I drafted RUb and went 1-2 in matches. I had fun, but didn't feel like I drafted as well as I could have. The draft started out alright for me, but there were some signs that it might not end well. Pack 1 pick 1 was River Hoopoe which is decent, but not quite the best thing to start out on. Then I picked Abrade and Sand Strangler which are excellent except that I passed Open Fire and Struggle / Survive in those packs as well, unfortunately, most likely causing someone downstream to jump into red as well (which did happen). I stayed pretty true to red the first pack and a half or so and was not seeing any clear indications about any other open colors. Pack 2 pick 1 I grabbed Ramunap Ruins over Nimble Obstructionist which in retrospect, was probably a mistake. I was desperate for deserts at that point and was happy to get one that was on-color. However, Nimble Obstructionist is a pretty good card AND I ended up going into blue anyway. My deck ended up with tons of decent removal spells, but the creatures were pretty underwhelming. I could very effectively delay and control the game, but I didn't have any great finishers. Nimble Obstructionist would have been a great addition and I should have prioritized my creature picks a bit more to be able to actually close out games. Most of the time I was hoping to draw one of my two Gilded Cerodons or Cryptic Serpent to close out the game, but they are pretty vulnerable. The rest of my creatures were pretty lame and couldn't contribute to killing the opponent. I should have tried to grab some fliers or menace creatures to be able to punch some late-game damage through. It was a great learning experience though.
MATCH 1 vs GBU (2-0)
Game 1 was grindy. I was able to just remove his threats over and over again and eventually, slowly beat down with lame creatures.
Game 2 was lopsided. I had to mulligan to 5 and was without a blue source for a long time, but my opponent got so flooded they couldn't do anything to me. I couldn't do anything about their Striped Riverwinder, but I dealt with everything else and was able to chip in enough with Sand Strangler and Magmaroth for the win.
MATCH 2 vs RG (0-2)
Game 1 was rough, I was killing off opponent's stuff and was beginning to stabilize at a fairly low life total, only to be finished off by Inferno Jet.
Game 2 was disappointing. I was able to control things much better this time and eventually neither of us had very many cards, I had a Ancient Crab in play and my opponent had a Magmaroth under a Unquenchable Thirst and an Oketra's Monument. I had Commit / Memory in my graveyard with 10 lands in play. I was not sure if I should cast Commit / Memory. They were not currently threatening me, but they did have Oketra's Monument. I waited a few turns, but couldn't really find any attackers. I finally cast Commit / Memory but unfortunately drew 3 lands among my 7 and the other 4 cards were not very impactful. I think it was a mistake to cast Commit / Memory. I should have just let things keep developing and leaned on my removal for the win. The risk of refueling my opponent was just too high. I had another huge mistake when my opponent Ambuscaded my Gilded Cerodon using his now 5/5 Magmaroth. I promptly cast Splendid Agony on Magmaroth only to realize that the +1/0 boost from Ambuscade STILL was going to leave Magmaroth with 4 power to kill my Gilded Cerodon. I could have used that spell to kill other creatures in play instead. Eventually my opponent got a few creatures out and then won with Overcome. This was the most devastating game of the night, I'm not sure if I could have won, my opponent had a great deck and mine was medium, but I could have made some better decisions.
MATCH 3 vs GW ramp (0-2)
Game 1 seemed close for a while. My opponent had a slow start which looked good for me initially because I was a control deck. However, I soon realized that my opponent was playing a ramp deck. I couldn't apply much pressure because of his Oasis Ritualist blocking the way and then he was able to dominate me with Edifice of Authority. That card is so good. It locked down my best creature each turn and bought my opponent so much time. Then once he had things like Sifter Wurm in play, Edifice of Authority would switch over to offence and make it so I couldn't block well. I stalled things out a bit but my creatures got outclassed quickly and I lost.
Game 2 went pretty similarly to game 1. I have a fairly aggressive start with tah-crop initiate and Banewhip Punisher killing off an Adorned Pouncer. Followed up by Splendid Agony killing off a Solitary Camel. But before long my opponent stabilized and I couldn't attack. Edifice of Authority came down again as well as Sifter Wurm. I was able to Unquenchable Thirst the wurm, but my opponent simply used Endless Sands to put it back on the battlefield. My Cryptic Serpent and Gilded Cerodon took turns getting locked down by Edifice of Authority before I was halted by an Eternalized Adorned Pouncer. Soon a combination of aven and wurm attacks took me down.
THOUGHTS
I liked most of the removal spells that I played. Was happy to play them, these were the strongest part of my deck.
Bloodwater Entity was not at its best in my deck. I think it's much better in a tempo strategy than in a control strategy like I tried. I was nice to re-buy removal spells, but it would be so much nice if the spell went to your hand.
Firebrand Archer was pretty nice, I would have loved to have a few more of these. They come down early and allow you to sit back and cast removal spells as the trigger damage kills the opponent. This card probably dealt more damage to my opponents than any of my other creatures.
Cryptic Serpent is nice, but needs some support.
Gilded Cerodon is ok, but I think it shines more as a top-end in an aggressive deck to punch through the last few points of damage. It's just to vulnerable as a control finisher and can't always get through.
Scribe of the Mindful was surprisingly good for me. I was able to keep getting back my best removal spells. Nice little card.
Sand Strangler was good, but there were many moments where I couldn't get the trigger online. I fell into the trap of waiting for a desert sometimes where it would have been better to just cast Sand Strangler as a blocker. It's a judgment call, but I think I need to be better at accessing when Sand Strangler should come down.