Booster Draft -- Why do I get my a$s kicked?
Limited forum
Posted on Nov. 18, 2014, 1:20 p.m. by darleen
I just started playing Magic about one month ago and I'm totally hooked. I spend all my free time building decks and researching cards. I feel like I have a good understanding of the game mechanics and I do well playing against my friends who have played for years.
That being said I get my a$s handed to me every time I go to Booster Drafts.
What are the best colors to draft for Khans of Tarkir? What is a good drafting strategy? How do I keep from getting such a beatdown?
julianjmoss says... #3
I forget the acronym for picking cards in a draft but there is a certain way to prioritize them in order to get a good pool of balanced cards. If someone knows the entire thing please post it. Basically you want to pull out Bombs, Removal, Evasion, (I think the acronym is BREACH?). Also make sure that you dont try and force an archetype really early on, find some strong cards and feel out what is available, when i first started drafting I would often try to draft an archetype right off the bat and just have an incomplete deck that could have been good but I passed up on great cards for an idea.
November 18, 2014 1:29 p.m.
I usually draft the Rare card first for the dollar value. Then I tend to draft the Rare card's colors so I can use it in the drafted deck. So far, that strategy hasn't worked very well. Should I just draft the best creatures first instead?
November 18, 2014 1:31 p.m.
julianjmoss says... #5
If its a money rare feel free to take it but trying to make a deck based on the first card is risky because it isnt indicative of anything that will be passed to you.
November 18, 2014 1:34 p.m.
Kingzerker says... #6
A good thing to keep in mind when drafting is the acronym B.R.E.A.D.
It stands for B(ombs) R(emoval) E(vasion) A(ggro) and D(uds).
This is generally the manner in which you want to value cards in a pack. First you want to look for any bombs. Bombs are cards that can win you the game when played and should be picked basically every time if in your colors. If there's no bombs in the pack the next thing you want to look for is removal. These deal with your opponents threats and bombs effectively. While you don't want to overvalue removal, it's often the best option when available. Simply enough you're going to need to win the game eventually and creatures with evasion let you do that. They either win the game if unchecked or eat a removal spell that would otherwise hit your bombs. You always want a few of these in your deck too. Now on the lower end of the spectrum exist cards that can be placed into the aggro category. These are cards that you pick to fill out your deck and smooth out your curve. You want to be doing something every turn in limited and that's where these cards come in. They're just stuff to do with your mana. And lastly, we have the duds. These are the cards you don't really want to pick but get stuck with at the end of packs. Most of these cards won't even make it out of the sideboard.
Understanding which cards fit into which category and selecting them accordingly can be extremely beneficial to your draft. However drafting is only one side of the coin, you have to be able to pilot your new deck as well.
Hope this helps! :)
November 18, 2014 1:34 p.m.
Look up how to draft on google for basic drafting tips.
Remember bread for determining pick ordrr.
B - bombs -efficient carfs that swing game in your favor.
R - removal
E - evasion - creatures with ways to get damage through (flying/trample)
A - abilities - cards with abilities that help win. D - dregs - in other words etherything not good enough to go in other categories.
While bread method is not the only consideration, it helps till you get a better grip on what is drafting.
While bombs help, a deck needs to have consistency. In otherwords, some cards need to be ib multiples.
Pick how you are best playing. If you like agro WRB is good, so is WRU. I like big creatures (RUG) or themes (WGB), both have done well when i drafted good.
November 18, 2014 1:41 p.m.
If you want to get better at Booster Draft, I recommend listening to Limited Resources. It's a podcast that is focused on getting you better at Limited formats (Draft & Sealed).
November 18, 2014 1:46 p.m.
In Khans, you also need to pick lands in your color, and trilands if two are in your color unless there is a bomb or removal in your color. I have seen people play 2 color, three color, and i have seen 4/5 color good stuff decks with lots of land mana fixing. Splashing a fourth color for a morph card makes it never a dead card.
Never force the color you first pick, if you stop seeing it.
November 18, 2014 1:51 p.m.
CharonSquared says... #11
A tip specifically for Khans: if possible in pack 1, try to pick most of your cards in two enemy colors, such as Green+Black, or Red+Blue. This gives you more options for the rest of the draft. In Green+Black, in pack 2 you can decide to go Abzan if you're seeing a lot of white cards, or Sultai if blue seems more open. Also, you want to take mana fixing fairly highly. Tri-lands such as Frontier Bivouac, life-lands such as Scoured Barrens, and the Banners should all be fairly high picks. It depends on how many multicolored cards you have in your deck, and also how low your curve is, but I've found that having one banner and at least 4 nonbasic lands works fairly well.
