Eternal Draft Walk Through Echoes of Eternity
Article by Jedi_EJ - April 6, 2020
Greetings all my fellow Knights and Young Padawans, I’m Jedi, and today we will be going through the drafting process with the Echoes of Eternity limited format. Maybe you are brand new to drafting and a little curious, or maybe you are a seasoned vet and just wanted to bounce some of your opinions off of another drafter? Regardless, this article will be a resource that can improve anyone’s limited game, including my own!
Small disclaimer: this is one specific set of packs which require their own specific assessment, a variance in card selection could easily change the route we go down and thus how picks are evaluated. That being said, understand that this is A way to draft and not THE way to draft, so it is perfectly alright to agree or disagree with my picks without being wrong. I do encourage you to mention in the comments down below any disagreements and why so we can grow together. So, without further ado, let us begin this Eternal Journey…
P1P1
Rare: As units are the most common card type in limited games, Yojimba is simply a constructed brew card and will be an 0/6 wall for 3 in 95% of your games and not worth a consideration.
Commons: Triumphant Return and Turn Back Time are the most flexible playables at this level, and almost always makes the cut for your limited deck and would be a safe first pick, though very medium. The second and less flexible but more powerful cards at this level would be Brood of Eremot at double primal and Covetous Stranger that has a high ceiling but runs the risk of helping your opponent as well as being extremely vulnerable as an X/1.
Uncommons: There is some serious power in these three cards and all are viable first picks. The conjuring cycle (one in each faction) are all fairly powerful with the ability to invoke a legendary or rare that just wins you the game, but this specific conjuring is roughly 4th in the rankings considering the front side of the spell encourages you to be in a go wide strategy for maximum results and that’s a tough call P1P1 (Pack1, Pick1). Edge of Prophecy is a huge pet card of mine as it comes down as a 6/6 but after recurring it just once (returning it from your void) it will summon as a 12/12 which can increase your chances of winning the game significantly. It is a 7 cost card which is very much replaceable in limited and the three faction influence requirement is a very tall order this early.
Finally this leaves us with Nahid’s Distillation, which can be absolutely back breaking for your opponent in limited and here is why. They call the format limited because the card pool you build your deck with is inherently limited and so resource management is HUGE. Sometimes a single extra card or 2 for 1 exchange puts you way ahead or behind in a game. This one card puts you ahead 2 cards (since you spend a card to draw 3, the 1st card simply replaces itself) for the low cost of 4 power, and you will have access to more cards and thus more decisions and resources than your opponent. Of note, the card is only a single influence and of Time which is the hands down deepest faction in this format, making this the strongest and most flexible pick having the highest chance of making our deck.
Jedi’s Pick: Nahid’s Distillation
P1P2
Rare: Unseen Execution has the potential of being a blow out since it’s a rare and your opponent will most likely not play around it, but it is not a guaranteed board wipe with a super restrictive influence requirement so not a strong consideration here.
Uncommons: Mithril Paladin is a powerful top end for some justice decks due to the fact that it has exalted tacted on, and a 3/4 weapon can make any other unit scary. In my experience, you get the mithril mace off the mastery about a quarter of the time, but overall not an early pick if there is something better. Touch of Battle is probably the strongest of the cycle allowing 2 different cards to trade up on power and is also somewhat difficult to play around so it can be considered a powerful combat trick, maybe even removal and a solid consideration.
Commons: We’ve already talked about Covetous Stranger being an ok unit with the ability to either replace itself with the treasure or draw you several cards. Rectifier is arguably the best common in the set with its ability to somewhat neutralize an annoying threat from your opponent with the summon silence effect as well as being an ok body to block and trade with. It also has corrupt, which means you get two bodies for the price of one that works as a chump blocker, sacrifice fodder, and/or offers a second silence against your opponent’s units. Sometimes the card also has the keyword unblockable as your opponent might not want it to die so your shade can’t silence their second flyer or what not. The last strong common here is Bookclub Yeti which has continued to impress me as a decent attacker and blocker with some liability as a 3/1, but the biggest upside to the card is it’s removal spell mode as the sacrifice effect to deal damage is free so you can use this ability the turn you play it. Yeti does require some setup as you need to have a decently costed relic in play for the second mode, which is a theme of Elysian (Primal/Time faction) if we are looking at our first pick, but it having applications and viability both early and late game makes this little guy a solid pick up as well.
Jedi’s Pick: Rectifier
P1P3
Uncommons: Touch of wild is not even a consideration as Overwhelm is very much a win more ability and rarely has a huge bonus on spells and/or some weapons. Display could be a consideration here even with this trifaction influence requirement as all three of its modes have application in this format though there is a chance it doesn’t make the deck.
Commons: Super medium pack overall with no standouts, but there are some cards to consider with Spellstorm Stranger being a good blocker and very potent in a spells matter deck. Enchanted Platemail goes with our first 2 picks, and though not exciting, a completely viable inclusion to any justice deck since it will kill an ok unit and late game draws you a card as well off of the inspire. Unfamiliar Interloper has underperformed for me over all and I only really consider it if I have high stranger synergies or really need the fixing (which is not a thing this early) so the last two cards to consider are the Platinum Qirin as an early evasive unit with potential upside (and in our main faction for now) and the token of destruction for the potential fixing later. This format has proven to have an excess of playables (minus the two-drop slot after the fixing stranger change), so I end up cutting more playables than searching and needing for more and thus ok spending some medium picks on fixing instead of mediocre units or spells.
Jedi’s Pick: Platinum Qirin
P1P4
This pack is an interesting one with several solid picks for what our deck is looking for at the moment. We’ve talked about Edge already and all still stands true; consequently, it’s something I am leaning towards picking here for major payoff potential. Soldrain smithing goes great with Edge and other weapons, but I typically like picking up the payoffs first, so it’s not the pick here. Rageheart is another relic matters synergy payoff but still a little early to take with other strong cards in the pack. Shardbiner is in our main faction and a little better than average as a 3/1 since it trades up on blocks and can somewhat mitigate the trading down on attack because of the overwhelm, but the serious value is in its ability to make your first relic activation free in most cases with format allstars waystone gate and siege provisions. Gravewatch Ancestor has been an all around solid performer for me, because it’s just fine on curve, pretty decent in the mid game and great in the late game when you can activate its ability with like a 2/4 or 2/5 in the void to make her huge and again in Time and leaving us way open for later packs.
Jedi’s Pick: Shardbinder
P1P5
Another Shardbinder is in consideration, because redundancy in a draft deck can lead to increased consistency over the course of multiple games which leads into more expected lines, outcomes, and wins. Plus it’s a 2 drop something that you always want in your decks. I’m low on Succumb and Inferno Zealot, though I will acknowledge Zealot has its place in some decks. Promising Pupil and Runemarker are 100% filler cards in my opinion. Brood of Eremot is a solid card and happy to grab it, but since it is competing with Biting Winds it’s not the pick here either.
