NEVER Draft These Cards in Bloomburrow Draft!

[@NicolaiBolas]

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[@insidious]

You're right that most of these aren't cards that you should be actively looking to draft, especially early, but for some of these you really should take stock of what you've already drafted because you could have a deck where they will be really good.

[@NicolaiBolas]

Generally nobody else will want these cards, so you can get them late and won't need prioritize them in the draft portion. With the way they design cards these days you can occasionally find homes for almost anything, but since most people draft the set a few times, the niche scenarios come up infrequently enough to be almost irrelevant. If you feel good about a card fitting in your deck, go for it. This is just the advice I would give to a player who doesn't know the cards that well and is hopping into their first draft.

[@ncorva]

Thanks for the advice Nicolai! Just got into MTG this year (been playing on Arena.) I just got into trying some drafting and got whiplash from how fast the difficulty curve spiked... My first attempts I was getting 3 or 4 wins. Once I got to 5. Then I got bumped up a category and haven't won a game since... So here I am, doing my homework lol

[@colinmckhann9363]

I’ve had surprisingly good experiences with Nightwhorl Hermit in some decks that went really hard in the control direction, as it was able to close out a few games for me in really gummed up board states. That being said, it was a pretty late pickup even then and probably one of the first cards to go

[@NicolaiBolas]

Part of what I mean when I say not to draft a card is that you can get it with like 3 cards in a pack so you almost get them for “free.” Many cards in Limited these days are at the very least niche playable, but I’m trying to help folks avoid taking those niche or weak cards early. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@jaketorbeck]

Bandit’s talent has won me a couple of games in sealed, but I’ve never picked it in draft. It’s a feel bad in the opening hand for sure.

[@NicolaiBolas]

I think it might be a bit better in Sealed since the format is slower.

[@DestroyerX2000]

This isn't a draft! What is this madness! Always nice to get as much info as possible for the new set. Thanks as always Nicolai.

[@NicolaiBolas]

I like to make this sort of video too! I'm glad you liked it!

[@KeysiElle]

#10traps. watching "get better at draft" videos is certainly helping make sense of why i have not been good at the first 2 i've done lol

[@eded55]

I'm playing quickdraft and I'm stuck because my 3th round choices are all in here😅.I was realy having trouble chosing ,now I know why.

[@grafikj1uj1tsu]

Great idea for a video. It's sometimes easy to convince yourself that some of these cards might be good in the right situation, so it's good to be reminded not to do it.

[@NicolaiBolas]

If you are a skilled drafter I can imagine decks where you would want these cards in niche situations. Those situations just don't come up often, and since most players only draft a few times, it basically means they should not look to play these cards. It's basically a case where telling someone to never play a card is going to be more helpful then telling them to rarely play a card, because players like to think their deck is the exception to the rule.

[@Horrorcubus]

#10traps stocking the pantry is supported in squirrels forage decks. LSV derw a ton of cards with it but very niece

[@NicolaiBolas]

I think even in the squirrel decks it is a bit niche, but I’m glad it found a home somewhere! When I make my list I try to include cards that are somewhat “trappy” where they might look better than they are. In some formats Stocking the Pantry would just be a solid green card, but in Bloomburrow it is very narrow, so if someone only drafts a few times I want to caution them against it since it isn’t just genetically good. Most cards can find a home somewhere these days or be fringe playable, but the point of my list is to help folks avoid cards that are generally not as good. I’m glad you enjoyed the video and it was cool hearing some extra info about the card!

[@Horrorcubus]

@@MaKo-Myth-os Yes I found that the Frog Decks that get the +1/+1 machine going have often also a few prophets that draw enough, and the Squirrels get enough card advantage with Forage usually so the card is playable in Sqirrel or Frog if those decks miss their natural card draw engines. so one should really not draft this unless it´s alate pick for sideboarding in case one really needs card draw. But in the rare cases it can be a life saver.

[@jayjoestar14]

Bandit talent rubs really well in my Maha brawl deck. Maha thrives on your opponent not having any cards and building around discards actually makes Bandit Talent a nice center piece

[@NicolaiBolas]

I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it in Brawl!

[@SoftyMage]

I was lucky, and able to make "Stock the Pantry" to work in my sealed pool. I had pulled the vehicle that adds counters, plenty of creatures that add counters to either themself or others which helped make it work... I agree with your assessment though cause other pools will be struggling with this card.

