Argaia By The Numbers: Live-Blogging Ashes Draft Tournament Season 2

What happens to a game like Ashes when cards are picked one at a time?

There’s some fundamental differences between the kind of drafting happening in the Ashes Draft Tournament (ADT from here on) and usual card game drafts. By picking from an entire cardpool, Phoenixborn and all, we have the opportunity to learn a lot about Ashes just by watching and observing a draft like this.

Am I the most qualified guy to commentate on this draft? Definitely not. I help run First Five Fridays for the Ashes Discord and in general stay active within the Ashes community, but I’m the farthest thing from an Ashes genius. What I do have is experience with card games, experience with Ashes tournament play, and a not-insignificant amount of snark. Hopefully those things will be enough to get us through.

Why do this? Well, hopefully my musings will be entertaining to you, but also, if you’re reading this as a new player, I think we’ll have a lot to learn from this journey through the drafting process. We’re going to be looking out for cornerstone cards, dice type considerations, and deck synergies forming live pick by pick.

It’s going to be a journey. Let’s get to it.

ROUND ONE

Pick 1 | Qreqorek

Their Deck: Summon Frostback Bear

A first overall pick in any draft makes a statement, and this selection is no different. Summoning a 2/3 that can’t be chump-blocked every round is great value for two dice, assuming you have a First Five that can handle the extra cost of the book itself. There’s a reason the ice bears show up all over the place in constructed.

So: given it’s ubiquity, does that mean FBB is the best card in Ashes? Not necessarily. Even the best cards in Ashes have to earn their slot and have a purpose.

Is it the best possible first pick in an Ashes draft? Probably, if only because it genuinely makes every other Nature card less appealing by virtue of not being able to count on the anchoring, stable presence of bears. Count on this card being taken early, if not first, in every major Ashes draft.

Pick 2 | Shannon F-T

Their Deck: Summon Salamander Monk

Two bodies for one die is what has made Raptor Herder pop up everywhere, and we get the same deal here but as a conjuration. Continually in the conversation for the game’s most reliable book, it’s a solid pick in a versatile magic type that keeps Shannon’s build options very, very open.

Pick 3 | Proplum

Their Deck: Summon Light Bringer

In a game largely about timing and tempo, being able to dictate your opponent’s move is, to put it mildly, very good. Proplum doesn’t just get to LB others- he gets to draft the rest of his deck knowing nobody will get to LB him. A respectable draft position for an incredible unit.

Pick 4 | Taj

Their Deck: Summon Fallen

Spicy. By taking Summon Fallen, Taj locks himself into, at minimum, running the kind of deck that can support this build-dependent book. It’s risky in a draft, but the upside could be a nightmare for opponents. I think Taj is banking on the fact that, assuming he can get the proper support pieces in play, this pick will have rewarded him with nothing less than the most dice-efficient unit in the entire game.

Pick 5 | ShufflebusJesse

Their Deck: Summon Winged Lioness

The game’s most prolific content creator continues the streak of summoning books, this time with one of the premier unit removal tools in Ashes. Given that only one other player can possibly end up slotting this unit’s biggest headache, Ice Trap, it’s a great tech piece. I’d argue that this is a card that’s stock goes up in this format, as lots of decks will need answers to Lioness, and we can’t all draft them.

Pick 6 | Carl Diaz

Their Deck: Raptor Herder

And so the first ally off the board ends up being Raptor Herder. The reason for this is very complicated, but I’ll try to explain it as best as I can:

Raptor Herder good.

Pick 7 | Rafiki Robert

Their Deck: Fire Archer

Fire Archers can provide unreal value throughout the course of the game, cheap to throw out and consistently able to get damage on the enemy Phoenixborn. Did you know that damaging the enemy Phoenixborn is how you win Ashes? Rafiki Robert did.

Pick 8 | Matt Bauers

Their Deck: Summon Three Eyed Owl

We’re back to books, with probably the most annoying one possible. A nightmare in round one, Three Eyed Owl has been a staple Ashes unit since the game’s original launch in 2015. Matt was playing Owls then and he’s playing them now. If you don’t hate these pink birds yet, give it time.

Why are all of the most annoying Ashes units birds? Did some sort of rogue parrot hurt Isaac Vega? The people demand answers.

Pick 9 | JOSH

Their Deck: Summon Shadow Spirit

Probably an underrated book, this is a fun pick for round one, giving JOSH a reliable cheap attacker and a way to affect his opponent’s dice. Look for him to capitalize on this pick in future rounds by picking up more Illusion, a dice type likely to be slept on long enough to let JOSH have his fill of it. The Shadow Spirits are a good start.

Pick 10 | Doktarr

Their Deck: River Skald

River Skald draws you a card, usually does between 3 and 4 damage, and leaves behind a 2/2 body for your trouble. For 2 dice. It’s so generically good that the community has chosen to chain it for tournament play, rendering it unable to be chosen in the First Five or played in the first round as of this writing.

But the chained list isn’t active in draft. It’s up to the other tournament players to decide if this pick is dangerous enough to hate-draft it’s biggest synergy cards. Whether they do or don’t, count on River Skald being a monster unit for Doktarr, and a great start to his deck.

Pick 11 | Brian B

Their Deck: Brennen Blackcloud

The first Phoenixborn off the board is Brennen, the game’s premier pick for direct damage burn decks. Some of her favorite pieces- Salamander Monk and Fire Archer- are already off the board, but there’s enough burn left in the cardpool to get this gameplan online. Plus, Brian now doesn’t have to worry nearly as much about being burned. A solid first PB selection.

Pick 12 | ImpossibleGerman

Their Deck: Summon Gilder

Hey, it’s me! I picked Summon Gilder because of the draft format. Books absolutely flew off the board, and to my eye Gilder was the best summon left available. I’m not complaining at all about missing the other books, though- Gilder is a single die unit that protects your board and gives you a ping damage for your trouble. It’s a staple Ashes card that I’m happy to have on board.

ROUND ONE SUMMARY

There’s lots of talk about big allies in Ashes being the cornerstone of many decks, but round one goes to show that stability and consistency from round to round is always going to be a high priority for players.

This round saw players focusing mostly on the game’s high value Summon spells, cards that are particularly comforting picks in a format with as much uncertainty as draft. Books form the backbone of a deck’s battlefield, and many players already got those anchors in place. The non-book cards chosen were mostly high-value, low cost allies. Brian’s selection stands out the most, with him choosing the lone Phoenixborn in the first round. Brennen comes with a strong built-in gameplan, and his pick probably gives him the most defined draft direction of any player so far.

Overall, few surprises. Value, value, value, and staple cards as far as the eye can see. It only gets more interesting from here.

ROUND TWO

Pick 13 | ImpossibleGerman

Their Deck: Summon Gilder, Sonic Swordsman

By virtue of going last, I’ve got back to back picks, but it’s going to be quite a while before I get another chance. I picked Gilder and Sonic because they represented the two kinds of cards- high-value summons and knights- that I’m virtually certain will be heavily picked over before the draft comes back my way. I’m spread across four colors, but I have two staple units anchoring my battlefield. We’ll see if it works out!

Pick 14 | Brian B

Their Deck: Brennen Blackcloud, Master Vampire

Told you so! Likely the beginning of this round’s run on knights, Master Vampire is now off the board, joining № 5 overall pick Winged Lioness in this draft’s very high prioritization of Stalk. Vampire picking off everyone else’s precious round one picks is a great idea for this selection, and she’ll give Brennen some much needed survivability as she burns her opponents down.

