I drafted RW aggro (which I love) and went 3-0 6-0. I split prizes match 3, but played the match anyway. Not bad for first picking Scapeshift and fifth picking Reliquary Tower for value. I was pretty sad because pack 1 pick 1 I passed some nice red and white cards including Volley Veteran, but Scapeshift was too valuable to pass up. I was able to pick up some nice cards pack 1 like Viashino Pyromancer (which might very well be my favorite creature in the set) and Goblin Instigator. I was able to pretty much only pick red cards pack 1 besides the deviations I mentioned as well as a Brawl-Bash Ogre and a Oreskos Swiftclaw. I was definitely red and hedging for wither RB or RW, it's worth noting that some cards I passed like Cavalry Drillmaster did not wheel. Well the next pack I opened Lena, Selfless Champion which not only is a great card, but amazing in the go-wide RW aggro decks of this format. I still mostly picked up red cards, but did get a Make a Stand and a Inspired Charge. One of the later packs I picked up a Heroic Reinforcements (probably the best card in RW go-wide) as well. Pack 3 pick 1 was very easy when I saw Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants staring back at me. Not only is it decently valuable, it is incredibly strong in my deck. I made good use of the +1 and really good use of the -2 because I had so many targets, including some like Viashino Pyromancer (this card just keeps showing up) and Goblin Instigator with ETB abilities. So the deck ended up just filthy and I had an abundance of riches. I started off with Sure Strike in the maindeck, but soon traded that out for Trumpet Blast. I was able to go wide really well with my tokens and low curve and wanted another mass-pump spell and Trumpet Blast put me up to 4 of those. Oh, and that pack 1 Volley Veteran wheeled which absolutely amazed me and I picked up two more copies for good measure. I had a pretty good goblin count (3x Volley Veteran, 2x Goblin Instigator, Guttersnipe, and Boggart Brute), so my Volley Veterans were pretty much Flametongue Kavus. In my sideboard I had Sure Strike, Lava Axe, another Oreskos Swiftclaw, Act of Treason, Havoc Devils, Take Vengeance, Tectonic Rift, 2x Hostile Minotaur, and Smelt.
MATCH 1 vs UW (2-0)
Game 1 was fairly lopsided. T2 Oreskos Swiftclaw, T3 Boggart Brute, into T4 Guttersnipe with no early blocks so I had dealt a ton of damage already. Eventually my opponent got down Pegasus Courser and Star-Crowned Stag, but my Volley Veteran's ETB trigger killed the Stag and after that round of attacks my opponent conceded.
Game 2 was slower. I went T2 Goblin Instigator but they were soon held back by an Aven Wind Mage into T3 onnake ogre (opponent cast Star-Crowned Stag their T4). T4 things got crazy because I cast Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants, used +1 and smashed in with the now 5/3 onnake ogre. They didn't block, and then Dwindled my Onakke Ogre and attacked Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants with Aven Wind Mage and Star-Crowned Stag taping down one of my goblins. I blocked the stag with the other goblin to keep Ajani alive. Next turn I cast Guttersnipe and Goblin Instigator, used Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants's +1 and attacked in for a bit. Now at this point I had Inspired Charge in hand and my opponent was at 12 so I was prepared to let Ajani die to go for the kill. My opponent cast Mirror Image to make another Aven Wind Mage and attacked Ajani again with Aven Wind Mage and Star-Crowned Stag. I let him die, untapped drew Shock which I used to kill the Mirror Image-turned Aven Wind Mage, cast inspiried charge and smashed in for 17, game over.
MATCH 2 vs BGW (2-0)
Game 1 was a little shaky, but I managed to pull off the win. I was facing a T2 Diamond Mare (a nightmare card to face for aggro decks like mine) set on green into Dryad Greenseeker, an absolutely crazy card, and one that also matches up well against what I was doing. Fortunately I had a T3 Onakke Ogre which was able to crash through for damage a couple of times. Soon they cast Isareth the Awakener I card I know from personal experience is really good and then Vampire Sovereign, yet another nightmare card for my deck to face. Fortunately for me I was able to go really wide with Gallant Cavalry and Lena, Selfless Champion which made 5 soldier tokens for me. I attacked with everyone and got them down to 8. They attacked back with Isareth the Awakener (trigger bringing back a fallen Aethershield Artificer) and Vampire Sovereign, I did not block either and went to 5, they then cast Greenwood Sentinel going to 9. I attacked with my swarm of creatures, they blocked my three largest, took 7 and I Shocked them for the win. Afterwards they showed me that they had Root Snare in hand, but did not leave mana open for it. Had they done that I would have been blown out hardcore and lost the game on the crackback.
Game 2 was a nice clean aggo beatdown, though I must admit my opponent was light on lands. They had T2 Diamond Mare again, but this time I was able to Shock the Mare after it blocked a goblin token to begin the clear the way. They hit me with Sovereign's Bite and I dinged them with Viashino Pyromancer and attacked with Goblin Instigator. Here's where things got out of control. I soon cast Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants and placed enough +1/+1 counters to outgrow their blockers like Dryad Greenseeker. They were eventually able to kill off my creatures with Take Vengeance and some blocks, but I was more than happy about that because Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants's -2 on the two Viashino Pyromancers in my graveyard would just help finish them off. Well Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants was under no pressure so I used his Ultimate and got an emblem. Now I had 3 1/1 lifelink cats and a 4/4 Goblin Instigator with the opponent at 6. They cast Highland Game and passed back to me. Even with the 2 life from Highland Game and 3 life from a Revitalize they responded with, I killed them with both Trumpet Blast and Make a Stand on my four attackers.
