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Part 1 – Back to Basics
Drafting in Magic is a place where players of all abilities can come together and enjoy a night of relatively casual fun and interaction with other players. The thought behind it can seem complex at first, but it’s a quick concept to grasp once it’s been done a few times.
As a draft starts, you will be assigned a seat. You will get three packs of whatever set is being drafted, and once everybody has their packs you can begin to open your first pack. After looking through the cards you choose one to begin building a deck around and will pass the rest to your left. Someone else will hand you their pack and this process begins again. This keeps up until all the cards are chosen and is started again with packs two and three. The one difference between packs is that you alternate which way you pass the cards.
After a few cards, your plan should begin to unfold. Maybe you opened a rare that was two colours and that has guided you in your choices, or maybe there was a giant uncommon creature that you just couldn’t say no to. Whatever the case may be, with this information you are well on your way to building your draft deck. As you watch cards go by, try to pay attention to how many you see of the different colours. This will come in handy later.
Finally, as the first packs continue to go around, the choices will become harder. You won’t see as many cards in your colours, and they sometimes might not even be worth considering! This is common, so you simply choose one and move the draft along. Once you receive your last card, this signals the end of Drafting round 1. The second pack is now opened and the process continues with the change that you pass the cards in the opposite direction.
That’s it for the first part of the Beginner’s Guide to Draft. Next week, we’ll touch on how to evaluate cards and what to be on the lookout for while you’re perusing through the passed packs.
Thanks for reading!
-David