Windmill slam Hexmage. Like others have said, this begins to signal that Black has been taken. Then, place the Raptor on the top to indicate that Blue is open for business. The Hexmage also helps establish a 2nd and 3rd turn ramp for Black, if you went the way of the Nighthawk, with a strong 2cc 2/1 Firststriker with a sometimes VERY revelent ability helping you with that trend. And, who knows, maybe for once Feast of Blood will actually find a spot in your limited deck! (Yeah, right...)
I had 8 or 9 vamps in my draft deck and feast of blood was awesome.
On topic, picking the raptor makes those late pack sell-swords we may see even jucier. Would seeing a hexmage and the other black cards in this pack make you want to switch to black? We can cut any more good black that comes around, no?
I had 8 or 9 vamps in my draft deck and feast of blood was awesome.
On topic, picking the raptor makes those late pack sell-swords we may see even jucier. Would seeing a hexmage and the other black cards in this pack make you want to switch to black? We can cut any more good black that comes around, no?
Dude, awesome! I didn't say that Feast wasn't a killer removal spell -it is amazing, given the right build- I just meant that it's just not probable that you'd get enough vamps to run it. No, I'm pretty sure staying in Black for now is a good choice. It is the primary removal color, after all, and your sure to see that if we keep getting passed the love. Even a powered up Raptor or Sell-Sword can't survive a Hidious End, or, for that matter, a kicked Mosquito. In fact, even a Disfigure will sometimes do the trick, if you want to get complicated. Pop the Hexmage, targeting an Ally, and pow, reverse 2 for 1. Kinda janky, but good in a pinch. Or block/have the Hexmage run into a slightly stronger creature. After firststrike, finish it off before their creature does damage.
I think in real life, after first picking a nighthawk, I would snach the hexmage. Here, I think I was conditioned by all of the people saying raptor. I see why you would take it, but my instinct would be to follow a double black with another double black.
The Nighthawk that we picked up in p1 is really, really good. Borderline bomby, really. So I'd like to see if we have an opportunity to force black/vampires and take the Hexmage. There's not a whole lot else for us to take in the pack and, as good as the Raptor is, the opportunity to get a strong black deck going here is worth spending this pick on.
First strike 2-power on turn two should not be underestimated either. There are quite a few x/2's out there that'll have a difficult time blocking this guy. Sure, there could be some Nissa's Chosens popping up here or there, but that's neither here or there. It's a solid aggro creature and its ability may come in handy with all of the permanents with counters out there. And first strike allows for some shenanigans - resolve first strike damage, then sac. First strike damage also provides the opportunity for those 1/1 vampires to become 3/2 before regular combat damage.
Also as noted, this pack is missing white. The rare is the only card missing, and it's quite possible that pick wasn't white. This means that as the draft progresses, we may have a shot at branching into white.
The Nighthawk that we picked up in p1 is really, really good. Borderline bomby, really. So I'd like to see if we have an opportunity to force black/vampires and take the Hexmage. There's not a whole lot else for us to take in the pack and, as good as the Raptor is, the opportunity to get a strong black deck going here is worth spending this pick on.
And the opportunity to jump into blue isn't? As I have said before, there is NO reason to be vampires in this format. There is a rare that is excellent regardless of how many vampires you have, a rare that requires just 1 vampire for the kicker (and is not good anyway), and an uncommon that requires you to play so many vampires that a single one will not make a tremendous difference. The ONLY reason for taking hexmage here is if you want to force black, and I see no reason at all for doing that. Blue is not only a better color, but raptor is a better card.
It must be noted that taking Hexmage here DOES NOT make us more likely to draft a black deck.
1- hexmage should not be taken as a signal to the guy we are passing to, because it is not that good of a card and is only 3rd pick.
2- IF black dries up, then we completely wasted 2 picks instead of 1, and there is realistically about the same chance that black is open as there is that blue is open. Therefore it logically makes no sense to take the hexmage and "hope" that black is open, given that raptor is the superior card when colors are ignored.
Here are 4 possible scenarios:
Black is open, but blue is not open.
Black is not open, but blue is open.
Black is open, and blue is open.
Black is not open, blue is not open.
Because this is only pick 2, all of these possibilities are equally viable given what we have seen in the packs.
1st scenario - hexmage is the 'correct' choice (taking into account hindsight)
2nd scenario - raptor is best
3rd scenario - raptor is best because we'll be in black/blue anyway, and raptor is better than hexmage given that we can play both
4th scenario - the pick really doesn't matter, but because blue is a deeper color than black, and less aggressive, it is favorable to fight over blue than to fight over black. If both picks are abandoned then this argument is meaningless, so we can throw that possibility out.
