Last week, I took a look at signals you receive in draft, what information you can get from these, and how to use that information. As was pointed out in the comments, this advice will only work if you assume the other people in the draft are rational beings who can draft at a reasonably good level. Someone who is less experienced at draft may not be able to evaluate card quality appropriately and therefore might not take the strongest cards in their color, which will send mixed signals to you. However, if signals are there, you are wise to use them; who doesn’t love additional information?

This will be my seventh article for GatheringMagic.com. I was thinking today that while I don’t have time to read all the articles I would like to, there are some writers I always make the effort to check out. However, today I was impatiently waiting for one to appear and it struck me that it seems like forever for his next article to come out while my next one seems to be always due. Before I started writing these articles, I had basically zero writing experience (unless my Ph.D. thesis counts). It has been really hard work ensuring I get it done every week. I barely seem to celebrate the last article before I start worrying about the next. This is my roundabout way of thanking the people who have taken the time to comment or “like” my articles; it reassures me that people are benefiting from them, and that makes it really worthwhile.

On to this week’s topic, which will probably be fairly short, as it’s a continuation of last week. Both this week’s and last week’s articles were inspired by a lengthy argument I had with my boyfriend about color signals and when to switch. He had tried (unsuccessfully) to switch in Pack 2 to Green after opening an Arachnus Spinner. I argued that the card wasn’t strong enough to warrant the switch. He also stated that he had passed two notable Green cards during the first pack to the player who would now be feeding him, which in my opinion further validates my argument. He also hadn’t seen a glut of Green cards to suggest the color was open. It’s not a massive bomb of awesomeness; he had a solid B/R Bloodthirst build growing, and he had signaled that Green was open. Luckily, he didn’t waste too many picks before returning to his original plan, and won the pod with a very nice deck.

What had occurred here was that he got distracted by a card he thought was stronger than it was—but even if it had been an Overrun, the switch would probably be wrong. He had seen no indication that Green was being underdrafted at the table, and he had passed what good cards he did see to the player on his left. This leads nicely to this week’s discussion point: What have you told the person sitting next to you during Pack 1?

I had a very interesting Scars block draft where in NPH I could have taken Picks 1 through 4 Artillerizes. As it was, I took one at Picks 1, 3, and 4. At Pick 2, I took a Pith Driller instead; unfortunately, this meant I passed an Artillerize and a Tormenter Exarch, both very strong Red cards that would signal to the next player, who I knew to be a very strong drafter, that the color was open. To further compound this, I also had to pass an Artillerize at Pick 3 because there was a foil and nonfoil in the same pack! So, we both ended up in Red. This isn’t the end of the world; you can pick up other cards in Pack 2 and you get first dibs on Pack 3. However, if you can tell the person next to you to stay out of your color, Pack 2 will be even sweeter.

When considering your first pick of the draft, if you have a choice of cards of approximately equal strength in different colors, look at the rest of the pack. If one is in a color with no other notable cards in that color in the pack, you should lean toward taking that card. For example, imagine a pack with Mind Control and Overrun. If this is Pick 1, Pack 1, to help your decision, consider the remaining cards. If there is also a Stampeding Rhino and a Sacred Wolf, but the only other Blue card is Unsummon, go with the Mind Control (I’d probably go with Mind Control anyway because I love Blue, but this is not the point). You should try to consolidate this choice with subsequent picks, though obviously this doesn’t always go according to plan.

Please do not think I am advocating taking a weaker card that is the only card in that color just to send a signal. I opened a pack recently with four strong cards all in Blue. I took the Jace, Memory Adept, but I knew I’d have to draft mostly my secondary color in Pack 2 as some of the next four people would end up taking a good Blue card. Not all of us could end up in the color, and I would endeavor to cut Blue as hard as possible to force some people out.

In Pack 1, once you have made your first pick, if you have a few moments, it is worth considering what cards are left and in what order you think they should be picked. This will give you an indication of what people downstream of you might end up in. It will also give you an idea of what you might wheel from the pack. I find this exercise very useful in identifying an underdrafted color. I have on occasion noted there are two reasonable picks in a particular color in my opening pack, only to see them both return to me. Unless the pack was particularly strong, this is a good indication of something going amiss.

I went into detail last week on the benefits of staying open, and this feeds into this week, where we get to stay open for a bomb in our next pack—plus we don’t indicate to our neighbors that they should considering moving into our color of choice. This means they will pass on cards in our color they receive in Pack 2, which definitely will be to our advantage. We can also help to consolidate our neighbors in their colors by passing late reasonable cards that aren’t in our color. For example, it can be worth passing the Siege Mastodon and taking the Angel's Feather. It’s unlikely to make a difference, but if it convinces them they are now solidly in two colors, they are less likely to switch and will pass you the bomb in your color instead. It also tells them you really aren’t in White and they should stick to the plan.

What I hope I have impressed upon you over the last two weeks is that you can gain a lot of information during a draft that you can use to your advantage. You can also influence your neighbors to help you out.

In my last awesome draft—it was M12—despite all my talk of staying open, I’d ended up evenly split after Pack 1 in U/B, having received mixed signals. I opened an Inferno Titan in Pack 2. I hadn’t seen much Red, but it’s Inferno Titan—so I slammed him. I should probably have stayed U/B and gone for the splash, but I decided to ditch the Black and go U/R. I only just got enough playable cards by the end of the draft. I then proceeded to fluff several games to go 1–2, and to add insult to injury, I didn’t even get to play the Titan! Bad beats.

Ah, well. See you next week.