Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

Urza's Saga Drafting - Red

Traditionally, red has been a good choice for drafting. The direct damage element combined with some good fatties made it a very fast way to win. Red was badly treated by R&D during the making of Urza's Cycle, but it still came away with some strong draft cards. For example...

Arc Lightning A useful weenie-killer, or finisher. Not a first pick by any means, around 5-6 is more likely.
Bedlam Yeah, that guy. Not letting your opponent block is amazing, especially since you get to use it first. If your losing, don't cast it. Still, in a red deck you're likely to have early life advantage. If you take this card, you'll need to draft aggressive creatures, so leave it alone if that's not your style.
Bravado Now here's a rarity...a good red enchantment. Strong in this format, as you should have between 3 and 5 creatures most of the time. Goes nicely in a R/G deck. Middle pick though.
Crater Hellion It's big...it's bad...it kills everything else when it comes into play. This is one heck of a draft pick. It will kill almost every weenie on the table and is big enough to kill anything else with combat damage. Pick #1, even if it does tie you to red.
Electryte Another good red rare creature. Not on Crater Hellion's level, but almost guarantees it'll be blocked, maybe letting through some of your bigger critters.
Fault Line InstaQuake, as it's called around here, is as good a pick as its relative in draft format. Weenie killer, gamebreaker, it can even salvage you a draw. Awesome early pick.
Fire Ants Typical of the new Red, Fire Ants are a very good pick if your deck fears a weenie onset. They can also add that point you need to finish off a blocker. Middle pick.
Goblin Offensive Late game, this card can be awesome. It's nearly always a good pick, as long as you don't overlook better creatures, for example. Needs fairly heavy red.
Goblin Patrol A must have for any Red deck, even in constructed. Quick and meaty, this should be gone by around 3rd or 4th pick.
Goblin Raider Another must. So he can't block...and? He's a nice little guy that should go around 3-4.
Goblin War Buggy Even better than the two above! Comes right out and smacks for 2, then you can let him die if you want. Early pick, maybe even 2-3.
Guma Prot blue makes him better than a lot of red's 3cc stuff, although in this format blue won't see much play.
Heat Ray Creature kill is essential in draft, and this is as basic as it gets. I'd save it for a fattie unless you're dying. Early pick, but doon't let it blind you to other options.
Lightning Dragon As a rule, any dragon is a good pick. This is basically an echo Shivan, although it is slightly smaller. Flying makes it even better, especially since red is notoriously low on fliers. Grab it early, 1-2.
Scoria Wurm Surprisingly enough, I think these are a great pick. OK, so they may not stay around long, but they will be a blocker, and if they do last the turn, they hit very hard for not very much. 2-3.
Shiv's Embrace Another kick-ass Embrace. Flying is by far the best evasion ability (only because landwalk is too random and not guaranteed to work), and you can make your critter hit as hard as you want. 1-2.
Shivan Hellkite She's big and she's bad and she kills stuff. Pick her as soon as you see her. Any questions?
Shivan Raptor Normally I try to stay away from cards with crap artwork, and cards with power so much higher than toughness. But this guy has first strike, which is a good thing. A middle pick.
Sneak Attack Oh yes. Ohhh yesss. I love this card, even in constructed. Good fast B.Tings. Negation of casting cost. Surprise factor. It doesn't get much better than this. Possibly the second best red card in the set.
Steam Blast A great creature killer/game ender. It may take some of your creatures with it, so be careful and think of your creatures' toughness before you pick it. Middle pick.
Thundering Giant Yes please. Big and hasty. 5 for a 4/3 is a little steep though, so leave him until later. Chances are he'll still be there when the pack comes back around, unless it's a bad pack.
Torch Song The best red draft card in the set. Against a black deck or a deck with no way to get rid of enchantments, this card will hurt them, guaranteed. Just hold them off til you can set it off. All you need to do is remember the counters!
Viashino Runner Can be useful, with its neat little evasion ability. Late pic.