This week, we’ll look at a Soul of the Duelist draft in which I participated. We will look at the first eighteen cards that went into my draft deck and how I determined my selections.
I began by examining my rare cards. Armed Dragon LV5 was an immediate choice due to its strength, its effect, and the ease with which I would be able to bring it into play. With Armed Dragon LV5 in mind, I had to decide how best to support it. I had two LV support cards to select from, but I instead opted to support my deck with tribute mechanics using Masked Dragon. With Masked Dragon in my deck, I’ll need Dragons, and I can think of no better choice than Armed Dragon LV3. I’ll be looking for it in the remainder of the draft.
Selection: Armed Dragon LV5 and Masked Dragon
Batch 2:
At this stage, you may be thinking that I should select more monsters. This isn’t always the best decision. Monsters are often a single-card play during your turn, but spells and traps offer more options. This batch supplied two spell cards I could use to help support the LV strategy, so I selected them both.
Selection: Level Up! and The Graveyard in the Fourth Dimension
Batch 5: The return of packs 1 and 2
Ultimate Baseball Kid
Element Soldier
Nobleman-Eater Bug
Sanwitch
Two-Man Cell Battle
The Graveyard in the Fourth Dimension
Level Up!
Taunt
The remnants of my first two packs returned decidedly lighter in contents. I wanted The Graveyard in the Fourth Dimension to keep my LV theme moving forward, which left me with one more choice to make. I already had three Level Up! cards at this point, and it was unnecessary to have more. I could have selected another monster, but the candidates were not the best. I instead chose to take Taunt in hopes I could use it to control my opponent’s battle phase for a turn.
Selection: Taunt and The Graveyard in the Fourth Dimension
Batch 6:
Two Horus’ Servant cards show up again. I really wasn’t interested in them, but given my other options, I chose to take one. It functioned as another monster, at least. Red-Eyes B. Chick was chosen to go along with Masked Dragon as part of a tribute mechanic.
Selection: Red-Eyes B. Chick and Horus’ Servant
Batch 8:
Sanwitch
Two-Man Cell Battle
Ritual Weapon
Heavy Slump
It was easy to make my choice here because two of the cards eliminated themselves. Sanwitch and Ritual Weapon won’t do much of anything for anyone in Draft. I suppose I could always try and set the Ritual Weapon as a bluff, but why waste my time with a card that I have almost no possibility of using?
Selection: Two-Man Cell Battle and Heavy Slump
Final Two: Sanwitch and Two-Man Cell Battle These are the cards I get stuck with no matter what. You can expect that Sanwitch won’t be seeing any play.
Final 18:
1 Armed Dragon LV5
2 Armed Dragon LV3
1 Masked Dragon
1 Red-Eyes B. Chick
1 Element Soldier
1 Horus’ Servant
1 Sanwitch
2 Two-Man Cell Battle
3 Level Up!
3 The Graveyard in the Fourth Dimension
1 Heavy Slump
1 Taunt
Looking Ahead
At this point, I have seven useable monsters with ten spells and traps. In order to achieve a balance, I will need to focus on obtaining more monsters. I would prefer to obtain more Masked Dragons, but anything that will perform a working function is enough for me.
Next week—the return of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon.