What's The Pick? DTK #1
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By: NVOtosReborn, John Mayer
Jun 02 2015 11:00am
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Hello! Today we will be doing some Pack 1, Pick 1 choices with Dragons of Tarkir drafting! You may be familiar with my Crack & Build series that was relatively short-lived, but clearly that won't function with a handful of Dragons packs, so we're just going to be covering drafting.

On to the picks!

Pack 1:

Magmatic Chasm, Resupply, Hand of Silumgar, Hardened Berserker, Colossodon Yearling, Negate, Naturalize,Duress, Ancestral Statue, Sandcrafter Mage, Lightning Berserker, Great Teacher's Decree, Atarka Monument, Blood-Chin Fanatic

My Pick:

Blood-Chin Fanatic

This card is an easy 3/3 for 3 mana, which is solid already, and the ability gives you some reach if the board gets clogged up. Black is one of the deeper colors in this set, so it's an easy first pick.

Honorable Mention:

Sandcrafter Mage

Again, simply a 3/3 for 3 mana most of the time, and it's a solid common I'd be happy to take.

Pack 2:

Territorial Roc, Mind Rot, Kindled Fury, Aven Tactician, Monastery Loremaster, Colossodon Yearling, Evolving Wilds, Sandcrafter Mage, Duress, Shape the Sands, Sight Beyond Sight, Scaleguard Sentinels, Void Squall, Harbinger of the Hunt

My Pick:

Harbinger of the Hunt

This card is pretty sweet. It's an aggressive dragon with a relevant ability, easy to use multiple times the turn after you cast it, wiping out morphs and other small creatures on your opponent's board. If this was just a 5/3 flyer for 5 mana, I'd probably take it as well.

Honorable Mention:

Scaleguard Sentinels

Despite the restrictive cost requirements, this being a 2/3 for 2 is solid already, and being a potential 3/4 for 2 mana is, well.. GG.

Pack 3:

Dromoka Warrior, Negate, Glade Watcher, Ojutai Interceptor, Herald of Dromoka, Segmented Krotiq, Tail Slash, Defeat, Reduce in Stature, Learn from the Past, Belltoll Dragon, Acid-Spewer Dragon, Stratus Dancer, Butcher's Glee

My Pick:

Stratus Dancer

Having a 2/1 flyer for 2 mana is good on its own, and there's lots of good removal and combat tricks in this set, so living the dream of making a 3/2 flyer and countering a spell is absurd. Very flexible card and powerful effect.

Honorable Mention:

Tail Slash

Solid removal spell.

Pack 4:

Qarsi Sadist, Lose Calm, Champion of Arashin, Gravepurge, Gurmag Drowner, Tread Upon, Updraft Elemental, Dragon-Scarred Bear, Evolving Wilds, Twin Bolt, Battle Mastery, Salt Road Quartermasters, Deadly Wanderings,Profound Journey

My Pick:

Salt Road Quartermasters

Again with the theme of 3/3s for 3 mana, this card has good versatility as well. This will allow you to attack and block early, and pump up your late-game dorks when they get outclassed.

Honorable Mention:

Twin Bolt

This is pretty easy as well, it's a removal spell that is sometimes a huge 2-for-1 in this format.

Pack 5:

Qarsi Sadist, Sabertooth Outrider, Servant of the Scale, Sidisi's Faithful, Herald of Dromoka, Aerie Bowmasters, Tormenting Voice, Keeper of the Lens, Reckless Imp, Ancient Carp, Dromoka Captain, Draconic Roar, Skywise Teachings, Commune With Lava

My Pick:

Draconic Roar

Easy first pick, it's a Lightning Strike with potential to be a Searing Blaze, so it's an easy scoop here.

Honorable Mention:

Aerie Bowmasters

I think this card is better than Dromoka Captain. Yes, Captain on 3 is very good and hard to deal with, but the 3/4 is more versatile and a much larger body. Plus, blocking dragons is somewhat important.

