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Jeff Zandi is a five time pro tour veteran who has been playing
Magic since 1994. Jeff is a level two DCI judge and has
been judging everything from small local tournaments
to pro tour events. Jeff is from Coppell, Texas, a suburb
of Dallas, where his upstairs game room has been the
"Guildhall", the home of the Texas Guildmages,
since the team formed in 1996. One of the original
founders of the team, Jeff Zandi is the team's
administrator, and is proud to continue the team's
tradition of having players in every pro tour from the
first event in 1996 to the present.
The
Southwestern Paladin
Fun With Magic
Two Player Fat Draft
by Jeff
Zandi
December 30, 2005
It’s just about the end
of another nice holiday season. Lots of people are traveling
to visit family. Magic players, like me, are always looking
for more ways to get some fun out of opening packs even when
there aren’t enough people around for a booster draft. Well,
me and one of my friends have come up with a new format you
might want to try when you have a lot of boosters you don’t
mind opening for some fun limited format play. We call it
TWO PLAYER FAT DRAFT.
Me and my pal Trent Boneau found ourselves with some time to
kill and some boosters of Ravnica laying around. I asked
Trent if he wanted to draft one-on-one, he shrugged
disapprovingly. Soloman draft? Trent put his hands up and
rolled his eyes. I got an idea and Trent feigned interest
while I explained it. We gave this draft a try. Here’s how
the format works and what we did with it.
Two Player Fat Draft
Each player begins with SIX booster packs. Each player opens
their first pack and drafts TWO cards from the pack. Then,
each player exchanges the remaining cards. From the thirteen
remaining cards opened by the other player, you each draft
TWO more cards. This continues until you have each drafted
ten cards from the two packs. You should have drafted two
cards from the pack you opened a total of three times and
you should have drafted two cards from the pack your
opponent opened a total of two times. The remaining five
cards in each pack is put aside, presumably for the winner
of the draft.
Each player then opens their second booster pack and
continues as with the first pack, drafting two cards at a
time, exchanging packs with the other player, and so on. At
the end of the draft, each player has drafted sixty cards,
ten cards from each of the six draft rounds. Each player
then builds a forty card minimum deck out of the cards he
has drafted.
Here are the packs that me and Trent opened, what we drafted
and the decks that we built from this draft:
Disembowel
Boros Signet
Flight of Fancy
Dizzy Spell
Dryad’s Caress
Rain of Embers
Dimir Aqueduct
Convolute
Wojek Siren
Civic Wayfarer
Coalhauler Swine
Overwhelm
Voyager Staff
Wojek Apothecary
Chorus of the Conclave
Zanman drafts Followed Footsteps and Flight of Fancy Trent
drafts Overwhelm and Disembowel Zanman drafts Boros Signet
and Flight of Fancy Trent drafts Golgari Rotwurm and
Stinkweed Imp Zanman drafts Boros Signet and Thundersong
Trumpeter Trent drafts Civic Wayfarer and Chorus of the
Conclave Zanman drafts Wojek Siren and Rain of Embers Trent
drafts Carven Caryatid and Golgari Thug Zanman drafts
Sabertooth Alley Cat and Ordruun Commando Trent drafts Dimir
Aqueduct and Voyager Staff
The remaining cards from packs Z1 and T1 are put in the
prize bucket for the winner of the draft.
Zanman opens pack Z2
Conclave Equenaut
Elves of Deep Shadow
Sell-Sword Brute
Infectious Host
Dizzy Spell
Dromad Purebred
Courier Hawk
Dimir Aqueduct
Coalhauler Swine
Strands of Undeath
Drift of Phantasms
Divebomber Griffin
Telling Time
Greater Forgeling
Golgari Grave-Troll
Trent opens pack T2
Golgari Signet
Faith’s Fetters
Snapping Drake
Lurking Informant
Zephyr Spirit
Gate Hound
Clinging Darkness
Surveilling Sprite
Benevolent Ancestor
Scatter the Seeds
Incite Hysteria
Stoneshaker Shaman
Chant of Vitu-Ghazi
Selesnya Guildmage
Sisters of Stone Death
Zanman drafts Conclave Equenaut and Divebomber Griffin Trent
drafts Sisters of Stone Death and Selesnya Guildmage Zanman
drafts Faith’s Fetters and Snapping Drake Trent drafts
Golgari Grave-Troll and Elves of Deep Shadow Zanman drafts
Telling Time and Sell-Sword Brute Trent drafts Scatter the
Seeds and Golgari Signet Zanman drafts Benevolent Ancestor
and Clinging Darkness Trent drafts Strands of Undeath and
Dimir Aqueduct Zanman drafts Courier Hawk and Greater
Forgeling Trent drafts Lurking Informant and Surveilling
Sprite
The remaining cards from packs Z2 and T2 are put in the
prize bucket for the winner of the draft.
T1 Trent plays first keeping Swamp x2, Forest, Gleancrawler,
Shambling Shell, Mortipede, Sisters of Stone Death. Plays
Forest.