Winds is practically unconditional removal in this format, easy to splash, and often not played around enough in games so something I'm very happy picking here. In most cases I would take winds here, but since we are mono time at the moment and like the idea of double Shardbiner in case we pick up a relic payoff or two later I take the less conservative route, though I wouldn’t knock anyone that didn’t.
Jedi’s Pick: Shardbinder
P1P6
This is our first clear “sign” to potentially go into a second faction with this being a VERY late Shugo’s Hooked Sword as 5 other players passed it up. Granted we have not seen any other fire cards go by so someone ahead of us could still be drafting fire, but probably not an armory version (note hook sword is a great top end regardless if you are an armory deck or not, thus why it is a sign) and of course to a lesser degree there is no time pick in the pack.
Token, Rageheart Paladin are both considerations and we might strongly consider an Elysian Flyer deck here as we are seeing our third Brood of Eremot in this pack as well as a Double Helix Drake, so primal is open. Ensnare is a card I like having exactly one in my deck but often cut and we see them go late in most packs. I feel like at least two drafters ahead of us are in Fire and Shadow if I would take a guess at this point. I lean again towards my preference of Praxis and/or Creation in this format.
Jedi’s Pick: Shugo’s Hooked Sword
P1P7
Personally I am low on Inferno Zealot, cutting it the majority of the time from my deck if I even pick one up, though I do acknowledge it has its place. Precision Plunge can go with our earlier qirin pick before or after it triggers mastery but one flyer isn’t enough for me to jump on it just yet. Rageheart Paladin is a consideration here as it goes well with our hook sword, but i am slightly hesitant to take a double justice card at the moment when we can potentially stay open with just time, as well as those going a little later in the packs as we see here. Since only the Creation and Tradition decks want the paladin I went ahead and took the potentially fixing token since it hit two colors and maybe all three depending on pack 2-3.
Jedi’s Pick: Token of Destruction
P1P8
This is the point in the pack where the picks become somewhat easier and sure enough this one holds true. The only card in the pack that stands out to me is the Bladecrafter as it being very late in the pack might also be a signal like the Hook Sword that either fire or a weapons style lane is open. As I just mentioned it is a great card as it provides a blocker and a way to tutor up the HookSword to insure we have it in our hand once we get to 7 power. Also in some scenarios we could activate the shade’s corrupt ability instead of blocking with it to tutor up a second weapon if we find one for our deck. Solid grab over all.
Jedi’s Pick: Bladecrafter
P1P9
So now I think it’s safe to feel comfortable in our lane being praxis as this is a SUPER late Rectifier and clearly the pick here. In my experience I jam every rectifier I can get my hands on into my decks and have never regretted it.
Jedi’s Pick: Rectifier
P1P10
Though I do not think Assault Shield is a bad pick, I am not very high on the card… I just am not a fan of it sometimes not doing what you need it to do despite having some decent upgrade potential. Moreover even when it does take out a larger unit, you take a huge chunk of your life to do it, so for that reason I'm going with the more consistent Platemail that could also potentially draw us a card in the late game. I also typically like having a few weapons at different power costs to tutor up with the Bladecrafter.
Jedi’s Pick: Enchanted Platemail
P1P11
A little more luck was sent our way as bringing back Hook Sword over and over again can be pretty powerful and that is exactly what Soldrain Smithing does and an easy late pick up for our deck.
Jedi’s Pick: Soldrain Smithing
P1P12
...Yay… we got one…
Jedi’s Pick: Inferno Zealot
P2P1
Rare: In this format you don’t put much weight in the minotaur synergy so it’s just a 3/3 revenge for 4 which is just medium and a consideration but not a high one.
Uncommons: I find this format to be just a little too fast for the rings you want to be doing something efficient and effective every turn up the curve and the rings just don’t do enough for 3 power per turn. I think it’s a little early to speculate fixing for primal and I must admit I like the Swift Stranger here as Charge is a very powerful ability to have should we collect up a few more strangers and have the ability to pressure our opponent’s life total. It also goes with our current Praxis build and one of the slightly less punishing shared stranger abilities should our opponent have a few of their own.
Commons: Inflict Conscience is still playable but with so much sacrifice effects and synergy in the format I’m very hesitant to pick it up. Disjunction would go well in our deck as both relic hate and recursion for our HookSword, but with only one solid weapon at the moment I think we can wait on another. There is a consideration for Argenport Stranger here as it fills the very valuable 2 drop slot and can be fixing for both creation or destruction tri-factions or both if we wanted to get greedy.
Jedi’s Pick: Swift Stranger
P2P2
Uncommons: Much like I felt it was early for the Skycrag fixing, I think it might be a little too early for the Xenan fixing as well. Unless we are THE stranger deck I don’t like picking Battle-Tested as we risk significantly upgrading our opponents board. Rallying Banner was solid in previous formats, we could be creation with the single justice influence being easily splashed, and it offers some relic matters synergy.
Commons: Honestly the only two cards that even warrant a consideration here are Pyre Adept and Wurmstone. With three 2 drops already and the shardbinders being clear upgrades to Adept we are off of it as well. Wurmstone has proven to be a very powerful card in limited giving you a 7/7 body does some work, though there are 8/8’s running around and you do require to potentially take a turn off to play it as well as having a critical mass of spells to trigger it. If there was a stronger card in the pack we could pass it, but nothing really jumping out at me minus the Banner makes it the safest pick for me.
Jedi’s Pick: Wurm Stone
P2P3
So there is a consideration for Kodosh Evangel for fixing purposes as well as a pretty decent two drop. Mesmerized Moth is too low impact for me and we don’t really have any cards yet that make the Bauble super relevant. Jarrall’s Frostkin is a solid card but not strong enough to pull us into primal. Permafrost on the other hand is very power efficient and somewhat close to solid removal. There are sacrifice effects in the format as we mentioned earlier, and siege provisions does break it for free practically but the permafrosted unit can not block and not every deck runs provisions, so being ok potentially going into Instinct (an “unsupported” tri-faction) we snag that up.
Jedi’s Pick: Permafrost
P2P4
Though there can be an argument for Ancient Manual for the fixing here I feel like Illumination Wisp does decent work in the format with Humbug Nest creating 1/1 flyers and there just being a bunch of 1/X dragons as well. In a pinch it can also trade with the 3/1 Flying Burning Core Drake and we aren’t missing out on anything by taking it here.
Jedi’s Pick: Illumination Wisp
P2P5
Penitent Bull might seem appealing as being slightly under stated for it’s cost but decent ramp, but the fact is that taking your entire turn 5 off to ramp to 8 is just TOO slow in the format and leads you to getting run over. Sirocco Glider is a very solid body on defense and in the praxis deck has ways of getting flying to both block and attack well. Elysian Stranger is actually very good for us here as it’s a good old two drop, works with our swift stranger and also fixes our influence for permafrost while making our time more consistent, thus making it my pick here.
