Reflections from the Dusk to Dawn PreRelease
I’m a week late (sorry), but I got quite a few Monarch drafts in over the Dusk to Dawn prerelease season, and I had quite a blast. For all of my complaints about not being able to draft Dusk to Dawn, either on its own or alongside Monarch packs, Monarch is still a phenomenal draft format that rewards staying open, tight play, and creativity. Welcome to Rathe is the best draft format in this game, but Monarch is a close second (or third, Arcane Rising is also good. Don’t make me choose!).
What follows below is a breakdown of the weekend from my seat. I didn’t take notes on each draft or game (lesson learned for the next one of these), but I just wanted to share how fun that weekend was.
Friday, Chane, 2-1
On the Friday of prereleases, I did a draft where I ended up on Chane. I played Chane very briefly during his hay-day in classic constructed, and the general runeblade game plan appeals to me a good bit. Playing out of your banish zone is also the juice.
My deck was pretty good, and I think a lot of players (myself included) were knocking the rust off of not having played Monarch in so long. I got several Seeds of Agony (reds and yellows) passed to me late, and several generic equipment went around the table.
Our pod resulted in a 3-2-2-1 split, with Levia getting an extra player, and Boltyn rolling solo. Matt “Flake” DiMarco was kind enough to share his draft strategy with me ahead of time that I think helped a lot. Because of Monarch’s pack distribution, it’s very easy to stay open, identify what the players to your right have taken in pack 1, and grab the open lane. It’s also easy to pivot late pack 1, and even early pack 2, if you need to. When I was passed a red Seeds of Agony pick four of five, I knew I was on the right track. Because of the signals I was giving, pack 2 was also a breeze. All in all, my deck ended up a 4 out of 5.
The one thing Flake told me going in was that, if there was only one person on a hero, that person was basically a lock to win the pod. That prediction held true, as our store’s resident Boltyn player was the sole Boltyn drafter. The Boltyn deck was a true 5/5, and the 3-0 sweep he took of that pod was not surprising.
I went 2-1 with my good Chane deck, losing to a Levia round 1. My Levia opponent played well, and I’m a little frustrated because I think I played poorly. I could have made it a better game if I blocked more appropriately and set up for a better midrange game. Instead, I tried to match my opponent’s damage output, and that was just a fool’s errand.
All in all, very fun draft at my local store Beyond the Board.
Sunday Pod 1, Chane, 0-1 drop
On Sunday, The Realm Games was running fire on demand Monarch pods as their prerelease. Due to the number of players, it made sense to drop from the pod if you lost a game. So, after forcing Chane and having a borderline unplayable deck (read: one Cracked Bauble), I got absolutely decimated and dropped to join the next draft.
Sunday Pod 2, Boltyn, 2-1
Well, the prediction of “be the only hero and you’ll win”, applies only to good players. I was the sole Boltyn in this pod, and while my deck was good, I couldn’t take home the 3-0. I played a tight and close round 1 against Aidan from Three Floating, a fun game against Keith from The Realm in round 2, and a close but clear game against Ryan in round 3.
Losing against Prism (as Boltyn) was a little disappointing, but I got 12 packs for my troubles, as my opponent and I agreed to split the win-a-box before we played the finals match.
Conclusion
I don’t play a lot of FAB anymore. If you’re a regular reader of this newsletter, you might think it’s a variety blog more than a Flesh and Blood one (okay, it probably is). But I had a lot of fun playing in the Dusk to Dawn preleases, and anytime you get to spend playing FAB with friends is a good time.
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Next week: Pokemon (???) or Battle Hardened Columbus recap.