MTG Salvation

Please ignore the financial value of the cards for the purposes of this discussion.

I like Alms Beast because it's kind of like repeatable removal (even with lifegain), but is also a devastating blocker or a game-ending attacker after it was blocked a lot. Also a new format so I want to try new things.

Boar or Drakewing if alms Beast wasn't rare, still way to early in set to know exactly what to draft.

I'd take Crocanura because I don't want to commit to a single color this early. Alms Beast is close.

Deff evolve krasis or the counter dude i think is the smart pick altho i think keyrune is a solid pick in the format... Honestly its hard to say thats actually a very snazzy pack kinda depends on what kinda deck you were going for

I like extortionist bear. It's a nice, safe pick that doesn't overcommit, that you'll rarely cut, and that sends a strong message that white is not open, while still giving you a strong chance to wheel a gate.

Pit Fight is a very safe choice (no real color commitment, reasonably reliable removal/trick), but I could see arguments for other cards.

Tempted by Cloudfin raptor. But alms beAst is also interesting box there is no other black in the pack and there are other big comminta to other colors. How ever. Boar is probably my pick because it is a big body for five, is a decent combat trick, removal, and in aggressive colors.

Quote from Crownclown

Boar or Drakewing if alms Beast wasn't rare, still way to early in set to know exactly what to draft.

Not really. It's fairly obvious that the most powerful cards are pit fight and alms beast, with flux mage being an uncertain possibility until more is known.

Pit fight is very strong (quite a bit better than prey upon, which was very strong) but I'm slamming alms beast and moving into orzhov.

Strictly from a view of testing the format, I don't think it's defensible to pick anything other than Alms Beast. In a vacuum it has the largest upside, even without evasion. We don't know quite how Orzhov shapes up in limited yet, but the Beast seems great against all the evolve guys in the format, beats down Dimir, and is bigger than all the Boros guys. It's probably not great against Gruul, hopefully we get some instant removal to deal with Bloodrushed guys.

I'm guessing the correct choice is pit fight, but for the first 6 or 7 drafts I would do Alms Beast.

I think extortion bear. Not having played with extort in Limited, it's hard to be sure of its power, but it seems like a 2 life swing over and over again is pretty good, especially because you almost never curve out perfectly in Limited, so being able to make your 3-drops into 4drops with a life swing ETB is pretty good.Swine is good, but I don't think I would want to commit to two colors first pick unless it's for a bomb. Pit fight is another reasonable pick, no real color commitment and a solid removal. Syndic of Tithes provides lots of value late game, a decent body early, and will go into any strategy in the colors. Also, the negative with pit fight is that you are passing Crocanura and Swine, both of which would likely be picked pretty early and make it very likely for next player to go R/G. Alms Beast could have the same effect on taking white though.

Overall, I think it's really hard to make decisions without seeing the majority of commons and uncommons in the set, many of the spoiled cards are rares and mythics that have little impact on the overall Limited strength of color combinations.

Voted Cloudfin because hey, evasion, and there's probably no upper limit on how many raptors you want in your deck. That said, I can see the case for Alms Beast and Pit Fight.

Syndic of Tithes, mana sinks are absurdly powerful in limited. Makes racing very difficult by itself.

The Swine, you can't really go wrong with that. Pit Fight is also very good. Otherwise, the two Simic flyers.

I'm really not sold on Alms Beast, especially not when there's an entire guild whose creatures also serve as pump spells.

As people have said, it's hard to tell really, but it came down to Pit Fight, Crocanura, Taxbear, and Alms Beast for me. I went for Taxbear because of the mana sink and because he's perfectly fine for Boros.

Fluxmage, just because it's easily splashable, it will likely get bigger, and you can move counters to keep growing it. Plus, there's a good chance that the Cloudfin and/or Croconura might wheel back to you.

Can't go wrong with a 6/6 for 4, right? Alms Beast it is.

Ok, this is a loaded pack. I chose the value bear because I want to play a heavy extort deck. I'm getting the sinking sensation that spamming cheap extort cards is degenerate.

Alms Beast is a windmill slam, not even close. Next would have to be Crocanura only because it reminds me of the Macarena.

I'm pretty sure the pick is between Alms Beast and Simic Fluxmage. The former is the safe pick, but Fluxmage keeps you more open (Simic or Dimir). I don't really like the extort mechanic, and I fear Orzhov will be too durdly, so my pick is Fluxmage.

Alms Beast or Zhur-Taa Swine or Orzhov Keyrune. I went with Alms Beast this time. Depends on the rest of the set, but 6/6 has the potential to be insurmountable

Alms Beast -> Pit fight -> Drakewing Crassis/Swine.

Not much else to say about it, pretty obvious choices.

Cloudfin Raptor on the basis that its not committing you to anything. Its an 0/1 flyer in blue that grows. Its the safest pick considering I've never drafted the set before. Alms beast was my second choice. Alms beast may have been the better choice but Cloudfin raptor is going to be brutal in draft I think

I'm definitely not picking a Gate or a Keyrune first pick. I'm also not picking the Fight card first pick before I even know if I'm going to have any decent creatures.

Not sure I like Alms Beast as a first pick either. It's a bit narrow in what kind of decks it can actually function well in. For a first pick I prefer a card that is more generically good and not as restricting.

Croconura is basically Giant Spider, fine but not a first pick. Cloudfin Raptor is a possibility but a bit low in raw power.

Syndic of Tithes and Zhur-Taa Swine are the two that I would consider highest. Syndic leaves you more flexible and should fit well with either Boros or Orzhov. While Swine has more raw power. I think I would end up taking the Swine but I'm not 100% sure.