The Best 1-drops of all time?
General forum
Posted on April 12, 2015, 9:32 p.m. by TheRedMage
So
Some friends of mine and I were cubing the other day, and one of us mentioned that t was kind of weird the the best one-drop creature of all time was a common. The conversation quickly derailed into "let's find the best 1-drop creature" for each color.
- For blue, it's Delver of Secret, not close. The second best might be Cursecatcher, but it's obvious that the two are miles apart.
- For white we thought about it for a while, and then we realized that Mother of Runes is a card, and all the various Soldier of the Pantheon and Champion of the Parish just can't compare. The second best might be either of those two, although it would be Ramosian Sergeant if non-terrible rebel 2-drops existed.
- Red is also not particularly close, with Goblin Guide being a bit better than Monastery Swiftspear and miles ahead of everything else.
- Green is a lot closer. We decided not to consider Deathrite Shaman, obviously a very powerful card, but two-colored. Birds of Paradise was our lead for a while, but after a while we agreed that Noble Hierarch is better.
- And finally we came to black and... Well, we kind of hit a wall. Deathrite Shaman is once again the clear winner but if we look at strictly mono-black it becomes not quite as clear-cut. Gravecrawler maybe? We ended up deciding for Disciple of the Vault but it just doesn't quite seem it's on the same level as the others.
So, what are your thoughts? Do you disagree with any of our picks? Are we forgetting about something specific in black that is just bonkers? Should my friend just shut up and make his pick since he is not taking the delver anyway?
bijschjdbcd says... #3
Limiting it to creatures isn't particularly fair on the color wheel.
That being said I agree with your assessments.
April 12, 2015 9:47 p.m.
How about Death's Shadow for black? I think Bloodsoaked Champion is also close, but Gravecrawler is probably stronger.
April 12, 2015 9:48 p.m.
filledelanuit says... #5
In my opinion these are the best one drops in each color:
-Red: Taylor Swiftspear. Swiftspear is a stronger card. On average it will deal the same if not more damage than goblin guide and doesn't give your opponent card advantage.
-Blue: Delver. This isn't even close. Delver is just amazing
-Green: I agree with you that noble hierarch is better than BoP. Exalted is amazingly powerful especially in infect and decks like that.
-White: Mom is pretty nuts. Making creature combat a nightmare and blanking your opponent's removal is quite nice.
-Black: I don't really know. Deathrite is powerful but not mono black.
Ignoring color I think this is the order: Deathrite Shaman, Monastery Swiftspear, Delver of Secrets.
April 12, 2015 9:49 p.m.
To be fair, black's best one drop is Thoughtseize. Red's is probably Lightning Bolt. As mentioned above, limiting it to creatures is a little unfair to certain colors.
April 12, 2015 9:53 p.m.
bijschjdbcd says... #7
It is equally unfair when comparing the pie as a whole.
Ancestral Recall in Blue.
Lightning Bolt? In Red.
Black Thoughtseize or another 1 CMC Discard spell.
Green, BoP or Hierach, In terms of just general power level Berserk and the one in elves?
White could be Swords, Path or Mom.
April 12, 2015 10 p.m.
filledelanuit says... #8
People, People. 1 drop means the best creature wil cmc 1. Let's be real. If we were talking about the best 1 cmc spells it would be a bit different. Ex.
-Blue: Ancestral Recall. Duh
-Red: Lightning Bolt. Also Duh
-Green: Deathrite Shaman is busted but if you only include mono colored then it would be noble hierarch.
-Black: Dark Ritual The backbone of multiple legacy and vintage combo decks.
-White: Swords is unquestionably the 1 cmc spell in white\
A more interesting discussion would be what the most powerful card in each color is.
April 12, 2015 10:05 p.m.
Monastery Swiftspear Delver of Secrets
Flip Mother of Runes Deathrite Shaman Goblin Guide
Those are pretty much just the 5 best one-drops. (in no specific order)
April 12, 2015 10:21 p.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #10
Goblin Lackey and Wild Nacatl are gas in the right places.
April 12, 2015 10:29 p.m.
Glistener Elf is another one of those niche-but-awesome cards.
April 12, 2015 10:30 p.m.
KillDatBUG says... #13
Disciple of the Vault is pretty good, but I don't think it's Black's best one drop. I vote for Putrid Imp as Black's best one drop.
As for green one drops, I really like Basking Rootwalla.
April 12, 2015 10:37 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #15
Just another one that hasn't really been mentioned. Serra Ascendant is pretty crazy in EDH, and can carry games in Modern when running Soul Sisters. Student of Warfare is also great in white decks.
