Brian's Guide to Drafting

Navigating the Netherworld by the Seat of your Pants

Introduction

This document is an attempt to help new Shadowfist players when playing in a draft game and to help existing players improve their drafting.  Drafting is a great format because the playing field is level and you end the night with new cards.  It's my favorite format in any game, and I've been known to draft games that I don't usually play (Magic, for instance).

The unfortunate downside is that new players can get easily overwhelmed in a draft game.  They don't know the cards yet, so they have to read a lot.  And while seasoned players know deck design and the card supply inside and out, new players have more difficulty keeping track of the numbers or recognizing a must-have card.  A new player can also get stuck on a "cool" card, and may have difficulty differentiating what's good in constructed vs what's good in draft.

I myself became aware of this problem when I watched a good friend of mine, who's a novice to 'Fist but generally a great card player, get really frustrated in a draft. This is my attempt to do something about that. 

There are no shortage of good guides in the world for new Shadowfist players.  I have listed some of them in Appendix A: Other Good Stuff for Beginners, below, and I highly recommend you check them out.  This document will discuss some basics, but will focus mostly on the differences between draft and constructed, and the strategies specific to drafting.

Experienced players note: I fully recognize that this document probably only describes my personal style of drafting.  Other players probably draft differently.  If you have comments, please feel free to send them to the main Shadowfist forum, or to b s m i t h s w e e n e y AT g m a i l DOT c o m.  I reserve the right to ignore you. 

The Basics: Draft Is Just Like Constructed...

In many ways, this is very true.  In draft, as in constructed, you still want to obey the rule of fifths, and in fact you probably want to follow it more closely than you might in constructed.  In constructed, you'll be pulling off combos and tricks, and might have ways to get around having say less than 1/5th foundation characters or Feng Shui Sites.  In draft, it's unlikely you'll have such tricks.  So stick with the fifths.  My version translates roughly into (stolen shamelessly from here ):

• 1/5th Foundation Characters

• 1/5th Feng Shui Sites

• 1/5th Characters that require resources (mostly hitters of fighting >=4)

• 1/5th cards (Events, States, etc.) that are cheap (0 cost preferably, some 1 cost ok)

• 1/5th more expensive cards

There are lots of versions of the rule of fifths, but I like this one for drafting.

The other similarity is the 'Fist axiom "hitters win games".  In Shadowfist, if you want to win, you have to take sites.  Taking sites means dealing lots of damage, and dealing lots of damage means having big characters.  Above I mentioned 1/5th characters of >=4 fighting, and probably half of that 1/5th should really be 6+ fighting (the latter can be tough to do in draft, though, and I have been known to win a draft with an army of 3-cost 4-fighting characters).  Remember, you can't win without hitters.

Of course, if you don't have enough Feng Shui or Foundation, you won't ever get to play your big hitters. 

Also in draft, jut like in constructed, you'll want to watch out for denial events (those that can smoke  a character or site, or otherwise easily stop a win), and alternate power generation cards (pocket demon, scrounge, etc. )  These will turn up even less frequently in draft than constructed, so watch out for them!

...Except when it's not

I almost called this section "except even more so", because that's really what drafting is about.  In constructed, you have a fair amount of flexibility to mess around with the rule of fifths.  An "Open a Can of Whupass" or a "Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting" deck, for instance, might contain a very low number of characters with fighting > 4.  And one can even build a a deck completely free of Feng Shui Sites if one is so inclined.

In draft, these scenarios are rare.  You simply can't get enough of a single card to guarantee success with tricks like the above.  Will you seek out and use combos?  Sure.  But you probably can't build a deck around them.  So you want to pay very close attention to the rule of fifths.  One thing to note: this rule is generally considered to be flexible for your base cards, like foundation and Feng Shui sites.  You want at least 1/5th foundation, but having a little extra won't kill you, and you will definitely want to if you end up building a multi-faction.  Same goes for Feng Shui Sites.  Don't over do it, however; I  personally would never do more than 25% of either of these.

