That's actually not a good example because slayer has more targets than spider did in m12, and white is MUCH better than green was in m12.
You are wrong on this but that wouldn't be the first time you were wrong on here.
Y'know, I don't usually like to stoop to this level, but just stop it.
Semantics is a very good player - he has actually done well in big tournaments. Other people on here play on the pro tour, and many of us who are more focused on playing online are MODO players who grind really hard and do consistently well.
It's already embarrassing for you that you have that ridiculous sig of semantics, who is someone you should be listening to - not someone you should be mocking. Now, you're trying to be condescending here - just stop it.
Anyways, sorry - I didn't mean to derail the thread there.
Air elemental has been a first pick in every format ever - and air elemental/looter should be the same. These cards are very close, and it is difficult to assess at this early stage in the format which is better here.
As much as it pains me, I do agree that I would have taken stingerfling over sengir vampire, but that is more out of just personal preference. That's a very close pick. This one is also close, but last time I checked, drawing cards is awesome and I'll always take something that has the potential to get me extremely far ahead. The fact that it beats for four in the air and happens to be blue are both bonuses as far as I'm concerned.
You are wrong on this but that wouldn't be the first time you were wrong on here.
Even if that's the case, wouldn't it be preferable to critique the argument instead of insulting the player? The most interesting and worthwhile threads we have on here are the ones discussing things which aren't already obvious. That's going to mean people get things wrong a lot.
Bookmark the thread and we can all come back at the end of the format and see which card was the correct pick.
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<Limited Clan>
My evaluation of Slayer of the Wicked shot up after the prerelease; it had a target more universally than I had expected, and I was surprised by just how often it got to hit exactly the thing I most wanted to remove.
Even so, Murder of Crows is very strong and a legitimate win condition on its own. Though it pains me physically and emotionally to pass a Slayer, I'd have to take the Crows.
Re: Splinterfright vs. Fiend Hunter - I'd take Fiend Hunter. I like Splinterfright, butI don't know how good it actually is. The attractive thing about it is that it's a graveyard enabler and a card to benefit from your graveyard all in one. Unfortunately, that also makes it a bit awkward because, unlike other enablers like Armored Skaab, you need guys in your graveyard already in order to cast it. I'm guessing it's something you want to pick up fairly early, but probably not until you have some indication you want to be in a self-mill archetype. Could be wrong.
Y'know, I don't usually like to stoop to this level, but just stop it.
Semantics is a very good player - he has actually done well in big tournaments. Other people on here play on the pro tour, and many of us who are more focused on playing online are MODO players who grind really hard and do consistently well.
It's already embarrassing for you that you have that ridiculous sig of semantics, who is someone you should be listening to - not someone you should be mocking. Now, you're trying to be condescending here - just stop it.
Anyways, sorry - I didn't mean to derail the thread there.
Air elemental has been a first pick in every format ever - and air elemental/looter should be the same. These cards are very close, and it is difficult to assess at this early stage in the format which is better here.
As much as it pains me, I do agree that I would have taken stingerfling over sengir vampire, but that is more out of just personal preference. That's a very close pick. This one is also close, but last time I checked, drawing cards is awesome and I'll always take something that has the potential to get me extremely far ahead. The fact that it beats for four in the air and happens to be blue are both bonuses as far as I'm concerned.
Thanks for the kind words. Limited Magic is naturally subjective (even though, as bateleur is always quick to remind us, there technically is a best pick in ever situation), and I'm open to being wrong on my evaluations. In my opinion, the best way to improve is to develop your pick orders and preferences on your own and then let experience and discussion with solid players help me modify the list and correct errors.
While we'd all like to think that our evaluations are correct, the fact of the matter with respect to Innistrad is that the set hasn't even technically been released yet. Odds are none of us have drafted more than one or two times in total, so these discussions are important and productive as long as we all maintain the understanding that we're all working with incomplete information and knowledge.
