Epic Dark Draft Decisions (12)

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/

This time was slightly different. My randomizer actually came up with 3 Evil 0-cost cards. I decided to add 2 others just because I think the debate between the 0-costers to be very interesting.

 

 

Consume - In my opinion, this is a better Unquenchable Thirst. I don't like getting rid of my own discard pile, and even though it has a higher ceiling, I usually find that 3 damage is usually all I need anyway. There are always so many ~3 health targets in any Epic game that it is almost always useful, and 3 health is a nice little bonus.

Guilt Demon - This is one of my favorite cards. I have spoken about this in the past. I love just Blitzing this to get rid of pesky cards in my opponent's discard pile like Soul Hunter or Psionic Assault. I love it when I can draw out my opponent's gold as well, and if not, 3 damage can really start to add up. Plus, in a pinch this "little guy" (I mean look at that art!), can be Ambushed in to stop a big flier.

Raxxa's Curse - This is another one of my favorite cards. I am wondering if Evil is my favorite faction. I can always use this card in any deck that I build. I am never sad if I draft this. As a 0-cost remover there is nothing better. Getting rid of a Muse and getting a demon token is awesome. Sometimes that is enough to draw out my opponent's gold on my turn as they don't like taking the considerable 4 damage. There are always 0-cost cards to get rid of, so this can always be used. Plus, it can serve as a draw 2 which is also always needed in a game of Epic.

Heinous Feast - Our good friend Tom Sorenson has phoned in as I am typing this to draft this card without further notice. I couldn't be angry at him for doing so either, as this card is very useful. Discard Pile Banish is one of the most powerful and game changing things one can do in Epic. It removes powerful recurring cards like the above mentioned Soul Hunter and Psionic Assault (plus many, many others), it slows down opposing decks as they no longer have fuel for Recycle triggers, and it prevents the alternate win condition for your opponent in drawing all of their cards (actually plausible in a 30 card deck). Heinous Feast also gives a little bit of health and functions as a draw 2 as well. I personally like using this to get rid of an opponent's discard pile and then play Zombie Apocalypse to prevent my opponent from getting more zombies than I.

Corpse Taker - I love having this little guy in Limited. Frequently, an opposing deck will have trouble with one particular champion, whether that is Juggernaut with its Unbreakable, Steel Golem with its Blitzing Untargetable-ness, Gold Dragon with its Airborne, or whatever it is. Once/if they finally find a way to deal with your amazing champion, play Corpse Taker and grab it from your discard pile and play it again and watch your opponent start to cry. My favorite play is to grab my Sea Titan, that my opponent has struggled with dealing with all game, back from the discard pile, and then using its ability to bounce the Corpse Taker back to my hand, ensuring I can do the same thing all over again. *rubs hands maliciously while cackling*

The only thing that saddens me about this pack is that I can only choose 1 of these cards for myself, while my opponent gets 2. I wouldn't even care if they got to pick first, I think whomever gets more of these cards is better off. That being said, if this was the first pack I opened, I think I might have to go with Raxxa's Curse. I really like all of these cards, but I really value drawing 2 cards at times so that helps eliminate some options. Plus, I personally value playing Raxxa's Curse over Heinous Feast. I can always play Raxxa's Curse, I don't always get the full benefit of Heinous Feast. I know how powerful discard pile banishing is, but I actually have never seen it happen to me. For whatever reason I usually win or lose before that can happen. Plus, I think Uprising gave us some more discard pile banishers (like Grave Demon), so I feel fairly confident that I could see some more if I really want some.

If I was lucky to get this pack after my opponent. I would probably grab Heinous Feast and Consume, although it's possible that I would get Guilt Demon depending on the day, lol. As I said all of the cards are very decent.

I am sure people disagree with me. I would love to hear why. Leave a comment and happy gaming!