Jedi’s Pick: Elysian Stranger
P2P6
Cards in contention here are Ancient manual, Sol’s Fury, and Towertop Patrol. Sol’s Fury is alright removal, but in our current deck it will cost us a legit card and so I am hesitant. We are pretty firmly still in Praxis so I’m super worried about fixing just yet over a solid unit and yup Towertop is good for some of the same reasons as the Wisp and the Glider we’ve seen earlier.
Jedi’s Pick: Towertop Patrol
P2P7
Honestly this is just a throw away pick as I fairly confident that none of these cards make our final deck so I just took the shiney for my collection lol For educational purposes Barkeep’s Friend is just too much power for too little of an impact… Hook Sword does 5x more for 1 power more and Magma Javalin does about the same thing for 2 power less.
Jedi’s Pick: Fallen Oni
P2P8
Grandfather’s Axe has seen some play in previous formats but it is an expensive +1+1 so the value comes from being able to move it around, the presence of so many Rectifiers means it will be silenced more often than not so it’s off the shortlist. Spitfire is just too clunky and reinforce is not really worth a card even in an armory deck so the pick is the solid body’d Glider.
Jedi’s Pick: Siocco Glider
P2P9
Sometimes when you identify which lane you are supposed to be in you get hooked up randomly throughout the packs and this is one of those times. Stoneshell Walker is a fantastic pick up for our deck hands down.
Jedi’s Pick: Stoneshell Walker
P2P10
This late in the pack we aren’t really expecting to get much for our deck and I think either primal card is worth splashing for so we just take the Barkeep’s Friend on the off chance we need it though I highly doubt it. This would be a fine pick to round out your collection should you need anything.
Jedi’s Pick: Barkeep’s Friend
P2P11
Nothing wrong with taking the Stonescar Stranger here as we are not playing any kind of shadow for Feln Banner to be a consideration.
Jedi’s Pick: Stonescar Stranger
P2P12
Last pick, we take it, though we aren’t playing it.
Jedi’s Pick: Temper
P3P1
So there are quite a few picks we could take here. The most conservative of them would be the Rakano stranger for the 2/2 for 2 slot as well as fixing. Glider is passable, especially with how our deck is looking at the moment and I do like the redundancy of Swift Stranger though I don't think we quite have a critical mass of good strangers to make it busted. I am personally low on Refuge and rarely play Proselytize with the much better Humbug Nest running around. I will admit I am being a little greedy here, but Kodosh Sees All is a win condition in of itself, and being double justice is mitigated some by it being a seven power card as we will have the time to find the fixing. Like I said earlier as well I do find myself cutting quite a few playables at the end of most drafts and so not really missing out on anything else I am ok picking a powerful card here.
Jedi’s Pick: Kodosh Sees All
P3P2
Skyhorror Draconus and Blackguard Sidearms are both great cards but not really worth splashing for in our deck so we can overlook them. The true picks are between Reinvigorate and Swirl the Sands. Combat trick are so rare than they are even more valuable and played around less, especially the uncommon ones in the curated packs. Reinvigorate also ready’s the unit which means you can really surprise your opponent, but that being said Swirl the Sands does get rid of the two most problematic cards in this format which are powerful relics and flyers. In some cases, tucking the card back into the deck is better removal than killing it as it stops recursion, and in some cases it could be better if your opponent has, for example, a Bladecrafter to redraw the weapon, but overall it’s still a great spell and at fast speed to boot.
Jedi’s Pick: Swirl of the Sands
P3P3
Humbug Swarm has proven to be too slow of a card for me to include in my decks as a top end unless I’m running maybe one of the many +1+1 to units relics in the format and even then maybe. (Once again think of Humbug Nest) So it’s between Rampage and Stalwart Shield which I do think is close. Rampage has most of the benefits of the aforementioned Reinvigorate minus the ready part and does help get damage through with overwhelm. The upside to Shield is that we can tutor it with our bladecrafter and it allows for some of our more defensive units to get in some damage while still being a huge wall for our opponents to try to get through. I would not fault either pick here but I have liked shield in the past and so I’ll pick it up here.
Jedi’s Pick: Stalwart Shield
P3P4
I really do feel like there is no contest here for this pick, Sword of Icaria not falls into our creation theme, it’s tutorable, and it does a great torch impression while also having 2 for 1 potential and giving us a warcry trigger or two while it’s at it.
Jedi’s Pick: Sword of Icaria
P3P5
Magma Javelin is a consideration here as it can hit units at that crucial 4 health which is a benchmark in this format, but I will admit it has been only medium for me in this format. I think it is a solid pick here, but since we just picked up the Sword of Icaria that somewhat times up the same removal slot and I like to diversify most of my weapons, we will snag up another Glider here.
Jedi’s Pick: Sorocco Glider
P3P6
I like the 3/3 for 3 Endurance stranger, but the 2/2 for 3 stranger just seems very underpowered to me. It also has a higher potential to benefit your opponent more than you as it easily gets out classed by Magnificent Stranger. That means that disjunction is absolutely great for us as it gives us access to bringing back our weapons from the void as well as destroying any troublesome relics on our opponents side of the board.
Jedi’s Pick: Disjunction
P3P7
Lucky Prospector does have some light applications in the tradition relic decks but I’m still low on it. Emerald Acolyte is a low pick for me as well but does have some application with our weapons package. Major problem I have with it is that I end up getting this card more often than not since the 3 drop slot is so contested in the format. We could hedge a little towards reach and removal taking the Sol’s Fury here despite knowing we will have few sacrifice targets.
Jedi’s Pick: Emerald Acolyte
P3P8
We got a late gift here with Rakano Stranger being great influence fixing for our deck and not missing out on anything at all.
Jedi’s Pick: Rakano Stranger
P3P9
Humbug and Safe Return are very low picks for me so we will take a half fixing two drop.
Jedi’s Pick: Stonescar Stranger
P3P10
We already have two Gliders which have the 2/5 statline so I just took the Endurance Unseen just in case. (Might have considered the Recruit if we have taken the rare Minotaur buffer earlier… maybe)
Jedi’s Pick: Graceful Calligrapher
P3P11
Hey, hey, we get to take both acolyte and Sol’s Fury =)
Jedi’s Pick: Sol’s Fury
P3P12
Goes with our Kodosh Sees All… but yeah… no… we take it anyways.
Jedi’s Pick: Curse of Taxation
P4P1
So Shugo’s Hooked Sword is clearly and 100% the pick here being an absolutely great finisher in most creation decks and of course rarely not a 2,3,4 for 1. That being said I am still building my collection and I do pass on rares but I do not pass on legendary so I take the Skylord Tolek here.
