Draw cards, remove blockers, and attack
Judge each pick by the job missing from your deck. Blue’s extra cards and red’s damage work together only if you have time to use them. Noisemaker is a useful bonus for spells you already want; do not fill the deck with weak spells just to trigger it.
Both colors provide the necessary pieces in your actual packs: early bodies, card flow and interaction. A solitary spells-matter card is not enough evidence to force the pair.
Four checks while you draft
Can you put a creature down before the four-mana cards?
A draw spell cannot block the opponent’s first attack.
Can your answer handle the threat actually in front of you?
Pinecone handles three toughness; the red Saga deals six on its first chapter.
Are you drawing cards while still adding blockers or attackers?
Recruit creatures combine a body with a draw and discard.
What will actually deal damage after the board fills?
Flying avoids ground blockers; Plate Mail gives an Army menace.
Choose the missing job before another reward that needs it.
You have Noisemaker but little removal.
Take Pinecone over an extra draw-only spell.
It answers a creature and still triggers Noisemaker.
You already draw enough but lack bodies.
Choose Instructor or Nuisance.
The creature matters even when no spells-matter payoff survives.
The support is missing
If one color supplies only filler or unsupported payoffs, keep the stronger base and consider a different partner. Preserve your early plays while making that change.
Repeated useful cards are clues, not proof that the colors are open.
Recruit discarding Plunder triggers no Noisemaker ability. Casting it with flashback does.
If you already control an Army, amass adds counters to it. Do not count every amass spell as another blocker.
Two spells do not become creatures just because Noisemaker is somewhere in your deck. Count the real opening bodies and the board you can defend without drawing that one reward.
Burn, Burn, Tree and Fern68.3% GIH · 139 instances
Bilbo Baggins, Burglar63.8% GIH · 315 instances
Smaug, the Great Calamity61.3% GIH · 204 instances
Plunder the Trollshaws60.9% GIH · 302 instances
Pinecone Strike60.6% GIH · 315 instances
Hobbit Hole60.5% GIH · 114 instances17Lands ↗ · Aug 11–29, 2026 · at least 100 card-in-hand instances in this pair’s no-splash decks. Choose the job your deck needs first.
Smaug the Magnificent 2RRFlying haste closes games; add Treasures for attack damage. RR makes red a main color, not a light splash.
The Arkenstone 52WColorless main spell boosts creatures and draws cards. Fits any mana base; only the optional Adventure needs white.17Lands Pick-Two ↗ · Aug 11–29, 2026 · 100-instance minimum
Examples apply the printed rules; judge the board, costs and timing.
| Pick-Two | One-pick | Sealed |
|---|---|---|
| Pair useful interaction with the early creature or draw support the current deck needs. Two noncreature spells may help Noisemaker, but only if your existing battlefield can survive the spell-heavy turn. | Use single picks to keep enough actual creatures beside the blue value and red interaction. A spell should do useful work without a reward before you count its extra trigger. | The opened pool may produce a straightforward blue-red value deck without a spells engine. Keep flyers, castable bodies and answers; do not force every noncreature card into a Noisemaker plan. |
A Plunder after your normal draw can grow Apothecary. On the opponent’s turn, hand-cast Plunder alone is only the first draw.
Bothersome Noisemaker
Patient Instructor
Long Lake Nuisance
Thrór's Map
Goblin Plate Mail
