Thread by @rcsaxe

Let's break down every color and college by top-commons for #MTGSTX Draft.

Remember, it's early and these evaluations are likely to change. Furthermore, mono-colored and hybrid cards will be evaluated for P1P1, gold cards will be evaluated assuming you're in that deck.

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1/12

White:

1. Combat Professor
2. Study Break
3. Guiding Voice

Honorable mention: Pilgrim of the Ages

White isn't particularly deep at common, but it's still good when open. It shouldn't be aggro as much as you think, often because of Pilgrim of the Ages and Rise to Extus.

2/12

Blue:

1. Bury in Books
2. Serpentine Curve
3. Pop Quiz

Honorable Mention: Frost Trickster

Frost Trickster doesn't generate card advantage nor fit with what blue is doing. It's a good card, but I don't think it should be prioritized. Curve and Quiz go nicely together.

3/12

Black:

1. Hunt for Specimen
2. Mage Hunters' Onslaught
3. Lash of Malice

Hunt is the top here for the same reason Professor of Symbology is first pickable. Card is great.

Onslaught is better than Lash for the same reason Bury in Books is the best blue common: fractals.

4/12

Red:

1. Heated Debate

uhhhh, the rest of the red cards shouldn't be prioritized . . .

2. Tome Shredder?
3. Pigment Storm?

Honorable Mention: Pillardrop Warden

Given the lack of good red commons, remember that it should probably be treated as a support color.

5/12

Green:

1. Field Trip
2. Mage Duel

big gap

3. Professor of Zoomancy

I love green in this format. Specifically, Field Trip just enables so many things. I feel like nobody runs out of cards, which often means that winning by mana advantage is real. This is why Trip > Duel.

6/12

Silverquill:

1. Rise to Extus
2. Inkling Summoning

1. Owlin Shieldmage
2. Spiteful Squad

Rise to Extus at P1P1 is better than Inkling Summoning, but if you are drafting an aggressive Silverquill deck, Summings > Extus.

Shieldmage has been an impressive finisher!

7/12

Lorehold:

1. Spirit Summoning
2. Lorehold Pledgemage

. . . no good gold cards

This is the problem with white. The gold cards at common for both colleges are just bad. Meaning you absolutely need to get multiple uncommon gold cards to make Drafting these decks worth it.

8/12

Prismari:

1. Elemental Summoning
2. Prismari Pledgemage

1. Elemental Masterpiece
2. Spectacle Mage

Masterpiece is great, and also often splashed in Quandrix. I should note that Quandrix Pledgemage and Fractal Summoning are better than all the above cards for Prismari.

9/12

Quandrix:

1. Fractal Summoning
2. Quandrix Pledgemage

1. Eureka Moment
2. Needlethorn Drake

Eureka Moment is the only common gold card I'll first pick. It's incredibly good, and splashable. Green is about bridging the gap from early to late, which Eureka does very well.

10/12

Witherbloom:

1. Pest Summoning
2. Witherbloom Pledgemage
3. Cram Session (this card is quite underrated right now)

1. Blood Researcher

There aren't many commons that push me into Witherbloom, so like white decks it's the uncommons that push me there when I start green.

11/12

Hopefully this provides context as to why I so often find myself in the Temur colors. Prismari and Quandrix are the only colleges that have commons that make me want to draft them. So it's hard to end up Witherbloom, Silverquill, or Lorehold without it being very open.

12/12