First 8 Picks – Analyzing a Zendikar / Worldwake Draft (ZZW)

The first eight picks of a draft are often the most crucial, the chance to define the colors you’re in and the time when the signals you send to your neighbors are most important. Your skills of card evaluation and signal reading are really put to the test in these first eight packs, because only when the ninth pack comes around do you begin to see if the signals you’ve been sending and receiving were correct. Here we’re going to look at a recent draft by Jon A, looking at the first eight packs and sharing our thoughts on how to get this draft deck started on the right foot.

Pack 1

Jon A:
The cards worth looking at in this pack are: Trusty Machete, Umara Raptor, Bloodghast, Heartstabber Mosquito, and Nissa’s Chosen. While all the other cards listed are good, the best card to take in this first pack is the Trusty Machete. It is good in most decks, and doesn’t commit us to a color, allowing us to read the  incoming signals and decide what direction to move in. We are sending a blue signal with the Raptor, a decent black signal with the Bloodghast and Mosquito, and a minor green signal with the Nissa’s Chosen and Recluse. Unfortunately, none of these cards really stands out so we can’t know which direction the player to our left will move.

Chris G:
The obvious pick here is Trusty Machete. We pass a strong blue signal with the Raptor, and a black one with the Bloodghast and Mosquito, which leaves Green, White and Red as the colors to fight for.

Marlon:
Machete is clearly heads and shoulders above the other cards in the pack.  We’re not passing anything too strong either; the next best card is Umara Raptor.

Matt:
I agree completely that Machete is #1, followed by Raptor.  As a color, black seems to dominate the pack, major signals, etc.

Jeff G:
Machete, obv

Kevin H:
Well I guess I have to weigh in and be the weird one. I would most likely take the Bloodghast. Many of the decks I like to build benefit greatly from that card.

—

Pack 2

Jon A:
The cards of note in this pack are Kazandu Blademaster, Conquerer’s Pledge, Giant Scorpion, and Mind Sludge. If I had taken the Mosquito or the Bloodghast in pack 1, I would take the Scorpion here, as it’s much too early to decide if one would be heavy enough black to run Sludge. Had I taken the Raptor, the no-brainer pick would be the Blademaster to back it up. I’m not sure what I could have first picked to convince me to take Pledge here, as I don’t think it’s all that great in this format. Given that we took the Machete in pack 1, the Blademaster is still probably the best pick. At this point we’ve sent a pretty strong black signal, and we should try to avoid going into black if possible. We do send a bit of a white signal with the Pledge, but that seems unavoidable. If possible, we should try to cut white for the remainder of pack 1.

Chris G:
For me this pick comes down to either Blademaster or Pledge. With Join the Ranks in the last pack, forcing allies is kind of cool, and it’s possible the Pledge continues to another player further down, as we solidify the black of the player to our left with the Scorpion. Eh, I’m greedy and would take Blademaster. Pledge is maybe correct but allies are more fun.

Marlon:
Interesting pack, in that the two best cards are in the same color, and are both very good. However, given our first pick Machete, the Blademaster is the pick here. He’s excellent by himself, and is a monster with the equipment on. Keep in mind that the Ondu Cleric in pack 1 might table, so we should keep an eye out for possible ally interactions.

Matt:
Vines of Vastwood would be my pick, since no matter what I take I end up sending both Black and White signals, and it seems best to avoid that fight.  I can venture a guess that the receiver of our opening pack took the Raptor and will likely take one of the solid White cards from this pack, while also recognizing the heavy black signals.

Jeff G:
I windmill slam Pledge here. That card has won me every game that I’ve ever cast it in, even without ever having never kicked it. Six 1/1s let you play either offense or defense, and with a good piece of equipment like the Machete out, they easily turn into threats. Blademaster is good, but white is not my favorite ally color, and the base power level of Plege is a lot higher than the first striker.

Kevin H:
Here I take the gift of Pledge.

—

Pack 3

Jon A:
This is a really difficult pack. It is pretty clear that black is open, but we have already passed a minor black signal. We have three options as far as allies go, either Sell-sword, Raptor, or Survivalist. All in all, there are two good red cards, three good black cards, two good green cards, two good blue cards, and a steppe lynx. If you were already in black, congratulations, you get a gatekeeper. Lynx would allow us to stay on color, but is not as good as almost any of the other possible picks in this pack. In the end this pick came down to the allies. I didn’t want to take the Sell-sword and go into black (though WB allies is pretty good) as we would still be passing a strong black signal in the Gatekeeper. WG allies can be good, but I feel it’s very dependent on the third pack, as you need to have a good number of Graypelt Hunters or Join the Ranks’ to make it work. Otherwise, without a solid ally theme, WG is not a strong color combination. I took Umara Raptor.