Pick 15 | Doktarr

Their Deck: River Skald, Summon Majestic Titan

Well now! A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one- while not played terrifically often in constructed decks, Majestic Titan gets the chance to function here as, essentially, a summonable knight. It complements Doktarr’s first round selection of an ally well by giving him some consistent, beefy board presence and a way to close out the game via Renew. A clever, bold pick.

Pick 16 | JOSH

Their Deck: Summon Shadow Spirit, Hollow

YUP, there it is! JOSH is off to the races on Illusion, easily snatching one of their most valuable summons and one of their best allies in the first two rounds. Hollow is also a great target for mounts, so it’ll be interesting to see if he tries to grab some of those in later rounds.

Pick 17 | Matt Bauers

Their Deck: Summon Three Eyed Owl, Summon Orchid Dove

Uh-oh.

So in the first two rounds, in our collective genius the ADT players have allowed Matt Bauers, multiple-time Ashes World Champion, to draft both of the premier mill units in the game. At this point it’s exceedingly likely that he’ll have most of the mill cards to himself unless the rest of the field starts panic-drafting them to keep this already scary deck from becoming too focused. I think this pick also increases the value of dice-fixing tools like Magic Syphon, as a legitimate mill deck has already emerged in the span of just two picks, and meditating against Matt in this tournament is going to be a bad, bad idea.

The birds are coming. Be afraid.

Pick 18 | Rafiki Robert

Their Deck: Fire Archer, Hammer Knight

Robert’s now got two of the staple allies in the game and is only committed to two dice types! HK is an all-time classic Ashes unit, and in fact it’s quite fortunate that it fell all the way to №18. A very smart selection.

Pick 19 | Carl Diaz

Their Deck: Raptor Herder, Summon Cerasaurus Mount

Maybe we should stop letting the best Ashes players in the world draft cards that synergize with each other perfectly.

Just a thought.

Pick 20 | ShufflebusJesse

Their Deck: Summon Winged Lioness, Summon Turtle Guard

Time magic enters the field! Turtle Guard is an insanely high value unit, and definitely one of the most potent Summon spells left in the draft pool. The combo of Lioness and Turtle means Jesse’s already packing a potent offense and defense. He’s got the freedom to go a lot of directions at this point, and it’ll be exciting to see what synergies he digs out of these two solid, cost-effective conjurations.

Pick 21 | Taj

Their Deck: Summon Fallen, Essence Druid

In the first round, I said that Taj would need to secure pieces that could complement Summon Fallen in order for him to capitalize on it’s potential. Assuming opponents even find a way to kill the thing, Essence Druid can add tokens to Summon Fallen when it dies, and crucially provides a way to retrieve a second Fallen book in round one. This is a 10/10 pick for Taj, maybe even the single best choice of all the cards he could have chosen to keep this ball rolling. The dead are going to walk, y’all.

Pick 22 | Proplum

Their Deck: Summon Light Bringer, Summon Vampire Bat Swarm

Proplum lands not one, but two high value conjuration books spread across three colors. These cards don’t have a lot of direct synergy with each other, but they’re each providing outstanding value for money. It’ll be interesting to see what pieces tie this deck together in coming rounds.

Pick 23 | Shannon F-T

Their Deck: Summon Salamander Monk, Grave Knight

Another 3 cost knight leaves the draft board. I think you take Grave Knight at №23 if it’s available no matter what, but handily Grave Knight plays right into the kinds of aggressive strategies where I think Salamander Monk shines the brightest. This deck is off to a great start.

A couple of things to note about drafter Shannon F-T- they won the first season of the ADT, and they’re also from Australia. Given that continent’s propensity for weird cute tiny creatures and heavy metal, this deck certainly seems to check out.

Pick 24 | Qreqorek

Their Deck: Summon Frostback Bear, Summon Shining Hydra

Round 2 closes with another summon for European player Qreqorek, this one sticking to his already established color and giving him a high-ceiling combo piece. Like Summon Fallen, Shining Hydra is a card that can explode when built around. This deck got very beefy very fast, and is going to demand a lot from opponents in terms of unit removal.

ROUND 2 SUMMARY

Beef. It’s what’s for dinner. I picked Sonic Swordsman at the top of this round because I was pretty sure that there’d be a huge run on knights, and sure enough, the best 4 or 5 of them are gone come the conclusion of the round.

Another interesting note is that up to this point, the draft format hasn’t been an enormous factor. Right now these 12 players are kind of just building Ashes decks? Any of these pairs of cards could be a perfectly reasonable start to a constructed deck, and that goes to show just how important your unit composition is to doing well in Ashes. Every major deck archetype- battlefield, mill, burn, combo- is represented here already, and without a single action or reaction spell drafted thus far. Units are important.

Look to Round 3 for players to start drafting ways to get the selections from these first rounds of picks d-d-d-deaded. The game’s best spells are not long for this world.

ROUND 3

Pick 25 | Qreqorek

Their Deck: Summon Frostback Bear, Summon Shining Hydra, Summon Indiglow Creeper

With this pick, they’ve expanded the deck to 3 colors and now have a ton of bodies at their disposal. A few of Creeper’s favorite friends are off the board already, but assuming Qreqorek lands a Phoenixborn with enough Battlefield space to hold all these high-value summons, opponents are sure to have a hard time figuring out which of these good units has to die first.

Creepers are kind of like Fallen in that they can demand a lot of attention from the player. We’ll see how central they end up being to this deck’s plan.

Pick 26 | Shannon F-T

Their Deck: Summon Salamander Monk, Grave Knight, Summon Sleeping Widows

Oops, all units! The first reaction spell drafted ends up being Sleeping Widows, a fantastic card that‘s…functionally just more units. So far, Shannon has a large anchoring unit and two high-efficiency cards with death triggers. It’s the Australian Death Machine, coming at you hot from down under. Watch this space for more death.

Pick 27 | Proplum

Their Deck: Summon Light Bringer, Summon Vampire Bat Swarm, Magic Syphon

With super high value obvious units leaving the board, Proplum is probably the beginning of a run to diversify gameplans and fill out spellboards. I predicted this would go early with a solid mill deck in the field, and here it is rounding out a set of ready spells that’s ended up being a real knockout. Proplum’s going to be able to get value out of these spells every single round.

Pick 28 | Taj

Their Deck: Summon Fallen, Essence Druid, Enchanted Violinist

The pool of quality cheap allies grows more shallow with every pick. Enchanted Violinist is another cunning selection from Taj. It stays in his established colors, provides a cheap body to feed the Fallen, and gets off the board for the deck that probably wanted it most- Matt’s mill deck. It also provides the beginnings of a secondary win condition, a hallmark of most great Ashes decks. Another winner for Taj.

Pick 29 | ShufflebusJesse

Their Deck: Summon Winged Lioness, Summon Turtle Guard, Frost Bite

It’s a third dice type, a third ready spell, and a third kind of card for Jesse, who’s probably covered the most bases of any drafter so far. Frost Bite gives him additional flexibility for removal and the option to burn with direct Phoenixborn damage. This is also probably an easy pick for Brian B at №35 if it makes it there, and I’m sure I’m not the only player breathing a small sigh of relief that we don’t have to deal with Frost Bite out of Brennen.

