turn to frog, unholy hunger, and ringwarden owl are all strong but not exciting enough to keep me from staying open with a safe first pick i can slip into any deck.
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Yeah, Unholy Hunger seems like the pick. Just the best overall card in the pack.
Turn to Frog, Chief of the Foundry, and Timberpack Wolf are the other cards I'd consider here. But Frog/Wolf just aren't as good as the Hunger at this point. And while the Chief has nice upside it also could be subpar if we don't pick up some of the Thopter makers, which is far from a sure thing given that almost all of those are high picks.
P1 - Invocation vs Freeblade for me, and a tough pick. Invocation is a great finisher, but Freeblade is an oh-so-valuable premium 2-drop and is white, the best color. Ultimately I think I'd go with the Invocation, as it is just SO easy to win with any curve of random dudes topped by that. Either it finishes them outright with damage or acts like a one-sided wrath.
P2 - Wardens vs Naturalists for me. I think they are just the two best cards in the pack, tough pick between them though. I think I'm going with the Wardens, as I just love the upside here and how they can snowball if they get going. Starting with them makes every combat trick and other renown creature you get look a little better.
P3 - Jhessian Thief by a mile. This is a much easier pick than the other two. Next best cards would be the Maulers and the Cleric, but both are a clear step below this, which like the Wardens can basically win games if it starts snowballing (play it, next turn bounce a blocker and hit which draws you into more bounce/removal that makes it easier to get through again and again).
P0 - I like chief over hunger just barely. Don't like the double black.
P1 - Topan Freeblade (Invocation is powerful but very green)
P2 - Wardens just barely over naturalists. Dat curve.
P3 - Thief over Maulers.
P0: Unholy Hunger Chief is technically playable in any deck sure, but unless you have a good number of artifact creatures or just trainwreck, a vanilla 2/3 for 3 shouldn't make the deck.
P1: Topan Freeblade. Green has a lot of other big things to do with 5+ mana, and Joraga Invocation suffers from not doing anything when behind. On the other hand, I would be happy drafting ten Freeblades.
P2: Conclave Naturalists. Both parts of the card are fantastic in the format. 4/4's are big, outclassing most creatures and dodging a lot of removal. There are also many enchantments and artifacts that are worth removing (including two of the best common removal spells). Wardens is great when it hits, but not very reliable in doing that.
P3: Jhessian Thief
i appreciate your invocation over freeblade choice, but i am going to have to disagree with you. I don't like getting stuck playing green, so i'm a little biased. but i would rather have the 2 mana white 2/2 than a 6 mana card in my hand waiting to get played. If i was behind in a draft, what would be a better top deck.
for me that usually pushes creatures over spells, removal over creatures.
i appreciate your invocation over freeblade choice, but i am going to have to disagree with you. I don't like getting stuck playing green, so i'm a little biased. but i would rather have the 2 mana white 2/2 than a 6 mana card in my hand waiting to get played. If i was behind in a draft, what would be a better top deck.
for me that usually pushes creatures over spells, removal over creatures.
Sure. I don't blame anyone for going the other way on that one, very tough choice.
Freeblade is certainly the safer pick, in the sense that it will never be bad, whereas the Invocation is expensive and somewhat situational, although less so than your typical overrun effect due to the fact you can use it as pseudo-removal. Going white could also be viewed in the same light, as the safer pick. Of course the flip side is that Invocation is one of the most powerful cards in the set when it does work, and it isn't particular difficult to make it work, whereas the Freeblade is a Grizzly Bears as often as not. While it is bad when you are behind, it just blows a close game wide open or wins one that you were ahead in.
lol, yes...it is hard to make "have creatures in play and 6-mana" work. Given your dismissive attitude I'm gonna go ahead and assume you've never played with this or any of the other good Overrun variants. Give it a shot, you'll be impressed.
Or we can do the flip thing and make silly comments about Topan Freeblade. I mean would you 1st pick a Grizzly Bears? Because that is what the Freeblade is going to frequently be, especially in the 50% of your games when you are on the draw.
Invocation also requires you to have stabilized the board at least somewhat. The card only acts as removal if your opponent isn't turning their creatures sideways. The card is powerful, to be sure, but I've also lost a number of games with this card dead in my hands, never quite getting stable enough to attack back with Invocation without dying.
