Massive Raid makes the biggest impression. There is so little removal outside black in this set and building around Frontline Medic , it would work very well. Also burn should be taken as we are not seeing the white weenies (Boros Elite , Daring Skyjek ect.).

Massive Raid is probably the best card, since we seem to be Boros right now. The only other cards worth playing are Shambleshark and Metropolis Sprite , and we're not Simic or Dimir.

Since it is only pack one, it isn't too late to change your colors/archetype. It looks like Green is pretty open so it would be quite worth it to take a bigger look at Hydroform , Burst of Strength , and Shambleshark (seeing two Simic cards also tells me that Blue is pretty open). I would probably switch at this point. Most people are going to want to be Boros, so it will be forced higher than Simic, leaving you to clean up with more playable cards (and a stronger overall card pool, as multiple people will be in Boros/Gruul).

I'd take Shambleshark with the goal of playing Simic with a small White splash for Frontline Medic and any future White cards you may grab (Syndic of Tithes would be nice too, but is probably not going to be as strong as the Medic).

I really think we should have taken Gyre Sage and rolled with Simic..... BUT that doesnt seem to be what the community wants.

Everyone knows that Boros goes quick in drafts.

And now that we are here.... the best option is Massive Raid even though the card really isn't that great.

My reluctant vote is Massive Raid

Massive Raid is the most obvious choice, considering our other picks, the rest just won't do.

I'm not so sure about Massive Raid . Burst of Strength and Shambleshark could also work, the former having a very nice synergy with Gyre Sage (if we decide to play green, that is).

Metro sprite and shamble are both beaters and are both 2 drops that will trigger the sage in our pool. Massive raid is just not a great pick this early imo, Id like to see more development before making a less open pick such as massive raid for this deck. The RR in it destroys it. I think the Shable Shark + syndic synergy keeping your hand open.

Massive Raid is the only red card in the pack, so taking it and forcing the players next to us into blue will set us up nicely for pack two.

Used well, combat tricks like Burst of Strength can be just as effective as any removal spell. Considering it still goes with the colors, I would consider that one.

you should take Massive Raid . It will deal 2-3 damage minimum in the deck we play it in, and its the best card in the pack. Hydroform is terrible, and its not worth abandoning boros for a Shambleshark

Massive Raid requires RR and creatures. It IS removal, but it's about as conditional as a card can get.

I prefer Shambleshark . You can leave counter mana open and flash it onto the battlefield at EoT. Play a critter on your main phase and it evolves before it attacks. There's likely to more options in these colors as the draft progresses, as well.

I won't be disappointed in the removal, but I gotta vote Shambleshark .

Reeeeally wishing that we would have stayed with simic.

I'm torn between trying to bring us back to(might not be too late) it and voting for it(probably the Sprite), or Massive Raid. Can't decide yet.

If we go back to simic then we would have to play white too, which is perfectly doable, because of prophetic prism, However, trying to go for simic splashing white would be a lot of trouble considering we only get one guild and then haphazard cards from others. We need to play our good boros cards and simic will only burden us down. We have seen only one decent simic card in this pack, and with gyre sage they together are underwhelming compared to mugging, syndic of tithes, and frontline medic.

Shambleshark is my vote for next common. It's actually a good card for Simic, triggering evolves in response to an enemy's end step to get your creatures bigger for your turn and such.

Massive Raid is the best card in the pack, and there is a strong argument for it. However, for 3 passes now blue has been wide open. Our picks so far (except Mugging , which is one of the arguments for the Raid) could fairly easily be played in Bant as easily as in Naya.

In short, the question is whether we want to force our neighbor into blue. Taking Massive Raid does just that, but leaves us in a likely very forced Naya build. I would much rather be open to blue as a color and be left with a dead Mugging (that can't be used against us now) than force our neighbor into blue and have a conditional (though strong) removal spell.

Shambleshark .

My vote is for Massive Raid . Burst of Strength is my second pick.

Massive Raid . Take the removal. otherwise, take the colorless flier, Millennial Gargoyle .

Massive Raid

Massive Raid can still put a dent in stuff. It's more likely in our ultimate colors than Burst of Strength , but I won't argue with the green spell.

Massive Raid . Burn and removal is nice. Besides, if we're splashing green we can throw in bloodrush dudes later and get handy green cards like Burst of Strength.

Shambleshark

Shambleshark

how come nobody wants Burst of Strength ? a mini-pump plus a surprise blocker could turn the battle around if the opponent is being cocky

@Joker: Because Shambleshark is also a surprise blocker anyway, and if we want to be in those colors, it will likely be a pump as well.

Shambleshark

Why are people voting Shambleshark ? I don't think we need to run a 4-color deck unless it is absolutely necessary that we do. My vote goes for either Massive Raid for the burn or Burst of Strength for surprise blocker and pump that stays on color with what we have picked. (Prophetic Prism allows for some slight splash but I don't think using that as an excuse for 4-colors is very good. If we pick 1 or 2 more than yes, I believe we probably could go 4-color.)

shambleshark

From what we've seen go past, I think we should go all in with Simic. It's not too late if we do it starting now. We will have wasted at most 3 picks(more likely 2 if with a gruul splash).

