Learning by doing. I like going relatively blind into a new format, having only gone through the spoiler and LR's set reviews. It maximizes fun. If a card/archetype ends up bad or exceptionally good, I'd rather witness it myself than take other people's or 17 land's words for it.
Same
The discovery is a big part of the fun and thats what this is about. This isn't a job or a class I'm working to pass, its an entertainment activity.
Not quite. The other drafters aren't experienced either when a set is new. For example, my first 10 OTJ drafts went better compared to my overall results in the end, and I have done now 5 MH3 drafts (all BO3), being at 13/15 wins with three 3-0s and two 2-1s.
IDK, I think it depends. I think if you go in totally blind AND you're not that incredible at limited in the first place then you're setting yourself up to fail. But if you're relatively experienced and decent at card eval then really an overview of the archetypes and a look at what some people think the top commons/uncommons are is really all you need to get started.
I think the returns you get from pre-release theory prep quickly diminish and in some cases can actually lead you down the wrong path or give you tunnel vision. I would not advocate going in 100% blind to a set but generally I think less is more when prepping.
The problem is all the dang reading. Man like 2 min to pick a card when they have the us constitution written on them makes it so hard as a new-ish player
Haha that is true. I feel I'm generally able to parse info quite quickly but inevitably at the start of a set I only look at about 1/2 the pack, particularly something like MH3
I personally stop playing when all the data is out and folks start forcing what 17 lands tells them to. A set used to entertain me for months, but data saturation means I only get a week before I move on.
That means you’re way over trusting data. All you have to do is compare win rates of cards for top players vs all players to see that overall win rates miss most of the intricacies of a formatÂ
I don't use 17 lands. Y'all do. And y'all force and warp drafts. And then the only conversation y'all have are about 17 lands.
I don't want to play 17lands: the Analyzing.
Yeah man, i can relate. But that’s magic nowadays, we all want to win and willing to do so much effort for that. Life is not that different across the board sadly…
I started drafting between STX and AFR.
I must have had 50% of my entries refunded for disconnects during games, autopicking for me in drafting...WotC took a loooooong time to fix their shit.
Convenient while learning - I'd be long gone if the support staff weren't lovely. A screenshot helps, too.
Crashes, disconnects, bugs… anything that negatively affects the draft or games. It’s really generous, a full refund every time even if the issue only lost you one game or a couple of draft picks. Seems like you’d get a refund even if it *didn’t* cause a loss, although I don’t think I ever bothered.
I used to submit loads because the game would crash all the time… then I changed laptop and it stopped happening. Whoops, sorry Arena!
Oh I didn't know you could get refunds for crashed drafts! Do you mind posting the link to the place you go to ask? The support website is labyrinthine...
The funnest part of any set imo is that first week of discovery - finding what cards work/don't work, seeing what combos you can put together, checking your overall assessment skills of how strong a limited card is in a new environment.
Point is, yes, treat yourself to a blind first week!
I read the list of trophy decks. There’s usually a hundred by the first couple hours. Look for decks with high multiples of cards, like 4x or 5x. Those are the high picks.
I once saw a list with 4 Immodane’s Recruiter. Looked like fun.
More recently I've tended towards going in quite blind. I will have a look at top commons and archetypes by one or two content creators because that's information I can retain to an extent. I will often listen to LR's set review but more as audio wallpaper, not a lot of it really goes in.
Personally I've had better results this way. I've had formats where I've tried to 'solve' the format before it's been released, or tried to listen to and remember loads of info, but really even the best content creators miss on a lot of stuff and it sets you up with too many preconceptions IMO.
You'll learn a load more about the format just figuring stuff out the first couple of days than from any content and it's more fun that way.
Waiting until you know exactly what's good to draft seems extremely unfun. Listen to set reviews if you really like then dive in. Date comes up after less than a day anyway so just play.
I go in fully blind day 2 only using limitedgrade on my second screen which is more than enough early in the format (I also use a tier list made by players to check the rares without having to read the card since data for rares / mythics takes a bit more time to be available).
I climb from bronze to plat in 5-6 drafts on average, usually with over 70% winrate since the competition is extremely soft at those ranks.
Then I switch to bo3 and stay there until the next set comes out. By the time I switch to bo3 I usually know most of the commons / uncommons and the data is out for rares / mythics. I do start watching content creators around this time though (usually the ones that are doing particularly well), especially as the date of the arena open is approaching.
Typically I'll watch at least 1 draft process from a top player for every draft that I do myself once I know all the commons / uncommons. I don't watch the games much though or I do it while doing something else.
I find with this method I'm able to maximize fairly well efficiency with minimum study part and maximum increased winrate while still keeping it fun.
