Now that the first week of War of the Spark Draft is over, card evaluations and archetype evaluations are beginning to solidify. It’s becoming clear that white is the worst color, but not by a huge margin. Both Boros and Selesnya are aggressive decks based on synergy, and Azorius can be a solid control or fliers deck. I am about 30 drafts in at this point, and have yet to see a formulaic approach for a successful Orzhov deck, but I imagine there’s a solution. Overall, I’m enjoying the format and it is reasonably balanced. I see many players complain that it is too bomb-heavy, and while it’s true that there are more first-pickable rares in this set than any other since Fate Reforged, it’s also true that there are powerful tools at common and uncommon to combat them.
Pack 1, Pick 1
The Pack:
The Pick:
Spark Harvest is one of the top black commons and a card I’m not unhappy to first-pick. I originally underestimated the frequency with which this card would be pointed at a planeswalker. It is best to take down planeswalkers with creatures; however, having access to a planeswalker removal spell in a pinch makes Spark Harvest valuable. And the Bone Splinters mode is fantastic thanks to all of the amass cards.
Trusted Pegasus and Law-Rune Enforcer keep alternating for my vote for best white common. Currently I’m on Enforcer, but tomorrow that may not be true. We’ve had cards like Trusted Pegasus in many formats, and this is the best it has ever been. Evasion is key in order to take down planeswalkers. I played a lot of paper Magic this weekend at Draft Weekend in Madison, and it was common to see a Turn 3 Pegasus mean that the other player could not cast their planeswalker on Turn 4. It’s a card I’m happy to first-pick, but neither the Pegasus nor Spark Harvest can compete with the planeswalker in this pack.
I originally thought Narset, Parter of Veils was quite bad. Now I take her over every common except for Ob Nixilis’s Cruelty. I overestimated the amount of creatures it would be necessary to play in blue decks. Many blue decks can supplement planeswalkers as creatures and use card draw and amass spells as a bridge to keep the noncreature count high. This means that Narset will hit an overwhelming majority of the time in most blue decks, and a double Impulse is nothing to scoff at. Watching her hit twice feels like Dig Through Time. Digging eight cards is an unparalleled effect for only three mana. I’m happy to start my draft with Narset.
Pack 1, Pick 2
The Picks So Far:
The Pack:
The Pick:
While Trusted Pegasus is a powerful card, I don’t believe it’s in the discussion. Not only are all the other cards more powerful, but they also work better with the first pick from this draft.
Jaya’s Greeting is a fantastic removal spell. Lightning Strike has been a first pick every time we see it, and while Greeting can’t end the game when the opponent is at a low life total, the scry is not to be underestimated. Izzet is one of my favorite color combinations, and with the desire to play a lot of noncreature spells, the tendencies of Izzet decks in War of the Spark maximize Narset. However, I think the other two options are better picks.
Aven Eternal is the best blue common, and it’s always nice to start a draft with only one color card. Evolution Sage is the best card in the pack by a reasonable margin. Sage helps Narset get a third activation, but Simic is one of the worst decks for Narset. Overall, I think the best thing to do this early in a draft is to just take the best card out of the pack, which is Evolution Sage.
Pack 1, Pick 3
The Picks So Far:
The Pack:
The Pick:
Despark and Invade the City have not impressed me. Invade the City doesn’t even always make the final 23 cards of an Izzet deck, and Despark is a solid removal spell, but Orzhov is, in my opinion, the worst archetype, and so taking an Orzhov gold card isn’t something I want to do early on.
If you find yourself taking Arlinn’s Wolf or Contentious Plan here, I think you need to re-evaluate how early you put on your blinders during a draft. Arlinn’s Wolf is a solid green creature and Contentious Plan can be great in the Simic proliferate deck, but they’re easy to pick up late and enough worse than Wanderer’s Strike that it’s better to just take the removal spell. It will be strong in Azorius alongside Narset, and it will be strong in Selesnya with all of the proliferate synergies.
Pack 1, Pick 4
The Picks So Far:
The Pack:
The Pick:
Between Pollenbright Druid and Bloom Hulk, I think the pick is Hulk by a reasonable margin. While I like the Druid, the impact it has on the battlefield is too low for cards I want to take early. I have it as the third-best green common, with Bloom Hulk in first and Band Together in second.
This pick is what I call a bridge. Often in Pack 1, it is best to be strongly one color for as long as possible in order to pair it with another open color. This pick is a hedge towards what that color could be. Given that I believe white is the worst color and that Aven Eternal and Bloom Hulk are better cards than the second copy of Wanderer’s Strike, we can eliminate the removal spell from the discussion.
Both Aven Eternal and Bloom Hulk are first-pick-quality cards, and both are reasonable picks here. While I would take Aven Eternal over Bloom Hulk Pack 1, Pick 1, I think the Hulk provides a better bridge. The best card in the pool is Evolution Sage, and biasing towards that seems ideal. Furthermore, both Simic and Selesnya are decks dedicated to proliferate synergies, while Azorius is not. Hence, choosing green as the bridge color likely maximizes all the cards in the pool, especially because Wanderer’s Strike is a common splash out of Simic decks.