Pick 30 | Carl Diaz

Their Deck: Raptor Herder, Summon Cerasaurus Mount, Summon Butterfly Monk

Guarding units and restoring HP for only a single die, Butterfly Monk is one of the last high-value versatile summons left on the board. It’s a great pickup of an underrated card.

Pick 31 | Rafiki Robert

Their Deck: Fire Archer, Hammer Knight, Maeoni Viper

After going double ally in the first two rounds, Robert picks up the second Phoenixborn, and she comes attached at the hip to the game’s best conjuration, Silver Snake. Snake’s Nature/Charm expands this deck into it’s third color, and Robert’s already got two high value allies in his pocket, so his battlefield seems pretty sorted out. He’ll probably be looking for ways to juice up the snakes in the rounds to come.

Pick 32 | Matt Bauers

Their Deck: Summon Three Eyed Owl, Summon Orchid Dove, Kneel

A blowout action spell, Kneel adds Divine magic to Matt’s deck and gives him a world-class control option against opposing boards. Choosing Kneel over other, more permanent removal options is indicative of the gameplan here- Matt believes in his own Owls and Doves enough to not want them caught in the crossfire. This continues to shape up into a tough matchup for opposing players.

Pick 33 | JOSH

Their Deck: Summon Shadow Spirit, Hollow, Battle Seer

Illusion’s two available knights are both strong units, but JOSH has given Battle Seer the edge. I think it’s the right call- Alert and Quick Strike give that unit the kind of offensive and defensive flexibility that is the hallmark of the game’s best allies.

Three rounds in, the rest of the field is essentially giving this deck Illusion as a type, wholesale. Will the Ashes playerbase underrate Illusion enough in this draft to allow JOSH to built a purple deck so synergized that it blows through the competition? We can’t know for now…but I have a feeling JOSH is eager for us to find out.

Pick 34 | Doktarr

Their Deck: River Skald, Summon Majestic Titan, Nature’s Wrath

The first true-blue board wipe to get drafted ends up being Nature’s Wrath. I think that makes sense in this format, as it’s probably the AOE spell that requires the least investment from a deckbuilding perspective. Doktarr gets to take it comfortably here and know that he’s got a great defense in place against the swarms of little units that the field is looking to be heavy on.

Pick 35 | Brian B

Their Deck: Brennen Blackcloud, Master Vampire, Summon Time Hopper

Will this pick scare other players off of Time entirely? It’s possible. Jesse’s got the only other Time card so far with Summon Turtle Guard, and with that and Time Hopper gone it’s likely these two players will have the pick of the litter from Time’s potent actions and reactions. Flash Strike and Outmatch are excellent spells, and they’ll fit right in here in coming rounds if Brian decides to go that direction.

Pick 36 | ImpossibleGerman

Their Deck: Summon Gilder, Sonic Swordsman, Summon Ancestor Spirit

Studying the last draft led me to believe that if I didn’t take another decent summon with this pick, I probably wasn’t going to have one available that made any sense later. I’m glad the Ancestor Spirits were still around- I think it’s an underrated card, and it gives me another single-die unit with good utility.

ROUND 3 SUMMARY

The run on units and ready spells continued strong, with players not dipping much into removal just yet against my predictions. Seems like they still want to make sure they have a stable spread of units to control the board with. Even the draft choices that weren’t units were keeping them in mind- a vote for Maeoni is really a vote for Silver Snake, and Kneel was a clutch choice from Matt given that he’s facing down armies of potent units at this point.

What comes next is anybody’s guess. I think we’ll start seeing more removal tools and utility spells coming off the board now, but it’s also possible that we’re going to see a run on Phoenixborn soon. Speaking of that…

ROUND 4

Pick 37 | ImpossibleGerman

Their Deck: Summon Gilder, Sonic Swordsman, Summon Ancestor Spirit, Xander Heartsblood

I do think that it’s still early to be taking a Phoenixborn, given that so many of them are great picks and it’s not likely for players to end up without one that works for them.

But I wasn’t interested in waiting another 22 picks to find out if Xander still was going to be around. He solves a lot of problems for me- in a single pick, I’ve been given excellent removal via Earthquake and ally recursion, all without dipping into the fifth color (Ceremony) that would usually be required to get those tools. Sonic Swordsman as a first round pick has a ton of value, but it isn’t going to be enough if I don’t have a way to keep him coming back. I’m glad Xander was available.

However, I am currently playing Xander in the Shufflebus Tournament as well, and if I’m not careful people are going to assume I’m a one-trick pony…Ah well. If you’re going to fanboy a card in this game, you can do a lot worse than Xander.

Pick 38 | Brian B

Their Deck: Brennen Blackcloud, Master Vampire, Summon Time Hopper, Standard Bearer

We Time now suckers! Brian pivots hard with these picks, nabbing some intense status-token synergy and an anchor ally in Standard Bearer. So far, the outlier is really looking like that first pick, as it might be tough for Brennen’s 5 Battlefield to squeeze all this in. Watch this space, I predict lots of Spirit-Burnt Bunnies in this deck’s future.

Pick 39 | Doktarr

Their Deck: River Skald, Summon Majestic Titan, Nature’s Wrath, Massive Growth

The final chained card comes off the board, and it’s got terrifying implications with that Majestic Titan. Giant elephants! The wrath of nature! For the love of God, someone draft Fester IT’S COMING THIS WAY!

EDIT: Hey did you guys know you can’t play Massive Growth on an Elephant? You can’t do that. It is already too big and those are the rules. I guess Doktarr’s going to have to make a Large Bard instead, which upon consideration is actually way scarier, like that dude at a party who thinks it’s appropriate to bring a guitar.

Pick 40 | JOSH

Their Deck: Summon Shadow Spirit, Hollow, Battle Seer, Crescendo

Josh commits further to his second color with one of my favorite spells in the game, the delightfully versatile removal tool Crescendo. Is anyone else excited to have a Quick Strike Battle Seer knocking down your door knowing Josh probably has this in hand? Bro I am straight up not having a good time.

Pick 41 | Matt Bauers

Their Deck: Summon Three Eyed Owl, Summon Orchid Dove, Kneel, Meteor

One has to imagine that Matt’s pretty pleased with himself, watching us all cast disparaging looks at each other while he gets everything he wants. “Somebody stop Matt!” we say, quietly expecting someone else to do it while we keep picking our pet cards. Sorry y’all, this deck is everyone’s problem now. We better hope he’s holding out for Victoria Glassfire in Round 5 to prove a point or something.

Pick 42| Rafiki Robert

Their Deck: Fire Archer, Hammer Knight, Maeoni Viper, Golden Veil

“He’ll probably be looking for ways to juice up the snakes in the rounds to come.” -ImpossibleGerman, Ashes Genius

In all seriousness this is a stellar pick. Golden Veil is an iconic card for Maeoni and it makes a ton of sense to snatch it here.

Pick 43 | Carl Diaz

Their Deck: Raptor Herder, Summon Cerasaurus Mount, Summon Butterfly Monk, Shepherd of Lost Souls

Given that Carl spent his first round pick on the game’s most prolific ally, it makes sense that he’d draft a way to get it back. Shepherd is a more vulnerable mount target given that it takes your whole turn to play, but as long as it’s consistently getting those Herders out of the garbage that’s going to be a non-factor. Plan Dinosaurs is a go.

