fbpx

Practice Makes Perfect – Journey-Born-Theros Draft #2

Frank presents a synopsis of Theros Block Limited in time for this weekend’s Grand Prix in Washington D.C. by walking you through a draft he participated in on Magic Online.

It’s been a while, but this weekend we can all finally get our forty card fix on. With Grand Prix DC happening a measly four hours from my house, you know I’ll be making the drive down the coast for another shot at a Grand Prix top eight. Add in the fact that I’m only two pro points away from Silver Status and have an open GP slot to work with, and you’ll know why this tournament is extra important for me.

Today I’d like to get one last practice draft in before getting ready to battle for fame and glory in our nation’s capital.

Let’s do this!

Pack 1 pick 1:

Font of Return Aerial Formation Magma Spray Eagle of the Watch Font of Fertility Pharika's Chosen Desecration Plague Flamespeaker's Will Cast into Darkness Oreskos Swiftclaw Interpret the Signs Strength from the Fallen Eidolon of Rhetoric Revel of the Fallen God Island

Not the most exciting pack to kick off a draft, but there are some winners. The pick here comes down to Magma Spray, Oreskos Swiftclaw, and Eagle of the Watch. Revel of the Fallen God is powerful, but seven mana is a little lofty for most limited decks. I know a lot of people like Font of Fertility, but I’ve found the card to be mostly unplayable. If it’s not in your opening hand, it is just too clunky to do anything relevant. All things considered, I’d rather have the cheap removal spell that kills small creatures than one of the small creatures.

My pick:

Magma Spray

Pack 1 pick 2:

Eagle of the Watch Market Festival Grim Guardian Cloaked Siren Rouse the Mob Mortal Obstinacy Sigiled Starfish Desecration Plague Starfall Rollick of Abandon Phalanx Formation Deserter's Quarters Skybind Mountain

The two cards that catch my eye in this pack are the blue ones. Skybind is unimpressive in most decks, and Eagle of the Watch just isn’t as good as Cloaked Siren or Sigiled Starfish. Between the two, I’ve got to go with Sigiled Starfish. It is one of the most powerful commons in the set and can be devastating in any game that goes long.

My pick:

Sigiled Starfish

Pack 1 pick 3:

Font of Fertility Rotted Hulk Godhunter Octopus Rouse the Mob Font of Vigor Starfall Cruel Feeding Stonewise Fortifier Rise of Eagles Pheres-Band Thunderhoof Kiora's Dismissal Deserter's Quarters Mountain

For the longest time, I didn’t think that much of Rise of Eagles. For the most part, it felt like a 23rd card or something you would only play in a heavy Constellation deck. However, that was before I played against Nathan Holiday in a team draft and he drafted a blue/red masterpiece with a whopping three copies of Rise of Eagles and I watched him summon an avian army round after round. As long as you can make it to six mana, Rise of Eagles serves as a powerful way to grind out your opponent’s last life points. The scry might seem a little tacked on after-the-fact, but it does a great job of digging you towards more expensive spells if you can’t close out the game with the eagles alone. The other thing to note about this pack is we are passing yet another aggressive white creature.

My pick:


Rise of Eagles

Pack 1 pick 4:

Font of Fortunes Sigiled Skink Ajani's Presence Cloaked Siren Triton Shorestalker Ravenous Leucrocota Font of Ire Aspect of Gorgon Quarry Colossus Dakra Mystic Swarmborn Giant Island

At this point, it looks like white is open from the right. However, since we’ve already passed so many white cards (and there are very good blue cards in this pack), there’s no reason to try to jump in. That being said, this pick comes down to Cloaked Siren and Dakra Mystic. Although this pick is very close, I’ve got to give it to Cloaked Siren. In a vacuum Dakra Mystic is definitely the more powerful card, but Cloaked Siren works so well with cards like Griptide, Nullify, and Dissolve that it is just too tempting to pass up.

