One thing I've noticed is that STX draft has a lot of cards that I think are underrated by both the Arena population and sometimes content creators. So, starting today, I'm going to post a thread each day about an underrated card, in reverse order of 17lands Bo3 ALSA data. 1/x

First up, fittingly: First Day of Class (ALSA 9.4, fifth least drafted card by ALSA). A lot of people talk about this card in terms of "yeah all the learn is great, except First Day is trash." And yes, I will admit it's the weakest learn card, but that doesn't make it trash. 2/x

Let's look at some baselines first: the absolute worst case is 1R learn at instant speed. I think most people agree that learning has turned out to be better than drawing a card (or at least, that you can draft to make it so), so this is better than cycling 1R. 3/x

"But wait!" you might argue, "This can't cycle into a land, or cycle to find your maindeck outs!" But with Env. Sci. it cycles into an Archway Commons, and there's always the desparation rummage. 4/x

So, now say you cast this, and follow it up with a creature. Then, this roughly reads "1R Sorcery: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature that ETB'd this turn. It gains haste. Draw a card+." That's a card that's a bit below rate on average, but can steal some games. 5/x

Now say you cast this plus a Summoning. Most commonly (in Lorehold), this will mean either:
- 5 mana 4/3 haste (Scorch Rider?)
- 5 mana 3/2 flying haste (Snare Thopter + 1 mana)
- 7 mana 5/5 haste
Again, these are a bit below rate, but the first two especially aren't by much. 6/x

Now, factor in learn synergies: you get two magecraft triggers (very relevant with First-Year, Lumimancer, and Pledgemages) and you put an instant and a sorcery in the gy (for Curves and Reconstructs). You can even sometimes copy First Day for two learns and two counters. 7/x

All of these individual things are a bit small and under-rate, but that's the great thing about modal cards: the sum of these parts makes a pretty good whole. This is especially true when some of those modes sometimes just end games. First Day into Curve turns corners fast. 8/x

So am I saying that this card is busted? No. But to give an idea of how much I like it, I would rank it as tied for third among the mono-red commons with Pillardrop Warden, behind Heated Debate and Enthusiastic Study (though some of that is red commons being meh). 9/x

I'm definitely not taking this card nearly as highly as I like it though. As shown from its ALSA, it almost always wheels. So I'm viewing it as a decent piece of my learn/lesson packages that I can pick up super late, helping me get up to numbers like 7 learn 7 lessons. 10/x

This card is just one of many underrated cards that pull me towards assertive Lorehold learn/lesson decks. It plays perfectly as a flexible tool that allows me to deploy hasty threats to pressure my opponent's life total while still helping the grindy lesson plan. 11/x

I'm lower on it in Prismari, as those decks tend to be more purely controlling, but as mentioned above it plays very well with Curves. And, as I've said before, I'm not afraid to go off-college for a learn/lesson base, and this plays the role of cheap learn card for that. 12/x

In conclusion: First Day of Class is the worst learn card, but the modality of learn is so good that that still leaves it as a good card. I'm not taking it highly because I can wheel it, but I'm happy to put it in most of my Lorehold decks. 13/13

As examples, here are some recent trophies I've had with First Day of Class in them, all of which liked having the card as part of their lesson plan. 14/13

https://www.17lands.com/deck/fe8b7a3188a5497c9e5d653cda8ac93e
https://www.17lands.com/deck/aebb4d5c58a24808877ae71c8fd264dd
https://www.17lands.com/deck/3656a18d187a4e089e4ce695023656bd
https://www.17lands.com/deck/76aecff84e6e4ad2bf703a2ce7884f22