Pick 44 | ShufflebusJesse

Their Deck: Summon Winged Lioness, Summon Turtle Guard, Frost Bite, Molten Gold

You heard it here first:

ShufflebusJesse wants to kill you.

Pick 45 | Taj

Their Deck: Summon Fallen, Essence Druid, Enchanted Violinist, Guilt Link

Well we’re definitely in the thick of drafting removal cards, and with Guilt Link Taj continues his excellent draft by taking one of the very best ones available. We know he’ll have plenty of bodies to give up for Link- the question is whether he’ll be able to engineer the kind of timing it takes to make Guilt Link hit something big. With lots of zombies available to pick off enemy units, I think Guilt Link is a sure bet here.

Pick 46 | Proplum

Their Deck: Summon Light Bringer, Summon Vampire Bat Swarm, Magic Syphon, Fester

Fester is one of the best removal spells in the game, and it means that Proplum is rapidly going to have as many problem cards in his hand as he does on his spellboard. Nasty stuff.

Pick 47 | Shannon F-T

Their Deck: Summon Salamander Monk, Grave Knight, Summon Sleeping Widows, Blood Chains

In-color exhaustion tech that kills your own units in the deck that already has two of the best death triggers in Ashes? Seems…seems good.

Pick 48 | Qreqorek

Their Deck: Summon Frostback Bear, Summon Shining Hydra, Summon Indiglow Creeper, Polarity Mage

Qreqorek gets into the ally game with Polarity Mage despite not having any alterations yet. I imagine he has a few in mind, though, although one does wonder where in the heck he’s going to put all these bodies!

ROUND 4 SUMMARY

I was a round early on my prediction of a run on removal cards! Efficient ways to deal with your opponent’s units are critical in Ashes. Almost every unit that was drafted in the first three rounds has something in common- they trade very, very efficiently with other units, and so it’s ideal to find other ways to remove them. Many of the game’s very best options- Fester, Blood Chains, Meteor, and Crescendo stand out to this observer- have vanished. I’m feeling pretty good about snatching Xander’s Earthquake now…

ROUND 5

Pick 49 | Qreqorek

Their Deck: Summon Frostback Bear, Summon Shining Hydra, Summon Indiglow Creeper, Polarity Mage, Explosive Growth

Qreqorek picked back to back, so Polarity Mage got an ideal partner immediately. This is going to be hard to deal with no matter which unit he slaps it on. If he can score a few more clutch alterations to start going wide and tall at the same time, we could have a very annoying matchup on our hands.

Pick 50 | Shannon F-T

Their Deck: Summon Salamander Monk, Grave Knight, Summon Sleeping Widows, Blood Chains, Immortal Commander

A potentially backbreaking combo piece for decks wanting to field lots of units, Immortal Commander provides pretty outstanding value here, given that Sleeping Widows drops multiple bodies at once and Salamander Monk’s replacement effect keeps you wide. This has been a really stellar draft so far for last season’s victor, and the Australian Death Machine, like time itself, marches ever onward.

Pick 51 | Proplum

Their Deck: Summon Light Bringer, Summon Vampire Bat Swarm, Magic Syphon, Fester, Light Swordsman

Way back in the good old days 14 picks ago, I was heavily considering taking this. Side action summons are amazingly flexible, and I’m surprised Light Swordsman fell to №51. This deck has been drafted very well, clearly focused on value and rounding out nicely.

Pick 52 | Taj

Their Deck: Summon Fallen, Essence Druid, Enchanted Violinist, Guilt Link, Koji Wolfcub

Koji/Fallen is a very real deck, and this is a good pickup for Taj that focuses his build in nicely. It’s not just the status token, either- Lick Wounds is an underrated signature card that is going to make these Essence Druids an absolute nuisance. He’s a stellar Phoenixborn for this deck. My only criticism is that I think it’s quite possible Koji would have still been around for Taj’s next pick at №69 (nice), especially since that comes before Creeper-Master Qreqorek’s next opportunity.

Pick 53 | ShufflebusJesse

Their Deck: Summon Winged Lioness, Summon Turtle Guard, Frost Bite, Molten Gold, Odette Diamondcrest

Many players think Odette is the best Phoenixborn in all of Ashes, and I have to imagine Jesse is surprised that she’s available at №53. I certainly was. Beyond being generically good, Odette continues this deck’s theme of being well rounded and having answers for everything, adding more (and diceless!) removal via Enter The Fray and a powerhouse, versatile signature in Sword of Virtue. This pick probably felt like a no-brainer.

Pick 54 | Carl Diaz

Their Deck: Raptor Herder, Summon Cerasaurus Mount, Summon Butterfly Monk, Shepherd of Lost Souls, Anchornaut

Anchornauts cost one die and they do a damage and you can mount them. Carl Diaz: Good At Ashes.

Pick 55 | Rafiki Robert

Their Deck: Fire Archer, Hammer Knight, Maeoni Viper, Golden Veil, Summon Blood Puppet

Weird! We’re back over to Ceremony in Robert’s deck, this time with a fairly unexpected call in Summon Blood Puppet. There’s several other decks that would love to have this around, so it works as a denial pick, but what’s really going to be interesting is seeing if Robert plans to get around the puppet blockers consistently, or just use them as sweet, sweet Snake Food until the time is right.

Pick 56 | Matt Bauers

Their Deck: Summon Three Eyed Owl, Summon Orchid Dove, Kneel, Meteor, Redirect

Assuming your board wasn’t invalidated by Kneel and Meteor, now if you punch Matt you actually didn’t. Cool.

Pick 57 | JOSH

Their Deck: Summon Shadow Spirit, Hollow, Battle Seer, Crescendo, Psychic Vampire

Great pick. Josh already has multiple ways to mess with opponent’s dice, and Psychic Vampire gives him another cheap body that can punish all that meditating opponents are likely to want to do. Very clever, very cool.

Pick 58 | Doktarr

Their Deck: River Skald, Summon Majestic Titan, Nature’s Wrath, Massive Growth, Summon Mind Fog Owl

Oh. That’s what you’re using Massive Growth on.

pleasematchmewithsomeoneelsepleasematchmewithsomeoneelseplease matchmewi

Pick 59 | Brian B

Their Deck: Brennen Blackcloud, Master Vampire, Summon Time Hopper, Standard Bearer, Coal Roarkwin

Brian takes a second Phoenixborn, which isn’t so much an admission that Brennen was a mistake as it is an ackowledgement that the draft can only go so well for burn from here on in. Don’t be too sad for him- One Hundred Blades is a hell of a consolation prize.

Pick 60 | ImpossibleGerman

Their Deck: Summon Gilder, Sonic Swordsman, Summon Ancestor Spirit, Xander Heartsblood, Sympathy Pain

I’ve mentioned before how alternate win conditions are important in Ashes. Up to this point I’ve mostly focused on board, laying down my foundational units and giving myself options to recur Sonic Swordsman and control the field. Sympathy Pain is in my colors, gives me some much needed direct burn to help close games, and I’ve kept it away from Matt and Jesse. I’m happy.

