Dominaria draft has been a lot of fun. The rares and uncommons are so powerful, but some of the commons do great work too. Here’s a rundown of my favorite commons to pick up in draft. They really tie the room together.
Pegasus Courser has risen to the top of the common ranks. Flying is such a powerful mechanic in Dominaria—a set without new combat mechanics—and the Courser does exactly what you want to end games while also being a solid blocker early. Trained Condor was decent, but the addition of blocking stats is key to bringing Pegasus Courser to another level.
No shock here that I love Sergeant-at-Arms. One of my favorite parts of Dominaria draft is the playability of 2/3s. Creatures have been too aggressive lately, which meant the three-mana 2/3 was too weak. Welcome back to normal power-level in Limited—I hope. Neither the main body nor the tokens impress me much on their own, but the efficiency and versatility make this overperform.
Cloudreader Sphinx is an easy sell. The 3/4 flying body does a ton of work, and scry two is a huge bonus. Digging through your deck is exactly what you want after dropping a legitimate finisher.
There are a lot of expensiv spells to counter, and Syncopate does a good job in the early game as well. You love having a copy in your opening hand on the draw, which is a good place to be in Dominaria. There’s even annoying crap like Lingering Phantom that you want to exile.
Soul Salvage is one of my favorite cards to cast on turn twelve. It’s such a kick in the gut when your opponent gets back their two best creatures, usually after you spent premium removal to get rid of them. This is a long-game card, but Dominaria encourages long games.
My favorite moment at the Dominaria prerelease: realizing Dark Bargain is an instant. Four mana is one more than I want to pay, but you have time to wait. You might even get value out of tossing a card in your graveyard, though that’s just gravy.
Slow formats reward recursion. It’s usually easy to get creatures back, but instants and sorceries can be harder to rebuy. Ghitu Chronicler does great work. All I want to do is cast removal spells and buy them back with this six-mana 1/3. Red control is better than you think.
This card makes me happy. Kicker is great, and flexible removal is where I want to be. Shivan Fire can’t shoot an opponent, but who cares? You can grind to victory buying these back with your army of Ghitu Chroniclers.
Grow from the Ashes provides the power mana-fixing you want for long games. It also brings lands into play untapped, which is a nice bonus. I seem to get passed Verdant Force in every draft, but Grow from the Ashes tends to be hard to find. It’s a great card, and you should take it early.
Ten life is a lot. I outraced Multani, Yavimaya’s Avatar with Krosan Druid. Your mileage may vary, but that is a realistic situation. (I had Verdant Force to win the race.) Like I said before, a 2/3 for three is servicable enough. I wouldn’t call this card great, but major lifegain is has more value than you think.
Skittering Surveyor is worse than Pilgrim’s Eye, but that card is great. I like how the 1/2 body doesn’t do much. This card helps fix mana and keep creature power low. You get random historic bonuses, but every deck can use this to build up to expensive kicker spells and such. I see Skittering Surveyors go around the table from time to time in a draft, and I wonder. This is a great card to pick up.
Former U.S. National Team member Lee Marino gave me a strong verdict at the prerelease: Jousting Lance is the best card. I wasn’t ready to go there yet, but I agreed that it is good. Two extra power and first strike while attacking is very hard to answer, and every stupid 2/2 or token threatens real damage when you slap this on. Colorless cards go in every deck, and this is my common equipment of choice.
I’m getting ready for Grand Prix DC in a few weeks. I hope I get to play with some sweet cards at higher rarities. But these commons will be quite welcome in our pool as well. Maybe I can play a deck with four Ghitu Chroniclers. Twelve packs, right?
Carrie O’Hara is Editor-in-Chief of Hipsters of the Coast.