, but they use the bow to give it another counter.  They kill my Hoplite with a Time to Feed and I lose the game.

I saw a Karametra, God of Harvests, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Raised by Wolves, and Excoriate in their graveyard because of their Wayfinder.  Very frustrating that I didn't realize that Ephara's Enlightenment is triggered after the card is played - had I known that I would have played it on the Hoplite instead.

Game 2 - 331207942

Mulligan to 6 due to no plays.

I open with a Favored Hoplite, and my opponent a Sedge Scorpion.  I play Stratus Walk on my Hoplite.  My opponent plays an Observant Alseid.  I bestow Hopeful Eidolon on the Hoplite. and they kill it with an Excoriate.  I play Sphinx's Disciple.  They play Raised by Wolves on their Alsied and I trade my Eidolon for their Scorpion.  I play Ephara's Warden and they kill my Disciple with an Excoriate.  They play Spear of Heliod, but I kill a wolf with a Last Breath in order to tap their Alsied with my Warden.  I play Siren of the Fanged Coast which gets tribute.  They play Karametra, God of Harvests and trade their Alsied with my Siren.  I play a Traveling Philosopher.  They play Staunch-Hearted Warrior.

With their Spear protecting them, there's nothing I could really do to win the game.  I also got semi-mana flooded with 8 mana on turn 12.

Round 2

This round was against a WR deck.

Game 1 - 331211452

I open with a Traveler's Amulet while my opponent an Impetuous Sunchaser into Spearpoint Oread.  I sacrifice the Amulet for a Plains, and play a Favored Hoplite and Fleetfeather Sandals.  They kill my Hoplite with a Lightning Strike.  I play Leonin Snarecaster and equip it with the Sandals.  I play a second Leonin Snarecaster which they play Portent of Betrayal on, and I kill their Oread with a Last Breath.  I bestow my non-sandal'ed Leonin with Thassa's Emissary.  They play Thunder Brute which I pay tribute to.  I move the Sandals to my bestowed Snarecaster and play an Ephara's Warden.  They play Rage of Purphoros to kill my warden and win the game.

Game 2 - 331213054

I open with a Traveler's Amulet to get a Plains, and play Favored Hoplite while my opponent an Impetuous Sunchaser.  They play Anax and Cymede which I counter with a Stymied Hopes.  I play Ephara's Enlightenment on my Hoplite.  They play Kragma Butcher.  On the following turn, they try to bestow an Eidolon of Countless Battles on the Sunchaser, but I kill it with a Last Breath.  I play Ordeal of Heliod on my Hoplite.  My opponent plays a Flamespeaker Adept.  I play a Battlewise Hoplite.  They Portent of Betrayal my Favored Hoplite, but it's not enough to kill me.  I play Ephara's Enlightenment on my Favored Hoplite and win the game.

Game 3 - 331214502

I open with a Battlewise Hoplite, and my opponent a Kragma Butcher which I kill with a Last Breath.  They replace it with a Flamespeaker Adept.  I play a Leonin Snarecaster.  They kill my Hoplite with a Rage of Purphoros, and I kill their Adept with a second Last Breath.  I play Ephara's Enlightenment on my Leonin and sacrifice the Amulet for an Island.  My opponent plays a Cyclops of One-Eyed Pass.  I play a Siren of the Fanged Coast which gets tribute.  I bestow my Siren with a Hopeful Eidolon.  My opponent plays Portent of Betrayal on my Siren, and uses Battlewise Valor to kill my Leonin.  I play Ephara's Warden, and they play Anax and Cymede.  I play a Sphinx's Disciple which trades with their Cyclops.  They kill my Warden with a Magma Jet, but is unable to stop my flying 5/5 lifelink creature.

Round 3

Final round was against a UG(W) deck.

Game 1 - 331216146

Mulligan to 6 due to a 5 land hand.

I open with a Traveler's Amulet into Battlewise Hoplite enchanted with Stratus Walk while my opponent a Swordwise Centaur.  I play a Lagonna-Band Elder and they play an Aerie Worshippers.  I play a Leonin Snarecaster, sacrifice the Amulet for a plains.  They play an Arbor Colossus.  I play a Leonin Snarecaster, and we trade centaurs.  I play Siren of the Fanged Coast which gets tribute, followed by a Chorus of the Tides on the next turn.  They monstrous their Giant to kill my Siren.  I swing with all and they play Horizon Chimera.  The Worshipper kills one Leonin, the Colossus kills my Hoplite, and the Chimera trades with the Chorus.  They play a Nessian Wilds Ravager which I counter with a Stymied Hopes.  I bestow my Leonin with a Thassa's Emissary.  They play Aqueous Form on the Colossus and win the game.

The next card on my deck was a Fleetfeather Sandals, which would have won me the game.

Game 2 - 331218724

I open with a Favored Hoplite enchanted with an Ephara's Enlightenment into Traveler's Amulet.  I play a Battlewise Hoplite.  I try to enchant it with enlightenment, but it's countered with a Nullify.  They play a Precient Chimera, and I sac the amulet for a Plains.  I play Siren of the Fanged Coast which gets Tribute.  They play Nessian Wilds Ravager which gets tribute.  I play Wavecrash Triton.  They play Aqueous Form on the hydra and play Arbor Colossus.  I use two Last Breaths on my own Wavecrash Triton to tap two of their creatures to win the game.

Game 3 - 331220490

Mulligan to 5 due to hand with too many lands.

I open with a Favored Hoplite enchanted with an Ordeal of Heliod.  It gets in one attack before they send it back to my hand with a Voyage's End.  I play a Lagonna-Band Elder, and they play a Nessian Demolok which gets tribute.  I play a Traveler's Amulet and sacrifice for an Island, and they play an Arbor Colossus.  I enchant my Hoplite with an Ephara's Enlightenment, and they kill it by activating monstrous their colossus.  I lose quickly afterwards.

Lessons Learned

• It's a good idea to stay as open as possible.  This draft, I was uncertain as to what was going on around me, so I stuck to one color where I could to make it easier to switch my off-color.  While this caused me to waste a handful of picks while switching, it prevented me from over-committing to a color that wasn't available.