basic draft strategy
Limited forum
Posted on Jan. 27, 2015, 3:14 p.m. by superkamiguru7506
How far into the draft should you pick a clan/color combo.
Pretty early I think. Then you know not to pick things that don't go with what your overall strategy is and to not get cards out of your color range, ending up with a few colors and a solid manabase.
January 27, 2015 3:18 p.m.
NobodyPicksBulbasaur says... #4
You want to keep an open mind throughout most of the first pack. There's a good chance that you'll stay with your first instinct, but it's never too late in pack 1 to cut and run. You absolutely want to have an end goal for the deck by halfway through the second pack.
January 27, 2015 3:55 p.m.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #5
Signals In Booster Draft - Reid Duke is a solid read on the subject.
January 27, 2015 5:15 p.m.
In my experience with the sets it's good to be as open minded as you can when drafting. I've played a vast number of interesting stuff that still did decent. The last draft I did I opened up a Monastery Mentor in my fate pack and started picking up a few whites until there were none being passed. Pick 4 I had no white in the pack so I started drafting blue, or at least what was coming around. Eventually I started picking up black and green focusing in on what was getting passed to me. Ended up playing a b/u/g/r deck with some strong creatures like a Sagu Mauler in pack 2 and a last pick Bear's Companion. I had drafted multiple Throttle s and Douse in Gloom s. Pretty much after all of this my point Is don't smash yourself into a clan. Build on what you get. I've had a 5 color morph deck, u/w control, and my favorite was a r/w splash u aggro with a shu yun
February 10, 2015 12:04 p.m.
Totaledcow says... #7
While it's generally considered bad form to pick your colors in the first pack, I've found that taking mana fixing over filler cards in the first pack helps you considerably value wise later, because most people tend towards taking mana fixers in pack 2 or pack 3. Understanding the expected value of a pick is very important though so that you don't unknowingly take mana fixers over something which will significantly change the board.
But of course, before you can start grabbing mana fixing, you need to know what colors you're playing. I say "let the bombs guide you". The current format is extremely slow and bomb-heavy, so you're very likely taking a 1p1p of a rare bomb, which means you should immediately get supporting fixing for that bomb + splash colors that are likely to be good.
In general, I consider black and green to be the best splash colors for the set, and white to be the best main/bomb color for the set. It of course completely depends on your packs/pod, but green has lots of fat creatures, white has a broad range of bombs and answers, and black is the source of the majority of both removal and good cheap creatures (courtesy of delve mostly). Abzan, then, ends up typically being the best clan choice when you can pick it, especially considering it's multi-colored cards in KTK are some of the best if you get them (Duneblast and Rhino in particular are beyond excellent in this format).
That's not to say any clan can't be played. I've had a lot of success going Sultai and Mardu as well, less success with Temur unless I go four colors (splashing into black for removal), and minimal success choosing Jeskai. It all depends on the cards in your packs/pod though, so it's very important to be able to read the draft and ensure you're making the right 1p1p.
JWiley129 says... #2
In Khans? You should really wait and see what the open clan is. If you open a bomb in a clan, you should probably take it, but you'll have a better deck if you sit back and see what the draft gives you.
Fate Reforged changes that a bit, but it's super bomb-heavy, and you'll likely be first picking many of the rares. As there aren't any 3-color cards in FRF, just let the rares be a guide as to where you want to draft. For example, if you open Yasova Dragonclaw you could either go
or 
, but you don't have to commit until later on in the pack.
January 27, 2015 3:18 p.m.