RICK'S BOOSTER DRAFT STRATEGIES
by Rick Laig (aka Steel Dragon)

Introduction

Most players of Magic: the Gathering are familiar with the usual environment where players make decks out of cards they own and pit those decks against one another. This is known as "constructed deck" play, of which there are three types, Classic (Type 1), Classic Restricted (Type 1.5), and Standard (Type 2). Then, there is the "limited environment", where players are given cards and they must construct competitive decks out of those cards. There are two types here, Sealed Deck (SD), and Booster Draft (BD).

Booster Draft

Tournament History

Booster Draft is reportedly one of the favorite formats of Magic creator Richard Garfield. It tests both the skill of the player in recognizing the power of cards in the limited environment (which can be very different from constructed environments), and the speed at which he can construct a viable deck. It also tests the ability of a player to play with scarce resources, and the ability to improvise deck strategies almost instantaneously. BD is a recent development on the MTG tournament scene, being officially formalized in Pro Tour 2 (won by Shawn Regnier). It has since become a standard part of the most major of MTG tournaments, particularly the World Championships. A player who aims to become one of the best in the world must necessarily be capable in Booster Draft.

Format

Competitors sit down at a table (ideally eight to a table), and are given identical sets of boosters - typically two (2) 15-card boosters and one (1) 12-card booster. On the signal from the tournament judge, the players open one booster specified by the organizers. They then have a limited amount of time to look through the cards, and "draft" one card. They then count out the remaining cards to the player on their right or left, as specified. Once the allotted time expires, the judge gives the signal to pick up the cards on the players' left or right, and then draft again. The time for succeeding rounds is reduced, reflecting the diminishing number of cards to consider. This repeats until each player has drafted fifteen cards. The second booster is then drafted in the same fashion, with the passing direction reversed. Finally, the third booster is drafted, with the passing direction reversed again. The players than are given any type and amount of basic land they wish to construct their deck with.

As can be seen, the interactive dynamics of this format are very different from any other. Players new to booster draft should consider the following:

BEFORE THE DRAFT

1) Familiarize yourself with the cards.
You don't have time to read cards during the draft - being able to take time to consider the strengths of each card is crucial. Try to have at the very least a passing familiarity with the card sets being drafted. This can be done by reading the various card lists available on the net.

2) Know the strengths of cards in limited environments.
No one uses cards like Cuombajj Witches or Goblin Sappers in constructed environments. In BD, these cards could win you matches. As the motto of the Pacific Coast Legends goes - "If it flies, draft it!" The primary reason for this is that cards that take away resources are scarce in BD. Creatures that cannot be blocked (landwalking, flying, protection), or that force your opponent to do things he would normally not want to do (Norritt, Lure, Siren's Call), or that take away choices from him (banding) are very powerful in this environment. Also, any card that has direct damage capability of any sort, from the strangest (Brothers of Fire, Banshee, Voodoo Doll) to the most obvious (Disintegrate, Incinerate, Drain Life, Kaervek's Torch), and cards that kill or control creatures (Afterlife, Ray of Command, Control Magic, Dark Banishing) are very valuable in BD. My friends in Team Wyrms, Jun Llorin and DJ Paculio, have a simple formula - if your deck has good creatures, and good anti- creature capability, you have a good BD deck. Finally, for lack of a better way to put it, BIG is good. Big boys like Crash of Rhinos, Craw Wurm, Obsianus Golem and any Dragon are excellent drafts, simply because they are fiendishly hard to kill.

3) Be flexibile in playing colors and styles.
You have to know how to play each and every color of Magic effectively, and you cannot be stuck in a "color mindset". You cannot decide, before the draft itself, that you will draft and play red and green. Be prepared to end up with the strangest color combinations or strategies, even if you hate "cheesy DD" or "cheesy counterspells". If they get passed to you, draft and play with them. Don't play permisson? Learn. Case in point here is Regnier's PT2 draft - he came up with a strategy seldom seen in BD - the primary road to victory of his deck was by decking opponents, and he had no Millstones to help. His draft of four Gaseous Forms were essential to his game plan. He drafted them, and had a strategy in mind when he did that. That's why he won.