Jedi’s Pick: Skylord Tolek / Shugo’s Hooked Sword
P4P2
This is a very interesting pack for us indeed, since it has at least 3 cards that go great in our deck as well as two honorable mentions. Siege Provisions is a very powerful relic that can help get larger as well as smaller units become a threat and either get in damage or force trades while not taking one of your blockers away essentially. (It can also break stun effects) Shardbinder is good for the same reasons we took a few earlier, but our lack of relics like provisions to take advantage of the extra text on it make it less appealing.
Thunder of Wings is an extremely powerful card creating a must answer threat very early in the game as well as a large amount of surprise damage later in the game as a top deck. In most cases Thunder would be the windmill slam pick here, but the presence of both the on color Chant and Edge ground these wings. Edge of Prophecy is exactly what this deck wants to be doing especially since we have a few ways of bringing it back from the void making it bigger each time, while also having a bladecrafter to find it consistently. Sadly though, I value fixing in these straight tri-faction decks (not two colors with a third splash) with the Creation Chant having the additional bonus of being an invoke card in the late or mid game when we no longer need the power or fixing.
Though the ceiling can vary with Chant compared to Edge, the consistency it adds to our deck with high potential upside and flexibility makes it a priority for me. Plus the way these packs have been flowing I have faith that we are the only creation/armory player and will see either another edge or hook sword before this pack is done.
Jedi’s Pick: Creation Chant
P4P3
Windmill slam Wind Conjuring here for as it is widely considered the strongest of the conjuring spells on the front end and justice invoke being probably the second or third strongest invoke with shadow taking first. The +4+4 means it allows just about any unit to win most combats, it helps with surprise lethal, the endurance and “ready” clause allow you to surprise block your opponent's attackers, and well yeah WIN-voke. Other cards that would have been a consideration here are Turn back Time, Gravewatch Ancestor, and Siege Provisions.
Jedi’s Pick: Wind Conjuring
P4P4
BOOM rewarded… Here is our other finisher with Edge of Prophecy. In most cases just playing it the first time, killing their biggest threat then recurring it as a 12/12 is enough to win you the game. That being said I have seen a 26/42 weapon and in more than one occasion made my edge a 26/24. There are very light considerations for the token and even 2 out of 3 colors is fixing and Sky King Storyteller for our unit count, but neither compare to Edge.
Jedi’s Pick: Edge of Prophecy
P4P5
Well we just talked about taking our unit count into consideration (even though we aren’t in dangerously low levels or anything) and we see one of the cards we just passed so excellent. Steely Stranger has under performed for me overall as the random battle skill can be beneficial, and really good if you stack a few on a unit but the 1/3 body has just been a liability. It can block but not kill opposing strangers allowing them to get the attack trigger as well without punishment and it doesn’t attack well either with any kind of a board on the other side.
Willbreaker has proven to be a little better than I initially thought, but we have plenty of 2’s and really the double damage is not something we can take advantage of so not a high pick here. Storyteller is a fine body (though not amazing), the warcry triggers can make an impact with our deck having high health units and powerful weapons, and the mastery sometimes discourages your opponent from attacking into her.
Jedi’s Pick: Sky King Storyteller
P4P6
As I have stated before, I am not as high on these pay off strangers (Magnificent / Covetous) as other players, I’ve adopted the strategy of passing these while picking up the factionless strangers to then capitalize on my opponent playing them versus having the benefits swing the other way. Plus our curve is looking very good thus far and so I also pass on the Ancestor for the fixing potential of the Token. I will admit that I would not fault anyone for taking one of the two strangers here with the priority to Mag Stranger, but I think the fixing will increase the consistency of our deck.
Jedi’s Pick: Token of Destruction
P4P7
Nothing super exciting for us in this pack and since I can appreciate having some early interaction for the early game or medium annoying units later I take the FuryBlade here. Of note it does also open up the door for us to occasionally play a unit and still use furyblade the same turn to kill something or finish off a larger unit in combat.
Jedi’s Pick: Furyblade
P4P8
I highly doubt we are going to play it, but since it is the only playable card in the pack for us we take the Divebomb.
Jedi’s Pick: Divebomb
P4P9
You keep hearing me talk about fixing and we just took a two color token so an on color token is too good to pass up especially this late. Moreover the Storyteller is very much a replaceable filler unit.
Jedi’s Pick: Token of Creation
P4P10
Here we are definitely seeing the benefits of identifying our “lane” and no one else really being in our tri-faction as this is a SUPER late Rageheart Paladin and exactly where we want to be right now. With the weapons in our deck it can be a great defensive / stabilizing play while the lifesteal also allows for us to come back from a game we were potentially losing. Considering what has been passed to us in back 1 and 4 I’d say the person ahead of us is either Elysian or Xenan as we haven’t seen any shadow at all or flyers in these packs.
Jedi’s Pick: Rageheart Paladin
P4P11
I don’t really see us playing it, but the fact that the top end of our unit curve is a little lacking we take Stonepowder Bomber.
Jedi’s Pick: Stonepowder Bomber
P4P12
Can’t complain we got plenty of great picks this pack… more shiftstone.
Jedi’s Pick: Static Discharge
Jedi’s Deck
Alright our final result friends is a creation armory style deck that I am actually quite happy with albeit a little greedy and missing some removal. We are running only 15 units which typically is a little low, but I have learned that the advantage you get from your relic weapons allows this deck to drop a unit or two and still function just fine though I will admit 15 is my absolute lower limit on this as you still need them to block and attack.
We cut some shardbinders since we have no relics for their ability to be relevant but leave one as it does become a lightning rod for our opponent’s removal thus potentially saving one of our later units from that fate. Having plenty of fours we the 2/4 endurance to make room for additional power which I’ll explain in a moment and Gliders being somewhat larger bodies that can fly were more important. I left the Stalwart Shield in as it is another tutor target for bladecrafter and we have a few units like Walker and Rageheart that it combos very well with. I typically like having weapons/interaction throughout the curve to make sure we have something for every occasion, but also feel that Furyblade and Sword of Icaria fill very similar roles and so I cut the Furyblade.
Wurmstone was left in as I feel with 6 spells in the deck we will be able to make decent use of it over the course of our games though I think 5-6 spells in the bare minimum I would want before including the stone. Finally in most cases it is safe to cut 1-2 seek power effects as power and since my starting point is 18 going to 17 power would not be crazy. That being said we have three 7 cost cards we want to play plus an invoke card that wants us to decimate and so I leaned more on savor than sorry and kept the power base at 18. So here is the deck, thank you all for following in the draft with me, I definitely enjoyed sharing it with you, and I hope this article helped this draft format make a little more sense to you.
