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Magic: the Gathering has a ton of different ways that you can play the game. Between paper and digital methods, there’s a ton of different formats, including 1v1 and multiplayer formats. But one of those formats that is a bit easier for players to get into is Draft. What is that and how do you do it? Well, we’re going to talk through the basics of how to draft in Magic: the Gathering.
We won’t cover how to play the games specifically, but if you need a refresher, check out our how to play Magic guide for the basics there. This guide will go through ways that you can draft, what you need to get started, and how the draft process goes. With that, let’s get started!
How to draft in Magic: the Gathering
To get started with a draft has never been easier. The first method is definitely the easiest, and that’s to draft digitally. There’s two places that you can draft in the digital client, MTG Arena and Magic Online. Once you’re logged in, select an event, pay the entry fee and get started!
If you’re looking for a free method of drafting, perhaps for practice, there’s a very cool website called draftmancer.com. This website will allow you to queue up into a draft of nearly any set or cube out there with other people. You can even import your own cube list.
The next way to draft is drafting in paper. More than likely, if you have a local game store in your area, you can go there and see when they have draft events. Just like in digital, sign up and pay the entry fee, and you’re off to the races. If you don’t know if you have a game store nearby, check out the Wizards store locator. The other way to draft in paper is to draft with a group of friends!
What do I need to start drafting?
If you’re ready to start drafting, here’s what you’ll need to get started. If you’re drafting on digital, you’ll need the appropriate currency to be able to pay for the entry fee.
- MTG Arena: 1500 Gems or 10,000 Gold
- Magic Online: 12 (or 15) Event Tickets or three packs and two event tickets or 120 (or 150) play points
Draftmancer doesn’t require any sort of payment, so you can do this with friends or the other folks in the queues.
For playing in paper, then there’s a couple things to consider. When you play at your local game store, the store will provide the packs that you need for the draft. If you’re playing with friends, then each player will need three draft boosters. A great way to do this is to purchase a draft booster box, which contains 36 packs. If you have a draft group of eight people, that’s 24 total packs needed for the draft, leaving a few left over for prizes!
What is the draft process?
Once you’re ready to draft, the rules and process of draft are pretty much the same whether you’re playing in paper or digital. Typically a draft group or pod is eight people maximum, but they can be done with six players. Digital drafts will handle this for you, as will draft events at a store. If you’re drafting with friends though, you’ll want to try and grab a group of at least six. You’ll also want to make sure you have a good number of basic lands to help build out your deck. Once you’re ready, each player sit down at a table shown in the diagram below, and each player will get three packs.
Once each player has their packs, everyone will open one of the three packs. Make sure to remove any tip cards and the basic land, usually found at the back of the pack. Then each player will select one card from their pack, place it face down in front of them, and pass the pack to the person to their left. This is shown on the diagram by the red arrow. This process will continue until every card in the pack is picked.
Then the second pack is opened, and this process repeats. This time, the pack is passed to the person on the right, as shown by the green arrow. Once the second pack is finished, the third pack is opened and the same process happens, once again being passed back to the left.
Draft deckbuilding and playing
Once everyone has picked their cards, everyone will build a minimum 40 card deck, and play games. If you’re playing on digital, there may be a certain number of matches you’ll play before you get a prize. If you’re playing in paper, you’ll play a swiss style tournament against everyone else in the event.
Matches are played the same as a normal game of Magic, best of three with sideboarding between games. The exception to this is if you’re playing a “Premier Draft Event” on MTG Arena, which is best of one, but you need more wins to get better prizes.
And that’s how to draft in Magic: the Gathering! While drafting is typically done with a singular set, there’s tons of variations of draft, such as Cube draft and Chaos draft! Definitely consider giving one of those a try when you have the chance.
