Let's do some Pack 1 Pick 1 for Amonkhet, /tg/. First pack

Rare feels like the safest pick here. You get 6 power worth of guys for 5 mana and it's an awesome build-around. Plus because there's only one other black card in the back you probably wheel the horror. You may wheel the initiate, but probs not.

Sandworm is a reasonable card; but not great on the first pick. Wrapping is reasonable as well, but not on the same level as Lilana's Mastery.

Other cards aren't really worth writing home about

>>53051778
Liliana's Mastery, for my dreams of making a completely noncreature Zombie deck.

Only tokens, only now.

>>53051826
Is sandword really better than the croc?

>>53051879

maybe not. But I don't really like first picking big dumb dudes. I'd pick the Wurm because he cycles.

File: p1p1 2.png (1MB, 1052x828px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 1052x828px

Next pack.

>>53051879
Rare aside it's a tossup between the croc or the sandworm.

You're right, the croc is better, it's going to Abyss the opponent. But the thing is, the sandworm is going to go a long way for the consistency of your deck and by the time you cast it it's also going to Abyss the opponent and is much harder to chump.

I wouldn't fault someone for picking either the Croc or Sandworm. It's useful to remember if you pick a green card you're going to probably wheel another. I can't say the sandwurm would wheel, but the Cartouche might.

Blue Cartouche or the Illumination are fine too; probably a better pick than either the worm or croc in terms of "safety".

Those assessments are context free; I don't know how fast the format is or which colors are good.

>>53052050
Format is sort of slow. Definitely a lot slower than KLD or AER. As for colors, it's essentially a toss-up, I think. No one color is particularly dominant.

>>53052091
To be honest the whole Limited format looks like complete dogshit to me. It's just a pile of generic effects put together. It might as well be a Core Set with Egyptian art. While Limited usually saves a set from being useless
in Constructed (and this set certainly is useless for that) I really don't feel like it's the case here.

>>53052008
I would take the Blue Cartouche; I think a strong arguement can be made for the Wind Guide out of sheer power. I wouldn't fault anyone for taking the White Bolt or the split card or the Soulstinger.

Note that taking the Wind Guide you might wheel the Initiate although that's a pretty fucking loose "might" as the pick quality takes a dive 4-8 cards in.

Assuming a redraft or some other situation where you aren't guaranteed to walk away with it at the end, what Invocations are really first pick material?

>>53052594
Any of the gods.
Force of Will and drop with the pack, because you just won the lottery & also fuck your LGS for rare redrafitng.

>>53052594
For what it matters, you should not tolerate a redraft situation. I mean I don't care if you play at a busy or struggling store, it's a shit system that discourages new players from getting interested in draft when you take away their stupid gambling incentive.

I understand why redraft is good, it motivates players to excel but most importantly, it motivates people to fucking stay for the full draft. But that alone does not compensate for the issues it causes.

But ideally, players should be motivated to win on their own, no prize support, no redraft for the flat rate of $15. The store needs to take a cut doing all the organization so unless a draft costs $20+ there should be no prizes. People should be happy to pay their money and play with others. The number one reason why Magic has gone to shit so hard is that Wizards has made no effort to cull shit behavior in this community over issues of greed and such.

>>53051778
Scaled Behemoth, no contest here.

>>53052008
Either the rare or Aven Wind Guide. I don't like first picking a gold card but the power level of these two is far above everything else in the pack.

>>53053094
A store doesn't need to take a cut from doing drafts. It's a way for a store to sell packs.

>>53053094
technically Forcing the players to redraft is against wizard's rules, so if you snitch on them you can either get them to stop or more or less shut the store down since wizards will stop selling to them

>>53053854
Similarly, the instant you draft a card, you can walk away with it, as it is yours. So even if the store wants you to redraft, you can just take your cards and tell them to fuck off immediately after drafting.

>>53053854
>snitching
>shut the store down
Maybe fucking tell the store first to improve shit before snitching on them. Jesus Christ.

This is why the world fucking sucks. Because everyone cries to their boss's boss before sitting down and talking about it like rational human beings with the offending party.

>>53052008

Aven Wind Guide is easily the best choice, even if it would force you into WU.

>>53053906
Actually the way it works is:
>As soon as you pay for the draft you are guaranteed 3 full packs worth of cards
>as soon as those packs are handed to you, them and their contents are yours and you can leave with them
>Even if you open them the contents remain yours until you pass. The card you pick to keep is the one that remains yours
>As soon as another pack is passed to you the cards can remain yours, you can leave now if you wish but you're even more of a dick than normal if you do such
>Rinse and repeat for the rest of the drafting proccess
If a store asks you to put your rares back in so they can be redrafted tell them to fuck off since the cards are already yours. As per normal you can redraft them if you want (it'd be similar to trading them) but they can't force you to since you paid for them.
Also, if any store uses rare redrafting as prizes and charges you more than the exact cost of three packs then they're ripping you off and you should consider reporting them to the DCI since they're breaking the prize payout rules

>>53053927
Them getting shut down would be their own damn fault. It's not like you don't get a warning before they cut you off for breaking their rules.
And also in my experience the stores that try to trick people into redrafting don't like being called out on their scam

>>53051778
I usually take the rare first but that is one sexy croc.

>>53051778
>>53052008
ESPER TOKENS ARE GO

>>53054011
What if my FLGS is rare redrafting but also have really nice staff and is the only one that doesn't need an hour ride or more?

>>53051778
>>53052008
It's so sad when the rare is almost always the best choice. It really shows how balanced is 'limited' these days.
Rare>Uncommon>Common

>>53056959
It's rare for a reason, beside the hexproof croc is a better stand alone choice imo, since you can't be sure you'll get more useful zombies to make the enchant worth it.