The other issue is that playstyle and personal preference do come into play quite a bit while drafting. Again, it's true that there does exist a correct pick, people are often predisposed to play deck types they find comfortable. I'm a control player at heart (similar to Sene, I imagine, given his dominance during RoE limited with Grixis control), so I had difficulties with formats like Zendikar and M12 in terms of acclimating to the pure aggression the format generally demanded. I still found myself taking control cards more highly than others, which sometimes led me into tough situations. Still, though, I'm more comfortable playing controlling strategies, and I'm going to value blue cards more highly than some others might, either consciously or subconsciously.
What I find fascinating is the inevitable discussion that results from people debating formats and draft decisions. People invariably feel more strongly as a format develops, but the most meaningful learning comes out of these debates, so long as we're all willing to listen to each other and respond respectfully to those with whom we may disagree.
I'm aware of how awkward this seems coming from me, given my penchant for stating my opinions forcefully, but I've learned quite a bit about limited through these forums, and I've been able to adapt my game to new and unexpected understandings as a result.
Oh, and while I would take the Vampire in the Spider/Vampire situation, I understand that it's very close and could not fault the Spider pick!
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I hereby found the American Chapter of the Zealots of Semantics. All glory to The Curmudgeon.
Removal is really at a premium in this set, but I think Murder of Crows edges out the Slayer. Sure, Slayer is removal, but it's conditional and with removal being at a premium, the Crows can potentially stay out longer, particularly if you have other decent flyers. This might be a pick where the other cards in the pack would have a significant influence on my decision.
Fiend Hunter, since the Splinterfright/Boneyard Wurm type guys only feed off your own graveyard. I don't think I'd gamble away a solid removal to maybe get a cohesive deck built around Splinterfright...only to get Splinterfright removed by Fiend Hunter. Might be biased because I got a rather late Splinterfright in a prerelease draft and decided it wasn't worth changing up my draft to build around.
As for Into the Maw vs. Victim of Night? Into the Maw, since it kills anything (and I'm biased because I topdecked this twice in a draft match vs. opponent's Balefire Dragon) and randomly hoses people's splashes. Plus I like red more than black in this set.
Removal is really at a premium in this set, but I think Murder of Crows edges out the Slayer. Sure, Slayer is removal, but it's conditional and with removal being at a premium, the Crows can potentially stay out longer, particularly if you have other decent flyers. This might be a pick where the other cards in the pack would have a significant influence on my decision.
Fiend Hunter, since the Splinterfright/Boneyard Wurm type guys only feed off your own graveyard. I don't think I'd gamble away a solid removal to maybe get a cohesive deck built around Splinterfright...only to get Splinterfright removed by Fiend Hunter. Might be biased because I got a rather late Splinterfright in a prerelease draft and decided it wasn't worth changing up my draft to build around.
As for Into the Maw vs. Victim of Night? Into the Maw, since it kills anything (and I'm biased because I topdecked this twice in a draft match vs. opponent's Balefire Dragon) and randomly hoses people's splashes. Plus I like red more than black in this set.
maw maw maw! That thing is so good! The land death is more relevant than it looks at first glance, too.
The other issue is that playstyle and personal preference do come into play quite a bit while drafting. Again, it's true that there does exist a correct pick, people are often predisposed to play deck types they find comfortable. I'm a control player at heart (similar to Sene, I imagine, given his dominance during RoE limited with Grixis control), so I had difficulties with formats like Zendikar and M12 in terms of acclimating to the pure aggression the format generally demanded. I still found myself taking control cards more highly than others, which sometimes led me into tough situations. Still, though, I'm more comfortable playing controlling strategies, and I'm going to value blue cards more highly than some others might, either consciously or subconsciously.
I think this point is actually really important with regard to "pick vs pick" scenarios. For reference, you'll see in the forum draft p1p2 discussion I'm advocating against picking Blasphemous Act, even though to most it seems like the obvious pick. My playstyle is usually proactive, meaning that I like cards that are threats, and I like tempo swings, and I like attacking and forcing my opponent to block. And I don't like wraths or counterspells. For me, picking B-Act is not the best idea, because I would not be good at building a deck that utilized it to its full potential, so I would rather have a dude with a body. For some it would be the right pick, but I think for me it would be a mistake.
