Heya, I want to introduce people to this game... How many draft packs should I get for us? How do we use them?

It sounds like each player will need a draft pack, plus a starter. But I think this sounds like a great way to get new players' feet wet, especially when you're behind in cards yourself. One of the reasons I like draft so much is it puts everybody on more or less equal footing.

One of the reasons I like draft so much is it puts everybody on more or less equal footing.

Agreed. But isn't equal footing the whole point of LCG's? Of course it presupposes that you buy everything that's released, but you're all in the same league once that condition is fulfilled.

I like drafts but in this format, but wouldn't it be better just to provide players with the algorithms instead of just having to buy these every time you want to draft. In contrast to Magic, for example, these packs will have zero value to most players.

I don't think it likely that FFG releases something that would allow players to bypass them. The interest of draft goes beyond equal footing: in a draft, you have to choose your cards from a limited pool and that changes everything.

has the contents of the starter been announced anywhere?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WZ8unAFw3s&app=desktop

3 double-sided house cards

Draft Only Treaty Agenda

Wildfire

Alliance

Shores of Ny Sar

Feast or Famine

Holding the Trident

3 Searoads

3 Roseroads

1 of each dual-house Sea (3 total)

1 Red Keep

Yes, but what are the rules? How many packs will one need? etc..

One of the reasons I like draft so much is it puts everybody on more or less equal footing.

Agreed. But isn't equal footing the whole point of LCG's? Of course it presupposes that you buy everything that's released, but you're all in the same league once that condition is fulfilled.

Exactly, that is a massive, massive hurdle for getting new players into the game. Starting with something a bit more relaxed is pretty much the only way to get their feet wet before taking the plunge.

Everyone needs a draft starter pack and each person needs one draft pack per person. Also suppose to draft in groups between 5-8

Heya, I want to introduce people to this game... How many draft packs should I get for us? How do we use them?

What to buy? 1 draft pack per player is required every time you want to draft. 1 draft starter is required for each player, but is a one time purchase. The draft rules are in the box themselves and you should easily be able to figure them out as they're pretty straightforward.

Essentially you are going to be making 10 card boosters 5 times and drafting a total of 50 cards. Each player will draw 10 cards from the pack and then choose 1 from the 10 cards, and pass to the left. Then repeat until all the cards from that pack are gone. Then do the same thing in the other direction. Repeat until all 50 cards are gone (5 rounds). Then you create a 40 card deck and play a tournament (generally swiss). Players walk away with whatever you had for prizes as well as the cards they drafted.

I'm just going to let you know what a typical MtG draft is like and then let you decide from there what to do.

An MtG draft is relatively cheap for what you get. It consists of 3 booster packs (which at one time was 45 cards, it might be 33 now). There is usually no prize support (the cards themselves are the prize). This makes the cost of entering a draft simply the cost of the packs.

The way my store did prizes was to gather up all the rares at the end of the draft. Then, starting with the first player, they would choose a single rare and then it would continue on down the ranking until all the rares had been dished out. You essentially do a draft for the rares. This is the MAJOR thing missing from the draft packs. They do not have the built in prize support of a Magic draft, a major missing element to them. I hope this gets remedied quickly by FFG.

If you don't want to have prize support (which will increase the cost to enter the tournament), I would recommend that you somehow instate the rare draft like Magic does. My personal thought is that after the tournament is over, each player should get to pick three cards to take home from any deck in the same way you would in Magic. Draft the prize cards 1 at a time starting with the 1st ranked player and going 1 at a time through the rankings a total of 3 times (for 3 cards each).

Draft is boring. Long live highlander.