Drafting, I need more practice

[Killer Joe]

The other day I went to a draft tourney down at the local shop (Exit 13 in New Kensington, PA), now, I suck at drafting and am widely known as a "Stall-Monger". So anyway, we all sit down and I sit next to the shop Guru and know that any good cards will never come my way, or so I thought. The boosters are 2x Masques and 1x Nemesis (my suggestion, they wanted all Nemesis, yeech) and we open our first pack and low and behold the fourth card in (known as the rare slot) was a Lin, Sivvi! Can you believe it? I kept it, of course (unlike the Hammer of Bogarden story that I'm sick of tellling). So white it is. PAY ATTENTION: Never announce out loud that you got a Lin, Sivvi. Everyone started defensive drafting and got I squat Rebels (meaning very little) Second pack, the shop Guru sends me 14 cards that included a Devout Witness (a must draft for white) and a stinkin' Rootwater Theif (ya know, the Mike Long card that allows you to keep a hidden card in your lap, ha-ha). I'm going to the pre-release for Prophecy this weekend and I'm trying to cherry-up my trade binder, and yes, I go for the rare. Nothing else really came by my way and I ended up drafting White with a splash of green (I got a Blastoderm, 2x Fog Patches, and a something else that stalls).
Single elimination, my first opponent is Mike (a visitor from another shop and HE, is their shop Guru, I think.) anyway, he drafted White/Green and the Devout Witness I passed up. So, there we are, an almost mirror match-up except that I suck and this guy tries to "Q" all the time. And it happens (as always because I draft with the "Not to lose" attitude instead of "Drafting to win attitude", I'll never learn), I have so much protection and not enough offense, I stall the game. We have 55 min. to finish the match and at 9 min. to go we're still playing the first game (the stall-monger awakes!). This is getting long, so I'll skip to the end, I lose!
Any tips?
Here's a quick profile on my play style:
1.) I love long games.
2.) I enjoy the social aspect that the game lends itself to.
3.) I don't normally play/draft Black or Red (if I do Red it's always with Blue)
4.) I cave easily to trash-talk and "I'm better than you" banter.
5.) I keep my glasses so clean that my opponents can see my hand (not sure what to do about that one)
6.) I always try to crate a friendly atmosphere when I'm playing (sometimes this annoys the hell out my opponents)
7.) I'm 38 years old and THAT sometimes annoys the hell out of my younger opponents.

 

[Istanbul]

1) Long games are only good for Constructed decks. You can't draft defensively enough.
2) Good.
3) Never say 'I don't draft X color'. It cuts off an entire range of possibilities for you.
4) Recognize, remember, and keep in the forefront of your mind that if they really WERE better than you, they wouldn't need to talk trash.
5) Keep your hand close to your chest. Glance down at it; don't give your glasses a chance to reflect your hand. (I've had to deal with this one.)
6) I'll bet, if their tactics are to talk trash.
7) Annoy? Use it to your advantage.

The worst error is that you cave in to trash talk. You must remain calm. Fear is the mind-killer, or something. When your opponent starts talking trash, just smile at them and say, 'Play the game, please.' No matter what they say. 'Play the game, please.' If they keep talking trash, call over a judge and try to get them on game stalling. Use their miserable attitudes against them!

Just some thoughts.

 

[TomB]

Excellent advice too. I deal with the glasses thing myself, and I know it can be a problem.

Tips? Well, I'm not a great draft player, but I've placed well a few times. I try to stick with 40 or 41 cards, only 2 colors (if possible), 15-18 creatures with a decent mana curve, 6-9 non-creature spells (preferably elim, because the best defense is the one that let's you attack the following turn!), and about 17 mana sources. My color choices are based strictly on the best available cards early in the draft, especially creatures, and I depend on luck to bring me the rest of the cards I'll need later. Try to grab a couple of fatties too - Limited games tend to break down into creature stalls fairly often, and a fattie can sometimes provide a breakthrough. Similarly, creatures with Flying/Evasion abilities are a must.

Also, try to remember that the cards that are great in Draft are rarely the same cards that rock in Constructed. Pestilence, for example, was tremendous in Urza's draft, yet it's only rarely seen in Constructed decks (sorry, Mr. Pestilence ). Flowstone Overseer/Slide are OK in Constructed, but, provided you've a way to preserve your own guys (like Pro: Red) they can make your whole deck in Draft/Sealed. I doubt anyone's ever used Power Matrix in a Constructed deck, but in Limited it's an excellent card.

I hope that helps!

 

[Seeker of Truth]

Istanbul:

That deal about trying to get a trash-talker on game stalling is the best example of rules manipulation I've ever heard of! That's one time I'd love to see the rules get twisted around! Extremely justified, in my opinion.

Yellowjacket:

I agree with Istanbul, it's a major mistake to always try and draft the same color, or not draft a color because you don't like its playing style or philosophy; it's much better to find out what cards are coming, and take advantage of the gifts you're being passed in colors your neighbors aren't using. If you get Ascendant Evincar in your first pack and a pair of Dark Banishings in the next two, it would be extremely difficult to not draft an aggressive black deck if you let the draft determine your choices. Don't turn your back on opportunities to win, especially when they're so obvious.

As for the glasses thing, my opponents are probably reading my cards, too, but I don't care. I suppose that if I wanted to really be ultracompetitive I could place my cards flat on the table and only glance at them when I needed to, but that's just never been that important to me.

Am I long-winded or what?

 

[Chaos Turtle]

Restating what's already been said, I have learned not to ever lock myself into or out of a color.
I try to draft the best cards possible in the first pack, regardless of color, but what I already have drafted does influence my choices (drafting a lot of red with no white, I would take a good red creature over a Disenchant, even though Disenchants are often killer in draft).

Don't sweat the trash talk. The majority of trash-talkers are mediocre players who rely on it to compensate for their subpar skills.
I for one am a very considerate player, and appreciate it when my opponent is considerate as well. The yappers amuse me, and I'm sure that my Buddha-like calm annoys the hell out of them as well.

Practice-drafting can be expensive, but here's an idea if you and your group of playing pals can swing it:
Buy a bunch of packs, perhaps even a box of whatever you're drafting. Instead of just drafting once, just keep "re-packing" the cards with 1 rare, 3 uncommons, etc and draft again. If you want, you can make proxies of the good rares you don't want to wear out or whatever. This is a good way to build skills. If you think you're ready for the Big Time though, you'll need to use real packs, since the print runs have a definable pattern to them that the hard-core drafter will have familiarized herself with.