That applies to the Murder vs Slayer pick as well. Slayer is a more reactive card than Murder; it can get you out of a tight situation, and gives you incremental advantage over the course of the game, but Murder represents a threat that must be dealt with immediately. It forces your opponent to have the answer rather than acting as an answer itself. For me this is the better card because of that.
With that point behind me, it seems to me in Innistrad blue looks to be more highly proactive than usual, and white is as always the aggressor. Given that, I would place even more emphasis on taking a proactive blue card over a reactive white card, but I suppose that the point is sort of moot since both cards are great in most decks / scenarios anyways.
Another way of looking at the pick is this: In the worst case scenario, Murder is the best card (that is, when your opponent has no Slayer targets). In the medium case scenario, Murder draws you a couple cards while Slayer kills some small fry, and I think Murder is still better. Best case scenario, Slayer fries something awesome while Murder dies to it, and Slayer is amazing in this case. I prefer the card that is best in worst-case and average-case scenarios.
I'm going to have to be on the Murder of Crows bandwagon. Bomb + utility > Conditional removal dude (that doesn't even hit some of the best cards... see Murder of Crows :p).
New question: Assume you are drafting Blue/Red going into pack 3, but most of the Red cards are splash-able (as they often are) and you have a couple of Black cards from Pack 1. You crack Stitched Drake, Brimstone Volley, and Bloodgift Demon. What do you take?
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My color is Purple. I value diversity, smashed color pies and obsolete Inquest articles. At my best, I can redefine MTG in a new and wonderful way. At my worst, I can end up as an Unhinged joke. My symbol is not defined. My enemies are 5 old and bureaucratic angry colors.
Depends on the specifics of the deck, really. UR in this format tends to have a bit of trouble finding decent guys since the red dudes are generally horrible and the blue zombies have bad synergy with each other, which makes this closer than it would otherwise be, and obviously if you think you can build a non-crappy UBr deck that includes bloodgift demon it's at least in the discussion. Without any further information (ie specific numbers of cards in each color) brimstone volley is the pick though.
I'm going to have to be on the Murder of Crows bandwagon. Bomb + utility > Conditional removal dude (that doesn't even hit some of the best cards... see Murder of Crows :p).
New question: Assume you are drafting Blue/Red going into pack 3, but most of the Red cards are splash-able (as they often are) and you have a couple of Black cards from Pack 1. You crack Stitched Drake, Brimstone Volley, and Bloodgift Demon. What do you take?
Generally it would be Brimstone Volley, because it's excellent and sticking to my colors will tend to make my deck a lot more consistent.
Now, this could change a lot depending on exactly what else is going on. Is my red looking pretty good, or are the splashable removal spells about all I have going for me in that color? (i.e., the rest is marginal filler) How good are my random black cards; would I like to be playing them anyway if I could? How open/cut did black look in pack 1? What's me fixing situation like?
I could certainly see switching into black for Bloodgift Demon in some draft situations, but I don't want to wreck my draft if it's been going well, when I could be taking a great on-color card.
I will hold off on what I took until I see some opinions.
Mentor if you want sweet, possibly Constrcuted-viable foils, Devil if you want to win.
Devil is a splashable kill condition, a splashable removal spell, and is an incredible 2-for-1 if you main red.
Mentor is a very expensive, often conditional, Divination/Concentrate attached to a mostly irrelevant body that dies to almost every removal spell in the format (and will die, once your opponent sees it) and only becomes insane when you have human tribal cards which, being as this is p1p1, you do not have.
Devil's Play pretty easily for me, though Mentor is likely the next best card in the pack.
I'd probably take Crows over Slayer as well. There aren't a lot of formats where Air Elemental isn't a bona fide win condition, and this doesn't look to be Zendikar. Sucks having to pass a Slayer, but getting my second-favorite uncommon (first being Civilized Scholar, which is almost unfair) makes it sting less.
Into the Maw of Hell in a landslide over Victim of Night. Into the Maw kills everything except human-protected Angelic Overseer and in some matchups is your only out against pain in the ass rare lands (Nephalia Drownyard, please pick up the white courtesy phone). Even if you're not hitting a problematic rare land or their splash color you can set them back a turn or two by slowing down their ability to start flashing back binned spells. Victim comes down faster, but you miss a decent chunk of creatures in RBU, including a whole lot of bombs. In this format, I'll take slower but more consistent 90% of the time.
