I have to say, Dominaria Draft’s flexibility has impressed me.
There are more archetypes available in this format than usual, and most are viable. There are decks with almost no creatures that loop Gaea’s Blessing, and there are also decks looking to play as many copies of Run Amok as they can get their hands on.
You must be prepared for the full spectrum. Make sure you have cards to cast on every part of your curve and have a plan for the early turns as well as the late.
Such flexibility is the mark of a truly good format, and it looks like we have one that we’ll remember with the best of them!
Pack 1, Pick 1
The Pack:
The Pick:
The pick between Seal Away and Eviscerate is not all that intuitive. If I were to choose between the two, I think it would be Eviscerate. Even though it’s more expensive, Eviscerate works well with more cards in the format, as there’s a spell subtheme. Additionally, everybody has access to cards like Naturalize that can really blow out Seal Away. To take it all home, Seal Away is even conditional. Don’t get me wrong, the card’s good and I wouldn’t mind first-picking it, but I would just rather get Eviscerate.
But between Eviscerate and Adeliz, the Cinder Wind, I don’t think it’s much of a question. U/R is one of the best archetypes in the format and Adeliz is an extremely powerful threat in that deck. Furthermore, blue is the best color and Adeliz is a splashable threat. While it isn’t optimized in decks like U/B or U/G, you still will likely have spells and other Wizards. I like the card quite a bit and am always happy to start off a draft with it.
Pack 1, Pick 3
The Picks So Far:
The real question here is which card I would rather bias towards, given that it’ll be hard to play both Adeliz and The Eldest Reborn in the same deck. Both cards are splashable, so it’s certainly possible, but which card you prefer is something to consider when looking at the next pack.
I will also note that the rare was missing out of The Eldest Reborn pack, which means that I don’t have a reason to believe that black is open just yet.
The Pack:
The Pick:
This pick is like the first: we have two interactive spells and a potent threat.
Between Blink of an Eye and Eviscerate, I think it’s a pretty easy Blink of an Eye. It’s the perfect medium between our two picks now. It’s great in a U/R tempo deck, yet also can combo to reset The Eldest Reborn in a U/B control deck. I think that Pack 1, Pick 1, the pick between Eviscerate and Blink of an Eye goes to Blink (though it’s close), so here it’s a no-brainer to me.
The pick between Adeliz and Blink of an Eye is a bit more nuanced. While staying open with Blink is valuable, Adeliz is clearly the more powerful card. Additionally, passing Adeliz increases probability of putting somebody downstream into U/R, which would not be good for the rest of the draft. And while that isn’t the biggest concern, it is relevant.
Personally, I think blue is so deep in this format that, even if it isn’t open and red isn’t open, this start won’t be punished too much if I take this Adeliz. I’m going with the pick with the highest upside and staking my claim as the Wizards drafter of the table!