Magic Booster Draft Strategy

MagicBoosterDraftStrategy

RyanRhinebarger
The GamerssArmory
TheGamer Armory
 The Basics
TheBasics
Limitedformat
Limited format
3Boosterpacks
40carddeck
0 dd k
Unlimitedland
Averagesplit:23spells,17land
Average # of colors: 2
Average#ofcolors:2
 Fundamentals
Never
Neverplaymorethan40cards
play more than 40 cards
Play17landsunlessyouknowexactlywhy
youre
you reusingmore/less
using more/less
Play2colorsor2colors+splash
Playfirstunlessyouhaveacompellingreason
notto
Knowyoursideboard
 Whatssasplash?
What a splash?
13
1 3powerfulcardswithsinglecolorcosts,
powerful cards with single color costs
with24appropriatelycoloredmana sources
(not just land)
(notjustland)
Ex:DoomBladew/2Swamps,Incinerate+
Fireball w/ 2 Mountains and a Manalith
Fireballw/2MountainsandaManalith
Unsplashable:Overrun,Sorins Thirst
 Building a Curve
BuildingaCurve
Dont
Don tdraftapileofcards,draftadeck
draft a pile of cards draft a deck
Idealcurvepeaksat3or4
Curvingout:playacardandalandeveryturn
C i l d d l d
formaximummana
Powerfulcardvs.curvefiller
Usetimebetweenpackstoplan
p p
 Creatures or Spells?
CreaturesorSpells?
95%ofgames,creatureswingames
95% of games creatures win games
Alwayshavemorecreaturesthanspells
Aweakcreatureisbetterthanaweakspell
k i b h k ll
Aimfor80100%ofyourlandcount
Ifyouhave17lands,aimfor1317creatures
 Drafting BREAD
DraftingBREAD
B Bombs

