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July 3, 2003
Hey there! Not familiar with booster drafting? Then be sure to read the intro paragraph, otherwise known as Booster Drafting 101. Already played in a booster draft tournament? Skip the intro and learn how we're implementing booster draft tournaments in The Lord of the Rings Online TCG. All set?
Booster drafting is a popular and engaging alternative to constructed deck play. In a booster draft tournament, you start with a specially designed draft pack from the block that you're playing in (currently either Fellowship or Tower) and three booster packs from that block. The boosters can be any mixture of the three sets in the block, so for instance, you could have three Two Towers boosters, or one Two Towers booster and two Battle of Helm's Deep boosters. Regardless of the mixture, each player in the draft uses the same combination (probably determined by your tournament director). After receiving your packs, all the players in the tournament are split into drafting groups. You will then be able to examine the contents of your draft pack, which is designed to give you a good foundation to build a deck on. After this phase, the drafting begins. Each player in the group opens a pack (the same type of pack for each player) and chooses a card, which they remove and place face down on the table. All packs are passed around the table (the first time they are passed to the left, but it alternates as you open more packs), and the process is repeated. This continues until all the cards in the packs have been chosen and then a new pack is opened. You are not allowed to review your draft pack or any of the cards you've drafted after the drafting begins, so it's best to have a plan and keep track of how you've been drafting. After all the packs are opened and drafted, you have thirty minutes to construct a deck (minimum of forty cards rather than sixty) and then the tournament begins just like any other. That's the crash course; you can find a complete booster draft rulebook here.
In The Lord of the Rings Online TCG, booster drafting will happen much like it does offline. You'll enter a tournament, receive your packs, and be assigned a drafting group. The draft group window will look very similar to the game launch window but there won't be any bidding or seat selection to be done. You'll simply click the "Ready" button and when all the players in the group are ready the drafting will begin. That's where the booster draft screen comes in.
The Drafting Screen
All the drafting happens on this screen. Here you can see your packs for the draft (A), see the order and direction in which packs are being passed (B), and check out the contents of each pack as it is passed to you (C). The screen also has a timer bar (D) which will either count down the time you have to examine your draft pack or the time you have to select a card.
The drafting starts as soon as you hit this screen. Your draft pack will be displayed and you'll be able to formulate your drafting strategy. When your time is up the first of your packs is automatically opened and you'll be able to select a card. A simple double click of the card is enough to draft it and it will be removed from the pack, alternately you can right click the card and choose "Draft" from the drop down menu. When you've selected the card you want you may hit the "Ready" button (E) and when your time is up or when all the players in your group are ready (whichever comes first) the packs will be passed.
After all the drafting is complete you will automatically be taken to a private, slightly modified version of the deck builder. The draft deck builder will work like the regular deck builder but you won't be able to open a deck or load a collection or card pool other than the set of cards that you've just drafted. Once in the deck builder, you have thirty minutes to construct a deck, again with a timer bar and a "Ready" button. When time is up or all the players in the tournament have pressed the "Ready" button the tournament will continue and the first round will start like any other tournament.
So there you go, the mysteries of booster drafting online explained. If you guys have questions that I didn't answer or a comment on the implementation let us know on the message boards.
John Nangle
Lead Artist
Worlds Apart Productions
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