Welcome to a new draft week at the Draft Factory! With a little more hands-on time with the new core set, this week's draft goes a bit smoother, overall.
P1P1 - There are a handful of good cards in this pack, but there's just no way I can pass up Jace on my opening pack. Being able to loot from turn 3 is extremely powerful, allowing you to sift through your deck much faster than your opponent, smoothing out land draws and guaranteeing threats and removal in your hand when you actually need them. The planeswalker side of the card is pretty good, too, allowing you to blunt your opponent's attack, or bury them in card advantage by replaying the non-creature spells that you already played (or looted!) earlier in the game.
And if nothing else, Jace is worth ~25 tickets, which pays for nearly two full drafts.
If Jace weren't here, the pick would either be Anchor to the Aether, or Conclave Naturalists, both being very strong cards in their respective colors. I've a strong affinity for blue, so I'd probably go with Anchor, but Naturalists is the rare piece of enchantment/artifact removal that I would be happy playing as a mainboard card, making it a top tier pick for green decks.
Cleric of the Forward Order and Pharika's Disciple are also solid cards, but probably a good tier down on the pick ladder from Anchor to the Aether and Conclave Naturalists. Although, I can't understate the importance of 2-drops in any Origins draft.
And if nothing else, Jace is worth ~25 tickets, which pays for nearly two full drafts.
If Jace weren't here, the pick would either be Anchor to the Aether, or Conclave Naturalists, both being very strong cards in their respective colors. I've a strong affinity for blue, so I'd probably go with Anchor, but Naturalists is the rare piece of enchantment/artifact removal that I would be happy playing as a mainboard card, making it a top tier pick for green decks.
Cleric of the Forward Order and Pharika's Disciple are also solid cards, but probably a good tier down on the pick ladder from Anchor to the Aether and Conclave Naturalists. Although, I can't understate the importance of 2-drops in any Origins draft.
P1P2 - There are a number of good cards in this pack, between Relic Seeker, Seismic Elemental, Knight of the Pilgrim's Road, Watercourser, and even Gold-Forged Sentinel can't be overlooked for a solid non-committal curve-topper. But since Jace shines more in a control-oriented deck, I'd rather pick up the unconditional removal in Unholy Hunger and hope I end up black/blue. Although, if I do end up in those colors, I'm hoping the Watercourser wheels; being equally good on offense and defense, I never mind running 2-3 of these in any blue deck I play.
P1P3 - There really aren't any black cards here, and the only blue card is Artificer's Epiphany, which isn't really a card I want to be taking this early just to force blue. My other options are Leaf Gilder and Stalwart Aven, as the two most powerful cards in the pack.
Leaf Gilder, while great during the first few turns of the game (known as the "development phase"), loses a lot of its power once you've got 4+ mana down on the field, and its ability is no longer really relevant. Stalwart Aven, on the other hand, is a great blocker for a lot of creatures in the set, and has evasion, making it a decent card in far more situations during any given match.
I've not passed any major green or white "bombs" up to this point to really push anybody to my left into those colors, though I did pass a couple decent cards in each color. Since I don't really have a reason to believe going into one color is worse than the other (purely from the viewpoint of signals I've sent to those on my left), I decide to just go with the stronger card and take Stalwart Aven.
Leaf Gilder, while great during the first few turns of the game (known as the "development phase"), loses a lot of its power once you've got 4+ mana down on the field, and its ability is no longer really relevant. Stalwart Aven, on the other hand, is a great blocker for a lot of creatures in the set, and has evasion, making it a decent card in far more situations during any given match.
I've not passed any major green or white "bombs" up to this point to really push anybody to my left into those colors, though I did pass a couple decent cards in each color. Since I don't really have a reason to believe going into one color is worse than the other (purely from the viewpoint of signals I've sent to those on my left), I decide to just go with the stronger card and take Stalwart Aven.
P1P4 - A fourth pick Suppression Bonds leads me to believe that white is the correct direction to go. As one of the best pieces of removal in the set, there would have to be some pretty great cards in the pack for Suppression Bonds to still be here, which means it's pretty likely that the three drafters to my right aren't in white. Since there's a rare, and uncommon and a common missing (the foil is still in the pack, meaning it wasn't a double rare pack), this pack probably had some sort of bomb rare, maybe a Skysnare Spider or Jhessian Thief in the uncommon slot, and a Fiery Impulse sitting in the commons. There's a very slight chance that two or three of the missing cards could be white cards (Archangel of Tithes, Sentinel of the Eternal Watch, Topan Freeblade?), but statistically speaking, it's far more likely that one, or none, of them were white, which means that this is a pretty strong signal that white is open from the right.
