Winding Constrictor.

Honestly, were I to see someone else make this kind of pick, I might assume they have an extreme stance on the format that I can’t reason with. But Ajani isn’t as good as it looks, doesn’t help bring you back when you’re losing, and is arguably only a slightly better “win more” than Winding Constrictor. 6-mana cards are really not where we want to be in this format. Many of the best decks are filled with cheap cards and are light on lands. Winding Constrictor is also a great first pick as it’s excellent to build around. Lastly, Ajani steers you into W/G, a color combination that I don’t particularly want to play.

Honorable Mention: Ajani Unyielding.

I would still take Ajani over Weldfast Engineer. The upside on the Weldfast Engineer simply isn’t as high as the upside on Winding Constrictor, although Weldfast Engineer is an extremely good card.

Shock.

Aethergeode Miner is probably a slightly better card than Shock, but I don’t really like the decks that it goes best in. White revolt decks tend to be under-powered, and black-white revolt, while strong, is too reliant on cards like Hidden Stockpile and Vengeful Rebel, which are both uncommons. Shock is a high quality, efficient removal spell, and I’d go ahead and take it.

Honorable Mention: Aethergeode Miner.

Aethergeode Miner does have a fair amount of upside. 2-drops are great in this format and this is, of course, a premium one. You can use it to trigger revolt at will, and “blink” it out any time your opponent makes a block you don’t like.

Weldfast Engineer.

Weldfast Engineer is a multicolor card and not as strong as some of the gold uncommons in the set. Taking a gold card first pick can sometimes be tough, but the difference in power level between Weldfast Engineer and Aether Chaser is just too high. Giving another of your creatures +2/+0 every turn is a big upside. I’d just take the Engineer here and try to play red-black.

Honorable Mention: Aether Chaser.

Aether Chaser is one of the better red commons and a premium 2-drop. 2/1 first strike for 2 is a decent card, and the ability to pump out one or more Servos puts it over the top. I’ve first-picked plenty of Aether Chasers, and while it’s not what I’d hope to open, I’d take it out of this pack.

 Untethered Express.

Untethered Express is the best non-rare in the set. Beyond that, it’s better than even most of the rares and mythics. If you never passed this card, it’s possible that you’d never have made a mistake in doing so. This card wins games single-handedly and is a nightmare to deal with. Unlike the format’s other best Vehicles, it has the very low crew cost of 1, which means that nearly ever other creature (sorry, Ornithopter) can crew it.

Honorable Mention: Winding Constrictor.

For all the reasons I mentioned above, I’d takeWinding Constrictor if not for the Untethered Express. The card dominates Constructed and is very powerful in Limited.

Herald of Anguish.

Herald of Anguish is the best card in the set. Every ability on this card is a home run.

Improvise means that you can cast in on turn 4 or 5 pretty consistently. It’s a 5/5 flyer that forces your opponent to discard a card every turn and that allows you to use artifacts to kill creatures. Implements will be incredible in a deck with Herald of Anguish as you can use them to power it out, and then sacrifice them to kill creatures while still drawing cards. Never pass this card.

Honorable Mention: Hungry Flames.

Hungry Flames is simply a great removal spell. It’s better than any common, and I’d be happy to first-pick it out of almost any pack. (Packs without Herald of Anguish, for starters.)