As you’re probably already aware, Magic: The Gathering offers a great way to connect with other people in a captivating battle of strategic play. There are various formats that your game can take depending on your preferences. If you have up to 8 players, you could opt to play Booster Draft. This introduces a unique twist, where quick decision-making, and resourcefulness are vital for success.
What is Booster Draft?
Booster Draft is a deviation of the traditional Magic: The Gathering game format where players typically come to the table with their own decks. Booster Draft spins this on its head. Instead of playing with your own usual deck, you will be challenged to put together a deck from scratch using a collection of booster packs.
Since each play booster pack has 14 cards, which will offer a mix of mythic, rare, common, and uncommon cards, you will not know what your opponents are likely to choose. This makes creating a strategy that much more difficult.
How to play Booster Draft step-by-step
To get started, follow these easy step-by-step instructions:
Get your players together - The ideal number for a booster draft game is eight. However, if a couple of your party drop out or someone extra turns up, any group between six or ten should work just as well.
Decide who sits where - It’s common to play this game in a circle, but you will have to decide which order you will play in.
Prepare your packs - You will need three booster packs for each player.
Begin your draft – Each player opens a pack, chooses one card from it and then pass the remaining cards from the pack along to their left. Once all the cards in the pack have been drafted, you will then move onto the 2nd booster pack, but this time pass to the right, and then the 3rd pack, pass to the left again.
Build your deck - When the draft has been completed, you will be able to build your deck using the cards you have chosen. Your goal will be to put together a deck of 40 cards and you can add any number of the basic lands cards from your collection. We recommend around 16-18 lands. Any remaining cards you don’t use in your deck will be your sideboard.
Battle time - Once your decks have been built, you can get ready for battle. Players are pitched head-to-head and the game begins.
The element of surprise and the unknown decks your opponents will build helps to keep your gameplay fresh. It also challenges your strategic thinking, and you’ll be able to adapt your deck building approach more easily the more you play. This means you can improve your Magic: The Gathering skills for whatever other format games you enjoy, by playing the Booster Draft format.
Did you know that Axion Now Events are the organisers of national Magic events across the UK and also LorcanaFest the biggest Lorcana event in the UK.
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