Pack 1, Pick 2
The Picks So Far:
The Pack:
The Pick:
Don’t marry your first pick.
That can be hard when it’s a bomb mythic, but Territorial Boar and Mammoth Spider are not cards you should ever take second. And since you can’t splash Ravager Wurm in most versions of Rakdos, it’s really hard to play without being base green. Similarly, taking Breeding Pool here is giving up too much. Both Grasping Thrull and Blade juggler are just too much better than the rest of the cards, but which is better between those two?
I think that Grasping Thrull is more powerful than Blade Juggler, but not by much. And since Blade Juggler is one color, it’s better to start off the draft with and it’s my pick.
Pack 1, Pick 3
The Picks So Far:
The Pack:
The Pick:
This pick is a very clear Orzhov Enforcer for me. I have it in the top ten uncommons in the set. It’s almost always a two-for-one and is a huge problem for green decks while also being solid in other matchups.
If you’re taking Ill-Gotten Inheritance or Rubblebelt Runner, you need to check yourself on a potential leak in your game. Rubblebelt Runner is a filler Gruul card. Taking that over Orzhov Enforcer is staying married to your first pick and that’s not good practice in draft.
Everybody seems to be way too high on Ill-Gotten Inheritance. The card is quite good, but I’m not jamming every copy I see blindly. It’s great at the top of an aggro deck, but only okay in other midrange black decks. Many people exaggerate how good this card is because most players thought it was terrible at the beginning of the format. Just because it’s leagues better than you thought it was does not make it a fantastic card. It’s solid, but nothing special.
Pack 1, Pick 4
The Picks So Far:
The Pack:
The Pick:
Plague Wight is a solid two-drop, and it’s arguably the best common two-drop for Rakdos. However, it’s fairly mediocre in the average Orzhov deck, which means I’m not very happy to take the card this early.
Rampaging Rendhorn is a solid card, but just like Plague Wight, it’s not a card I’m looking to draft this early. I see wanting to take this because it can pair with the bomb mythic, but I think that’s drafting the easy way. There’s no need to put on blinders yet. Sure, there are great black cards and a Ravager Wurm in my pool so far, but that doesn’t mean I have to go in that direction.
I’m taking Pteramander here. It’s the best card in the pack by a country mile! With a common, uncommon, and rare missing, it doesn’t necessarily mean that blue is open, but taking it opens the door to capitalize on that if it is the case. And I’m not going to miss Plague Wight or Rampaging Rendhorn that much either.
Pack 3, Pick 2
The Picks So Far:
Take a minute to go over the cards I’ve drafted so far. It’s a pretty solid Rakdos deck with a larger focus on the spectacle mechanic than most. What would you take with all that in mind?
The Pack:
The Pick:
Undercity’s Embrace is not a card I like to play. Edict effects are rarely good in Limited, and they’re especially bad in this format thanks to the afterlife mechanic. Many of my opponents have played this card and it rarely has an impact on the game. I think taking it here would be a mistake.
Out of Spikewheel Acrobat, Rakdos Trumpeter, and Bloodmist Infiltrator, I would take the Trumpeter. Acrobat hits hard but is too easy to interact with. I like Bloodmist Infiltrator in versions of Orzhov, but Rakdos doesn’t always have the ability to sacrifice creatures easily. And with all the Blade Jugglers in my pool, picking up another evasive two-drop is enticing.
However, I believe the pick here is Drill Bit. I don’t even like Drill Bit all that much, but it’s a fantastic sideboard card. At the current moment in the draft, I already have all the playables I need. Sure, I would place Rakdos Trumpeter over some other 23rd card, but that’s a marginal upgrade. Having access to a sideboard card this powerful is worth more to me than that marginal upgrade. Drill Bit can also be good enough to start in my maindeck thanks to the amount of spectacle enablers I have, although that isn’t guaranteed.
This draft yielded one of the best Rakdos aggro decks I’ve seen. The density of spectacle cards was through the roof and it was a blast to play. While I started with all three copies of Spear Spewer, after playing the matches, I think that was a mistake and that two was the correct number. Check out the full draft and the matches!
