Booster Draft for Beginners 🍞 Fleeting Thoughts: An Altered TCG Podcast Episode 20

[@packsandpicks]

Great episode! With the faction mixing allowed in Limited, Altered might be the first TCG I've played where Limited formats let you do more broken stuff than constructed. On the topic of hate drafting I have two tips: 1) If a powerful, off color/faction card is getting passed to you late it is probably worth considering if that color/faction is open, or at least wondering why it hasn't gotten picked up yet. Maybe you should be in that color/faction... 2) Not hate drafting a card can further cement another player in a color/faction which means you'll get better cards passed to you in later packs. Keep up the good work!

[@theComposer6]

Absolutely loving this podcast so far, thanks so much for the insight!

[@tawnos1787]

It's worth mentioning that, at least for retail packs (don't know for Kickstarter packs) the distribution of factions among the 8 common slots is calculable. So once that pack goes around, you can see which factions among the commons are missing and know exactly which factions are being taken, and how deep into the table they're being taken, even on the first pack, and even from a pack that wasn't yours to start with.

[@jorgegarcia1418]

Thanks for the podcast! I'm going to buy a booster box with a group of friends to organize a draft night and this episode is going to be very helpful :)

[@MaindeckGames]

Hope you have a blast, let us know how it goes!

[@andyforge]

Another amazing video! Thanks so much!!

[@gabrielmonck-zweck2392]

Really enjoyed the video. My draft experience from monday was very fun. P1P1 bravos unique into p1p2 teija. I just hard dedicated yo those two factions. It was very weird i wasnt getting cut on wither. Ended up juat running only those two factions. Hate drafted a sigismar during pack 3 since it wheeled but i was so confused when it wheeled sinve people were definitely playing ordis.

[@abismald11]

How do you think Altered would be with a draft format for fewer players? I’m thinking like a Winston or grid draft format. I’d love to hear your fleeting thoughts on the subject!

[@MaindeckGames]

That's a great question, if you don't mind, we'll mailbag that one for next episode!

[@gabrielmonck-zweck2392]

Mailbag questions: Now that you both have gotten more gameplay, have your favotite factions changed at all and/or are there any factions that you didnt think you would like that you have been really enjoying? Which heroes do you most want to see get new versions? Are there any characters from the lore that you really want to see get hero cards in future sets?

[@franksfronk]

Copperella for the win!

[@MaindeckGames]

BIG Copperella fans here

[@mantryl]

What are the current rules for the faced down mana cards? can you look at them whenever you want and do you show it to your opponent before making it into mana?

[@MaindeckGames]

You can look at the cards in your own Mana Zone (but not your opponent's), and you don't show your opponent the card before you make it into Mana (this is done in Lorcana because not all cards can be Inked, but not necessary in Altered because everything can be Mana).

[@mantryl]

@@MaindeckGames Thanks Dan! You're always very helpful. Best wishes to your channel!

[@ok_ninja]

This is great stuff. I’m really struggling with Altered right now, though. I absolutely love the game and have been having a blast playing starter deck battles at home with my brother…we even have an LGS here that sells the game. My problem is, I’m the only one that’s bought any. No pre-releases. No drafts. No weekly play. The store says a couple people have asked what it was and that’s it. Not sure where to go from here. Games that aren’t Magic tend to struggle in my area. Even Lorcana & SWU are only pulling in 2-4 players a week. Any advice? 😕

[@MaindeckGames]

Well, there are two ways of looking at this. The truth is - not every TCG hits everywhere. TCGs can be very regional and players can be very fickle. I know nothing about where you live and what your TCG-interested demographics look like, but at some point there's only so much one can do to try to drive interest and there are ways to enjoy your time that take less effort! So that's kind of the negative realism outlook - but the other thing that's quite true about TCGs is that while they are regional, which regions they flourish in isn't as often based on culture aspects out of your control - instead, many TCGs that do well at any given LGS will do so because they have a person or people to champion them there. If Altered is a game you love, there are certainly steps you can take if you are the kind of person who is interested in becoming the game's champion there and putting in that work. Things that work for myself and others include working with the shop to push demo sessions and play nights - hanging posters, posting on socials, or using any other communication lines the shop has established with customers (some have email newsletters or SMS blasts, etc). Giving out starter product - whether that's the shop sponsoring that, or you making extra decks of commons - can help those go better. And when you have a scheduled night, being the consistent person the players can count on to be there helps them feel comfortable coming back each week. Doing this is a good bit of work and is not for everyone, but it's how most new TCGs actually hold on past the initial bump of interest. The goal is really to get 4 consistent players who will do their ordering with the shop to help the shop keep stocking and firing weeklies - and any building from there is obviously even better. Again, I don't know your area - but I imagine there are at least 3 other people there who might want to check it out. If you try to pull them in and show them demos a couple of times, maybe you can get something built? I do have a store-agnostic nice looking poster file that I made that a few people have used if you'd like that. It has room to write the kind of events you want to advertise and shows off the artwork and product well. If you are interested in that, feel free to email me or DM me on discord (MaindeckDan in all of the places you'd expect, including of course the Maindeck discord) and I'd be happy to send that file over to you. Best of luck if you give it a try! Feel free to join the MD discord to chat with myself and the community more if you need some more support or ideas.

[@ok_ninja]

@@MaindeckGames This was above and beyond the response I was expecting. Thank you so much for the advice. 👊

[@MaindeckGames]

So happy to help! Again feel free to catch me on Discord if you want to chat more or get some more ideas. Eventually these YT comments disappear from my feed so I can't feasibly go back to them over time but I'm happy to chat more over there!

[@Peeweez0]

I think Equinox should treat September 13 as a soft launch and when the Altered Marketplace and Print on Demand features are available - market that as the hard launch. At this point it feels like an incomplete game launch with many of the innovative aspects not ready yet. I know they are doing all they can to implement the features but "official launch" did not deliver on what the KS campaign advertised. That being said, I still plan on supporting Altered and go to my LGS events as I like playing this game a lot more than the other TCGs out there.

[@ShadowThe6th]

I saw the same thing Jordan, 😂

[@inkibusss]

If you hate draft a card, you have a 40% chance of playing 1 set out of 3-4 against them. Even then, there is only a 60% chance or so that it will even show up in that game. So hate drafting is useful 6% of the time. Drafting a card you might use is useful 100% of the time, because it will be a choice in deckbuilding that will make your deck better overall, even if you don't use it. It's just math.