Also thanks to Direwolf Digital for creating such an amazing card game. If you have any additional comments or questions feel free to mention them in the comments down below and of course you can tune into our weekly limited focused podcast or catch draft videos on youtube in the links down below. Thanks again and as always may the force draft with you.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eternal-journey/id1441261645
https://www.youtube.com/eternaljourney
Small disclaimer: this is one specific set of packs which require their own specific assessment, a variance in card selection could easily change the route we go down and thus how picks are evaluated. That being said, understand that this is A way to draft and not THE way to draft, so it is perfectly alright to agree or disagree with my picks without being wrong. I do encourage you to mention in the comments down below any disagreements and why so we can grow together. So, without further ado, let us begin this Eternal Journey…
P1P1
Rare: As units are the most common card type in limited games, Yojimba is simply a constructed brew card and will be an 0/6 wall for 3 in 95% of your games and not worth a consideration.
Commons: Triumphant Return and Turn Back Time are the most flexible playables at this level, and almost always makes the cut for your limited deck and would be a safe first pick, though very medium. The second and less flexible but more powerful cards at this level would be Brood of Eremot at double primal and Covetous Stranger that has a high ceiling but runs the risk of helping your opponent as well as being extremely vulnerable as an X/1.
Uncommons: There is some serious power in these three cards and all are viable first picks. The conjuring cycle (one in each faction) are all fairly powerful with the ability to invoke a legendary or rare that just wins you the game, but this specific conjuring is roughly 4th in the rankings considering the front side of the spell encourages you to be in a go wide strategy for maximum results and that’s a tough call P1P1 (Pack1, Pick1). Edge of Prophecy is a huge pet card of mine as it comes down as a 6/6 but after recurring it just once (returning it from your void) it will summon as a 12/12 which can increase your chances of winning the game significantly. It is a 7 cost card which is very much replaceable in limited and the three faction influence requirement is a very tall order this early.
Finally this leaves us with Nahid’s Distillation, which can be absolutely back breaking for your opponent in limited and here is why. They call the format limited because the card pool you build your deck with is inherently limited and so resource management is HUGE. Sometimes a single extra card or 2 for 1 exchange puts you way ahead or behind in a game. This one card puts you ahead 2 cards (since you spend a card to draw 3, the 1st card simply replaces itself) for the low cost of 4 power, and you will have access to more cards and thus more decisions and resources than your opponent. Of note, the card is only a single influence and of Time which is the hands down deepest faction in this format, making this the strongest and most flexible pick having the highest chance of making our deck.
Jedi’s Pick: Nahid’s Distillation
P1P2
Rare: Unseen Execution has the potential of being a blow out since it’s a rare and your opponent will most likely not play around it, but it is not a guaranteed board wipe with a super restrictive influence requirement so not a strong consideration here.
Uncommons: Mithril Paladin is a powerful top end for some justice decks due to the fact that it has exalted tacted on, and a 3/4 weapon can make any other unit scary. In my experience, you get the mithril mace off the mastery about a quarter of the time, but overall not an early pick if there is something better. Touch of Battle is probably the strongest of the cycle allowing 2 different cards to trade up on power and is also somewhat difficult to play around so it can be considered a powerful combat trick, maybe even removal and a solid consideration.
Commons: We’ve already talked about Covetous Stranger being an ok unit with the ability to either replace itself with the treasure or draw you several cards. Rectifier is arguably the best common in the set with its ability to somewhat neutralize an annoying threat from your opponent with the summon silence effect as well as being an ok body to block and trade with. It also has corrupt, which means you get two bodies for the price of one that works as a chump blocker, sacrifice fodder, and/or offers a second silence against your opponent’s units. Sometimes the card also has the keyword unblockable as your opponent might not want it to die so your shade can’t silence their second flyer or what not. The last strong common here is Bookclub Yeti which has continued to impress me as a decent attacker and blocker with some liability as a 3/1, but the biggest upside to the card is it’s removal spell mode as the sacrifice effect to deal damage is free so you can use this ability the turn you play it. Yeti does require some setup as you need to have a decently costed relic in play for the second mode, which is a theme of Elysian (Primal/Time faction) if we are looking at our first pick, but it having applications and viability both early and late game makes this little guy a solid pick up as well.
Jedi’s Pick: Rectifier
P1P3
Uncommons: Touch of wild is not even a consideration as Overwhelm is very much a win more ability and rarely has a huge bonus on spells and/or some weapons. Display could be a consideration here even with this trifaction influence requirement as all three of its modes have application in this format though there is a chance it doesn’t make the deck.
Commons: Super medium pack overall with no standouts, but there are some cards to consider with Spellstorm Stranger being a good blocker and very potent in a spells matter deck. Enchanted Platemail goes with our first 2 picks, and though not exciting, a completely viable inclusion to any justice deck since it will kill an ok unit and late game draws you a card as well off of the inspire. Unfamiliar Interloper has underperformed for me over all and I only really consider it if I have high stranger synergies or really need the fixing (which is not a thing this early) so the last two cards to consider are the Platinum Qirin as an early evasive unit with potential upside (and in our main faction for now) and the token of destruction for the potential fixing later. This format has proven to have an excess of playables (minus the two-drop slot after the fixing stranger change), so I end up cutting more playables than searching and needing for more and thus ok spending some medium picks on fixing instead of mediocre units or spells.
Jedi’s Pick: Platinum Qirin
P1P4
This pack is an interesting one with several solid picks for what our deck is looking for at the moment. We’ve talked about Edge already and all still stands true; consequently, it’s something I am leaning towards picking here for major payoff potential. Soldrain smithing goes great with Edge and other weapons, but I typically like picking up the payoffs first, so it’s not the pick here. Rageheart is another relic matters synergy payoff but still a little early to take with other strong cards in the pack. Shardbiner is in our main faction and a little better than average as a 3/1 since it trades up on blocks and can somewhat mitigate the trading down on attack because of the overwhelm, but the serious value is in its ability to make your first relic activation free in most cases with format allstars waystone gate and siege provisions. Gravewatch Ancestor has been an all around solid performer for me, because it’s just fine on curve, pretty decent in the mid game and great in the late game when you can activate its ability with like a 2/4 or 2/5 in the void to make her huge and again in Time and leaving us way open for later packs.
Jedi’s Pick: Shardbinder
P1P5
Another Shardbinder is in consideration, because redundancy in a draft deck can lead to increased consistency over the course of multiple games which leads into more expected lines, outcomes, and wins. Plus it’s a 2 drop something that you always want in your decks. I’m low on Succumb and Inferno Zealot, though I will acknowledge Zealot has its place in some decks. Promising Pupil and Runemarker are 100% filler cards in my opinion. Brood of Eremot is a solid card and happy to grab it, but since it is competing with Biting Winds it’s not the pick here either.