T1 Zanman keeps Mountain x3, Plains x2, Courier Hawk,
Conclave Equenaut.
Draws Grifter’s Blade, plays Mountain.
T2 Trent draws Overwhelm, plays Swamp.
T2 Zanman draws Skyknight Legionnaire, plays Plains, Courier
Hawk.
T3 Trent draws and plays Swamp, Shambling Shell.
T3 Zanman draws Sell-Sword Brute. Plays Mountain, Skyknight
Legionnaire, attacks with Skyknight and Hawk (17-20)
T4 Trent draws Golgari Rotwurm, plays Swamp, Mortipede.
Attacks with Shambling Shell blocked by Courier Hawk. With
combat damage on the stack, Trent sacrifices Shell to give
Mortipede a +1/+1 counter.
T4 Zanman draws and plays Plains. Attacks with Skyknight
(15-20). Plays Sell-Sword Brute.
T5 Trent uses Shambling Shell’s Dredge ability during his
draw to retrieve the Shell instead of drawing a card,
dredging Siege Wurm, Forest, Forest into his graveyard.
Plays Shambling Shell. Attacks with Mortipede, blocked by
Brute. Trent sacrifices Shambling Shell to give Mortipede a
+1/+1 counter. Zanman takes two damage from Brute when it
goes to the graveyard
(15-18)
T5 Zanman draws and plays Plains.
T6 Trent uses Shambling Shell’s Dredge ability during his
draw to retrieve Shambling Shell instead of drawing a card,
dredging Stinkweed Imp, Elves of Deep Shadow and Brainspoil
into his graveyard. Plays Shambling Shell, attacks with
Mortipede (15-12) Zanman plays Grifter’s Blade, attaching it
to Skyknight Legionnaire.
T6 Zanman draws Skyknight Legionnaire, plays Mountain,
Conclave Equenaut.
T7 Trent draws and plays Forest, attacks with Shell and
Mortipede, Mortipede blocked by Skyknight and Equenaut
(15-9) Plays Golgari Rotwurm.
T7 Zanman draws Viashino Fangtail, plays Plains, Fangtail
and Skyknight Legionnaire
T8 Trent draws Transluminant. Attacks with Rotwurm and
Shell, Rotwurm blocked by Fangtail and Legionnaire. With
combat damage on the stack, Trent sacrifices Rotwurm to use
Rotwurm’s ability to make Zanman lose one life (15-8), then
combat damage resolves (15-5). Plays Transluminant.
T8 Zanman draws Boros Signet, concedes
TRENT WINS GAME ONE
GAME TWO
T1 Zanman plays first keeping Mountain, Boros Garrison x2,
Skyknight Legionnaire, Sabertooth Alley Cat, Galvanic Arc
and Conclave Equenaut. Plays Mountain.
T2 Trent keeps Forest x2, Swamp x2, Golgari Signet,
Brainspoil, Siege Wurm.
Draws Golgari Rot Farm. Plays Swamp.
T2 Zanman draws a Plains, plays Boros Garrison returning a
Mountain to his hand.
T2 Trent draws Swamp, plays Forest, Golgari Signet.
T3 Zanman draws Courier Hawk, plays Mountain, Skyknight
Legionnaire and attacks (18-20)
T3 Trent draws Gleancrawler, plays Swamp.
T4 Zanman draws Grifter’s Blade, attacks with Skyknight
(16-20), plays Plains, Sabertooth Alley Cat.
T4 Trent draws and plays Disembowel targeting Skyknight,
plays Swamp.
T5 Zanman draws and plays Boros Guildmage. Plays Courier
Hawk, plays Boros Garrison returning a Plains to his hand,
attacks with Alley Cat (14-20)
T5 Trent draws and plays Swamp, Gleancrawler.
T6 Zanman draws and plays Plains. Attacks with Hawk (13-20).
Plays Conclave Equenaut.
T6 Trent draws Selesnya Sanctuary, plays Forest. Attacks
with Gleancrawler
(13-14) Plays Siege Wurm.
T7 Zanman draws Conclave Equenaut. Plays Plains. Plays
Galvanic Arc onto Equenaut targeting Trent for three points
of damage (10-14), attacks with Hawk (9-14)
T7 Trent draws Carven Caryatid. Plays Brainspoil targeting
Boros Guildmage, Zanman responds by activating Boros
Guildmage twice, giving Alley Cat and Courier Hawk first
strike. Plays Selesnya Sanctuary returning a Forest to his
hand.
T8 Zanman draws and plays Mountain. Plays Conclave Equenaut,
activates Alley Cat and attacks with Alley Cat, Equenaut and
Courier Hawk (3-14)
T8 Trent draws Shambling Swarm. Plays Forest, Carven
Caryatid drawing Forest. Trent concedes.
ZANMAN WINS GAME TWO
GAME THREE
T1 Trent plays first keeping Golgari Rot Farm, Swamp,
Golgari Signet, Siege Wurm, Carven Caryatid, Golgari Rotwurm,
Stinkweed Imp. Plays Swamp.