My pick:

Cloaked Siren

Pack 1 pick 5:

Nature's Panoply Nyx Infusion Godhunter Octopus Oppressive Rays War-Wing Siren Satyr Grovedancer Flurry of Horns Dreadbringer Lampads Fleetfeather Cockatrice Spite of Mogis Forest

At first glance, this pick seems like an easy War-Wing Siren. It’s another solid blue card that keeps the draft open and uncommitted. On the other hand, Fleetfeather Cockatrice is a much more powerful card. The green in this pack has been very poor so far, and it seems likely that there won’t be too many green drafters going into packs two and three. Even if there are a couple, they won’t be taking the powerful blue/green multi-colored cards like Kiora’s Follower or Horizon Chimera. Don’t get me wrong, if War-Wing Siren was in a triple-Theros draft, I’d slam it and Heroic/Bestow my way to victory. With Journey and Born in the mix, going for the slower yet more individually powerful card becomes a lot more appealing.

My pick:

Fleetfeather Cockatrice

Pack 1 pick 6:

Rotted Hulk Godhunter Octopus Rouse the Mob Font of Vigor Starfall Cruel Feeding Stonewise Fortifier Rise of Eagles Goldenhide Ox Swamp

Not much going on here. It’s either Rise of Eagles or Goldenhide Ox, and Rise has a lot more going on for it. Not only do we get to play it if we don’t end up moving into green, but flying and scrying beats playing a big dumb ox any day of the week.

My pick:

Rise of Eagles

Pack 1 pick 7:

Font of Vigor Kruphix's Insight Countermand Stonewise Fortifier Triton Shorestalker Cruel Feeding Consign to Dust Chariot of Victory Mountain

Another less than ideal pack with a white weenie creature. If we had a few enchantments in the bag I could see going for Kruphix’s Insight, but as it is we have nothing to get with it. Consign to Dust is at least a powerful card that has the potential to blow out an opponent with an enchantment-heavy deck.

My pick:

Consign to Dust

Pack 1 pick 8:

Sigiled Skink Font of Vigor Kruphix's Insight Countermand Stonewise Fortifier Triton Shorestalker Cruel Feeding Forest

If I had a ticket for every Stonewise Fortifier I passed… white Grizzly Bears aside, I’m not really a big fan of Countermand. Even with a Cloaked Siren to work with, I’d much rather bank on picking up better counters like Dissolve or Nullify down the line. If the deck ends up moving back towards red, Sigiled Skink will definitely make the cut.

My pick:

Sigiled Skink

Pack 1 pick 9:

Font of Return Aerial Formation Font of Fertility Desecration Plague Flamespeaker's Will Interpret the Signs Island

If the deck ends up being green, having a way to get our beefy ground guys through the Red Zone is a lot more important than having a three-mana Rampant Growth.

My pick:

Aerial Formation

Pack 1 pick 10:

Mortal Obstinacy Desecration Plague Rollick of Abandon Deserter's Quarters Skybind Mountain

My pick:

Deserter's Quarters

Pack 1 pick 11:

Godhunter Octopus Rouse the Mob Font of Vigor Kiora's Dismissal Mountain

My pick:

Kiora's Dismissal

Pack 1 pick 12:

Triton Shorestalker Font of Ire Dakra Mystic Island

Don’t believe all the hype. Sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too.

My pick:

Dakra Mystic

Pack 1 pick 13:

Godhunter Octopus Spite of Mogis Forest

My pick:

Spite of Mogis

Pack 1 pick 14:

Font of Vigor Swamp

My pick:

Font of Vigor

Pack 1 pick 15:

Mountain

My pick:


Mountain

Coming out of pack one you can’t hate where this deck is going. We’ve got a workable blue base, a solid flying plan, and some powerful cards like Sigiled Starfish and Dakra Mystic. Moving into pack two the best plan here is going to be prioritizing filling out the deck’s early game and establishing a second color.

Pack 2 pick 1:

Charging Badger Floodtide Serpent Felhide Brawler Ephara's Radiance Bolt of Keranos Setessan Oathsworn Sudden Storm Kragma Butcher Aspect of Hydra Mortal's Resolve Kiora's Follower Thunderous Might Glimpse the Sun God Temple of Malice Forest

Right off the bat we’re met with Bolt of Keranos and Kiora’s Follower, forcing us to make a decision on which color to move in on. At this point we’ve got Magma Spray and Sigiled Skink in red and Fleetfeather Cockatrice in green, so we could easily go either way. Thinking back to the first pack, I strongly feel like green is going to be very open for the rest of the draft. Although Font of Fertility isn’t that great, it tabling signals that the other drafters aren’t that interested in green cards. Add in the fact that Kiora’s Follower is a few notches better than Bolt of Keranos and it’s time to go green!

