Best Set to Draft

[Brad Herbig]

My friend and I are considering going together on a box of something to draft for my birthday. We were considering sets that are both fun to draft and also sets that have a decent amount of money cards in them to make the purchase of a box worth it. We were thinking maybe something like Onslaught , Ravnica, or Future Sight. Do the people of the source have any suggestions of what set too draft? (Though I would love to draft some beta or portal3, we do have a budget so keep that in mind :) )

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

Onslaught: No.

Ravnica: No.

Future Sight: Not no, but fuck no.

Champions of Kamigawa was one of the best draft sets ever. You have Dragons, Meloku, Kodama, Cranial Extraction, and Top. Time Spiral is also good. I wasn't around much when we were drafting Shadowmoor, but it seemed like an interesting set to draft.

[Nihil Credo]

My opinions on the formats, and estimation on value (the latter might be off):

Invasion: Good draft, bad value
Odyssey: Good draft, shit value
Onslaught: Abysmal draft, mediocre value
Mirrodin: Bad draft, OK value
Kamigawa: Good draft, shit value
Ravnica: Great draft, meh value
Coldsnap: Who?
Time Spiral: Fucking awesome draft, good value
Lorwyn: Meh draft, excellent value
Shadowmoor: Good draft, good value
Alara: Never tried the draft, excellent value

[heroicraptor]

Unhinged.

[Wallace]

I.P.A. is my fav. draft, it's a lot like the current block with so fun strategies.

[TheBirdMan]

I dont know what you guys are talking about. Onslaught was easily the best set to draft.

[KillemallCFH]

Triple Rav and RGD are both very good. I really enjoyed triple TSP, but wasn't too much of a fan of TPF. I hated Lorwyn and Shadowmoor, and haven't really done much Shards drafting.

[Brad Herbig]

Well the drafts would be "Triple whatever" because it would all be from one box. So keep that in mind.

[kicks_422]

Triple Legions! :tongue:

[Sek'Kuar]

I would say Time Spiral. It has amazing value and the set is fun as all get-out to draft. Shadowmoor was good I guess; better than Eventide anyway. Torment could be cool, but whoever drafts UG Madness would most likely win, unless black is especially strong in your packs. Ichorid wins games. Judgement sucks. Period. I disliked Invasion block period, but if you go with any of those three, go with Apocolypse for the enemy colors. Planar Chaos was meh, nothing outstanding really. I'm going to agree with IBA and say that Future Sight was pretty crummy. Onslaught was cool, Legions was the worst set ever, and Scourge was OK if you like paying 8 mana for, like, every spell in the set. Mirrodin is just busted, Darksteel and Fifth dawn were meh. (I dislike 5 color) Alara is cool, Conflux is also fun, but once again, I dislike 5 color. Champions of Kamigawa was amazing. Betrayers and Saviors, not so much. Ravnica block is right out in my opinion, mainly because only 3 or 4 different color combos are viable in each set. If you want to go super cheap, draft homelands, its only $2 per booster pack. Masques block sucks big hairy moose nuts and Urza's Block, although filled with win and awesome would make Bill Gates' wallet wince. My verdict? Draft Time Spiral.

[Sims]

I've had crazy amounts of fun with Triple Shards drafts, though I have not tried Triple 'Flux. SCC and SSC drafts have been fun also, but if it's all from one box that point is null.. I honestly can't wait til Alara Reborn simply for the limited aspect. SCA should prove very fun, and if people are sayign TSP block drafting was mroe fun than this block has been so far than I really regret missing out on TSP block drafts, cause I'm having a ball in this block.

[dahcmai]

I actually always liked Unglued to draft with, though it has a crap resell value.

As far as older sets go, stay away from them, they draft horribly due to the lack of thought for drafting back then. Anything before say, Masques is pretty bad.

I personally loved Ravnica to draft with.

Time Spiral isn't too shabby though it wasn't a fav of mine.

I think if I had to make that choice, I'd go with shards just to have some value afterwards and it's fairly fun anyway. It's more of a dropping bombs format, but still fun.

[clavio]

Tripple morningtide is a friggen blast. Not too many money cards though (mutavault, bitterblossom, countryside crusher are basically it).

[Brushwagg]

Well if you want a good draft and good value the you have to go with something in type 2 right now since the cards everyone wants should be able to unload. I'd probably go with Shards (if your only getting 1 box if your getting 2 get a Conflux also). Shards has a good amount of cards that are played in type2 right now and it's a preety good set to draft.

[Sek'Kuar]

I forgot Lorwyn/Morningtide. Lorwyn wasn't as good as Morningtide(Which is F-ing Awesome!), mainly because I have a hard-on for Mono-black Rogues. Ravnica was OK for constructed, but the strong colors changed with set, so in order to have a good draft, you need to play Rav/Gdp/Dis. OTOH, it is one of the most skill-intensive draft formats, so if you are pretty competent, you may want to consider that. Seriously, though, Morningtide or Timespiral are the two most fun sets to draft.

[rockout]

Ravnica was by far the most fun format to draft but for value sake I'd just go with Lorwyn block.

[MULocke]

Best draft set? Cube Draft. Seriously, you need to get up to Columbus and cube with us sometime. I guess if you want to be lame and play with bad cards, I suggest Time Spiral. If money cards are a big concern, t2 sets are worth way more because wizards is on t2's nuts all the time, so most players are, too.

