Today I participated in a 6-player Beyond the Gates draft. I witnessed some pretty wild things, including a player who was virtually mono-Ordis, a Treyst with every from-reserve ability under the sun, and an honest-to-goodness Lyra Festival win.
The draft
I didn’t have flashy options for my P1p1, but I was happy to start with a Paper Herald (F) as a strong, cheap play that gets better out of Fen. The Sandman (R) was an easy choice as the strongest card in P1p2 that shared a faction with my P1p1. I continued taking the strongest card in P1p3, dipping into Yzmir with a Tooth Fairy (R).
The first interesting decision was between Baba Yaga (C) and Ouroboros Inkcaster (C), both of which provide card advantage. I judge Baba Yaga slightly stronger overall, by enough that I was willing to take my second Yzmir card rather than committing hard to Lyra.
I continued to be split down the middle with Lyra and Yzmir cards, picking up Esmeralda (C) and a Lady of the Lake (R) mid-pack. When there wasn’t a strong enough on-faction card, I branched into Muna with a Muna Druid (C) and Ordis with an Issitoq (C). I was eyeing both of them in particular for their support abilities, keeping Fen in the back of my mind.
Once I saw the Ouroboros Inkcaster (C) I passed in P1p4 wheel, I locked into Lyra.
Early in P2, I got a Kadigiran Alchemist (R) and Flamel (C) and felt comfortable declaring Lyra and Yzmir to be my two main factions. I grabbed an Ordis card here and there in case I lucked into Sigismar and could splash Ordis, but picking up a Hydracaena (R) and Kodama (C) made it look more likely that Muna would be the splash.
Seeing packs in the middle of P2 with no Lyra cards taken reaffirmed to me that Lyra was wide-open.
By the beginning of P3, I hadn’t seen or taken a hero I’d consider running. As a result, when I was presented with a choice early in P3 between Akesha & Taru and a Tooth Fairy (C), I felt I needed to take Akesha. I already had several well-statted characters and some card advantage that could make good use of Akesha’s after-you. Still, if I saw Fen at any point, I would happily upgrade to her.
Lyra continued to flow - moreso in P4 than P3 - and I got two of my three Hathors virtually for free. I succeeded in taking an Yzmir card and wheeling a Paint Prison (R).
The only other tough pick came early in P4: there was a pack with several strong commons and rares, but the Magical Training (C) provided a valuable source of card draw and after-you potential while playing very well with my three Hathors.
My Lyra and Yzmir autofilled most of my deck, but only once the draft finished did I settle on splashing a few Muna cards. Muna had two main draws: Hydracaena (R) is a late-game win condition that becomes easier to tap out for with Akesha’s after-you. Beauty Sleep (C) is a finisher that can get picked up with Flamel (C) and Hathor (C).
I looked around the table, and there was only one other Lyra player, which made sense; in P2 and P4 especially, I was getting strong Lyra cards way later than I felt I should have.
The deck
The final result was an Akesha & Taru good-stuff deck. The main thing the deck has going for it is its excellent curve with a ton of strong 2 and 3-drops. Well-statted characters and efficient removal spells ensure the deck can make the most of Akesha’s after-you.
Three copies of Hathor can reliably let me re-use powerful from-hand abilities like Tooth Fairy (R) and The Sandman (R), as well as spells like Magical Training (C) and Beauty Sleep (C). Flamel (C) and Ouroboros Inkcaster (C) fulfill a similar role but also put me ahead on cards.
All of the support abilities in my deck and sideboard clearly point towards a failed plan to pick up Fen & Crowbar. I kept the cards that were generically strong and left some of the low value options like Martengale (C) and Muna Caregiver (C) in the sideboard.
Takeaways
A curve of low-cost characters goes a long way. This is the best curve I’ve drafted so far, and it felt like my smoothest draft deck as a result.
Having two main factions with a third splash faction worked really well for me. Lyra and Yzmir made up 25 of my playables, and after the draft, I could add the 4 most powerful out-of-faction cards I had speculated on.
The most important pick of the draft was when I chose Akesha over a Tinker Bell (C) early in P3. There’s a certain point where you have to reign in your greed: Akesha wasn’t the deck’s ideal hero, but she fits better than the Nevenka or Arjun that I would otherwise have had to run.
The games
Round 1 (W): Treyst & Rossum (Axiom-Bravos-Muna)
I felt safe holding onto a D1 Baba Yaga (C) for the draw. It ended up going 1-0, since my opponent went for a setup turn, getting cards into reserve with Harvest (R). They left the Harvest and a Muna Merchant (R) in reserve.
I had a Tooth Fairy (R) as the first player, but since both of their reserve cards were strong plays, I opted to after-you to see if waiting would let me better disrupt my opponent’s plans. They played a Haven, Bravos Bastion (C). I was thrilled, since I was able to sabotage their 2-mana Muna Merchant from reserve.
Their best play ended up being replaying the Harvest to get a second Treyst counter and two more cards in reserve, but this let me play Baba Yaga from reserve to 2-0.
