Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it is that time again – time to crack open a pack and make some first picks.

For reference, the cube we are using for this “draft” can be found here on cube tutor.

This pack is fairly powerful. It’s one of those openers that everyone seems to love. The top options in my book are the colorless ones. Of the colorless cards, I consider [mtg_card]Umezawa’s Jitte[/mtg_card] and [mtg_card]Mana Crypt[/mtg_card] to be the most powerful. The other colorless cards in the pack are also very good, though. I consider [mtg_card]dismember[/mtg_card] colorless in my cube and for that reason, I’m comfortable saying that it is the third most powerful colorless card in the pack. [mtg_card]Precursor Golem[/mtg_card] is a card that I used to value much lower than I do now. Before, I thought of it as a blowout when my Precursor Golem got [mtg_card]doom blade[/mtg_card]d. Now, I just see it for what it is – 9 power accross three creatures for five colorless mana. If it eats a [mtg_card]lightning bolt[/mtg_card], so be it, its just a 1 for 1. Although, there are opportunities for getting blown out because of it – like, say, if your opponent casts [mtg_card]Recoil[/mtg_card] targeting your [mtg_card]Precursor Golem[/mtg_card]. [mtg_card]Ankh of Mishra[/mtg_card] is sick in any aggro list, and highly under rated, but I tend to find that committing to aggro on your first pick is a mistake. The lands in the pack are fine, colorless, options, though there are at least three other colorless options that should be taken over lands P1P1.

The colored cards in this pack, unfortunately, just don’t stack up to the power of cards like Jitte and Mana Crypt. [mtg_card]Domri Rade[/mtg_card] is pretty ill, but committing to gruul on your first pick is gahr-bajje. [mtg_card]Searing Blaze[/mtg_card] is a great card, but come on now…

The picks I find most defensible in this pack are Jitte and Crypt. Of the two, today, I am going with Jitte. The only thing you have to do to make this card good is to play creatures. Crypt is nuts, but plays a riskier game than Jitte.

What would you take?