ROUND 5 SUMMARY

Well, we’ve got some spice here. This round sees many players either pivoting into whole new directions or taking cards that seem like weird includes on the surface, but are pulling double duty as value options and denial picks. A lot of the most iconic cards in Ashes are already slotted. It’s time to see how well these players can find the cards left that pull the decks together instead of spreading their focus too thin.

ROUND 6

Pick 61 | ImpossibleGerman

Their Deck: Summon Gilder, Sonic Swordsman, Summon Ancestor Spirit, Xander Heartsblood, Sympathy Pain, Root Armor

I’m a simple man. Root Armor is annoying, especially for a guy playing Earthquake, and I don’t wanna deal with it. Any questions?

Pick 62 | Brian B

Their Deck: Brennen Blackcloud, Master Vampire, Summon Time Hopper, Standard Bearer, Coal Roarkwin, Summon Squall Stallion

This is a card I hoped would last longer. I would love to use my Gilders to protect and buff these horses, but instead the rest of the field has to deal with Brian’s Time Hoppers feeding them tokens all game. This deck is going to be really fun to play. Just, you know, not for me.

Pick 63 | Doktarr

Their Deck: River Skald, Summon Majestic Titan, Nature’s Wrath, Massive Growth, Summon Mind Fog Owl, Harold Westraven

Harold has tools to go wide and some of the best big-target-removal in the game via Hunter’s Mark. He’s so good that 5 out of 25 players picked him for their Shufflebus Season 2 decks. Taking him at 63 is an easy call.

Pick Nintendo 64 | JOSH

Their Deck: Summon Shadow Spirit, Hollow, Battle Seer, Crescendo, Psychic Vampire, Jessa Na Ni

Ashes’ original scene kid is back, and thanks to JOSH she’s got ways to mill you and kill you and burn you all in the same deck. And oh yeah, he gets Fear, one of the game’s most universal removal tools. JOSH has got lots of avenues to get wins here.

Pick 65 | Matt Bauers

Their Deck: Summon Three Eyed Owl, Summon Orchid Dove, Kneel, Meteor, Redirect, Summon Emperor Lion

Matt adds some beef. Emperor Lion’s whole schtick is tutoring Law cards, and nobody’s drafted any laws yet. Lots of options here, but to my eye Law of Fear could easily be the card that takes this deck from “incredibly annoying” to “completely impregnable”. I’m scared and you should be too.

Execute Order 66 | Rafiki Robert

Their Deck: Fire Archer, Hammer Knight, Maeoni Viper, Golden Veil, Summon Blood Puppet, Open Memories

Another Maeoni Precon card, it’ll be interesting to see what Robert’s planning for this one. A second Snake Book? More Blood Puppets? This First Five has gotten spicy indeed.

Pick 67 | Carl Diaz

Their Deck: Raptor Herder, Summon Cerasaurus Mount, Summon Butterfly Monk, Shepherd of Lost Souls, Anchornaut, Echo Greystorm

Echo is a very good Phoenixborn, and now a deck that really did need some control or removal options has landed Chaos Gravity, one of the very best ones available. Carl’s having a killer draft.

Pick 68 | ShufflebusJesse

Their Deck: Summon Winged Lioness, Summon Turtle Guard, Frost Bite, Molten Gold, Odette Diamondcrest, Holy Knight

To my eye, this is maybe the biggest fall of the entire draft. How did Holy Knight, a single color, annoying to remove defensive powerhouse, fall all the way to №68? Jesse may not know, but if I was him I wouldn’t be interested in asking too many questions. Snatch it and run. What a steal.

Pick 69 (Nice) | Taj

Their Deck: Summon Fallen, Essence Druid, Enchanted Violinist, Guilt Link, Koji Wolfcub, String Mage

Another body for Taj, and this one gets to manipulate tokens ad-infinitum until the opponent deals with her.

At which point Summon Fallen gets another token. Seems good.

Pick 70 | Proplum

Their Deck: Summon Light Bringer, Summon Vampire Bat Swarm, Magic Syphon, Fester, Light Swordsman, Shadow Guard

Shadow Guard is a great unit. Proplum doesn’t have units that will desperately need protection, but 3 Attack out of nowhere is no joke, and frankly if somebody else didn’t start sniping Illusion cards it’s likely JOSH would have had too many options. Solid.

Pick 71 | Shannon F-T

Their Deck: Summon Salamander Monk, Grave Knight, Summon Sleeping Widows, Blood Chains, Immortal Commander, Choke

Choke is a blowout card against certain PBs in the field, especially ones like Jessa and Coal who want to trigger multiple times, but it also puts a little bit of direct damage into the mix for Shannon. This deck has slayed on Ceremony spells.

Pick 72 | Qreqorek

Their Deck: Summon Frostback Bear, Summon Shining Hydra, Summon Indiglow Creeper, Polarity Mage, Explosive Growth, Aradel Summergaard

Aradel brings some board control with Water Blast and another potent book with Blue Jaguar. She’s also got an 8 Battlefield, something this deck desperately needed to secure. This is certainly the draft’s premier Nature deck at this point.

ROUND 6 SUMMARY

In this round we saw less spice and more synergy picks as players looked to round out their decks. It’s a good metaphor for deckbuilding as a whole- we’ve started with cornerstone units, gotten ways to deal with threats, and now we’re starting to glue everything together. Fun round.

ROUND 7

Pick 73 | Qreqorek

Their Deck: Summon Frostback Bear, Summon Shining Hydra, Summon Indiglow Creeper, Polarity Mage, Explosive Growth, Aradel Summergaard, Shifting Mist

Another dice fixing card, and the 4th ready spell for this deck, finishing out Aradel’s spellboard. It also adds Illusion in. Mist Typhoon imminent? Just messing with JOSH? Only Qreqorek knows, and he’s like super asleep.

Pick 74 | Shannon F-T

Their Deck: Summon Salamander Monk, Grave Knight, Summon Sleeping Widows, Blood Chains, Immortal Commander, Choke, Leo Sunshadow

Abs. Anguish. Abird.

Pick 75 | Proplum

Their Deck: Summon Light Bringer, Summon Vampire Bat Swarm, Magic Syphon, Fester, Light Swordsman, Shadow Guard, Celestial Knight

One of the last knights to exit the board, and an underrated one. Armored is a great ability that really messes with the math of most of the game’s removal. JOSH would have really liked to snatch this up too, but Proplum scores by getting in two Illusion picks before it can come back around to him. Well played.

Pick 76 | Taj

Their Deck: Summon Fallen, Essence Druid, Enchanted Violinist, Guilt Link, Koji Wolfcub, String Mage, Imperial Ninja

We add another ally to zombify and additional mill tech to compliment the Violinist. What’s not to like?

Pick 77 | ShufflebusJesse

Their Deck: Summon Winged Lioness, Summon Turtle Guard, Frost Bite, Molten Gold, Odette Diamondcrest, Holy Knight, Swift Messenger

In back to back rounds, Jesse scores high-value allies that somehow slipped way farther down the draft board than they should have. Does anyone want to play this monstrosity? It doesn’t even look like a draft deck. Show me the CARFAX, Romeo, this deck’s going all the way.

Pick 78 | Carl Diaz

Their Deck: Raptor Herder, Summon Cerasaurus Mount, Summon Butterfly Monk, Shepherd of Lost Souls, Anchornaut, Echo Greystorm, Summon False Demon

We dip a bit into Illusion here, one of my favorite pairings with the incredible Echo. False Demon is a really cool card for him, letting him get some late round damage or some on-demand pings combined with Gravity Flux. This is one of the game’s most underrated books and I bet it’s going to do a lot of work for Carl.