4) Practice, practice, practice.
If you want to compete seriously, then practice makes perfect. Don't have the cash to buy a lot of boosters? Simulate them with the cards that you do have! There's a great program out there called Decksealer that will generate boosters for you to make out of the cards you have. Don't have a specific card? Substitute it with a card of the same rarity. Then draft away. It helps to compare drafts with the other people at your table when practicing. You will find that each player has a unique outlook on how to use cards, or why he took one card over another. (F'rexample, my teammate DJ drafted a Kaervek's Torch over an Amber Prison. I would have taken the Prison over the Torch - I prefer battlefield control, while he wanted a sure finishing kick. Differences in opinion and style, neither obviously better than the other.) After the practice draft, make decks and play to see if your draft strategy worked, and to get the feel of playing with a deck made in this environment. Soon, you'll notice that you're drafting faster, and your choices are surer. Now you can go to that tournament.

DURING THE DRAFT

1) Check your table and choose your seating (if allowed).
Some tournaments will allow you to choose the table where you will draft. If you can, sit beside someone who might not draft well. If you know a certain player likes playing black no matter what, then sit beside him and he'll probably pass you good cards that are not in black. Or sit beside a kid who'll grab the rare card and pass you the commons that win BD games. The people beside you in the draft are important - they're the ones who'll be passing you cards that can make or break your deck.

2) Let the first eight cards set the mood.
Don't expect to be able to go mono in BD. It's likely that at least one other player at the table will be drafting the same color as you. A simple rule we have made is that for the first four cards, take the best card you can see regardless of color. You shouldn't have more than three colors in the first four cards. For the next four cards, draft the best cards in the two to three colors you already have, unless it's a DD spell and you're not in red. At the end of the first booster, you should have a clear idea of the two to three colors you'll be playing. (The third color should be minor, typically just two or three important cards with no more than one specific colored mana in casting cost.)

3) Recognize the colors being drafted.
You might notice that certain cards just float by you, and you wonder what the guy beside you drafted. If a good card or two get passed to you in the middle of the round, then there's a good chance that there are few people drafting in that color. If you're already in that color, good. If not, consider "jumping" to that color. If your guess is right, the next two booster rounds will be very good to you.

One evening, we settled down to practice a Mirage/Chronicles draft. Early in the first booster, I began drafting blue flying creatures. By the fifth round, I noticed that two Dirtwater Wraiths had passed by me - ergo, no one seemed to be drafting in black. I drafted black cards in the next three rounds, and the Wraiths came floating by again, confirming my suspicions. In the second booster, I got passed Harbinger of Night and Abyssal Hunter in the middle rounds, giving me a fantastic set of creature control cards. My recognition that there was little competition in black paid off.

4) Review your draft after the first pack, and between packs.
Check the fifteen cards you now have. Remember that you should have something like fifteen to twenty decent creatures in a standard draft. If you already have lots of creatures, go for other stuff in the next pack. If you're short on creatures, then that's what you'll be drafting next. Remember, good creatures and good anti-creature cards are essentially what you're after. Other things like fast mana (elves, Nature's Lore, Untamed Wilds), land destruction and artifact destruction are less important (though ideally you should draft one or two of those in the later rounds when you've got all the creatures you need). Remember to try to get small, fast creatures (for the early game), and BIG stuff (to hold the field in the mid- and endgames).

Don't forget to count your cards between rounds. You should have the exact number of cards for the boosters you just drafted. Miss out on a card and you could get disqualified.

