Pack 1, Pick 3
The Picks So Far:
The Pack:
The Pick:
Fiery Intervention is a good card, but it’s not a card I like taking early. I think some number of players will take Intervention here because it’s red, which is the most obvious pair for Naru Meha as a Wizard lord.
However, Naru Meha is great in any deck and I don’t want to make a large sacrifice to force myself into the Wizards archetype. There’s plenty of removal, and I don’t feel the need to prioritize the clunkiest removal spells like Fiery Intervention. I think both Divination as a solid card to stay open and Rona as a powerful and splashable card are better options.
So, between Rona and Divination, which should you take? Personally, I think it’s Rona by a reasonable margin. The two cards in the pool now are both impactful historic cards, which makes Rona even more enticing. Furthermore, Rona can create a soft-lock with Time of Ice if you can find yourself with enough mana, as you can tap Rona in response to the third Chapter of Time of Ice. This bounces Rona and you can then replay the creature and get back the Saga. Rinse and Repeat!
Pack 1, Pick 4
The Picks So Far:
The Pack:
The Pick:
Weight of Memory is a good card, but not one I’m looking to prioritize. Five mana is a lot for a card that doesn’t affect the battlefield. With enough graveyard recursion, the card can get a bit more punch, but it’s not too hard to pick up cards like Divination and Dark Bargain.
Given that, I think Vodalian Arcanist is going to be the better pick here. I can’t remember a format where two-mana 1/3s were as playable as they are in Dominaria. This deck is going to want to play a good number of spells, which Arcanist helps with. It’s also a Wizard to go with Naru Meha!
What tips me to Arcanist for sure is that it’s a two-drop. There are aggressive strategies in this format, and they tend to prey on the lack-of-curve that many controlling decks exhibit in this format. If my deck has a play on Turns 2 and 3 and has late-game power, I think that’s the best recipe for success in many Limited formats, including this one.