Who doesn’t love p1p1s? Tons of people, sure, but they can go somewhere else, because now it’s time to pick!

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

This is a pretty solid pack; not outstanding, but there are a lot of good cards. Fyndhorn Elves, Woodfall Primus, Restoration Angel, Entomb, Dance of the Dead, and Lingering Souls are all in contention for me. Plateau is fine but if I’m going to take a dual first it needs to be blue.

Fyndhorn Elf is the only 100% green card while Woodfall Primus can be placed in any deck that tries to cheat things like Woodfall Primus in. Fyndhorn is not exciting but what your green decks want. Like with Llanowar Elves in the last pack, Fyndhorn Elves is kind of a lame duck first pick here and an effect that, while we do want multiples of, can also be found in multiples later. Woodfall Primus is something I’m eying up and down much closer. Primus is awesome in any deck that can land him on the board because he is one of the few creatures that size that reliably leaves another body lying around after you deal with him the first time. Other than white removal–the bane of almost all creatures that come back for another of those rock-jocking beats–you return a 5/5 which can be reset AND kills a second non-creature permanent. Even though Woodfall Primus is the best, there are a ton of fatties in the cube and taking one first that isn’t Griselbrand might be greedy, since most of the time just putting the creature onto the board the is enough because you’re doing it at a point where your opponent is ill-equipped to deal with the creature. Woodfall Primus is one of the best, though, and is therefore under serious consideration.

Restoration Angel and Lingering Souls are solid and if I was going for a safer pick I think either of these are fine. Restoration Angel isn’t always going to have a blink target but as a 3/4 flier with flash for 3W, she is still a pretty amazing creature who can fight through control on the end of their turn, acting as a solid threat on her own, or using that fat ass to block a lot of stuff. When you do start hitting other creatures, she turns good plays into blow outs. Removing a creature from combat or underneath a kill spell is a free 1-for-0, and then the ETB creatures you bounce get insane value. I don’t think there’s a white deck I’d run that wouldn’t play Restoration Angel, unless I was solely splashing for the Angel or just one other card like Balance. Lingering Souls is safe, but for the reason that it’s good in an black or white deck that is either both colors or can splash one or the other. Lingering Souls is less of a must-pick card than it was in DKA ISD ISD where you took it over anything if you’re doing a back draft or you don’t care about the cards you keep and you just want to win, but it’s still great in any deck that can at least cast one side consistently and the other frequently enough. Four 1/1s from a card that only costs 5 if you need it to and can be put into the air with only 3 mana on your table across 2 turns is insane value for just about any format, cube not excluded. I’m less likely to take Lingering Souls over Restoration because I really hate picking two color cards early on, but I understand why many other people would.

Entomb and Dance of the Dead are both considerable if you think you want to draft reanimator, but I’m pretty uncomfortable picking either. Dance of the Dead is good and something I want if I’m already in reanimator, but it’s definitely the worst of the reanimation spells and one I’m less likely to stay committed to black for. Entomb is much better and can lead to some broken plays, but I’m willing to let it slide by. If I take the Woodfall Primus, there’s a good chance I get one or the other back if there’s only one other player in the draft going reanimator. If they take Entomb, there’s a chance that Dance will still to me past other black players for the reasons I said above. If they take Dance, it’s way less likely that another player will take it unless there are multiple dedicated reanimator players this early, at which point it’s a pretty clear signal that Woodfall Primus will not be snuck onto the battlefield from my graveyard. I think that means Woodfall is my pick here. Even though I can get other fatties, it’s worth taking and maybe think about jumping on the first chance of reanimator that gets passed to me; if not, I enjoy drafting green a lot as is and it’s not like Fyndhorn Elves this early is some massive signal.

What would you choose? Am I the biggest moron in the entire world? Leave a comment and let us know why, and thanks for reading!

http://tappedout.net/mtg-cube-drafts/skylers-powered-cube/

Welcome to another Pack 1 Pick 1! Today’s is a nice one! (I also kinda wanted to play with the poll maker a bit, and this seems like a good excuse to do that.)

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

There are a few blue cards that catch my eye: Flooded Strand, Jace Beleren, Mulldrifter, Phyrexian Metamorph, and Control Magic. Other than Channel–which for me is definitely not the pick, as it’s a little too all-in for my tastes compared to amazing blue cards–these are the only cards Im seriously considering. This is a deep pack, and it could send bad signals if 3-4 players see one of these first pickable blue cards that will inevitably make their way down the line and see it as a sign, but I tend to find my way in blue a lot of the time as is. Also, these cards are all ones I’d seriously consider first picking against many different non-power cards, so they’re worth the considering.

Jace Beleren, Control Magic, and Flooded Strands are probably my last choices. Jace has the highest chance to wheel out of the bunch since he is undervalued (for that matter, Phyrexian Arena is underrated too) so I’m happy letting him go. I don’t expect to see Control Magic return, but it commits me the heaviest to blue out of the remaining choices and it doesn’t matter how stacked these cards are, if there is no blue being passed then I must either jump ship or look to find ways to splash it. Both Mulldrifter and Metamorph are super splashable, much more so than the UU in control magic. Flooded Strand technically keeps me the most open, something which I am a fan of, but when a card that I seriously rate high ends up in a first pack then staying open becomes a back seat priority. There are certain cards which are both stellar AND colorless, which I almost always choose over the colored options, but I value both Mulldrifter and Metamorph extremely high, way more so than Flooded Strand. Basically this: 99% of the decks that want Flooded Strand want Mulldrifter and Metamorph more.

Mulldrifter is an insane card that was certainly a mistake at common. 2/2 fliers for 5 are at the absolute outskirts of playability, but adding “ETB: Draw 2 Cards” to that creature is insane. Giving him an evoke cost of Divination makes Mulldrifter one of the best limited cards ever printed, and certainly one of the best blue cube creatures printed. Mulldrifter has an easy color commitment, and there are neat tricks you can do with Crystal Shard or other blink/recursion effects that want you to evoke him way more than cast. Like an active Skullclamp, once you draw 4-6 cards off the ‘Drifter you should be back on top of your games.

Phyrexian Metamorph is quite a bit different than Mulldrifter, but one of the most underrated cards in cube, which is saying something for a card people rate highly. Clones are great in cube; there are so many creatures whose ETB you want to replicate or general girth and size you’d like to pair with a buddy. Metamorph is the best clone because 1) he’s essentially 3 colorless mana and 2 life, fitting him in any deck that can cast 3 drops, and 2) he copies artifacts. For the small-sometimes-not-even-a-cost of being an artifact, Metamorph gives you a copy of so many high-powered spells that you will have a target in just about every match up you can conceive. Metamorph copies weapons, utility cards like Icy Manipulator or Crystal Ball, he can even ramp up your mana–it’s an awesome card.

Because of the insane versatility, I would take Metamorph over Mulldrifter. There are certainly times where I’d rather have a Mulldrifter, but Metamorph keeps me open and can be so much in so many different decks that I think it’s the ideal pick for me. I wouldn’t fault for anyone taking Mulldrifter here, or some of the other cards either.

That being said, what would you pick? Make a vote in the poll and if you have more to say, leave a comment!