These are the cards I am most frequently disagreeing with people as to how high to pick them. My opinions in the second post (so you can think about them without seeing my thoughts).
Dark Ritual - Rubbish unless you have a storm shell due to the prevalence of bounce and removal. Getting 1st-3rd picked, I wouldn't play it and would pick it 12th-15th unless I already have several Storm pieces (Frantic Search, Temporal Fissure, etc). Soltari Trooper - So underrated. This guy looks weak, but demands removal or he will do a lot of damage on his own. Getting 8th-12th picked, I don't feel bad slamming him 4th. Dauthi Mercenary - A bomb. Viable first pick in a weak pack with no money cards. He can win the game on his own, and demands removal immediately even if played on turn 10. Empyrial Armor - A bomb. Viable first pick again, over Radiant Archangel and other threats. Turn 2 Trooper, turn 3 Empyrial requires an answer. Deep Analysis - I 1st-4th pick this, not sure what others think. I generally cast the front end rather than look to discard it (but will discard it on occasion). Psychatog - Got one 3rd pick then another (foil) one 4th pick recently in the same pack. I think that's about where the card should go - I know people often windmill slam him, but it's harder to get him to go all the way alone than it was in Constructed.
Dark Ritual: garbage unless you're on Storm, then 4th-5th pick
Soltari Trooper: 3rd-4th pick. It's a "remove this or it WILL kill you" creature, but it's a 10 turn clock unless it's got an Aura on it. I have been known to first pick this if the rest of the pack is total garbage.
Dauthi Mercenary: P1P1 viable, as above.
Empyrial Armor: Viable first pick bomb. If on a shadow critter, it creates a "remove this immediately or die" situation.
Deep Analysis: First pick viable if there's no money in the pack.
Psychatog: I don't pick this as highlyl as others do; he's just not as good in this format as he was in Odyssey block or Standard back then.
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Dark Ritual: garbage, and storm is a trap, so it's just garbage in general.
Soltari Trooper: Very strong aggressive two drop.
Dauthi Mercenary: Much weaker than trooper. Being a 3 drop vs. a two drop is a big deal, and black is the weakest color in the format.
Empyrial Armor: Playable, but not a bomb. There is enough bounce and removal in the format that you can't just plop it on a two drop and expect it to go all the way like in Mirage block.
Deep Analysis: 1st pickable.
Psychatog: Good creature, but again, black is the weakest color.
I consider myself a bit of a Vintage Master master. I have stayed above 1900 rating and currently have something like 36 pack stockpile from 8/4s. I have watched a lot of pros on twitch drafting and making picks very far off from what I would have done myself and (anecdotally) not doing as well as I believe they otherwise would have. Of course I like to sit back and watch very skilled players make decisions of their own so I can learn from them, instead of jumping in and screaming to take the beetleback over the ringleader, despite the chats opposing view. I dont like making specific picks on cards in formats where every pack is chock full of playables.
Dark Ritual - Strictly a storm or suicide black card. Storm requires a critical mass of the right cards that are otherwise terrible if it doesnt come together. As far as drafting storm I like to take cards like Deep analysis and Man o war, that fit into storm but if it doesnt come together you can still run them in a regular deck. The p1p1 minds desire seems like a great way to throw away you tickets to me.
Soltari Trooper - This is a possible p1p1 for me if the rest of the pack isnt amazing. I'd rather take Wild Mongrel or battle screech but this card is a important piece of aggressive white decks. The reach it provides once the opponent stabilizes is vital.
Dauthi Mercenary. Similar to Soltari trooper, Dauthi mercinary gives the black aggressive deck some reach after its openeing hand is spent. I dont want more than 1 or 2 tops.
Empyrial Armor - Very strong card against the right opponents, dead against others. I usually take creatures over it, but I also typically try to play decks that can deal with auras. I find that an opponent who cant deal with it is an opponent who wouldnt beat me anyways. Armadillo cloak it is not.
Deep Analysis - Great card in any blue deck. I usually like to get my creature base situated before taking stuff like this, but if the pack is otherwise mediocre this is a great pickup. Also an all star in madness and storm/ 4-5 color decks.
Psychatog - This card is on the same plane as wild mongrel to me. It can get bigger than mongrel but wild mongrel becoming white puts it ahead of the tog to me. Still, getting one of these late can take a deck from ok to above average.
Very interesting discussion above. I've done a fair bit of 8-4 drafting, like VerdantForce above. I find that I usually end up with one of a small set of archetypes that I've become familiar with, so my ratings are definitely biased towards the archetypes I enjoy the most (Storm and Goblins).
Dark Ritual - I love to force the storm deck - especially in 8-4 since it is not very popular, but this card should always be going late (it should table before you pick it, unless you already have something like yawgmoth's will for your storm deck). It is near useless in non-storm decks, even the suicide black, which I've mostly just played against but not with.
Soltari Trooper - White weenie is a great archetype to draft, and this is a staple of that deck type. Definitely a top pick depending on the pack, but as mentioned above something like Battle Screech is a clear winner over this.
Dauthi Mercenary - I find this card to be "okay". There are always quite a few going around the table, and I don't find it to be as strong in its archetype as the trooper - but it does do very good things in suicide black. I'd find it hard to take this as a first 3-5 pick because they are always all over the place.
Empyrial Armor - in my eyes bounce is too prevalent to make this card really good. I've played many white weenie builds where I didn't end up running these, but still had great synergy. I've lost to it a few times, and you need an answer quickly if your opponent has this on evasion...but I still haven't been able to give it a high value.
