Draft 025 4-3

1st picked Purify over Valkyrie Denouncer and Sand Viper. 2nd picked Slay. While Shadow was shallow as always, Justice flowed for a bit. Considering switching to Praxis when I saw two late Noble Firemanes, but I hadn’t seen much Time cards. I have had poor success drafting Praxis without quality Time units; the ground always stalls, then I die to fliers. Received a lot of rares. Was even passed a Shimmerpack.

Overall, I had great finishers and decent interaction, but most of the early units were mediocre. I am definitely the control deck and need to trade constantly. I predict 2-4 wins.

G1: Mulliganed into a decent opener: 4 power, a stranger, and Vodakhan’s Staff. My opponent started with a Lethrai Ranger. I drew a Memory Dredger, but stayed defensive with my stranger to prevent his ranger from growing. I never found a 5th power, but Vodakhan’s Staff on the Memory Dredger went all the way.
G2: Mulliganed into a bad opener: Shadow and Justice sigil, Blistering Wasp, Horsesnatcher Bat, and Valorous Stranger. Fortunately topdecked a Xenan Banner. His Amethyst Acolyte neutered my Blistering Wisp. He killed my Valorous Stranger with Talon of Nostrix. I killed his Amethyst Acolyte with my own. He added a Crownwatch Longsword to his Auric Bully and clobbered me with it a few times until I equipped Elder’s Feather on Blistering Wisp to stall him. We filled the board with 2/2s. My Horsesnatcher Bat and Rolant’s Honor Guard quickly ended the game.
G3: Mulliganed into a decent opener. The ground stalled quickly. My Blistering Wisp and his Worldpyre Phoenix stared at each other for about 10 turns while we both grew power and his Stormcaller pinged me. Eventually he had enough power to attack and recast the phoenix. His Noble Firemane enabled a large attack. I dropped to 2. I topdecked Rolant’s Honor Guard, but he had Outlands Sniper for lethal.
G4: Mulliganed into a slow, awkward opener: 3 power, Amethyst Acolyte, and Watchwing Loyalist. His Ice Bow killed my loyalist and created a 3/3 for which I had to use Scepter of Nobility. My Amethyst Acolyte shrunk his 4/4 then traded with Yeti Snowchucker. Finally stabilized at 12 with Direwood Prowler. My Horsesnatcher Bat ate removal but Rolant’s Honor Guard went all the way.
G5: Slow opener: 4 power, Blistering Wisp, and pump spells. Drew Vodakhan’s Staff. Raced in the air with the 4/6 flier while my opponent mentored his units. My Finest Hour countered his Duelist Blade. I had Suffocate and Slay for his 2 fliers so he died quickly.
G6: Good opener. I started off with a Xenan Destroyer and slayed his Slayed his 5/5. My Amethyst Acolyte killed his Cult Aspirant. I used Finest Hour to counter his Burn Out. I was fairly ahead before Slimesplitter Slug killed my Horsesnatcher Bat. I tried racing with Elder’s Feather on Cabal Bludgeoner hoping to draw a Time Sigil to play Blistering Wasp but it didn’t happen.
G7: Slow opener: 4 power, 2 strangers. My opponent started off with Bloodletter on Auric Bully. I took two hits before double blocking it. He played two 3/3s while I had a pair of strangers. My Amethyst Acolyte neutered his Cabal Recruiter. But his Blackguard Sidearm allowed him to infiltrate the recruiter, which got my Blistering Wisp. He had Vara’s Choice for my Vodakhan’s Staff. Direwood Prowler was my last hope but got stunned.

Bombs performed great. My removal was also better than I gave it credit. I lost game 3 due to greed.

Gold Paid = 1835
Shiftstone Gained = 2178 (dust) + 1200 (rares) + 800 (Whispering Wind) + 800 (legend) = 4978
Base = 0.340 shiftstone/gold
Shiftstone Profit = 4354
Pack Profit = 12.81