Pick 79 | Rafiki Robert

Their Deck: Fire Archer, Hammer Knight, Maeoni Viper, Golden Veil, Summon Blood Puppet, Open Memories, Call Upon The Realms

Call Upon The Realms is a no-frills dice fixer that, handily, happens as a main action instead of as a side. This can enable some otherwise awkward lines of play to go off without a hitch. It also furthers the idea that Robert is now fully committed to the idea of just playing a spruced up Maeoni Precon. Have you heard of worse deck ideas? I have. They’re right there on my Ashes.live account.

Maeoni good.

Pick 80 | Matt Bauers

Their Deck: Summon Three Eyed Owl, Summon Orchid Dove, Kneel, Meteor, Redirect, Summon Emperor Lion, Abundance

This is getting out of hand.

Pick 81 | JOSH

Their Deck: Summon Shadow Spirit, Hollow, Battle Seer, Crescendo, Psychic Vampire, Jessa Na Ni, Stormwind Sniper

Another direct burn card, this is a great follow-up to the Jessa pick. This deck can kill you in so many ways.

Pick 82 | Doktarr

Their Deck: River Skald, Summon Majestic Titan, Nature’s Wrath, Massive Growth, Summon Mind Fog Owl, Harold Westraven, Hunt Master

I wish I could say that I liked this pick, but alas, I really wanted this card and I am very petty. This pick sucks.

Pick 83 | Brian B

Their Deck: Brennen Blackcloud, Master Vampire, Summon Time Hopper, Standard Bearer, Coal Roarkwin, Summon Squall Stallion, Iron Worker

When Iron Worker hits the table, you gotta ask yourself whether you’re willing to find a way to muster up the 2 damage it’s going to take to get it dead. It’s just a 2/2 with draw right? Maybe I can let it slide just this once?

You can’t. Brian’s added another must kill unit here, one that’s going to feed cards to Coal and absorb enemy removal like a bearded magnet.

Pick 84 | ImpossibleGerman

Their Deck: Summon Gilder, Sonic Swordsman, Summon Ancestor Spirit, Xander Heartsblood, Sympathy Pain, Root Armor, Beast Tamer

I really like Beast Tamer, and I think Xander shines brightest with a variety of allies to pick from for his recursion ability. Beast Tamer’s going to be a great blocker, and I’m excited to experiment with landing a Root Armor on him as well. How many Charm dice I end up needing is going to be a very interesting question to answer, however. Let’s hope I’m able to balance things well.

ROUND 7 SUMMARY

Full disclosure- during the later part of this round, which saw a flurry of picks in a short amount of time, I was playing a match for the Shufflebus Tournament and had to make these picks on the fly. This is handy, as now when I lose I’ll have a top-tier excuse.

Remember, kids- after units, removal, and utility pieces, excuses are the most critical part of any Ashes deck.

ROUND 8

Pick 85 | ImpossibleGerman

Their Deck: Summon Gilder, Sonic Swordsman, Summon Ancestor Spirit, Xander Heartsblood, Sympathy Pain, Beast Tamer, Beast Mage

Beast Mage: Technically a Knight. Don’t @ me

(It gives me some bypass and Xander’s able to time it better than most…I’m still not convinced it’s a good pick, but Sympathy cards are vanishing fast)

Pick 86 | Brian B

Their Deck: Brennen Blackcloud, Master Vampire, Summon Time Hopper, Standard Bearer, Coal Roarkwin, Summon Squall Stallion, Iron Worker, Reclaim Soul

Listen, sometimes in life there are mysteries better left unsolved. Here’s one now. It’s late at night and I don’t understand this pick. It kills your units for free. That’s good, right? You…you want that sometimes? Brian’s playing 4D Chess over here and we all just get to watch.

I guess if one of the Squall Stallion misbehaves he can always just threaten to Reclaim it. Now that’s a power move.

Pick 87 | Doktarr

Their Deck: River Skald, Summon Majestic Titan, Nature’s Wrath, Massive Growth, Summon Mind Fog Owl, Harold Westraven, Hunt Master, Flute Mage

Flute Mage lets you remove an exhaustion token. This seems particularly good in a deck with Massive Growth. That combo could be enough to seal games right there. Solid choice.

Pick 88 | JOSH

Their Deck: Summon Shadow Spirit, Hollow, Battle Seer, Crescendo, Psychic Vampire, Jessa Na Ni, Stormwind Sniper, Summon Ghostly Mount

A quintessential “good drafting” pick. This unit is clearly a focal point of the deck, but JOSH is able to wait 8 whole rounds before drafting it. Ghostly Mount is versatile and strong, but needs a very specific build…one that JOSH already had online with his previous picks. Nobody was interested in snatching this from him and he was able to build up his toolbox before taking his feature card. Good stuff.

Pick 89 | Matt Bauers

Their Deck: Summon Three Eyed Owl, Summon Orchid Dove, Kneel, Meteor, Redirect, Summon Emperor Lion, Abundance, To Shadows

Illusion, eh? Great. Fannnnntastic.

If I get paired with this I’ll pay Matt $5 just to pretend we played and say I got a couple hits in. To Shadows is a great removal spell. Add it to the pile.

Pick 90 | Rafiki Robert

Their Deck: Fire Archer, Hammer Knight, Maeoni Viper, Golden Veil, Summon Blood Puppet, Open Memories, Call Upon The Realms, Blood Archer

Blood Archer is a ping machine and could be excellent tech to clear the way for these snakes. The plot thickens.

Pick 91 | Carl Diaz

Their Deck: Raptor Herder, Summon Cerasaurus Mount, Summon Butterfly Monk, Shepherd of Lost Souls, Anchornaut, Echo Greystorm, Sun Sister

Allies are thinning out, so players are taking the ones that have utility for them and are still on the board. Sun Sister’s unlimited healing can be clutch with proper timing. I have a feeling her and those Cerasaurus Mounts are going to be gooooood friends.

Pick 92 | ShufflebusJesse

Their Deck: Summon Winged Lioness, Summon Turtle Guard, Frost Bite, Molten Gold, Odette Diamondcrest, Holy Knight, Swift Messenger, Summon Archasaurus Mount

Swift Messenger leaving the board really should have made it obvious this was coming. It’s even the ideal pairing for Archasaurus, as it can come into play on the opponent’s turn, thus removing Archasaurus’ biggest timing issue.

Ugh. Gross.

Pick 93 | Taj

Their Deck: Summon Fallen, Essence Druid, Enchanted Violinist, Guilt Link, Koji Wolfcub, String Mage, Imperial Ninja, Sacred Ground

Swinging with a gigantic board of armored zombies seems fine. Also potentially very useful to get zombies to stick if he can predict an incoming board wipe. Taj continues to craft a well-rounded, scary deck.

Pick 94 | Proplum

Their Deck: Summon Light Bringer, Summon Vampire Bat Swarm, Magic Syphon, Fester, Light Swordsman, Shadow Guard, Celestial Knight, Fade Away

Proplum continues his heavy dip into Illusion, having now grabbed three great cards out of that color late in the game. Fade Away is about as efficient as removal gets, taking anything off the board for just a single die, but you’ve gotta wait for it to pay off. Given how many ways Proplum has to stall the board, I don’t think he’ll mind.

