So, I Did a Thing

 Last Friday night, instead of packing for another basketball weekend, I dropped the kids back at home, and wandered again to the new location of Sword in the Stone Games with two missions:  To find a particular Magic - Lord of the Rings Commander Deck and, if I was living dangerously, sign up for the evening booster draft.  

Yeah, ViscountEric playing Magic.  

As luck would have it, both my missions were easily completed.

Looking back I haven't done a booster draft since Khans of Tarkir block, nearly a decade ago.  Luckily, I drafting has necessarily changed.  I drafted red initially, picking up black when I needed a second color.   A lot of soldier tokens for red and "amassing" orcs. 

For being out of the loop for nearly a decade, I did okay, going 0-2-1 in matchplay (3-6-1 overall).  

Favorite card from the draft?  The passively annoying Erebor Flamesmith.  

I drafted two of them, and both seemed to appear by turn five, whittling away at my oppenents' life totals as I cast creature removal/boost spells.  I enjoy passive damage, so this was a winner in my book.  

Despite being nearly double the cost of the other Commander decks from previous sets on sale, the Food and Fellowship Commander Deck.  It's Green-White-Black, with lots of hobbits and life-gaining food.  The winner why I picked it up to start my Commander Saga experiment?  It's got a boatload of treefolk (ents).  

As I pondered experimenting with "fun" Commander, I wanted to see the deck progress through the sets of Magic from the beginning (Alpha/Beta/Unlimited) and evolve as new cards come out (within budget).  One problem: There's not enough cards to build a 100-unique card (save basic land) with the original green cards, so I pondered adding white.  Second issue, there's no legends to act as Commanders until, not ironically, Legends.  Starting with Food and Fellowship, I can start with the Fourth Age of Man, learn the ins and outs of the new cards, but transition over the Unlimited cards to represent the impending Fifth Age.  

I will be happy when I can avoid temptation from the Ring.  It's kitschy for the set, and resulted in about a half-dozen rules interpretations during the tournament. 

Silly? Yes.  Heretical to some weird Tolkein fans?  Probably.  I can also build up a reserve cache of older cards to be "rediscovered" as the sets progress. 

We shall see what we shall see, but if I have time, I might as well venture to Sword (and Dragon Knight down the street from  me) to stay active during non-basketball time with the kids.