Drafting for Beginners

I don't get to draft very often. I have, in fact, drafted three times in my life. I've done sealed plenty, but I tend to prefer constructed. Largely because I don't have the money to keep up with sealed, but also because I enjoy making the bizarre decks that do what they're told. Draft, however, I've found to be a great deal of fun, albeit a great deal of fun that I'm terrible at.

So, I bought a box of MTU online, for about 30 dollars. There were still some things I was looking for from the set, and I generally strongly prefer opening packs to buying singles, because I'm a masochistic twat, so there it was. When, *ding*, the bell in my head went off and I realized that we had a box of MTU - why not draft it on the local Vs. night?

And thus, verily, did we do that.

And here's what I learned.

1) In MTU, it's worth dropping an 8-drop. Underworld has some stall elements, Spider-Friends is pretty much all stall, and Defenders have some stall elements. Having 4-drop Spider-Man in my first pack, I decided I was going to go stall, though I didn't know what to. When one of my first-round packs wheeled a 7-drop Spider-Man, I had a further answer, but nothing beyond that. It's wasn't until the second round gave me both Noble Kale and Blackheart that I knew I was in business.

2) RTFC. I wheeled two team-ups because they weren't Underworld or Spider-Friends stamped...completely forgetting that 'Secret Defenders' and 'The Contract' can team-up anyone. That almost killed me early game. My only 'team-up' was Demonic Embryo - a far cry from a #1 choice. Yeah. Read the F#@$ing Card.

3) Team-ups never wheel. Ever.

4) Remember what you've pulled aside. I had been pulling awesome stuff, Blackheart, Noble Kale, Madelyn Pryor, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Deathlok. I got some freakishly good stuff. Unfortunately, while my late-game was stunning in its power...I only pulled one 3-drop, and only two on-team 2-drops. Thankfully, I got stuck with a couple Syndicate 2-drops, so I had something to play, but still...remember what you put aside. Three 7-drops and four 6-drops are, perhaps, a tad too much.

So, there you go. Common sense, 100%, but still...I didn't remember it. I still won both my games, by scraping through until 8 and Noble Kale-ing them to death. The last game we played was a hilarious sealed 4-player free-for-all, which I did not win...though not for lack of trying.