Hey everyone! I’ve been having a great time jamming an infinite (at least that’s the words my wife used swiftly followed by something about doing the dishes, but I missed that part) amount of Bloomburrow drafts. It’s been a great changeup from the Modern Horizons 3 drafts (still looking at you Writhing Chrysalis) with a lot of obvious synergy and some subtle ways to take advantage of it. I’m dropping this guide to help you catch up on everything and hop on over (Get it? Because there are rabbits and frog. I’m so clever.) to a pile of trophies.
The question I keep getting asked is why I wait to put my draft guide up till we’re a week and a half into the format. Everyone is so used to me dropping a pile of content and it’s the thing that people feel I am “behind” in putting out.
It’s because draft formats really take at least a week to shake out to what their final form is going to be. Think of all the craziness you run into during those first few days on Arena and then consider how little value most of the information from that time frame has. To give a throwback example, you didn’t learn much applicable information about the rest of the cards in your deck when you had five Organ Hoarders because you were so far ahead that you would have won with a ham sandwich. The top ranks are also stacked with decks that were drafted against casuals who were doing their only draft of the format. I could make some inferences or predictions on it, but I prefer to get you information that is going to be applicable for the rest of the set.
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The biggest thing to know about Bloomburrow is that synergy is extremely important. We like to throw around the term secret gold cards, but here it is archetype specific because you can still be a Golgari deck that doesn’t want to be playing Honored Dreyleader. Every card valuation should be on a sliding scale with every new pick (you should always be doing this during draft, but it is exaggerated in Bloomburrow).
I’m not saying to avoid drafting for power, I’m still taking bombs and I have no problem splashing them. You just need to consider that a lot of the bombs in this set aren’t as explosive when they are self-contained. Many of them require you to draft a certain archetype to actually live up to that billing.
Keeping that in mind is one of the biggest things about the beginning of the draft. Adapting drafting the hard way to this set is taking cards that are generically good in different archetypes instead of slightly better cards that require immediate commitment. This lets you be more flexible with what is coming. A good example is that I will take a good removal spell p1p1 over a lot of archetype specific “bombs”, but in later packs I’m far more likely to take the “bomb” if it applies to my deck.
As far as splashing goes, it feels really easy in this format. There is just the right amount of fixing that you don’t have a problem picking it up if you need it, but not enough to enable people to consistently draft soup decks. The amount of splashing is also limited because a lot of the cards don’t work nearly as well outside of their intended archetype. Of course, if it is a P1P1 generically good in every archetype bomb, then you clearly windmill slam it. (Is that Sword of fire and Ices music?)
Something that I noticed early on that I haven’t seen discussed enough is that matchups really matter in this format. For example, I drafted a pretty disgusting Dimir control deck that would have rolled most of the aggressive decks. I didn’t trophy because my losses were all against over-the-top control decks that just out valued me while a lot of my cards did very little against them. While if they would have been paired against Selesnya or Rakdos, they would have gotten run over while they were durdling around drawing a bunch of extra cards.
A similar experience comes when you’re playing Rakdos lizards against a grindy food-based deck. There really isn’t much you can do about it in bo1, sometimes you get the elevator and sometimes you get the shaft. In Bo3, you should consider which cards might help those matchups during the draft and be prepared when it comes to sideboarding.
Format Speed
The format is extremely quick. Not quite MH3 fast, but much closer than you would think with a standard legal set. Outside of ONE it is the quickest we’ve had on Arena. Some of this is that all of the best decks are extremely aggressive outside of Golgari squirrels.
The win rate on the play is also right up there with the highest we’ve had. I always find this more concerning than the overall speed because it shows that winning the coinflip matters more than it should.
My top tier of archetypes includes Selesnya, Golgari, and Rakdos.
Selesnya has a nice combination of ways to flood the board along with mass pump effects in Rabbit Response and Warren Elder. It produces a massive amount of pressure and can produce overwhelming board states. Harvestrite Host can make this deck really pop off. The biggest down fall is that both of these colors are heavily contested in most drafts, but when it is really something when it comes together.