[@NicolaiBolas]

Some of the cards on this list are niche playable, but since my assumption is that most players will draft the set a few times, I think those scenarios come up infrequently enough that it is more useful to just advise against drafting particular cards. One aspect of it is that I think you can get them late in packs basically for “free” in many cases, since other players won’t be able to use them, so it’s better to focus on drafting other cards. Stock the Pantry in particular is interesting because in some sets it would be a reasonably good card in just general Green decks, but in this set picking it early is not as worthwhile because it’s not as supported. I can envision decks where it would be useful though.

[@sdsquiresful]

Barkform harvester may not be good in draft. But-trust me from experience-it’s absolutely terrifying in a [[Grenzo, dungeon warden]] commander deck

[@Nat1Games]

Learned the hard way on bandits talent. I grabbed it and played it and then read it. Bad sequencing.

[@NicolaiBolas]

Reading is always a good first step!

[@Stiv64_]

3:45 The card Portent of Calamity is actually very similar. I've had this card and Stargaze both in a UB Rats Deck and most of the time they were just stuck on my hand during every game. Still went 3:1 tho.

[@NicolaiBolas]

Expensive card draw is tough to use in most sets these days.

[@taylorpennington2864]

Barkform Harvester was insane for me today, I was deep into frogs and I went through my deck super fast putting bombs on the bottom/ essentially top. But yes the card is medium in any other circumstance lol

[@NicolaiBolas]

That's the ultimate dream with that sort of card, but it does not come together often.

[@svenr1922]

#10traps Always interesting to hear your thoughts! :) I personally would disagree with never picking Bandit's Talent. As a matter of fact i think there are drafts where you LOVE to see this in pack 2 and 3 maybe even late pack 1, and would even take 2-3 copies of it. Given that's a rare case, but if you get the discard sub-theme in black running and pair it with maybe red or white, then i would say discard 1 and often ping 2 for 3 mana is a great card. and even level 3 is pretty solid if you have spare mana to upgrade.

[@NicolaiBolas]

I’m glad you liked the video! With Bandit’s Talent, I think just slotting it into a Black deck is going to end badly a lot of the time which is why I included it on my list. In my mind, pairing it with other discard is like playing more weak cards to boost a different weak card to being solid, but I could envision a certain deck where that is useful (though not often). Many cards can find a home somewhere based on the way they design cards these days, but titling a video, “Cards you should draft infrequently and play a lot less than you think,” is a bit long. Since most people only draft a set a few times, they rarely end up with decks where these niche cards will fit, so talking about fringe scenarios would just confuse things and I think it is more helpful to advise against drafting the cards. If I say, “you can play this occasionally,” people are likely to assume their deck is the “occasionally” I’m referring to when it probably isn’t. Basically, this video has the advice I would share with a friend who has never drafted the set and is going in for their first time trying to be successful without necessarily knowing all the cards and interactions. If you feel confident you know when to draft a card and use it correctly, I say go for it! It sounds like you’ve got a certain deck in mind for your Bandit’s Talent to be good in, and having a strategy for your cards makes them perform a lot better. Generally though, I think it’s going to underperform what folks expect when they first read it.

[@svenr1922]

@@NicolaiBolas Thanks for elaborating :) that does make a lot of sense ^^ i also have to add that when watching the video and writing the comment i was still influenced from the pre-release and haven't really adjusted to the draft yet. in the pre-release games where the decks were not as polished and streamlined bandit's talent felt pretty strong. also went against it twice in 2 headed giant where it was crazy strong, which has influenced my feelings for it a bit ^^ after drafting a few times now i totally agree with your take. thanks for the great content, keep it up! :)

[@raulsantandertirado4400]

Are you certain about Bandit's Talent? I got screwed by a deck that made me discard consistently and I'm pretty sure that card was what gave him the card advantage to beat me.

[@NicolaiBolas]

I think just slotting it into a Black deck is going to end badly a lot of the time which is why I included it on my list. In my mind, pairing it with other discard is like playing more weak cards to boost a different weak card to being solid, but I could envision a certain deck where that is useful (though not often). Many cards can find a home somewhere based on the way they design cards these days, but titling a video, “Cards you should draft infrequently and play a lot less than you think,” is a bit long. Since most people only draft a set a few times, they rarely end up with decks where these niche cards will fit, so talking about fringe scenarios would just confuse things and I think it is more helpful to advise against drafting the cards. I’m not infallible, but this video has the advice I would share with a friend who had never drafted the set.

