invasion-"planesh*t"-apoc. draft

[rAgEaGaInStNeTdEcKs]

on the 23rd i'm attending a strange invasion-ps-apoc. draft. sounds cool. anyway, anyone have any thoughts on how to draft this? blue and red are strong throughout the entire block, but i'm obviously not the only person who knows this. white sucks up to apoc. where it's only really good because of flag bearers. how should i do this? by the by, i draft a booster of each.

oh, and i spell planeshift "planesh*t" because it was, well, plain sh*t.

[MoRand]

What should you do? Well how I draft it depends on the first pack that I open. If in that pack the best card in there is agonizing demise with no other strong black cards I will take it. Now I have an idea what i will draft in the future with hopefully black being on of the colors. Lets sat though the pack that I am passed has good all around card but it has a sabertooth nishoba in it. I will most likely take the overgrown bear know that the player to the right of me is not going to be playing green or white. So right now I have a strong plan of what I want to draft green white with a splash of black. When Appoc. comes around the splash of black will go geat with the white and the green. Basically what I am trying to say is that you should draft what you open and what is passed to you, loof for signals by the person to your right and if you draft correctly when the draft switches directions you should be greatly rewarded if you cut off your colors properly. An important thing to note too; alot of people like to enter a draft thinking that they will play a certian color combination this in my opinion is a TERRIBLE was to draft too many things can go wrong. For instance if you are planning to go with two allied colors for inv. and plan. and a shared enemy for appoc. and you open say a dragon of some type your whole draft will go in a sence wrong because your mindset and your card selections are not insinque. So as I stated before draft what is passed to you, make a plan WHILE you draft and NOT BEFORE. I think I have done a bit too much rambling right now so I will get outta here. Oh yeah one more thing white does not suck at all.

[massive]

The wedge is definitely the way to go. (Two allies and their common enemy.)

Of the five wedges, the three most powerful are: G/U/B, R/W/U, and R/B/W.

G/U/B gives you good Invasion picks like Recoil, Vodalian Zombie, plus all the black removal and blue bounce. Rushing River is a nice pick in Planeshift. You can pick up splash-green cards, the most logical choices being mana creatures like Quirion Elves or mana fixers like Harrow. When you get to Apocalypse, easily the most powerful rares are G/B, and there's a solid selection of commons as well (Consume Strength, Llanowar Dead, Urborg Elf, Gaea's Skyfolk, Temporal Spring).

R/W/U starts off with good commons and uncommons in Invasion like Galina's Knight, Glimmering Angel, the Acolytes and tappers. You can pick up burn spells like Scorching Lava and Magma Burst (in Planeshift) to augment your splash color. Then in Apocalypse you have an incredible selection: Jilt, Goblin Legionnaire, Razorfin Hunter, Illuminate, Fire/Ice, Order/Chaos. The rares aren't bad here either: Desolation Giant or Lightning Angel are bombs.

R/B/W gives you the best shot at heavy removal, and ends with stuff like Goblin Legionnaire, Captain's Maneuver, Gerrard's Verdict. There are a lot of good common creatures, my favorite being Mire Kavu in Planeshift, and lots of good removal.

Now, this is a good TEMPLATE to go in with. Definitely the trick, in my opinion, is maximizing your Apocalypse picks because there are a lot of powerful limited cards in that set. If it so happens that you've drafted three allied colors through Invasion and Planeshift (say, because you pulled a Dragon, or a Phelddagrif, or your Invasion pack went that way and you pulled a nice dragon charm), then you still are OK once you get to Apocalypse; you'll just have one set of enemy golds that you can choose from without splashing a fourth color. If you happen to be, say, U/W/G at that point (you pulled a Phelddagrif say), then draft Gaea's Skyfolk and Temporal Springs and Flagbearers once you get to Apocalypse.

Again, the wedges I listed above are a TEMPLATE. The secret to good drafting is being able to assess what the best card is, in the pack you are looking at, for your deck. It takes time and practice. This will at least give you a starting point.

Massive says, "I feel like a broken rec, like a broken rec, like a broken rec ..."

[Sleeper Agent]

Thank you for your post. It sums up IBC draft strategy really well. My respect for you grows with every post. :D

And thanks for adding the TEMPLATE part. Because it's true...you can't plan and plan and plan for a draft and hope everything to go perfect. You must "go with the flow" of what comes up. :)