My eternal nemesis Andrew Yip gave you a little primer into the world of drafting last week. My take this week will be a little more specific as we delve into the world of Draft archetypes.
Noah’s Archetype – Willpower, not Affiliation, Driving the Draft
Draft archetypes are funny beasts. One would think that archetypes are hard to get consistently, given that you have no idea whether the linchpin cards will turn up in sufficient quantities (if at all) within a given 24 boosters. That’s why, when you do look for draft archetypes, the most important choices you’ll have will involve common cards—you can more reliably base strategies on them. Though there are decks that revolve around uncommons and sometimes even rares, you often won’t know whether a particular strategy is popular with a set of eight players, meaning that it’s safer to base your plan of attack on something more reliable. Another pressure that creeps up is that draft decks require a certain number of characters at each point in the curve depending on your strategy. You may see cards that are good for your archetype in the booster, but they’ll vie with non-archetypal concerns such as plot twist saturation and the sheer power of certain cards.
A draft is very similar to an auction—you use your bid (your pick order) to determine how important a card is for you. To make draft archetypes work, you need to consistently give certain cards a higher priority than your opponents do. That will consistently deliver a certain band of cards. Paul Ross (of Cerebro fame) pointed out recently that I always seem to have G’Nort in my decks, whilst he never has it available. This is simply a consequence of prioritizing. I believe G’Nort is more important to the willpower draft archetype, a style to which I’m more than partial, than traditionally favored cards. Thus, I will take him in the first three cards in a pack, whereas many people would be content to wait until later for the canine Green Lantern.
It’s now time to get down and dirty with the particulars of a draft archetype that is close to my heart—the willpower deck. The DGL set has brought in many innovations in the land of Sealed Pack, but one of the most interesting is the deck that cares more about a keyword rather than affiliation. Traditionally, many (if not most) decks revolve around the little words on the left side of the character cards, as team attacking and reinforcement are generally too important to leave aside in a Draft (or even Sealed Pack) context. This is why there’s so much emphasis on team-up cards in Draft; there is an inherent cohesion that comes with having cards of the same affiliation. While this affiliation pressure is still present in Green Lantern Corps Draft, willpower brings to the table yet another element that needs to be considered, one that cuts across three (and in some peculiar cases, four) teams.
At the very heart of the willpower mechanic lay two types of interactions. One is merely having it, as demonstrated by cards that say, “Do X with a character with willpower 1 or greater” (such as Rain of Acorns), and the other is using it as a number (like Oa or Emerald Twilight). Both of these types figure prominently in a willpower draft deck, but what characters you need specifically will often be driven by which interaction your deck has more of. Be sure to continuously keep in mind which type of willpower characters you need throughout the draft, otherwise you may end up with a Book of Oa and a bunch of willpower 1 dudes*.
Willpower to the People – The Core Cards of a Willpower Deck
Oa – Even though we usually won’t talk about rares in the context of a Sealed Pack situation, I want to make sure that no one passes Oa. Ever. Though I’m sure some people will argue with me, I believe that it is simply the best card you could ever hope to open in the Green Lantern Corps set (unless you are playing mono-Manhunters, and it’s the third pack, and you don’t have Manhunter Lantern, and . . . ah screw it. Just take the card and draft some Green Lantern willpower dorks.). Now it’s true that this card is partially team-stamped, but a willpower deck will nearly always have a significant amount of Green Lantern characters. It allows brutal late game exchanges and is sorely needed, especially in a format with such high DEF totals in general.
Book of Oa – Now we get to the nitty gritty of willpower decks. While Book of Oa is fine past turn 4, it is at its best when you’re able to start your 2+ willpower curve on turn 2. This means that you need to be more acutely aware of your early willpower characters, with Kyle Rayner, The Last Green Lantern, Tomar-Tu, Dr. Light, Master of Holograms, Dr. Polaris, and Hector Hammond figuring higher on your scale. Having the early selection with this cards means that you’ll see the most powerful portion of your deck more consistently (it will also help with hitting drops), and most of you kids out there know that’s a Good ThingTM.