Pick 95 | Shannon F-T

Their Deck: Summon Salamander Monk, Grave Knight, Summon Sleeping Widows, Blood Chains, Immortal Commander, Choke, Leo Sunshadow, Summon Mirror Spirit

Given that this deck is going to be able to outlast most of it’s opponents in terms of things to do on the board, late round Mirror Spirits seem like they could be an interesting problem for folks to solve. Assuming Shannon hasn’t just, you know, wantonly killed all their units already.

Pick 96 | Qreqorek

Their Deck: Summon Frostback Bear, Summon Shining Hydra, Summon Indiglow Creeper, Polarity Mage, Explosive Growth, Aradel Summergaard, Shifting Mist, Vanish

Aha, we ARE dipping into Illusion! This deck’s going to be very hard to deal with in terms of board, so having a reaction that might bail him out of taking direct Phoenixborn damage a couple times a game is a nice tech pick for Qreqorek.

ROUND 8 SUMMARY

We’re back into tech pieces and we’re seeing players branch out a little more again. I don’t necessarily think these decks are going to hurt for it though, and another deckbuilding lesson is at play here.

Winning Ashes games is often dependent on more than just the biggest threat you can field. Shannon’s got Grave Knights and Mirror Spirits, Brian’s got Standard Bearer and Squall Stallion, and those are just a couple of examples. Reaching a critical mass of questions your opponent will need answers for is a huge part of Ashes, and it looks like players are looking for ways to diversify and flesh out their secondary threats across the board.

ROUND 9

Pick 97 | Qreqorek

Their Deck: Summon Frostback Bear, Summon Shining Hydra, Summon Indiglow Creeper, Polarity Mage, Explosive Growth, Aradel Summergaard, Shifting Mist, Vanish, Heal

Creeper games can take a while, and Hydra might also take some time to get off the ground. Restoring health is actually more valuable in Ashes than many other dueling card games, just because rounds are so tight and a huge majority of games end up being decided by just a couple of hit points. Great pick, and I’m sure Qreqorek was stoked it was available.

Pick 98 | Shannon F-T

Their Deck: Summon Salamander Monk, Grave Knight, Summon Sleeping Widows, Blood Chains, Immortal Commander, Choke, Leo Sunshadow, Summon Mirror Spirit, James Endersight

It’s another Phoenixborn for Shannon, and this one’s probably scarier than the first. Vengeance plays right into the plan here, and there’s really only a couple cards left for Shannon to grab to cement this deck’s authority. At this point we should just be thanking our lucky stars that the round 1 pick was Salamander Monk instead of Fallen.

Pick 99 | Proplum

Their Deck: Summon Light Bringer, Summon Vampire Bat Swarm, Magic Syphon, Fester, Light Swordsman, Shadow Guard, Celestial Knight, Fade Away, Law of Fear

Proplum makes a problematic team of units even harder to punch through with the first Law drafted. Also Matt doesn’t get it, which means we all still get to have Christmas come December.

Pick 100 | Taj

Their Deck: Summon Fallen, Essence Druid, Enchanted Violinist, Guilt Link, Koji Wolfcub, String Mage, Imperial Ninja, Sacred Ground, Reaping Angel

I think this is a sleeper pick for Taj, letting him extend Koji’s fairly wimpy life total to get more swings in with those zombies. I wonder often if Reaping Angel is being underplayed and am excited to see how this one works out.

Pick 101 | ShufflebusJesse

Their Deck: Summon Winged Lioness, Summon Turtle Guard, Frost Bite, Molten Gold, Odette Diamondcrest, Holy Knight, Swift Messenger, Summon Archasaurus Mount, Frost Fang

Any card that costs two of the same kind of die can put a lot of pressure on the dice composition of your build. Frost Fang is no different, but it comes with 3 attack and built in protection against the game’s most common removal. It’s going to give Jesse a little extra juice for bigger swings. Not that he really needed it…

Pick 102 | Carl Diaz

Their Deck: Raptor Herder, Summon Cerasaurus Mount, Summon Butterfly Monk, Shepherd of Lost Souls, Anchornaut, Echo Greystorm, Summon False Demon, Sun Sister, Body Inversion

Body Inversion is a weird card, but it can engineer value trades in a game that’s won and lost by them. It’s also fabulous tech against some potent 0 cost units like Three Eyed Owl and Luminous Seedling, instantly killing them on the cheap. Carl’s foray into Illusion has been conservative, but potent.

Pick 103 | Rafiki Robert

Their Deck: Fire Archer, Hammer Knight, Maeoni Viper, Golden Veil, Summon Blood Puppet, Open Memories, Call Upon The Realms, Blood Archer, Hypnotize

More classic combos on the table for Rafiki Robert’s Silver Snake! I bet they’re enjoying all these tech pieces he’s bringing home for them from the card store. Let’s go live on the field to the Silver Snake for their thoughts on the latest addition to their team:

“HssssssssSSSSSSSS! HSSSSSSS. hsssSSSssss. HSS. Hsssssssssss HSSssssSSss HSSSSSSSSSSSSS” — Silver Snake

Riveting stuff! Back to the draft.

Pick 104 | Matt Bauers

Their Deck: Summon Three Eyed Owl, Summon Orchid Dove, Kneel, Meteor, Redirect, Summon Emperor Lion, Abundance, To Shadows, Steady Gaze

We were going to print t-shirts that say “I Damaged Matt Bauers Once In The Ashes Draft Tournament” to mark the accomplishment, but then we realized that nobody’d be able to wear one.

Pick 105 | JOSH

Their Deck: Summon Shadow Spirit, Hollow, Battle Seer, Crescendo, Psychic Vampire, Jessa Na Ni, Stormwind Sniper, Summon Ghostly Mount, Figures In The Fog

This is one of my favorite defensive spells, and it slots beautifully into this well-rounded Illusion deck. I think more ways to protect itself is exactly what the doctor ordered for this deck.

Pick 106 | Doktarr

Their Deck: River Skald, Summon Majestic Titan, Nature’s Wrath, Massive Growth, Summon Mind Fog Owl, Harold Westraven, Hunt Master, Flute Mage, Adrenaline Rush

Another day, another unexhaust for Doktarr. It’s going to be a nuisance to try to play around all these big units swinging multiple times around. This deck is going to be Exhibit A in the part of the Ashes museum where they talk about how Massive Growth ended up chained.

Pick 107 | Brian B

Their Deck: Brennen Blackcloud, Master Vampire, Summon Time Hopper, Standard Bearer, Coal Roarkwin, Summon Squall Stallion, Iron Worker, Reclaim Soul, Accelerate

A knockout card for Coal, Brian’s going to be slashing left and right. It’s also got great utility with Squall Stallion, which is pretty demanding regarding side actions. As potent as Accelerate can be, it’s not for every deck. Luckily for Brian, it sure as heck is a good fit here.

Pick 108 | ImpossibleGerman

Their Deck: Summon Gilder, Sonic Swordsman, Summon Ancestor Spirit, Xander Heartsblood, Sympathy Pain, Root Armor, Beast Tamer, Beast Mage, Amplify

Amplify/Gilder is one of my favorite combos in the game, and I’ve had this on my radar for a while. I’m glad it got around to me- assuming you can get it triggered consistently, Amplify is a really efficient card that can enable some high value trades or some sneaky 3 damage swings.