I think it is clear from this argument that raptor is the superior pick. The only justification I could see here for taking hexmage is if you have a theory about the format that says that BR and/or Mono black aggro are better archetypes than BU, and worth forcing because of it. I don't think we know enough about the format to assume this and force thusly, so I would stick with the general new-set-drafting strategy of trying to make the best deck possible.
So basically the routes I would consider taking here are BR, BU, and mono black. I don't think hoping for BR is a good idea at this point,
So basically you say there are five options for a black deck: BW, BU, monoB, BR, BG. You eliminate BG because of the signal we sent (I don't necessarily agree with that, but that's beside the poin here - at least you have a reason). And then you eliminate BW and BR because eh... that suits your argument for taking Raptor?
Here are 4 possible scenarios:
Black is open, but blue is not open.
Black is not open, but blue is open.
Black is open, and blue is open.
Black is not open, blue is not open.
Because this is only pick 2, all of these possibilities are equally viable given what we have seen in the packs.
1st scenario - hexmage is the 'correct' choice (taking into account hindsight)
2nd scenario - raptor is best
3rd scenario - raptor is best because we'll be in black/blue anyway, and raptor is better than hexmage given that we can play both
4th scenario - the pick really doesn't matter, but because blue is a deeper color than black, and less aggressive, it is favorable to fight over blue than to fight over black. If both picks are abandoned then this argument is meaningless, so we can throw that possibility out.
I think it is clear from this argument that raptor is the superior pick. The only justification I could see here for taking hexmage is if you have a theory about the format that says that BR and/or Mono black aggro are better archetypes than BU, and worth forcing because of it. I don't think we know enough about the format to assume this and force thusly, so I would stick with the general new-set-drafting strategy of trying to make the best deck possible.
This logic is flawed. You don't take into account odds of things happening, nor the pay-off in each scenario. The third scenario has lower odds; the first scenario has a higher pay-off than the second because of the Nighthawk first pick and the fact that we stick to one colour for now. I'm not saying your pick is wrong (I think both are acceptable); it depends on drafting style, how much better you consider Raptor than Hexmage, etc. - this pay-off difference is quite subjective. I'm merely pointing out that this logic doesn't work - by following that logic you could generally argue for any decent artifact over a heavy-coloured bomb at P1 because you don't take the pay-off for taking the risk into account.
You really just need to embrace the rage. I keep a small colony of hamsters next to my computer and every time I lose a match to mana screw I throw one against the wall.
I think sell sword is not an awful choice. I buy the reasoning of mono black... And getting a growable hill giant.
I can see staying black, and othrs may shy from bb cards and table some of these.
However, ithink raptor is much stronger card. And I'll take the chance because monoblack is a tough road. The flyer is better, and allies with earlier drop have more chance to gt big.
without proper ally support this raptor is a 1/1 for 3
Read the ally mechanic carefully. Every ally triggers itself, making the Raptor a Wind Drake at worst, just like the Oran-Rief Survivalist is a Grizzly Bears at worst.
So basically you say there are five options for a black deck: BW, BU, monoB, BR, BG. You eliminate BG because of the signal we sent (I don't necessarily agree with that, but that's beside the poin here - at least you have a reason). And then you eliminate BW and BR because eh... that suits your argument for taking Raptor?
This logic is flawed. You don't take into account odds of things happening, nor the pay-off in each scenario. The third scenario has lower odds; the first scenario has a higher pay-off than the second because of the Nighthawk first pick and the fact that we stick to one colour for now. I'm not saying your pick is wrong (I think both are acceptable); it depends on drafting style, how much better you consider Raptor than Hexmage, etc. - this pay-off difference is quite subjective. I'm merely pointing out that this logic doesn't work - by following that logic you could generally argue for any decent artifact over a heavy-coloured bomb at P1 because you don't take the pay-off for taking the risk into account.
All good points. I approached the situation incorrectly.
As for the color argument, I threw out B/W because I consider white almost completely unplayable in this format (unless you have amazing uncommons / rares to make it worthwhile, of which we have seen none, albeit this is only the first two picks), and there was 0 red in the last pack, making it seem inaccessible. I suppose we will need to wait later than pick 2 in order to determine if red is open or not, but I would still be wary to play white at all unless given a very powerful incentive.
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On topic, picking the raptor makes those late pack sell-swords we may see even jucier. Would seeing a hexmage and the other black cards in this pack make you want to switch to black? We can cut any more good black that comes around, no?
Dude, awesome! I didn't say that Feast wasn't a killer removal spell -it is amazing, given the right build- I just meant that it's just not probable that you'd get enough vamps to run it. No, I'm pretty sure staying in Black for now is a good choice. It is the primary removal color, after all, and your sure to see that if we keep getting passed the love. Even a powered up Raptor or Sell-Sword can't survive a Hidious End, or, for that matter, a kicked Mosquito. In fact, even a Disfigure will sometimes do the trick, if you want to get complicated. Pop the Hexmage, targeting an Ally, and pow, reverse 2 for 1. Kinda janky, but good in a pinch. Or block/have the Hexmage run into a slightly stronger creature. After firststrike, finish it off before their creature does damage.