T1 Zanman keeps Mountain, Plains, Boros Signet x2,
Sell-Sword Brute, Faith’s Fetters and Skyknight Legionnaire.
Draws and plays Mountain.
T2 Trent draws and plays Forest, Golgari Signet.
T2 Zanman draws Boros Guildmage, plays Plains, Boros
Guildmage
T3 Trent draws Gleancrawler. Plays Carven Caryatid drawing
Overwhelm. Plays Golgari Rot Farm returning Forest to his
hand.
T3 Zanman draws Conclave Equenaut. Plays Mountain, Skyknight
Legionnaire, attacks with Skyknight (18-20)
T4 Trent draws and plays Swamp, Stinkweed Imp.
T4 Zanman draws and plays Plains, plays Conclave Equenaut
tapping four lands and two creatures using its Convoke
ability.
T5 Trent draws and plays Forest. Plays Gleancrawler.
T5 Zanman draws Viashino Fangtail. Attacks with Skyknight
and Equenaut
(13-20) Plays Faith’s Fetters on Gleancrawler. (13-24)
T6 Trent draws Civic Wayfinder, plays Forest, Siege Wurm.
T6 Zanman draws Divebomber Griffin. Attacks with Equenaut
and Skynight, Equenaut blocked by Stinkweed Imp. Zanman
activates Guildmage’s ability to give Equenaut first strike
until end of turn (11-24) Plays Boros Signet.
T7 Trent uses Stinkweed Imp’s Dredge ability during his draw
step returning Stinkweed Imp to his hand instead of drawing
a card, dredging Drooling Groodion, Brainspoil, Selesnya
Guildmage, Keening Banshee and Sisters of Stone Death into
the graveyard. Plays Stinkweed Imp, Civic Wayfinder
producing a Plains, plays Plains, attacks with Siege Wurm
(11-19)
T7 Zanman draws Sell-Sword Brute. Plays Boros Signet.
Attacks with Equenaut and Skyknight, Equenaut blocked by
Stinkweed Imp. Zanman activates Guildmage giving Equenaut
first strike until end of turn. (9-19) Plays Sell-Sword
Brute.
T8 Trent draws and plays Golgari Rot Wurm. Attacks with
Siege Wurm (9-14)
T8 Zanman draws Boros Garrison. Attacks with Equenaut and
Legionnaire (4-14) Plays Sell-Sword Brute, Boros Garrison
returning a Plains to his hand.
T9 Trent uses Stinkweed Imp’s Dredge ability during his draw
step returning Stinkweed Imp to his hand instead of drawing
a card, dredging Siege Wurm, Swamp, Transluminant, Elves of
Deep Shadow and Selesnya Sanctuary into the graveyard. Plays
Stinkweed Imp. Attacks with Golgari Rotwurm, Wayfinder and
Siege Wurm. Rotwurm and Wayfinder are each blocked by
Sell-Sword Brutes, the one blocking Wayfinder receives first
strike from an activation of Boros Guildmage. With combat
damage on the stack, Trent sacrifices Wayfinder to the
Rotwurm’s ability (4-13) combat damage resolves (4-8)
Sell-Sword Brute deals two damage to Zanman when it goes to
the graveyard (4-6). At end of turn, Civic Wayfinder returns
to Trent’s hand when Gleancrawler’s ability triggers.
T9 Zanman draws Conclave Equenaut. Plays Plains. Attacks
with Equenaut and Legionnaire, Equenaut blocked by Stinkweed
Imp. Zanman activates Guildmage giving Equenaut first strike
until end of turn. (2-6) Plays Conclave Equenaut.
T10 Trent draws Disembowel. Plays Disembowel targeting Boros
Guildmage.
Activates Rotwurm’s ability, sacrificing Carven Caryatid to
make Zanman lose one life point (2-5) Attacks with Rotwurm
and Siege Wurm, Rotwurm blocked by Brute and Siege Wurm
blocked by Equenaut. With combat damage on the stack, Trent
uses Rotwurm’s ability sacrificing Rotwurm to make Zanman
lose one point of life (2-4) then combat damage resolves,
including two points of trample damage on Zanman (2-2) then
Zanman takes two points of damage when Sell-Sword Brute goes
to the graveyard (2-0) TRENT WINS GAME THREE
What We Learned About This Format
This experiment was not a rousing success. It took a long
time to draft twelve booster packs. I thought it would be
really fun to draft TWO cards at a time instead of one, but
the resulting decks were surprisingly not that much more
powerful than booster draft decks drafting half as many
cards. Of course, one on one booster draft usually results
in draft decks quite a bit less powerful than decks built
from drafting in an eight man pod, since defensive drafting
is a lot more useful and to be expected in a two man draft.
If you have a lot of packs to open, and you want to have
some fun with them, grab a friend and try our Two Man Fat
Draft.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
As always, I would love to know what you think!
Jeff Zandi
Texas Guildmages
Level II DCI Judge
jeffzandi@hotmail.com
Zanman on Magic Online