Chris G: After Blademaster, the Raptor puts me chasing  Blue-White allies. This pack is fucking stacked btw.

Marlon:
Tough pick. Even though I actually like the black/white architype, the strenuous color commitments of the deck require passing on cards like the triple black Gatekeeper. So the pick here comes down to Steppe Lynx, and the three off-color allies.  The Lynx is very good, and goes well with our first pick. However, betting that we’ll  wheel the Ondu Cleric, I’m going to go with one of the allies here. Raptor is the strongest of the bunch, and W/U tends to be a stronger combination than either W/B or W/G. So we’ll snag the Raptor.

Matt:
I’m already in Green, so I’m pretty much focused on Gladeheart or Survivalist.  I don’t want to fight over solid allies with the player who took Raptor, but if I’ve taken Vines I think it’s unlikely that they’re in Green anyway.  Assuming the player to my left took the first Raptor, he’ll likely snatch the second one up from this pack as well, putting him firmly in blue. My pick then is the Survivalist.

Jeff G:
After the pledge pick, I have no idea what I would take. I looked at this pack for about 5 minutes and decided that it would change depending on my mood. Shatterskull Giant is great and I like think red is the best color to pair with Conqueror’s Pledge. In reality though, I would take the Raptor.

Kevin H:
Triple Black? Triple White? Who cares! Grab that Gatekeeper! If the white dries up, get rewarded in pack three every turn you get to cast Aether Tradewinds.

—

Pack 4

Jon A:
Seeing both Burst Lightning and Inferno Trap means red is probably open. Of the other cards in the pack, only Timbermaw Larva is any good, and that’s only in a heavy green build. Even if we were WG at this point, I’d be hard pressed to find reason not to take the Burst Lightning.

Chris G:
Burst Lightning with Inferno Trap backup  is an obvious signal, and I’m now between 3 colors.

Marlon:
This pack is filled with good red and not much else. Burst Lightning is clearly the pick here. Keep in mind that we’ll be passing a pack that says “red is open”, so we need to make sure to cut red if we can.

Matt:
Hooray Burst Lightning!

Jeff G:
Burst Lightning

Kevin H:
Kevin is sad about having to pass scope here, but clearly a group of people missed the memo about red’s viability upstream. Burst Lightning it is…

—

Pack 5

Jon A:
The cards we should consider here are Gomazoa, Torch Slinger, and Shatterskull Giant. Having seen from the last pack that red is open, continuing to solidify this color is a fine plan. Alternatively, the Gomazoa is a very good blue card to fit in with our Raptor. In the end, I decided to see how much red would come, and although Torch Slinger is quite good, I am a much bigger fan of Shatterskull Giant, as he can attack or block effectively, even in the late game.

Chris G:
I’m looking to solidify my blue here. I take Gomazoa (a criminally undervalued card).

Marlon:
Now we need to make a decision in this pack – what colors do we want to head into? I feel that we obviously want to maximize the potential of our first-pick; Trusty Machete being the pseudo-bomb that it is; and the best colors to help us do that are red and white. Seeing that there’s no white in this pack, I’m taking the best red card I can. I’m a big fan of the Giant, but he got a little worse with the addition of Worldwake, as there are more ways to deal with 3 toughness dudes. Additionally, the Slinger can come down on turn 3 and pick up the Big Knife if need be, and that’s what I want. We’re taking the Torch Slinger.

Matt:
For what I have so far, it is definitely between Torch Slinger and Giant.  I’ve always found Torch Slinger to be a bit on the slow side for the provided effect, so I would go with Giant here.  I want to be swinging for 4 on turn 5.

Jeff G:
I value removal over beats in general, and Torch Slinger gives more outs in case we run into either the Timbermaw Larva or the Flyers we’ve passed thus far. Torch Slinger is the pick.

Kevin H:
Torch Slinger. Two for ones are good.

—

Pack 6

Jon A:
Cards to consider: Whiplash Trap, Teetering Peeks, Molten Ravager. This pick depends on personal preference. Teetering Peaks fits well into an aggressive RU allies build, while the Ravager fits in a more defensive style deck, and the Whiplash Trap is all around good. I made a mistake here, I should have taken the trap, but I was still pushing red and not sure if my secondary color was going to be white or blue. In the end I went with the Ravager, but I regret it now.

Chris G:
Blue continues to come around, I take the Whiplash Trap. An early red game backed up by the bounce of Blue is a great archetype, one especially reinforced by things like Surrakar Banisher and Aether Tradewinds in the final pack.

