POP QUIZ: Zendikar draft

[Travis Lannoye]

Imagine, if you will, that you are starting a Zendikar draft. You open a pack which contains the following cards (among others):

Scalding Tarn
Vampire Nighthawk
Burst Lightning
Umara Raptor
Oran-Rief Survivalist
Harrow

I could not remember the rest of this pack, but I'm fairly certain that those were the memorable cards.

What do you take, and why do you take it?

EDIT: This is pack 1, pick 1.

[Zach]

Vampire Nighthawk (if my colors are black) because it is probably THE best card in a limited environment right now, hands down. Additionally, it's the only 2 for 1 in the whole pack... Sure, Burst Lightning does that sometimes bot not really. It's also an uncommon, compared to every other card in that pack besides the scalding tarn, so you aren't likely to see it again, whereas you have every possibility to see the rest of the stuff again if need be.

[Travis Lannoye]

I should probably have been more clear: this is PACK 1, PICK 1.

[JediCheese]

My choice of picks pack 1 pick 1:
Nighthawk ***windmill slam this!!! Don't bother looking at the rest of the pack for your pick because unless we are talking about 2-3 rare bombs, they don't compare***
Burst Lightning
Raptor

The Survivalist, Harrow, and Land are all mediocre to bad.

Expanded thoughts:

Vampire Nighthawk wins games. The only removal it gets destroyed by is Journey to Nowhere and a Burst Lightning Kicked. With it's deathtouch it destroys almost all creatures. Since the format is all about crashing into each other and a minimum of blocking, this creature will out race any small drop in the format (the only thing that comes close to racing is a 4/x creature and you don't see these until turn 4-5 and they are VERY rare).

Add in the backup removal that black gets (Disfigure, Hideous End, and Marsh Casualties) and it's effective creature type (Vampire) that opens up other mediocre cards that have serious limitations (Mindless Null and Feast of Blood) and we have a powerhouse. Not to mention that if you are heavy black, you are going to race opponents and Nighthawk is nigh unkillable in the sky for the final points of damage (not to mention shoring up the ground game due to the lifelink).

There are three cards I fear when playing this card: Journey to Nowhere, Burst Lightning and Shepherd of the Lost. All three of these take care of Nighthawk without a serious disadvantage and notice that two of them cost 5 mana. Free beats anyone?

Burst Lightning is a really solid pick. It kills nearly everything in the format and can be thrown to the dome to finish someone off from nowhere. But it's no Vampire Nighthawk.

White is an excellent ally color. You can go U/W or G/W easily with allies and have a good deck. With two quality allies in the pack (I would say these are allies #2 and #3 after Kazandu Blademaster), there is going to be war downstream for allies.

Harrow makes the mana better for alot of decks and allows landfall but you have to be in strong green. With the survivalist in this pack, it will draw two people into green. Green is really good if there is only one player drafting it but if there are two it's the kiss of death to both green players.

The land doesn't even rate. I would estimate it's a 3rd-6th pick that someone takes if they are in the colors. With Scalding Tarn it's a 5/5 geopede once (or maybe twice) during the course of 3 matches.

PS: where did this question come from? Are you MTGO'ing now or was there a draft somewhere that I didn't hear about?

[Travis Lannoye]

I got the example from an online draft generator that I mess around with every once in awhile. It's just a website that allows you to generate draft queues and go through the picking process with bots (or other people, if you can get enough of them together). You can't actually play any games with the deck you draft, but it's a good way to get a little experience making picks and building decks.

[Zach]

yes, if it's pack one, you always pick the Nighthawk... ALWAYS... It doesn't even matter if you don't end up playing black; it's one less nighthawk you have to deal w/.

[Travis Lannoye]

Another online queue, with a more difficult choice. The pack is as follows:
- Mountain
- Nimana Sell-Sword
- Nimbus Wings
- Torch Slinger
- Timbermaw Larva
- Spidersilk Net
- Goblin Bushwhacker
- Into the Roil
- Kor Cartographer
- Relic Crush
- Goblin Shortcutter
- Greenweaver Druid
- Ravenous Trap
- Windborn Charge
- Grappling Hook

[Zach]

I'd grab the Windborn Charge on this one. It's another one of those cards that can just win games.

[JediCheese]

Nimbus Wings wins matches.

I would think about all the goblins but they are not first pickable. Into the Roil is also an interesting pick. The last card I would consider is the cartographer.

[Travis Lannoye]

I ended up taking Into the Roil for a couple reasons:
- It's removal in a format that doesn't have much
- It doesn't have a huge commitment, like Timbermaw Larva or Windborn Charge or Torch Slinger

There are very few auras that are good enough to be pack 1 pick 1. Nimbus Wings just isn't one of them. In fact, Nimbus Wings will probably wheel.

[matth]

A lot of mid-pick cards for a first pick, so the question is, what deck to you want to draft?
Greenweaver Druid is nice in a big green deck, the Sell-Sword shuts off black, Into the Roil is one of blue's best commons and the Torch Slinger is also a solid pick.
Personally, I would have taken the Windborn Charge, because forcing mono-white has been doing good things to me lately. Otherwise, Into the Roil is probably the pick.

[Travis Lannoye]

Here's another good one (again, P1p1):
Misty Rainforest
Geyser Glider
Inferno Trap
Punishing Fire
Plated Geopede
Guul Draz Vampire
Oran-Rief Survivalist
Slaughter Cry
Kabira Crossroads
Bold Defense
Kor Sanctifiers
Teetering Peeks
Ruinous Minotaur
Paralyzing Grasp
Land

[Zach]

Eh, I'd probably take Geyser Glider. It's a bamf. Inferno Trap and Punishing Fire don't excite me that much, and the rest are all commons in the first pack, first pick. But then again, there is a lot of good red in that pack, and people are going to end up fighting over that color. I'd probably take the Oran-Rief Survivalist instead.

[matth]

I'd like to be sitting to your left, Zach.

Inferno Trap is the best card in the pack by quite a margin. Despite shipping quality red, removal like that is always worth splashing for. If there were a solid off-color creature (Umara Raptor, Surrakar Marauder, etc) I might consider taking that, but Kor Sanctifiers isn't worth passing Inferno Trap.

[Travis Lannoye]

My choice was narrowed down to three possibles: Oran-Rief Survivalist, Misty Rainforest, and Kor Sanctifiers. The reason for that is simple: there are three quality red uncommons and the best red common all in that pack, which means that even if I can bring myself to justify picking one awesome red card over another (which is already difficult), I'm sending a horrible signal to the next three people on my left.

On the other hand, if I avoid red like the plague in this draft, I can effectively cut out whatever other color I need and ensure that I will be getting plenty of quality stuff down the road.