Out of all the elements of well-rounded Vs. play, the most difficult skill to hone is probably drafting. While archetypes can be netdecked, tech can be debated and publicized on message boards, and even key plays can be studied easily within teams or player communities, there are relatively few resources available that pertain to draft play. Generally you need to go out, take your lumps, and learn from them. It’s not often that one gets a chance to see and understand a veteran player’s drafting decisions, so when I got the chance to do a “ride along” with pro player Steve Horowitz, I jumped at the opportunity. The good news? You’re all coming along too.
First up was the actual drafting process. The draft Horowitz participated in was an eight-person pod with three packs per player, all Marvel Knights. Good practice for Day Two’s festivities (read: brutal beatings), the drafts were attracting a lot of topnotch players. This one included not only Steve Horowitz, but $10K Minehead Top 4 finisher Lee Sowden as well. Others like Gabe Walls and Maik Stitch sat at surrounding tables.
Let’s break down Horowitz’s pulls pack by pack. We’ll look at the picks Horowitz made (in the order he made them) for all three rounds of drafting, and examine some of the more interesting decisions he made. Recaps of the status of his drafting experience will follow each pack/round’s summation.
Pack One
Hypnotic Charms: A strong first pick, selecting Charms was a win-win situation. Either it would serve Horowitz well in the tournament as a component of an Underworld team-up deck, or it would at least deprive such decks being run by his opponents of a powerful team-up option. It was a slow decision for Horowitz, as a few other good cards hovered in the first pack he opened, such as Mind Over Matter, which had won several pods over the course of the day. But, Charms would prove to be integral to his strategy.
Head Shot: A medium-paced selection, Head Shot is one of the format’s best ATK pumps, and with the amount of Marvel Knights usually seen in any given draft pool, it was a good bet that Horowitz would be able to make good use of this card. It’s a good early pull, though a bit risky. Plot twists such as these are usually smart to pick early before less gutsy players descend on them like flies in the second half of the draft.
Mr. Hyde: His first risky judgment call, Horowitz opted to take Mr. Hyde over Lacuna. Both calls were a gamble at this point, as each is dependent on a secondary card to be particularly useful. Both Cobra and Marvel Team-Up are commons, but the key difference is that Marvel Team-Up is a first or second pick common that disappears fast when it’s cracked, while Cobra is not. Since he already had a single Hypnotic Charms just three cards in, Horowitz decided to go with Mr. Hyde. This would end up cementing an important part of his deck.
Death-Stalker: A very fast choice, Death-Stalker is a versatile character with solid stats that can provide cheap early-game team affiliations to use as the basis for a variety of team-ups. The pack he came in was so-so, and his versatility made him a no-brainer.
Penance Stare: Occupying a somewhat dead pack, the Stare was “better than putting a guy face down,” as Horowitz aptly put it. He spent more time studying the pack’s contents after selecting his card than before.
Werewolf by Night: Another incredibly fast choice, the Werewolf brings the same advantages to the table as Death-Stalker. He’s cheap, easy to protect due to his concealed status, and thus facilitates early-game team-ups.
Cobra: The gamble paid off, as Horowitz scored his first Cobra! Now armed with a single pair of Hyde/Cobra, a deck was beginning to form.
Mr. Hyde: And another one! At this point Horowitz seemed very pleased, and the Hyde was an auto-include for his deck.
The rest of Horowitz’s pulls for the pack were about making the most out of a depleted draft pool. He ended up taking the following from the remaining six packs: Vivisector, Lunatic Lycanthrope, La Nuit, Made Men, Grandstanding, Caretaker, and Doop, Forward Observer.
At this point Horowitz’s deck was starting to take shape, with a heavy weight towards Crime Lords. However, he was not happy with his lack of other teams, as the choosing of Hypnotic Charms and Head Shot felt like possibly wasted cards. “I’m worried about the Charms . . . I wish I hadn’t used my first few picks the way I did.” Still, with a spread of complementary low-drops and plot twists, Horowitz seemed to be doing well.