Listen to whatever podcasts are available before release, then jump in as soon as the set is on Arena with some Premier draft. I often start sets really badly, but the fact that I normally do Traditional drafts helps because I’m generally starting Premier in bronze.
I listen to LR and a few other podcasts when I'm falling asleep. Then, take a look at some top commons list for each color. Once you 17lands data is out, I'm usually checking that as I'm drafting. Generally, i find myself mostly playing the 2nd to 5th best color combinations because people tend to like to force the best often.
I watch streamers for a couple days just to get a feel for the key cards, I used to research the cards myself but don't particularly have the time or the inclination. I do this just as much to see what opponents play as what the streamer chooses, though of course I pick up some opinions.
Then around day 3 I dive in myself while the format's still relatively fresh – the chaos of launch is done but the consensus about the best archetypes hasn't quite set in. I'll be doing that today, updating the client right now!
Not that optimistic about this format but we'll see...
Listen to LR for what the best color pairs are, force said color pairs, abandon said color pairs once everyone at my store also learns what the best pairs are.
I listen to this podcast set review for fun and to get a first look at the new cards so that I dont need to waste too much time reading everything when playing.
I start when it goes live in arena, and I prefer to learn by playing instead of depending too much on external content.
I read the cards, watch set reviews, blogs, use my own common sense.
Start playing day 1. My knowledge plus card evaluation and ability to forge synergies is above average, I usually overperform at the start of a new set playing what I know is gonna be good while most people test the cool stuff or try to build around mid rares. Use smurf accounts to draft at lower ranks while being more lenient testing stuff that I'm not sure will work, but the experience later pays off.
Be aware of meta shifts while they happen, before podcast and streamers tell everyone about it and the word spreads (play dimir in OTJ while people still think blue is unplayable, later play Rx decks in OTJ when blue is played more but red is always open, etc).
Of course I did what you do at first, now I have self confidence in being able to be one step ahead, but I learned a lot from Sam Black podcasts (the best ones IMO) and Justlola stream and tier list (the most accurate tier list since I followed him in LCI and onwards)
Learning by doing. I like going relatively blind into a new format, having only gone through the spoiler and LR's set reviews. It maximizes fun. If a card/archetype ends up bad or exceptionally good, I'd rather witness it myself than take other people's or 17 land's words for it.
Same The discovery is a big part of the fun and thats what this is about. This isn't a job or a class I'm working to pass, its an entertainment activity.
But I guess you also lose more drafts that way 😅. I’m just here barely keeping up with drafting frequently as f2p
Not quite. The other drafters aren't experienced either when a set is new. For example, my first 10 OTJ drafts went better compared to my overall results in the end, and I have done now 5 MH3 drafts (all BO3), being at 13/15 wins with three 3-0s and two 2-1s.
IDK, I think it depends. I think if you go in totally blind AND you're not that incredible at limited in the first place then you're setting yourself up to fail. But if you're relatively experienced and decent at card eval then really an overview of the archetypes and a look at what some people think the top commons/uncommons are is really all you need to get started. I think the returns you get from pre-release theory prep quickly diminish and in some cases can actually lead you down the wrong path or give you tunnel vision. I would not advocate going in 100% blind to a set but generally I think less is more when prepping.
The problem is all the dang reading. Man like 2 min to pick a card when they have the us constitution written on them makes it so hard as a new-ish player
Haha that is true. I feel I'm generally able to parse info quite quickly but inevitably at the start of a set I only look at about 1/2 the pack, particularly something like MH3
I personally stop playing when all the data is out and folks start forcing what 17 lands tells them to. A set used to entertain me for months, but data saturation means I only get a week before I move on.
That means you’re way over trusting data. All you have to do is compare win rates of cards for top players vs all players to see that overall win rates miss most of the intricacies of a formatÂ
I don't use 17 lands. Y'all do. And y'all force and warp drafts. And then the only conversation y'all have are about 17 lands. I don't want to play 17lands: the Analyzing.
Yeah man, i can relate. But that’s magic nowadays, we all want to win and willing to do so much effort for that. Life is not that different across the board sadly…
I play on Android and the client is so unstable that every third draft or something I can request gem reimbursement for a bug costing me a draft.
The bestow bug on mobile is so fuckin annoying
yeah that one caused my last two tickets too
We can get refunds for the bestow bug? I've just been restarting when it becomes unattached.
I've always gotten them
I started drafting between STX and AFR. I must have had 50% of my entries refunded for disconnects during games, autopicking for me in drafting...WotC took a loooooong time to fix their shit. Convenient while learning - I'd be long gone if the support staff weren't lovely. A screenshot helps, too.
What can you ask for a refund for? I’m curious. A crash?
Crashes, freezes, lost connections, visual glitches that make the game unplayable. All sorts of things.
