Magic Booster Draft Strategy Ryan Rhinebarger TheGamer s Armory
The Basics Limited format 3 Booster packs 40 card deck Unlimited land Average split: 23 spells, 17 land Average # of colors: 2
Fundamentals Never play more than 40 cards Play 17 lands unless you know exactly why you re using more/less Play 2 colors or 2 colors + splash Play first unless you have a compelling reason not to Know your sideboard
What s a splash? 1 3 powerful cards with single color costs, with 2 4 appropriately colored mana sources (not just land) Ex: Doom Blade w/ 2 Swamps, Incinerate + Fireball w/ 2 Mountains and a Manalith Unsplashable: Overrun, Sorin s Thirst
Building a Curve Don t draft a pile of cards, draft a deck Ideal curve peaks at 3 or 4 Curving out: play a card and a land every turn for maximum mana Powerful card vs. curve filler Use time between packs to plan
Creatures or Spells? 95% of games, creatures win games Always have more creatures than spells A weak creature is better than a weak spell Aim for 80 100% of your land count If you have 17 lands, aim for 13 17 creatures
B Bombs R Removal Drafting BREAD E Evasion/Efficiency A Aggression D Dregs
BCSM: Best Case Scenario Mentality Less experienced players see a card and say, What s the coolest thing I can do with this? Ex: Fog, can be a flashy blowout But can die with it in hand, or only buys you a turn Don t just ask yourself when a card is awesome, ask when it s good, ok, and bad Ex: Pacifism, generally good removal, very rarely bad Range of situational quality: High, Low, Narrow, Broad
Rarity Higher rarity does not necessarily mean a better card Some commons are simply better than some rares and mythics, some rares are terrible Pick orders should ldbe based on power level, l not on rarity Recent draft order: C, C, U, C, C, U, C, C Should not be: R, U, U, U, C, C, C, C
What s the First Pick?
What s the First Pick?
What s the First Pick?
What s the First Pick?
What s the First Pick?
What s the First Pick?
Tips for Effective Play Don t let too many cooks in the kitchen Focus on the rule, not the exception Wait until the last minute to play instants and activated abilities Don t chump block unless you need to If you re not blocking, you should be attacking Don t play around a card unless you can name it Don t play scared, don t play confident Kill your opponent, don t lose track of the win Pay attention to your time Don t concede until they ve beaten you Think in chunks, act in chunks
Most Important Advice! Have fun! If you aren t enjoying the game, you will lose every time Play more! The only way to definitely get better is to play as often as you can Read up! Learn the cards, the format, the archetypes, and the other players THINK!!! Spend the extra few seconds and think about every pick and every play
Helpful Resources Magicthegathering.com Visual spoiler of sets, occasional topical articles wizards.com/magic/magazine/archive.aspx?tag=limitedinformation / / Wizards of the Coast articles about Limited formats Channelfireball.com Draft videos w/ commentary by world s best players mtgcast.com/?cat=52 Limited Resources podcast, excellent source of limited advice mtgsalvation.com/articles/topic/cranial.html Rules questions answered by high level judges. Learn complex card interactions before you re beaten by them wizards.com/magiconline Magic Online lets you draft any time with players from around the world for real value. Recommended for the ddi dedicated dand self controlled. ll Not recommend for addictive i personalities i Raredraft.com Import your recorded MTGO drafts, review them, add comments, receive comments from others
Glossary 2 for 1: A play that trades 1 card for 2 of the other player's. Card advantage is a good thing. 4 3 2 2: 2: A single elimination queue on MTGO that pays 4 packs to the winner, 3 packs to second place, and 2 packs to third and fourth place. Its total payout is 1 pack less than the other MTGO queues, so it doesn't attract the most competitive players. 8 4: A single elimination queue on MTGO that pays 8 packs to the winner, 4 packs to second place, and jack to everyone else. The payout attracts competitive draft players. Archetype: A deck strategy that you try to draft or build your sealed deck towards. Cards that on their own are crap may be much more potent in an archetype with other cards supporting them. Bomb: A card that will win games by itself if it goes unanswered. The most valuable draft picks. Cutting: When a player aggressively strips a particular color or archetype in draft from the packs you pass. Done to send signals to other players. Can also refer to a color or archetype "being cut" from the packs you see. Fixing: Mana fixing. Cards that provide mana of any color or allow you to get lands of your choice from your deck. More important in some formats than others, but always helpful when running three or more colors. Forcing: As in forcing a color or archetype. Rigorously pursuing a particular draft strategy, often by passing over cards that are stronger in a vacuum. Best done early in the draft to send consistent signals. Hating, or Hatedrafting: Taking a card in draft just because you don't want other decks to have access to it.
Glossary, cont d Queue: An online pod. Named because you wait for it to fill up before it starts. On MTGO, they come in 8 4, 4 3 2 and Swiss varieties. p#p#: In order, refers to pack number, and then pick number from that pack. A shorthand for discussing draft decisions. Pod: As in draft pod. The group of people participating in the same draft. Pool: As in sealed pool. The set of cards that a sealed player gets to build their deck with. Pseudo Removal: Cards that kind of sort of deal with your opponent's cards, in certain situations. Creature pump and counterspells fll fall into this category. Much worse than being able to unconditionally remove something from the battlefield, but better than nothing. Raredrafting: Drafting a rare you won't play in your deck because of its monetary value. Removal: Cards that deal with the important cards your opponent has played. Generally means creature removal, but also artifact removal in the artifact heavy Scars block limited. Signals: Communication in drafts through your pick choices. Generally used to push the player you're passing to into colors or archetypes you're not drafting, so that they'll in turn pass the cards you want on to you. Reading and sending signals effectively is an advanced but important skill. Swiss (queue): A non elimination queue on MTGO that pays 1 pack for every match win. Good for players just starting out, because it gives you three matches to play with your deck. Tabling: A card tables in a draft when you pass on it and it comes back to you after everyone else has taken their picks from that pack. Tempo: Advantage of options and resource efficiency over an opponent; controlling the pace of the game to make your plays superior.