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Drafting with DK #2: Fresh Prince of Your Queue

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by Dan Kramer

On Monday, Noah Long described his 5 keys towards achieving success at MTG.  Today, Dan Kramer provides us with 10 fundamental lessons for drafting.  Forget everything you think you know about drafting and let Dan help you build a good foundation from the ground up.

In the city of Montreal born and raised
At the card store was where I spent most of my days
Tappin’ some cardboards, swingin’ for 2
Improving faster than the rest of my crew,
When a couple of guys
Talked about the PT
Suddenly that became the goal for me
To do that I’d need to draft all that I could
I said I’ll need a strong strategy if I want to be good
I 8-man drafted online day after day
Winning the 8-4s, I knew I was on my way
Before long at a PTQ, I punched my ticket
Hardwork had paid off and now with pros I could kick it!
Now I’d like to take a minute
Just sit right down
I’ll tell you how to win the next booster draft in your town

Welcome back all to another instalment of Drafting with DK.  Today, no pick orders.  No archetypes.  No draft walkthrough.  No M11 discussion.  No tournament report.  No peek at Shards of Mirrodin.

So what are you here to read?  We’re going back to the roots.  The very basics and essentials of how I look at a draft.  Now this is not to say that this article is targeted only towards new players.  Those who have drafted significant amounts probably already have their own ideas of how it should work.  But I ask for the next little while that you forget everything you know about slipcovers…  erm, I mean…  drafting.  And consider these fundamental suggestions which – perhaps – may help you elevate your limited game.  If nothing else, they should help you go into an 8-man feeling cool, prepared, and in charge.  The real Fresh Prince of the Queue.

LESSON #1 – DRAFTING IS FUN

Some of what we go over below may sound like work.  So the number one fundamental is that drafting should be fun.  It’s my favourite Magic format, and this opinion is shared by many.  If you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right.  Start the process over again, don’t focus so much on the advice and tips of others, and find a way to enjoy it more.  To get better, you’re going to need to draft quite a bit.  For that not to be painful, you need to have a good time.

LESSON # 2 – BEFORE YOU SIT DOWN AT THE TABLE

If you think your whole draft begins when you crack your first booster, you are starting a number of steps behind your fiercest competition.

First off, know the set.  I’ve had the funny experience of going into a prerelease “blind” (not reading any spoilers beforehand) and had a good time with it, but if you’re trying to win at a higher level, there is a serious advantage to knowing the cards well.  You want to know how deep the colours are, where the removal is, where the best creatures are, where you have strong early game, and where you will find the finishers to compliment any given strategy.  So read that spoiler, study up, make some lists if you want to.

Have a plan.  Unlike some, I am very rarely a fan of “forcing” a specific archetype.  I find you end up with a much better deck (and usually better chance to win) by just trying to read the packs.  “But wait a minute Dan…  didn’t you just write a whole article on the M11 Archetypes you like to play?!”  Yes, astute observer, I most certainly did.  And that’s where the plan comes in.  Don’t go into the draft knowing what the end result will be, but look extra hard for signs of a strategy you think is best.  This means, for example, if I start an M11 draft with some blue cards, I will look to the other three colours way before considering black.  Or if I (somehow) start drafting black, I’ll try to also cut off the red to have it come back to me in pack 2.  Know how you want your deck to shape up (curve, creature count, tricks…) and instead of just trying to figure out which cards have the greatest value individually, draft the cards that have the best fit for your desired deck.  I, personally, like decks with high creature counts (15-16+) as I like to be able to curve out and be the one applying pressure / adding to board presence.  A deck full of too many Diminishes, Unsummons, and Whispersilk Cloaks is prone to poor draws, and does not capitalize on an opponent stumbling as much as one that will be dropping even Silvercoat Lions or Goblin Pikers if necessary.  So my pre-draft plan, regardless of colour, is to have around 16 guys, hopefully about 4 removal-ish spells, and 2-3 card draw / pump / other tricky spells.
But, be flexible to what you see.

LESSON #3 – PACK 1

Look at the whole pack.  Newer players have a tendency to focus in on what their pick should be, take it, and pass the rest without a second thought.  It is important to consider what else is there.  Count the playables.  Don’t only look at what you’re passing  to the guy to your left, but, with the early picks, see if there is anything relevant that *should* come back to you.

That said, don’t overvalue the signals you are sending.  Now, this one may sound a little funny to some of you that feel they know what they’re doing.  But…  be a little greedy.  Your job is not to build the person to your left’s deck (though you should not be trying to ruin their day in the first pack either), but to put together as strong a 40 card pile of your own as you can.  REMEMBER – this person is only feeding you for pack 2.  The signals coming from your right are of far greater importance than the ones you are sending, as you are seeing those cards for both packs 1 and 3.  I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone complain “Mannnn I cut off my colours so well, and then I got screwed in pack 3!”  This is because, of course, cutting off a colour has ZERO benefit to the cards you will see in the third pack.  Maybe you were able to cut them off so well because the guy feeding you was “helping” out by taking many of them him or her (who am I kidding…  him) self.

