5 Things I’ve Learned Drafting Again with Edge of Eternities

Around the time of Tarkir: Dragonstorm, I reinstalled Arena, as I missed getting to do drafts as often as I used to. Now we’ve hit Edge of Eternities, I’m having a great time getting back into drafting. It also showed me just how rusty I was in some areas.

GETTING BACK INTO BOOSTER DRAFT

I kinda dropped off of drafting because of a culmination of various factors. The pandemic, followed by our LGS closing, and the splintering of our main 8-16 person draft group was a big blow. The rising cost of drafting was also a pretty big factor – coupled with the addition of Collector Boosters, it was now very hard to open value while drafting to help you “go infinite” (or as close to infinite as possible, by winning games and opening good rares). The switch away from Draft Boosters to Play Boosters, and addition of a Bonus Sheet in basically every set soured me further, and I took a bit of a break from arguably my favorite format.

I still got my kicks playing Sealed at prerelease, and going 3-1 or better each time had me thinking I was just as good at Limited as ever. Turns out, though, that having superior card evaluation skills at the most casual of events isn’t a sign that you’re in good shape. It’s just that you can feel the sides of the very small pond you’re in. 

When the very excellent Tarkir: Dragonstorm came out,  a set with classic Magic themes and aesthetics, I felt like I should get back into drafting. It might also have been because I wasn’t around for original KTK drafting, and I wanted to see if TDM would be just as fondly remembered. While getting to draft multiple times a week is not as feasible for me anymore in paper, picking up Arena again has meant I can get a lot more Limited into my time, so that’s where I started.

Here’s what I’ve had on my mind while drafting Edge of Eternities.

EDGE OF ETERNITIES ASKS YOU TO HAVE A GAMEPLAN

Getting back to drafting with TDM was a weird set to get back in on. The sunset look at the format shows us largely a two-deck format, where you’re either on a RW Aggro deck or a Dragon Soup kinda deck. Despite that, I had a lot of fun, and when it came back for a Flashback Quick Draft the other week, I dipped my toes back in to farm some gems for EoE Premier Draft.

It’s kind of easy to Trophy when you’re opening multiple bombs (thanks Marang River Regent!), but the format still has a lot of interesting decision points. Not getting enough two drops like Temur Devotee or Dispelling Exhale can have you run over before you can even get a Dragonstorm Globe into play, for instance – and figuring out when to potentially lose tempo on holding up interaction was classic Limited vibes.

It’s not as difficult as figuring out when to turn the corner in Edge of Eternities, though. Edge asks you to have a real gameplan, and if you don’t? Well, you’re dead in the water.

One great example of this is sequencing. A set like TDM was all about mana efficiency. In EoE, despite there being a lot of pressure early in a lot of the games, you’re also fine to take a bit of a beating in order to sequence your cards better and turn the corner. Cracking Landers early in the ramp deck can be good, especially if you have nothing to do and a four-drop to play, but if you’re in RG and have multiple Plasma Bolts, you might want to think twice about that. 

It’s the same for Warping big bodies like Germinating Wurm. Sure, there’s mana efficiency in doing it, but if you’re not Stationing with it or using it to set up a Close Encounter, you’re often just losing tempo in the long game. 

Removal is plentiful at common, and ranges from one mana through to four mana for varying effects. Because it’s so plentiful, it can be easy to over-draft it and not have enough bodies. It can also be easy to fire it off early in order to keep getting in for damage, but this can really screw you over in the long game, as if you’re not drawing multiple creatures to add to the board to back up your attacker(s), it takes just one removal spell from an opponent to shift the tempo if they have better draws than you.

ITS ALL ABOUT SWINGING TEMPO IN YOUR FAVOR

Taking your licks early in order to curve out is the name of the game. While I have had success with some aggressive decks (which I’ll get to shortly), it’s by and large better to save your interaction. This is especially true when you’re playing threats that care about having multiple spell turns (Ilvoi Infiltrator, Uthros Psionicist, Brightspear Zealout). The same can be said for decks that want permanents in play (Selfcraft Mechan, Embrace Oblivion, etc). You have to develop a board to win the long game, not just trade one-for-one resources. Trading one-for-one only works if you have better draws, and boy is it easy to flood out in this format – there are relatively few mana-sinks, most being at Rare or higher.

When you’re ready to turn the corner, it’s cards like Glacier Godmaw and Mouth of the Storm that really define the late-game of the format right now. Green – and by extension Simic – feels like the best color(s) to be in, and what these uncommons do is buy you a turn where you get to swing with impunity. Crucially, both require you to have a board in play to capitalize on it, though. 

