After almost a week straight of best-of-one Throne of Eldraine drafting on Arena, I am still having a great time. It is a format of curious, subtle edges and seemingly inconsequential decisions that actually hold the weight of the game's outcome in some cases; basically it's everything you could reasonably want in a Magic set to draft with. At least, that's the stuff I get off on. I don't know what your deal is!

Is overt Limited your more comfortable scenario? A format of hammer-to-head obvious connections?

Sorry pal.

Eldraine is about nuance.

The sum of all that nuance leads to a couple of clever archetypal decks and some important combos to be aware of should you decide to take the plunge. Let's talk about a few of these cards and the decks they best enable:

Saving the Best for First

Despite the tribal elements with Knights and non-Humans, most Throne of Eldraine Draft games start out pretty slow. The White creature-based decks are almost totally missing from Arena's games, as the more straightforward Limited curve-out creature Magic is a pretty tough sell in Eldraine. Additionally, 4 toughness, as usual, is the Magic number for creature resilience.

All of these factors come together to make Merfolk Secretkeeper the best Tome Scour in years. Run Away Together lets you block a creature, bounce another creature, and bounce your Secretkeeper to effectively Twincast your Venture Deeper. We know mill people have needed this, but come on. We've gone too far!

Add these into your deck if you can get them:

Fill in the gaps with Charmed Sleep, Queen of Ice, So Tiny, etc. and you've got a diabolical Mono-Blue mill build that very few other decks are capable of defending against. Additionally, there aren't many cards for punishing you. Bonus points in best-of-one as your opponent has even less ability to cope with what you're doing before it's too late.

That's right: Merfolk Secretkeeper's secret is that mill rules in this format. And boy, is the secret out.

If you open Folio of Fancies while drafting this deck, take pictures.

Up All Night to Get Lucky

Adventures are so much fun. Both the Magic mechanic and the actual English definition.

Less fun is being on the other side of the battlefield from Edgewall Innkeeper while it's going crazy. Get ready to stay the night, punk.

While the Innkeeper and the Clover care about different parts of the adventure creature equation (one cares about the creature, one about the adventure), in conjunction they still synergize with all the same cards, and having both on the battlefield with a host of adventure creatures in your deck will pull you way ahead, even if the effects don't seem powerful enough to get excited about on their own.

It's kind of a shame that Standard is showing adventures to be intrinsically tempo-deep enough for Constructed because people will be a lot less surprised, but I'll spell out a sequence anyway:

A Suntail Hawk stops at the hotel for an adventure and the Innkeeper gets huge, moreso if you have the Clover out because it "adventures" twice. Being a big flyer for a turn is basically unblockable against anything but blue, and you get a cantrip for casting the Guidemother after the attack (or next turn or whenever). That's a ton of productive action on a lot of cards that don't jump out of the textbox on first look.

Other cards to stack up with these two degenerates are:

Acolyte is especially cool as multiple copies enable really easy splashes that don't harm your deck's overall flow.

Fearless Flying Fox Brigade

Eldraine is packed with cool differences versus other sets, but one thing it has in common with most of them is its joy in welcoming Blue and White flyers to the fray. More joyously for me, they're much worse than the Skies archetypes of other Draft formats.

But there are still a few ways to push the strategy into some seven-win runs!

Glitter starring Mariah Carey is a potent aura, but like most auras - especially those that don't do anything on arrival - it's a mulligan waiting to happen when the creature dies. Luckily, AtG auto-turns on the Fox! Now that it flies, it can't be Trapped in the Tower! Nice try, opposition!

If you want to get out of the Blue cards to get more access to Food to grow the Glitter big, Green will have more options, but Black fits better with the flying value theme.

Choose your destiny wisely. (Why isn't this the tagline for every Draft format?)

Nine Lives, One Poker

Cauldron Familiar is one of my favorite cards in the set. So stoked on this kitty am I that I've made multiple decks worse, knowingly, so I could again experience the joy of feeding a dead Cat. Erwin Schrodinger would be so proud.

It's familiar to me all right!

The best thing to do with Cauldron Cat is to give it this:

Skewer really underachieves a lot because of how much mana goes into it, but when you're getting an almost-guaranteed Food every turn (either than or they're taking damage, I'm fine with both) and that Food is bringing Cauldron Familiar back, it's an extremely awkward combo to play around. Get a second Cat to stay back to block and have them play catch with the equipment! Your opponent will find their merry antics forever endearing. Then they will die.

It's basically a fairer version of Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek.

Meee-ow!

Live the dream and add the always popular Witch's Oven.

It doesn't matter all that much what you surround this combo with as long as it contributes to gumming up the board so that the Cat can do its nimble and mischievous work. Flexible sac outlets and Food synergies are best for pet ownership here.

I'd add Revenge of Ravens, but that goes in everything. Let's do a few quick hits on our way out today:

Other Eldraine Limited Commentary

Speaking of Revenge of Ravens, I've seen this card being overreacted to quite a bit. It's powerful, it's strong, but that's more because of our instincts than anything. Seriously, look at the combos above.

A 5/5 flying Flutterfox doesn't care much about Revenge of Ravens. Merfolk Secretkeeper cleans the brine of its bum with Revenge of Ravens.

Look, it's a very good card, but it is not a format-breaker. Tons of cards in Throne of Eldraine do not care about Revenge of Ravens. Turn into a Pumpkin can give the end-of-turn bounce before the big attack, True Love's Kiss will cause great value triggers with Mad Ratter, Faerie Vandal, and so on. Draft cards that hate the cards you hate.

Adapt and smile!

Unless they have Archon of Absolution as well. Then you're pretty screwed.

Lips Elemental seems like a pure Constructed plant. It is not. Take it. Play with it. Win.

The number of effects in this format that are countered by Hushbringer is astronomical.

This cycle is full of relevant cards, but don't audible because of them. I want to basically be in both its colors or it's just not worth the stumbling. Your mileage may vary if you're doing traditional two out of three matches where you get some free fumbles now and again, but if I have one game to get it done, I don't want to be staring at these losers in my hand. Give it up.

The Eldraine Train

It's very likely my next Magic endeavor is another week or two of Throne of Eldraine drafting. I'm also in a league that is turning out to be very fun, and soon, I'll tell you all about the team event I'm working to conquer as we speak!

Remember, Revenge of Ravens haters: Magic is what you make it; be the change you want to see in the Multiverse.

Stay tuned for more on this league, my insights on Pioneer, more constructive criticism of Magic culture, and of course, more Magic theory!

Together, we will conquer the unfairy tale of life itself.

(~_^)

The Indestructible Danny West

"The Rascal"