Betting the game on tumult card orientation (Kojo & Booda) [Sealed]

This is the sealed deck I ended up with at a local post-release Trial by Frost sealed event.

The pool

First impressions:

• I have access to Sigismar & Wingspan, the strongest hero in limited, but there aren’t a ton of Ordis cards I’d be happy about playing: the Ordis Liaison (C)s and Rallying Call (C) are the only draws into the faction.
• I also have access to Kojo & Booda. They’re nearly as strong as Sigismar & Wingspan, but my Bravos offers many more desirable 2 and 3-drops.
• Muna is my second deepest faction, offering three copies of Persephone (C), a Demeter (C), and Lost in the Woods (C), my pool’s most flexible removal spell.
• Lyra and Yzmir are reasonable support factions. They have just a couple premium characters each, but both offer several spells and permanents I’d be happy playing. Lyra’s highlights are the Winter Outfits which work well with my Haven Seiringar (C)s and Persephone (C)s. Yzmir gives me another removal spell in Blizzard (C) and some reserve interaction with Rime Frost (C).
• I can quickly discount my Axiom, which is both shallow and weak.
• 4 copies of Amarok is amusing.

I tried every configuration with Sigismar & Wingspan as my hero, but Ordis was shallow enough that I ended up being unhappy with the last several cards I had to run in each case.

I settled on Bravos and Muna pretty quickly. Lyra won out over Yzmir because the faction was deeper and the Winter Outfits had relevant synergy with my unevenly-statted characters in Muna.

Uniques

My rating system

Bravos Rescuer: 3/7

This one provides above-rate stats for 3 mana. 4 mana is a bit expensive to combo with a desirable target for the from-reserve ability, but it’s nice that you can just cycle it with its support ability in the early-game.

The deck

I ended up with a straightforward good-stuff deck in Bravos-Lyra-Muna.

There’s a slight forest-matters theme with three copies of Persephone (C) and Magic Beans (R) to change the region type, characters that are especially strong in forest like Haven Seiringar (C), and a single Demeter (C) which cares about being in forest.

Because of the number of characters with uneven stats, I expected Winter Outfits to be stronger than usual.

My pool was lacking in removal, so my deck has just a single Lost in the Woods (C) for interaction.

Takeaways

I’m happy I went with Kojo & Booda over Sigismar & Wingspan. Sigismar is more powerful but not by enough that it was worth the dip in deck quality.

Overperformers

• Joyride (R): This provided a lot of stats out of nowhere as a finisher in R1. My opponent had exhausted my entire reserve, so I wasn’t getting use out of the cards I discarded anyway.
• Ordis Liaison (F): I liked this as a late-game play. I felt better holding onto it since I could at least boost Booda when I was the first player.

Underperformers

• Winter Outfits: This didn’t impress me as much as I expected it to. I could usually afford to wait until a region where my uneven-statted characters didn’t need the Outfits to block well. I often preferred to spend the extra mana on more characters.

The games

Featured game: Round 3

Round 1 (W): Sigismar & Wingspan (Axiom-Ordis-Yzmir)

My opponent shut down my D1 Booda and Haven Seiringar (C) with an Avalanche (C). This gave them a bit of breathing room to set up The Nilam, Withered Tree (C) and a Frozen Reprocessor (C) without falling too far behind. I did have an early expedition lead, but their permanents combo would be getting them a free resupply and Mana Moth every turn.

I mostly played vanilla characters, but all I needed to do was trade to stay ahead. I was able to play my Bravos Rescuer (U) into a water-only region where its 5 stat really mattered. Their Chrysalis (R) ended up being a liability for them, since I was content to ignore that expedition and still secure an easy 1-0.

My opponent’s exhaust engine was online by the late-game. They got down The Snow Queen (R/F) to disable my planned play for the day. The day after, they burned a Chrysalis (R) and Gibil (C) support ability to exhaust my entire reserve.

My hand was lacking in threats, but my saving grace was that I was able to pass priority twice with Winter Outfits (R) (unused from the opening hand) and Arcolano Milk (C). Once they had tapped out, I played Persephone (C) into the Arcolano Milk (C) expedition, then played both sides of a Joyride (R) to give her four additional boosts to squeak out the last progression I needed.

Round 2 (W): Kojo & Booda (Bravos-Ordis-Yzmir)

Playing and replaying Gericht, Revered Duelist (R) let me pull into a slight lead, which was actually a bit problematic for me, since my opponent’s two copies of Sunisa, Dedicated Ensign (R) let them keep pace against my later plays.

In the mid-game, I was able to draw from a Haven Seiringar (C) and a Mighty Simbi (C). Again, I had kept a Winter Outfits (C), but I actually ended up not needing it, in part due to the regions lining up favorably, and in part because my opponent happened not to contest the regions where I had gaps in stats.

We were pretty close going into the late-game, but I was able to land Demeter (C) with an upcoming forest region while trading expeditions. Demeter and Booda helped me 2-0 on the following day.

On the day after that, my opponent produced more overall stats than I did, but I was able to put two characters on one side, then boost them with an Ordis Liaison (F) for the win.

Round 3 (W): Rin & Orchid (Bravos-Lyra-Muna)

Booda was the difference in this matchup. My opponent and I played similarly statted characters, but I pulled ever so slightly ahead due to the free stats.

In the mid-game, they put The Snow Maiden (C) into reserve, then removed fleeting from it with a Bravos Rescuer (C) support ability to replay it, shutting down one expedition to trade but letting me continue to push my advantage.

D4 was the critical day. My opponent led with Demeter (F) into a forest region blocking my Booda. The upcoming region was unrevealed.

I was also planning to play my Demeter (C). I was in the same forest region and could have played her against theirs to 1-0, but that would mean theirs would stick around while mine had a 50-50 shot to lose eternal.

Instead, I played her on the other side, approaching the unrevealed tumult card in the opposite direction. Both of us would move forward onto different regions of the new card, but only one would contain forest.

Effectively, I bet the game on the 50-50 that my Demeter would be the one that stuck around. This looked risky, but I don’t think there was a way around it: if I played for the 1-0, I was still betting on a 50-50 that I’d move into forest, only it would be a certainty that my opponent’s Demeter would stick around. I could move forward on at most one side anyway, and I was willing to let them advance as well for a 50-50 that they’d lose their Demeter.

The tumult card flipped in my favor, which ended up winning me the game. My opponent had a Lost in the Woods to remove my Demeter (C), but I was able to easily trade on that day and the next.

I let Demeter (C) overflow in favor of keeping cheaper characters, which was the right call, since my opponent ended the game with two more copies of Lost in the Woods in their hand.