Also both Wild Nacatl and Glistener Elf are more powerful than Noble Hierarch in my opinion. Nimble Mongoose would also be a contender, as well as Gladecover Scout for Bogles decks. I'm also a fan of Scute Mob and Scythe Tiger, but they aren't quite on the same level
Red has Vexing Devil, Dragonmaster Outcast, Grim Lavamancer, Bloodhall Ooze, Goblin Lackey, etc. My vote would be Goblin Welder though.
Blue has Hedron Crab and Jace's Phantasm for mill, but nothing that really tops Delver
Black really doesn't have many options. Guul Draz Vampire works I guess, but Death's Shadow is definitely an all star.
All in all, my top list would be:
Blue: Delver of Secrets
Flip
White: Mother of Runes, with Serra Ascendant being a very close second
Red: Goblin Welder (vintage all star!)
Green: Nimble Mongoose or Wild Nacatl, depending on the deck being used. Both represent a significant life swing early game either way.
Black: Death's Shadow by far is the most powerful.
April 12, 2015 10:55 p.m.
TheRedMage says... #16
I honestly disagree that Monastery Swiftspear is better than Goblin Guide. If your goal is to just beat down, Guide just asks less of you. It's a card with a very stable floor whereas Swiftspear is much worse as a late-game topdeck after you have emptied your hand. Goblin Lackey is an interesting mention because it's a card with a very powerful effect that works on a different axis (I do not think it's a better card, personally, but I could see arguments in its favor).
I guess it is true that most decks that are asked "Goblin Guide or Monastery Swiftspear?" usually answer "Yes".
@ kmcree: Death's Shadow, you say. It's definitely a card with a very high ceiling (think the filthy things you can do with a Varolz, the Scar-Striped) but also a very low floor, which is why I didn't mention it. What do you guys think?
@ KillDatBUG: Nah. I don't honestly think Putrid Imp is in the same ballpark as the other creatures we are talking about. I did think about Circling Vultures as 3/2 flier with flash and a potentially small downside, but I am not sure it's quite there, and it's probably just better than the imp.
April 12, 2015 11:14 p.m.
aeonstoremyliver says... #17
Savannah Lions was the bees knees in it's day, as was Jackal Pup. But that was aeons ago...
April 12, 2015 11:50 p.m.
the best 1 drop period is Contract from Below. ask anyone whose ever played it ever.
April 13, 2015 12:55 a.m.
TheRedMage says... #19
They were! And nowadays we get all these fancy Soldier of the Pantheons and Firedrinker Satyrs that are just strictly better and people don't even play them. Creatures have certainly become better at combat with time...
It's actually pretty interesting. If you notice, out of all the creatures we are talking about, almost all of the ones that are good for their abilities (Deathrite Shaman being a notable exception) are from fairly old, sets, Mother of Runes being the clearest example, and all the ones we mentioned for being good at combat, Delver of Secrets Flip being a clear example, are from the last 5 or 6 years...
April 13, 2015 12:58 a.m.
Kird Ape < Grim Lavamancer < Monastery Swiftspear < Goblin Guide < Goblin Lackey
April 13, 2015 1:05 a.m.
Hjaltrohir says... #21
April 13, 2015 2:23 a.m.
TheRedMage says... #22
I am not sure I agree. Goblin Guide pretty much always does the same thing, Goblin Lackey strikes me as something that can do more powerful things but also does actually nothing a significant percentage of the time because it's so easy to block. Do you really think that the higher ceiling is enough to push the card above Goblin Guide?
April 13, 2015 2:28 a.m.
You're all so wrong. Mother of Runes Delver of Secrets Flip Goblin Lackey Noble Hierarch Death's Shadow Deathrite Shaman (multicolored) and Signal Pest maybe Phyrexian Dreadnought (colorless). Keep in mind Lackey is a legacy card, not a modern one. It was played in decks that could abuse it, and in legacy getting out a blocker for Lackey is not easy. It's also very easy to combo off with him alone just because of Goblin Recruiter. It was also banned in standard, and Swiftspear doesn't even see play in some aggro standard decks. It's definitely not as good as Lackey or Guide. I picked Lackey because of it's insane value, need to be blocked, and ability to let you combo off Turn 3.
April 13, 2015 9:27 a.m.
I would have to say Birds of Paradise or Sol Ring and Mana Vault
April 13, 2015 10:42 p.m.
whoops
Neither of those artifacts were creatures!
I would have to change my answer to Figure of Destiny as it has so much versatility.
April 13, 2015 10:45 p.m.