Marlon:
Whiplash Trap doesn’t scream “move back into blue” to me, so it’s between the Ravager and the Peaks. Peaks is good, but Ravager is a guy, carries the Machete, etc. Plus, the other day my friend Dave told me that his mother’s uterus looks like the art for Teetering Peaks, so I’d just as soon not look at that card anymore than I absolutely need to. Ravager it is.

Chris G:
Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest argument against taking a card in the history of Magic. Thanks for the mental image Marlon, you jackass.

Matt:
I have the same dilemma with Ravager and Peaks (That one looks too much like a uterus? – Ed).  Peaks seems meh a lot of the time, whereas Ravager is usually average but can sometimes be great.  I would go with Ravager as well.

Jeff:
I see if I can still find a way to play my pick two Pledge, taking Ravager so as not to screw up my mana base too much.

Kevin:
I am made uncomfortable by the Whiplash Trap still being here is well. I think my strategy here has to be take the best card and re-focus colors in the next pack. Any black refuges I see I will be hard pressed to pass. I think I would most likely take the Whiplash Trap.

—

Pack 7

Jon A:
With us now solidly in red, the Tuktuk Grunts are clearly the pick, there is not much else in the pack.

Chris G:
Nothing I love, but after having already taken two potential ally playables, the Tuktuk Grunts is a fine pick to back up the singular Burst Lightning

Marlon:
It’s red, it’s an ally, and it has haste. We’re taking the Grunts

Matt:
Tuktuk Grunts joins the party

Jeff G:
Tuktuk. On color and playable.

Kevin:
Tuktuk, but not glad about it. There could have been much better cards here.

—

Pack 8

Jon A:
The Teetering Peaks or Summoner’s Bane are the best cards. I go with the counterspell

Chris G:
Summoner’s Bane is playable.

Marlon:
Ugh. Fine. I’ll take the uterus land. Teetering Peaks.

Matt:
I’m almost tempted to take the Gorger, but he just seems too slow when Peaks are available.  I would go with Peaks.

Jeff G:
Like everyone else, Peaks

Kevin: SCOPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! A present for me! Now, I know a lot of people aren’t on the “Scope Train”, but I am the Conductor! This card has done soooooo many great things for me. If it never ramps then most likely you got land screwed and would have lost anyway. With a normal distribution of land it prevents 3 or so land draws by turn 8. What it does is increase the number of action cards you get.

—

Pack 9

Jon A:
Here’s the pack we opened and there’s not much left. Spreading Seas is only okay, while hating the spider seems a more legitimate option. I take the Spider.

Chris G:
Seismic Shudder spins!

Marlon:
Cleric didn’t wheel, but I’m fine with that. It’s good in W/U, but much less so in R/W. We’ll take the Seismic Shudder as it’s a perfect solution to the Conqueror’s Pledge we passed.

Matt:
Recluse is a solid sideboard card, but I’ll probably actually play Shudder.  Seismic Shudder it is.

Jeff G:
I love me some Shudder.

Kevin H: Shudder :-/

—

Final Picks:

• Jon A: Trusty Machete, Kazandu Blademaster, Umara Raptor, Burst Lightning, Shatterskull Giant, Molten Ravager, Tuktuk Grunts, Summoner’s Bane, Oran-Rief Recluse
• Marlon: Trusty Machete, Kazandu Blademaster, Umara Raptor, Burst Lightning, Torch Slinger, Molten Ravager, Tuktuk Grunts, Teetering Peaks, Seismic Shudder
• Chris G: Trusty Machete, Kazandu Blademaster, Umara Raptor, Burst Lightning, Gomazoa, Whiplash Trap, Tuktuk Grunts, Summoner’s Bane, Seismic Shudder
• Jeff G: Trusty Machete, Conqueror’s Pledge, Umara Raptor, Burst Lightning, Torch Slinger, Molten Ravager, Tuktuk Grunts, Teetering Peaks, Seismic Shudder
• Matt: Trusty Machete, Vines of the Vastwood, Oran-Rief Survivalist, Burst Lightning, Shatterskull Giant, Molten Ravager, Tuktuk Grunts, Teetering Peaks, Seismic Shudder
• Kevin: Bloodghast, Conqueror’s Pledge, Malakir Gatekeeper, Burst Lightning, Torch Slinger, Whiplash Trap, Tuktuk Grunts, Explorer’s Scope, Seismic Shudder

—
Jon’s Notes:
In the end, I ended up with a reasonable RU deck, with lots of early defense in a Kraken Hatchling and 2 Halimar Excavators, which tried to win with flyers. I ended up playing only 5 allies (2 Excavator, 2 Raptor, Tuktuk) as I couldn’t get enough in packs 2 and 3. I lost in round 2 when I decided to wait to burst lighting my UW opponent’s Umara Raptor when he attacked instead of during my turn while he was tapped out, and got blown out by a Join the Ranks in response.