Limited is a lot of fun. Personally, I love Draft even more than Sealed. But besides playing at the local game store and at Friday Night Magic events, it's not always easy to gather six to eight players and set up a proper Draft whenever you want. This is where the Winston Draft comes in: a two-player Draft variant where there is no need for a full room of Magic players. Let's break it down!
The Setup
The Winston Draft is quite simple. All you need are six boosters and an opponent. Open the boosters without looking at them and remove the token card (easily spotted due to its different card back). Shuffle all these cards into one big pile. Then put three cards from the top of the big pile next to each other face-down, so that you have a small row of cards next to the big pile.
Now it's time to Draft!
The first player (in this scenario, let's say it's you) chooses which of the three faced-down cards will start the game. You then look at that card and decides if it will be added to your card pool.
If you want the card, take it and put it somewhere (preferably) face-down in front of you. This is now your card that might fit right in your deck later. The empty spot is replenished by a new faced-down card from the big pile without either players looking at it.
However, if you do NOT want the card, put it back in the row and from the big pile, add another face-down card on top of it. This means that there are now two cards in that specific spot.
You then move on to your second chosen spot where there's still only one card. The same procedure happens: Do you want it? Take it away from the row and replace it with a new card without looking. You don't want it? Put the card back, add an extra card without looking, and check the third (and last) single card of the row.
Should it happen that you don't want any of the three choices that you've seen, draw one blind card from the big pile. This means that in the end, you will always add at least one card to your pool on every turn. But beware… This card could be anything from the pile, maybe even something even more useless than your earlier options!
Continue doing this until the big pile has been depleted and both players have their piles. It's okay if one player has a bit more cards than the other. This just means that the player picked up the bigger piles during the Draft.
The picked cards become your card pool to create a 40-card deck. Add Basic Lands and you're ready to go. You're playing best two out of three, just like a normal Limited game.
By the way, don't forget that there are some Basic Lands floating around in boosters nowadays. Either remove them before the Draft or pick a new card if you encounter a Basic Land whilst picking.
Variety Is the Spice of Life
There are some things that you can adjust to create the perfect setting for your own Winston Draft.
What about a Chaos Winston Draft? Add six different boosters from different expansion sets to create the ultimate mix.
How about a multiplayer Winston Draft? Sure thing! Add three extra boosters for a grand total of 135 cards and Draft with three players the same way as with two.
What about a Block Winston Draft? Choose your favorite block and relive Limited yet again. For example, two Khans of Tarkir, two Fate Reforged, and two Dragons of Tarkir is one crazy environment where anything is possible. For the real "oldskool" fans, try drafting sets like Apocalypse or even older!
You can also add even more booster packs if you want to. I once had this insane idea of a Booster Box Winston Draft once...
The Benefits
Winston Drafts are really easy and addictive once you get the hang of it. I didn't know about this format a few years back, but now it's really one of my favorite Magic: The Gathering game modes. Here's my list of why I like this way of playing:
- You don't need six to twelve players, just two.
- You can save booster pack prizes from FNMs to give them purpose, instead of just ripping the packs open.
- A whole booster box lets you Winston Draft six times!
- Since you play with only six boosters, options are more limited further training your own Limited skills.
- It's easy to bring around. You could set up a Draft while flying in an airplane. Practice in your seats to prepare for a Grand Prix, maybe?
- It's really fun.
- It doesn't have to take the whole evening. One game will be done in no time.
Your Turn!
If you haven't heard of this playstyle, I urge you to try it out and share your experiences here. I know I won't quit playing Winston Drafts because it's just too much fun. Now that War of the Spark has been released, drafting a Winston is going to be nuts!
If you're curious about some of the loot that I found in packs while playing Winston Drafts, be sure to check out my Instagram: ProjectPeanuts. I keep track of all my Winston and Chaos Drafts.
I'll be writing more in the future, so don't hesitate to let me know your thoughts down below in the comments section and share your cool Winston moments!
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily Cardmarket.