Pack 1, Pick 1
The Pack:
The Pick:
There are a lot of great cards in this pack.
For many Pack 1, Pick 1 scenarios, Pollenbright Druid and Bloom Hulk can be in the discussion, but all three of the noncreature spell options here are better first picks. I have been extremely impressed with the decks that have very few creatures, and Saheeli is fantastic and irreplaceable in those decks. But is that kind of unique threat a better first pick than a premium hard removal spell or a removal spell tacked onto a land? I don’t think so.
The pick here is Prison Realm. Blast Zone is powerful, but Prison Realm is just too efficient at answering threats. Many people I respect say that white is the worst color, and while that’s plausible, I’m not going to write off a color this early on in a format. Plus, Prison Realm is a very easy splash!
Pack 1, Pick 2
The Picks So Far:
The Pack:
The Pick:
This is a fairly weak pack. I haven’t been a fan of Sorin’s Thirst. Kronch Wrangler is an awesome two-drop, but not a card I’m looking to take early, and the same goes for Callous Dismissal.
Role Reversal has an incredibly high ceiling, but overall takes a specific version of Izzet to maximize. Izzet decks in this format don’t play many creatures, so in order to make Role Reversal good, that set of creatures needs to be exchangeable and/or contain a lot of cards with “amass 1” such as Callous Dismissal or Aven Eternal.
In my experience with the Izzet archetype so far, Saheeli, Sublime Artificer will yield better results than Role Reversal. Furthermore, Saheeli can be played in other red or blue decks, and hence is more likely to work alongside Prison Realm.
Pack 1, Pick 7
The Picks So Far:
The Pack:
The Pick:
While during this draft I picked up a late Ral’s Outburst, I’m not tied down to Izzet. I’m not a huge fan of Honor the God-Pharaoh or Totally Lost. I think the best versions of Izzet don’t care to play those cards. And given that my pool has mostly red cards, I don’t see why I can’t end up in Gruul. I believe the correct pick out of this pack is Arlinn’s Wolf. It may be unintuitive, but it keeps my options open. And green should have no problem splashing Ral’s Outburst or Prison Realm if necessary.
Pack 1, Pick 8
The Picks So Far:
The Pack:
The Pick:
This pick is quite difficult. An Izzet spells deck with enough “amass 1” cards can maximize the potency of Relentless Advance because it will function as a 4/4 with haste and trigger all the spells-matters cards. However, it’s still not a great card, Gateway Plaza can help splash, and Lazotep Reaver is fantastic in Rakdos if that’s what’s open. While I love the theory behind Relentless Advance, I don’t think you can justify it here. The other two cards are just too much better.
But what’s better, hedging to another archetype or taking the piece of fixing? If my pool did not already have cards I wanted to splash, I would take the Lazotep Reaver. However, I think the probability this deck ends up splashing is high enough that Gateway Plaza is what I went with.
This draft ended up moving very smoothly into one of the best decks I’ve drafted in my entire life. You can watch the games on my stream, and see the deck below.
