It is not yet nine in the morning, and as I write this, the players are seated and prepared to crack their first Avengers packs. I can tell you from experience that there is no more exciting moment in a pro event than right before you open that first pack for Draft. The day holds such possibility—maybe I’ll open a broken rare, maybe no one will draft my favorite archetype but me, and maybe I can win it all! Soon, some players’ wishes will be fulfilled, and some players’ hopes will be dashed. I had a chance to speak with some of the players in Day 2 to get a preview of their Draft strategies.
Darwin Kastle from team Your Move Games felt that this format was all about speed. He and the rest of the YMG guys are not only drafting ATK pumps over almost anything (which is a reasonably standard strategy), but they are also pushing for an incredibly low and aggressive curve, aiming for five or more 1-drop characters and no 6- or 7-drop characters. According to Darwin, YMG ally Kings Games disagrees with this strategy, opting to first pick 7-drops like Arcanna. I can’t imagine that this strategy would be correct, but I know KG has practiced a ton for this format, and it would be a mistake to underestimate them.
Neil Reeves is looking to draft the popular Faces of Evil archetype that proved to be very powerful at the last Pro Circuit. Neil had some concerns that Faces might be overdrafted, so he is hoping to open Pym Laboratories or Avengers Mansion to put him into his backup, the Avengers Reservist archetype.
Japanese players Masami Ibamoto and Ko Okada share Neil’s concern that Faces will be overdrafted, so they plan on using a Squadron/Avengers Reservist archetype as their primary draft strategy.
It looks like today is going to be defined by how overdrafted Faces of Evil is. The huge success of that archetype at the last Pro Circuit will predispose a lot of players to play it, but the better prepared players may abandon Faces for some of the more underdrafted decks. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Kang or two (or twelve) ended up in some 3-0 decks. I’ll keep an eye on the drafting as it develops and find out what is working and what isn’t.