I'm not sure whether I'm writing this to explain to others why I enjoy drafting so much, or because question it myself. I love constructed Magic. I have a bunch of EDH decks! Designing standard versions of Shuffleupagus helped me stay away awake back in classes in grad school.
Drafting doesn't ignore deck-brewing/building, though. It's a microcosm of the whole Magic hobby: opening packs, choosing cards, deck building, playing, and then incorporating those cards into your collection.
I learned about drafting in 2002 in my last year of college. I was very skeptical before I tried it, but after my first draft at Zimmie's Comics in Lewiston, Maine, I was hooked. (I found an old Facebook page, but it looks like they've been closed since at least 2019.) I think I made it to a few Odyssey-block drafts that fall before Onslaught was released in early October of that year. I started going regularly with a group of new players as well as some amazing players. There was always a crowd of around ten at the store and I was really bad for that whole first year. I don't think I ever did better than 1-2. It didn't matter, I loved it.
I won a few Nemesis packs at a vintage tournament at J&R Cards in Brunswick, Maine (another Facebook link, sorry, but this one appears to still be active). Had I won those packs a year earlier, I would have opened them, but I had changed. Instead I left them sealed, figuring I could use them in a friendly draft sometime. I wasn't consciously doing any value-maxing, I just wanted to draft more. I didn't have enough for a full draft, of course, but I bought some more packs of different sets and that snowballed a little bit. I've been drafting and running drafts ever since. (In the aughts, my group called these "Wacky Drafts": drafts where you bring whatever three packs you want. I think most people refer to these as Chaos Drafts, but I also think that refers to other unexpected-pack-drafts as well, so I like the differentiation.)
I like bulleted lists. Here are a bunch of reasons why drafting is my favorite as well as further bonuses for Wacky/Chaos drafts:
- It works with all sorts of numbers of players. In the past year I've learned that even three players is an acceptable amount if you're willing to do a Ravnica: Clue draft!
- I love opening packs! It's fun! It's even more fun to be opening packs and to immediately use those cards. When you open a pack outside of limited play, it can be boring if there isn't a valuable card in it. In a draft, however, you get to take a closer look at those cards and hunt for the one that is going to help you win the most games. Wacky Draft Bonus: you're probably opening different packs, which is even further from the "booster box game" where you open packs from the same set over and over (which can get a bit tedious).
- Sealed formats can overwhelm me a bit when I'm deckbuilding. I always wish I had more time to better analyze my cardpool optimize my deck. In a draft, I get a bit acquainted with my cards while I'm picking them. I already have a bit of an idea of how my deck is going to look and can build faster.
- The playing field is more level. It's certainly possible to be more skilled than someone else in a limited setting, but at least there isn't the disparity of having access to different sized/valued collections. Wacky Draft Bonus: it's possible to learn the ins and outs of specific draft formats, but I think it's harder to predict how a draft with many different packs will go, leveling skills even further.
- It's always different. I can draft with the same group of four people and each draft is going to be very different. Even a few key cards can make a huge difference. It's really exciting to see how other people put together a deck, given what came around. Wacky Draft Bonus: The variance is even higher when drafting from a bunch of sets simultaneously.
- I like playing with low-power cards. There are so many cards out there and it's fun to make use of the ones that aren't playable in constructed formats. It is really fun when some common card comes in clutch to save you. Wacky Draft Bonus: I love it when there's an amazing interaction between cards from distant sets. I think I had some Ravnica-block spirit (Azorius Herald, perhaps?) trigger my Innocence Kami and I got really excited about it.
- I like the cards I walk away with. No matter how poorly I do, I have a bunch of neat cards in a deck I built that I get to add to my collection. Some may go in my trade binder, some may even go into decks. Some may be copies of cards I don't have yet! I get to sort them all out and organize them into the rest of my collection. I know that may not be fun for everyone, but it is extremely fun for me. As I write this, I can't wait to doing it with the cards I drafted last night! (This is such a big part of it for me that I think it explains why I don't cube draft much.)
I still love constructed Magic. I have a list of wanted cards a mile long for a variety of decks. Some day I may even get them all. But I still love drafting even more.
Happy Magicking to you, no matter which formats you like best!