My pick:


Kiora's Follower

Pack 2 pick 2:

Pharagax Giant Sphinx's Disciple Ephara's Radiance Setessan Starbreaker Fall of the Hammer Karametra's Favor Oreskos Sun Guide Stratus Walk Nullify Impetuous Sunchaser Ephara's Enlightenment Pillar of War Meletis Astronomer Plains

Getting passed Fall of the Hammer right after moving away from red was a bit of a dagger. At the time, I was mentally committed to bailing on red and therefore didn’t take the Fall of the Hammer. Even though if I took it I still ultimately wouldn’t have been red, it was incorrect to let it go at the time. Nullify is decent but it is replaceable, unlike Fall of the Hammer which is incredible. Because there were still no green cards in sight at this point, the risk/reward on taking Fall of the Hammer was definitely high enough to warrant taking it. Unfortunately, my thought process during the draft was to take Nullify over Meletis Astronomer because the deck still didn’t have any enchantments to dig for.

My pick:

Nullify

Pack 2 pick 3:

Setessan Oathsworn Excoriate Rise to the Challenge Nyxborn Triton Warchanter of Mogis Elite Skirmisher Oreskos Sun Guide Divination Nyxborn Rollicker Karametra's Favor Archetype of Courage Hero of Iroas Swamp

This pick is a pretty easy Nyxborn Triton. Although drawing extra cards is nice, Bestow is more powerful, versatile, and proactive. Also to note from this pack, the drafter to my left did not move into white either as can be seen by the Hero of Iroas and Archetype of Courage. Whoever did make the plunge is going to have one heck of a deck…

My pick:

Nyxborn Triton

Pack 2 pick 4:

Nyxborn Wolf Floodtide Serpent Rise to the Challenge Griffin Dreamfinder Nyxborn Eidolon Charging Badger Aspect of Hydra Claim of Erebos Deepwater Hypnotist Oracle's Insight Drown in Sorrow Swamp

Similarly to last pack, the Bestow card beats out the card draw card. Oracle’s Insight is more powerful than Divination, but it also comes at the price of being more risky. Nyxborn Wolf is simple and consistent.

My pick:

Nyxborn Wolf

Pack 2 pick 5:

Marshmist Titan Mortal's Ardor Fearsome Temper Satyr Wayfinder Divination Claim of Erebos Impetuous Sunchaser Pheres-Band Raiders Flitterstep Eidolon Everflame Eidolon Mountain

Flitterstep Eidolon is one of the few Bestow cards I’d actually pass up for Divination here. The bestow cost is just too expensive for what you are getting, and without Hexproof it does a rather poor Invisible Stalker impression. If the deck didn’t already have two six-mana win conditions in the bag, I would have taken Pheres-Band Raiders.

My pick:


Divination

Pack 2 pick 6:

Charging Badger Floodtide Serpent Felhide Brawler Setessan Oathsworn Aspect of Hydra Archetype of Endurance Gorgon's Head Ragemonger Hero of Leina Tower Plains

This pick comes down to Setessan Oathsworn and Hero of Leina Tower. Overall, I’ve found Hero of Leina Tower to be very underwhelming. By the time you have a ton of mana laying around, you usually don’t have too many auras left to put on your one-drop. Setessan Oathsworn is always going to give you two counters for your troubles, no questions asked. The only downside to Setessan Oathsworn is that it is harder on the deck’s manabase. It might seem weird that the common is better than the rare, but sometimes that’s just how it is.

My pick:

Setessan Oathsworn

Pack 2 pick 7:

Forsaken Drifters Excoriate Warchanter of Mogis Elite Skirmisher Elite Skirmisher Divination Karametra's Favor Ashiok's Adept Plains

With Setessan Oathsworn in tow, there’s a lot more value in picking up a cheap cantrip aura. Additionally, it’s best to orient blue/green decks to be as proactive and tempo-oriented as possible, and playing two Divinations doesn’t fit that bill.

My pick:

Karametra's Favor

Pack 2 pick 8:

Sphinx's Disciple Ephara's Radiance Setessan Starbreaker Stratus Walk Nullify Impetuous Sunchaser Pheres-Band Raiders Swamp

Cantrip auras with Oathsworn, being proactive, we don’t need more six drops. You know the drill.

