HOLDER'S HEROES

Ok, so many of you may have seen me on the message boards talking about how much I was really really looking forward to having booster draft using the new Faith of Our Fathers tins. I would say stuff like "Yea, I remember back when Decipher came out with this and that for Star Wars and it was Great!" Well, I have since participated in a FoOF booster draft, and yes, it did live up to my expectations. So, for those of you who may have never participated in a booster draft using something like FoOF, I'm gonna give you a few tips today, then over the next few weeks I'm going to start posting some articles on cards you should look for while drafting. Anyway, here are a few good tips to remember when participating in a Foof-ter draft.

Follow up:

1. Know which tin you have and know how to use your 10 cards. Since you basically have the beginnings of a decent strategy handed to you, use it. If your deck centers on banding, or warrior class, or capturing, then use that strategy. That means you need to really know what the cards do. Before the tournament, at least go read through all of them on the REG, or if you're like me, try to memorize them all!

2. Don't be afraid to pass up the rare (or Ultra Rare). Of course this has always been a point in booster draft, especially if you open a pack with a not so good rare and 3 good uncommons. However, with FoOF, you really need to pay attention to your commons and uncommons. Many of the strategies in these tins are helped more with a common than with an Ultra Rare. Just because it's got a shiny gold border doesn't mean it will win you the game. Now since there are no Women packs in FoOF, if you pull a Guardian of Your Souls...... of course you should take it.

3. Don't broadcast your tin/cards to the entire world. I've seen people at just about every tournament I've been to do this. You're sitting there and they all tell which cards they got and by the time you build your deck, you know what everyone's gonna be throwing at you, or at least what Ultra Rares they pulled. I think it's better to save those as a surprise. So you got Tin I and pulled a Michael, or Strong Angel. Just think how much more effective those cards would be if your opponent never saw them coming...

4. I heard many people saying that booster draft with FoOF is just like Sealed Deck, but it's not. Do not go into the tournament thinking this way. In Sealed there are 2 different decks, and you know for a fact that you will be playing against one of them each game. Not much variety. With FoOF however, even though each person get 10 cards (out of 10 different sets) there is much more variety. Just like I said in the last tip, just because your opponent may have Tin I, don't just assume he's playing all Red and Gold. There are at least 33 more cards in that deck that you don't have a clue about. Do your best to counter certain strategies, but don't rule out surprises. That is what booster is all about isn't it?

5. The last and most important tip, be creative. With the old booster draft you had to pick cards and hope you got more of those brigades, or more of that strategy in your other packs, but with FoOF, you have a great starting point. Stick with it, but don't forget to be creative. I had Tin I at Nationals, so of course I had the huge Red Banding chain, but I also managed to have a couple Teal and Silver surprises packed in there. While you can center your deck around those 10 cards, don't feel like you have to. Be creative and you might just get to see that great look of shock on your opponent's face when you drop a Palsy on his Men of Judah!