G’Nort – One of the great things that G’nort allows you to do is keep a board presence in the early stages of a game. And with total willpower being important, it allows more powerful effects like Emerald Twilight and Helping Hand work better. That his ability is willpower based rather than team-stamped is a huge plus in the early turns, when team-ups are more likely to be scarce. And to top it off, he makes a very reasonable late game drop that allows you to trump your opponent’s equivalent characters.
Arisia – Though potentially more powerful than her canine compatriot, Arisia suffers from team-stamped syndrome, an affliction that becomes much more apparent in the willpower decks. As such, drafting her early means that you more or less have to do one of two things: draft a lot more Green Lantern characters than any other affiliation, which isn’t the worst idea in the world with a willpower deck; or draft more team-ups, in particular Hard-Traveling Heroes and No Evil Shall Escape Our Sight. Having to draft team-ups higher often disrupts the flow of a willpower draft, as you’d frequently rather take plot twists and characters that are more potent.
Olapet – Olapet’s strength is more or less dependant on the amount of Arisias and G’Norts you can get your hands on, but if you do have at least a couple, Olapet is your man . . . um . . . plant. Especially combined with Arisia, Olapet’s unique ability to become a willpowerhouse on turn 5 often means that cards like Remoni-Notra ◊ Star Sapphire start looking very tasty. Mmm . . . vegetables.
Emerald Twilight and Chopping Block – I love KO effects, and both of these are right up my alley. Emerald Twilight has the benefit of being one of the most efficient KO methods, provided you have enough spare willpower around. But as I have been reminded on a firsthand basis, remember that it counts less than the total willpower. Chopping Block is one of my favorites in this style of deck, mostly because such a deck has a lot of low drops and games are often ended when the Block is used more than once.
Uppercut – Uppercut is one of those cards I hate in Draft. I like it fine, but it always seems that someone likes it more than me, which means that I never seem to get any in my deck. Though it can lead to some terrific attacks (read “combo” with Olapet), don’t overrate it in this deck; often, a simpler, more generic +2 ATK card (with which this set is replete) will get the job done just as well.
The Ring has Chosen – Like Uppercut, this is a card I really like in this deck that I seem to prioritize less than my fellow drafters. It’s a popular uncommon Constructed card, which has the unfortunate side effect of having people take it to add to their collections at the end of the draft (where I used to play, we used to draft the rares at the end of the draft but kept all commons and uncommons, which meant that popular uncommons were often snatched a little earlier than they should have been). It’s very nice to get some characters with boost in your draft (like Guy Gardner, Strong Arm of the Corps or Power Ring) just in case you don’t have quite the willpower you need to get the drop you want.
Power Ring – I really like to have this guy on my team, and it usually means that I choose the odd initiative when I draft this deck. His high willpower, combined with a very effective concealed-optional ability and a more than useful boost ability, means that he is very much the total package when it comes to this archetype. He’s certainly been underrated in drafts that I’ve played.
What You Talkin’ ’bout, Willpower? – Cards that aren’t as Good as they seem in the Willpower Archetype
Battle of Wills – One would think that this would be a terrific card in this strategy, but it falls a little short. I personally prefer to use it to negate defensive +ATK modifiers from my opponent, which ultimately means that its no better than a more efficient recovery mechanism. It’s still nice to have.
Qwardian Council Hall – Much in the same vein as Arisia, the Hall is a strong location that is hindered by being team-stamped. It’s a more pronounced problem with this card, mostly because Anti-Matter characters are less likely to be the key characters in a willpower deck, which means that reliance on team-ups creeps in. Nevertheless, the specter of winning every single combat mano a mano without stunning any of your guys is appealing.
Team-ups – Though I still like team-ups in affiliation-based decks, they seem to waste picks in the Willpower archetype that I would rather be using for more powerful cards. That being said, if you think that the power level of your cards is sufficient or that a pack is especially bland, then by all means take a team-up. Not to be Captain Obvious (6-drop), but Hard-Traveling Heroes and No Evil Shall Escape Our Sight (when combined with construct searchers) are the best, though Mosaic World is very reasonable when you are equally spread over the three main willpower affiliations.
