Ahoy planeswalkers!
My local shop held a Wednesday night Modern Masters draft for only $30, and I jumped at the opportunity.
After a first-pick Restoration Angel, I was looking to go Bant, but white and blue dried up very quickly, while green and red were open, so I moved towards Gruul with a possible white splash. (The player on my right was, indeed, in Esper, so I made the right read). Pack two was a little unexciting (the player on my left was doing green-white tokens), but pack three I opened a Boros Reckoner and saw some very nice cards (including two Goblin Assaults and a Woolly Thoctar), and I ended up with this deck:
CREATURES:
1x Wooly Thoctar
1x Boros Reckoner
1x Restoration Angel
NONCREATURE SPELLS:
2x Goblin Assault
1x Arachnus Web
1x Giantbaiting
1x Harmonize
LANDS:
8x Mountain
5x Forest
1x Plains
SIDEBOARD:
1x Giantbaiting
1x Pyroclasm
1x Soul Warden
1x Pitfall Trap
In match one, I went up against a durdle-y deck that didn’t really show me much of anything in game one, as I rode Goblin Assault and Gruul War Chant to victory. He had alluded to powerful mythics, so with all his ramp I put him on Craterhoof Behemoth; in game two, I got to see that it was Bonfire of the Damned and Sphinx’s Revelation, as he nearly decked himself before he could assemble enough creatures to actually kill me. (I also made a serious error by throwing a Thunderous Wrath at his face in response to his Sphinx’s Revelation, when I should have held it to try picking off what I already suspected to be a pretty marginal suite of creatures.) I managed to run him over again in game three (turn-two Goblin Assault off of Avacyn’s Pilgrim is fun), however, starting the night off right.
Game one of match two might have featured one of the best plays I’ve made in a while. I’d gotten off to a good start–Scorched Rasulka, Burning Tree Emissary, Tattermunge Witch, Vithian Stinger, and Gruul War Chant meant I was getting after his life total quickly. Then my opponent dropped a Deadeye Navigator and soulbonded it with a Mist Raven, giving him the bounce-lock on me.
I had Thunderous Wrath in hand (I never got to miracle it, sadly), but not enough mana to kill the Navigator while he was tapped out. I chipped in a little damage with an attack while he was tapped out, and then sacrificed the Stinger for a damage with the Rasulka when he bounced it (before he bounced everything else), bringing him to 7. Then he bounced the rest of my board.
I had the choice of killing his Navigator while he was tapped out or trying to go for the surprise Thunderous Wrath win by playing into his bounce-party and pinging him with the Rasulka a few more times to get him down to 5; I would lose to a counter spell, but I decided that seemed like the best path after the huge tempo loss. I recast the Emissary and the Rasulka, unearthed, pinged with, and sacrificed the Stinger (bringing him to 5), and waited for him to bounce my team again (using up his mana). Then Thunderous Wrath hit, he didn’t have a counter spell, and I took the win!
Game two was more straightforward–I had to weather a Wall of Denial, but he was mana-flooded, his early plays were a Youthful Knight and a Tandem Lookout (both of which I got to kill with my Stinger). I was ultimately able to get enough creatures going to take the win. (We finished early, so we jammed a couple of modern games too, with my 8Rack deck handling his Sultai deck admirably.)
Alas, in my third match, I just got stomped. My opponent was on Rakdos with five Spike Jesters, several Mogg Flunkies, and a quite adequate amount of burn and removal to back them up. In game one, he simply outraced me (partially because I had mana issues and couldn’t find white to cast my Wayfaring Temple on-curve). Game two was a little better–we got to a stable, empty board–but then he peeled a Falkenrath Aristocrat and I never found an answer.
Even so, I got two packs, making my evening total five packs for $30–a very good deal! I added Olivia Voldaren and Gifts Ungiven to Restoration Angel, Summoning Trap, and Boros Reckoner as my rares–nothing too exciting, but Olivia, Gifts, and the Angel might bounce back to the $5 neighborhood in a year or so, and they’re certainly better than bulk and see some Modern and/or Commander play.
So, a few parting thoughts on my deck…
I would rate this deck a B+ or A-
My creatures were all awesome, and I had several very powerful enchantments. I would have liked one more good, aggressive creature that I could have run in place of Giantbaiting, though. My removal suite was also a little weak, and my mana base was a bit awkward (another Pilgrim probably would have been the best remedy).
I’m not sure if I over-played the white splash
Restoration Angel, Wooly Thoctar, and Wayfaring Temple are all powerful cards, but with such a low curve (and having a deck that wants less than seventeen lands) made it difficult to get them into play when they would have had the most effect. Splashing for the Angel was definitely right, and I think the Thoctar was good, but I think I needed one more Guildgate or Pilgrim for the white splash for the Temple.
I don’t think I chose the right fortieth card
Giantbaiting can be a beating, make no mistake. It never felt like the card I wanted, though; it does stone nothing on defense, and drawing it in games where I was taking a beating (like game one of match three) felt bad, and on account of my powerful enchantments, I was a little creature-light for a red-green-based deck. I probably should have run one of my Penumbra Spiders–not a good beatdown card, but high in value, since it essentially needs to be killed twice, still a good attacker if I find Gruul War Chant or Gaea’s Anthem.
Aggro is real
I feel like I’ve read more articles about the shortcomings of aggro decks in Modern Masters 2017 than articles about how good they can be. If that’s what’s open, though, I certainly don’t think aggro is underpowered. Now, I benefitted a great deal from some powerful uncommons (Gruul War Chant plus Goblin Assault is dynamite), but I really liked how my deck felt (I mean, it was explosive enough to win through Deadeye Navigator!), and this specific draft pod did come down to aggro versus faster aggro.
I really hope there are Modern Masters 2017 drafts at GP Providence
Drafting this set again is not in the budget for the foreseeable future, but my day of playing side events at GP Providence in September is basically my Magic-playing Christmas. I’d love to get the chance to draft this set again, because it really is a lot of fun.
What do you think of my deck, reader? How would you have built it with this pool of cards?
Behold, Planeswalker! 