5) Round out your draft deck with the last pack.
By the last pack, you should know what's missing from your draft. This is the last chance to grab the stuff missing from your deck. Now, you can afford to pass up decent creatures (say, War Mammoth) to get a card you need to destroy potential threats (say, Tranquility for COP:Green). Take note that you won't necessarily be playing against the people at the table where you drafted; BDs are usually Swiss in format. Get some cards to deal with every permanent type, if possible - just in case you run into the guy at the other table where less capable drafters passed him all the COPs.

AFTER THE DRAFT / BUILDING YOUR DRAFT DECK

1) Balance your deck.
When putting your deck together, return to the axiom that I've been repeating : creature and anti-creature. Toss in fourteen to sixteen of the best creatures, keeping in mind that costs should slowly escalate. Add all the anti-creature cards that you were lucky enough to draft (note that these two categories may overlap; Orcish Cannoneers, Prodigal Sorceror, Pirate Ship). Add whatever other "good stuff" you think you absolutely have to play with (I tend to slap in Living Lands and Orcish Oriflamme when I have them), and add land. As in constructed (actually, those skills are what you're relying on here), thirty-five to forty percent mana should be the way to go (see why I like Living Lands?). That's about sixteen land in a forty-card deck (as in constructed, try to stick to the limit unless you have a good reason to do otherwise).

2) Designate your sideboard.
Set aside the stuff that you drafted "just in case" - cards that get rid of enchantments, artifacts, land and whatever else. Note the stuff in your deck that you'll use as "sideboard space". This will make your sideboarding decisions during matches faster and easier.

3) Test draw.
The simplest of the "testing tools", the test draw will give you a feel for your deck. Actually, if you can play test games against other players (ideally your friends), that would be best, but this is usually prohibited. Besides, your friends might still be building their decks. BD is a format where time is usually scarce. You can also play against "The Punching Bag"; just see how fast your deck can deal twenty points of damage.

PLAYING YOUR DRAFT DECK

1) Count your cards, before and after every duel.
Very simple, yet many players forget to do this. The main reason for this is that lots of cards in BD get played in the opponent's territory, notably creature enchantments. It's easy to forget that Pacifism you played on your opponent's Volcanic Dragon. Failing to get it back may cost you your the Pacifism (if the opponent leaves the tournament), or it could even cost you a duel or match (if that Pacifism was your 4oth card and you began your next match without realizing it was gone).

2) Patience, patience, patience.
It's easy to slap down creatures turn after turn and attack, but a single Savage Twister, Wrath of God or Harbinger of Night could ruin you. Pay attention to the environment, and always have contingency plans. Hold a spare creature in your hand, or save that solitary Afterlife for something really unmanageable, like a Crash of Rhinos. BD games tend to last longer than constructed deck games. Watch and wait for the opportunity to gain an advantage, and seize it when it comes.

In addition, try to save any "X DD spell". Use it to kill a creature if you must, but these spells are best used to deliver a killing blow.

3) Exercise care in, and pay attention to creature combat.
Nine times out of ten, BD games are won and lost on the creature battlefield. (Hammer's deck was that 1 out of 10.) Knowing how to play creatures - maximizing combat abilities and playing creature enhancers at the right time - is the key to winning close duels. Players who habitually play creatureless constructed decks (I admit to being one of these) tend to have problems in BD play. Practice makes perfect, here. How do you use banding to the hilt? When do you cast that Ether Well? Should you use your only Armor of Thorns to pump up your Gibbering Hyenas, or wait and use it to kill an opposing creature? These are the decisions that make or break you in BD play.

4) Use your sideboard.
Don't forget that you have a sideboard in BD - that's all the cards that you drafted and didn't put into your deck. Check it after every duel - you might see something that will help. Kaervek's Hex has won me several games, and spells like Soul Rend and Mind Harness work very well against specific creatures or strategies. Remember those "just in case" cards you got? Now you can put in the Tranquility for the guy with all the COPs in the world, or the Tropical Storm for Mr. Flying Critters. Hosers work very well, even in Booster Draft.