Rain of Acorns – Ch’p’s attack of choice seems like it should be better in this deck, and funnily enough, it’s definitely at its best here. But ultimately, it ain’t that flash an ability to begin with. The willpower deck is designed to dominate your initiative, so if you are using this ability too much, you probably haven’t gotten a good deck to begin with.
Hal Jordan, Reborn and Sinestro, Enemy of the Corps – Even having seemingly huge willpower abilities doesn’t quite mitigate the fact that these characters are generally meaningless outside their ATK and DEF values.
Central Power Battery - I had high hopes for this card to be good in this archetype, but it requires too many things to go right. Some formations make this card more palatable, but the situations are too few and far between.
Malvolio – I’m not sure why, but I hate this card more than most. To be perfectly honest, 4 ATK is poor. He’s not even able to stun some 3-drops, and his ability only starts working on turn 5.
Any construct character – Though Light Brigade, Space Bears, and Mouse Trap all have their place, they don’t really cut the mustard in a deck that has as many more powerful options.
Willpower and Grace – Underrated and Unappreciated Cards when Playing Willpower
Harlequin – Most players won’t look towards the Manhunter affiliation for help in their willpower decks, and that is correct in general. Being one of two characters with willpower in the affiliation, Molly Mayne Scott often goes under the radar, but having willpower 2 and an incredibly annoying ability goes a long way.
Catcher’s Mitt – Something that often happens with the willpower deck is that the lack of affiliation coherence leads to many bad reinforcement channels in the mid-game. That leads to endurance gaps that are often insurmountable, even though the board position seems favorable. Catcher’s Mitt definitely goes a long way towards helping this, especially if you can protect the equipped character by means of Coast City and the like. And let’s not forget the discard ability that can often mean the difference between holding the game to another initiative—yours—or not.
Dr. Light, Master of Holograms – Well, he’s not quite underrated or unappreciated, but he does have some abilities that are uniquely suited to the willpower deck. Firstly, he has willpower 2, which is underrated in and of itself. Secondly, his ability is not team-stamped, so he is able to bring back any small character that was lost earlier. This is particularly important for a deck that needs to keep as many characters on the table as possible for purposes of willpower count. Willpower decks also have amongst the highest saturation of low drops, which the good doctor can revive.
Emerald Dawn – Just like Dr Light, the usefulness of Emerald Dawn in the willpower deck type plays heavily on the fact that it has more low drops than any other deck. Emerald Dawn should be able to search out nearly any character in your deck, especially specialized one such as Dr. Light, Remoni-Notra ◊ Star Sapphire, and Ch’p.
Ch’p – The squirrel Green Lantern is a good example of how powerful willpower is in a given context. Having an unusually high willpower for his cost (willpower 6), he’s able to combo with Arisia, Emerald Twilight, and if you are lucky enough, Oa to a devastating effect. Don’t pass him because of his stats.
Dr. Ub’X – Having a Ph.D. seems to be a requirement for Galactic Conqueror, but I’m sure Ub’X worked hard in squirrel school to get that moniker. It’s very easy to underestimate and misplay him, but careful planning and formation can mean that you KO a character nearly every turn with Dr. Ub’X. Combined with a healthy willpower 2, it’s a mistake to let this go too late.
Where there’s a Willpower, there’s a Way – Final Thoughts on Willpower Drafts
The ways that willpower differs from the other DGL draft styles is that it puts a tremendous pressure on its own initiative to power through an opponent’s defenses. This means that it’s capable of playing schizophrenic; off-curve drops are more than welcome on its own initiative, but it does better off-initiative by hitting the curve with the appropriate drop. Also remember that the general power level for combat plot twists in this set is average, with nearly all except the top tier (No Man Escapes the Manhunters, Femme Fatality, and Light Armor) only giving a +2 ATK bonus. So don’t fall over yourself trying to obtain too many +2 ATK effects, as they’ll come in time.
I hope this will help your next draft with the Green Lantern set. Next week, it will be Andrew’s turn to enlighten you, and eventually we’ll have at it in an article that will show what we don’t agree on when drafting Green Lantern Corps.
Good Gaming,
TBS
* May be based on true events. I’ll never tell!