This pack, this many picks in proves Simic is the most open. Yes, pack 2(from what we have passed) will be split with boros being slightly more open than Simic. Pack 3, however should be Simic all the way for us.

Shambleshark

I'd say Shambleshark .

KrazyCaley-

This vote is question of Massive Raid vs. something Simic. But there are several simic picks that will split the vote. I think it would be best to determine if people want to go simic or boros, then if it's simic, have people choose within the simic cards. I basically picked Shambleshark because it's getting the most votes of the simic cards.

Traditionally I'll start to do Australian ballot-type stuff to the vote only if I think discussion will not sort it out. So far I see plenty of healthy debate that might cause focus on the issue you bring up.

Cool. Glad to hear it.

@[AstroFalcon75] I can't speak for everyone, but here's the breakdown on Shambleshark as I see it.

It's a Simic card. Simic appears to be wide open. We might see one more good red spell and one more white card. The rest of this round is probably dregs in those colors, while there could be more good blue and green coming. Being first in Simic is better than sloppy seconds in Boros.

As for the card itself... flash allows us to fake counter mana and create combat issues in much the same manner that haste does. Cast it EoT and then drop another creature in your main phase - it'll evolve and swing for 3. It also serves as an instant pump spell for any other creature with evolve. That's a whole lot of flexibility. And, you know, it's a fish crab!

Massive Raid . Shambleshark is good, but removal is so valuable in this format.

SupremeAlliesCommander Shambleshark does allow for combat issues, faking counter spells, and evolving stuff. However, my point is why would we run a 4-color deck. If we had picked something G, U, or R instead of Frontline Medic and Syndic of Tithes than yes I would vote for it. Since we did, I'm voting for the removal. The Shark allows for some slight flexibilllity but Burst of Strength does 2/3 of the things that the shark does, just without the body and without splashing a 4th color. Massive Raid allows for a quick finisher or a quick burn to a creature. We could pick the shark but then we have to hope for more prisms. (I know we don't have to use everything but if we don't use the Medic then it just looks like we hatedrafted him. Also he would be very useful)

My vote stands: Burst of Strength or Massive Raid

Out of our 5 cards 4 fit Boros and 2 fit Simic. We can still switch. If our first pick would have been the guildmage, i'd say we force boros, but after the amount of blue we saw i am inclined to pick the Shambleshark . We still got 2 packs to go and splashing either white for the medic or red for burn and the odd Gruul thing can be done if we get our hands on another prism or a gate or a keyrune.

There really hasn't been much Simic seen... only two picks so far have had a significant amount of simic: this one and pick 4. There's only two "simic" picks here, and there were three in pick 4. At this point, someone HAS gone into simic, so we wont be first. Blue is open for a reason: it's not that strong in this set.

We won't be able to make a very good simic deck anyways, so I think we should stick to WRG or WRB. We'll have removal and strong cards regardless of how many boros players there are. Frankly I'm more inclined to go orzhov than boros so if we get some black removal we could move away from boros and just splash a little.

Reiterating: Massive Raid

I Don't think that having Syndic of Tithes and Frontline Medic means we have to go 4 colors if we pick Shambleshark here. By my count, it'd make 3 (W, U, G), and 3 colors that would be unusual, fun, and unsuspected at that. Simic can definitely put out enough creatures for battallion, and none of our picks yet are double mana cost. For the rogue vote, I'm saying Shambleshark .

I don't like Massive Raid here. We've yet to see much red in the packs, and the double red cost is restrictive, unless we really buckle down on getting more creatures and red spells to make the card viable. Boros decks are so common in GTC drafts, and Naya-colored creatures going to be difficult to find for because of it.

Burst of Strength lets us feel free to use battalion mechanics without leaving our defenses open. Green would be easier to splash here because of Prophetic Prism and Gyre Sage . While Shambleshark is great, I don't know if we really want to have to splash blue in the deck just to get use out of it. It's an okay card if we find more creatures, but if we do, it'd probably be better we go with Massive Raid anyway.

The three choices here are all great, but I feel like Burst of Strength is the least risky pick right now. Heck, use it on Gyre Sage and you essentially get to tap her again for free!

My vote is for Burst of Strength .

@AstroFalcon751 No one is advocating we run a 4-color deck. The Shambleshark votes are suggesting we switch into Simic, which I agree with. We would still only be running 2, maybe 3 colors, seeing as how you don't HAVE to run every card you draft.

Massive Raid makes sense in that even if we don't run it we are depriving someone else of removal, which is at an utter premium in the format.

I'm not sure whether someone to our left is taking Boros or not; Boros commons haven't shown up lately, yet we get passed a Massive Raid .

Either way, signaling to our right that blue is open is probably a good thing.

But then again Simic seems to be wide open to us as well. Tough decision. Personally I would not switch to Simic, but that's only because I've done a lot of Simic lately. I would go for Naya or something, as Red nicely intersects with White and Green. Still, that means we have to take into account Burst of Strength . And... no.