I should note that, although I'd still really love to play my Jace at this point, Disperse just isn't a strong enough card for me to force blue in this situation. It's a good card, but Suppression Bonds is just so much better, and I'm not early enough in the draft that I can afford to lock myself into a color based on mid-tier cards.
I should note that, although I'd still really love to play my Jace at this point, Disperse just isn't a strong enough card for me to force blue in this situation. It's a good card, but Suppression Bonds is just so much better, and I'm not early enough in the draft that I can afford to lock myself into a color based on mid-tier cards.
P1P5 - After a pick 4 Suppression Bonds, a second one tells me that white is wide open from the right. Not just a second Suppression Bonds, but also a Celestial Flare in the same pack. Celestial Flare is a step down from Suppression Bonds in power, but with two strong white cards in this pack, that means half the draft table completely skipped over them both for other cards, most likely in other colors. I have no qualms about locking myself into white at this point in the draft.
P1P6 - This isn't a very exciting pack, but I have no problem with picking up a Knight of the Pilgrim's Road for my 3-slot. It's not as good a card as it looks on first blush, because the 2 initial health makes it very easy to trade down for 2-drops (and some 1-drops). But it can also trade up fairly easily, due to its 3 attack, and becomes quite the beater if you can find a way to get it renown.
The only other card I might consider from this pack is the Hitchclaw Recluse, but I've not picked up any green cards yet, and I'm not going to move into green for such a mediocre creature.
The only other card I might consider from this pack is the Hitchclaw Recluse, but I've not picked up any green cards yet, and I'm not going to move into green for such a mediocre creature.
P1P7 - Speaking of moving in on green, a 7th pick Leaf Gilder screams to me that green is wide open. I'm tempted to take one of the white cards (Mighty Leap is especially a lot better in this set than I originally thought it would be), but since this Leaf Gilder has gone so late, I want to snap it up now and lock down green as my second color, before somebody else moves in.
I should note that I did consider Screeching Skaab for a moment, though. At this point I'm still considering trying to make Jace work, and I do often end up with a couple Screeching Skaabs in any blue deck I run (even though I don't particularly like them, but I can't get away with just not playing anything until turn 3). But blue has been pretty dry for most of this pack, and chance were that I'd end up with nothing but the jank leftovers from somebody else's blue draft. With that in mind, Leaf Gilder is the auto-pick, here.
I should note that I did consider Screeching Skaab for a moment, though. At this point I'm still considering trying to make Jace work, and I do often end up with a couple Screeching Skaabs in any blue deck I run (even though I don't particularly like them, but I can't get away with just not playing anything until turn 3). But blue has been pretty dry for most of this pack, and chance were that I'd end up with nothing but the jank leftovers from somebody else's blue draft. With that in mind, Leaf Gilder is the auto-pick, here.
P1P8 - After my last pick, I grab Yeva's Forcemage here, trying to lock down green to make sure nobody else makes the assumption that they can move in on the color for pack 2. Since Yoked Ox and Aven Battle Priest are both pretty mediocre/bad white cards, I've no problem taking the very playable Forcemage here.
P1P9 - I've already decided I'm not black or blue, and Reclaim just isn't a good enough card for me to want to pick it up here. So, I take the Bonded Construct as a very playable blocker that I can play in any color I end up in.
P1P10 - I don't really like Akroan Jailer, even though he can be quite the nuisance in the right deck. Orchard Spirit is a decent playable, and since I'm locking down green, I grab it here before shipping the pack.
P1P11 - Like with pick 9, there's not really anything in this pack I want, so I fall back on grabbing the artifact that's at least playable in any color combination I end up in.
P1P12 - I still don't like Reclaim, even if it is in one of the colors I want, so I take the annoying black flyer so that nobody can play it against me.
P1P13 - Nobody's going to play Dreadwaters, so there's no reason to cut it. I don't really like Veteran's Sidearm, but if I find a reason to play one, I'd rather have one in my sideboard than not.
P1P14 - And the last card is Bone to Ash, which doesn't really do anything for me one way or the other. It's a card I've run before in UW fliers and UB control when I was hurting for playables, but it's not usually a card you really want to run if you can avoid it. 4 mana is a lot to hold up on the chance that your opponent plays a creature you want to counterspell. I'd call it a sideboard card more than anything; something you bring in if you need to take care of a creature your opponent has in their deck, and you just don't have any other way to get rid of it.
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