I drafted UB cycling and went 1-2 (last round was a bye). I think it is a reasonably decent deck, and definitely a cool deck, but it's a slow deck. I feel like the deck is better than the record indicates, but is definitely not perfect. Pack 1 pick 1 was Apocalypse Demon, which is not amazing, but there wasn't much competition in the pack. I stayed mono-black through most of the first two packs, but was slightly leaning into blue because of a couple Striped Riverwinder. Eventually the cycling theme really solidified with a foil Abandoned Sarcophagus, a foil Hollow One, and a Curator of Mysteries.

MATCH 1 vs UW tempo (1-2)

I lost games 1 and 3 and both times it felt like I barely couldn't hold off my opponent's threats and was about to stabilize. Game 2 went entirely according to plan by going long and me killing finishing them off with an 8/8 Apocalypse Demon.

MATCH 2 vs 4-color G goodstuff (1-2)

This was one of the craziest matches that I've ever played. Each game lasted well over a dozen turns and the last game went past time into turn 3. Game 1 I was finally starting to pull ahead and then my opponent cast Commit / Memory. My opponent's card quality was overall better than mine, but despite that and their fresh cards, I was able to barely close out the game. My opponent boarded in a lot of cards for game 2 and it showed. I was feeling pretty good once around turn 8 or so with a stocked graveyard and I was able to cast Razaketh's Rite grabbing Abandoned Sarcophagus and then casting that. I had a bunch of cycling creatures in the graveyard and the ability to cast Razaketh's Rite again to get Apocalypse Demon. I pass the turn and my opponent casts Crook of Condemnation and exiles all cards in graveyards. Which was pretty much the death knell for me. They also were able to Dissenter's Deliverance my Sunset Pyramid earlier as well. I got pretty wrecked by his nice sideboard plan. In an attempt to increase the aggressiveness of my deck and move a bit away from the graveyard plan I sided out 2x Striped Riverwinder, River Serpent, and Lurching Rotbeast and sided in 2x Carrion Feeder, Lay Bare the Heart, and Seeker of Insight. Game 3 was crazy I was able to deal a bunch of damage with Curator of Mysteries but then they cast Sifter Wurm gaining 9 off a Spring / Mind reveal. I was able to immediately shrink the wurm with Torment of Venom. The next few turns involved a slew of creatures, removal, and counters until they were eventually able to bounce their Sifter Wurm in response to my Final Reward, recast it, and gain more life. Things were looking pretty bleak at this point. I'd had Apocalypse Demon in my hand for a while, waiting for the right opportunity and for my graveyard to fill up a bit more. I'd been short on mana for a few turns and a few cycling cards got stranded in my hand because I had to keep removing my opponent's threats. I had to preserve at least one of my creatures so that I could sacrifice it to the Demon to enable an attack. I was able to cast a 12/12 Apocalypse Demon with my opponent at like 8 life, but they cast River Hoopoe and Bitterbow Sharpshooters. I had 8 mana and Razaketh's Rite in hand and I agonized for a bit about what removal spell under 3 mana that I could tutor, but then realized that I could at best remove one of the two flying blockers in the way of my demon. I lost on the following attack. These were great games with a lot of back-and-forth action.

My would-be opponent for the last round dropped.

I was disappointed with the finish because a promo Fatal Push was on the line, but fortunately I was able to jump into the next draft for another try.

THOUGHTS

Apocalypse Demon still seems pretty medium to me. It takes a lot of setup and can still be stopped pretty easily. I think if it had trample it would be a just the right power level.

Seeker of Insight was really nice. It's a great card that fits the Abandoned Sarcophagus plan really perfectly.

Hollow One was great. It's a decent attacker/blocker that you can get back with Abandoned Sarcophagus.

Abandoned Sarcophagus was great but I didn't actually get to use it that much. I could see the potential though. It makes me wonder how good it could be in constructed formats.

Razaketh's Rite was great. It cycles and can find the few good cards in the deck.

Curator of Mysteries was amazing. I probably would have won more games if I had drew it more often. I missed the first couple of Scry triggers, but once I remembered it did some amazing work.

Vile Manifestation was good. My deck would have been stronger with more of these.

Naga Oracle was nice because it feeds the graveyard and sets up your draws.

Sunset Pyramid great as always, at its best in slower match ups.