November 18, 2014 1:52 p.m.
TurboFagoot says... #13
Also, pick the card you think is the best in your deck, never the card that is best for your wallet. Yes, it's nice to have value, but you're seeking to win the draft right, not to just make some money? Murderous Cut is always a better pick than Polluted Delta, etc.
Second, let's say you pick that Murderous Cut pack one pick one, but everything you see from then on is how open Jeskai is at your table. Never be afraid to abandon early picks and move in on colors you perceive as being underdrafted at the moment.
Drafting is a constant process, and you need to evaluate every pick. Don't get 5 picks in and assume you know where you deck is going to end up.
November 18, 2014 2:19 p.m.
Servo_Token says... #14
Also, if you haven't heard of the bread method...
November 18, 2014 2:33 p.m.
golffore297 says... #15
The best way to get better at drafts is to do more. When I started drafting I always lost and the only time that I won was because I got the one good card I pulled was on the field. Some of the things I learned by drafting a lot:
Unless you have really good fixing, don't play more than two colors. Consistent mana is better than trying to fit a bunch of good cards in your deck. Expert players can find the fixing to run 4-5 colors, but it's always a gamble.
By the end of pack one or the beginning of pack two you should have an idea of what you want your deck to do. Whether it's what colors you are or what your general strategy is, have a plan.
Know when it's time to move on. Sometimes in drafts you will get cutoff from the colors you wanted. Know it's ok to change colors, even if it means you won't get to play your P1P1 bomb. It may hurt, but it's better than getting the scrap cards in the colors you try to force.
Go in with a clear head. Don't say I'm going to draft X because X is the strongest strategy. It will almost never work out. So just stay blank until you get your picks, then figure out where you're going.
Pick synergy over bombs. Sometimes it'll be hard to pick something weaker, but good in your strategy, over something that's just strong. In the long run it'll make your personal deck stronger rather than someone else's weaker. It's better to do that because you will only have to play against that card once, but you have to be playing you're cards all the matches you play.
November 18, 2014 4:24 p.m.
Sound advice everyone, thanks! I will definitely employee these tips at my next draft.
I think a big part of my problem was picking colors too early and trying to force it. I found myself passing cards I liked better because they weren't in the right colors. I won't make that mistake again.
In a 40 card Booster Draft deck, how much mana should I play? I have heard everything from 12-18.
November 18, 2014 4:51 p.m.
Tinselteeth says... #17
General guideline for land in a Limited deck is 14-18, especially in the "slower" triple Khans format. I've only seen 1 player play 14 lands, as he had a lightning-quick Mardu (RWB) deck that had no card cost more than 4. I often play 17-18 lands to be sure that I have a turn 3 play (super important in this Draft format!) and plenty of mana for my bigger dudes.
November 18, 2014 4:58 p.m.
nighthawk101 says... #18
Mana is one of the most important parts of the draft, and I actually kept messing it up until recently.
You should play 16 or 17 lands. If your deck has a very low or high curve, you can play 15 or 18. In my experience, playing a Banner or two lets you just play 16, whereas having none means 17 would be better.
For color ratios, I usually sit down and count the number of cards in each color, then compare that to the mana sources. (I'm not sure if this is right, but I count multicolored cards and sources as one of each of its colors for mana calculations: Ponyback Brigade is a white, black, and red card, and Mystic Monastery is a white, blue, and red mana source)
Your curve is important as well. This can vary depending on the deck, but it's usually best to have early and mid game plays as well as higher cost cards. Obviously, mechanics like Delve or Morph screw with those calculations a bit, so I typically goldfish (play a game against no one) a few times once I think I have my deck assembled to make sure that my curve will work out (and mana as well).
Some commons to look out for: Hooting Mandrills, Taigam's Scheming, Ainok Bond-Kin, Kill Shot, Abzan Guide, Archers' Parapet, Bitter Revelation, Debilitating Injury, Tormenting Voice, Savage Punch, Longshot Squad, and Banners.
November 18, 2014 5:11 p.m.
dgarcia321 - In a draft environment, you'll want to aim for 18-16 lands and usually run 17. In Khans of Tarkir, I've had the most success running 18 lands to make sure I hit all of my necessary colors. And I have to say that Banners, like Abzan Banner, are poop. Just straight poop. Here's why, some of the most important cards for any deck are Morphs. Making sure you have a few Morphs ensures that you have something to do turn 3 with your turn, even if you don't have the colors necessary to flip it. And Banners conflict with this since they cost the same as a Morph card (e.g. Woolly Loxodon) to cast and they don't "do" anything and there isn't anything to ramp into in this set (Villainous Wealth not withstanding). Banners seem nice, but they don't really help like you would want to.
