Epic Dark Draft Decisions (5)

Here is the 5th Epic Dark Draft Decisions. For the new readers, here is what I'm doing:

I use a random card generator to generate a hand of 5 cards from a complete singleton set of Epic, which includes the Core, the Tyrants, and new Uprising sets. I will then analyze the hand and decide what I would tend to pick if I were to draw that hand in the Dark Draft format of play. I will decide which card to pick if I got that pack, as well as which 2 cards I'd pick if I got the remaining 4. For the sake of consistency, I will assume this is the first pack I open.

For your information and as a reminder, here are the Dark Draft rules from the official website:

Dark Draft (2 players)

• Shuffle a stack of at least 120 cards. Deal 5 to each player.
• Each player takes 1 card out of their hand of five cards and drafts it, then passes the other 4 to the other (at the same time).
• Each player takes 2 cards out of their new hand of four cards and drafts them, then discards the remaining two cards into a shared face-down discard pile.

Both players now have drafted three cards. Repeat nine times to get to a 30-card deck, shuffle and play.

This is a fun, fast, and skill-testing draft format for two players. Many of our competitive events use this format in the playoff rounds. This format is used in our World Championship. Source: http://www.epiccardgame.com/formats-draft/

Let's open another pack!

 

 

Well my opponent should be pretty happy with whatever I give them. These are some very decent cards for Limited. Drain Essence and Sea Titan are considered to be 2 of the best cards in Limited. Drain Essence gives you that direct removal with some serious life gain, while Sea Titan has the best evasion, a huge body, and a fun decision making Tribute ability that can be used offensively or defensively.

That's not to say that the other cards suck. Bodyguard I think will really show that it's a very strong Good card. It is true that you need to have a lot of Good cards to make it great, but having a little blocker or attacker almost all the time is so great. He's so easy to get back to your hand and so flexible. If you haven't read my take on him I wrote a little on all the new cards in Uprising here: http://amazingspidertank.blogspot.com/2016/11/epic-card-game-uprising-will-of-zannos.html

Cave Troll is an odd one. I think he can be amazing in Limited. You play him and he's a free blocker. If he lasts long enough to attack that is a serious hit and you might draw out your opponent's gold. If he gets killed, as long as you have a lot of Wild in your deck, you can get him back. If you opponent banishes your draw pile, you still made him play it on a 0-cost and not something else, so that can be good. Uprising did give us a lot of discard pile removal though so the Cave Troll does take a hit.

Zealous Necromancer is another oddball. I have heard tales of him completely locking out decks in Limited. If you aren't prepared to remove him from the game, your opponent can amass a lot of zombie tokens and ping you to death. He also has Ambush and draws a replacement card so that is always desirable.

That being said, I think I'm going to have to take Drain Essence. This is one of those cards that I will try to take in every single Constructed deck I make. This makes it very obvious that I will be taking it in Limited as well. It is a huge card that gives you some serious advantages in Epic. That direct removal would be decent enough, but to give you 9 health?! You remove most opponent's entire offensive turn with that card. I have seen this card bring player's back from the brink of death, and catapult them into the lead.

I will be extremely sad to give my opponent a Sea Titan though, and you better believe I will be looking for cards like Lying in Wait or Blind Faith and of course board sweepers that can take care it.

If I received this pack I would be dumbfounded. How could my opponent pass on a Sea Titan in the first pack? Unless they like a specific playstyle that Sea Titan doesn't contribute to I would find it hard to figure out what they took. Nevertheless I would be extremely happy to be passed this pack. Sea Titan is the obvious first pick, and I think I would have to go with Zealous Necromancer. He can do damage simply by being around and he doesn't require any Loyalty or color commitment like the other 2 can. Even though my opponent had to get an amazing card, I would have to say I came out on top with this pack.

Thanks for tuning in and I hope you enjoyed this writeup of Dark Draft Decisions. Until next time, happy gaming!