ROUND 9 SUMMARY

The Ashes cardpool is really sort of showing off at this point. Over 100 selections in, the Discord channel for this draft is filled with cries of anguish as players still remove great cards from the board with each pick. Any game this far into a draft that’s still provoking those reactions, and that still sees players snatching great fits for their decks, is something special.

This will be my final round of coverage for this draft. It’s been an exhausting couple days of typing and I’m running out of material for this, the world’s nerdiest stand-up routine. Stay tuned after Round 10 for some closing thoughts.

ROUND 10

Pick 109 | ImpossibleGerman

Their Deck: Summon Gilder, Sonic Swordsman, Summon Ancestor Spirit, Xander Heartsblood, Sympathy Pain, Beast Tamer, Beast Mage, Amplify, Shield Mage

Having just taken Amplify, and trying to remain vigilant for good allies to recur with Xander, I land on Shield Mage, a potentially powerful but somewhat difficult to use unit. I’m hoping to utilize it here to more reliably spend the Divine dice necessary in this build for Xander’s Reincarnate and Sonic Swordsman, and to draw some removal away from my most important units.

Pick 110 | Brian B

Their Deck: Brennen Blackcloud, Master Vampire, Summon Time Hopper, Standard Bearer, Coal Roarkwin, Summon Squall Stallion, Iron Worker, Reclaim Soul, Accelerate, Chant of Revenge

Brian’s back to square one, scoring a late pickup of a burn tool that Brennen’s often packing in constructed anyway. Chant of Revenge is kind of just universally good though. Actually, now that I think about it, how did this card last this long? How are there this many good cards in this freaking game?

Pick 111 | Doktarr

Their Deck: River Skald, Summon Majestic Titan, Nature’s Wrath, Massive Growth, Summon Mind Fog Owl, Harold Westraven, Hunt Master, Flute Mage, Adrenaline Rush, Close Combat

Are you interested in your coolest unit taking 28 damage or whatever off of a single frog die? It turns out I know a guy who can hook you up.

Pick 112 | JOSH

Their Deck: Summon Shadow Spirit, Hollow, Battle Seer, Crescendo, Psychic Vampire, Jessa Na Ni, Stormwind Sniper, Summon Ghostly Mount, Figures In The Fog, Dark Presence

This one went to the right deck. Some bypass is going to go a long way toward’s allowing this deck’s units being able to get their swings in. Dark Presence is one of the coolest tools Illusion tools has, and one of my favorite spells period.

Pick 113 | Matt Bauers

Their Deck: Summon Three Eyed Owl, Summon Orchid Dove, Kneel, Meteor, Redirect, Summon Emperor Lion, Abundance, To Shadows, Steady Grace, Law of Grace

Emperor Lion now has a Law card to go fetch, and somewhat surprisingly it marks the first time in this draft I’ve had to go look up what a card does! Let’s see here…

Oh hey I don’t like that at all.

Pick 114 | Rafiki Robert

Their Deck: Fire Archer, Hammer Knight, Maeoni Viper, Golden Veil, Summon Blood Puppet, Open Memories, Call Upon The Realms, Blood Archer, Hypnotize, Final Cry

And the field brings a sigh of relief that Shannon didn’t end up with this one. Fire Archer and Final Cry gives Robert a pretty robust secondary win condition, and it’s going to feel pretty demoralizing for opponents to focus all their energy into killing a Silver Snake only to take a fat 2 damage for their trouble. Amazing pick, how did this card fall to 114, well done.

Pick 115 | Carl Diaz

Their Deck: Raptor Herder, Summon Cerasaurus Mount, Summon Butterfly Monk, Shepherd of Lost Souls, Anchornaut, Echo Greystorm, Sun Sister, Body Inversion, Ice Trap

Lots of the best units in Ashes are cheap, and now Carl gets to tell them bye before they get a chance to wave hello. Ice Trap is also a real thorn in the side of mount decks, able to interrupt process of getting them saddled up and effectively prevent two units from hitting the board. Not against Carl though. Carl saw your bullcrap and he said NOPE, you’re getting DINOSAUR’D.

Pick 116 | ShufflebusJesse

Their Deck: Summon Winged Lioness, Summon Turtle Guard, Frost Bite, Molten Gold, Odette Diamondcrest, Holy Knight, Swift Messenger, Summon Archasaurus Mount, Frost Fang, Outmatch

I think Time’s utility spells are already a huge attraction for the dice type even with only one release to it’s name. Outmatch might be the best of them, and it gives Jesse another potent option to play from hand.

Pick 117 | Taj

Their Deck: Summon Fallen, Essence Druid, Enchanted Violinist, Guilt Link, Koji Wolfcub, String Mage, Imperial Ninja, Sacred Ground, Reaping Angel, Rising Horde

Just when you thought he was out of zombies…

Pick 118 | Proplum

Their Deck: Summon Light Bringer, Summon Vampire Bat Swarm, Magic Syphon, Fester, Light Swordsman, Shadow Guard, Celestial Knight, Fade Away, Law of Fear, Crimson Bomber

Proplum’s been fairly light on Ceremony so far, so this fleshes out that piece of his deck nicely and provides a cool board control option. People also tend to forget that if you don’t blow it up it’s a 3/2, which is often good enough on it’s own. Little Red Riding Hood is here, and this time it’s eating you.

Pick 119 | Shannon F-T

Their Deck: Summon Salamander Monk, Grave Knight, Summon Sleeping Widows, Blood Chains, Immortal Commander, Choke, Leo Sunshadow, Summon Mirror Spirit, James Endersight, Rose Fire Dancer

RFD is a super high utility unit, and it’s probably a good enough card to run a single Illusion dice for on it’s own. More exhaustion tech, more big attack numbers. Ick.

Pick 120 | Qreqorek

Their Deck: Summon Frostback Bear, Summon Shining Hydra, Summon Indiglow Creeper, Polarity Mage, Explosive Growth, Aradel Summergaard, Shifting Mist, Vanish, Heal, Summon Mist Spirit

It’s somewhat poetic that we close our draft coverage on arguably the most iconic Ashes unit, the Beeg Plushie itself, the happy blue bobble, Mist Spirit. Even with an 8 Battlefield I’m skeptical of Qreqorek’s ability to fit all these darn units on the same board! It’s going to be an absolute onslaught, and I for one can’t wait to see the power of nature trampling all over opposing decks.

ROUND 10 SUMMARY

These decks are now mostly ready to hit the field! If you ran each card at 3x, we’d hit 30, so in theory the primary gameplans are in place (except for the players who have already drafted two Phoenixborn). This last round saw yet more solid picks. It turns out there’s basically always opportunities to find yet more synergies for a given deck concept

This coverage has been exhausting, but also some of the most fun I’ve ever had in the Ashes community. If you’ve been tuning in as a newer player, I hope it’s given you some insight into how Ashes players evaluate cards and build out a well-rounded deck. I’d happily take any of these 12 builds into a tournament any day, and soon enough these players will be doing just that.

I’ll update this article with the final decks for your viewing pleasure once the draft concludes, and I’ll also do a post-tournament update featuring some commentary from the deckbuilders on how their deck worked out for them. Thanks again for reading. I’m going to sleep now…until it’s my pick again 😝