[@raulsantandertirado4400]

@@NicolaiBolas I understand. Thanks for the response.

[@adrianspiby9969]

Love your draft content!

[@NicolaiBolas]

Thank you!

[@jimmz6]

i was lucky enough to get a situation during prereleased sealed where my deck was mostly 2-3 mana creature so i pulled 3 from the grave yard once but i definatly get that it is very unreliable and rarely came into play other than that 1 time

[@NicolaiBolas]

I think Sealed is also a bit different from Draft because the format is slower.

[@SoftyMage]

@NicolaiBolas, Does this set have more non-draftable cards then other sets? This seems like a big list for a draftable set.

[@NicolaiBolas]

I don’t think so. If anything, card quality for the worst cards has gone up recently. If you have to play a 3 mana 2/3 or something like that it’s not the end of the world, but the point I’m trying to make here is that you can kinda end up with that level of card for “free” when you get them passed to you at the end of a pack with basically nothing else there, so you don’t have to draft these cards (they just find their way into your pool naturally almost). I’m advising against taking these cards because I think there are just going to be better options in most packs and if someone is only drafting the set a few times I think the niche scenarios where some of these cards are useful will come up infrequently enough that just advising against taking them will be the most helpful.

[@selvanegrra]

Hi! Tomorrow I’m playing my first prerelease with Bloomburrow, any tips?

[@NicolaiBolas]

I'd recommend building a focused two color deck with a proactive plan. That kinda describes most draft decks that are good these days, but the question is a bit big to reply to in a comment.

[@Billchu13]

Changeling was useful in sealed but those types are probably easier to pick up in draft

[@NicolaiBolas]

Yeah, in draft you can just end up with that sort of card for “free” since they go around super late and you end up with them without having to actually draft them over other cards you’d want. You hopefully won’t have to play a generic 3 mana 2/3 Reach in Draft though.

[@sethkeighley6750]

Gossips talent plus birds worked out ok for me once. Not high on The card still tho.

[@NicolaiBolas]

That’s interesting because Birds already have evasion so the second mode of Gossip’s Talent isn’t relevant. One thing I like to recommend is in the game where Gossip’s Talent was good, did it do something a different mediocre 2 drop couldn’t have done. That’s generally a good way to think about these things, because sometimes a card can perform alright in certain spots while still being bad because in other scenarios it would be useless. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@sethkeighley6750]

@NicolaiBolas absolutely it was my weak 23rd on a frog/bird combo. Just so happened to push through flyers against reach creatures. I was surprised it worked out, but wanted to share. Appreciate your feedback, advice, and interaction

[@BosSoxFan15]

Barkform Harvester is a Sam Black special lol.

[@NicolaiBolas]

Definitely seems like his type of card.

[@tobiaslaub983]

Starfall Invocation into Dewdrop Cure destroyed me at prerelease

[@NicolaiBolas]

I think Starfall Invocation was probably the main problem card there. That card is incredible!

[@Terracronz]

Hoarders overflow could have been on a 2/2 rather than an enchantment

[@NicolaiBolas]

Definitely.

[@loop4x454]

#10traps, great video ty

[@NicolaiBolas]

You are welcome!

[@laakso479]

#ten traps. Thank you for the video.

[@NicolaiBolas]

I’m glad you liked it!

[@billbostabbins4262]

I drafted 4 of these yesterday.... went 1-3....

[@NicolaiBolas]

Sounds about right.

[@brysonroberts1920]

All ten of those cards were in my blind draft.

[@NicolaiBolas]

Sounds a bit rough.

[@christophercampbell4670]

I wish Otterball was playable :(

[@NicolaiBolas]

I think if both sides cost one mana less it would be a really nice card. 2 and 4 is just a lot of mana for that effect.

[@ProtomanX05]

#10 traps

[@geizzlyandro]

#10traps

[@californiahippie7786]

#tentraps

[@aquawizards4252]

#10 traps

[@Matafoca]

#10traps

[@karelchocholousek2336]

#10traps

[@robn3309]

#10traps