Deep Analysis - Definitely a top pick if you're in blue - madness or storm. I like to have multiples for storm, if I can. I've first picked this many a time.
Psychatog - Love this for my storm decks as he makes aggressive decks sit back quite a bit. They seem to come pretty late, and I've even seen them table. 1 or 2 of these, like VerdantForce said, makes a decent deck good. I will take these top 3 for sure. Great "consolation prize" for some of those failed storm decks that manage to strike out on storm win conditions beyond the dreaded temporal fissure.
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Dark Ritual
Soltari Trooper
Dauthi Mercenary
Empyrial Armor
Deep Analysis
Psychatog
Dark Ritual - Rubbish unless you have a storm shell due to the prevalence of bounce and removal. Getting 1st-3rd picked, I wouldn't play it and would pick it 12th-15th unless I already have several Storm pieces (Frantic Search, Temporal Fissure, etc).
Soltari Trooper - So underrated. This guy looks weak, but demands removal or he will do a lot of damage on his own. Getting 8th-12th picked, I don't feel bad slamming him 4th.
Dauthi Mercenary - A bomb. Viable first pick in a weak pack with no money cards. He can win the game on his own, and demands removal immediately even if played on turn 10.
Empyrial Armor - A bomb. Viable first pick again, over Radiant Archangel and other threats. Turn 2 Trooper, turn 3 Empyrial requires an answer.
Deep Analysis - I 1st-4th pick this, not sure what others think. I generally cast the front end rather than look to discard it (but will discard it on occasion).
Psychatog - Got one 3rd pick then another (foil) one 4th pick recently in the same pack. I think that's about where the card should go - I know people often windmill slam him, but it's harder to get him to go all the way alone than it was in Constructed.
Soltari Trooper: 3rd-4th pick. It's a "remove this or it WILL kill you" creature, but it's a 10 turn clock unless it's got an Aura on it. I have been known to first pick this if the rest of the pack is total garbage.
Dauthi Mercenary: P1P1 viable, as above.
Empyrial Armor: Viable first pick bomb. If on a shadow critter, it creates a "remove this immediately or die" situation.
Deep Analysis: First pick viable if there's no money in the pack.
Psychatog: I don't pick this as highlyl as others do; he's just not as good in this format as he was in Odyssey block or Standard back then.
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Soltari Trooper: Very strong aggressive two drop.
Dauthi Mercenary: Much weaker than trooper. Being a 3 drop vs. a two drop is a big deal, and black is the weakest color in the format.
Empyrial Armor: Playable, but not a bomb. There is enough bounce and removal in the format that you can't just plop it on a two drop and expect it to go all the way like in Mirage block.
Deep Analysis: 1st pickable.
Psychatog: Good creature, but again, black is the weakest color.
Dark Ritual - Strictly a storm or suicide black card. Storm requires a critical mass of the right cards that are otherwise terrible if it doesnt come together. As far as drafting storm I like to take cards like Deep analysis and Man o war, that fit into storm but if it doesnt come together you can still run them in a regular deck. The p1p1 minds desire seems like a great way to throw away you tickets to me.
Soltari Trooper - This is a possible p1p1 for me if the rest of the pack isnt amazing. I'd rather take Wild Mongrel or battle screech but this card is a important piece of aggressive white decks. The reach it provides once the opponent stabilizes is vital.
Dauthi Mercenary. Similar to Soltari trooper, Dauthi mercinary gives the black aggressive deck some reach after its openeing hand is spent. I dont want more than 1 or 2 tops.
Empyrial Armor - Very strong card against the right opponents, dead against others. I usually take creatures over it, but I also typically try to play decks that can deal with auras. I find that an opponent who cant deal with it is an opponent who wouldnt beat me anyways. Armadillo cloak it is not.
Deep Analysis - Great card in any blue deck. I usually like to get my creature base situated before taking stuff like this, but if the pack is otherwise mediocre this is a great pickup. Also an all star in madness and storm/ 4-5 color decks.
Psychatog - This card is on the same plane as wild mongrel to me. It can get bigger than mongrel but wild mongrel becoming white puts it ahead of the tog to me. Still, getting one of these late can take a deck from ok to above average.
Dark Ritual - I love to force the storm deck - especially in 8-4 since it is not very popular, but this card should always be going late (it should table before you pick it, unless you already have something like yawgmoth's will for your storm deck). It is near useless in non-storm decks, even the suicide black, which I've mostly just played against but not with.
Soltari Trooper - White weenie is a great archetype to draft, and this is a staple of that deck type. Definitely a top pick depending on the pack, but as mentioned above something like Battle Screech is a clear winner over this.
Dauthi Mercenary - I find this card to be "okay". There are always quite a few going around the table, and I don't find it to be as strong in its archetype as the trooper - but it does do very good things in suicide black. I'd find it hard to take this as a first 3-5 pick because they are always all over the place.
Empyrial Armor - in my eyes bounce is too prevalent to make this card really good. I've played many white weenie builds where I didn't end up running these, but still had great synergy. I've lost to it a few times, and you need an answer quickly if your opponent has this on evasion...but I still haven't been able to give it a high value.
Deep Analysis - Definitely a top pick if you're in blue - madness or storm. I like to have multiples for storm, if I can. I've first picked this many a time.
Psychatog - Love this for my storm decks as he makes aggressive decks sit back quite a bit. They seem to come pretty late, and I've even seen them table. 1 or 2 of these, like VerdantForce said, makes a decent deck good. I will take these top 3 for sure. Great "consolation prize" for some of those failed storm decks that manage to strike out on storm win conditions beyond the dreaded temporal fissure.
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