Hitters, as mentioned above, are also good candidates for putting in a little extra.  That is, 1/5th is a good starting point, but if you can do 1/4th, you're probably in better shape.  In draft, you can go overboard a bit with hitters because you don't have to worry as much about them being wiped out too easily.  In constructed, on has to consider carefully spending 5 power on a character who can be easily Nerve Gassed, or Discerning Fired, or hit with Glimpse of Brief Eternity, or, gasp , even Shadowy Mentored.  In draft, though, these cards are much less likely to show up.  If someone is packing Nerve Gas, they'll likely only have 1 or 2.

So, if you can pack extra hitters, and you need to keep 1/5th Feng Shui and 1/5th Foundation, where do find slots for your hitters?  The answer is, you pull from the other 2/5ths of "other stuff".    Often new drafters get caught up in Events, States, etc., because that's often where some of the nifty effects and surprises are.  But effects and surprises don't take sites on their own, characters do.  Build your deck around your hitters, and pack enough "other stuff" to support them. 

Getting to the nitty gritty: passing the draft

You've read the rest of this doc, you've looked over some of the deckbuilding for newbies guide, and now you're ready to sit down, pass some packs, and hand out some butt-kicking (equal opportunity, of course).

Before we get there, let's talk about some draft basics.  The standard format is 4-8 people sit around a table and everyone gets a pack of cards.  You choose 1 card, and pass the rest to the next player.  The player before you will pass you her remaining cards as well . You choose 1, lather, rinse, and repeat, until each person is passed only 1 card.  Then you get another pack, and repeat the whole process.  Each time you get a new pack, it's considered to be one round of drafting.  Pretty easy, eh?

So what cards do  you pull?  What should your priorities be?  What's a good hitter, and what's not?

To answer these fun questions, let's start with my (general) priority list, with notes as appropriate. Please note: this list, and most of the rest of the document, are based off the draft variant I usually play where each player is given a pod of 5 Feng Shui sites, and two pods of 5 Foundation characters. If you're playing in a draft without these, you'll have to adjust your priorities (foundation characters and FSS become top priority).

1. Hitters - draft at least 8-10 of these

   1. Again, fighting should be >=4

   2. Cost ratios should be:

      1. 3 power/4 fighting with some ability. 

         1. These guys are often your bread and butter in draft, though if you find your hitters are nearly entirely comprised of these, you'll want to make sure you're packing some punch through (like guns).

         2. Good cards in this class:

            1. Shaolin Monkey

            2. Ordinal Spirit

            3. Blue Monk

         3. Less good cards in this class:

            1. Brain Sucker

            2. Portal Rat

            3. Peasant Mob

      2. 4 power/6-7 fighting + some ability or 4 power/5 fighting with very good ability

         1. Good cards in this class

            1. Shung Dai

            2. Da Boys

            3. 10k Man

            4. CHAR

            5. Destroyer

            6. Ting Ting

            7. Many purists

         2. Less good cards in this class

            1. Capoiera Master

            2. Old "Fist of the Bear"

            3. Leatherback

      3. 5 power/8 fighting + good ability

         1. Good cards in this class

            1. Golden Gunman

            2. Deep-cover rebels

            3. Kallisti

            4. Lord Hawksmoor

            5. Most of the Seven Masters

         2. Less good cards in this class

            1. Redeemed Assassin

            2. Oscar Balbeuna

            3. Shaolin Master

      4. 6+ power/fighting will vary, good abilities

         1. There really aren't any of these that are not good in drafting, assuming you can afford the resources.  If you want to play one of these folks, you probably have to monofaction.

