1. It is in my opinion totally right to pass the Pyroclasm if you’re trying to draft soldiers. You want to cut off White and (surprisingly!) Pyroclasm isn’t actually that darn good against a real Soldier deck, mainly because of Armorsmith. Only the 3/2 dies to Pyroclasm among the common Soldiers, and that only if you *don’t* have an Armorsmith. Red in general is quite bad against Soldiers; its creatures are totally outclassed by you. I might even take an Armorsmith over a Pyroclasm here, just to cut white off. Pacifism’s a no-brainer, really.

2. One of the best things about the Soldiers draft is that if you go first pick Pikemaster, second pick Armorsmith and *never* get any more soldiers, your deck can still be totally fine. You still have access to the white removal and flyers at common, and every soldier is at least a competitively costes (and usually undercosted) guy to begin with.