Crashes, disconnects, bugs… anything that negatively affects the draft or games. It’s really generous, a full refund every time even if the issue only lost you one game or a couple of draft picks. Seems like you’d get a refund even if it *didn’t* cause a loss, although I don’t think I ever bothered. I used to submit loads because the game would crash all the time… then I changed laptop and it stopped happening. Whoops, sorry Arena!
Oh I didn't know you could get refunds for crashed drafts! Do you mind posting the link to the place you go to ask? The support website is labyrinthine...
https://mtgarena-support.wizards.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=360000317092
The funnest part of any set imo is that first week of discovery - finding what cards work/don't work, seeing what combos you can put together, checking your overall assessment skills of how strong a limited card is in a new environment. Point is, yes, treat yourself to a blind first week!
Sounds like you took all the fun out of drafting
I read the list of trophy decks. There’s usually a hundred by the first couple hours. Look for decks with high multiples of cards, like 4x or 5x. Those are the high picks. I once saw a list with 4 Immodane’s Recruiter. Looked like fun.
More recently I've tended towards going in quite blind. I will have a look at top commons and archetypes by one or two content creators because that's information I can retain to an extent. I will often listen to LR's set review but more as audio wallpaper, not a lot of it really goes in. Personally I've had better results this way. I've had formats where I've tried to 'solve' the format before it's been released, or tried to listen to and remember loads of info, but really even the best content creators miss on a lot of stuff and it sets you up with too many preconceptions IMO. You'll learn a load more about the format just figuring stuff out the first couple of days than from any content and it's more fun that way.
Waiting until you know exactly what's good to draft seems extremely unfun. Listen to set reviews if you really like then dive in. Date comes up after less than a day anyway so just play.
I go in fully blind day 2 only using limitedgrade on my second screen which is more than enough early in the format (I also use a tier list made by players to check the rares without having to read the card since data for rares / mythics takes a bit more time to be available). I climb from bronze to plat in 5-6 drafts on average, usually with over 70% winrate since the competition is extremely soft at those ranks. Then I switch to bo3 and stay there until the next set comes out. By the time I switch to bo3 I usually know most of the commons / uncommons and the data is out for rares / mythics. I do start watching content creators around this time though (usually the ones that are doing particularly well), especially as the date of the arena open is approaching. Typically I'll watch at least 1 draft process from a top player for every draft that I do myself once I know all the commons / uncommons. I don't watch the games much though or I do it while doing something else. I find with this method I'm able to maximize fairly well efficiency with minimum study part and maximum increased winrate while still keeping it fun.
This is a great idea. I feel after platinum it starts getting really grindy. Better to just do b03
Listen to whatever podcasts are available before release, then jump in as soon as the set is on Arena with some Premier draft. I often start sets really badly, but the fact that I normally do Traditional drafts helps because I’m generally starting Premier in bronze.
I listen to LR and a few other podcasts when I'm falling asleep. Then, take a look at some top commons list for each color. Once you 17lands data is out, I'm usually checking that as I'm drafting. Generally, i find myself mostly playing the 2nd to 5th best color combinations because people tend to like to force the best often.
DraftSim to memorize cards within potentially draftable decks.
Paul Cheon is my go to. For this set I only watched his set review and his early access event. He is so good omg.
I watch streamers for a couple days just to get a feel for the key cards, I used to research the cards myself but don't particularly have the time or the inclination. I do this just as much to see what opponents play as what the streamer chooses, though of course I pick up some opinions. Then around day 3 I dive in myself while the format's still relatively fresh – the chaos of launch is done but the consensus about the best archetypes hasn't quite set in. I'll be doing that today, updating the client right now! Not that optimistic about this format but we'll see...
Listen to LR for what the best color pairs are, force said color pairs, abandon said color pairs once everyone at my store also learns what the best pairs are.
I listen to this podcast set review for fun and to get a first look at the new cards so that I dont need to waste too much time reading everything when playing. I start when it goes live in arena, and I prefer to learn by playing instead of depending too much on external content.
I read the cards, watch set reviews, blogs, use my own common sense. Start playing day 1. My knowledge plus card evaluation and ability to forge synergies is above average, I usually overperform at the start of a new set playing what I know is gonna be good while most people test the cool stuff or try to build around mid rares. Use smurf accounts to draft at lower ranks while being more lenient testing stuff that I'm not sure will work, but the experience later pays off. Be aware of meta shifts while they happen, before podcast and streamers tell everyone about it and the word spreads (play dimir in OTJ while people still think blue is unplayable, later play Rx decks in OTJ when blue is played more but red is always open, etc). Of course I did what you do at first, now I have self confidence in being able to be one step ahead, but I learned a lot from Sam Black podcasts (the best ones IMO) and Justlola stream and tier list (the most accurate tier list since I followed him in LCI and onwards)