Pack Two
Masked Marauder: “Auuugh!” exclaimed Horowitz. “Which one do I pick, the best 4-drop in the game or Blown to Pieces?” Replacement in Sealed Pack play is exceedingly valuable, and with his Crime Lords theme, Blown to Pieces would be excellent. That said, the deck included no 4-drops thus far and Masked Marauder is not only superb, but it even matched Horowitz’s main team affiliation. After some careful deliberation, he selected it.
Bullseye, Deadly Marksman: Who passes that? Horowitz took it almost instantly, again finding a character that is virtually the best at his drop level and that happened to match his main team affiliation. While overshadowed by many prime plot twists, Bullseye was an auto-include for Horowitz given his lack of 4-drops.
Battering Ram: Another great card for almost any deck, Battering Ram is not only a great generic five-drop, but a nice hate pick against the popular Loner X-Statix deck, which has been more successful thus far today than any other draft deck. It was a fast choice in this case.
Moon Knight: This pass included Quick Kill as well as the Moon Knight that Horowitz ended up taking. While Quick Kill is a good, game-winning card, Horowitz was really starting to feel the absence of Marvel Knights characters in his deck. “Quick Kill on their 4-drop is usually game, but I just can’t pass up on something that can cover my 4- and 6-drops.”
Cobra: A second Cobra was chosen over Asmodeus, and while Horowitz hovered for a moment over the 6-drop (he didn’t have any thus far) he was eager to round out his early game first.
Blade, The Daywalker: Suddenly, Horowitz’s strong and team-diverse early game had a payoff! Except, now he needed Marvel Knights characters even more desperately than before. He took the Blade and celebrated the fact that it could cover his 5- and 6-drop.
Psychoville: The best pull from a so-so pack, Psychoville is a high-utility card that can tech out heavy-concealed decks.
Sniper: “Sweet, the best two-drop in the set!” Horowitz took it eagerly, ignoring the fact that he already had a full early-game.
Lacuna: Horowitz got a second shot at Lacuna, and this time he took it. “When she hits the KO’d pile I’ll be able to use her for Hypnotic Charms.” By the end of the draft he’d have three cards in his deck with which to ditch her. It was a questionable, but decisive and well-reasoned pick over Voodoo.
Cobra: Horowitz got his last of three total Cobras. His pool was becoming weighed down with low-drops, so his aim began to shift towards a mid-game deck that would win before turn 7 if possible.
Horowitz’s other picks were Frog Man, another Werewolf by Night, Lockjaw, and finally he managed to luck into Mysterious Fan Boy! This was exactly what Horowitz needed, as turns 5 and up were looking very sparse. He now had a very strong early game, and was starting to develop a very strong mid-game.
Horowitz was experiencing some problems with dead cards due to his continued lack of Marvel Knights characters, and he needed something with more “oomph” due to his lack of a late game. But, he still had fourteen more cards left. His chief concerns for pack three would be rounding out his drops from 4 through 6.
Pack Three
Centurious: A strong character that would give Horowitz another way to get Lacuna into the KO’d pile, Centurious gave the deck some more raw power. It would also provide another Underworld character for use with Blade, which was a concern at this point. He selected it over Hounds of Ahab, which though awesome, would have been excessive in a deck already packed with 2-drops.
Geraci Family Estate: Horowitz had to pick this over Punisher’s Armory. Again, he just didn’t have the Marvel Knights characters to justify taking some of the prime Marvel Knights plot twists and locations that were being passed his way. One word summed up the situation for Horowitz: “AUUUUUUGH!” Not coincidentally, this is what he screamed.
Luke Cage: “Hey I need one of these!” he exclaimed as he saw a Mendel Stromm in the pack he was passed. Debating heavily within himself, he eventually decided to not go the route of rare drafting and instead went with Luke Cage, again picking a character that could fuel Blade’s double loyalty. Combined with Psychoville, Luke Cage also gave the deck a nice angle against concealed characters.
