Relentless Gaze of the Sun/Contextual Build
=Overview= When playing contextually, decisions are based primarily on the board state and drafts, rather than a preset path. Start by identifying the different ways you could solve your lands, then work backwards and choose the options that give you the best solution.
- When you have the opportunity to solve your lands in a way that lets you draft cards, you should strongly consider doing so.
- When you have the opportunity to solve multiple lands using Unbearable Gaze, you should strongly consider doing so.
- When you have the opportunity to create Badlands without killing Dahan using Withered Bodies, you should strongly consider doing so.
- When you have the opportunity to Improve the positioning of your presence/badlands with Focus, you should strongly consider doing so.
What does it mean to solve in a flexible way?'
If you have two cards that will solve your mountain explore, and one of them only targets mountains, you should use the mountain card because there are fewer situations where it's likely to be useful. Similarly, Gaze starts with multiple cards that can solve an explorer+town, but some are harder to get value out of than others: Blinding Glare will solve a land in almost any situation, Unbearable can't deal with cities but can solve two small adjacent lands, Focus can handle anything from lone explorer to an explorer+town+city but kills Dahan, while Withered can only solve an explorer or an explorer+town but creates badlands in the process. In general, you want to use your more situational cards (Unbearable and Withered) when you have the opportunity to do so, and save your most flexible cards (Glare and Focus) for lands that can't be dealt with in other ways.
For similar reasons, you want to make plays that let you draft, since drafting gives you more options and more information to plan with. Having more situational cards in your discard also makes it easier to forget a card and draft majors.
=Turn 1= The most flexible way to open is to place a presence from bottom track, draft a card, create a triple stack, then grow to 2 plays next turn. However, there are some things to consider before you implement that plan.
- Can you use Unbearable Gaze on a building land to solve 2 lands or create a pocket? If you can, this is almost always the a great play and you and justifies double energy + top.
- Can you use Withered and your left Innate to solve your disease land? If you can, this is often a great play and justifies double energy + top. Consider drafting a major next turn and forgetting Withered from the discard. Avoid leaving Dahan in Badlands with Explorers.
- Is there a Sands explore? If you can solve your starting land with your left innate and use your cardplay to solve a second land, this is probably a good play and justifies placing from top.
- Do you need a skip next turn? If you need to skip to avoid LC blight/cascades, starting a second stack in your skip land saves you from having to use your innate/G3 to reposition there, but this means you can't repeat this turn.
If you go bottom you won't have the innate on turn 1, so you can play an off-element card and save your unique for subsequent turns. Gather Invader cards such as Lure of the Unknown, Enticing Splendor, and Gold's Allure can be repeated to solve multiple lands. Drafting defends and fast control is always a good idea - if next turn if you play Blinding Glare and solve one land in the slow, there will be a land to solve in the fast on turn 3 and if you haven't drafted an answer then it becomes harder to dodge the reclaim.
=Turn 2=
Top
If you placed from top on turn 1, you have 3 main options:- Draft a major, ideally forgetting Withered or the card you played last turn, then decide if you should go straight for 2 plays or continue along top track based on the energy/threshold requirements.
- Access the 3 energy spot and take double energy again to stockpile for majors.
- Draft a minor and decide if you should grab 3 energy or go straight to 2 plays.
Stockpiling energy appears to be the least flexible option, but there's a case for it. When drafting majors you usually want to forget Withered from your discard. If you took double energy the make a strong Unbearable play on turn 1 and have the option to make a good Withered play on turn 2, then you can stockpile, play Withered, and forget it from your discard on turn 3. This stretches your first reclaim cycle out and lets get badlands onto the field.
If you're drafting, always look at your draft before deciding anything else so that you're making the most informed decision. Going to 2 plays quickly is usually the best option, but if you pick up a card that can solve multiple lands then it may be worth it to grab the 3 (or even the 4) energy spot. Once you start going bottom track, it is almost never correct to stop short of 2 plays.
Bottom
If you placed from bottom on turn 1, you will almost certainly want to play 2 cards on turn 2 (If you were going to get 2 energy first, it is strictly better to grab it on turn 1). Again, you should look to draft cards unless repositioning lets you solve an extra land. It can be tempting to play your skip this turn, but Withered and Focus also go together well - You can set down a badlands, Use your left innate to knock out a town there, then use focus to immediately reposition that badlands and repeat it for 3 damage.=Turn 3=