Drafting mode is an essential part of almost every card game in existence. You can find it in Magic: The Gathering and you can find it in Hearthstone Arena. Artifact also has a Draft mode, which is quite similar to Magic booster drafting.
However, drafting in Artifact is still unique and requires a different approach than what you might be used to considering you are allowed to draft two cards from one pack.
If you want to know how to draft properly in Artifact, then follow our tips below.
How to Draft in Artifact
There are two types of drafts in Artifact: Phantom and Keeper.
Phantom Draft allows you to play the complete draft game, but in the end, you can’t keep all the cards you’ve drafted.
The Keeper Draft, on the other hand, allows you to keep the cards in your collection.
When the draft starts, you will be given a chance to select two cards from each pack. You will have five full packs opened for a total of 60 cards. If you haven’t chosen any heroes during your draft, the game will automatically add random heroes to your deck.
Taking this into account, let’s now assess which cards to choose during drafting.
Hero Cards
Hero cards are the most important cards in Artifact, which means that you need to pick them up first. But how do you know what heroes are the best? Well, you need to know the cards well, or you could refer to our best Artifact heroes guide.
Heroes should also help you define the colors of your deck. But don’t eliminate the most powerful cards if they don’t fit your heroes. You never know how your draft will end up, as you could easily change your strategy during the deck editing process.
Main Cards
Always look at the rarity of the card before drafting.
Every pack will offer your one rare card, three uncommon cards, and the rest will be common cards. Rare and uncommon cards are usually the best, so you should pick them up in the early stages of a draft.
In the second half of drafting, you can start choosing proactive common cards that fit your deck archetype and colors. We’ll talk more about archetypes and colors in the deck editing part of this guide (which you can find in the next section).
Here are some of the best spells and creeps you can currently draft in Artifact:
- Mist of Avernus
- Unearthed Secrets
- Time of Triumph
- Annihilation
- Emissary of the Quorum
- Spring the Trap
- Tyler Estate Censor
- Conflagration
Item Cards
The shopping phase at the end of each turn allows you to buy item cards that can significantly improve your chances of winning if you know which cards to buy. During the draft, you can pick your own item cards, which is strongly advisable.
These items can be used for buffing your heroes, so it is recommended to buy a complete set for one of your heroes, including, a weapon, an armor, and an accessory.
If you decide not to draft any item cards, then the game will offer the three basic types of items for your item deck.
In any case, here is a short list of the best item cards in Artifact:
- Stonehall Cloak
- Blink Dagger
- Revtel Signet Ring
- Traveler’s Cloak
You can also train your drafting skills in Artifact using Howling Mind’s draft simulator, which allows you to master the art of drafting in a safe environment.
How to Edit a Drafted Deck in Artifact
After you’re done drafting your 60 cards, you can edit your deck by removing any unwanted cards. Just like in Constructed, the optimal size for a drafted deck is 40 cards. This means that you can remove 20 cards that don’t fit your desired colors or are generally weak cards you don’t wish to play.
Before removing any cards from your deck, you need to consider a few key points:
- Which colors you wish play
- Which archetype you wish to construct
- How your mana curve should look like
Colors
It is almost impossible to draft a solid mono-color deck in draft, so the best and most optimal option is to go for two-color deck. If you really see the potential in splashing a powerful hero that doesn’t fit your chosen two colors, then you can sometimes opt for three colors.
There is no one strongest color or pair of colors in the game as everything mainly depends on the chosen archetype of your deck. But if you need to choose a specific color, then go for Red, as it is the best supplementary color.
Archetypes
You can figure out the deck archetype in your draft by looking at the colors you have chosen:
- Black has a lot of cheap creeps and removal spells
- Blue has the best spells in the game, but it has understatted creeps
- Green focuses on health and buffing with some really large creeps
- Red has the best statted creeps in the game and some decent spells
Taking all this into account, if you want to be aggressive and win quickly, then opt for Black and Red as your two main colors for an Aggro archetype.
But in case you have Blue and Green colors, then you should definitely aim at a Control archetype.
Mana Curve
When drafting a deck in Artifact, mana curve doesn’t play such an important role as in other card games, since you already start with three mana in your pool.
This allows you to play some really expensive cards without getting worried that you will lose.
With all that said, the game in Draft mode rarely goes up to ten mana, so try to keep your cards in the range between 3 and 8 mana with most of your cards somewhere in the middle. This will allow you to play everything you want and have a great chance of winning.
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With these tips, you should be able to quickly draft a powerful deck in Artifact. Do you have any strategies that you’ve found to work well? Let us know in the comments.
Published: Dec 7, 2018 09:57 am