MATCH 3 vs UB (2-0)
Game 1 was a classic aggro start with T2 Viashino Pyromancer (man I love this card) into T3 Goblin Instigator. Opponent was stuck on only blue lands and I was just smashing in. After another Viashino Pyromancer I cast Heroic Reinforcements knocking them to 3 and they conceded.
Game 2 was intense and very grindy. They had a T2 Omenspeaker, a creature you hate to see across from you in this style of deck with abundant X/1s and a T3 Gargoyle Sentinel, fortunately for me I had T2 Goblin Instigator and a T3 Onakke Ogre, so that when I cast my T4 Volley Veteran I had enough goblins for the ETB trigger to kill the Gargoyle Sentinel. However, Lich's Caress killed Volley Veteran and boosted their life. Not long later, I no longer had enough goblins out to kill Omenspeaker with my second Volley Veteran, but I cast it precombat anyway to deal 2 to the Omenspeaker to puch attacks from Gallant Cavalry, knight friend, and Goblin Instigator through, no blocks. A second Lich's Caress killed my second Volley Veteran gaining them even more life and I was running out of steam. I kept attacking with my little knights and goblins, but the goblins were getting cut down by Omenspeaker blocks. Soon they cast Mystic Archaeologist into a ton of mana and I knew I was in trouble. The Mystic Archaeologist died in blocks but drew 2 cards. At this point I had a Shock in hand, but I elected to hold onto it because they were now at 6 life, but my creature count was super low. They cast Sift and Macabre Waltz and I chipped them down to 3 life but only had a solitary Gallant Cavalry in play. Mystic Archaeologist returned for them joined by fell spector and Skyscanner. Things were looking bleak for me but I had a fortunate break. fell spector forced me to discard when it came into play and I held my land that turn, bluffing a spell instead of playing it that turn and so that land preserved the Shock I had in hand. Now my opponent was attacking me and I was still drawing lands. I knew I had a few outs like Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants, Thud, and the other Shock so I was still hopeful despite things getting worse. Finally I drew a glorious Viashino Pyromancer (can you see why I love this card?). I cast it, dinged them for 2 damage and then cast Shock for lethal. Well they had one black mana open and cast Nightmare's Thirst, but that only put them up to 4 life so they were still dead. After the game they showed me that they had a Vampire Sovereign in hand!!! I forget exactly why, but somehow the mana didn't work out so they didn't cast it. Vampire Sovereign would have been backbreaking for me and I probably would have lost at that point. Great games against a great deck. I was fortunate to not run into his Plague Mare, probably the best possible card against my deck full of X/1s.
THOUGHTS
3x Viashino Pyromancer is just incredible. I know I probably value them too highly, but I now fully embrace my aggro tenancies in Magic and this creature is just perfect for that. Unfortunately I passed a 4th one because I grabbed a Volley Veteran over it, but as always I wish I had more of these. Not that Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants needs much help, but bringing Viashino Pyromancers back with his -2 is just great.
Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants is just absurd. You'd play this card in any white deck and it will just win you games. His +1 is so great and you can honestly just win using that. His -2 is great like I talked about, but I was always so ahead (and his +1 is so great) and that I never even needed to use it. AND his nigh-unbeatbale ultimate is reached pretty quickly, plussing him the turn you cast him already gets him to 5 loyalty counters and the ultimate only needs 7. Such a great card, ridiculously powerful.
3x Volley Veteran was amazing. I think most red decks would play these no matter what, but once you get as many goblins as I had these become honorary Flametongue Kavus and are absolute powerhouses. These demolished potential blockers like crazy and are just great.
I've already sung the praises of Heroic Reinforcements my first Core 2019 draft when I had 3 of them and it was good just as always. Backbreaking in this style of go-wide deck.
I never got any incidental damage from my Guttersnipe (actually now that I think about it, I think I just missed the triggers and won anyway), but I can see it being a great closer, because you just need to cast your removal spells and your mass-pump effects to chisel their life down.
2x Shock was nice. The extra reach is great and it feels so good to remove little blockers.
2x Goblin Instigator is really great. They were goblins for Volley Veteran and bodies for the mass-pump spells. I might have been able to get more, but the person to my left was drafting RB and was probably picking them up for sacrifice fodder.
Thud is a really nice card to help you win out of nowhere. It's great with high power guys like Volley Veteran and Onakke Ogre. I love having one copy for my red decks.
This was my first time trying out Make a Stand. I didn't use it much, but I do like how it works offensively and defensively.
Lena, Selfless Champion is crazy good. I only cast her once, but she won me that game with her many tokens. I can't even imagine casting her and then following up with Trumpet Blast, Heroic Reinforcements, Inspired Charge, Angel of the Dawn, or Make a Stand. You can see why she's so good, because there are an abundance of mass-pump spells in this set.
galant cavary is nice in this type of deck. Them having Vigilance is pretty handy sometimes.
It was a great draft because I pulled some money cards and still drafted a dominant deck. I love this archetype and maybe should branch out more, but I love playing it and keep doing well with it, so we'll see what happens next time. Oh, and something happened that I thought would never happen, I passed a Valiant Knight after I knew I was RW. I was close to picking it, but then I thought about all the many 4 casting cost spells I had (3x Volley Veteran, Heroic Reinforcements, Inspired Charge, etc.) and I didn't take it. I think I would have, but there was something like Viashino Pyromancer in the pack as well. I was definitely more red than white, but if I had more white with a lot of Gallant Cavalry and Cavalry Drillmaster then the Valiant Knight would have been a slam dunk. Maybe I was wrong to not play it anyway though.