Also, I would stick to 17 lands for a while until you feel super comfortable with the format. If you're just starting out you should try to draft solid decks and not get to cutesy.
November 18, 2014 5:48 p.m.
JexInfinite says... #20
You get your ass kicked because you're not drafting Conspiracy. Khans draft is awesome, but Conspiracy was MADE for drafting.
November 22, 2014 6:02 a.m.
a good rule of thumb is to look for cards that require a 2 for 1 or gain you a 2 for 1 advantage.
example. if Lightning Strike is the premier removal at common slot in a set, cards with 4 toughness Savage Knuckleblade, Loxodon Smiter are more valuable.
removal spells like Dead Drop does a lot of work, especially if you pick cards that have synergy with it by putting cards in your GY.
outlast is very popular in limited as an ability so there are a lot of +1+1 counters. so removal like Rite of the Serpent offers you a 1/1 token to work with.
also any sort of value creature. 3/1 for 2cmc, 4/4 for 3, 5/5 for 4 etc.
if there is every something with above average evasion... flying and hexproof, or hexproof unblockable etc. those are very strong.
November 22, 2014 8:38 a.m.
I went to a booster draft last night. I feel like I drafted a much better deck and the games were much more competitive then before, but I still lost. I will keep at it. Next week I'll go again and see how it goes.
Thanks for all the help everyone!
November 22, 2014 2:27 p.m.
Ultimaodin says... #23
I have a habit of the first few picks just grabbing the best possible card and see where I end up. Last draft I did at my store I ended up 5 colour morph after noticing a bunch of the common morphs being passed. I ended up 3-0 with all match 2-0.
Things that keep me drafting well:
1) Leave yourself open. Don't immediately force into a colour combo, I find at a table a group of friends playing tend to for some reason gravitate to the similar strategies. Don't be surprised if a colour combo dries up. Keep a good eye on cards being passed to you. If you start of Mardu and green and blue is open, maybe merging into either Temur or Sultai could be straight better.
2) Watch what you pass. Sometimes when you are set in a given strategy you may need to pass a card that could be annoying. A good example is Dragonscale Boon. If you pass several of these pack 3 and the guy on your left is abzan, try to consider that if they have 4 mana open they could have it. (if you're going wide you generally don't care too much)
3) The bread thing above.
KTK specific:1) Land is important. For a multitude of resons, it helps you splash a bomb if need be, manafix your own deck so you have less mana issues. Also, it helps keep anybody wanting to draft 5 colour morph effectively.
2) morphs are a good base p/t. turn 3 is almost always going to be a morph. 2 drops are good due to this fact since most 2 drops trade with morphs. Also Debilitating Injury is good removal in this set.
3) Most morphs that actually unmorph to be threats require 5 mana.
December 20, 2014 2:07 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #24
I also want to mention on WotC change in direction with the bread acronym. It no longer applies as heavily as it once did. The bread acronym used to make it so things like auras and other voltron choices were bad cards. It isn't like this anymore, as the amount of removal is now really heavily costed or conditional, and combat tricks are harder to do because once again, conditional.
In an example, my most recent draft was of random amounts of BNG and JOU, we each picked three packs we wanted. They were on sale. The catch was that they were of foreign languages, and it was a challenge to even understand the cards. I ended up going 
and had a red nymph creature with a constellation effect of 1 damage to target creature or player. I stuck a Gorgon's Head on it and proceeded to control the board by stuffing enchantments on the creature. But that was really my only good removal spell, and it was a combat trick at that. All the rest were severely conditional, like only on an enchantment creature, or 5 mana for one damage, and couldn't do anything against the decks that just went pure creatures.
December 22, 2014 6:07 p.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #25
And I so didn't realize that this was a necro'd thread.
facepalm
December 22, 2014 6:08 p.m.
Ultimaodin says... #26
Femme_Fatale Wait what, This was on the front page for me... :O
I'm sorry :(
December 23, 2014 2:20 p.m.
So you wanna remember "BREAD". This stands for...oh wait...
Kidding aside, in a 40-card deck you should always go with 17 lands then another 2-3 ramp/mana rocks. The rest, follow their advice with BREAD.
Lastly, in Limited, board state is king.
MindAblaze says... #2
What do you usually find yourself picking early in the packs?
November 18, 2014 1:22 p.m.