Strength in Solidarity definitely a mistake - that card is weak as hell. Should play the 3-mana Shock instead, there are lots of good targets in the format. Otherwise deck went 6-3. Played badly to lose one game, then kept a 2-lander with the looter on the play, drew badly, failed to curve out, and lost.

Here's the next draft, I think I pivoted into UG too late. The draft started BG, but I was passed a late Roost of Drakes in pack 2 which I speculated on, then opened another one in P3. By that time I had all the black cards in the pool. It did feel like all those cards except Feed the Swarm are filler though, hence I switched. Barely have enough playables regardless. Maybe I should run one of the two artifacts, idk, the 3-mana 6/6 has not been impressive without more mill cards to help fill the opponent's graveyard. Again, will play this tomorrow.

The switch into UG definitely was worth it from the looks of it. I love Thwart the Grave, but you were not set up well for it.

I'd run one Kitesail over one of the filler cards (Spare Supplies or Anticognition), otherwise the deck looks fine.

Another draft... another 3-0... this was a pile
I drafted with Karnsten, started in red... for the most part of P1, then P2P1 Felidar... so change to white and then black was wide open... like all the removal so I change black... so I dropped red... P3 the doors closed... and I had to struggle to get to 23 playables, somehow I pull the 3-0...
Felidar won me 2 games.

Why on earth do I ever drafted B01??!!!!
This is so much easier and less coinflippy

Yeah, Bo3 is amazing Cucho, surprised your just now on the bandwagon.

Flying is turning out to be OP as always. Just had a sealed deck go 6-3 on the back of 8 flyers. I had some Tazeem Raptors, the flying Vigilance Warrior that gets party +1/+1 counters, the 5 mana black vampire that gets counters when you gain life, the rare 1*/3 black rogue with lifelink and deathtouch, AND the 2/6 Mythic Angel that (essentially) gives everything lifelink and you the win, as well as a couple party based lifegain angels.

I had won a few 1000 gems doing draft so I played a sealed (for the cheap packs basically, I'm not fond of sealed) and ended up getting the entry fee back

When in doubt, modulo is always right Deck went 5-3, might have gone better but I also played rather badly (e.g. I traded away all my creatures when I was holding a pump spell - even though they were "favorable trades", it meant I the pump spell was later only worth a 2/2 drake). Speaking of which, Roost of Drakes is very strong in the archetype. No idea how good Baloth is since only time I drew it I died with it in my hand, unable to cast it. 7 mana might be too much.

Next deck is somehow UG kicker again. Again it looked like it might be a UB deck after I got passed Deadly Alliance late in pack 1, but then I opened the Ooze and made the switch. P3P1 I opened Inscription of Ruin, but by then it was too late to switch again.

I might be undervaluing the spell lands, which have been great but I don't have any of. Given the pick between a good spell and a spell land, how does one decide which to take?

I'd play BO3 except I can't gain rank from playing that!

This format is all about the pivot Bane. My first three or four picks end up in the sideboard half the time. Roost IS amazing, as is Baloth if you can ramp into him, not being able to get to 7 hurts when you don't find the ramp though. Unfortunately a lot of people are swiping up the ramp quickly (because colorfixing sucks in this set) so you gotta grab a few early if you find yourself in green or with reason to splash it.

Speaking of color fixing, it is hard to go 3 colors outside the occasional splash. Even basecamp isn't reliable for splashing unless you only want a creature or two. If you're splashing for removal I hope you're also in green so you can search it up.


that's the only bad part about it. However, get a few 3-0s under your belt and you'll have more than enough gems to do a bunch of ranked. I'm at like +18000 gems this season. (I have spent 30k gold on drafts, 1 sealed and 4 draft tokens)

Why do you even care to rank if when you get to top 1.2K you dont even play the Qualifier weekend?

Is there actually much ramp in the set? There are a few mana dorks (one of the green spell-lands, and Lullmage's Familiar) but are there any actual ramp spells like Cultivate? EDIT: Oh yes, there's Wildwood Surge which has been quite strong when played against me, and Roiling Regrowth.

And Cucho, I want to see roughly where I am in terms of skill level.

EDIT #2: went 2-3. Tazeem Roilmages underperformed like hell, definitely needs more than two spells to return.

76% winrate across 10 drafts .... I´m loving this way to grind sets!!!
Went 2-1 three times today!! dammit.

@Banedon you are a good player, rank is overrated if you want to test your skills play a tourney.

You're too kind. I'm probably above average, but not good. The time I hit mythic I probably got luckier than usual (I remember I had several 7-x drafts in a row), I certainly don't have 76% win rate in draft like you. I'm probably better at constructed, but only once the meta settles and I have a clear idea of what to play around against every deck.