Devil's Play over Mentor every time and twice on Sunday. Even if it's just Blaze for you that's still an excellent card, and Mentor needs a whole deck built around it to be good provided it can survive more than 1 turn. Even your Human tribal deck is probably better splashing for Play than running Mentor out there to die on T3 every game.
Base white deck, Chapel Geist or Voiceless Spirit considering you have neither yet? How many of that one do you need to have to start taking the other?
Base white deck, Chapel Geist or Voiceless Spirit considering you have neither yet? How many of that one do you need to have to start taking the other?
Well, some more information about what I do have would be nice. I like the first striker - it's easier to cast and with some equipment becomes pretty fearsome.
Flying hurloon minotaur is good, but a bit more difficult to cast. Assuming we don't know how may plains we're going to play, the first striker is probably better. If we already know we're heavy, heavy white it's possible this pick goes the other way.
Well, some more information about what I do have would be nice. I like the first striker - it's easier to cast and with some equipment becomes pretty fearsome.
Flying hurloon minotaur is good, but a bit more difficult to cast. Assuming we don't know how may plains we're going to play, the first striker is probably better. If we already know we're heavy, heavy white it's possible this pick goes the other way.
For murder vs slayer, I have to ask myself, what do I want to see my opponent play against me less? Obviously, the Slayer. Crows is damn hard to get rid of, can be a looter, and ENDS games. Slayer can kill some dangerous stuff true, but its not a 5 turn clock.
Y'know, on second though I think I still like the first striker. Both cards will "get" 2/2s, but the first striker is going to work a lot better with instant speed removal, equipment, and pump effects. Dying to geistflame is annoying, but then again, that's not the end of the world.
Well Slayer is removal, and very good removal at that. Murder of Crows is sick and all, but an only slightly less good Flametongue Kavu would get my pick. Due note however, that Slayer is one of the very few non-rare cards I would ever take over Murder of Crows.
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Into the Maw of Hell is a name so awesome, it deserves its own song.
It would be about a world of brown spikes and red fire, where men fight and scream and become blurry masses. Then it would change to somber, we learn that this glorious place exists only in Raymond Swanland's head. To visit it, you must enter the maw of Hell itself.
Murder of crows. That card is ridiculously powerful and enables the win quite handily if multiple creatures die in one turn with that card in play. Add to that fact that he's a 5 mana 4/4 flier and we have a winner. Slayer can kill one or two creatures sure but he's just a 3/2 that sometimes kills a bomb and at other times just kills some random derp the opponent has. But card quality in draft is king so I would take murder of crows.
I'd take the voiceless spirit over the 1WW 2/3 flier. The 2/1 first strike flier for 2W is very splashable, moreso than the 1WW 2/3 and if your white gets cut off or something you can still splash the first striker the 2/3 flier is not that splashable and is quite greedy.
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"Yawgmoth," Freyalise whispered as she set the bomb, "now you will pay for your treachery."
You can, but would you ever do so? In most formats, small flyers are not the kind of thing you splash because splashed cards have to matter late (since you might well be unable to cast them early).
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<Limited Clan>
I think the Voiceless Spirit is the pick, but not because you can splash it if required (of course no one splashes for small flyers). Rather, it is so you can still reliably play it T3 if white is your secondary colour (assume a 10/7 or even a 11/6 split). Dearly Departed is your only double-white card and its a 6drop so it's fine.
The Voiceless Spirit in combat is about as good as the Geist. Both kill bears all day and both fold like cheap suits to the 3/3 spirit lords. But the Spirit kills Moon Herons (and Insectile Aberrations, for what that's worth) while the Geist only trades. To my knowledge the only removal spell that kills the Spirit but not the Geist is, appropriately enough, Geistflame.
Y'know, I don't usually like to stoop to this level, but just stop it.
Semantics is a very good player - he has actually done well in big tournaments. Other people on here play on the pro tour, and many of us who are more focused on playing online are MODO players who grind really hard and do consistently well.
