Drafting 8th

[Johny Cee]

Ummm.....  I might have lied when I said I was the worst limited player ever.

Fired up some limited after work today in between booking rooms in beautiful Amherst for a wedding.  My history lately has been of usually making it to second round (guaranteeing 2 packs, besides what I picked up in draft).  Went straight to finals no problem, I goofed and lost it.

Since I won 3 packs,  decided to draft again.  It's basically free, right? 

Just toasted a guy in the finals.  Damn, this feels good.  My rating my crawl out of the negatives....



Anyway,  want to compare some notes on 8th drafting as well as any broad guidelines folks think they know.

So far, I have these cards in the must draft pile if passed to you:

Master Decoy (1/2, W and tap to tap target creature)
Anuba Shaman (4 CC,  R and tap to deal 1 damage to target)
Living Terrain (4 CC,  land becomes 5/6 creature)
Thieving Magpie (4CC, 1/3 flier when it deals damage draw a card)
Phantom Warrior (3CC, 2/2 unblockable)
Pyroclasm (2 CC, deal 2 damage to all creatures)
Temporal Adept (3CC, UUU and tap return target permanent to owners hand)

And I was surprised how good this card was:

Deepwood Ghoul (the 2/1, pay 2 life to regenerate)

As for tactics:

Efficient evasion creatures (especially fliers) are love.  Some pump like Unholy Str goes a long way on em.

[schild]

Is drafting any of the current sets this late in the cycle even a reasonable affair? Maybe I know far too many rare drafters, but it seems like people are more interested in getting in and getting out quickly. Though, all through time, low-cost pumpable evasion creatures have always been the way to go. God love the Frozen Shade.

[Strazos]

I love me some Glorious Anthem.

[schild]

I love me some Glorious Anthem.

Yes! My only gripe about it is the WW needed. That said, I've never seen the first person not grab it in a serious drafting game despite the cost.

[Strazos]

I love my White Skies decks...I've beaten decks that I should have had no chance against with them.

[Johny Cee]

If anyone is thinking of doing a fair amount of drafting,  feel free to ask some questions about strategy.  I'm a decent drafter at 8th now (managed to claw my rating back up to almost 1600,  after months of just rare drafting).  Kamigawa I'm so-so,  but I'm sure there are a couple folks with pretty good knowledge.

Strategy for beginners-wise....

1. Evasion on critters is very, very good.  Sometimes,  creatures that seem to be fairly overcosted are real workhorses if they have flying.  The various U and W avens are pretty solid,  and Phantom Warrior (2/2 unblockable) is a charmer even if he costs UU.

2. Don't be afraid to splash colors.  Most of the time,  I'm running a 3 color draft deck even without mana-fixing.  Splasing 3 colors increases your ability to draft limited bombs by not locking you in a color choice by the time the 3rd pack comes around.  Try to stay away from cards with multiple specific color costs, though.

Example:

I'd splash white for Serra Angel or blue for Thieving Magpie,  since they are game breakers.  If you're running 3 colors,  I'd stay away from sub-optimal creatures/spells with multiple specific color committments.  Trained Armodon (3/3 for GG1) is a good example.

I've splashed W solely for Master Decoy, as well.

Generally,  cut down your color options if you are depending on cards with high specific color requirements.  I like Temporal Adept,  but no way he runs in a deck with 3 colors.  And he's problemmatical in a 2 color deck.

3.  Lands.  Generally,  aim for 16-18 lands.  If you have alot of low CC creatures,  go lower.  Three color decks demand 18 lands (6 of each)

4.  Combat tricks.  Learn what the good combat tricks are,  and make sure to have a couple up your sleeve.  Giant Growth and Might of Oaks are the gold standards,  but there are plenty of other great ones.  Charge Across Arabia is pretty much an instant win for you.

5.  Have a backup strategy.  If you draft weenie aggro,  make sure to have a strategy if your opponent manages to stablize.  I often run 41 cards just to be sure to win in deck out situations.  Don't count on always rushing,  or sitting behind a wall of creatures and decking.  You get screwed this way.

One of the standout matches I lost: 

In Kami block,  I drafted two bombs.  Kukosho and Kumano.  Ouch.  Breezed into the finals,  even if the rest of my deck was subpar.  Against my finals opponent,  I dropped him first game like a bad habit.  Second game,  he pulls every weenie creature in his sideboard,  and switches up colors.  He comes out the next two games with a full rush of weenie R/U,  with the blue fliers giving him the win.  Completely exploited my lack of global removal and small fliers.

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The real benefit to drafting comes through when you get to the point where you alway make it to the semis.  In this case,  you're buying 3 packs to check out the rares/uncommons.  And you always win at least 2 packs,  which is 2 more chances to browse for the cards you need.

The play experience is great as well.  It forces you to use priority and abilities/spells that you normally wouldn't,  and I feel it really improves your play ability.  It also spawns crazy ideas for new decks.