So I finally reached Mythic Rank in Limited on MTG Arena. 😎
Draft is my favorite way of playing Magic: the Gathering - I enjoy Cube Draft, cracking boosters with friends, and joining ranked drafts on MTG Arena. I was skeptical at first about the idea of drafting with bots, but it was quite fun. It provided good enough substitute for the experience of drafting tabletop Magic with people and it was much easier to find the opportunity to start it. Still, I was happy that Arena implemented drafting with real players.
I haven't tried Traditional Draft with players yet, because it's not ranked and I had a goal to reach Mythic someday, so I wasn't keen on spending my Limited time on this event. I played mainly Premier Draft and I like Core Set 2021 (M21) quite a lot. This season I began to rank up very quickly, but I struggled on Diamond Tier 1. I fell to Tier 2 and climbed back again several times.
I often drafted Black which is considered the worst color in M21. Maybe it was a correct choice because it was underdrafted by other players on the table, but maybe I was overvaluing it because lately, Black became my favorite color in MtG.
On the other hand, I always liked aggro decks and there was a long period when Boros (Red-White) was my favorite two-color combination (I was still very happy to get into Boros in Guilds of Ravnica). I was skeptical about some mediocre creatures in these colors in M21 but finally came to the conclusion that this aggressive color combination is the one where mediocre cards really overperform. They still need support from better cards, but if White is open in your draft, you should go for it. If red is also open, you should probably be Boros.
This is one of my latest decks. I went 7-2 in Premier Draft with it, when I was still Diamond Tier 2/1. The mediocre cards here are Thrill of Possibility, 3x Igneous Cur (especially since I didn't have Alpine Houndmaster), 2x Sure Strike, and Warded Battlements, but Sure Strike and Warded Battlements overperform when you have 2x Siege Striker. Igneous Cur and Thrill of Possibility still fill your curve when you're short on 2-drops.
After this draft, I experienced a downswing and fell to Diamond Tier 2 again. Then I decided to join a Quick Draft for a change (which meant drafting with bots, not real players). I was seven wins from Mythic, so if I had a perfect run, I could reach it with just one draft. I drafted a fantastic Boros deck, but unfortunately, I had a mana screw after a mulligan in one game and went 7:1.
This deck has some weaker cards too. I wasn't happy to run Legion's Judgment, but I was very short on removal. I'm also not very fond of Dub and I avoid playing Goblin Wizardry in Boros. Still, the deck had some nice synergy, a very good mana curve, and, frankly, was brutal overall.
Because of that one loss, I ended this event being one win away from Mythic. I joined a Quick Draft, hoping to draft Boros again. On the sidenote - such hopes don't mean that I try to force some color combination. I think it is best to stay open in Drafts, look for underdrafted color combinations, and be ready to play any strategy. If you're not comfortable with playing some strategy or color combination, but you see that it's underdrafted, you should still try it and learn, if you want to be a good Draft player. It's not Constructed, you don't get to pick what you play to such degree. It pays to be capable of playing a variety of strategies and go into open ones during a draft.
Still, in Core Set 2021 Quick Draft, because of the way the bots work, I think it could be correct to slightly force better colors and try to get into Boros or other good combinations. My wish came true and I drafted this deck:
As you can imagine, Tempered Veteran was very good here and Spellgorger Wierd proved to be a nice Boros card in the right build. I won my first game and reached Mythic! I was at 798th place.
Then I took a break for a few hours and when I came back, I was #800. When you don't play, some players may outrival you, so you can fall from your current position. When I came back I won five games in a row, and with a score of 6:0 in my first Mythic Draft, I reached #162. After a loss, I was #268. Then I won, ended the draft 7:1, and reached #187.
I hope to stay in the top 1200 Mythic Ranked players at the end of the month to be able to participate in the Qualifier Weekend. I feel pretty safe with my current position, but it's better to be vigilant like Alpine Watchdog.
Thanks for reading! I strongly recommend downloading and playing MTG Arena, drafting in digital and tabletop Magic: The Gathering, and especially drafting Boros in M21 - if it's open 😉. If you liked this post, feel free to upvote, reblog, comment, and follow my profile.
My other posts you might be interested in:
I don't play at all. However I enjoy the pictures.
Yeah, Magic: the Gathering has some nice arts. One doesn't have to play to enjoy them. :)
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