New draft variant

[yudencow]

Hi, I wanted to create a new way to draft for a game I'm working on. Please tell me what you think and any suggestions will be welcome. (Packs contain 10 cards while the main deck only needs 44 cards).

A. Each player receives 6 packs.
B. Players choose three quarters of the cards to keep.
C. Players move the other quarter to the one on the right.
D. You may switch up to 3 cards per stack.
E. After the switch is done, move it to your right.
F. Move the stacks until they reach the original owner.
G. Do the same to the left with 1 switchable card per stack.
H. Move the stacks until they reach the original owner.
I. Put as many cards as you like from the stack to the deck.
J. The remaining stack acts as a side deck.

[Cyrus]

Hmmm....

A-B-C: 3/4s seems like a bad number for 10 card packs, don't you think? Unless you mean they open all 6 packs at once, giving them 60 cards, then they choose 45 of them, leaving 15 to become "stacks" and be passed around. One problem I see with this is that it might take FOREVER for people to choose their first 45.

D: What do you mean "Switch?" Like, put cards from your 45 back in order to take 3 cards from the cards passed to you? Does this mean you never have more than 45 cards?

G: So then you go backwards? Might be unnecessary...

All in all it seems like a decent draft mechanic, except that your opening packs are going to much further decide what you are going to be playing. It almost seems (with the switching and such) like you'll end up with too refined a deck each time, as long as everyone "plays along," but maybe that's not a cause for concern?

Just my first thoughts on this, keep it up!

[yudencow]

Thanks for commenting Cyrus, I thought this forum was dead.

I did mean that players open all the packs at once, so they could build a deck with a theme out of scraps rather than choosing cards they would like to keep for later (though it is recommanded too through the switching). I wanted that the decks will be too refined so new players with less in-depth knowledge and experience will have a fair chance against more seasoned players.

No, you will end up with as many packs as you open because when the original stack gets back to you keep it. In my game the basic mode only requires 44 cards, so the stack plus 1 card naturally act as a side deck. In other modes where you require a bigger deck more packs would be opened. That is why I thought in ratios (3 to 1).

In G you don't go backwards, just having a supplemental round to the left. Just like the regular draft where you have a few rounds each time to a different direction.

You are right that the original deck building is going to take much time to decide. There are few limitations of how many cards of the same type can be on the field and different restrictions concerning the game type, so players taking the problem to its basics can build a deck in 10-15 minutes.

I'm thinking if I need to change the numericals, meaning you keep 50 cards while only sending 10 away, and you can switch 2 cards to the left with every stack. After that you build a deck of 44 cards, and the rest is your side deck.

I did not understand what did you mean by "plays along".

Thanks for the support hopefully it will be enjoyable.

[Cyrus]

Forum's not dead! At least not *that* dead...

Thanks for the clarifications, I think I understand it pretty well

I guess it depends on the number of playable strategies you hope to have out of the packs, as well as number of players at the table drafting, for the whole "plays along" thing. I meant basically that if each player keeps to their own strategy, they will probably end up with almost the same deck every time they play that strategy. This would, of course, be remedied with expansions, so it isn't really a concern.

Aside from time constraints I'm down to test this out. Got any rules for the actual game?

[yudencow]

I'm working on it, but I will like to see it working on other games.