The first draft of Day 2 is Avengers, a set that's official release date was less than one week ago. As such, it’s an extremely fresh format, and players have been scrambling around for the last few days, trying to do drafts and learn anything they can about the format before giving the new set a go. For this draft, I got to watch Neil Reeves, who is arguably America’s best TCG player. Neil made the Top 4 of PC Indy last year and is fresh off a second place finish at Magic U.S. Nationals. Neil is a player with a reputation for great Draft play and intuition—the reputation is a well deserved one, as I learned by covering him at some length during his Top 8 run last year—so whatever strategy he brings to the table is sure to be a solid one.

Neil started off the draft with Call to Arms, possibly the set’s best common plot twist, over little else of note. Pack two presented him with the option of Eldritch Power or Faces of Evil, and Neil scooped up the team-up, trying to go Masters of Evil/Thunderbolts. Alex Shvartsman, sitting to Neil’s right, flashed me his second pick, Captain America, Super Soldier, cementing him in Avengers. Two picks into the draft, and the teams were starting to shape up. Pick three offered Neil the excellent The Wrecking Crew, while from the next pack, Neil selected Speed Demon over Shocker. Pack five offered the choice between Melter and Ogre, with Neil taking the 2-drop. Neil quickly took a second Faces of Evil that was waiting for him in pack six, and rounded out his notable picks with Plant Man ◊ Blackheath, Hard Sound Construct, Yellowjacket, Beetle Mach I, and Egghead. After pack one, Neil had the makings of a very good Faces of Evil deck, with multiple Faces and lots of low drops.

Pack two started off with a solid generic plot twist, Windstorm. Pack two gave Neil the decision between Screaming Mimi and Scorpion, with Neil choosing the Scorpion. Also sitting in the pack was the spectacular Hulk, Gamma Rage, rewarding Shvartsman for cutting Avengers off so hard in pack one. Pack three had no cards for Neil’s deck, so he took Wasp, possibly as a defensive draft but also possibly looking to splash her effect in his off-curve (and likely team attacking) deck. Pack four had the choice between Paul Ebersol ◊ Techno and Nathan Garrett ◊ Black Knight, and Neil took Techno. Neil was noticeably startled to find the absurd Thor, Odinson, which he couldn’t take at this point, still in the pack; he had to settle for the slightly less absurd Radioactive Man. Neil rounded out his picks with more cheap drops, and luckily received Mammomax fourteenth—the card will almost certainly make his deck.

Pack three rewarded Neil with Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace, a perfect card for his aggressive strategy. Pack two offered only another Yellowjacket, and pack three gave Neil Beetle ◊ Mach II. Pack four gave Neil a surprisingly late Shrink, and pack five provided Helmut Zemo ◊ Citizen V, Tactician. From the next pack, Neil took Dallas Riordan, Mayoral Aide over The Fixer, and a Combat Maneuvers greeted Neil next. More cheap characters, including a second very late Mammomax, ended his draft.

Afterwards, I spoke to Neil about how his draft went. He said that he didn’t have a specific plan going in, but feels that Faces of Evil (both the card and the archetype) are extremely powerful and wanted to draft that if at all possible. After pack one, he felt that he was well on his way to a 3-0 deck, but packs two and three offered very few powerful picks, and his deck suffered as a result. I would expect a 2-1 with his deck, but a 3-0 or 1-2 are both certainly possible. As a side note, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Vs. draft deck with no drop higher than 3. Kids, I wouldn’t suggest trying this at home.