I think I'm about done with Ikoria draft. I played three Premier Drafts over the weekend and ended up in the cycling deck every time, and I might be exaggerating a little, but I swear it felt like two out every three matches at least had a cycling sub-theme.
It really sucks, I'm sick of playing the deck (and against it), but if I'm passed a third pick Zenith Flare it just feels stupid not to take it. If I open a Savai Thundermane there has to be a pretty incredible rare in the pack for me not to pick it.
It really doesn't feel like human drafting on Arena is "self-correcting" this is the way I was promised by the internet it would. I still regularly see 1-generic cycling cards in the final few picks of a pack. As stated above, I was passed a third pick Zenith Flare. I was matched with a handful of decks that had multiples of Drannith Stinger (I know that's a common, but still, should be a pretty high pick).
The format has the potential to be really fun, but man, the cycling deck is really souring me on it. It's funny seeing all the focus on the Companion mechanic when cycling feels like it breaks draft nearly as much as Companion is Constructed.
If you're seeing an irregular number of cycling decks, it's because they're very good and people are likely to force them and when they do, they do well so they stick around longer in the matchmaking pool.
Human drafting on Arena is self-correcting. It is no longer possible to force obscure archetypes every time. Human drafting prevents something like mill in Eldraine from being a dominant force. That deck was rampant across Arena and nigh unplayable at normal tables with human drafters. What human drafting doesn't do is guarantee an even spread of decks. Some archetypes will be easier to make than others and those that are more available by design will of course in fact be more available.
The cycling decks are very good. I think it's a problem of design -- cycling is a unique deck that doesn't really want any of the cards the other decks want. Humans is the same. Other than that, all of the other archetypes are very similar and can share a ton of moving parts and even colors. With that in mind, it's not surprising that you see cycling cards all the time and they stick out. It's not that the other archetypes aren't there and equally available, it's just harder to tell because there's a lot of pollution from other archetypes which makes it difficult to read what's open and what's not.
The solution to not playing the cycling deck is simply to not play it. I guarantee you at least 2 people at almost every table will play it, even when you get a last pick 1 mana cycler. You passing it will tempt someone else and you can focus on what you want. Of course, that's not necessarily the optimal draft strategy, but forcing cycling because you got a single Zenith Flare pick 3 or, worse, a Savai Thundermane pick 1 (which is a multicolor card that isn't a bomb and thus probably should never be pick 1 unless there's just literally nothing else) is also not going to see you to a ton of success.
All that said, I am also done with Ikoria. It was fun at first but as the meta's evolved I enjoy it less. I haven't played in a week and I was doing multiple drafts a day. I'm definitely looking forward to Core 21 at this point and, luckily, it'll be here relatively soon.