Rakdos is usually a very low to the ground lizards build, but it can also have a big boy pants version with Glidedive Duos and Quaketusk Boar type cards to overwhelm them. One of the huge advantages of this deck is Scales of Shale which is insane for only one mana. Costing three in non-lizard decks helps to make sure that other archetypes don’t gobble up one of your key cards.
Golgari squirrels is very grindy and based around food. That gives it a great matchup against the aggressive decks since you can stabilize and then pull yourself out of the danger zone. There are a variety of ways to build this and it doesn’t even necessarily have to be all about squirrels even though that really makes Cache Grab sparkle.
Not That Far Behind Tier
My next tier is Boros, Simic, Dimir and Orzhov.
Boros can have nut draws where it feels like a top tier archetype. It can also run out of gas or not draw the proper combination of valiant creatures and ways to trigger them. I’ve found Blacksmith’s Talent is a real load bearing card for the archetype to keep the pressure on in the late game. I’ve ended up in this deck a lot because I started out Selesnya and Green was hard cut while red was wide open.
Simic can win most games that go late because of how much value it can generate by bouncing its own creatures over and over again. You just have to get to that point with a lot of decisions to make about how you value life versus potential gains later. Chumping with a Pond Prophet can give you a life cushion, but not having it around to bounce lowers the value of many of your other cards.
Dimir and Orzhov are typically somewhere between midrange and control. They can have really good matchups against the aggressive decks especially if you have a sweeper. They can have problems with cards producing more than one body since it lowers the value of the one for one removal.
I’m Cool With Settling Tier
Tier three consists of Gruul and Azorius.
I don’t go into a draft looking to go into anything from this point on. They are usually fallback plans when one of my other colors are cut or the lane is so wide open that you can’t help but swerve into it. Even when I pick one pack one Kastral, the Windcrested I’m looking to splash it into a better archetype.
I Swear It Was Wide Open Tier
The bottom tier is Izzet. I once again stress that this doesn’t mean you should avoid this color combination. It means that you shouldn’t go into a draft looking to get into it. It’s still very possible to trophy with as long as it is appropriately open and the right cards are busted.
Make a plan around Dazzling Denial if it seems like they are holding it up so you order your spells correctly. It’s a consideration for not using offspring because resolving one creature is better than not resolving two.
I don’t mind playing a single Fountainport Bell in a land slot. I would need to be up to some serious shenanigans to run a second.
While on the subject of Fountainport Bell and possible shenanigans, it is an excellent addition to the Builder's Talent deck. That is a very serious build around that isn’t nearly as under the radar as it was at the beginning of the format. That deck also gets to really take advantage of Carrot Cake which has been a real standout common so far.
Savor is one of the key cards in the fight against aggro decks.
Dewdrop Cure reads like a great card, but in most decks it’s a trap.
There are a ton of ways to mess with your removal spells in Bloomburrow. While the instinct is to wait until the last second to use them, it can often be correct to just go ahead and pop it off on your turn while they are tapped out.
One of the things I’ve noticed is that either Blue or Red (sometimes both) are comically open during almost every draft. I’ve had success with a bunch of pivots because I saw pick five Shoreline Looter or Kitnap.
While not as absurd as Shoreline Looter, Mindwhisker is still a great uncommon that I see going around late. Continuous card selection that can fuel the yard while potentially making all your opponent’s creatures smaller is a bargain for three mana.
Bandit's Talent is also currently underrated. Modern limited can be very mana hungry so it is a real hinderance to have to keep two cards in hand. You’re also guaranteed to either hit a real card or two lands when you drop it.
Cruelclaw's Heist has also performed much better than I expected it to.
Darkstar Augur is great in aggressive decks or lifegain decks, but I’ve seen multiple people die to there own triggers in a normal midrange deck with some chonkers in it.