I vote Massive Raid .

Massive Raid is not a good removal spell. Consider this. Suppose we build a VERY aggressive creature deck, and suppose we have an ideal hand with creatures in every CMC from 1+ and the lands to play them. If we play Massive Raid on turn 3 it would be, at best, a 3 damage removal spell (3 one-drop creatures on the field). Even in incredible circumstances where we continue to draw cheap creatures and keep them on the field, it is unlikely it will ever burn for more than 5 (in my draft experience, the most creatures I've ever maintained on the field was 5, and that was with Lingering Souls ). So, we are looking at a double-chroma situational removal spell that is unlikely to be able to hit most of the bomb cards you'd hope to remove. If you have enough creatures to cast Massive Raid meaningfully, then you probably can afford to chump block and swarm in with the rest while their fatty is tapped down. If you don't have enough creatures to kill a fatty (and I'm thinking that even 4 toughness is nearly prohibitive if you are at all behind in a match), then you need some genuine kill power, a bounce, or to concede and move on.

tl;dr Massive Raid is the weakest form of removal (damage), is best when you are winning anyway, and is very hard to cast in a multi-color draft deck.

I am going to change my vote to Burst of Strength . Massive Raid is too committed for a card that is marginally powerful for it's mana cost in this format.

Kravian makes a good point, but Massive Raid would be mostly used against smaller dudes in the format. Regardless, the only two cards I'd consider would be raid and Burst of Strength , so I'd suggest anyone who voted for Shambleshark to vote for Burst of Strength instead, since it matches Gyre Sage and isn't restrictive.

My vote stays with Massive Raid as removal against weenies.

We don't have to run every card we pick. Right now, if we ignore Mugging , we still have a really solid Bant pool if we grab Shambleshark. A solid Bant pool with a good curve, at that.

Never underestimate Shambleshark .

Blockers = removal against weenies. Unless you are terrified of some kind of Deathrite Shaman card that can destroy you without attacking, just draft creatures that are efficient and have 2+ toughness and you won't be overrun with weenies. In my experience Crocanura is particularly strong as a blocker. I will say that if extort is a huge worry, Massive Raid would be a strong choice, but I don't think there will be enough orzhov creatures for us to worry about.

Shambleshark or Burst of Strength

Probably burst of strength for flexibility, or shambleshark if we want to commit

wait, how do i edit my post? Shambleshark or Burst of Strength

dorminjake if you had read all of my last post, you would know that I had said that I know we don't have to use every card we draft. If we decide to go Bant, then we would be throwing our last pick out the window. Mugging is a cheap removal and block prevention. If they somehow get a huge creature that would prevent us from winning, we could just use the Mugging to prevent the block and swing out leaving 1 behind to chump block. I would rather stick with Naya.

Vote: Burst of Strength

I think this pick decides what we do for the rest of the draft. Simic or Boros. A very pivotal choice we have right now.

Yeah, I don't want to bash anyone's pick, but Kravian spells it out quite well.

tl;dr Massive Raid is the weakest form of removal (damage), is best when you are winning anyway, and is very hard to cast in a multi-color draft deck.

If we're able to run straight Boros, I'd say play it. But if we end up playing Naya, I'd probably cut it from the 40.

Since so many people are averse to going Simic, I'll add my vote to the Burst of Strength camp. Here's hoping that Naya works out.

To unify the vote I'll toss in for Burst of Strength : easy to play in our wedge, has a fun interaction with Gyre Sage and is a combat trick that KrazyCaley is bound to use well.

I'll change my vote to Burst of Strength , had some compelling arguments, plus the potential mana acceleration with Gyre Sage makes it worth while.

Alright. I too will change my vote to Burst of Strength .

I think Massive Raid is a good pick but honestly i would go with Hold the Gates .

Shambleshark vs. Burst is a tough call for me. I think I might be persuaded to go with Burst(nice combo to double tap the Gyre Sage ), but I am worried about splitting the vote in favor of Massive Raid. Sticking with the shark for now, but if we do Australian rules voting...then we'll see.

I was going to say Shambleshark , but the interaction between Burst of Strength and Gyre Sage is just too cool to pass up.

So, my vote goes to Burst of Strength .

Ironically, if we use that trick on their turn(untap the Sage, then use it for mana that turn)...what would we cast with that mana? Probably a shambleshark, right? I find that funny.

I would pick Hold the Gates but this can never go through community votes. So from abovementioned cards my vote goes for Massive Raid

All right, consensus getting muddled now and we're making no progress, and so I will intervene. I saw early heavy support for Massive Raid with Shambleshark as a somewhat-close second, with very scattered support elsewhere. Shambleshark and Burst of Strength together did not equal Massive Raid until people started defecting from Massive Raid to Burst of Strength , and now the Simic cards have about the same support as massive raid.

Applying B.R.E.A.D. gets us (sort of) Massive Raid , so that's the pick given that white and red are already in colors we've drafted.

You don't sound to happy with our decisions KrazyCaley. Can't blame ya.

By my count Shambleshark alone was ahead of Massive Raid. Oh well. Life goes on.