It's already embarrassing for you that you have that ridiculous sig of semantics, who is someone you should be listening to - not someone you should be mocking. Now, you're trying to be condescending here - just stop it.
Anyways, sorry - I didn't mean to derail the thread there.
Air elemental has been a first pick in every format ever - and air elemental/looter should be the same. These cards are very close, and it is difficult to assess at this early stage in the format which is better here.
As much as it pains me, I do agree that I would have taken stingerfling over sengir vampire, but that is more out of just personal preference. That's a very close pick. This one is also close, but last time I checked, drawing cards is awesome and I'll always take something that has the potential to get me extremely far ahead. The fact that it beats for four in the air and happens to be blue are both bonuses as far as I'm concerned.
You lost me at very good player, i can walk into my local FNM card shop and point out 3 players much better than him.
Id like to add Ive played against murder of crows in draft and won, its a good card obviously but its not the "carnifex demon" type bomb that people are making it out to be.
You keep getting told to not attack Semantics, and you keep disobeying. Infraction issued.
-Sene
So I've seen a bunch of people's early evaluations of M13 limited, and the apparent consensus is that blue is the set's worst colors. I have only played three events, mind you, but I consider myself a bit of a core set limited guru, and while I think it's a bit early to say that blue is the set's best color, I think it's significant;y more in the conversation than people are giving it credit for.
As I've posted elsewhere, Archaeomancer is my pick for the set's best common.
How strong are Stitcher's Apprentice and Deranged Assistant? Do you pick them over, say, Avacynian Priest or Bonds of Faith or Rebuke? What about creatures like Moon Heron or Voiceless Spirit?
I find them hard to rate.
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Y'know, I don't usually like to stoop to this level, but just stop it.
Semantics is a very good player - he has actually done well in big tournaments. Other people on here play on the pro tour, and many of us who are more focused on playing online are MODO players who grind really hard and do consistently well.
It's already embarrassing for you that you have that ridiculous sig of semantics, who is someone you should be listening to - not someone you should be mocking. Now, you're trying to be condescending here - just stop it.
Anyways, sorry - I didn't mean to derail the thread there.
Air elemental has been a first pick in every format ever - and air elemental/looter should be the same. These cards are very close, and it is difficult to assess at this early stage in the format which is better here.
As much as it pains me, I do agree that I would have taken stingerfling over sengir vampire, but that is more out of just personal preference. That's a very close pick. This one is also close, but last time I checked, drawing cards is awesome and I'll always take something that has the potential to get me extremely far ahead. The fact that it beats for four in the air and happens to be blue are both bonuses as far as I'm concerned.
*DCI Rules Advisor*
That's useful to know, but what about draft, will the same be true when everyone has more focussed decks?
Even if that's the case, wouldn't it be preferable to critique the argument instead of insulting the player? The most interesting and worthwhile threads we have on here are the ones discussing things which aren't already obvious. That's going to mean people get things wrong a lot.
Bookmark the thread and we can all come back at the end of the format and see which card was the correct pick.
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<Limited Clan>
My evaluation of Slayer of the Wicked shot up after the prerelease; it had a target more universally than I had expected, and I was surprised by just how often it got to hit exactly the thing I most wanted to remove.
Even so, Murder of Crows is very strong and a legitimate win condition on its own. Though it pains me physically and emotionally to pass a Slayer, I'd have to take the Crows.
Re: Splinterfright vs. Fiend Hunter - I'd take Fiend Hunter. I like Splinterfright, butI don't know how good it actually is. The attractive thing about it is that it's a graveyard enabler and a card to benefit from your graveyard all in one. Unfortunately, that also makes it a bit awkward because, unlike other enablers like Armored Skaab, you need guys in your graveyard already in order to cast it. I'm guessing it's something you want to pick up fairly early, but probably not until you have some indication you want to be in a self-mill archetype. Could be wrong.
@ T1memaster: Not cool. Let's not be like that.
Thanks for the kind words. Limited Magic is naturally subjective (even though, as bateleur is always quick to remind us, there technically is a best pick in ever situation), and I'm open to being wrong on my evaluations. In my opinion, the best way to improve is to develop your pick orders and preferences on your own and then let experience and discussion with solid players help me modify the list and correct errors.