Pack 6:

Lightwalker, Screamreach Brawler, Wandering Tombshell, Sandsteppe Scavenger, Negate, Revealing Wind,Sarkhan's Rage, Vial of Dragonfire, Butcher's Glee, Glint, Virulent Plague, Void Squall, Foul-Tongue Invocation, Pristine Skywise

My Pick:

Pristine Skywise

A massive dragon that is hard to kill in the right deck is really solid. This being pick 1, it allows us to craft our deck accordingly, and a 6/4 flyer isn't half bad on its own.

Honorable Mention:

Sarkhan's Rage

The Invocation is decent, but there's a lot of fodder in this format that make it unlikely to kill what you want it to. Even as a Char variant, this card still removes a troublesome creature.

Pack 7:

Epic Confrontation, Ojutai's Breath, Wandering Tombshell, Twin Bolt, Spidersilk Net, Elusive Spellfist, Dragon-Scarred Bear, Gravepurge, Revealing Wind, Fate Forgotten, Qal Sisma Behemoth, Dromoka Captain, Minister of Pain, Deathbringer Regent

My Pick:

Deathbringer Regent

Deathbringer Regent is a very solid finisher in the right deck and can be used to your advantage to wipe your opponent’s board with minimal investment. This card is worse when you’re ahead, but replacing some of your smaller things with an uncontested 5/6 flyer is pretty nice.

Honorable Mention:

Epic Confrontation

Probably the best common in the set. I like Confrontation more than the Behemoth and the Captain, and it’s a little better than Twin Bolt as well.

Pack 8:

Atarka Efreet, Student of Ojutai, Champion of Arashin, Segmented Krotiq, Kindled Fury, Elusive Spellfist, Resupply, Tread Upon, Hardened Berserker, Anticipate, Swift Warkite, Herdchaser Dragon, Silumgar Sorcerer, Icefall Regent

My Pick:

Icefall Regent

This is a no-brainer. Dragons are insane in this format, and Icefall Regent is no exception. It’s resistant to removal, shuts down their best creature, and is conveniently attached to a 4/3 flying body.

Honorable Mention:

Silumgar Sorcerer

This is a very versatile card and fits perfectly into a UB Exploit deck. Trading your small dorks or pacified creature for their bombs is quite good. 

Pack 9:

Wandering Tombshell, Ojutai's Breath, Sprinting Warbrute, Sidisi's Faithful, Glaring Aegis, Defeat, Keeper of the Lens, Guardian Shield-Bearer, Spidersilk Net, Qarsi Sadist, Warbringer, Tapestry of the Ages, Sarkhan's Triumph, Dragonlord Kolaghan

My Pick:

Dragonlord Kolaghan

Once again, this is an easy slam dunk. A 6/5 flyer with haste is good enough by itself, but giving haste to the rest of your freshly cast creatures is absurd and can stack damage up quickly. Also, the added bonus of randomly dealing 10 to your opponent is not impossible.

Honorable Mention:

Warbringer

This guy fits really well into an aggressive dash deck, allowing you to play multiple surprise creatures is some cases. Honestly, the rest of this pack is not very good. Defeat and Guardian Shield-Bearer are the next best cards, neither of which I’m happy to take pick 1. I’m just glad we opened a dragon. 

Pack 10:

Territorial Roc, Ojutai's Breath, Duress, Sheltered Aerie, Coat with Venom, Foul-Tongue Shriek, Fate Forgotten, Palace Familiar, Custodian of the Trove, Herald of Dromoka, Salt Road Quartermasters, Ainok Survivalist, Scale Blessing, Profound Journey

My Pick:

Salt Road Quartermasters

It’s strange to not take the rare, isn’t it? Quartermasters is a solid 3/3 for 3 with an upside. It’s resistant to removal, since you can just buff another creature in response, or make combat a nightmare for your opponent.

Honorable Mention:

Ainok Survivalist

There are plenty of powerful artifacts and enchantments that people will play in their maindeck, and having a way to remove them while getting a 3/2 in the process is great.

Thanks for reading, see you next week!