On D3, my opponent started to get Haven boost value. I let my opponent contest my Tooth Fairy with their fleeting Athena (C) from reserve, then hit it with a Cloth Cocoon (C). We traded expeditions, but my opponent’s Axiom Salvager (C) let them get their fourth scrap counter while putting the fifth card into reserve.
I started to doubt the tempo Cloth Cocoon when my opponent played out The Foundry, Axiom Bastion (C) for the combo with their Haven. They got their fifth scrap counter while playing to a water-only region that I didn’t have the water stats to contest, so we went 1-1 for the day.
On D5, they blocked the water-only region with a Foundry Armorer they put in reserve with Treyst’s ability, then played an Axiom Salvager (C) from hand, triggering it to get the Haven boost and the resupply. They resupplied into a Bravos Vanguard (R), but with my Tanuki (C) and Ouroboros Inkcaster (C), I was able to barely progress with 6 mountain to their 5, for a critical 1-2.
One expedition from victory, I spent a while mapping out my final turn. The big decision was whether using Hathor (R) on Tanuki (C) would give me a meaningful sabotage. Ultimately, I decided that Treyst’s hero ability would give them a strong reserve play regardless, and that I had a more promising route to victory: I played out the Hathor (R) from reserve as the first player to dodge my opponent’s Tinker Bell (C) in reserve. I used Akesha’s after-you to let my opponent play two Foundry Armorer (C)s.
Now that they were below Tinker Bell mana, I cast a Beauty Sleep (C) on a Haven-boosted Armorer, played Flamel (C) to return Beauty Sleep to hand, then played Beauty Sleep on a Brassbug to win just before my opponent’s permanents engine took over the game.
Round 2 (W): Fen & Crowbar (Lyra-Ordis-Yzmir)
My opponent took a one-expedition lead in the early-game, but my A Cappella Training (C) gave fleeting to the first two characters they played while my after-you helped me conserve resources when I would have lost an expeditions anyway. Meanwhile, they resupplied into two expensive characters, which let me save my Tanuki (C) for a more immediate threat.
Esmeralda (C) helped keep my opponent on a water-only region for two consecutive turns. It also landed an amazing resupply into Kodama (C) to be played awake alongside Hathor (C) to 1-0 even against my opponent’s Ordis Gatekeeper (C) + Charge! (R) push. While I could have gone for a 2-1 here, I felt my deck was favored enough even against Fen’s late-game that I would prefer to push than to trade.
My hand was light on resources, and I was top-decking for the first several turns, but on D5, I drew into Magical Training (C) with Hathor in reserve for two cheap draws. I was able to go 1-1 on that turn by playing only once my opponent had passed. I followed that up with a 2-0 next turn thanks especially to the well-statted Hathor and the Kadigiran Alchemist (R).
On 9 mana, my opponent went for a bold Mind Apotheosis (C). Unfortunately for them, their large characters had been resupplied early, and they flipped up three 1 and 2-drops and a removal spell into my empty board. I was able to position my characters to progress on both sides and win the game.
Round 3 (W): Teija & Nauraa (Bravos-Muna-?)
My opponent ramped on D1 with a Teija-boosted Tiny Jinn (F). Kadigiran Alchemist (R) was huge here, letting me 1-0 where the common couldn’t.
On D2, I passed priority with a Magical Training (C). Impressively, my opponent ramped again with a second Tiny Jinn (C). Their follow-up was The Spindle, Muna Bastion (C), and I groaned, since my hand was full of disruption spells. Their Tiny Jinn was blocking my mountain-only region, so the best I could do was play my Alchemist to win the other expedition uncontested.
I was surprised when they chose not to put a card into mana on the following turn, but it made more sense when they played Mana Channeling (R) to double ramp. My hand was embarrassingly light on characters. I only had Hathor (R) to win one expedition, but I was able to Paint Prison (R) The Spindle to at least set them back on tempo.
Predictably, they replayed it later, and from that point on, I started putting Kraken’s Wrath (C), A Cappella Training (C), and Twinkle Twinkle (C) in reserve, only holding onto a Beauty Sleep (C).
What I didn’t count on was them ramping again on D4. My draw of Sakarabru (C) and a removal spell was disastrous, and I could only go 1-0 by playing Hathor (R) from reserve.
With a huge mana deficit but an equally large expedition lead, I ran out the Hydracaena (R) and, thankfully, my opponent didn’t have the removal for it yet.
On 8 mana, I played Sakarabru (C) to move my opponent from a forest-water region into a mountain-only region. This ended up making my opponent work harder with the Parvati (C) that they self-anchored, then boosted with Physical Training (C). Even with their excess of mana, they couldn’t do better than trading against my 8/8/8 Hydracaena.
I started the next day 2 expeditions from victory. My Tanuki (C) sabotaged their Physical Training (C), which evidently disrupted their plan for the turn. I reinforced my mountain stats with a Hathor to pull ahead against the multi-boosted Parvati. My opponent drew into Mana Eruption (C), paying the tough 1 to discard my Hydracaena (R). I had lost my 12/12/12, but my final Hathor in hand was enough to edge out the Hua Mulan (R) they had set up in the other expedition. I was able to advance on both sides for the win.