Back for another p1p1!

This pack generated from TappedOut.net, the MTG Deck Builder

This, in my opinion, is the epitome of an unexciting p1p1. No cards that scream out “pick me!”, a bunch of good cards but nothing that’s insane. Overall: average. But average in cube is incredible in other formats, so there are definitely strong cards.

Without any red worth writing home about, and a black card that you should never-ever-ever take p1p1, we’re looking at the green, blue and white cards. Each color has 1 or two options which I’m seriously considering.

In green I like both the Plow Under and Fauna Shaman. I’m less excited to take the Fauna Shaman first; the ability is good, but it’s not fast enough to take right off the bat and is quite fragile, dying to just about everything. Plow Under is a sweet one, but I’m never really excited to take is p1p1. It’s a super strong effect, but…I don’t know. A mental block, I suppose.

In white, there is really only Baneslayer Angel. Baneslayer is a great card, but it suffers from being a bomb in a sea of bombs that unfortunately doesn’t do anything when it effects the board. Again, not saying it is a bad card–I am considering it for the first overall pick–but I’d rather something that has more of a shut-down effect, not a creature that dies to just about everything.

In blue I would only consider Frost Titan, which is a bit underrated in the cube world. Sure, it doesn’t actually leave much of an effect if they can deal with it other than a permanent tapped for a turn, but all your spells must cost 2 more to actually kill him, so you need the mana to actually do it. I’m a bit higher on Frost Titan than others, but I’ve seen it in action a bunch and he’s always been pretty damn strong.

When it comes down to it, I’d probably take the Godless Shrine. It’s a boring pick, but I have my reasons. For one, I like playing a billion colors, so picking up fixing early will make my picks in later packs easier. I’m also not really passing a lot of black either, and there’s only one early-pick white card, so if I start getting shipped great white cards, I can take them and be ready. Finally, my general rule of thumb is if there isn’t a card that sticks out in an early pack as a must-have or a key card in your deck, taking the land and leaving your options open is always a safe bet.

So, what would you take? Leave a note in the comments letting us know!