Winds is practically unconditional removal in this format, easy to splash, and often not played around enough in games so something I'm very happy picking here. In most cases I would take winds here, but since we are mono time at the moment and like the idea of double Shardbiner in case we pick up a relic payoff or two later I take the less conservative route, though I wouldn’t knock anyone that didn’t.
Jedi’s Pick: Shardbinder
P1P6
This is our first clear “sign” to potentially go into a second faction with this being a VERY late Shugo’s Hooked Sword as 5 other players passed it up. Granted we have not seen any other fire cards go by so someone ahead of us could still be drafting fire, but probably not an armory version (note hook sword is a great top end regardless if you are an armory deck or not, thus why it is a sign) and of course to a lesser degree there is no time pick in the pack.
Token, Rageheart Paladin are both considerations and we might strongly consider an Elysian Flyer deck here as we are seeing our third Brood of Eremot in this pack as well as a Double Helix Drake, so primal is open. Ensnare is a card I like having exactly one in my deck but often cut and we see them go late in most packs. I feel like at least two drafters ahead of us are in Fire and Shadow if I would take a guess at this point. I lean again towards my preference of Praxis and/or Creation in this format.
Jedi’s Pick: Shugo’s Hooked Sword
P1P7
Personally I am low on Inferno Zealot, cutting it the majority of the time from my deck if I even pick one up, though I do acknowledge it has its place. Precision Plunge can go with our earlier qirin pick before or after it triggers mastery but one flyer isn’t enough for me to jump on it just yet. Rageheart Paladin is a consideration here as it goes well with our hook sword, but i am slightly hesitant to take a double justice card at the moment when we can potentially stay open with just time, as well as those going a little later in the packs as we see here. Since only the Creation and Tradition decks want the paladin I went ahead and took the potentially fixing token since it hit two colors and maybe all three depending on pack 2-3.
Jedi’s Pick: Token of Destruction
P1P8
This is the point in the pack where the picks become somewhat easier and sure enough this one holds true. The only card in the pack that stands out to me is the Bladecrafter as it being very late in the pack might also be a signal like the Hook Sword that either fire or a weapons style lane is open. As I just mentioned it is a great card as it provides a blocker and a way to tutor up the HookSword to insure we have it in our hand once we get to 7 power. Also in some scenarios we could activate the shade’s corrupt ability instead of blocking with it to tutor up a second weapon if we find one for our deck. Solid grab over all.
Jedi’s Pick: Bladecrafter
P1P9
So now I think it’s safe to feel comfortable in our lane being praxis as this is a SUPER late Rectifier and clearly the pick here. In my experience I jam every rectifier I can get my hands on into my decks and have never regretted it.
Jedi’s Pick: Rectifier
P1P10
Though I do not think Assault Shield is a bad pick, I am not very high on the card… I just am not a fan of it sometimes not doing what you need it to do despite having some decent upgrade potential. Moreover even when it does take out a larger unit, you take a huge chunk of your life to do it, so for that reason I'm going with the more consistent Platemail that could also potentially draw us a card in the late game. I also typically like having a few weapons at different power costs to tutor up with the Bladecrafter.
Jedi’s Pick: Enchanted Platemail
P1P11
A little more luck was sent our way as bringing back Hook Sword over and over again can be pretty powerful and that is exactly what Soldrain Smithing does and an easy late pick up for our deck.
Jedi’s Pick: Soldrain Smithing
P1P12
...Yay… we got one…
Jedi’s Pick: Inferno Zealot
P2P1
Rare: In this format you don’t put much weight in the minotaur synergy so it’s just a 3/3 revenge for 4 which is just medium and a consideration but not a high one.
Uncommons: I find this format to be just a little too fast for the rings you want to be doing something efficient and effective every turn up the curve and the rings just don’t do enough for 3 power per turn. I think it’s a little early to speculate fixing for primal and I must admit I like the Swift Stranger here as Charge is a very powerful ability to have should we collect up a few more strangers and have the ability to pressure our opponent’s life total. It also goes with our current Praxis build and one of the slightly less punishing shared stranger abilities should our opponent have a few of their own.
Commons: Inflict Conscience is still playable but with so much sacrifice effects and synergy in the format I’m very hesitant to pick it up. Disjunction would go well in our deck as both relic hate and recursion for our HookSword, but with only one solid weapon at the moment I think we can wait on another. There is a consideration for Argenport Stranger here as it fills the very valuable 2 drop slot and can be fixing for both creation or destruction tri-factions or both if we wanted to get greedy.
Jedi’s Pick: Swift Stranger
P2P2
Uncommons: Much like I felt it was early for the Skycrag fixing, I think it might be a little too early for the Xenan fixing as well. Unless we are THE stranger deck I don’t like picking Battle-Tested as we risk significantly upgrading our opponents board. Rallying Banner was solid in previous formats, we could be creation with the single justice influence being easily splashed, and it offers some relic matters synergy.
Commons: Honestly the only two cards that even warrant a consideration here are Pyre Adept and Wurmstone. With three 2 drops already and the shardbinders being clear upgrades to Adept we are off of it as well. Wurmstone has proven to be a very powerful card in limited giving you a 7/7 body does some work, though there are 8/8’s running around and you do require to potentially take a turn off to play it as well as having a critical mass of spells to trigger it. If there was a stronger card in the pack we could pass it, but nothing really jumping out at me minus the Banner makes it the safest pick for me.
Jedi’s Pick: Wurm Stone
P2P3
So there is a consideration for Kodosh Evangel for fixing purposes as well as a pretty decent two drop. Mesmerized Moth is too low impact for me and we don’t really have any cards yet that make the Bauble super relevant. Jarrall’s Frostkin is a solid card but not strong enough to pull us into primal. Permafrost on the other hand is very power efficient and somewhat close to solid removal. There are sacrifice effects in the format as we mentioned earlier, and siege provisions does break it for free practically but the permafrosted unit can not block and not every deck runs provisions, so being ok potentially going into Instinct (an “unsupported” tri-faction) we snag that up.
Jedi’s Pick: Permafrost
P2P4
Though there can be an argument for Ancient Manual for the fixing here I feel like Illumination Wisp does decent work in the format with Humbug Nest creating 1/1 flyers and there just being a bunch of 1/X dragons as well. In a pinch it can also trade with the 3/1 Flying Burning Core Drake and we aren’t missing out on anything by taking it here.
Jedi’s Pick: Illumination Wisp
P2P5
Penitent Bull might seem appealing as being slightly under stated for it’s cost but decent ramp, but the fact is that taking your entire turn 5 off to ramp to 8 is just TOO slow in the format and leads you to getting run over. Sirocco Glider is a very solid body on defense and in the praxis deck has ways of getting flying to both block and attack well. Elysian Stranger is actually very good for us here as it’s a good old two drop, works with our swift stranger and also fixes our influence for permafrost while making our time more consistent, thus making it my pick here.
