Magic the Gathering - Draft Tournament

[mcdaldno]

So,

Me and Brendan have been talking about running a Magic: the Gathering draft tournament.

If you aren't sure what a draft tournament is: everyone opens up a shiny booster pack of Magic cards, picks one, and passes the rest of the pack to their left. This continues until all the cards have been picked-n-passed. You do this with 3 booster packs, and then build a deck with the cards you've assembled. You play a couple games on the spot, with your new cards, and someone emerges victorious ("THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!!" "TWO MEN ENTER, ONE MAN LEAVES!!!" "I'M A DIFFERENT JET LI, TRAVELING TO THIS DIMENSION TO KILL YOU!!!!!!"

In summation: you don't need to bring anything, other than your keen tactical sensibilities. There might be a small entry fee ($10?) to cover the cost of the cards.

Are you interested in participating? How familiar are you with Magic? Would a 20-minute primer before drafting help you to feel at home? Would you need more help than that? Would you be willing to pay $10 to play in this tournament (keeping in mind that you'd score $15 worth of cards in the process)?

As far as sets, I'm currently leaning towards Coldsnap. It was released in 2006, as a sequel (of sorts) for Ice Age. It was designed to be drafted on its own, and to have a more even-keeled card balance. Any other hella-geeky folks can weigh in with their own ideas about which set to draft. Other ones on my mind, as potentials: Shards of Alara, Magic 2010, Magic 2011.

[skinnyghost]

"Oh, hey Adam."
"Hi Joe."
"So, I heard you used to have a serious drug problem."
"Oh, yeah, but I'm over it! Years and years sober."
"That's good. Want to smoke a ton of crack?"

*grin*

[tonydowler]

I'd love to play a round of draft. I haven't played Magic in years. How hard-core do you think this would be? A nice intro for newbies, or a merciless cage match?

[mcdaldno]

Yeah, me too Adam. But how much damage can a couple of rocks do, amirite?

Tony: I am planning to do a walk-through prior to the draft, outlining some of the set mechanics and reminding people about some of the rules. This wouldn't be enough to teach someone new how to play the game, but should serve to scrape the rust away from our minds. I don't imagine anyone plans to be ruthless, though there may be varying skill levels. I spend a lot of time reading the Magic design archives, because I'm fascinated by CCG design.

I feel like the tenor will be open and friendly, even if someone is owning your ass with a blue-black control deck, or whatever. I tend to build decks that excite me, rather than building decks that are going to be dependably good.

[mcdaldno]

I've bought a booster box of Coldsnap, which has been directed to Brendan Adkin's house for the time being.

Coldsnap is super fun to draft. I've done some draft sims using this website, and the cards are just plain fun.
If you remember Ice Age, Coldsnap is an homage/throwback to that set, but with more modern design technology.

I'm thinking about running this draft after the Friday Night Feast. What do folks think about that?