While we'd all like to think that our evaluations are correct, the fact of the matter with respect to Innistrad is that the set hasn't even technically been released yet. Odds are none of us have drafted more than one or two times in total, so these discussions are important and productive as long as we all maintain the understanding that we're all working with incomplete information and knowledge.
The other issue is that playstyle and personal preference do come into play quite a bit while drafting. Again, it's true that there does exist a correct pick, people are often predisposed to play deck types they find comfortable. I'm a control player at heart (similar to Sene, I imagine, given his dominance during RoE limited with Grixis control), so I had difficulties with formats like Zendikar and M12 in terms of acclimating to the pure aggression the format generally demanded. I still found myself taking control cards more highly than others, which sometimes led me into tough situations. Still, though, I'm more comfortable playing controlling strategies, and I'm going to value blue cards more highly than some others might, either consciously or subconsciously.
What I find fascinating is the inevitable discussion that results from people debating formats and draft decisions. People invariably feel more strongly as a format develops, but the most meaningful learning comes out of these debates, so long as we're all willing to listen to each other and respond respectfully to those with whom we may disagree.
I'm aware of how awkward this seems coming from me, given my penchant for stating my opinions forcefully, but I've learned quite a bit about limited through these forums, and I've been able to adapt my game to new and unexpected understandings as a result.
Oh, and while I would take the Vampire in the Spider/Vampire situation, I understand that it's very close and could not fault the Spider pick!
:dance:Fact or Fiction of the [Limited] Clan:dance:
Fiend Hunter, since the Splinterfright/Boneyard Wurm type guys only feed off your own graveyard. I don't think I'd gamble away a solid removal to maybe get a cohesive deck built around Splinterfright...only to get Splinterfright removed by Fiend Hunter. Might be biased because I got a rather late Splinterfright in a prerelease draft and decided it wasn't worth changing up my draft to build around.
As for Into the Maw vs. Victim of Night? Into the Maw, since it kills anything (and I'm biased because I topdecked this twice in a draft match vs. opponent's Balefire Dragon) and randomly hoses people's splashes. Plus I like red more than black in this set.
maw maw maw! That thing is so good! The land death is more relevant than it looks at first glance, too.
*DCI Rules Advisor*
I think this point is actually really important with regard to "pick vs pick" scenarios. For reference, you'll see in the forum draft p1p2 discussion I'm advocating against picking Blasphemous Act, even though to most it seems like the obvious pick. My playstyle is usually proactive, meaning that I like cards that are threats, and I like tempo swings, and I like attacking and forcing my opponent to block. And I don't like wraths or counterspells. For me, picking B-Act is not the best idea, because I would not be good at building a deck that utilized it to its full potential, so I would rather have a dude with a body. For some it would be the right pick, but I think for me it would be a mistake.
That applies to the Murder vs Slayer pick as well. Slayer is a more reactive card than Murder; it can get you out of a tight situation, and gives you incremental advantage over the course of the game, but Murder represents a threat that must be dealt with immediately. It forces your opponent to have the answer rather than acting as an answer itself. For me this is the better card because of that.
With that point behind me, it seems to me in Innistrad blue looks to be more highly proactive than usual, and white is as always the aggressor. Given that, I would place even more emphasis on taking a proactive blue card over a reactive white card, but I suppose that the point is sort of moot since both cards are great in most decks / scenarios anyways.
Another way of looking at the pick is this: In the worst case scenario, Murder is the best card (that is, when your opponent has no Slayer targets). In the medium case scenario, Murder draws you a couple cards while Slayer kills some small fry, and I think Murder is still better. Best case scenario, Slayer fries something awesome while Murder dies to it, and Slayer is amazing in this case. I prefer the card that is best in worst-case and average-case scenarios.
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New question: Assume you are drafting Blue/Red going into pack 3, but most of the Red cards are splash-able (as they often are) and you have a couple of Black cards from Pack 1. You crack Stitched Drake, Brimstone Volley, and Bloodgift Demon. What do you take?