Quick Kill: I asked him if taking Quick Kill was strictly a counter-draft strategy. Horowitz replied, “Not entirely. Now that I’ve got more Marvel Knights I could probably use it. It really is great, so I’m willing to take the risk.”
Punisher, Executioner: In need of more Marvel Knights and more late-game options, Punisher was a no-brainer for the pack he came in. A worthy turn 5 play to back up a turn 6 Blade with boost, Punisher was added to Horowitz’s lineup without a second thought.
Deathwatch: Sometimes God smiles on you and showers you with sacks of luck, and that’s what happened in this case. The deck needed a mid-game closer, and that’s exactly what Deathwatch is. He provided a great payoff for those Werewolf by Nights that were drafted earlier on, and really tied the deck together.
The Rose, Shadowy Lieutenant: Packing a copy of Made Men, The Rose was a decent pick capable of providing deck thinning and, in a sense, card advantage.
The rest of Horowitz’s pulls unfortunately didn’t do a great deal for his card pool. Mostly reactionary selections, he nabbed Carrion, another Sniper, Deposed, Quentin Carnival, Team Spirit, Supporting Role, and Doop Cam.
So, how did Steve feel about his cards? “I feel pretty good. I feel lucky getting the Fan Boy, but if I hadn’t I’d have just taken Blackheart from the next round anyways. I didn’t really focus on 6-drops because Moon Knight and Blade were covering that. Deathwatch is great, and I’ve got a very strong mid-game. I think it will do well.”
Building the Deck
Like most players, Horowitz built his deck through a two-round process of elimination. His first step was to eliminate the easy drops. He immediately decided not to use the following cards.
Quentin Carnival
Doop Cam
Team Spirit
Supporting Role
Frog Man
Doop, Forward Observer
Caretaker
Grandstanding
La Nuit
Lockjaw
The only cards that were further cut were the two copies of Sniper. “This is like the best 2-drop and I can’t play him. I’ve just got too many low-drops already. His effect is really nice, it’s too bad I can’t run it.”
He didn’t seem too concerned about the late-game status of his draft build: “I can play Werewolf by Night on two, a Marvel Knight on four, Deathwatch on five and that lets me play Blade on turn 6.” A good plan, for sure. “The thing I’ve found most important is just not missing drops. I’ve got six characters on five, two of which are effectively 6-drops, so I should be okay to go. I love Battering Ram. I wish I had a Drive-By Shooting though, and I’m kind of wondering about my decision of passing up Blown to Pieces Oh well, we’ll see what happens.”
The final build looked like this:
Final Deck – 30 cards
1 Lacuna
3 Cobra
1 The Rose, Shadowy Lieutenant
2 Werewolf by Night
2 Mr. Hyde
1 Death-Stalker
1 Luke Cage, Street Enforcer
1 Bullseye, Deadly Marksman
1 Centurious
1 Moon Knight
1 Masked Marauder
1 Punisher, Executioner
1 Carrion
1 Battering Ram
1 Vivisector, Lunatic Lycanthrope
1 Deathwatch
1 Blade, The Daywalker
1 Mysterious Fan Boy
1 Hypnotic Charms
1 Made Men
1 Head Shot
1 Deposed
1 Penance Stare
1 Quick Kill
1 Psychoville
1 Geraci Family Estate
The deck is extremely strong in the early game, and Deathwatch and Blade give it a ton of power in the mid-game as well. It needs to win at that point, though—a single well-supported 7-drop or even Zeitgeist could wreak some havoc on it. That said, the deck was built for consistency, and Horowitz strongly hoped that would pay off.
“Now it’s time to miss every drop and lose!” he joked, grinning. Despite the impending competition, it seemed as if drafting was a real sanctuary to all the topnotch players present. Steve Horowitz gave a good example of one approach to drafting and good judgment skills. Some of his calls worked out well and some others did not, but his rational for his decisions was sound in all cases. Consistency is what gets you to the Top 8 of big events. Just ask Steve Horowitz—he knows the truth of that fact more than most.