Platinum Pickaxe

This is the pick that ends the opening stretch of a run. It bites through the ore your world's evil biome is hiding and it bites through meteorite, which together are the two things standing between a starting character and a weapon worth the name. Everything below this tier just bounces.

It stops short of hellstone, and that is the next wall. Once you have meteor gear or the evil ore weapons, the plan is to get down to the underworld with lava protection sorted, cut out enough hellstone for the Nightmare Pickaxe tier, and retire this one.

Platinum edges out Gold on every axis, but the gap is small enough that it should never change your plans. Whichever your world generated is the one you use.

If it is a mining tool, take the modifier that speeds the swing. If you are the sort who fights with a pickaxe in the first hour, take the damage roll instead. It is not a serious weapon either way.