Gruesome Slaughter seems like the obvious choice here. Almost half the set is colorless, so it should be no problem to put together a deck where most creatures you hit will be colorless. In a deck like that, Gruesome Slaughter is basically a one-sided wrath unless your opponent has crazy strong creatures and you have almost nothing.
I could see an argument for taking Drana's Emissary though. W/B lifesteal seems like a good strategy if you can get enough cards for it, and a low drop that steadily steals life while also being able to fly in for some damage is certainly a good choice. That said, I think that Gruesome Slaughter is a better choice. Strong, almost always x-for-one removal like Gruesome Slaughter is almost always better as a first-pick than a useful creature. Also, Slaughter can fit into 4 colors, since there are eldrazi in all colors except White, while Drana's Emissary either locks you into W/B or becomes a dead card when you draft a non-W/B deck. Drana's Emissary is usually the kind of card I'd like to pick up early in pack 2, when I already have an archetype I'm drafting towards and I am starting to pick good cards for that archetype. Emissary is really good for W/B lifesteal, so if I already was building towards it I would snap it up over a lot of other stuff. However, on its own merits the card is not strong enough to run p1p1.
Assuming Pack 1-Pick 1, I want Slaughter because it keeps my options open for later in the draft. I feel like there are too many good enough red cards in this pack to go in that direction and the Vampire Cleric puts you into two colors right away (although it isn't like you can't dump it early if the combination is closed).
Gruesome Slaughter is tempting because of the blowout potential, but since this is (theoretically) my first time drafting this set I don't know how many colorless creatures I can expect to see during the draft. The other two stand out choices for me are Tajuru Beastmaster and Outnumber, both seem to encourage a token(ish) build and the beastmaster in particular has potential to temporarily pump my entire side of the field more than once in a game. So it comes down to which is better, the bomb or the piece of removal. I chose the beastmaster because it is in green which is also the color that produces the most eldrazi scions at common rarity, which means I can maybe grab a few of those cards in this draft to use them to ramp into the beastmaster or hardcast the beastmaster to turn all of those tokens into 2/2s.
Drana's Emissary gets a special mention since it is an evasive creature that can essentially deal 3 damage a turn, but I don't want to commit to two colors this early in the draft.
Processor Assault is also worth mentioning because of its strangeness, it is a Roast that hits fliers, but the additional cost tacked onto it makes me not like the fact that it could very well be a dead card in the early game and I don't want to commit to picking creatures with ingest over other creatures just yet.
I agree with disciple that Gruesome Slaughter is the clear pick here. Easy bomb with so many devoid creatures. Drana's Emissary is a super efficient card, but not near the potential power of Slaughter of course. Touch of the Void would probably be the next pick after that.
I think I take Touch of the Void. Slaughter has potential, but I feel like you need at least three colorless creatures, none of which you want to attack with, all of which combined can take out AT LEAST two of your opponent's creatures, for it to be even close to worth it at 6. There's the potential for it to be a blowout, but there's also a good chance it's a six-mana Outnumber. I actually really like Drana's Emissary, but I'm not sure yet if that archetype is worth trying to jump on over taking the most efficient non-conditional removal in the set.
I'm not at all sold on Gruesome Slaughter. I may be underestimating slaughter, but at the moment I'd rather have Touch of the Void. That said, the clear pick for me is Drana's Emissary. If played on turn 3 it must be answered asap, or it will win the game.
the choice is basically anything from the last five cards - i.e. Touch of the Void, the uncommons and rares. As this is P1P1, I think Slaughter is the right choice, followed by Touch of the Void, Skitterskin, Emissary and Assault.
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I agree that Assault is a good card, but the way I see it, you will waste a turn to make sure your opponent has nothing left for your attack the turn after. That might not always work... I went with the Emissary, fits my style of play.
Gruesome Slaughter is a little suspect. In order for it to be more than a one for one removal spell that requires you to tap several of your creatures you need to have a respectable army of medium size creatures. If you have that already then Slaughter is sort of a win-more card isn't it?
The Emissary is quite strong but I hate the idea of first picking a gold card. I think Touch of the Void is going to make my deck a much higher percentage of the time and is a safer pick as a result.