My pick:

Stratus Walk

Pack 2 pick 9:

Charging Badger Floodtide Serpent Ephara's Radiance Aspect of Hydra Mortal's Resolve Thunderous Might Forest

If the picks at this point were a little more devoted to green, I’d be all over that Aspect of the Hydra. As is, Mortal’s Resolve is going to be the more reliable trick.

My pick:

Mortal's Resolve

Pack 2 pick 10:

Sphinx's Disciple Setessan Starbreaker Stratus Walk Pillar of War Meletis Astronomer Plains

Now that we’ve got some enchantments and a few good ways to trigger heroic, Meletis Astronomer is a lot more appealing.

My pick:

Meletis Astronomer

Pack 2 pick 11:

Elite Skirmisher Oreskos Sun Guide Divination Karametra's Favor Swamp

Still don’t want more Divinations, still terrified by all the white cards running around.

My pick:

Karametra's Favor

Pack 2 pick 12:

Floodtide Serpent Griffin Dreamfinder Charging Badger Swamp

My pick:

Floodtide Serpent

Pack 2 pick 13:

Mortal's Ardor Claim of Erebos Mountain

My pick:

Mortal's Ardor

Pack 2 pick 14:

Floodtide Serpent Plains

My pick:

Floodtide Serpent

Pack 2 pick 15:

Plains

My pick:

Plains

At the end of pack two, things were looking pretty good. Fall of the Hammer aside, there weren’t many red cards to speak of, so moving into green was the correct call. The only big thing I could have done differently was make the move into white early in pack one, but that ship has long sailed now. Moving into the final pack, I was looking to pick up some interaction as well as a Staunch-Heated Warrior or two.

Pack 3 pick 1:

Loathsome Catoblepas Nylea's Presence Fleetfeather Sandals Breaching Hippocamp Aqueous Form Spearpoint Oread Vulpine Goliath Yoked Ox Triton Shorethief Traveler's Amulet Burnished Hart Ordeal of Heliod Dark Betrayal Psychic Intrusion Forest

It’s safe to say that this wasn’t really the pack three-pick one I was looking for. Outside of Ordeal of Heliod, there isn’t much going on here for anyone. Aqueous Form is OK, but with only Setessan Oathsworn as a great target for it it’s not really a priority. As average as it may seem, it looks like we’re going for Burnished Hart. With a couple of six drops and a couple of Bestow guys it really isn’t that bad, just not the kind of card first-picks are made of.

My pick:

Burnished Hart

Pack 3 pick 2:

Messenger's Speed Gray Merchant of Asphodel Last Breath Unknown Shores Crackling Triton Portent of Betrayal Commune with the Gods Wavecrash Triton Traveler's Amulet Hunt the Hunter Destructive Revelry Coordinated Assault Temple of Triumph Swamp

That’s more like it! I came into this pack looking for interactive cards, and Wavecrash Triton is one of the best in the business. With no shortage of ways to trigger Heroic, Wavecrash Triton is a great addition to the deck.

My pick:

Wavecrash Triton

Pack 3 pick 3:

Fleshmad Steed Cavalry Pegasus Nylea's Disciple Feral Invocation Returned Centaur Fate Foretold Portent of Betrayal Boon of Erebos Akroan Crusader Chronicler of Heroes Artisan's Sorrow Prophet of Kruphix Island

Remember when I said we’d get passed strong blue/green multicolored cards later in the draft? Here’s looking at you, Prophet of Kruphix! A third-pick on-color bomb rare definitely makes up for a first-pick Burnished Hart.

My pick:

Prophet of Kruphix

Pack 3 pick 4:

Omenspeaker March of the Returned Traveling Philosopher Yoked Ox Blood-Toll Harpy Benthic Giant Voyaging Satyr Traveler's Amulet Boulderfall Mogis's Marauder Pharika's Mender Plains

Since triple-Theros limited, Voyaging Satyr has been one of the best green cards in the block, and things haven’t gotten all that different. Omenspeaker is a nice two-drop to have around, but it just doesn’t stack up to the mighty ramp Satyr.

My pick:

Voyaging Satyr

Pack 3 pick 5:

Nessian Courser March of the Returned Dragon Mantle Vulpine Goliath Annul Peak Eruption Sedge Scorpion Felhide Minotaur Horizon Chimera Thassa's Emissary Island

This is a really tough pick between two really great cards. To be completely honest, I can’t really give a great reason to pick either Horizon Chimera or Thassa’s Emissary other than preference. If the deck had another Setessan Oathsworn or Staunch-Hearted Warrior at this point, that would push the pick much firmer towards Thassa’s Emissary, but as is you can’t really go wrong either way.

