Halloween Draft 2006


 * Note: This article has been selected as a Featured Article even though it does not currently meet the standards that should be expected of such an article. This is to further highlight the upcoming event. The article should improve drastically close to and after the event.

The Magic draft will take place on Friday, October 27th, 2006 at my (Lord Rumfish's) house! I'm hoping to get the event started at 8 PM, if this is a serious problem for anyone let me know. The actual Halloween party will be the next day, Saturday, October 28th at about the same time of night, for those non-magic players to have some fun as well. We'll have a pool table, karaoke machine, and drinks... no matter who you are, you're bound to have fun towards the end of October, maybe even twice!

As for getting the draft itself ready, be informed that Time Spiral will be the base set we draft from in the first round (so everyone will have at least a semblance of a deck with 15 cards from the same set). At this point, the expansions listed below are somewhat final... I don't intend to obtain more unless I know for certain that we'll have way too many players.

PACKS ALREADY OBTAINED




 * 1) [[Image:Iceage.gif]] Ice Age
 * 2) [[Image:Alliances.gif]] Alliances
 * 3) [[Image:Coldsnap.gif]] Coldsnap
 * 4) [[Image:Homelands.gif]] Homelands
 * 5) [[Image:Mirage.gif]] Mirage
 * 6) [[Image:Visions.gif]] Visions
 * 7) [[Image:Weatherlight.gif]] Weatherlight
 * 8) Starter
 * 9) Portal: Second Age
 * 10) [[Image:8th edition.jpg|21px]] 8th Edition
 * 11) [[Image:Urza's Destiny.gif]] Urza's Destiny
 * 12) [[Image:Scourge.gif]] Scourge
 * 13) [[Image:Fifthdawn.gif]] Fifth Dawn
 * 14) [[Image:Unhinged.jpg|21px]] Unhinged
 * 15) [[Image:Ravnica.gif]] Ravnica
 * 16) [[Image:Guildpact.gif]] Guildpact
 * 17) [[Image:Dissension.gif]] Dissension
 * 18) Nemesis
 * 19) Legions
 * 20) 9th Edition
 * 21) Saviors of Kamigawa
 * 22) Planeshift
 * 23) Stronghold
 * 24) 7th Edition
 * 25) Prophecy
 * 26) Mirrodin
 * 27) Onslaught
 * 28) Apocalypse
 * 29) Betrayers of Kamigawa
 * 30) Champions of Kamigawa
 * 31) Darksteel
 * 32) Fallen Empires
 * 33) Invasion
 * 34) Judgment
 * 35) Mercadian Masques
 * 36) Odyssey
 * 37) Torment

That's 37 sets now, both old and new, already obtained. The more you help me find, the more seats I'll have available at our draft! Our goal of 18 players has been met, although more packs certainly wouldn't be turned down.

Un acquired packs
Here are some suggested packs to acquire and their costs on starcitygames.com as of 9/18

Note: Mirrodin block and newer are $2.95 at Hero's Realm and are $2.99 at StarCity.

most newer packs can be acquired at the Realm for $3-$5

I will check the realm for there prices this week before the priceless -Nova 12:17, 18 September 2006 (EDT)

DRAFT SPECIFICS
We will have some awkward rules to make the event work, so bear with me. Some older packs didn't have 15 cards in them... in the case of Alliances, with 12 cards, I will add 3 commons to the pack to bring the number up to 15. In the case of Homelands and Fallen Empires, the packs had 8 cards in them, so those expansions will use 2 packs to represent 1 pack. Yes, there will be an extra card... my current plan for that extra card is to go to the poor fellow who makes the 15th pick from those expansions (i.e., the 15th pick also gets a 16th pick for free).

The only cards banned from play in the draft are Ante cards, since we're not playing for ante. Any such card found will be clearly denotated as an ante card in its rules text. These cards will still be passed around the drafting table, but will be off-limits for deckbuilding... hello, 15th pick! Perhaps we'll be fortunate enough not to find any ante cards.

Expect the draft to be slow, as we do have a few newer players who aren't familiar with such words as... Rampage, Phasing, Flanking, Shadow, Banding, Bands with Other, Interrupts, Mana Sources, Mono Artifacts... etc. Please be patient when drafters have questions regarding the cards they are trying to comprehend, and if possible help your neighbor. This will be a community effort to pull off, I'm sure. Fortunately, Time Spiral has a number of these mechanics returning, which could (theoretically) lead to some decks finding synergy even with much, much older expansions.

At this point, I am tentatively hoping to keep to a Two-Headed Giant format, but that is of course subject to change.

DRAFT SIGNUPS
If you're certain you will be here and have the 10 dollars, then sign up on this list. Seats are limited, moreso than other years. Reserve a spot now!

1. Lord Rumfish (Mark) 2. Philip Marriott (that seems to be how it is spelled, anyway) 3. Nova (Will) 4. Andrew Mellott (not 100% sure) 5. 6. Zerm (Thou shall not speak of that which you shall not speak of and which you shall not list yourself under on a Thursday!) 7. 8.  9.  10.  11.  12.  13.  14.  15.  16.  17.  18.

I am now fairly certain as to a minimum of 18 seats. If other boosters of Magic cards showed up and the people did as well, I wouldn't turn them down, but for now it looks like 18 is the Magic number... ha-ha-ha!

AND FINALLY, EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED...

Ta-daa! I have the possibility of doing a Pauper's Draft! This could include anyone who is either 1) Too poor for 10 dollars but not too poor for 1 dollar, 2) Intimidated by the size, complexity and/or likelihood to win of the main draft, or 3) pure overflow from the main event, i.e., you showed up too late and we had too many people. But what, you might ask, is a Pauper's Draft?

I have assorted together 24 "booster packs" of mostly commons from my collection, with one uncommon in each pack. This will allow for exactly 8 players. I tried to have a few minor themes running through it, i.e., a little spirit/arcane, artifacts, a dash of random multicolor interactions, and one or two other nifty things. This sort of draft is great for younger players who are still building their collection, and may prove fun even for the older ones. I tried to somewhat balance the format, but this *is* the first time I've made boosters, so no guarantees!

In true pauper fashion, the grand prize will be one booster for the winner! But, like the main event, you already got more than you paid for, so... ::shrug::

It is also possible, funding pending, that we could have a "normal" Time Spiral draft if the packs are available and the people are far too plentiful (and bearing cash). No guarantees on that though... in fact, don't expect it.