OTJ Draft - Abzan Garbage (Limited)

0-3. first time ever going 0-3 since starting weekly drafts in February. this was garbage, against what i felt like were pretty good odds! it was a small pod of only killers, so maybe that helped it get ripped, but it felt like every other deck was running eight pieces of removal and i couldn't get anything started. it performed in every game, just ran out of gas. the creature sac draw is terrible unless you're pumping out mercenaries or gnomes. i probably shouldn't have splashed for calamity but i wanted to see what it felt like (turns out: really fuckin good)

individuals:
Great
Mystical Tether - lost these to Ruthless Lawbringer a couple of times. Still solid removal.
Clear Shot - 100% hit rate. Well done. The +1/+1 til end of turn bonus caused a couple of opponent misplays.
Desert's Due - one desert and you're living the dream, amazing card, beats Take Up the Shield.
Snakeskin Veil - all-star, nuff said
Calamity, Galloping Inferno - I shouldn't have been splashing for RR but I did and Calamity is in fact an absolute limited bomb. Swinging with it and two Cactarantulas? Really cool. Swinging with it and making two Ruthless Lawbringers that sac each other and destroy two of your opponent's nonland permanents? Really cool. Swinging with it and making two Holy Cows that gain you life and scry you twice and still hit for 4 in the air? Really cool. Combos with anything that has an ETB and anything beefy. Sick card.
Hardbristle Bandit - apart from my complete inability to draw the motherfucker in a game, I know for a fact this is an incredible card.
Holy Cow - yeah
Sterling Keykeeper - it's just a free block every turn for two mana, especially if you do it during their upkeep or draw step so they can't saddle anything or get any attack triggers off of it. Fantastic two-drop white outlaw.
The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride - never had a chance to saddle it, but the pressure is enough!
Vault Plunderer - 3 power for 3 mana with card parity. yeah
Voracious Varmint - it's the vigilance that tips this over for me. great value, especially against a white deck that's going to enchantment exile your shit.

Good
Bucolic Ranch - great in a deck with 5 or 6 mounts, maybe playable in a deck without, just for filtering.
Ruthless Lawbringer - would be great if it could sac itself, but this was still always good removal with a body that could swing for 6 or 9 damage early on.
Gold Rush - combat trick that leaves some fixing, worst-case scenario. Never regretted having it, always wished I could do a little more with it.
Lively Dirge - you need either a really sick 4-drop or 2 2-drops with incredible ETBs. idk what the best options for those are in this set but I was mostly chucking a Hardbristle Bandit in the bin and then returning it and Sterling Keykeeper.
Bounding Felidar - it's the 7 toughness that swings it. Problem is you want to attack with it for value, and to get the most value, you gotta tap everything and clear your own board. Good when you're ahead, good with a couple of mercenaries say, good if you need to stabilize against a Cactarantula or any number of other threats.

Traps
Corrupted Conviction, Unscrupulous Contractor - you gotta be pumping out Mercenaries if you want to run these. Good in an outlaw crime deck, tough to run elsewhere.

Garbage
nothing??? all of these cards were good??? i'm still salty about how badly this deck performed. I think it needed more removal and more card draw. whole lot of stuff that's good on its own and not enough synergy.

IDFK
Full Steam Ahead - literally never got to a board state where I was able to use this profitably. Probably good.
Drover Grizzly - Drizzly Grover got eaten every time he came out. Was supposed to be a trample enabler.
Vengeful Townsfolk - should have comboed with the traps posted above, but never got to my hand.