2. Defense/Denial

   1. Cards that smoke, steal, or otherwise handle characters (Shadowy Mentor, Discerning Fire, Imprison, Nerve Gas, Glimpse of Brief Eternity, Final Brawl, Material Transendance )

   2. Attack stoppage (Snowblind, Operation Killdeer)

   3. Other Defense (Blade Palm, Robust Feng Shui, Wing of the Crane, Confucian Stability)

3. Alternate Power Gen

   1. Leech (Scrounge, Pocket Demon, Violet Meditation)

   2. Other (Insidious Plan, IKTV Special Report, Heat of Battle, Now You've Made Us Mad)

   3. Feng Shui Sites which have an ability to gain extra power (Gambling House, Monkey House, Stone Spirals)

4. Punch through

   1. Many character smoke/defensive cards listed above

   2. Damage/Fighting increase (Guns, Tanks, Swords)

   3. Damage prevention (Amulet of the Turtle, Netherflitter, cards that give toughness)

5. Feng Shui Sites - draft at least 5 of these, more if you get good ones, like:

   1. Fox pass

   2. Kinoshita House

   3. Proving Ground

   4. Temple of Angry Spirits

   5. Hartwell Ironworks

   6. Gambling House

   7. Eagle Mountain

6. Foundation characters - not necessarily required, because you'll get 10, but a few can be helpful.  The foundation you're given will contain a few 2-cost and on or two  3-cost characters.  Try to draft two or three 1-cost foundation to speed your deck up. 

"Less good" characters listed above don't necessarily mean that they shouldn't be pulled in a draft.  Hitters are hitters, and they can still be useful.  The ones listed above though don't have abilities that are remarkable. One of the neat things about draft is seeing people play cards they'd never play in constructed. I've played Dragon Fighters, I'll admit it.

When you begin the draft, start with an open mind.  It's generally a bad idea to decide before you open your first pack what factions you are going to want to play.  You never know what cards your going to end up with.  If you want to be successful in a draft, play the faction with the best cards you've been handed, not the one you decided on ahead of time.  

Let's try putting together a sample schedule for your first draft.  Let's say you're getting 9 packs, and therefor you'll have 9 rounds.  I'd shoot for the following

• Round 1-3: Lots of freedom here.  Watch for good hitters, or other power cards.  Grab what you can.  Have fun!  Some people spend time looking first to the rares here. It's not a bad plan, particularly if they're hitters. By the end of round 3, you should be able to narrow down to about 4 possible main factions to play.

• Round 4-6: A little less freedom here.  By rounds 5-6, you should consider taking stock of what you've got.  Are you low on hitters?  How about support events, etc.?  Drafting any FSS sites yet?  By round 6 you should narrow yourself down to roughtly 2 main factions, though if you decide to "splash" a few cards from a secondary faction, that's ok.

• Round 7-9: Time to focus your deck.  Try to tune your selections down so that you can use a single faction deck.  If not, make sure you've got some good cheap foundation characters from your 2 main factions.  Check on your Feng Shui...do you have at least 10 including your pod?  How about those hitters?

Some other tips for choosing good draft cards:

• Unaligned cards can be really good, that is cards that don't require any resources just power, because they can go in any deck.  Pump-Action Shotgun, Really Big Gun, Explosives, Art of War, Bandit Hideout, and the non-FSS sites are good "other stuff" cards.  Shung Dai, Da Boys,  Cassandra,  Reverend Zebediah Pain are all good.  Not all unaligned are good, though: Motorcycle for instance is a pretty bad state, and I'd stay away from Cheap Punks, as they provide no resources and have no useful ability.

• Avoid characters who cost more than 2 power, and who's fighting is less than their power cost.  Mostly you'll find these characters in standard and limited, and they generally suck.

• Try your best to draft so that you only have to play 1 faction.  Dual-faction if you must, but you'll have more luck as a new player with a mono-faction deck.

• Try to avoid cards with more than 3 resource requirements if you end up having to dual-faction.

• Rare characters rarely suck.  You can easily identify rare characters in later sets because of the emblem at the top-right corner.  Black means common, grey means uncommon, white means rare. The earlier sets don't have different colored emblems.  On those, just ask the folks around you which card is likely to be rare.

A word on factions: some of the factions have been around since the beginning of Shadowfist.  They include the Architects, Ascended, Dragons, Eaters of the Lotus, the Four Monarchs, Guiding Hand, and Jammers (though the 4 Monarchs and the Jammers didn't do too well early on).  Later sets added  the Purists, the Seven masters, and the Syndicate.   This makes the latter three somewhat more difficult to draft, so you might want to avoid them for now (unless you're drafting all of one of their sets!). In most drafts the person running the event will tell you which sets you're drafting from and how many packs of each. It might be worth asking the person, or those around you, which factions are good for those sets.