My pick:

Horizon Chimera

Pack 3 pick 6:

Guardians of Meletis Prescient Chimera Demolish Satyr Rambler Leonin Snarecaster Feral Invocation Ray of Dissolution Wavecrash Triton Karametra's Acolyte Plains

What’s better than one Wavecrash Triton? Two Wavecrash Triton, of course! Not only does another three-drop help fill out the decks curve, but it gives more value to our cantrip auras and gives us more ways to interact with our opponent’s side of the board.

Wavecrash Triton

Pack 3 pick 7:

Demolish Gods Willing Portent of Betrayal Defend the Hearth Agent of Horizons Crackling Triton Triton Shorethief Cavern Lampad Plains

A simple enough pick; the green/blue cards have really been flowing this pack.

My pick:

Agent of Horizons

Pack 3 pick 8:

Nylea's Presence Coastline Chimera Fate Foretold Thassa's Bounty Priest of Iroas Fade into Antiquity Akroan Crusader Forest

Fate Foretold is a nice upgrade to one of our Karametra’s Favors.

My pick:

Fate Foretold

Pack 3 pick 9:

Fleetfeather Sandals Breaching Hippocamp Vulpine Goliath Yoked Ox Triton Shorethief Psychic Intrusion Forest

My pick:

Breaching Hippocamp

Pack 3 pick 10:

Messenger's Speed Unknown Shores Crackling Triton Portent of Betrayal Commune with the Gods Swamp

My pick:

Unknown Shores

Pack 3 pick 11:

Fate Foretold Portent of Betrayal Akroan Crusader Artisan's Sorrow Island

If we didn’t already have Consign to Dust, I would take Artisan’s Sorrow here no question. As it is, it’s better to pick up another aura for our Heroic creatures.

My pick:

Fate Foretold

Pack 3 pick 12:

March of the Returned Yoked Ox Benthic Giant Plains

My pick:

Benthic Giant

Pack 3 pick 13:

March of the Returned Annul Island

My pick:

Annul

Pack 3 pick 14:

Demolish Plains

My pick:

Demolish

Pack 3 pick 15:

Plains

My pick:

Plains

All things considered, the deck came together quite nicely. Pack three was very good to us, and it’s worth noting that the flow of white cards cooled off considerably. Although it would have been really nice to pick up a Voyage’s End or Griptide, the deck at least has two Wavecrash Tritions to fight against opposing creatures. I would have really liked to have seen a Staunch-Hearted Warrior or two and I don’t think people were taking them from me, but sometimes the commons you need just aren’t there.

For deck construction, there were a couple of tricky decisions. First off, with so many cantrip enchantments and a pair of mana creatures I knew I wanted to play sixteen lands. If the option had been between a mediocre card or a seventeenth land, I would go with the land, but in this case we’ve got more than enough good cards to work with. The other tough decision was what to play for the 23rd-24th card. The options were between Divination, Nullify, Consign to Dust, the second Karametra’s Favor, and Flootide Serpent. In the end I decided to go with Consign to Dust and Floodtide Serpent. Floodtide Serpent is a good body to have around, and it works quite nicely with the cantrip auras and bestow creatures already in the deck. As for Consign, the deck is a little low on interaction and Consign can not only help out on that front, but is the most powerful card in the bunch.

Round One

To start things off, I was met with this opening hand on the draw. Although it doesn’t have green mana, it has a castable two-drop, a Fate Foretold to help draw towards Forests, and few of the deck’s powerful cards. Although I was happy enough to keep this hand, I wasn’t too happy about what happened next:

Looks like I get to throw down against the white deck round one! How lucky!

My opponent had some early aggression in the form of Oreskos Swiftclaw. My first few draws of the game were Forest, Forest, and Setessan Oathsworn, so I didn’t mind trading off my Meletis Astronomer to avoid taking damage. To top things off, I drew a Stratus Walk so I knew I would be able to voltron up the Oathsworn and go to town as long as I didn’t fall to early beats.