Freeblade is one of the top 2-3 commons in the set. It's a fast format: you pretty much can't have too many 2 drops in Origins, whereas even 2 6-drops is often pushing it. That alone pushes me towards picking the freeblade over invocation given the similar power level above replacement. Throw in that white is a much better color than green in the format, and I'm definitely taking the freeblade here, though I think Invocation is certainly defensible.
I've given Invocation a shot...and it is quite impressive when you get to a point where you can cast it. The problem is that there are quite a few games in this format where you'll never get to that point.
As for the other two packs, pack 2 I take the Wardens. Not my favorite card ever, but it can warp combat if you pick up tricks to go with it.
Pack 3, Jessian Thief is does what Wardens does, but better. After that are the Firefiend Elemental and Rhox Maulers, but I'm not very excited to pick either of those.
Kytheon's Irregulars are just too strong ... and the rest of the pack is kinda horrible.
If the rare was another card, let's say, a complete garbage card, i'd take Totem-Guide Hartebeest or Rhox Maulers
Agreed 100% with this.
Irregulars is in the running for best limited card in the set, absurdly good. And then there is nothing else in the pack I'd be happy to be 1st picking, although the Hartebeast and the Maulers are fine cards that I'm happy to have.
again, 100% agree will all. obviously kytheons. but if it was an infinite oblivion, i'd definitely go for the hartebeest. i like the double effect. while the maulers, or any renown 2 green from this set, is pretty fun when playing green white beaters.
Joraga Invocation is a card you need to learn how to play with, like when to trade and when not to trade, etc., but it is a high quality card. If you have 3 random creatures on the board when you cast Overrun but you're behind, there's a good possibility it makes no difference, but that situation is far less likely to come up with Invocation because of the forced blocking. It's a decent catch up card if you plan around it.
That said, it's still a 6-drop and this format does punish you for playing a lot of those. That's not a reason not to play Invocation, nor to avoid picking it early, but it does mean you actually have to build your deck and play with it in mind.
The Invocation is great when you are ahead or the game is close. One of the best cards in the format in those situations. Weak when you are behind, unplayable when you are way behind. So it is high variance, but the majority of the time it will be good assuming you manage to draft a decent curve of creatures (i.e. not a creature light deck that tends to be behind).
The Freeblade is ridiculous in the ~10% of games where you have it turn 2 on the play. Its still good turn 2 on the draw, and ok turn 3. After that it is basically a Grizzly Bear. So the majority of the times you see it...it will be a Bear with minor upside. Never dead like the Invocation can be, but it is also going to be great far less often.
... Then the pack is really very, very bad. I'd probably pick the Hartebeest and see what sort of Suppression Bonds I could pick up.
Agreed. Not sure the Hartebeest is actually better than the Maulers, but getting one this early should allow us to pick up a couple of good targets for it most of the time (assuming we actually end up in white).
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hallowed moonlight
chief of the foundry
Made-ring network
Turn to fog
unholy hunger
dragon fodder
volcanic rambler
nissa's pilgrimage
timberpack wolf
guardians of meletis
calculated dismissal
ringwarden owl
screeching skaab
catacomb slug
lets start.
turn to frog, unholy hunger, and ringwarden owl are all strong but not exciting enough to keep me from staying open with a safe first pick i can slip into any deck.
Turn to Frog, Chief of the Foundry, and Timberpack Wolf are the other cards I'd consider here. But Frog/Wolf just aren't as good as the Hunger at this point. And while the Chief has nice upside it also could be subpar if we don't pick up some of the Thopter makers, which is far from a sure thing given that almost all of those are high picks.
I agree with everyone. Unholy Hunger is the main pick, with Chief of the Foundry as a close second.
p1
shivan reef
gnarlroot trapper
gather the pack
joraga invocation
rabid bloodsucker
shambling ghoul
act of treason
volcanic rambler
mantle webs
guardian automaton
veteran's sidearm
topan freeblade
artificer's epiphany
screeching skaab
p2
Infinite obliteration
conclave naturalists
valeron wardens
turn to frog
cleric of forward order
weight of the underworld
titan's strength
hitchclaw recluse
guardians of meletis
auramancer
disperse
fairie miscreant
screeching skaab
deadbridge shaman
p3
helm of the gods
goblin glory chaser
meteorite
jhessian thief
cleric of forward order
enshrouding mist
cobblebrute
dragon fodder
firefiend elemental
rhox maulers
guardians of meletis foil
auramancer
dreadwaters
send to sleep
P2 - Wardens vs Naturalists for me. I think they are just the two best cards in the pack, tough pick between them though. I think I'm going with the Wardens, as I just love the upside here and how they can snowball if they get going. Starting with them makes every combat trick and other renown creature you get look a little better.