Jedi’s Pick: Elysian Stranger
P2P6
Cards in contention here are Ancient manual, Sol’s Fury, and Towertop Patrol. Sol’s Fury is alright removal, but in our current deck it will cost us a legit card and so I am hesitant. We are pretty firmly still in Praxis so I’m super worried about fixing just yet over a solid unit and yup Towertop is good for some of the same reasons as the Wisp and the Glider we’ve seen earlier.
Jedi’s Pick: Towertop Patrol
P2P7
Honestly this is just a throw away pick as I fairly confident that none of these cards make our final deck so I just took the shiney for my collection lol For educational purposes Barkeep’s Friend is just too much power for too little of an impact… Hook Sword does 5x more for 1 power more and Magma Javalin does about the same thing for 2 power less.
Jedi’s Pick: Fallen Oni
P2P8
Grandfather’s Axe has seen some play in previous formats but it is an expensive +1+1 so the value comes from being able to move it around, the presence of so many Rectifiers means it will be silenced more often than not so it’s off the shortlist. Spitfire is just too clunky and reinforce is not really worth a card even in an armory deck so the pick is the solid body’d Glider.
Jedi’s Pick: Siocco Glider
P2P9
Sometimes when you identify which lane you are supposed to be in you get hooked up randomly throughout the packs and this is one of those times. Stoneshell Walker is a fantastic pick up for our deck hands down.
Jedi’s Pick: Stoneshell Walker
P2P10
This late in the pack we aren’t really expecting to get much for our deck and I think either primal card is worth splashing for so we just take the Barkeep’s Friend on the off chance we need it though I highly doubt it. This would be a fine pick to round out your collection should you need anything.
Jedi’s Pick: Barkeep’s Friend
P2P11
Nothing wrong with taking the Stonescar Stranger here as we are not playing any kind of shadow for Feln Banner to be a consideration.
Jedi’s Pick: Stonescar Stranger
P2P12
Last pick, we take it, though we aren’t playing it.
Jedi’s Pick: Temper
P3P1
So there are quite a few picks we could take here. The most conservative of them would be the Rakano stranger for the 2/2 for 2 slot as well as fixing. Glider is passable, especially with how our deck is looking at the moment and I do like the redundancy of Swift Stranger though I don't think we quite have a critical mass of good strangers to make it busted. I am personally low on Refuge and rarely play Proselytize with the much better Humbug Nest running around. I will admit I am being a little greedy here, but Kodosh Sees All is a win condition in of itself, and being double justice is mitigated some by it being a seven power card as we will have the time to find the fixing. Like I said earlier as well I do find myself cutting quite a few playables at the end of most drafts and so not really missing out on anything else I am ok picking a powerful card here.
Jedi’s Pick: Kodosh Sees All
P3P2
Skyhorror Draconus and Blackguard Sidearms are both great cards but not really worth splashing for in our deck so we can overlook them. The true picks are between Reinvigorate and Swirl the Sands. Combat trick are so rare than they are even more valuable and played around less, especially the uncommon ones in the curated packs. Reinvigorate also ready’s the unit which means you can really surprise your opponent, but that being said Swirl the Sands does get rid of the two most problematic cards in this format which are powerful relics and flyers. In some cases, tucking the card back into the deck is better removal than killing it as it stops recursion, and in some cases it could be better if your opponent has, for example, a Bladecrafter to redraw the weapon, but overall it’s still a great spell and at fast speed to boot.
Jedi’s Pick: Swirl of the Sands
P3P3
Humbug Swarm has proven to be too slow of a card for me to include in my decks as a top end unless I’m running maybe one of the many +1+1 to units relics in the format and even then maybe. (Once again think of Humbug Nest) So it’s between Rampage and Stalwart Shield which I do think is close. Rampage has most of the benefits of the aforementioned Reinvigorate minus the ready part and does help get damage through with overwhelm. The upside to Shield is that we can tutor it with our bladecrafter and it allows for some of our more defensive units to get in some damage while still being a huge wall for our opponents to try to get through. I would not fault either pick here but I have liked shield in the past and so I’ll pick it up here.
Jedi’s Pick: Stalwart Shield
P3P4
I really do feel like there is no contest here for this pick, Sword of Icaria not falls into our creation theme, it’s tutorable, and it does a great torch impression while also having 2 for 1 potential and giving us a warcry trigger or two while it’s at it.
Jedi’s Pick: Sword of Icaria
P3P5
Magma Javelin is a consideration here as it can hit units at that crucial 4 health which is a benchmark in this format, but I will admit it has been only medium for me in this format. I think it is a solid pick here, but since we just picked up the Sword of Icaria that somewhat times up the same removal slot and I like to diversify most of my weapons, we will snag up another Glider here.
Jedi’s Pick: Sorocco Glider
P3P6
I like the 3/3 for 3 Endurance stranger, but the 2/2 for 3 stranger just seems very underpowered to me. It also has a higher potential to benefit your opponent more than you as it easily gets out classed by Magnificent Stranger. That means that disjunction is absolutely great for us as it gives us access to bringing back our weapons from the void as well as destroying any troublesome relics on our opponents side of the board.
Jedi’s Pick: Disjunction
P3P7
Lucky Prospector does have some light applications in the tradition relic decks but I’m still low on it. Emerald Acolyte is a low pick for me as well but does have some application with our weapons package. Major problem I have with it is that I end up getting this card more often than not since the 3 drop slot is so contested in the format. We could hedge a little towards reach and removal taking the Sol’s Fury here despite knowing we will have few sacrifice targets.
Jedi’s Pick: Emerald Acolyte
P3P8
We got a late gift here with Rakano Stranger being great influence fixing for our deck and not missing out on anything at all.
Jedi’s Pick: Rakano Stranger
P3P9
Humbug and Safe Return are very low picks for me so we will take a half fixing two drop.
Jedi’s Pick: Stonescar Stranger
P3P10
We already have two Gliders which have the 2/5 statline so I just took the Endurance Unseen just in case. (Might have considered the Recruit if we have taken the rare Minotaur buffer earlier… maybe)
Jedi’s Pick: Graceful Calligrapher
P3P11
Hey, hey, we get to take both acolyte and Sol’s Fury =)
Jedi’s Pick: Sol’s Fury
P3P12
Goes with our Kodosh Sees All… but yeah… no… we take it anyways.
Jedi’s Pick: Curse of Taxation
P4P1
So Shugo’s Hooked Sword is clearly and 100% the pick here being an absolutely great finisher in most creation decks and of course rarely not a 2,3,4 for 1. That being said I am still building my collection and I do pass on rares but I do not pass on legendary so I take the Skylord Tolek here.