First strike 2-power on turn two should not be underestimated either. There are quite a few x/2's out there that'll have a difficult time blocking this guy. Sure, there could be some Nissa's Chosens popping up here or there, but that's neither here or there. It's a solid aggro creature and its ability may come in handy with all of the permanents with counters out there. And first strike allows for some shenanigans - resolve first strike damage, then sac. First strike damage also provides the opportunity for those 1/1 vampires to become 3/2 before regular combat damage.
Also as noted, this pack is missing white. The rare is the only card missing, and it's quite possible that pick wasn't white. This means that as the draft progresses, we may have a shot at branching into white.
And the opportunity to jump into blue isn't? As I have said before, there is NO reason to be vampires in this format. There is a rare that is excellent regardless of how many vampires you have, a rare that requires just 1 vampire for the kicker (and is not good anyway), and an uncommon that requires you to play so many vampires that a single one will not make a tremendous difference. The ONLY reason for taking hexmage here is if you want to force black, and I see no reason at all for doing that. Blue is not only a better color, but raptor is a better card.
It must be noted that taking Hexmage here DOES NOT make us more likely to draft a black deck.
1- hexmage should not be taken as a signal to the guy we are passing to, because it is not that good of a card and is only 3rd pick.
2- IF black dries up, then we completely wasted 2 picks instead of 1, and there is realistically about the same chance that black is open as there is that blue is open. Therefore it logically makes no sense to take the hexmage and "hope" that black is open, given that raptor is the superior card when colors are ignored.
Here are 4 possible scenarios:
Black is open, but blue is not open.
Black is not open, but blue is open.
Black is open, and blue is open.
Black is not open, blue is not open.
Because this is only pick 2, all of these possibilities are equally viable given what we have seen in the packs.
1st scenario - hexmage is the 'correct' choice (taking into account hindsight)
2nd scenario - raptor is best
3rd scenario - raptor is best because we'll be in black/blue anyway, and raptor is better than hexmage given that we can play both
4th scenario - the pick really doesn't matter, but because blue is a deeper color than black, and less aggressive, it is favorable to fight over blue than to fight over black. If both picks are abandoned then this argument is meaningless, so we can throw that possibility out.
I think it is clear from this argument that raptor is the superior pick. The only justification I could see here for taking hexmage is if you have a theory about the format that says that BR and/or Mono black aggro are better archetypes than BU, and worth forcing because of it. I don't think we know enough about the format to assume this and force thusly, so I would stick with the general new-set-drafting strategy of trying to make the best deck possible.
MTGO account name: FSM
MTGO rating: 1795
So basically you say there are five options for a black deck: BW, BU, monoB, BR, BG. You eliminate BG because of the signal we sent (I don't necessarily agree with that, but that's beside the poin here - at least you have a reason). And then you eliminate BW and BR because eh... that suits your argument for taking Raptor?
This logic is flawed. You don't take into account odds of things happening, nor the pay-off in each scenario. The third scenario has lower odds; the first scenario has a higher pay-off than the second because of the Nighthawk first pick and the fact that we stick to one colour for now. I'm not saying your pick is wrong (I think both are acceptable); it depends on drafting style, how much better you consider Raptor than Hexmage, etc. - this pay-off difference is quite subjective. I'm merely pointing out that this logic doesn't work - by following that logic you could generally argue for any decent artifact over a heavy-coloured bomb at P1 because you don't take the pay-off for taking the risk into account.
I can see staying black, and othrs may shy from bb cards and table some of these.
However, ithink raptor is much stronger card. And I'll take the chance because monoblack is a tough road. The flyer is better, and allies with earlier drop have more chance to gt big.
Also, I'm pretty sure 142 votes in 24 hrs is a new record. Way to go guys!
Thanks spiderboy and Highlight Studios!!!
My trade thread!
Warning for Double Post. Please edit your previous post next time, per the Forum Rules. ~Phyrre56
Thanks spiderboy and Highlight Studios!!!
My trade thread!
Read the ally mechanic carefully. Every ally triggers itself, making the Raptor a Wind Drake at worst, just like the Oran-Rief Survivalist is a Grizzly Bears at worst.
All good points. I approached the situation incorrectly.
As for the color argument, I threw out B/W because I consider white almost completely unplayable in this format (unless you have amazing uncommons / rares to make it worthwhile, of which we have seen none, albeit this is only the first two picks), and there was 0 red in the last pack, making it seem inaccessible. I suppose we will need to wait later than pick 2 in order to determine if red is open or not, but I would still be wary to play white at all unless given a very powerful incentive.
MTGO account name: FSM
MTGO rating: 1795