I shouldn’t have to say this, but First Strike is your friend with Downwind Ambusher.
Blacksmith's Talent has been a massive overperformer. It’s incredibly difficult to race once it’s up and running. One thing of note is that it is often correct to kill the equipment instead of the enchantment because it is highly unlikely that they have another equipment in their deck.
Seriously people, stop giving your opponent a treasure on turn two with Blooming Blast.
Conduct Electricity has been a great sideboard card for me, but I don’t mind playing it in the main if I am light on removal. Same thing with Early Winter.
I would highly recommend having the Heartfire Hero into Manifold Mouse start at least once this format. It’s a great time (for you).
Don’t be greedy and use the gift on Valley Rally when it’s already lethal otherwise. You didn’t need to first strike out one of my guys and lost because I had removal. You know who you are.
I don’t know how many times I’ve already said “God, I hope they don’t have Galewind Moose”, but just so you know they always do. Don’t walk into the big flashy beater.
Bumbleflower's Sharepot is another card that has surprised me. It’s really expensive removal, but you do get that food up front and you’re less likely to use it on something that doesn’t matter. Being able to hit any nonland is great when your opponent is playing Banishing Light or Kitnap.
While all of the Village lands are great additions to your deck, you do have to be careful about playing too many of them if you have a lot of noncreature spells to play.
I’ve been happy running a Hidden Grotto in pretty much any of my decks regardless of the number of colors.
One of fellow Draft Lab member Dafore’s opponents played triple Valley Questcaller on him by turn four. Not really a tip or trick, but mostly saying that it’s going to take something crazy to have a worse bad beat than that.
Starfall Invocation and Season of Loss are the big kabooms of the set. Both are pretty absurd and difficult to play around especially in bo1. Both of them have the potential to provide value on top of sweeping the board. Luckily they are rare and mythic so you don’t have to worry about seeing them that often.
Wildfire Howl is the Pyroclasm running around Bloomburrow. It can actually kill a ton of creatures in the format and can be a lifesaver against rabbits.
Crumb and Get It, Scales of Shale, and Overprotect are important to keep an eye out for because they can provide indestructible putting the kibosh on your removal spells as well as wrecking combat. Shore Up and Plumecreed Escort are other things to watch out for when you’re pointing a removal spell at one of their creatures.
Mabel's Mettle can really cause some damage especially in combination with valiant creatures. It’s important to consider it when they do an attack that offers two trades that seem too good to be true.
Might of the Meek is a cheap cantrip so it gets played in a bunch of decks, keep in mind they don’t get the power bonus if they don’t control a mouse.
High Stride doesn’t see much play, but its not out of the realm of possibility.
Savor is usually a removal spell, but I added it here to remind people that it can win a combat as well.
Valley Rally and Rabbit Response are the mass pump spells of the format. Look out for them if they are going wide.
While Downwind Ambusher is more known for killing a creature after combat, that -1-1 and an extra creature to block with can definitely mess with your carefully calculated combat math.
Spellgyre isn’t too difficult to see coming since it costs four mana. It’s nice since it lets you just cast itself to draw cards if they aren’t willing to cast anything juicy enough to counter.
Long River's Pull feels bad when you have to give them a card to counter a non-creature spell. It’s still a difficult to cast Essence Scatter with some “upside”. Something to look for if they pass with double blue up.
I talked about Dazzling Denial under Tips ands Tricks. One thing I’ve seen is people forgetting about the bird clause and confidently cast something with two mana up. Don’t be that person.
These are the Pack One Pick One (p1p1) no doubt, windmill slam, just take them rares of the set. These are not in rank order, just take these over any non-mythic uncommon or common.
Josh is a member of the elite limited team The Draft Lab as well as the host of The Draft Lab Podcast. He was qualifying for Pro Tours, Nationals, and Worlds literally before some of you were born. After a Magic hiatus to play poker and go to medical school, he has been dominating Arena with over an 80% win percentage in Bo3 as well as making #1 rank in Mythic.