Goldenglow Moth is up there for Modern
Serra Ascendant is way overpowered in the EDH format
Llanowar Augur would probably be better if you didn't have to use the ability during the upkeep but is still good nonetheless
Isamaru, Hound of Konda is still the most powerful ratio for mana cost, Opal Caryatid is a close second if you don't have a ton of money
Boros Elite is very good in high-creature decks
Legion Loyalist for creature decks
if non-creatures count Forced Adaptation has a lot of good combos, especially with Hardened Scales
Lagonna-Band Trailblazer has very good value in any decks with a Heroic preference
Arcbound Worker for artifact creature decks, basically a one-drop 2/2
Clergy of the Holy Nimbus is hilariously annoying (I paired him with Hokori, Dust Drinker at one point)
Thrull Parasite screws over everyone in multiplayer games
Magus of the Vineyard while this guy doesn't make you alone particularly more powerful, he does change the whole gameplay
April 16, 2015 9:06 p.m.
...MAYBE a third are rares in my list? Most of them are commons. If you're referring to the overall post, perhaps.
April 17, 2015 12:12 a.m.
Over exagerating about that part but the unplayable part still stands for all but the Serra's ascendant and trailblazer and those still definitely are not good cards.
April 17, 2015 12:42 a.m.
Hjaltrohir says... #32
xlaleclx Serra Ascendant is really good.
InDirectX "Goldenglow Moth is up there for modern". No.
April 17, 2015 1:59 a.m.
Serra Ascendant is fine in soul sisters, its not a particularly good card over all though. Requires a very specific home in a not particularly good fringe deck.
April 17, 2015 2:09 a.m.
TheRedMage says... #34
Serra Ascendant is decent... I guess? It's a card with an interesting ability and whatnot, but it's not close to the power level of some of the other cards we mentioned (specifically Mother of Runes, which seems to be the consensus for the best card in white). The one on the ascendant is definitely a powerful, unique ability that makes the ceiling on the card (6/6 flying lifelink for 
) very high, but the floor on the card is pretty low (Trained Caracal). The actual power level of high ceiling/low floor cards is usually difficult to evaluate, but I would err on the side of considering them weaker.
April 17, 2015 3:35 a.m.
biggestmtgnerd says... #35
Serra Ascendant is good in soul sisters and a complete beast in EDH
April 17, 2015 8:35 a.m.
There's a reason I specified EDH for Serra Ascendant.
Goldenglow Moth isn't "up there", my apologies. However, for a common and a one-drop, it's pretty good.
April 17, 2015 9:42 a.m.
Serra Ascendant, even in EDH, can't help you when you need it most. It's a tough card to call, because it's only good when you're winning, or on Turn 1.
April 17, 2015 9:58 a.m.
biggestmtgnerd says... #38
Or turn 2,3,4, or 5. I do get your point, though.
April 17, 2015 10:18 a.m.
Have you considered Vault Skirge for black? I noticed you never specified converted mana cost 1, but rather just 1-drops.
April 17, 2015 10:24 a.m.
TheRedMage says... #40
We did actually. Vault Skirge is powerful in affinity, but that's pretty much it - Daggerdrome Imp is not a particularly exciting card, and wouldn't be incredible even if it costed 
instead of 
.
If we start considering cost reductions like that Tasigur, the Golden Fang could be a contender but it's not rare for our favorite necklace pendant to cost more than just , and you can never cast him on turn one anyway. I don't have a good way to explain it - he kind of doesn't "feel" like a 1-drop.
Honestly the more I hear the more Gravecrawler seems to be the answer.
April 17, 2015 11:30 a.m.
If it isn't required to be a creature: Exploration. It changes the game fast but isn't allowed in Modern.
vishnarg a 6/6 with flying and lifelink is good at all points in the game, I fail to see why it's bad if you're losing
April 17, 2015 6:22 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #42
@InDirectX Because if you are losing, you likely have less than 30 life. Which means it's a 1/1 lifelink and that's it.
April 17, 2015 7:07 p.m.
Playing EDH with Oloro, I'm a big fan of Serra Ascendant of course, but when the Daretti deck I'm playing against plays Scrap Mastery and Soul Conduit's me, Serra Ascendant is suddenly the last thing you want to top deck.
April 18, 2015 2:26 p.m.
alanwescoat says... #45
The best black one-drop is most definitely Vault Skirge.
Jay says... #2
I wouldn't discount Grim Lavamancer in Red. For Black, though, it is tough... maybe Tasigur, the Golden Fang?
April 12, 2015 9:38 p.m.