Three copies of The Nilam (Fen & Crowbar) [Draft]

The Nilam, Withered Tree (C) is one of the all-stars in Trial by Frost draft thanks to its immediate board presence and long-term value. A single copy gives a limited deck a significant power boost; how much better are three?

The draft

This was a 6-person Trial by Frost draft.

I started with a P1p1 Skadi (R), then was gifted Sigismar & Wingspan by my neighbor. I prioritized strong Ordis and Bravos cards like Mobile Armory (C) and Fire Rabbit (C), but I was willing to pass on several in-faction cards to take the strongest card in each pack, including Lost in the Woods (R) and Demeter (C) as my only Lyra and Muna cards in P1.

The second half of P1 included mostly Bravos cards. Muna felt cut off with nothing to supplement my Demeter (C), so I felt solidly in Bravos and Ordis going into P2.

My neighbor took a unique out of their P2p1 and ended up passing me The Nilam, Withered Tree (C), which I snapped up for P2p2 despite not having any Yzmir cards yet. Suddenly I started prioritizing purple in case I could find a critical mass of exhaust support.

In early P2, I picked up a speculative Fen & Crowbar out of a pack without an especially compelling card in my factions. When I stopped seeing strong Ordis cards and instead found cards like The Snowman (C), Nyala, Gifted Conjurer (C), and Will-o’-the-Wisp (C) mid-to-late pack, a pivot off of Sigismar started to seem more likely.

I opened a second The Nilam, Withered Tree (C) as my P3p1 and immediately locked into to Yzmir. I started to feel like I was Lyra and Yzmir, now uncertain whether my third faction would be Bravos or Ordis.

This uncertainty showed in P3 and early P4. Mid-P3, I took a Bravos Geyser (C) for synergy with Fen over an Ordis Dong Da Shen (C) for exhaust synergy. Then I went for a P4p1 Tiny Jail (R), only to realize mid-P4 that I’d be short on playables in Ordis and settled on taking Bravos commons to fill out my deck.

Fortunately, I was passed my third The Nilam, Withered Tree (C) around P4p4 or P4p5, at a point when other players couldn’t pivot to support it as effectively.

The deck

The final result is a Bravos-Lyra-Yzmir deck built around three copies of The Nilam, Withered Tree (C). The deck is light on ways to exhaust cards to trigger The Nilam, which is why it’s convenient that The Nilam’s own exhaust ability will activate any copies of the landmark that I already have in play.

Much of the deck synergizes with Fen’s hero ability. Cards like Will-o’-the-Wisp (C) and Mighty Simbi (F) are cheaper from reserve, while the single-use downside of cards like The Nilam, The Snowman, and Geyser (C) are negated if they’re resupplied.

Cooldown spells like Moth to a Flame (C/R) and Freeze (C) are better than usual here since they trigger The Nilam and create Mana Moths when they’re played from hand.

Arcolano Milk (C) deserves a special mention for working well with Fen who mostly tries to play from reserve, while also boosting any Mana Moth tokens generated by The Nilam which don’t care about gaining fleeting.

I was close to being able to go Ordis: if resupplied, Ebenezer Scrooge (C)’s support ability can sleep a character in a losing expedition, and Vishvakarma (R) can reduce the cost of my three The Nilams. My Bravos is slightly stronger, however, and a critical two or so cards deeper. Plus, the Fire Rabbit (C)s offer a better curve and the 4-drops provide ramp, which Fen can make great use of with her card advantage.

The games

R1 (W): Sigismar & Wingspan (Axiom-Bravos-Ordis)

I fell behind on D2. When I tried to just go 0-1 while setting up The Nilam, they got off an impressive Heimdall (F) play to neutralize my Mana Moth and free up their Ordis Recruit to go 2-0.

My exhaust played very well this game. On a critical turn, I exhausted their reserve Heimdall (F), and the only thing they could do was to set up an Arcolano Milk in each expedition. Exhaust abilities causing their reserve to overflow combined with them having to play cards from hand into their Arcolano Milk expeditions put me way ahead on resources.

Later on, I set up my second The Nilam and exhausted their Eros (C) to starve them of plays. Freeze (C) and Mana Moths secured the late-game for me.

R2 (W): Akesha & Taru (Axiom-Yzmir-?)

My opponent got off to a slow start by setting up an early landmark. I pulled further ahead when I got down The Nilam and exhausted a Snowball Commando (F) that would have blocked into perfect regions. Their remaining plays from hand had 0 stats in both of my regions.

My second exhaust was equally devastating, preventing them from playing their Lord Kelvin (C) from reserve to trigger their Icebound Hollow (C). Once my second The Nilam came online, the two Mana Moths per turn were enough to consistently win one side and close out the game.

R3 (W): Sigismar & Wingspan (Bravos-Muna-Ordis)

I fell behind in the early-game but luckily drew/resupplied into all three copies of The Nilam over the course of the game. The quantity of 4-drops and removal spells was slightly problematic this game: there was a point in the mid-game where I had a clunky hand/reserve of both Geysers and a Freeze (C). To get my Geyser (R) into reserve, Nyala, Gifted Conjurer (C) had to swap it with a Heimdall (C) in hand.

I made a big push on a turn when I generated two Mana Moths into an Arcolano Milk (C) expeditions. On another turn, my third The Nilam exhausted their Saskia, Sly Naturalist (C) and left them unable to effectively spend all their mana while forcing their reserve to overflow.

When I committed my reserve Heimdall (C) to one side, my opponent played a Demeter (C) that would win the other expedition and become eternal. Once my opponent dipped below 6 mana on the following turn, I Geyser-ed her back to hand.

My opponent then revealed their misfortune of having drawn into double Technical Boots while empty-handed, and I was able to 2-0 for the win. With a Freeze (C) in hand and two upright The Nilams, however, I was confident I could at the very least 1-1 and take the game to tiebreakers.