The draft

For P1p1, I considered A Cappella Training (C) and Teamwork Training (R) but landed on Inari (F) for its efficient stats. I snap-picked Flamel (R) as the strongest card in P1p2 since its tempo-neutral resource advantage has impressed me in previous drafts. A P1p3 Amelia Earheart (R) had me leaning towards Axiom while a Kraken’s Wrath (R) pushed me into Yzmir due to how much better it gets against Sigismar and Kojo.

Shortly after, I saw a pack with Arjun & Spike and an Aloe Vera (C). Already having two strong 3-drops got me excited about the idea of keeping myself open to an Arjun deck. The question was whether to snap the hero up early or to go for one of his premium commons. I settled on the Aloe Vera (C), figuring it was more likely there would be another opportunity to pick the hero up.

The following pick presented me with a very similar dilemma: another Arjun & Spike or an Axiom Reprocessor (R). This time, I took Arjun. It would be a disaster to draft towards Arjun and not end up with the hero, and I had some concerns that a 4-mana landmark could be too slow.

For the rest of the pack, I picked strong commons from the three factions I was in, though I noticed that most of them came from Yzmir.

The beginning of P2 was an Arjun drafter’s dream. I picked up Esmeralda (F), Resupply (R), and two Resupply (C)s among the first five picks. By this point, I was all-in on Arjun. I took a second Arjun & Spike mid-pack over a solid playable to reduce the chances that another drafter would move into the hero.

While I was seeing fewer premium 3-drops than I would have liked, I did find plenty of ways to sustain myself through the late-game, such as Conjuring Seal (R), Aether Shard (C), and Axiom Reprocessor (C).

P3 was fairly dry for me. I learned later that my neighbor to the right was in Muna and Axiom. I had them on Muna, but them being in Axiom caught me off-guard. I assumed the faction was open after picking up the early Axiom rares, but in retrospect, I valued those early signals too highly and ignored the data from the later part of P1.

P4 had nearly nothing for me, though I think this one was more coincidence. My direct neighbor to the left was Bravos-Lyra with Ordis for support while the player two spots over was Lyra-Ordis-Yzmir. I did snag a mid-pack Quetzalcóatl (R), which probably ended up being the best character in the deck.

Although I was thrilled with the amount of resupply support I ended up with, my deck was seriously lacking in 3-drops that are worthwhile to anchor. I was prioritizing 3-drops very highly from the beginning of P2, so I attribute this to two things: Muna and Axiom were not open from the right, so my neighbors were scooping up the characters before I was. Perhaps more importantly, the factions I settled on just don’t have a high concentration of well-statted 3-drops by nature. Bravos and Ordis would have been better factions to pair with Arjun, and while Bravos didn’t look open, Ordis certainly was.

The games

Round 1 (L): Sigismar & Wingspan (Lyra-Ordis-Yzmir)

In the early game, not seeing any of my resupply support meant that I missed out on several uses of Arjun’s hero ability. Meanwhile, my opponent’s Ordis Recruit ensured that they were always slightly ahead; on T1, we each had an Alice (C), but their Recruit let them 1-0 me.

Their A Cappella Training (C) looked amazing here. On T2, it shut off my hero ability for the following turn by preventing a character from hitting reserve. Its presence in reserve also forced me into an awkward turn where I played a lower-statted character off a Harvest (C) resupply instead of the character I hoped to play from hand.

On 6 mana, we were already trading, so I opted to get down my Axiom Reprocessor (C) instead of anchor out a 3-drop for an advantage the following turn.

With the free resupply from the following turn onwards, I started to be able to anchor characters pretty consistently. Unfortunately, a last play Off You Go (C) removed the 3-drop I anchored that turn.

My opponent blew me out with a Hooked (F), which let them go 1-1 by leaving me with an empty expedition and a three-character expedition, two of which were anchored for next turn from my hero ability and a Muna Caregiver (C) support ability. The Hooked was just as brutal on the following turn since they were able to move my best play into the expedition with the previously anchored characters.

With them just one progression from victory, I led with Harvest (C) to leave myself empty-handed but with five cards face-up in reserve. My opponent compared my reserve to their hand, then played an Ouroboros Trickster (C), announcing that their ability to win the game depended on this die roll. They low-rolled, and ultimately conceded the day by targeting my Reprocessor with a Paint Prison (C).

Topping the Reprocessor was a brilliant play, especially because it forced me into a dead draw on the final turn. My other draw was the Studious Disciple (C), and they had no trouble taking both sides for the win.

