Continuous Drafting

I've run into a curious situation with drafting the new release, Kaldheim.

I can't stop. 

I just ... keep.... drafting.

In all seriousness, I started the draft with 40,000 gold and using the gems from winning and draft tokens from the season pass and a couple draft tokens on sale for half price in the store, I've been drafting more than ever as I earn enough from winnings that I almost never completely drain the wallet. As a result I've done 23 drafts over a period less than a month; in comparison I did 35 drafts for Zendikar rising that went from late October to early January.

For some reason, I feel more successful in Kaldheim than I did in Zendikar, and I felt good about the latter to begin with. The stats support this: I had 5 trophies total in ZNR, and I'm at 4 in KHM. I think a big part of that is concentrating mainly on Best of Three drafts instead of Best of One. 

Although the reward structure is more skewed in Bo3 there are factors that mitigate this skewing and have lent to my better results.

1) Not Ranked - so I'm playing against any level player instead of increasingly better opponents

2) No Hand Smoother - so decks are less likely to "go off" on curve and games are longer

3) Variance Reduced - since its a best of three, a bad game or mulliganning down to 5 does not mean you have lost the match; the variance is spread over 2 or 3 games per match

4) Maybe I'm getting better?

Let's not put too much stock into that last one.

Whatever the reason, my enjoyment of drafting on Arena has increased with these improved fortunes as I rarely find myself grinding standard for gold and can just enjoy the game the way I like.

Now, time to see if I can break my trophy record...

Welcome to Kaldheim

 

The new Magic the Gathering set is out two weeks ago and I had stored up 40,000 gold, enough for 4 drafts. This time I was planning to concentrate just on Best of Three instead of Best of One, so there was some risk that the Gem rewards were going to be more lacking, but I was willing to try as I've been finding the Best of Three format to feel less frustrating as I know the variance gets spread over 2 or 3 games instead of just one.

I went into the limited format feeling a little overwhelmed. There is a lot of words and mechanics and things at play and after enjoying the straightforwardness of Zendikar Rising I was worried it was going to end up being another Theros Beyond Death experience for me.

I'm happy to report that I've done better than I hoped:

KHM
2021-02-03 12:00	UW	2 - 1
2021-02-02 12:04	WB	2 - 1
2021-02-01 7:43	UG	1 - 2
2021-01-31 20:47	RG	2 - 1
	WB	1 - 2
	UW	3 - 0
2021-01-29 12:30	RB	2 - 1
2021-01-28 12:05	UW	1 - 2

One trophy and I've earned enough Gems for 5 more drafts (still have one draft to go so wish me luck) and I feel like I have a moderate handle on the format. 

So far my favourite deck was the RB Berserker/Giants that was pure gas fun.

Deck

2 Deathknell Berserker (KHM) 83

1 Demonic Gifts (KHM) 84

2 Draugr's Helm (KHM) 88

1 Elderfang Disciple (KHM) 93

1 Feed the Serpent (KHM) 95

1 Jarl of the Forsaken (KHM) 100

1 Karfell Kennel-Master (KHM) 101

1 Raise the Draugr (KHM) 105

1 Skull Raid (KHM) 111

1 Basalt Ravager (KHM) 122

1 Doomskar Titan (KHM) 130

1 Dual Strike (KHM) 132

2 Frost Bite (KHM) 138

1 Immersturm Raider (KHM) 141

1 Provoke the Trolls (KHM) 144

1 Run Amok (KHM) 147

1 Shackles of Treachery (KHM) 150

2 Tuskeri Firewalker (KHM) 157

1 Kardur, Doomscourge (KHM) 216

1 Blightstep Pathway (KHM) 252

2 Snow-Covered Swamp (KHM) 281

8 Mountain (KLR) 298

6 Swamp (KLR) 293

My trophy deck was a busted Blue White Foretell deck that won more than a couple games on the back of the Niko planeswalker who is very powerful in limited

Deck

1 Battlefield Raptor (KHM) 3

1 Clarion Spirit (KHM) 6

1 Codespell Cleric (KHM) 7

2 Doomskar Oracle (KHM) 10

1 Kaya's Onslaught (KHM) 18

1 Stalwart Valkyrie (KHM) 31

1 Starnheim Courser (KHM) 32

2 Valkyrie's Sword (KHM) 36

1 Augury Raven (KHM) 44

1 Bind the Monster (KHM) 48

1 Brinebarrow Intruder (KHM) 49

1 Cosima, God of the Voyage (KHM) 50

1 Depart the Realm (KHM) 53

1 Draugr Thought-Thief (KHM) 55

1 Giant's Amulet (KHM) 59

1 Karfell Harbinger (KHM) 65

1 Mists of Littjara (KHM) 67

1 Mistwalker (KHM) 68

1 Niko Aris (KHM) 225

1 Niko Defies Destiny (KHM) 226

1 Funeral Longboat (KHM) 238

2 Gates of Istfell (KHM) 256

1 Shimmerdrift Vale (KHM) 267

7 Island (KLR) 290

7 Plains (KLR) 288

I'll continue drafting and let you know in a month how things are shaking out.

IN OTHER NEWS...

Magic the Gathering Arena Mobile has been released for early access and I got it on my phone and I can confirm that it works pretty good. It uses the same account as the PC version and all my decks are there, I can play games with no issue against opponents on PC or mobile, and the experience has been pretty solid. 

That being said, I did a test draft on it, from Pack 1 to Pick 1 to all three matches and I found that more difficult. I like to build my deck as I go and this limited size made that much harder. And I found the gameplay in the more competitive environment more stressful. I noticed at one time that I had 5 fewer minutes left on the match clock than my opponent because it takes longer to do anything.

Overall, I'd recommend the mobile version for doing daily quests on the go, or just passing time. I'll stick to the PC for more competitive Magic games I play.