AFTER THE TOURNAMENT

1) Reflect.
You might have found a card that didn't seem like a good draft at the outset, but which has now proven its worth. Conversely, you might have lost a duel because of a card or strategy played well by your opponent. As they say, there's no substitute for experience. Share your experiences with your friends or team. If you didn't win this time, maybe next draft will be better. It usually is. ;-)

Any questions, comments or flames? Send them my way - druid@cnl.net

A Booster Draft Tournament Report

We attended a Booster Draft Tournament last Saturday, October 19. Our "tournament intelligence" indicated that it was to be Mirage-Mirage-Chronicles, so that was what we practiced. The night before, the organizer changed it to 4thEd-4thEd-Mirage. :-| Yikes, a completely different environment. Oh, well, at least everyone had a very good working knowledge of 4th Ed. Now we had to deal with a lot more counters and the full range of COPs. Duh.

There were about 80 participants. We drafted the 4th Ed packs, then the Mirage was last. My first booster wasn't so hot... nothing of much use, so I drafted the biggest creature I could see - an Ironroot Treefolk. Good draft, since I got passed another one on the first pass. I then started on my second color, which turned out to be black, picking up smaller, faster creatures - Erg Raiders, Cyclopean Mummy, and a Drain Life. Next pack made me very happy. My first three cards were my third Ironroot Treefolk, and two (!) Craw Wurms. I also got passed the feature card of the deck - a Pestilence. The Mirage pack finally rounded out my deck, giving me a Harbinger of Night and two (!) more Drain Lifes. I was very happy with my draft. We all completed our card lists and submitted them, then went off to have lunch and make decks.

First round - Edmond Ang - (B/R weenie) I was never in trouble here. He had some DD, and a horde of small creatures, but when my Treefolk hit the table, his offense stopped cold. Pestilence cleared the table, and my creatures cleaned house. No contest. 2-0, 2-0.

Second round - NiX Garcia - (U/R air force) My teammate and fellow list lurker Nix was my next opponent. Couldn't penetrate the solid deck defense he had - Wall of Water, Thirst and lots of flying stuff. Horrible. And he grabbed the Helm of Chatzuk that I hoped would make it back to me (we drafted at the same table). Short match, I was buried here. 1-1, 2-2

Third round - G.V. Vergara - (W/G large stuff) This match was toe-to-toe, each guy bringing out creatures and trying to control the field. Hosed him with two Drains in the first duel, but the second was almost his due to that horrible Pearl Dragon. Then I drew my two Craw Wurms back-to-back and forced a creature exchange (he only had three plains; I nailed the Dragon with Grave Serviture to kill it). Played two Treeefolk to take the game. 2-1, 4-2

Fourth round - Johann Ang - (B/G dead stuff) Having played Johann many times before, I knew him to be a good, fun player whose claim to fame was his Zombie deck. Johann had drafted two (or three?) Gravebind Zombies, Scathe Zombies and a Zombie Master! (I'm still wondering how he did that.) Anyway, I rained smaller creatures on him in the first duel, pounding him dead with Erg Raiders and a Feral Shadow. Second game, his Zombies killed me bigtime. Third duel, his Zombies again held the ground, and I was frantically blocking the Gravebinds with small stuff. Finally, we went into damage exchange, but I had the last laugh - I had three Drains and a Pestilence, after all; he had none. ;-) 3-1; 6-3

Fifth round - Barry Gutierrez - U/G As with all our matches, Barry manascrews in the first duel. My Erg Raiders and Cyclopean Mummy happily pound him into submission. Second game was much closer, my having to use two of my three Drains to kill his flying stuff. With a standoff on the ground, I pecked away with Pestilence until I got him into range to use my last Drain. No counter; game over. 4-1; 8-3

Sixth round - Richmond Sy - R/U This guy knocked off two of my friends earlier, so they were asking me to get even for them. I wondered what exactly was in that deck. Never really found out. Both duels, my Pestilence hit the table really early, with loads of big creatures to keep it around. (Treefolk are really good with Pestilence.) First duel was a Drainfest. Second was actually close - I got another standoff, holding off his Firebreathing, Lightning Reflexed Ekundu Cyclops with two Treefolk. Then Pestilence hit, and I pumped for four damage. His side was clean, I still had my 3/5s. Pound, pound, it's over. Never even got to see the Air Elemental. ;-) 5-1, 10-3, I'm in.