The End Is Nigh: Building Your Deck

I'm not going to go too far into deck building.  Again, this is not too different from constructed, so check out the sites listed in Appendix A: Other Good Stuff for Beginners, below.

I find that since in draft you are given Feng Shui Sites and Foundation Characters, you're limiting factor is often how many hitters you have . So start there.  Figure out how many hitters you've got, multiply that number by 5.  If it's less than 40, you probably need to add another faction.  I find that 40-60 card decks run pretty well in draft, and usually the slimmer end is better.

Once you have your hitters, see what kind of support cards you've got (states, events, non-Feng Shui Sites, and Edges). Do you have enough to fill in about 2/5ths of the deck, minus extra hitters?  If so, great!  If not, you might need to add another faction.  Use lots of 0-cost events if you've got them, they'll help keep your deck moving.

Now check your foundation and Feng Shui.  You did remember to draft some Feng Shui Sites, right?  If not, your deck will be limited by the number of Feng Shui you have.  Multiply this number by 5, and don't go over it.  For foundation, I would avoid using 3-cost characters as foundation unless absolutely necessary; rather, slot them as hitters, and find something else to use for foundation if you can.

Conclusion

All in all, drafting is a great format.  You get to try new decks, the playing field is pretty level, and at the end of the night you get to go home with new cards!  Hopefully this guide will help new players enjoy this excellent format. 

Questions/comments/flames/etc can be sent to: b s m i t h s w e e n e y AT g m a i l DOT c o m.

Appendix A: Other Good Stuff For Beginners

• Chimpshack (http://netherworld.chimpshack.org)

  • Deckbuilding

  • Info for new players

  • Player's help

  • Searchable database

• The Hub

• Main Shadowfist Website

Appendix B: Sample First Round Draft Picks

Sometimes you'll hear folks say stuff like “I can't believe this was passed; this is such a first round pick!” I've thrown together a sample of some cards to watch out for.   Draft these if you see them if they're in your faction; the ones in bold you might consider changing your faction allegiance for in draft, or drafting them just so someone else doesn't get them, or slotting them into any deck you build in the case of the Ice Queen. The unaligned stuff and Feng Shui Sites are not bolded, because they're all good, so just draft them. Trust me.

• Ascended

  • Shadowy Mentor (NOTE: Was bold pre-errata. Might still deserve to be)

  • Operation Killdeer

• Monarchs

  • Queen of the Ice Pagoda (original version without resource requirement)

  • Brain Fire

• Architects

  • Imprison

  • Nerve Gas

  • Expendable Unit

• Jammers

  • Scrounge

  • Netherflitter (NOTE: Has been errated since the writing of this document. Might not make the power list any more)

  • Entropy is Your Friend

• Dragons

  • Golden Comeback

  • Is That All You Got?!?

  • Dirk Wisely's Gambit

  • Final Brawl

• Guiding Hand

  • Shield of Pure Soul

  • Confucian Stability

  • Iron Monkey

• Lotus

  • Die!!

  • Evil Twin

  • Tortured Memories

  • Flying Sleeves

• Purist

  • Glimpse of Brief Eternity

  • Quantum Sorcery

• 7 Masters

  • Red Bat

  • Unexpected Rescue

• Magic

  • Discerning Fire

  • Pocket Demon

  • Amulet of the Turtle

• Chi

  • Violet Meditation

• Feng Shui

  • Proving Ground

  • Fox Pass

  • Eagle Mountain

  • Gambling House

  • Kinoshita House

  • Nine Dragon Temple

  • Puzzle Garden

  • Temple of Angry Spirits

• Unaligned

  • Pump-Action Shotgun

  • Explosives

  • Shung Dai

  • Da Boys

  • Bandit Hideout

Appendix C: Updates Needed

• Need to update each of the sections that mention specific cards to include SSG and CS.

• Would love to add an appendix per set, giving some quick guidelines on drafting that set