Next pack is here. I suppose the choice is between Battlewise Valor and Deathbellow Raider. I probably wanna pick the Raider, because he's an aggresive low-drop dude and we need those.

Hmm, hard choice.

The Minotaur is pretty powerful. He's a 2 drop with the stats of a 3, but the always attacking clause can be problematic (It can situationally be helpful actually if you have a pump spell in hand since the opponent isn't going to be thinking of a trick as much as he thinks the Minotaur is just swinging because he's forced to). 3 toughness is a lot though and he should be able to at least trade with most creatures until 4 drops start to hit the field (which is when we should start dominating anyway)

On the other hand we really need at least one more pump spell to be able to reasonably use Phalanx Leader. While it's not the best one ever it's a fairly decent one with scry to trigger Adept to boot.

I guess it comes down to that we NEED 1 more pump spell and could REALLY USE 2 more low drops. We realistically only have 4 more good picks since picks 1-4 are only going to table some atrocious things (Spellheart Chimera being the best). If we only needed 1 pump and 1 low drop I'd take the pump spell in an instant since pump seems to dissapear faster, but relying on 50% of our remaining picks to be low drops seems a bit risky.

+1 Minotaur

This way out of our 4 remaining good picks we only need 1 low drop and 1 pump as opposed to hoping we get 2 low drops. The last card slot can be whatever is best in case we get another 4 drop, a 3rd low drop, or a second pump spell after this one. We can reinclude Triton's Tactics if nothing better comes around since it's still a great late game multipump to hit Phalanx Leader.

Man that Absinthwise Hopman would be really great if our deck layout would support it :/

But I guess the Absinthbellow Raidman will have to suffice.

I agree with what Supersun said. I'd rather lack one low-drop and a pump spell, than lacking two low-drops.

I should include my vote....

+1 Deathabsinth Mander

Yeah, the Hoplite would have been nice in another deck especially since we've now had the chance to grab 2.

Not even remotely worth the red we would have to sacrifice to run them though.

It would have been nice if we ran across the R/W uncommons, but that's just how the cards have fallen (also might imply that there is another R/W drafter at the table though he would have to be fairly far away given the stuff we've been getting).

Yeah, Creature is definitely the right choice.

I just noticed that the Dragon's Mantle in pack 2 has a pretty decent chance of making it back to us since the Minotaur should be the first pick by any other red players (though if they pick the Mantle over the Minotaur I won't complain if he makes it back to us lol).

Only reason that won't make it to us is if someone either hates it (which I'd be surprised since there are plenty of better cards) or there's a 3rd red player at the table which...honestly I don't see, but would be a huge red flag if there is.

Dragon Mantle is actually a decent cantrip heroic trigger. And it's a good mana sink for later. I hope it makes its way back to us.

It's probably one of the few cantripping enchantments in the set that I would gladly maindeck.

It does a pretty good job of making an early drop fairly relevant later on.

Akroan Crusader goes from a 1/1 to scary as shit.

My issue with Deathbellow Raider is that its absolutely worthless anytime after turn 2. A 2/3 that is forced to attack is going to be a dead card after turn 3 when he'll be forced to suicide.

Battlewise Valor interacts well with creatures we already have, gives us necessary Heroic enablers, and is a much better topdeck on turn 5.

It's also worth noting that we already have 3 2-drops. Unless your deck is absolutely geared to win turn 4 or 5, you're almost always better off taking a potential hit to your curve to play more powerful cards in the mid-to-late game.

Valid point, though I still think that picking up a dude is better for us now.

+1 Deathbellow Raider

Such is the nature of 2 drops in general though.

I mean sure, on turn 8, drawing into an Akroan Crusader is slightly more relevant then drawing into the Minotaur since the Crusader can at least chump block (the minotaur can chump too the turn he is played), but let's be honest neither card is exactly an answer.

Not everything can be awesome like our Leonins. In general low drops are irrelevant later on. That's just a necessary evil. This one just happens to be slightly more so while also being a ton more relevant earlier on (stops a bear in his tracks the turn you drop him).

In general, I would agree that the curve can be less important over running powerful cards, but we've actually constructed a fairly synergistic tempo deck. If we curve out properly any slower deck isn't going to stand a chance. We need to curve out properly into our 4 drops against faster decks otherwise we won't stand a chance.

Abusing tempo is how this deck is going to win, and missing an early drop will significantly hurt our chances.

Another valid point made. Seriously guys I'm going to go ahead and say this has been a wonderful experience. So much good and interesting reasoning has been made that I have to re-read every single comment to every single pick. I've learned quite a deal throughout this draft.

Can I consider the Minotaur the pick?

Yes, let's take it. It may get worse as the game goes on, but the pressure it provides early game is very valuable. Best case scenario, it deals some damage and the opponent either wastes removal on it or blocks with a creature that the Minotaur trades with. Worst case scenario, it is forced to block the turn it comes out and dies or it gets hit with a Last Breath as soon as it hits the board.

+1 Deathbellow Raider

Ok, I think the pick is obvious from the comments. Sending the minotaur to Caley.