R Removal

E Evasion/Efficiency

A Aggression

D Dregs
 BCSM: Best Case Scenario Mentality
BCSM:BestCaseScenarioMentality
Lessexperiencedplayersseeacardandsay,
p p y y,
WhatsthecoolestthingIcandowiththis?
Ex:Fog,canbeaflashyblowout
Butcandiewithitinhand,oronlybuysyouaturn
d h h d l b
Dontjustaskyourselfwhenacardisawesome,
ask when itssgood,ok,and
askwhenit good ok and bad
Ex:Pacifism,generallygoodremoval,veryrarely
bad
Rangeofsituationalquality:High,Low,Narrow,
Broad
 Rarity
Higher
Higherraritydoesnotnecessarilymeana
rarity does not necessarily mean a
bettercard
Somecommonsaresimplybetterthansome
Some commons are simply better than some
rares andmythics,somerares areterrible
Pickordersshouldbebasedonpowerlevel,
Pi k d h ld b b d l l
notonrarity
Recentdraftorder:C,C,U,C,C,U,C,C
, , , , , , ,
Shouldnotbe:R,U,U,U,C,C,C,C
WhatsstheFirstPick?
What the First Pick?
WhatsstheFirstPick?
What the First Pick?
WhatsstheFirstPick?
What the First Pick?
WhatsstheFirstPick?
What the First Pick?
WhatsstheFirstPick?
What the First Pick?
WhatsstheFirstPick?
What the First Pick?
 Tips for Effective Play
TipsforEffectivePlay
Dontlettoomanycooksinthekitchen
Focusontherule,nottheexception
Waituntilthelastminutetoplayinstantsandactivated
abilities
Dontchumpblockunlessyouneedto
Ifyourenotblocking,youshouldbeattacking
Dontplayaroundacardunlessyoucannameit
D t l d d l it
Dontplayscared,dontplayconfident
Killyouropponent,dontlosetrackofthewin
y pp
Payattentiontoyourtime
Dontconcedeuntiltheyvebeatenyou
Thinkinchunks,actinchunks
Think in chunks act in chunks
 Most Important Advice!
MostImportantAdvice!
Have
Havefun!Ifyouaren
fun! If you arenttenjoyingthegame,
enjoying the game
youwillloseeverytime
Playmore!Theonlywaytodefinitelyget
Play more! The only way to definitely get
betteristoplayasoftenasyoucan
Readup!Learnthecards,theformat,the
R d ! L h d h f h
archetypes,andtheotherplayers
THINK!!!Spendtheextrafewsecondsand
thinkabouteverypickandeveryplay
 Helpful Resources
HelpfulResources
Magicthegathering.com Visualspoilerofsets,occasionaltopicalarticles
wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Archive.aspx?tag=limitedinformation
/ / /
WizardsoftheCoastarticlesaboutLimitedformats
Channelfireball.com Draftvideosw/commentarybyworldsbest
p y
players
mtgcast.com/?cat=52 LimitedResourcespodcast,excellentsourceof
limitedadvice
mtgsalvation.com/articles/topic/cranial.html Rulesquestionsanswered
by high level judges Learn complex card interactions before youre
byhighleveljudges.Learncomplexcardinteractionsbeforeyou re
beatenbythem
wizards.com/magiconline MagicOnlineletsyoudraftanytimewith
playersfromaroundtheworldforrealvalue.Recommendedforthe
d di
dedicatedandselfcontrolled.Notrecommendforaddictivepersonalities
d d lf ll d df ddi i li i
Raredraft.com ImportyourrecordedMTGOdrafts,reviewthem,add
comments,receivecommentsfromothers
 Glossary
2for1:Aplaythattrades1cardfor2oftheotherplayer's.Cardadvantageisagoodthing.
4322:
4 3 2 2:AsingleeliminationqueueonMTGOthatpays4packstothewinner,3packstosecond
A single elimination queue on MTGO that pays 4 packs to the winner, 3 packs to second
place,and2packstothirdandfourthplace.Itstotalpayoutis1packlessthantheotherMTGO
queues,soitdoesn'tattractthemostcompetitiveplayers.
84:AsingleeliminationqueueonMTGOthatpays8packstothewinner,4packstosecondplace,
andjacktoeveryoneelse.Thepayoutattractscompetitivedraftplayers.
Archetype:Adeckstrategythatyoutrytodraftorbuildyoursealeddecktowards.Cardsthaton
theirownarecrapmaybemuchmorepotentinanarchetypewithothercardssupportingthem.
h b h h h h d h
Bomb:Acardthatwillwingamesbyitselfifitgoesunanswered.Themostvaluabledraftpicks.
Cutting:Whenaplayeraggressivelystripsaparticularcolororarchetypeindraftfromthepacks
youpass.Donetosendsignalstootherplayers.Canalsorefertoacolororarchetype"beingcut"
fromthepacksyousee.
Fixing: Mana fixing.Cardsthatprovidemana
Fixing:Mana fixing Cards that provide mana ofanycolororallowyoutogetlandsofyourchoice
of any color or allow you to get lands of your choice
fromyourdeck.Moreimportantinsomeformatsthanothers,butalwayshelpfulwhenrunning
threeormorecolors.
Forcing:Asinforcingacolororarchetype.Rigorouslypursuingaparticulardraftstrategy,oftenby
passingovercardsthatarestrongerinavacuum.Bestdoneearlyinthedrafttosendconsistent
signals.
g
Hating,orHatedrafting:Takingacardindraftjustbecauseyoudon'twantotherdeckstohave
accesstoit.
 Glossary, contd
Glossary,cont d
Queue:Anonlinepod.Namedbecauseyouwaitforittofillupbeforeitstarts.OnMTGO,they
come in 84,
comein8 4,4
432
3 2andSwissvarieties.
and Swiss varieties.
p#p#:Inorder,referstopacknumber,andthenpicknumberfromthatpack.Ashorthandfor
discussingdraftdecisions.
Pod:Asindraftpod.Thegroupofpeopleparticipatinginthesamedraft.
Pool:Asinsealedpool.Thesetofcardsthatasealedplayergetstobuildtheirdeckwith.
PseudoRemoval:Cardsthatkindofsortofdealwithyouropponent'scards,incertainsituations.
Creaturepumpandcounterspells
d ll fallintothiscategory.Muchworsethanbeingableto
f ll h h h b bl
unconditionallyremovesomethingfromthebattlefield,butbetterthannothing.
Raredrafting:Draftingarareyouwon'tplayinyourdeckbecauseofitsmonetaryvalue.
Removal:Cardsthatdealwiththeimportantcardsyouropponenthasplayed.Generallymeans
creatureremoval,butalsoartifactremovalintheartifactheavyScarsblocklimited.
Signals: Communication in drafts through your pick choices Generally used to push the player
Signals:Communicationindraftsthroughyourpickchoices.Generallyusedtopushtheplayer
you'repassingtointocolorsorarchetypesyou'renotdrafting,sothatthey'llinturnpassthecards
youwantontoyou.Readingandsendingsignalseffectivelyisanadvancedbutimportantskill.
Swiss(queue):AnoneliminationqueueonMTGOthatpays1packforeverymatchwin.Goodfor
playersjuststartingout,becauseitgivesyouthreematchestoplaywithyourdeck.
Tabling:Acardtablesinadraftwhenyoupassonitanditcomesbacktoyouaftereveryoneelse
g y p y y
hastakentheirpicksfromthatpack.
Tempo:Advantageofoptionsandresourceefficiencyoveranopponent;controllingthepaceofthe
gametomakeyourplayssuperior.