“Now wait a minute…  if the signals from our right matter a lot more than the signals we’re sending…  what does that mean for the guy on our left?!”  Ah, very good young grasshopper.  You should certainly do your best to get the guy next to you into one or two colours you are not playing, as it is best to get quality selection from all three boosters.  But regardless of what you’ve passed, if you see a colour is grossly underdrafted late in the first booster, and your colours are still flexible…  go for it.  So long as you’re getting picks in one of your colours back your way in the second pack, you will be just fine.

LESSON #4 – AFTER YOU’VE PICKED YOUR HORSE

When picking a card, the best method is to move all the cards you’re considering to the front (or back) of the pack.  This way you can review them all without distractions from Squire or Hunter’s Feast.  What is important is that after you’ve selected your card, you shuffle the remaining cards (face down) so that the person receiving the pack has no idea on your thoughts on the cards.  You don’t want them knowing what cards you were considering taking as any information could put them at an advantage.  While you’re doing this, of course, it is also important to keep your eyes on your cards only.  Just keep your head down.  It is always tempting to look at what’s going on around you, but if you get into that habit, it will lead to trouble at higher levels.

LESSON #5 – CAREFULLY CUTTING CARDS

A controversial subject is when to cut a card, meaning to take a good card you won’t be playing just so your potential opponents don’t get it either.  In the first two boosters, cutting should be reserved only for cards you won’t be able to deal with easily.  For example, if you are UW in an M11 draft and notice you have a lot of 1 toughness dudes, it would be acceptable to cut Prodigal Pyromancer.

It is important to maximize the usefulness of the “review period” between boosters (or on Magic Online, just to keep track of your drafted cards by Hiding things that won’t make your deck).  In addition to watching your mana curve and creature count, it will tell you your total playables count.  Going into the third pack, you will know how many cards you need for your own deck, and where you can start removing the most powerful cards in the packs to hurt the picks of others.  Now don’t go overboarding on cutting.  It is always better to take a card that will marginally to significantly improve your deck rather than cut a card you may never play against…  but there is also no point in picking up a Runeclaw Bear for your GU deck that already has 5 2-drops.  It’s perfectly acceptable to take the Chandra’s Outrage or Assassinate out of that booster instead.  Remembering your playables count will also indicate when you can take a powerful sideboard card like Celestial Purge or Combust over a weaker card needed to round out your main deck.

LESSON #6 – WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND; REMEMBER WHAT YOU’VE PASSED

This rule applies mostly to cards like Pyroclasm and Mind Control.  The type you have to play around or will want to sideboard to combat.  Remember which of these you’ve shipped on and which players’ direction they were headed in.  Unlike playing in a large tournament, there are only 8 players in your draft pod.  The odds that you have to play against these guys is reasonably high, so if you can know what kind of fancy tricks are hiding in their pile, you will be better prepared for the match.

LESSON #7 – BASING YOUR MANA BASE ON A SOUND BASIS.  ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US.

Of course, the decisions don’t end when you’ve selected 45 (or 42 without the lands) cards.  I’ve gone over with you the spell mix I look for my deck to feature.  So what are the remaining questions about cutting down to your final 40?  Well most importantly would be the basic lands you’ll need to add.  In any limited format, I rarely stray away from either 17 or 18 total lands.  On deciding whether to play 1 more or 1 fewer, there are a number of factors to consider.  First, of course, would be your mana curve.  If your curve is negatively skewed, with a high concentration in 2-drops, 17 is likely sufficient.  Next are cards that help or hurt your mana development.  Of course multiple Llanowar Elves / Sylvan Ranger / Cultivate make it easier to play 17, but so do cards like Preordain.  On the opposite side of this criteria, some cards make you want additional lands, notably Terramorphic Expanse / Evolving Wilds / Fetch Lands.  I generally count those as half a land.  It’s ok to round up if you have only 1, but if you have 2, I’d definitely go with 18 lands.  Third you would need to look at hard to cast cards in your deck.  Do you have 2 or 3 7-mana bombs?  Getting there is easier with 18 lands.  You don’t want them to be dead cards whenever they’re drawn.  Similarly, what are your colour requirements?  If you have triple white and a triple black spells in your deck, you need to make sure you have sufficient sources of each colour available.  9 Swamps and 9 Plains would usually be suggested.

