I often write these “full 42” articles sometime in the middle of a set’s release cycle to talk about broadly applicable draft ideas, but I though it’d be a good idea to kick off a new format by doing one! I’ve found Alchemy Horizons: Baldur’s Gate to be sweet so far and thankfully, quite different from Adventures in the Forgotten Realms draft.
For this article, I’d really encourage you to play along at home. If there’s ever a format that doesn’t click with me, I find that recognizing discrepancies between my picks and the picks of people finding success in the format is the quickest way I’ve come around to winning as much as I’d like to. We’ll go through each pick of the draft with my pick hidden until you’re ready to see it.
Pick 1
My pick: Sewer Plague
While the importance and effectiveness of removal ebbs and flows from format to format, I’ve been quite happy to prioritize the good removal spells early on in Baldur’s Gate drafts. Sometimes the mechanics in a format can be actively punishing towards removal spells (disturb comes to mind as a recent example), but the mechanics in Baldur’s Gate actually incentivize you to have an extra removal spell handy.
Double team cards like Genasi Rabble-Rousers and Giant Firebeetles threaten to draw a card on curve if not answered by a removal spell.
All this is to say, I’m happy first picking an efficient and splashable removal spell like Sewer Plague. Raggadragga and Korlessa are both decent cards, but not worth taking over a good monocolored common, and while I like Pilgrim’s Eye, it’s not quite as good at Sewer Plague.