Having a gameplan is very key here. Even cards like Thawbringer – which isn’t a high pick, as it dies to all of the common removal and trades with Robot tokens with its 2 toughness – can help you “get” there, when there is the late game to get to. While Thawbringer kinda sucks on the beatdown, it can do a poor imitation of Codecracker Hound when you’re just trying to find your land drops – and you’ll take a poor imitation if it means trading with one of their early threats.

MULLIGANS LOSE YOU GAMES

The next biggest thing I’ve picked up in this format is how Mulligans will straight up lose you most of the games in which you have to take one. Being down a card is incredibly punishing in a format where you need “just one more blocker” or “just one more removal spell”, and when you stall out, you give opponents the chance to Station their Spacecraft and save up their removal for when you try to rebuild. I wouldn’t say it’s a format where not having a two-drop decides the game, but certainly not having any action after a mulligan will do it. 

The effect this has on splashing is quite apparent. It makes multiple early Lander producers essential for playing more than two colors, especially when you don’t have Gene Pollinator to fix your mana. Part of what makes Green the strongest color is having access to Gene Pollinator and Galactic Wayfarer at Common – and it makes Dauntless Scrapbot the “Wayfarer at home” that I take quite highly when I’m not in Green (especially if I have a lot of double-pip spells).

Given the lack of mana sinks for flooding out late game, you really need to avoid Mulligans if at all possible. That said, trying to get both your colors and/or a two drop is often still better than a slow hand.

GREEN IS THE BEST COLOR – BUT OVERDRAFTED

While Green is the best color, it’s quite overdrafted at this moment. While you might be able to get lucky and open a Glacier Godmaw, you might struggle to find the Commons to build out the deck. A RG deck that doesn’t have Kavu Landseekers, Galactic Wayfarers and Gene Pollinators can struggle. 

It’s the same with having strong threats. Icecave Crasher has impressed me a lot, and not getting copies of it or Seedship Agrarian can really stymie the finishing power of decks.

When you look to the other colors, the same is true for key commons like Cryogen Relic, Selfcraft Mechan, Focus Fire, Virus Beetle, Hullcarver, and Zookeeper Mechan. These are your bread and butter, and can make or break the early to mid game. 

Because Green is often contested, I’ve found more success in shifting toward the Esper part of the pie on average.

VIGILANCE AND MENACE MAKE BW, UW AND UB A GOOD PLACE TO BE

BW is known for being keyword-soup in general in Magic, and that particular soup is more nutritious than whatever that suspicious grey block is that you’ve got for lunch. Nutrient Block jokes aside (and that card is good!), I’ve found that having defensive keywords has been great for keeping up the pressure in this format.

Making attacking and blocking awkward with deathtouch, vigilance and menace can help you to keep an opponent’s life total low enough – and yours high enough – that you close the window in which they can turn the corner. Applying pressure in this way requires you to have Perigee Beckoner if you really want to capitalize on it, and access to good ways to end the game in the air like Monoist Circuit-Feeder. Rare wise, Syr Vondamn, Sunstar Exemplar, Sunset Saboteur and Elegy Acolyte have been fantastic for me. 

One of my best decks of the format so far has been this hyper aggressive UW deck with a very low curve. While I’m not convinced on the Honored Knight-Captains especially without the five-mana Equipment to go tutor for, triple Focus Fire and Brightspear Zealots with double Station Monitor is exactly where I wanted to be here. If I was to run it back, I’d love to have another card draw spell – such is the need to keep the foot on the pedal when you press an advantage in this format. 

Between multiple good Commons, access to plentiful removal, late game threats like Monoist Circuit-Feeder and Thrumming Hivepool, this UB deck was able to take a Trophy too. That said, a lot of it came down to actually planning out my turns properly. Having a Rare like the Hivepool and premium draw in Consult the Star Charts certainly makes it easier to remember to plan and not just curve out, but I’ve again had more success here than in Green – which could of course be down to variance, but Green being overdrafted certainly doesn’t help.

END STEP

Edge of Eternities is a fantastic set to get back into drafting, especially if you’re a little rusty. Drafting remains a lot of fun in spite of the various issues impacting it (Play Booster pack collation, Bonus Sheets). The Bonus Sheet in EoE doesn’t feel too invasive either, being mostly forgettable Lands, Limited wise. While Tarkir: Dragonstorm was a fairly easily solved two-deck format, both Final Fantasy and Edge of Eternities are fun and deep formats with a lot of interesting gameplay decisions, and I feel like we’re in an age of fantastic Limited environments. 

A Gruuling Gem Farm | Edge Of Eternities Sealed Win-A-Box Event | MTG Arena
Talking to friends about Limited has made the experience better – thanks fellow CK writer Tom for indulging my draft screenshots. I’ve also found watching great drafters like Paul Cheon and Kenji Egashira try to win the Collector Booster Box on the Arena challenge to be both entertaining and educational – so check that out if you want to improve you Edge of Eternities game.