Today, we will draft with the new set: Dominaria!
I simulated the first 8 pick of a draft, and asked to 4 Hareruya Pros what they would pick in each situation.
Here are the 4 gentlemen who kindly accepted to participate in this experience:
For more details, please visit here: Hareruya Pros
It will definitely be interesting to see if they choose the same cards or not.
PICK 1
Javier Dominguez
Pick
Unconditional removal is a very desirable way to start a draft and I think it’s just the best card in the pack.
Yoshihiko Ikawa
Pick
We will have to chose from these four: , a 4 mana creature that shows its strength in mono red aggro, a card that can be an advantage generator, or an efficient flyer, . It is very hard to choose one of them.
In this pack, not many cards are here for black, we can send a signal that someone is on black and decrease the number of players who would go for black, and its’s also a great removal, so we should pick .
Thiago Saporito
Pick
A solid removal spell, I don’t like that much.
Petr Sochurek
Pick
I don’t really think this pick is very close, the giant is a very powerful creature which is great in any red deck and all the other cards in the pack are just mediocre. (I don’t even like that much.)
Players’ choice:
PICK 2
Javier Dominguez
Pick
is very solid, and here I think I like it more than the 2nd copy of . Expensive spells don’t really get better in multiples and is a great card on its own, even though it’s very unlikely to be played with kicker.
Yoshihiko Ikawa
Pick
A great rare we have here to pick. Playing this with 4 mana is good, using its kicker is also great. Picking this on our 2nd pick is awesome .
We can see that our right-hand side player has picked an uncommon which I assume an .
Thiago Saporito
Pick
Good body, and also if the game goes really late you just win the game kicking it. It’s close to the second but
I do like here.
Petr Sochurek
Pick
Once again, not really a very close pick to me – the rare is just a busted card with no comparison in the booster – I would take a mental note after this pick, that I have passed a lot of black cards while also taking a black card. It might be helpful to prioritize black cards in close picks in future packs to try get the person we are passing to out of black.
Players’ choice:
PICK 3
Javier Dominguez
Pick
I like a lot and since we already have 2 black cards I like it over .
Yoshihiko Ikawa
Pick
A great spot removal so we should pick. I like the way this draft is going.
Thiago Saporito
Pick
I think this card is not a super bomb but just fine, but I do think it’s the best card in the pack.
Petr Sochurek
Pick
This pick will probably surprise a lot of people, but I actually think that is great – in a historic deck all you need is to play historic spells every turn and triggered abilities of your cheap payoff cards. This Golem is also a cheap historic card that, and allow you to draw more – the effect usually benefits you more than your opponent. Even in a slower deck, you still get to choose if you want to let both players draw a card, and you play the drawn card first anyway.
I would not take here, because I don’t think it’s that great – it’s basically just over glorified 6 mana 4/4 (yeah, I know it’s actually way better, so I would take it if the 2/3 isn’t in the booster, but you get the point), but I assume it’s a signal that white is open, because other people should still think that it’s a great card, so I would consider switching to white in the future boosters.
Players’ choice:
PICK 4
Javier Dominguez
Pick
isn’t the perfect card to go with the cards we already drafted, but I think the power level gap between it and is just too wide.
Yoshihiko Ikawa
Pick
Hard choice with and , but we should pick. Picking this will givu us to a lot more possibilities .
Thiago Saporito
Pick
Again, I think this is the best card in the pack, so I just take it.
Petr Sochurek
Pick
There is a little consideration of , but not to mention, we don’t even know if we go for red. The card is probably worse than anyway.
Players’ choice:
PICK 5
Javier Dominguez
Pick
Picking puts us into a corner where the manacurve is at high as our early picks have a high mana cost, but I think it is still the best card to grab here.
Yoshihiko Ikawa
Pick
Nothing interesting here so we just pick the card that has the highest card power, so .
Thiago Saporito
Pick
4 mana “4 power” creature with a bonus, I think this card is ok, also nothing special in the pack.
Petr Sochurek
Pick
Our curve is starting to be a little high, but Kwende is by far the best card in the booster, so an easy pick for me.
Players’ choice:
PICK 6
Javier Dominguez
Pick
Our power level at this point of the draft is quite hight but our mana curve is not that good, so here I like to take the 2-drop.
Yoshihiko Ikawa
Pick
We are sure to play black, and is a very good 4 drop which can make lots of synergies . We can also prevent others from making BG fungus decks.
Thiago Saporito
Pick
I don’t like this guy very much, but in a “historic” deck I can see him being okay, and BW has a lot of legends, so I wouldn’t mind giving it a try, and it will goes well with .
Petr Sochurek
Pick
We already have to go with , and it is the best white 2 drop for any historic deck, so an easy pick for me.
Players’ choice:
PICK 7
Javier Dominguez
Pick
I’ve liked flying a lot so far and that’s why I like as the pick, even though the mana cost is not very convenient for us so far.
Yoshihiko Ikawa
Pick
In order to secure the white relevant in our build, picking or is not a bad idea, but still we should wait for these and decide to pick since it is a removal.
Thiago Saporito
Pick
A good flying creature, possibly the best card in the pack.
Petr Sochurek
Pick
Sergeant a.k.a , is not that great in a historic aggro deck, but first of all we might easily end up in a more midrange like BW, plus we already have two 4 drops and there are a lot of them in the set, so I feel like we should just waste a pick by taking the . There is also a in the booster, but I think that you will easily get it later if you want it.
Players’ choice:
PICK 8
Javier Dominguez
Pick
Big guys play well unconditional removal , and I like having assure us that we can end playing with a controlling deck where a big body is useful .
Yoshihiko Ikawa
Pick
In Dominaria, lots of powerful enchantments and artifacts are listed, so having this makes us feel safe. The others are not appealing to us so let’s grab of this now.
Thiago Saporito
Pick
Well, the same card as the last one, but I will try to focus more on historic cards in the rest picks!
Petr Sochurek
Players’ choice:
The 8 Picks Together
Javier Dominguez
Yoshihiko Ikawa
Thiago Saporito
Petr Sochurek
Conclusion
Even though all of them almost agreed that white black is the way to go in this draft, they didn’t pick the same cards each time. The main reason is that they had the choices to go for a midrange version with good stuff or to pick historic cards to make efficient. There are also some interesting evaluations of rares in this draft!
Thank you for reading,
Jeremy Dezani
Jeremy Dezani
He was the 2013-14 Player of the Year with his crowning achievement taking place at Pro Tour Theros where he won in spectacular fashion with Blue Devotion back in 2013.
He has a stunning 10 Grand Prix Top 8s to his name including 2 wins and Runner-up twice.
He will also be the first Non-Japanese player to join the ranks of the Hareruya Pros.
Articles by Jeremy