Jedi’s Pick: Skylord Tolek / Shugo’s Hooked Sword
P4P2
This is a very interesting pack for us indeed, since it has at least 3 cards that go great in our deck as well as two honorable mentions. Siege Provisions is a very powerful relic that can help get larger as well as smaller units become a threat and either get in damage or force trades while not taking one of your blockers away essentially. (It can also break stun effects) Shardbinder is good for the same reasons we took a few earlier, but our lack of relics like provisions to take advantage of the extra text on it make it less appealing.
Thunder of Wings is an extremely powerful card creating a must answer threat very early in the game as well as a large amount of surprise damage later in the game as a top deck. In most cases Thunder would be the windmill slam pick here, but the presence of both the on color Chant and Edge ground these wings. Edge of Prophecy is exactly what this deck wants to be doing especially since we have a few ways of bringing it back from the void making it bigger each time, while also having a bladecrafter to find it consistently. Sadly though, I value fixing in these straight tri-faction decks (not two colors with a third splash) with the Creation Chant having the additional bonus of being an invoke card in the late or mid game when we no longer need the power or fixing.
Though the ceiling can vary with Chant compared to Edge, the consistency it adds to our deck with high potential upside and flexibility makes it a priority for me. Plus the way these packs have been flowing I have faith that we are the only creation/armory player and will see either another edge or hook sword before this pack is done.
Jedi’s Pick: Creation Chant
P4P3
Windmill slam Wind Conjuring here for as it is widely considered the strongest of the conjuring spells on the front end and justice invoke being probably the second or third strongest invoke with shadow taking first. The +4+4 means it allows just about any unit to win most combats, it helps with surprise lethal, the endurance and “ready” clause allow you to surprise block your opponent's attackers, and well yeah WIN-voke. Other cards that would have been a consideration here are Turn back Time, Gravewatch Ancestor, and Siege Provisions.
Jedi’s Pick: Wind Conjuring
P4P4
BOOM rewarded… Here is our other finisher with Edge of Prophecy. In most cases just playing it the first time, killing their biggest threat then recurring it as a 12/12 is enough to win you the game. That being said I have seen a 26/42 weapon and in more than one occasion made my edge a 26/24. There are very light considerations for the token and even 2 out of 3 colors is fixing and Sky King Storyteller for our unit count, but neither compare to Edge.
Jedi’s Pick: Edge of Prophecy
P4P5
Well we just talked about taking our unit count into consideration (even though we aren’t in dangerously low levels or anything) and we see one of the cards we just passed so excellent. Steely Stranger has under performed for me overall as the random battle skill can be beneficial, and really good if you stack a few on a unit but the 1/3 body has just been a liability. It can block but not kill opposing strangers allowing them to get the attack trigger as well without punishment and it doesn’t attack well either with any kind of a board on the other side.
Willbreaker has proven to be a little better than I initially thought, but we have plenty of 2’s and really the double damage is not something we can take advantage of so not a high pick here. Storyteller is a fine body (though not amazing), the warcry triggers can make an impact with our deck having high health units and powerful weapons, and the mastery sometimes discourages your opponent from attacking into her.
Jedi’s Pick: Sky King Storyteller
P4P6
As I have stated before, I am not as high on these pay off strangers (Magnificent / Covetous) as other players, I’ve adopted the strategy of passing these while picking up the factionless strangers to then capitalize on my opponent playing them versus having the benefits swing the other way. Plus our curve is looking very good thus far and so I also pass on the Ancestor for the fixing potential of the Token. I will admit that I would not fault anyone for taking one of the two strangers here with the priority to Mag Stranger, but I think the fixing will increase the consistency of our deck.
Jedi’s Pick: Token of Destruction
P4P7
Nothing super exciting for us in this pack and since I can appreciate having some early interaction for the early game or medium annoying units later I take the FuryBlade here. Of note it does also open up the door for us to occasionally play a unit and still use furyblade the same turn to kill something or finish off a larger unit in combat.
Jedi’s Pick: Furyblade
P4P8
I highly doubt we are going to play it, but since it is the only playable card in the pack for us we take the Divebomb.
Jedi’s Pick: Divebomb
P4P9
You keep hearing me talk about fixing and we just took a two color token so an on color token is too good to pass up especially this late. Moreover the Storyteller is very much a replaceable filler unit.
Jedi’s Pick: Token of Creation
P4P10
Here we are definitely seeing the benefits of identifying our “lane” and no one else really being in our tri-faction as this is a SUPER late Rageheart Paladin and exactly where we want to be right now. With the weapons in our deck it can be a great defensive / stabilizing play while the lifesteal also allows for us to come back from a game we were potentially losing. Considering what has been passed to us in back 1 and 4 I’d say the person ahead of us is either Elysian or Xenan as we haven’t seen any shadow at all or flyers in these packs.
Jedi’s Pick: Rageheart Paladin
P4P11
I don’t really see us playing it, but the fact that the top end of our unit curve is a little lacking we take Stonepowder Bomber.
Jedi’s Pick: Stonepowder Bomber
P4P12
Can’t complain we got plenty of great picks this pack… more shiftstone.
Jedi’s Pick: Static Discharge
Jedi’s Deck
Alright our final result friends is a creation armory style deck that I am actually quite happy with albeit a little greedy and missing some removal. We are running only 15 units which typically is a little low, but I have learned that the advantage you get from your relic weapons allows this deck to drop a unit or two and still function just fine though I will admit 15 is my absolute lower limit on this as you still need them to block and attack.
We cut some shardbinders since we have no relics for their ability to be relevant but leave one as it does become a lightning rod for our opponent’s removal thus potentially saving one of our later units from that fate. Having plenty of fours we the 2/4 endurance to make room for additional power which I’ll explain in a moment and Gliders being somewhat larger bodies that can fly were more important. I left the Stalwart Shield in as it is another tutor target for bladecrafter and we have a few units like Walker and Rageheart that it combos very well with. I typically like having weapons/interaction throughout the curve to make sure we have something for every occasion, but also feel that Furyblade and Sword of Icaria fill very similar roles and so I cut the Furyblade.
Wurmstone was left in as I feel with 6 spells in the deck we will be able to make decent use of it over the course of our games though I think 5-6 spells in the bare minimum I would want before including the stone. Finally in most cases it is safe to cut 1-2 seek power effects as power and since my starting point is 18 going to 17 power would not be crazy. That being said we have three 7 cost cards we want to play plus an invoke card that wants us to decimate and so I leaned more on savor than sorry and kept the power base at 18. So here is the deck, thank you all for following in the draft with me, I definitely enjoyed sharing it with you, and I hope this article helped this draft format make a little more sense to you.
Also thanks to Direwolf Digital for creating such an amazing card game. If you have any additional comments or questions feel free to mention them in the comments down below and of course you can tune into our weekly limited focused podcast or catch draft videos on youtube in the links down below. Thanks again and as always may the force draft with you.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/eternal-journey/id1441261645
https://www.youtube.com/eternaljourney
Jedi_EJ Jedi_EJ+5344
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