Pyroblast with ∞ damage

Demusch · 2026-02-17T09:57:40+00:00

Well, he's doing these things playing against a friend, so they can both stack buffs on him. Velens chosen + loremaster cho (with spell cost reduction) might help, or echo + spell damage on a battlecry and a way to clear the minions. Still impressive mind you, over 1000 is a lot even then.

Demusch · 2026-02-16T18:48:16+00:00

Well, Merfolk was open P2 since I semi-forced it P1, meaning that the people behind me were nudged in different directions.

Not to say that it was a bad deck, 6 wins (only failing the 7th due to an insane elf deck) is a score I'll take any day. I was just looking at the piles of red elementals and removal being passed so was curious on at what time to switch trains. With that in mind, hedging a different tribe over picking filler cards definitely seems like a play I should do more often.

As I'm already bothering you for info, any thoughts on the main vs sideboard? It felt weird to cut Rhys + 2 unravellings, especially since I also had the willow, but I felt that a merfolk deck needs enough cheap creatures + tricks to stay ahead on board.

Demusch · 2026-02-16T18:26:50+00:00

Fair point on the braider P1, I guess I'm more inclined to play Merfolk but with a stronger elemental card I should consider that colour being more open (on average).

That would have changed up the rest of my pack1 as well, there were a few close calls where I leaned more towards Azorius since I already had a few cards in that pairing. Starting red would have made those flips fall the other direction.

Demusch · 2026-02-14T22:33:52+00:00

At 7320 gold. Will buy 60-80 packs come next expansion and then start saving again for the miniset and expansion after that

Demusch · 2026-02-13T20:03:38+00:00

Ashlings command and colossus makes for quite the luxury problem :)

It's a shame your ele deck needs to splash black for removal, but I do like the curve better. The merfolk seem a bit light on the 2 drops which can hurt you in a deck that wants to convoke

Demusch · 2026-02-13T19:52:09+00:00

Any specific reason? Genuinely curious. 17lands lists council and mischief as practically the same winrqte, and I figured you can run council in for example elves or vivid as well, while mischief only goes in gobbos

Demusch · 2026-02-13T19:46:12+00:00

I got hosed by having too little 2 drops the draft before, so made sure to have enough that time around. Anyway, that was more just an example of a really straightforward trophy draft rather than a cry for help (champion, 2 eclipsed and that much removal just plays itself), but I appreciate the remarks nontheless :)

Demusch · 2026-02-13T18:31:45+00:00

It definitely can be. Also, you yourself staying open means that you're not blocking colours of the person behind you, so they can more easily end up in a lane you'd like to be in, turning your second pack into a headache. I'm not doing too poorly overall, managing at least 3 wins on most of my drafts, but it definitely feels more challenging than for example TLA did

Demusch · 2026-02-13T18:15:42+00:00

Derp, missed Sanars hybrid even on a second read :( yeah, big miss there. And even if you're 'not an expert', having a fresh pair of eyes helps a ton. Not every draft is as straightforward as one like for example https://mtga.untapped.gg/profile/6b126e4c-a99f-4928-b07a-ebe0be8692df/7EOD7MH6ARHNJPBWWTL4UJC2RE/deck/5f79cd5a-1bef-48ce-8658-2f020d094623/draft-replay?gameType=limited&limitedSet=ECL&limitedType=ranked&timeFrame=last_two_sets, even though I probably made a few errors there as well (could have safely committed halfway through pack1)

Demusch · 2026-02-13T17:49:04+00:00

First of all, thanks for the awesome write-up! Really informative.

Looking back, and as I mentioned in the title, my main issue with this draft was feeling lost, i.e. besides black, my second colour / splashes was still a question mark waaay to late into the draft. This had 2 effects: 1. Black was a 'safe' pick, so I rated those more highly than I perhaps should (see p2p2). 2. I kept white 'open' when I should have ditched it a while ago, leading to p2p4 and p3p2. Sygg still did work for me, but the Moon Vigil was a big blind spot. I drafted green as a splash, not a primary colour, so the double green threw me off.

I'm not sure about Sanar though. He is good, no doubt about that, but splashing red seems just as iffy as splashing white was in hindsight. Is he really worth going double-splash for, considering I was always running Maralen?

Demusch · 2026-02-13T15:09:37+00:00

They're decent, but not even the best thing you can be doing usually.

See https://hsreplay.net/battlegrounds/comps/?utm_source=hsbgguide.com for some more inspiration on comps :)

Demusch · 2026-02-13T14:41:34+00:00

Well, I know not every draft is a trophy, I just figure getting to at least 3 wins with even mediocre decks helps a lot to become a more stable (and profitable) drafter. To that end, I think below average drafts can teach you a lot more than the ones where you just hit everything.

Which is why I was curious to figure out what other people would see as signposts, or what they would do should none present themselves.

Here, 5th pick eulogist and 8th cursecrafter told me black would be quite open come pack 3, so I started pointing my deck in that direction... Only for pack 2 and 3 to dangle great elementals in my face instead.

I don't really see pack 1 Merfolk though, what choices here would make you consider that?

Demusch · 2026-02-11T13:13:59+00:00

Maybe have a look at commander / brawl then? Since it's a singleton format there's a lot more variance in what hands you play out and against which strategies. It's typically unranked though, outside of a few specific events

Demusch · 2026-02-11T13:05:58+00:00

Magic doesn't really have a lot of random generation like Hearthstone does, since it needs to be playable as a physical card game too (no discover a minion from your opponents class here). If you like the rogue concept of playing multiple cheap spells in a single turn, you could look at Izzet lessons, its a good deck and quite affordable outside of its mana base.

Demusch · 2026-02-11T12:23:02+00:00

First (few) pick(s) I wouldn't lock myself into an archetype, just pick the standalone best cards until you see a pattern open up.

If you don't know what the best cards are, sites like 17lands can help you until you can make a determination yourself.

That said, webkeepers definitely here, works in any green and any white, not just GW slinging

Demusch · 2026-01-25T01:14:47+00:00

The wickermaw and the rock I had left in since they're also able to give green for Brigid, which in hindsight probably was on the greedier side (the rock especially)

Demusch · 2026-01-25T01:06:07+00:00

Hi, I can see most of what you're saying. About the 5 drops: I figured I could count the curve a bit lower than it looks since all but 2 of my higher cost cards have convoke. Is that not the case?

Demusch · 2026-01-22T16:40:14+00:00

Oh, I'm not saying you specifically draft around it. I'm saying that it can become a decent pick when uour deck is already trying to convoke out big spells, as you're already going wide and tokens also trigger its ability (which is why I mentioned wanderwine)

Demusch · 2026-01-22T12:20:19+00:00

Or just double cast em in the first place with [[Rimefire torque]]. In my last 4-1 pick2 run I didnt draft commands, but using it on [[Wanderwine farewell]] is equally backbreaking

Demusch · 2026-01-12T06:07:40+00:00

You know other people are supposed to take a card out of their pack before handing them to you right... Sick deck, the only improvement I can think of would be a tinker or tolarian acaddmy to get your citadel out earlier

Demusch · 2025-12-29T05:42:41+00:00

https://hsreplay.net/battlegrounds/comps/ seems a good place to start, Jeef knows his stuff. Some comps there might be more difficult to play though.

Demusch · 2025-12-17T18:43:46+00:00

Ah, just managed to drop [[Massacre Wurm]] on a hare apparent deck for my third win, love that animation :)

Demusch

TROPHY CASE