Round 2 (W): Fen & Crowbar (Axiom-Muna-Lyra)

I got off to a strong start this game with an opening hand containing solid 3-drops as well as some resupply support. My T3 anchor play forced out a Cloth Cocoon (C) but let me go 2-0 on the day.

I had a two expedition lead until a turn when they resupplied into an Ouroboros Trickster (C). A surprise 4/4/4 Lyra Thespian (R) for their last two mana won both sides for them and tied us on expeditions.

I went into T4 with an anchored 2/2/2 in a mountain-only region, and they had an Aja (C) and Ordis Gatekeeper (F) in reserve. I considered fighting to trade with Flamel (R) and an understatted 2-drop but ultimately decided I needed something stronger to win against Fen’s late-game. I gambled and dropped my Hydracaena (C). The play instantly loses to removal and dooms me to a 0-2 that day due to their face-up reserve, but with its unstoppable late-game, I figured I just might be able to hold my opponent at one progression from victory for the rest of the game.

They indeed took both sides with Aja and Ordis Gatekeeper, but I dodged removal for a turn. The following turn, my Hydracaena dodged removal again, and my opponent dedicated all of their resources to the opposite side. In a water-region, I anchored Quetzalcóatl (R), and they played a beefy Tomoe Gozen (C). With exactly 1 mana left, I played a Studious Disciple (C) which gave me exactly enough stats to tie them and go 1-0.

My opponent didn’t draw removal for the Hydracaena this turn either, and a double-cast Beauty Sleep (C) gave me the 2-0 I needed to win the game.

Round 3 (W): Atsadi & Surge (Bravos-Lyra-Ordis)

My opening hand this game was incredible, with two 3-drops, including Quetzalcóatl (R) and a Resupply (C). We traded on T1, and on T2 I went 2-1 against a ramping Mighty Jinn (C) while setting up an anchored play.

Their T3 was a Shenlong (C) for a card draw, which let me conserve resources and just anchor a 3-drop for the following turn. They ramped with a second Mighty Jinn (C) but my anchored character let me trade.

On T5, their double ramp let them Mind Apotheosis (F) with 9 mana. From their four cards, they revealed an Asmodeus (F) and a Loki (C) for an impressive amount of stats split between both regions. Fortunately for me, Loki’s from-hand ability doesn’t trigger from the Mind Apotheosis, which meant my Beauty Sleep (C) from hand was able to turn off both characters for 4 mana. I started the turn with an anchored character, so another character let me go 2-0 and win the game.

Takeaways

Seeing several premium cards for a faction early does not mean the faction is open. Since each drafter is able to include three factions, it’s possible your neighbor picked stronger cards in their other factions. Compared to a game like Magic: The Gathering, there’s less of a cost to splash or speculate on other factions, so the strength of each signal you receive is on average weaker.

I’ve ranked the factions I would like to pair with Muna in an Arjun draft deck. It goes roughly like this: Bravos = Ordis > Yzmir > Lyra = Axiom. Bravos has well-statted 3-drops and boosts, and Ordis has well-statted 3-drops and bureaucrats. Yzmir is a solid support faction, providing two solid common 3-drops and card draw. Lyra has some resupply support and passable 3-drops but their 0-stat characters make anchoring awkward. Most of Axiom’s 3-drops are weaker from hand.

Overperformers

  • Beauty Sleep (C): Casting this twice was the winning play in R2 and R3.
  • Quetzalcóatl (F): Even without synergies, this is one of Arjun’s premium 3-drops, since the Ordis Recruit help avoid overcommitting to the anchored side. Anchoring it against Fen going into the final turn felt amazing.
  • Muna Druid (C)/Muna Caregiver (C): These were not redundant with Arjun’s hero ability. Because I had so much resupply, they were often free reanchors of the 3-drop I had anchored on the previous turn.
  • Hydracaena (C): In a format where removal is less plentiful, sticking one of these is a reasonable win condition.

Underperformers

  • Aether Shard (C)/Conjuring Seal (R): These card advantage options felt quite a bit weaker than Harvest for Arjun. Because I had so many Harvests, I never ended up playing either of them.
  • Kraken’s Wrath (R): Even when I played this against Kojo to clean up several characters and a Booda, they were able to replay one of the characters I sent to reserve to go 1-1. Arjun is not a hero who wants this card, since a deck full of 3-drops will rarely be able to “after you” an opponent long enough to land this as the final play of a turn.