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The devil's in the detail. BSkithiryx, the Blight DragonB GAzusa, Lost but SeekingG
THe emissary is probably the safest pick. A wind drake with an upside is very good. There is really no way to know how strong those colours are atm but you have to pick the best card in the pack P1P1
Slaughter is a no-brainer here IMO. Very easy to draft in such a way that this is a one-sided board wipe more often than not, which is just far far more powerful than anything else going on in this pack. Also helps that it is colorless and will probably fit your deck 90% of the time, given that every color but white has colorless creatures to work with (on top of those truly colorless creatures).
Emissary is the 2nd most powerful card in the pack, but falls well short of the Slaughter in terms of power. It is also much more committal, and thus much less likely to make your final deck. No reason to take a card that is lower power and higher risk.
After that you have the 2 red removal spells, which are fine but nothing all that exciting. 3-mana for 3 damage just isn't that great a rate, certainly not even close to what you would need to be getting to pick it over the Slaughter.
It was a hard decision between the healer & the emissary but mono is easier to use later in the draft than dual color corner stone ally cards, tempo will be a threat in limited this set I swear
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I could see an argument for taking Drana's Emissary though. W/B lifesteal seems like a good strategy if you can get enough cards for it, and a low drop that steadily steals life while also being able to fly in for some damage is certainly a good choice. That said, I think that Gruesome Slaughter is a better choice. Strong, almost always x-for-one removal like Gruesome Slaughter is almost always better as a first-pick than a useful creature. Also, Slaughter can fit into 4 colors, since there are eldrazi in all colors except White, while Drana's Emissary either locks you into W/B or becomes a dead card when you draft a non-W/B deck. Drana's Emissary is usually the kind of card I'd like to pick up early in pack 2, when I already have an archetype I'm drafting towards and I am starting to pick good cards for that archetype. Emissary is really good for W/B lifesteal, so if I already was building towards it I would snap it up over a lot of other stuff. However, on its own merits the card is not strong enough to run p1p1.
Drana's Emissary gets a special mention since it is an evasive creature that can essentially deal 3 damage a turn, but I don't want to commit to two colors this early in the draft.
Processor Assault is also worth mentioning because of its strangeness, it is a Roast that hits fliers, but the additional cost tacked onto it makes me not like the fact that it could very well be a dead card in the early game and I don't want to commit to picking creatures with ingest over other creatures just yet.
UBDragonlord Silumgar WGKarametra, God of Harvests
BRUNekusar, the Mindrazer BGMazirek, Kraul Death Priest
URMelek, Izzet Paragon UGPrime Speaker Zegana
WUHanna, Ship's Navigator BWUSydri, Galvanic Genius
WUBRGSliver Queen RBBladewing the Risen
WBKarlov of the Ghost Council RGXenagos, God of Revels
GFreyalise, Llanowar's Fury RWAurelia, the Warleader
RIb Halfheart, Goblin Tactician BDrana, Liberator of Malakir
UAzami, Lady of Scrolls WNahiri, the Lithomancer
WBGDoran, the Siege Tower CEmrakul, the Promised End
the choice is basically anything from the last five cards - i.e. Touch of the Void, the uncommons and rares. As this is P1P1, I think Slaughter is the right choice, followed by Touch of the Void, Skitterskin, Emissary and Assault.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
The Emissary is quite strong but I hate the idea of first picking a gold card. I think Touch of the Void is going to make my deck a much higher percentage of the time and is a safer pick as a result.
BSkithiryx, the Blight DragonB
GAzusa, Lost but SeekingG
Emissary is the 2nd most powerful card in the pack, but falls well short of the Slaughter in terms of power. It is also much more committal, and thus much less likely to make your final deck. No reason to take a card that is lower power and higher risk.
After that you have the 2 red removal spells, which are fine but nothing all that exciting. 3-mana for 3 damage just isn't that great a rate, certainly not even close to what you would need to be getting to pick it over the Slaughter.
BURWGSliver Hivelord's alt wincon deck at Maze's EndBURWG
GWBSidar Kondo and Ikra Shidiq likes big butts
RUMizzix of the Izmagnus Super ThiefRU
BURWGGeneral Tazri, The Megazord AllyBURWG
BURJeleva Mill and Kill BUR
BRGrenzo's get out from under that deck!BR
WUG Roon's Enchanted Evening (enchantment deck) WUG
BUG The Undersea World of Tasigur CousteauBUG
BWGAnafenza, Counter QueenBWG