From this point, I was able to strive Aerial Formation to further beef up Setessan Oathsworn and tap down my opponent’s Eagle of the Watch, securing the win. Although it felt good to return to the triple-Theros mindset and brain my opponent with a huge monster, I could tell it was going to be a difficult match. As expected, my opponent had picked up a lot of the aggressive white creatures running around and had at least two Bladetusk Boars to boot.

During sideboarding, I decided not to make any changes. I was close to taking out Consign to Dust because I didn’t see any enchantments game one, but I wanted to have an out to the possibility of my opponent bestowing onto a Bladetusk Boar.

To start game two my opponent had a very aggressive hand of Oreskos Swiftclaw into Kragma Butcher. With my first play being a naked Nyxborn Triton, I was quickly on the back foot. Although I tried to trade creatures as aggressively as possible, I was choked on mana and my opponent had a few cheap combat tricks to punish me. Eventually I found myself passing the turn in this position:

This is the kind of turn everyone knows all too well when it comes to dealing with aggressive decks. The turn where you cross your fingers and hope they don’t have it so you have a chance to stabilize and win the game. The “critical turn,” if you will. As it played out, my opponent wasn’t able to kill me and simply attacked with both their creatures to put me to two life and deployed an Akroan Skyguard before passing the turn. I was able to play Horizon Chimera on my upkeep to gain a life, and followed it up with a Voyaging Satyr. I felt very good about my chances from this point until my opponent drew their card for the turn and added a Bladetusk Boar to the field. That’s when things got really interesting.

For my turn I gained a life with Horizon Chimera (going up to four) and drew Rise of Eagles. Since I knew I couldn’t draw both Wavecrash Triton and a way to target it next turn, my only hope of winning was by getting as aggressive as possible and drawing extremely well. I played Rise of Eagles, scryed a land to the bottom, and went to feed one of my bird tokens to the Floodtide Serpent so I could attack. Imagine my surprise when I was met with this screen.

You’ll notice that Magic Online is asking me to declare my attackers, even though I had already done so. Because of this, the game wouldn’t let me take any other action, but was continuing to take time off of my clock. Nothing I did changed anything- not F6ing, not clicking “OK” 100 times, not even restarting the client. It was at this point that I remembered a post my teammate Steve Mann had made a few days prior:

You gotta love Magic Online!!

With no other possible course of action, I was forced to concede the game. To be fair, there weren’t many cards I could have drawn to keep me alive, but it was possible. I could have drawn Fate Foretold into Karametra’s Favor into Wavecrash Triton to gain enough life with Horizon Chimera to buy an extra turn then drawn a way to trigger Wavecrash Triton and lock down Bladetusk Boar. Like I said, unlikely but possible.

Tilt aside, it was time to sideboard for game three. Even though Floodtide Serpent’s 4/4 body matched up well against my opponent’s deck, I didn’t really want to play a card that said “When this creature attacks, you lose the game” in my deck. I also took out Consign to Dust since my opponent still hadn’t played a single artifact of enchantment for it to kill. I brought in Nullify to help give me game against Bladetusk Boar as well as Mortal’s Resolve to help fight against my opponent’s cheap tricks.

Remember when I said my opponent didn’t have any artifacts or enchantments?

With Consign to Dream sitting in my sideboard and a bunch of lands sitting in my hand, I was met with a tough decision with game three on the line. If my Cloaked Siren had been a creature without flying, I would have thrown Stratus Walk onto that Akroan Skyguard and tried to race. As it were, I felt like putting it on Nyxborn Wolf so I could chump block and draw a card from Fate Foretold gave me the highest chance of getting back into the game. As it turns out, I drew Nyxborn Triton off the aura and I was able to bestow it onto Cloaked Siren to make a 5/5 flier that could block the Skyguard. Unfortunately, this time around my opponent had the trick and was able to punish me thoroughly.

A few land draws later and I had lost the draft. I don’t think the matchup was as bad as it seemed games two and three, it was just unfortunate that I didn’t draw one of my two Wavecrash Tritons to keep my opponent’s creatures under control.

All things considered, I feel pretty good about how this draft went. Although I definitely could have made an early move into white, it’s not like there weren’t blue and green cards for me to draft or I ended up short playables. Blue/green is still a very powerful archetype in JBT draft and it is one I’ll be looking to play this weekend. If you told me I needed to 3-0 my second draft pod to Top Eight Grand Prix DC and I could play this deck, I would take the offer in a heartbeat (although I wouldn’t mind a bounce spell or two!).