I will hold off on what I took until I see some opinions.
I am on the Crows bandwagon. 4/4 flyers with abilities seem good in limited.
Generally it would be Brimstone Volley, because it's excellent and sticking to my colors will tend to make my deck a lot more consistent.
Now, this could change a lot depending on exactly what else is going on. Is my red looking pretty good, or are the splashable removal spells about all I have going for me in that color? (i.e., the rest is marginal filler) How good are my random black cards; would I like to be playing them anyway if I could? How open/cut did black look in pack 1? What's me fixing situation like?
I could certainly see switching into black for Bloodgift Demon in some draft situations, but I don't want to wreck my draft if it's been going well, when I could be taking a great on-color card.
Mentor if you want sweet, possibly Constrcuted-viable foils, Devil if you want to win.
Devil is a splashable kill condition, a splashable removal spell, and is an incredible 2-for-1 if you main red.
Mentor is a very expensive, often conditional, Divination/Concentrate attached to a mostly irrelevant body that dies to almost every removal spell in the format (and will die, once your opponent sees it) and only becomes insane when you have human tribal cards which, being as this is p1p1, you do not have.
Devil's Play pretty easily for me, though Mentor is likely the next best card in the pack.
Into the Maw of Hell in a landslide over Victim of Night. Into the Maw kills everything except human-protected Angelic Overseer and in some matchups is your only out against pain in the ass rare lands (Nephalia Drownyard, please pick up the white courtesy phone). Even if you're not hitting a problematic rare land or their splash color you can set them back a turn or two by slowing down their ability to start flashing back binned spells. Victim comes down faster, but you miss a decent chunk of creatures in RBU, including a whole lot of bombs. In this format, I'll take slower but more consistent 90% of the time.
Devil's Play over Mentor every time and twice on Sunday. Even if it's just Blaze for you that's still an excellent card, and Mentor needs a whole deck built around it to be good provided it can survive more than 1 turn. Even your Human tribal deck is probably better splashing for Play than running Mentor out there to die on T3 every game.
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
Well, some more information about what I do have would be nice. I like the first striker - it's easier to cast and with some equipment becomes pretty fearsome.
Flying hurloon minotaur is good, but a bit more difficult to cast. Assuming we don't know how may plains we're going to play, the first striker is probably better. If we already know we're heavy, heavy white it's possible this pick goes the other way.
*DCI Rules Advisor*
Ok, more info about what you have. (Thanks urafever!) Let's say you have Dearly Departed, Bonds of Faith, and Rebuke so far. So P1P4.
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Y'know, on second though I think I still like the first striker. Both cards will "get" 2/2s, but the first striker is going to work a lot better with instant speed removal, equipment, and pump effects. Dying to geistflame is annoying, but then again, that's not the end of the world.
*DCI Rules Advisor*
I'd take the voiceless spirit over the 1WW 2/3 flier. The 2/1 first strike flier for 2W is very splashable, moreso than the 1WW 2/3 and if your white gets cut off or something you can still splash the first striker the 2/3 flier is not that splashable and is quite greedy.
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You can, but would you ever do so? In most formats, small flyers are not the kind of thing you splash because splashed cards have to matter late (since you might well be unable to cast them early).
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The Voiceless Spirit in combat is about as good as the Geist. Both kill bears all day and both fold like cheap suits to the 3/3 spirit lords. But the Spirit kills Moon Herons (and Insectile Aberrations, for what that's worth) while the Geist only trades. To my knowledge the only removal spell that kills the Spirit but not the Geist is, appropriately enough, Geistflame.
So just pick the one that's easier to cast.
You lost me at very good player, i can walk into my local FNM card shop and point out 3 players much better than him.
Id like to add Ive played against murder of crows in draft and won, its a good card obviously but its not the "carnifex demon" type bomb that people are making it out to be.
You keep getting told to not attack Semantics, and you keep disobeying. Infraction issued.
-Sene
It's a close pick and in a couple months we will, in all likelihood, still see it go either way based on player preferrence.
But please, keep insulting good posters and offering baseless anecdotes.
I find them hard to rate.