Also, another draft and another UG deck. I'm definitely rating some cards wrong, I think - in particular, the synergy driven cards. The draft started out UB, but then I was passed green cards I know are good (Baloth, Surge, Stomper), and I couldn't resist taking them. It's probably why I've been UG so much, the cards are pretty good standalone. If I had stuck with UB, I could very well have had a good Rogue deck. I don't know. How do people choose an archetype anyway? The thing with the green cards I mentioned is that they are good standalone, while cards such as Nimana Skitter-Sneak and Sure-Footed Infiltrator are not. Still, get enough of those Rogues together and the sum becomes greater than their parts. What is the guiding principle behind entering the archetype?

I'm trying to think of Ikoria, where RW cycling was great, but I still didn't enter that archetype unless I saw payoffs. If I get passed Marmoset or Thundermane or Zenith Flare then it's obvious I should go into it, and furthermore, there are good payoffs at common + enough at uncommon that I can count on seeing at least one. That doesn't seem to apply to ZNR, e.g. it's obvious the best Cleric payoff is the BW uncommon, but I didn't see any this draft. Can someone give me some pointers?

You're so cute when you're being humble

Rakdos aggro experts, help me find the last few cuts



The equipment seems very expensive, I am not sure if it's worth it. Presumably I don't want Dreadwurm either since no synergies, and then idk what to cut.

All of the equipment in this set is expensive, but luckily it gets to attach on ETB. The requip is also expensive but it's going to turn each creature into a big threat and menace should get you a lot of 2 for 1s. I think that one is worth it in a party deck.

Because each creature is a huge threat, and I feel you have just the right amount of removal, I'd suggest cutting 3 of the 16 creatures. Yeah, I'd cut the Wurm cuz no synergy. Then I'd cut 1 of the 2 Colossus. The last cut is the hardest but I think it's the skydancer. You still have 2 Rogues at 3cmc (the land, and scavenger) and a 2 drop rogue as well, but god it sucks to lose that Flash/Flying

Why not cut a Swamp instead of the 2/1 flier? 14 lands plus 5 MDFC seems pretty close to the sweet spot for your deck.

I'd probably run the Teeterpeak Ambusher over a Blight-Priest, the deck needs to hit a 2-drop and Ambusher is a decent mana sink.

egads Ruin Crab is like Merfolk secretkeeper on steroids. I drafted four of those in a traditional draft and easily sailed to 7 3 wins. Not a single game three. Problem is, now drafting anything else just feels bad. UB mill/control – and blue in particular – just feels way stronger than the other archetypes/colors. But maybe I haven't been building my aggro/midrange decks correctly.

Yeah, getting a 4-of of any on theme Uncommon is probably going to sail to 7 wins. How did your table let that happen? I've never even seen more than 1 crab in any draft I've been in.

I do hate mill in a 40 card format though. Milling 26 cards with a dedicated mill deck isnt very hard.

You guys going to 7 wins ... I can barely make 3. So envious. I just can't make head or tail of ZNR draft.



P2P1 was the Rakdos mythic. Do I:

1. Take the green MDFC and hope to draft BG splash red?
2. Take the Rakdos equipment and commit to Rakdos aggro?
3. Take Synchronized Spellcraft as the card that stays open the most and potentially splash it with green fixing?

Benefit of #1 is that there are more lifegain cards in green so Scion of the Swarm would be better, plus I already have two Kazandu Stompers and some MDFCs; on the other hand one shouldn't splash if one doesn't have to so idk.

I've splashed one or the other color for Zagras twice and never regretted it. Take the removal and look to move into Rakdos cuz u haven't committed to green yet. I'd also advise against keeping 4 5+cmc creatures.

Edit: looking at it a second time, and this might sound crazy but, I would take Fissure Wizard. T4 Zagras is fun.
Also, hope for Blood Beckoning to wheel, and keep an eye out for another if it doesn't.


I'm finding that a lot of people are drafting decks looking to take advantage of some end game synergy. I've been having lots of success by making sure I have enough 1, 2 and 3 drops to have 2 creatures in play by T3 and keep my 5+ CMC to three or less. Super aggressive curves even if the creatures dont neccessary fit into "theme."

My favorite archetype so far is BG +1/+1 counters. Theres enough 2 drops that kick for huge creatures later in that archetype to fit the above bill and still have an overpowering late game presence.

Dual color Party theme is very strong also

Really tough pick, and a lot depends on what you saw pack 1. You're most definitely Black at this point, but your second colour is almost entirely up for grabs.

Options are, in my opinion:
1) Bala Ged Recovery, moving into Green and splashing Red for an MDFC value pile.
2) Fissure Wizard, moving into Red and drafting RB Allies. Spellcraft would also commit you to Red, but it's expensive and you're not set up well for RB Allies payoff cards yet. Similar arguments for Wizard > Mace, plus you have a chance to wheel that card out of the pack (only RB wants it)
3) Blood Beckoning, still keeping your options open
4) Into the Roil, taking Zulaport and Roil out of your sideboard and steering towards UB.

Which one of these calls is right depends on the signals received in pack 1.

Only every once in a while. My last 4 drafts had 0, 3, 3 and 6 wins. Dont sweat it. This is a very complicated set with people in everyone else's colors and themes and barely any color fixing.