As in Kaladesh, where the best common is colorless, you should always consider colorless cards when drafting a color. So first, here are the colorless commons:



I intend to include them in my best-commons-of-a-color lists as/if appropriate.

White:



Note also that there are only 10 white commons and 21 colorless ones.

Blue:



Blue is at least interesting this time around, and doesn't looked totally outclassed at first glance.

Black:

Red:

Green (still the best):

Full disclosure: I have already done 12 sealed pools with a match each and a couple of drafts.

I don't think you can count the implements and the automata as colorless, as they are unplayable off color (worse than the kaladesh 2/3s). So there are 12 each color and 11 "pure" colorless.

Overall the commons are much worse than KLD, but the uncommons are very very strong. There are a million mana sinks in this format, which is anti-KLD. There is also good removal

I haven't played with the set yet, and I haven't read the lists of Batista and Zenbitz before making mine. But I will read them, and maybe comment on differences in the spoilers. I am not going to include a colorless section, I will simply put the colorless cards in the color lists if appropriate. Since this is how I intend to draft-I don't think drafting colorless-only will be an option, and once you draft a color, you should simply evaluate the colorless cards together with the cards in your color.







Overall, I also think that the drop in the power level of commons from KLD to AER is quite large. Looking at the available two-drops makes me want to cry. And the combat tricks are all at least a level below their KLD counterparts. Which should mean that the success of your drafts will greatly depend on what rares and uncommons you open, and on how good your first few KLD picks will align with your colors.

Where are the blink effects!?

Well, it doesn't help the ice'd over guy ATTACK, but I ran into this icing over a pacification array.



I don't really like Aeronaut, unless revolt triggers are free. But +1/+1 counter on a flier is a weak trigger. If it was EVERY revolt trigger it would be pretty good, but I think usually this is an overpriced wind drake (a card I think is better now)

Interesting point about Rebel and vehicles...a 3/3 for 3 is quite nice, and usually you will be on the beat down? I think that just makes this a C not a top common though.

The three cards I am most confused on are:
Aether Swooper, Dispersal Technician and Shipwreck Moray. They all just seem 1 pip underpowered either in p/t or cmc.

I kind of want to believe they are good? i guess swooper HAS to be better than thriving rats, which was at least OK. Dispersal Tech is EXTREMELY high variance, sometimes it will bounce their best card (although you need to win if you bounce their Gearhulk) other times it's a 3/2 for 5? That's a pretty bad fail case. Shipwreck moray would be fine if you had infinite energy... but didn't this card used to cost 3?

AER/AER/KLD looks like an enemy colored draft format to me, although the allied fail cases aren't too bad. Except GW. What does GW do?

It seems like the enemies are "set specific synergy" pairs:
counters
energy (splash R)
revolt (splash G)
vehicles
artifacts

And the allied colors are "classic" pairs:
tempo/fliers
control (artifact)
beatdown monsters
sacrifice (artifacts aggro)
... go wide? 5 color?

G actually has a lot of "Revolt" cards, more than black, but the BW uncommon is pure revolt and the GW one is just a trigger.

I'm not sure about this format at all, but I plan to force green as hard as necessary.

Also, I forgot to mention Renegade Map. That is a very interesting card, since it is both a first-turn play (not many of those around), and not a dead play later, due to both Improvise and Revolt. Thinning the deck and fixing mana are both good, more so in low-power, bomby formats. Commons are just so underwhelming, I might be picking this somewhere in the middle of the pack. Unless they are all gone by then?

I have seen roughly zero green cards passed to me in my last 5 kaladesh drafts (in fact I was esper 3 times), so I am not sure how effective forcing it is going to be.

I think a better approach would be to spend the first 4 picks on uncommons then move on which is open.