We draft again for the final eight stepladder. Two of my teammates make it in along with me. The first card I draft is Disintegrate. I start pulling green creatures (Treefolk again) and red creatures. The deck as a whole is looking pretty weak after the first pack. Second pack's rare is Gaia's Liege. ;-) More R/G stuff, nothing too big or fantastic, except that everyone's passing me Regenerations (I ended up with three). Mirage gives me Locust Swarm (fantastic card for BD) and two "sideboard cards" really late - Tropical Storm and Reign of Chaos. We take fifteen minutes to build decks.

Seventh round - Fed Makabenta (B/G) I barely eke out a win in the first duel, with my Dwarven Nomad doing a yeoman's job getting my Land Leeches through a creature standoff. I lose the next duel to an Abomination (argh, horrid thing forces a green creature to regenerate TWICE to avoid dying - lost two creatures before I learned my lesson). Third duel, and my R/G deck runs true to form - Scryb Sprites, Grizzly Bears, Dwarven Nomad, Raging Spirit, Hill Giant, Locust Swarm (notice the very pretty escalation of casting costs). Over in 3 minutes. 6-1, 12-4

Eighth round - Jun Llorin (B/U) All three members of our team made it into the final four. The Locust Swarm and the Scryb win me this match. Jun commented that every time he was ready to kill my Swarm with a Ray of Command, I'd play the Gaia's Liege, forcing him to Ray that to kill it. So the Swarm happily blocked his Benthic Djinn in the first duel, which eventually killed him. Second duel, I side in the Tropical Storm and the Reign of Chaos for Jun's flyers. He takes control of the table with Tim, Dream Fighters, and a Feral Shadow. I get off the Tropical Storm, clearing his side of the table. Bloodlusted Sprites win me the second duel. I'm 7-1, 14-4, and in the finals.

Ninth round - Finals - Felix Gonzales (B/W/R) When I heard how our other teammate, DJ, lost, I knew I was in for an uphill battle. Felix had cut off all the blue cards (which is why I saw little or no blue in the draft), and had all the large blue stuff, flying stuff, a Fireball, a Torch, a couple of counters, and to top it all off, four of the five COPs. Luckily, the missing circle was green - I had a chance. Or so I thought. :-/ First duel begins slowly. I get him down to ten before he sets up with Yotian Soldier, Giant Tortoise, and Azimaet Drake to back up the red Circle. I can't kill the Drake, and I get Torched to death. Next duel, I again side in the Tropical Storm and Reign of Chaos, and add the Circle Red I drafted just to keep it out of the others' hands. Putting in the COP was probably a mistake, as it diluted my deck, but I thought I couldn't afford to get blasted again. Again, a slow start for my deck. Bad omen. He gets out that blasted Yotian and Tortoise again, and finally puts out 2 consecutive Sandbar Crocs. Ouch. I defend for several turns with regenerating Sprites, but it's not enough when he gets out a Harmattan Efreet and that Drake again. I'm killed by a flying Sandbar Croc. End record 7-2, 14-6, 2nd place.

In retrospect, there's nothing I could do since I was nowhere near Felix in the draft order. It helped a lot that neither of the players beside him was drafting blue. He just had a superior draft, and that deck just was too powerful. Good job on his part.

Oh, well. Till next time!

Thanks to Team Wyrms - Bot Butaran, NiX Garcia, Jun Llorin, Froggy Ong and Deej Paculio, for the input.