P3 - Jhessian Thief by a mile. This is a much easier pick than the other two. Next best cards would be the Maulers and the Cleric, but both are a clear step below this, which like the Wardens can basically win games if it starts snowballing (play it, next turn bounce a blocker and hit which draws you into more bounce/removal that makes it easier to get through again and again).
P1 - Topan Freeblade (Invocation is powerful but very green)
P2 - Wardens just barely over naturalists. Dat curve.
P3 - Thief over Maulers.
P1: Topan Freeblade. Green has a lot of other big things to do with 5+ mana, and Joraga Invocation suffers from not doing anything when behind. On the other hand, I would be happy drafting ten Freeblades.
P2: Conclave Naturalists. Both parts of the card are fantastic in the format. 4/4's are big, outclassing most creatures and dodging a lot of removal. There are also many enchantments and artifacts that are worth removing (including two of the best common removal spells). Wardens is great when it hits, but not very reliable in doing that.
P3: Jhessian Thief
for me that usually pushes creatures over spells, removal over creatures.
Joraga Invocation, Valeron Wardens, Jhessian Thief.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
Sure. I don't blame anyone for going the other way on that one, very tough choice.
Freeblade is certainly the safer pick, in the sense that it will never be bad, whereas the Invocation is expensive and somewhat situational, although less so than your typical overrun effect due to the fact you can use it as pseudo-removal. Going white could also be viewed in the same light, as the safer pick. Of course the flip side is that Invocation is one of the most powerful cards in the set when it does work, and it isn't particular difficult to make it work, whereas the Freeblade is a Grizzly Bears as often as not. While it is bad when you are behind, it just blows a close game wide open or wins one that you were ahead in.
Or we can do the flip thing and make silly comments about Topan Freeblade. I mean would you 1st pick a Grizzly Bears? Because that is what the Freeblade is going to frequently be, especially in the 50% of your games when you are on the draw.
Freeblade is one of the top 2-3 commons in the set. It's a fast format: you pretty much can't have too many 2 drops in Origins, whereas even 2 6-drops is often pushing it. That alone pushes me towards picking the freeblade over invocation given the similar power level above replacement. Throw in that white is a much better color than green in the format, and I'm definitely taking the freeblade here, though I think Invocation is certainly defensible.
I've given Invocation a shot...and it is quite impressive when you get to a point where you can cast it. The problem is that there are quite a few games in this format where you'll never get to that point.
As for the other two packs, pack 2 I take the Wardens. Not my favorite card ever, but it can warp combat if you pick up tricks to go with it.
Pack 3, Jessian Thief is does what Wardens does, but better. After that are the Firefiend Elemental and Rhox Maulers, but I'm not very excited to pick either of those.
Kytheon's Irregulars
Ghiapur Aether Grid
Elemental Bond
Totem-Guide Hartebeest
Smash to Smithereens
Subterranean Scout
Healing Hands
Elvish Visionary
Llanowar Empath
Rhox Maulers
Yeva's Forcemage
Bonded Construct
Send to Sleep
Deadbridge Shaman
Agreed 100% with this.
Irregulars is in the running for best limited card in the set, absurdly good. And then there is nothing else in the pack I'd be happy to be 1st picking, although the Hartebeast and the Maulers are fine cards that I'm happy to have.
That said, it's still a 6-drop and this format does punish you for playing a lot of those. That's not a reason not to play Invocation, nor to avoid picking it early, but it does mean you actually have to build your deck and play with it in mind.
The Freeblade is ridiculous in the ~10% of games where you have it turn 2 on the play. Its still good turn 2 on the draw, and ok turn 3. After that it is basically a Grizzly Bear. So the majority of the times you see it...it will be a Bear with minor upside. Never dead like the Invocation can be, but it is also going to be great far less often.
P0: Unholy Hunger
P1: Topan Freeblade
P2: Naturalists (2-for-1 with a lot of commonly-played targets in this format)
P3: Thief
Was there more than one card in this pack? Didn't bother reading past the first.
Agreed. Not sure the Hartebeest is actually better than the Maulers, but getting one this early should allow us to pick up a couple of good targets for it most of the time (assuming we actually end up in white).