Booster Draft Strategy Guid | Lorcana: Rise of the Floodborn
I had the unique and fun experience of playing in my first Lorcana Booster Draft tournament just one week after the early release of the set. If you aren’t familiar with how Booster Draft works, stay tuned – in this guide we’re going to go over everything you need to know about how it works, including what it is, how to play it, why you should play it, and how to (hopefully) win.
Lorcana booster draft format explained
If you already know how to play the regular format of Lorcana (two players facing off, each with their own deck comprised of one or two ink types), then draft should be very easy to pick up. We’ll get into how the draft process works in a moment, but first let’s look at the main differences in rules between your normal Lorcana deck and one built in draft
Draft decks are only made of forty cards.
Unlike in regular decks, draft decks have no limits on number of copies of a card you can play. If you want to play more than four copies of Alice – Growing Girl, go ahead! Assuming you are lucky enough to get more than four copies of her (highly unlikely).
Most importantly, draft decks have no limits on the number of ink types you can use. Normally, you aren’t allowed to use more than two. Because draft decks are built from a small number of cards, however, it wouldn’t work to limit your deck in this way, so all ink types are valid in your deck.
Number three is the most interesting rule to me, and it makes for the most exciting aspect of booster draft format. Suddenly, worrying about which ink type supports which one best or better than the rest isn’t important. It becomes all about the cards, and which ones will work in the most harmony together.
How does the booster draft process work?
The best part of booster draft is that it’s not a complicated process. Each player is given four packs, and they’re separated out into different “pods.” Separating players in this way helps the drafting process run more smoothly. When the drafting process begins, each player opens one of their packs, chooses the card they like best from that pack, and then pass it to the next person. This goes on until all cards are gone in each pack, and eventually until each pack is also gone.
By the end of the process, you should have 48 cards to choose from. You’ll then be given some time to choose which of those cards to keep, and which to get rid of. Once you’ve selected your final deck, you’ll be ready to start battling it out for prizes!
Booster draft deck building strategy guide – top things to keep in mind
Now that we understand the nuts and bolts of how Lorcana booster draft works, let’s get into the more exciting stuff – how do you build a winning deck? The limited format of draft really puts the emphasis on deck building, which means the skills required to do well are different than in regular tournaments where you bring a pre-constructed deck that you then duel with. That being said, just because you aren’t bringing a prepared deck with you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be mentally prepared. There are a few things, in fact, that you can do before going to a draft event if you’re hoping to not only get good cards but also win, too.
Know the latest cards
Draft happens quickly. You’ll feel pressure to keep up with the pace of everyone else is, meaning that if you have to read and learn what each and every card does as you are selecting them, you might find it hard to keep up. It’s a good idea to do your homework before hand. This could mean purchasing a good number of products from the latest set in order to familiarize yourself with the cards, or even attending other events ahead of time. If you learn better from reading than from being hands on, there’s also plenty of information on the web to help you learn what the latest and greatest cards are.
You don’t have to have every card memorized, but having a good sense for the cards and strategies in the latest set will help you select the cards you really need.
Don’t choose only the toughest characters
Lorcana is not a game won through brawn alone. You’ll need a host of smaller cost characters to help you get out on the right foot. Unfortunately, people can get so excited about the rare cards they might pull that they aren’t thinking of a cohesive deck building strategy that will help them win.
However, deck building at draft events isn’t a whole lot different than it is at home. You’ll want to pay close attention to the synergy of cards in your deck, as well as in making sure they are well balanced as a whole.
Lorcana Booster Draft Strategy Guide
Below is a draft deck I put together at a recent event. Thanks to this deck, I was able to go 4/0 and finish the event undefeated (as well as win a coveted Cinderella – Knight in Training card). Here’s the strategy I used to build it.
First two packs, I focused on building up my low cost characters
It’s very tempting to pick the biggest, toughest character in your pack. However, you can’t win a game if you don’t have a solid roster of cost one and cost two characters. If a card comes along that you really need in one of your main decks, or if its just so good you know it’s going to be pivitol to your strategy, you can veer from this a bit.
For example, when Let the Storm Rage On came my way during the draft, I knew I had to have it. It’s also a low cost cad, but it’s a song not a character. I knew that if I had the right line up, this card could make all the difference for me.
Pay attention to songs and actions
Many songs and actions aren’t super valuable, and many of them are common. But a good deck will have plenty of actions and songs to help you win.
Look for multiple copies of the same card
While it’s quite difficult to build a consistent deck with mulitple copies of the same card, doing so is not impossible. In the deck above, you can see it runs several copies of Painting the Roses Red and Let the Storm Rage On. Your deck will be stronger if you have a more consistent strategy with multiple copies of a card than just all one offs.
Most important, manage your cost ratios and ink/not inkable ratios
Lastly, as you build your deck, you need to manage the ratios of your costs and your ink values. How many cost one characters do you have? What about cost two and three and so on? For this deck, I had four one cost characters and nine cost two characters. This gave me a solid foundation to build on. Additionally, I didn’t un more than eight non inkable cards to make sure I wouldn’t get stuck with cards I couldn’t add to my ink well.
Certain cards are stronger in draft than in other formats
Last but not least, certain abilities and cards are really strong in booster draft format that go without notice in other formats. For example, Evasive is an incredibly strong ability in draft given people won’t always have the resources to fight against it. Cards like Flynn Rider – His Own Biggest Fan are also really strong because they focus on your opponent not having any cards. People often run out of cards as its hard to build draw support into your deck. Speaking of…
Take draw support cards whenever possible
There are few enough cards that grant draw support in Lorcana as it is. The draft format makes them even more scarce. Whenever I saw a card that let me draw other cards, I added it right away into my deck. This included cards like Painting the Roses Red, Let the Storm Rage On, Dinner Bell, Jafar – Dreadknaught, Kuzco, Improvize and Yzma. Actually, thanks to focusing on draw support cards along with getting my low cost characters in line, I was able to have pretty consistent draw and plenty of characters on the board throughout the game.
