At last, the pandemic is getting less hostile, probably due to accelerated vaccinations and the like. Right on time, WotC launched the very special 'Adventures in the Forgotten Realms' expansion set, so it's prerelease time again ! Finally ... Venturing into the dungeons is an exciting new ('Dungeons & Dragons' derived) game mechanic, plus a lot more.
For practical reasons, I'll probably be abandoning FNM Booster Drafts, albeit with a heavy heart. I mostly finished in the seasonal top-8 rankings, accumulating some additional prize booster packs as a recurring nice extra. During the pandemic, I've been playing online (Arena), but it usually takes a lot of time to accumulate sufficient gold via playing mostly inferior theme decks, which is not so interesting. Therefore, instead of online drafts, I might want to stick to live Sealed Deck sessions with my regular playing partner, thereby emptying my 2 booster pack boxes per expansion set and completing my singles collection in the process. Missed recent expansion sets during the pandemic: 'Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths', 'Kaldheim', and 'Strixhaven: School of Mages'. Add 'Guilds of Ravnica' to that mix, which I missed for other reasons, ...
Saturday 2021-07-17 (prerelease card pool #1): Maximum 8 players per event/pod, due to covid restrictions. I happened to play in the 2nd (5 players) pod. My average BG Skeletons deck result vs. WU: 2-0, vs. WG: 0-2, and a 3rd round bye. 2nd place out of 5, hence 3 booster packs prize.
Sunday 2021-07-18 (prerelease card pool #2, 8 players pod): BR Goblins/Treasures ... Result vs. UR: 1-2 (due to opponent's natural 20 die roll at the critical 3rd game moment, creating just enough treasures to timely awaken his Hall of Storm Giants), vs. BG: 2-0, and vs. BGr: 2-0. 3rd place out of 8, hence 3 booster packs prize again.
From Zombies to Werewolves ... (Maximum 8 players per event pod, due to covid restrictions.)
Friday 2021-09-17 (prerelease card pool #1): WB. Scores: 2-0 vs. RG Werewolves, 0-2 vs. WU Flyers, and 0-2 vs. RG Werewolves.
Sunday 2021-09-19 (prerelease card pool #2): WR, switching to WB as of round 2. Again, only 1 match win: 0-2 vs. UR Spells, 2-1 vs. RG Werewolves, and 0-2 vs. WB Spirits.
Sunday 2021-09-19 (prerelease card pool #3): UB, again switching to WB as of round 2. But again, only 1 match win: 0-2 vs. BR Vampires, 2-0 vs. RG Werewolves, and 1-1 vs. WBG (which I conceded during called time in the 3rd game).
From Zombies to Werewolves, continued ... Nice rather prince than pauper set, i.e. many nasty bombs in there. Nice gameplay experience as well ! Mostly long complex games, sometimes without any time left to start the deciding 3rd game.
Saturday 2021-11-13 (prerelease card pool #1): RG. Scores: 2-0 vs. UB Zombies, 2-1 vs. BR Vampires, and 0-2 vs. low-curve WB.
Saturday 2021-11-13 (prerelease card pool #2): WR. Scores: 2-1 vs. WUBR, 0-2 vs. BR Vampires, and 2-0 vs. RG Werewolves.
Sunday 2021-11-14 (prerelease card pool #3): RG. Scores: 2-0 vs. WR aggro, 1-0 vs. WUB, and 1-2 vs. BRG (including last round opponent's deck switch to WU, which unfortunately lost me the match).
Sunday 2021-11-14 (prerelease card pool #4): UB. Scores: 1-1 vs. BRG, 1-2 vs. BR Vampires, and 1-1 vs. UB Zombies mirror.
At the Innistrad: Crimson Vow release draft on 2021-11-20 (yes, quite some time ago I had drafted, so it wasn't easy ...), I played a RGb deck, but switched to BGr as of round 2. Scores: 0-2 vs.UR, 2-0 vs. WBr, and 0-2 vs. RG.