[Jeff Kruchkow]

Also, take into consideration that when we say value, we also mean chances of getting a value card in that set. TS has alot of good stuff but its also a large set so chances arent as good. The reason we looked at FS was because it has a larger number of good rares and a smaller set size.

So with that into consideration do the past answers still stand?

[MULocke]

Also, take into consideration that when we say value, we also mean chances of getting a value card in that set. TS has alot of good stuff but its also a large set so chances arent as good. The reason we looked at FS was because it has a larger number of good rares and a smaller set size.

So with that into consideration do the past answers still stand?

Not to stir the pot here, but that's why I mentioned that the way to go if money is the concern is a T2 set. Rares in t2 cost considerably more than others, as the demand for them is way higher. I mentioned Time Spiral because I enjoyed drafting it.

Edit: Off topic, but laziness wins here. Brad, were you in Cincinnati this weekend for Arctic Vogue?

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

I really haven't liked what I've tried of Shards draft. If you're going to go with a recent set, I'd recommend Shadowmoor.

[Jak]

Ravnica was the most fun for me. Good cards, good mana fixing, good mechanics. Plus the art is awesome.

[Sek'Kuar]

Echoing everyone here, including myself: Type 2 for value, Shadowmoor if you want it to be fun too. I still cast my vote for Morningtide or Time Spiral, though. On Second thought, dont go with either of those. I'm trying to build Extended Rogues, so I need a box of Morningtide in order to pick up some Rogues... Maybe TS too if I decide not to go mono-black. It's one more box available to me...

[SpatulaOfTheAges]

Honestly, I kind of like core-sets.

Also, I disagree with people who thought Mirrodin wasn't a good draft set. It wasn't very bomb-dominated (with a few exceptions of course), and it usually went long, so if that's not your thing, I can see not liking it, but I liked the creative thinking the constant impasses created.

[Media314r8]

Timespiral. Hands down best set ever to draft. 10th ed is also lots of fun, very balanced, and has reasonable rares, (WoG, Birds, Crucible, SGC, Needle) but the lack f combat tricks and straightforwardness make bombs more swingy.

EDIT: don't draft a box of the second/third set in a block, like morningtide or future sight. Die to the low number of cards, the drafts are shallow and uninteresting. Draft the first set or a core set.

[Jeff Kruchkow]

However, while larger sets are more interesting, they present a lower probability of hitting the money cards.

[andrew77]

Triple Champions of Kamigawa or triple Time spriral are great fun. So Is triple coldsnap. Sure there is no money there, but those boxes can be gotten for relatively cheap.

If you want to hit money cards just go with something like triple conflux. There is tons of money in the set and the draft should be fairly interesting. I personally prefer a mix of shards and conflux but either way its a fun draft.

[Pulp_Fiction]

Ok, I did this draft WAY back in the day and won a Vesuvan Doppelganger (when they were like 15$ cards)! This was by far the best draft I have ever taken part in:

1x Homelands
1x Unglued
1x Urza's Saga
1x Exodus

At the time all of the packs were $2.75 or cheaper and this was not sanctioned! But it was so much fucking fun! I won a game because of Once More With Feeling the WWWW sorcery from Unglued!!!!!!!!

As for prices of today, I think the best set to draft is Apocalypse. It has a variety of good cards like Spiritmonger and Pernicious Deed and is hella fun! Playing with the Flagbearers is so damn annoying! If you are looking for just an awesome draft I would highly recommend:

1x Apocalypse
1x Homelands
1x Torment/Invasion/Core set

Basically covers all the bases and is immensely fun to draft. I just really like Homelands because it is so entertaining. Fallen Empires can be entertaining but it is just lame when compared to Homelands!

[MattH]

RGD and triple-Ravnica were both crazy fun, but other than maybe shocklands there's little of cash value.

Shadowmoor and Eventide were similar, in that they're high on fun and low on resale value, although not as bad as R/G/D since there's still hot T2 cards like Figure and Reflecting Pool.

I hate hate hated lorwyn block drafts.

Triple Shards is okay, but so far I've enjoyed triple-Conflux more. But then for me, the more colors, the better. YMMV

[Pinder]

Unhinged.

This guy here? A winner. Take notes, folks.

Although, I can understand where Jack Elgin might not agree.

As for real sets, I always liked Ravnica and Time Spiral when I drafted them. I haven't drafted any of the recent sets, so I can't really form an opinion of them, but I heard Alara was pretty good.

[bowvamp]

I like to do a ton of uber small sets, one pack of planeshift, and top it off with a pack of Mercadian Masques. Here is my favorite draft:
1xShards of Alara
1xShadowmoor
1xPlaneshift
1xMercadian Masques

[SuperBean]

The Dark, Fallen Empires and Homelands...

DUH!

[Amon Amarth]

Onslaught: No.

Ravnica: No.

Future Sight: Not no, but fuck no.

Champions of Kamigawa was one of the best draft sets ever. You have Dragons, Meloku, Kodama, Cranial Extraction, and Top. Time Spiral is also good. I wasn't around much when we were drafting Shadowmoor, but it seemed like an interesting set to draft.

Definitely CHK block. I loved loved loved that set in Limited and have never drafted so much since then or before. Seriously, it's tons of fun.

[Lifeless]

I've been on the MtGO beta tests for a while and drafted the last 8 formats like 300 times. I honestly like ALA ALA CON as much as any of them, with RAV GP DIS coming in second. The RAV block draft is extremely fun if everyone drafting is competent and knows how to signal.

ALA ALA CON primer:

1. Draft Algae Gharial.
2. Draft Topan Ascetic.
3. Own.