What about the hugely annoying problem of having a deck full of game-breaking bombs?  If you feel that your deck is really good…  “How good was she?!”…  so good in fact that you think you should have no trouble winning on the power of yours cards alone, there should be no doubt you run 18 to avoid random losses to manascrew / mulliganing out.  This is even more so the case if your 23rd card is a marginal spell…  wouldn’t you rather draw a land to help you cast your better cards anyway?  The corollary to this is when your deck lacks power, you need a plan.  If your ASQ (Average Spell Quality) is below par, and you lack board-dominating presence, your best route is to try to curve out and hope an opponent or two stumble.  Running extra marginal cards (Runeclaw Bears, Hornet Sting, Siege Mastodon, etc.) still represents more things for your opponent to have to deal with.  And should a game enter “topdeck mode”, since you don’t have the same threat quality as your opponent, at least you can try to draw a greater number of relevant spells than him.

LESSON #8 – YOU WON THE FLIP.  YOU’RE ON THE CLOCK.

There are a few more important decisions to be made before the first land drop.  And no, smart ass, I’m not talking about putting your Leylines into play.  Unlike in Constructed, there is a decision to be made here whether to play or draw.  In sealed deck, I almost always prefer to be on the draw.  In draft however, for most formats, I find playing first generally the better option, especially for the first game.  Here are what I consider the main criteria:
– If your deck works out to have a pretty sketchy mana base but has a decent curve, I would choose to draw.
– If your deck can at least match your opponent’s speed, and your opponent seems to have sketchy mana, I would draw (force him to play).
– If I feel my opponent’s deck is better than mine, and they are roughly the same speed, I would choose to draw in game 3.  If they mulligan on the play, you are starting out at a distinct advantage.
– If your deck is either considerably faster or slower than your opponent’s, I would always choose to play.

Any other situation, you usually play first depending on the format.

LESSON #9 – WHEN YOU’RE SMILING, DON’T LET YOUR OPPONENT SMILE WITH YOU…

I’m not going to teach you how to play Magic.  If you’re here, I assume you know how.  So let’s talk about the couple of things you *can* tighten up in your limited matches.  The first thing I want to mention is overextending.  This is something that players tend to think about in constructed, but often forget in limited.  Yes, Day of Judgment / Planar Cleansing / Sweeper XYZ is a rare, and there is a good chance your opponent does not have one in their deck.  BUT maybe they do!  There is a certain degree of knowing the format and feeling out what you think is possible that is required.  The general rule is you want to aim to play exactly enough cards to win in the shortest timetable possible without excess.  So if playing another creature is going to increase your clock by a turn, it may be the right play.  But if your opponent has lots of mana available and plenty of cards in hand, you know there is a good chance he’s baiting you into something, so…  and this is the key rule… if you already have enough of a board advantage that your opponent playing one good creature won’t change it, the general philosophy is to hold back.

A similar note is you’ll often hear players talk about not wanting to show their opponent some bomb they had in their hand in the first game.  This can be a risky strategy.  Much like above, the key rule is the same.  If you are winning enough that your opponent playing a very good card on their turn won’t change the fact, you can keep your treasured card a “secret” for later on in the match.  Don’t overvalue this information though.  I’ve seen people apply this rule to all the wrong cards.  Keeping your Grave Titan or Khlani Hydra in hiding is virtually pointless.  Sure these are great cards that will discourage your opponent, but they are not cards that your opponent will particularly be able to play or plot around.  The kind of cards you want to hold back on are ones you want your opponent to walk into, like Pyroclasm, or ones that your opponent will work to combat, like Fireball or Overrun.

LESSON #10 – IF ALL ELSE FAILS, IT’LL ONLY TAKE YOU 10,000 HOURS

Hopefully the above tips that have contributed greatly to my modest career success to date will be of some use to you.  But as Lesson #1 alluded to, there is little substitute for quality practice.  The best way to get better is to draft a lot, and preferably with players of equal or better skill than yourself.  Drafting with new players at FNM is fun and easy foil cards, but it won’t do much to take you to the next level.  Magic Online is a great resource for this as you have instant access to some of the world’s best.  On that note, next week I will have a Magic Online Draft Walkthrough so you all can see me try to put some words into practice.  They say those who can’t do, teach, so for those who don’t know me I guess I have to prove I can at least win a single 8-4!

But if you don’t get the hang of a draft format right away, don’t despair.  It often takes me a couple of drafts before I start to win with any regularity as well.  But if you’re still not getting the hang of it, keep at it.  Some players can do alright just off of natural skill, but as famed Canadian business author Malcolm Gladwell explains in his bestselling novel Outliers, experience and practice are two main criterion for going the distance.  It is his well-researched theory that the amount of time required to “master” virtually anything is 10,000 hours of work.  So if you estimate that a booster draft takes 2 and a half hours to complete, I’ll tell you all about how you can become the fresh prince of your queue.  It takes only 4,000 8-man drafts.  So until next time, get crakin’!

D.K.

Danny McCoy on Magic Online – feel free to message me any comments or questions!

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