Pack 1, Pick 1
The Pack:
The Pick:
Elite Headhunter is a solid card, but unexciting in comparison to many of the other hybrid and gold cards. I think it’s the worst option out of this pack, and yes, that includes Golden Egg. It’s a good card you always play if you can reliably cast it, but it’s hard enough to cast that I don’t take it highly.
This pick boils down to Stormfist Crusader versus Steelclaw Lance. Yes, Golden Egg and Fierce Witchstalker are some of the best commons to start a draft with, and yes, they’re both more flexible than the Rakdos gold cards, but the Rakdos cards are enough better that I believe it’s correct to take one of them. And I’m honestly not sure which one.
That may come as a surprise, as Stormfist Crusader certainly looks more powerful, and it is. Stormfist Crusader is at its best on-curve, and that doesn’t lend itself well to a splashable card. The symmetrical effect is mitigated by the fact that, on average, Rakdos has a cheaper curve, you have the first opportunity to use the extra card, and the additional pressure is also relevant. But it’s also much harder to splash. Steelclaw Lance helps Mono-Red, Mono-Black, or Rakdos turn small threats into larger ones at a very low cost. I still think Stormfist Crusader is the pick, but it’s closer than it looks.
Pack 1, Pick 2
The Picks So Far:
The Pack:
The Pick:
Between Burning-Yard Trainer and Scorching Dragonfire, I’m on Scorching Dragonfire. The Trainer is an extremely potent top-end to any Knight deck; however, I think it’s important to take cheap interaction over five-mana creatures until there’s extremely high certainty that the creature is worth it. Think something on the tier of Charging Monstrosaur.
So, between Worthy Knight and Scorching Dragonfire, what’s the pick? I think it’s Scorching Dragonfire by a noticeable margin. Worthy Knight is a fantastic card, but the white decks don’t always have a density of Knights in the same way black and red decks do. There are plenty of Knights, but think about the classic good early creatures for white aggro in this format: Gingerbrute, Flutterfox, Faerie Guidemother, and Silverflame Squire. The best of the best is Ardenvale Tactician, but it’s hard to come by too many of those. So not only is Worthy Knight worse than it looks at first glance, but Scorching Dragonfire goes with my first pick.
Pack 1, Pick 7
The Picks So Far:
The Pack:
The Pick:
What colors am I most likely to be at this point? The clear options are either a Rakdos or a Golgari deck. Zero black cards in this pack could be a signal, but it’s also possible to end up in a generic green or red deck. Jousting Dummy is the most open pick, but I think it’s rarely a card you’re happy to play. Depending on the version of the green deck, Maraleaf Rider, Rosethorn Halberd, and Tuinvale Treefolk can all be above replacement level. And all three still being here with no blue or black cards in the pack is somewhat of a signal.
The question here is what are we most likely to be: a Food deck, an Adventure deck, or a more low-to-the-ground aggro deck? With the current pool, I believe Golgari Food is quite likely, and hence I took Maraleaf Rider.
