Escalation Draft

For game 1, players will “minimaster”, adding 3 copies of each basic land to a 15-card booster pack they haven’t looked at, shuffling and playing. After this game, each player receives a new booster pack which they use to modify their 30-card-minimum deck (including access to the basic land station). Once ready, they play a second game with the modified decks. After game 2, they get a third booster pack, and can modify their deck once again, and play a third game.

If the same player has won all three games, the draft is over. If not, each player receives a 4th booster pack and makes their deck into a 40-card-minimum traditional draft deck. Finally, if the record is 2-and-2, each player will get a fifth pack, modify their 40-card deck again, and play one final round to determine the overall winner.

Slowly learning what your opponent is playing and the best strategy to counteract it feels tactical and fun. Either player could also change their entire strategy after opening a new bomb, which the opponent won’t know about until it’s revealed in-game.

Continuously deckbuilding between games is not for everyone, some players do not enjoy sideboarding.