A full list of results, with all cards that received votes, can be found on this google spreadsheet.
Thanks to all 21 voters!
Spike Rogue, cuttups, willdice, wtwlf123, Griseldaddy, Cythare, hardb0dy, Metamind, Zetsu_Sensei, hopefulhawkeye, TheAngryhermit, Ennex, pillar15, Salmo, TheRift88, Calibretto, Star Slayer, rantipole, Hicham, artbcnco, SunBurst
Trivia
* Just missed: Imperial Recruiter (2.6), Feldon of the Third Path (2.0) and Chain Lightning (2.0)
* Sulfuric Vortex stays on the top, with the most perfect ranking so far (18/21 #1 votes and no vote worse than a #4). But even on the Top 5 we can see the changes this year: Sneak Attack got #4 out of a #8 last year, moving Wheel of Fortune to the #5 and kicking Flametongue Kavu downstairs... but more on that later.
* Rise...: For red I'm separating this part in two, because we've got 4 cards in the Top 20 that weren't on last year's ranking! The big surprises are #8 Goblin Rabblemaster and #9 Young Pyromancer, the best performances so far for a new card and for a card that didn't made last year's ranking. The other two are red's new planeswalkers, getting on the lower end of the ranking: #18 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker and #19 Daretti, Scrap Savant.
* ...and Fall: For the cards that remained on the list, Siege-Gang fell the most, eight positions (#12 to #20), but perhaps more relevant were Lightning Bolt going seven positions down (#6 to #13) and Flametongue Kavu six (#5 to #11). And goodbye to 2014's #14 Grim Lavamancer, #17 Arc Trail, #19 Chandra, Pyromaster and #20 Hero of Oxid Ridge.
* 46 different cards received votes.
Red has changed the most this year (so far, at least). Four cards in, four cards down, and some big shifts in ranking for some of those that remained.
Three brand-new cards getting places on the Top 20 is something that only happened in 2014 - because of the 4-year gap. Good for red getting relevant cards!
Young Pyromancer and Sneak Attack got well-deserved upgrades in the ranking, IMO, while Lightning Bolt was too overrated last year (... and I had my part on that, back then...) and is now on an adequate position. But what make of Flametongue Kavu's fall from grace, 2010 champion to 2014 5th best to not-even-Top-10 this year?
Nothing too surprising, considering red's voting is all over the place. Every drafter does something different with red, so it's hard to get voting with any consistency.
Good to see Bolt trending in the right direction. It's a fine card for my red decks, but my pack would have to be abysmal before I'd consider first-picking it.
As for FTK, I don't know why it's slipping, but it is. Maybe an increase in the % of ETB triggers and creatures that trade profitably with it? With more 2-power 1-drops and other cheap 2/X guys with ETB effects, it's harder to trade him for 2 full cards than it used to be.
Interesting, I don't consider Sarkhan even close to top 20. He's a nice first pick though so maybe that has something to do with it. I would still rate Grim Lavamancer well in the top 20, as well. I haven't had time to think about the votes this time around but things are always a bit all over the place in red.
I'm a fan of these results. I feel like FTK is dropping on the rankings simply because of power creep. I mean, don't get me wrong, FTK is still pretty amazing even 15 years later. He's four mana, though, which is a very coveted slot for a lot of decks. That's my best guess, anyway. It could also just be that the nostalgia is wearing off along the lines of "FTK is great, but I really want to play with this Rabblemaster" when you see them both early in the draft.
2 Goblin Guide - 16.7
3 Koth of the Hammer - 14.7
4 Sneak Attack - 13.3
5 Wheel of Fortune - 12.8
5 Wildfire - 12.8
7 Burning of Xinye - 12.0
8 Goblin Rabblemaster - 11.2
9 Young Pyromancer - 9.3
10 Inferno Titan - 9.0
11 Flametongue Kavu - 8.9
12 Rolling Earthquake - 8.0
13 Lightning Bolt - 7.7
14 Purphoros, God of the Forge - 6.1
15 Thundermaw Hellkite - 5.4
16 Hellrider - 4.7
17 Earthquake - 3.8
18 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker - 3.7
19 Daretti, Scrap Savant - 3.5
20 Siege-Gang Commander - 2.8
A full list of results, with all cards that received votes, can be found on this google spreadsheet.
Thanks to all 21 voters!
Spike Rogue, cuttups, willdice, wtwlf123, Griseldaddy, Cythare, hardb0dy, Metamind, Zetsu_Sensei, hopefulhawkeye, TheAngryhermit, Ennex, pillar15, Salmo, TheRift88, Calibretto, Star Slayer, rantipole, Hicham, artbcnco, SunBurst
Trivia
* Just missed: Imperial Recruiter (2.6), Feldon of the Third Path (2.0) and Chain Lightning (2.0)
* Sulfuric Vortex stays on the top, with the most perfect ranking so far (18/21 #1 votes and no vote worse than a #4). But even on the Top 5 we can see the changes this year: Sneak Attack got #4 out of a #8 last year, moving Wheel of Fortune to the #5 and kicking Flametongue Kavu downstairs... but more on that later.
* Rise...: For red I'm separating this part in two, because we've got 4 cards in the Top 20 that weren't on last year's ranking! The big surprises are #8 Goblin Rabblemaster and #9 Young Pyromancer, the best performances so far for a new card and for a card that didn't made last year's ranking. The other two are red's new planeswalkers, getting on the lower end of the ranking: #18 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker and #19 Daretti, Scrap Savant.
* ...and Fall: For the cards that remained on the list, Siege-Gang fell the most, eight positions (#12 to #20), but perhaps more relevant were Lightning Bolt going seven positions down (#6 to #13) and Flametongue Kavu six (#5 to #11). And goodbye to 2014's #14 Grim Lavamancer, #17 Arc Trail, #19 Chandra, Pyromaster and #20 Hero of Oxid Ridge.
* 46 different cards received votes.
Again, for reference, here's last year's Red Results thread.
===
Red has changed the most this year (so far, at least). Four cards in, four cards down, and some big shifts in ranking for some of those that remained.
Three brand-new cards getting places on the Top 20 is something that only happened in 2014 - because of the 4-year gap. Good for red getting relevant cards!
Young Pyromancer and Sneak Attack got well-deserved upgrades in the ranking, IMO, while Lightning Bolt was too overrated last year (... and I had my part on that, back then...) and is now on an adequate position. But what make of Flametongue Kavu's fall from grace, 2010 champion to 2014 5th best to not-even-Top-10 this year?
Good to see Bolt trending in the right direction. It's a fine card for my red decks, but my pack would have to be abysmal before I'd consider first-picking it.
As for FTK, I don't know why it's slipping, but it is. Maybe an increase in the % of ETB triggers and creatures that trade profitably with it? With more 2-power 1-drops and other cheap 2/X guys with ETB effects, it's harder to trade him for 2 full cards than it used to be.
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Last Updated 02/07/24
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