Cardsplain

Crash course

Everything here is for drafting The Hobbit as a beginner, apart from the grades and win rates on the cards.

On this page

The 10-second checklist

  1. Look for a rare or mythic. Its set symbol is gold or orange instead of black or silver . Read it, and if it would win the game on its own unless they answer it, take it.
  2. Scan for words: destroy, , deals N damage to target creature, , −N/−N. Take the cheapest one in your colors.
  3. If there is no removal, take the best creature in your colors. A creature with or beats a plain one, and a cheap one beats an expensive one.
  4. If two cards look equal, take the one in your colors. If you have no colors yet, take the black one.
  5. If you still can't decide, take the cheaper card and move on.

Pick flow chart

You're holding a pack. Before you have colors (picks 1–5), every color counts as yours. Then ask, in order:

  1. Is there a rare or mythic that wins the game alone if unanswered? (gold or orange set symbol) Yes: take it, even (until mid pack 2).
  2. Is there removal? destroy, , N damage to target creature, , gives a creature -2/-2 Yes: take the removal, the cheapest one in your colors.
  3. Pack 3 and fewer than 12 creatures so far? Yes: take a creature, the best one in your colors.
  4. A good creature in your colors? fair size for its cost + an extra: , , , draws a card Yes: take it, preferring a cheap one or one that's hard to block.
  5. Anything playable in your colors? Yes: take the cheapest, ideally a creature that costs 2.
  6. Nothing? : take the card that would hurt you most in an opponent's deck.

Two cards tied? In your colors beats . With no colors yet, take the black one.

Pick flow chart. The same steps are listed as text below the chart.You're holding a packBefore you have colors (picks 1–5), every color counts as yours.Is there a rare or mythic thatwins the game alone if unanswered?(gold or orange set symbol)YesTake iteven off-color (until mid pack 2)NoIs there removal?destroy, exile, N damage to target creature,sacrifices, gives a creature -2/-2YesTake the removalthe cheapest one in your colorsNoPack 3 and fewer than12 creatures so far?YesTake a creaturethe best one in your colorsNoA good creature in your colors?fair size for its cost + an extra:flying, menace, deathtouch, draws a cardYesTake itpreferring a cheap one orone that's hard to blockNoAnything playable in your colors?YesTake the cheapestideally a creature that costs 2NoHate-drafttake the card that would hurtyou most in an opponent's deckTwo cards tied?In your colors beats off-color.With no colors yet,take the black one.
Read the chart as a list

You're holding a pack. Before you have colors (picks 1–5), every color counts as yours. Then ask, in order:

  1. Is there a rare or mythic that wins the game alone if unanswered? (gold or orange set symbol) Yes: take it, even (until mid pack 2).
  2. Is there removal? destroy, , N damage to target creature, , gives a creature -2/-2 Yes: take the removal, the cheapest one in your colors.
  3. Pack 3 and fewer than 12 creatures so far? Yes: take a creature, the best one in your colors.
  4. A good creature in your colors? fair size for its cost + an extra: , , , draws a card Yes: take it, preferring a cheap one or one that's hard to block.
  5. Anything playable in your colors? Yes: take the cheapest, ideally a creature that costs 2.
  6. Nothing? : take the card that would hurt you most in an opponent's deck.

Two cards tied? In your colors beats . With no colors yet, take the black one.

Rules of thumb for the rest of the draft

  • Ignore basic lands. Skip two-color (gold) cards unless you're already in both colors.
  • Count your creatures in pack 3. You want 15–17. If you have fewer than 12 by the middle of pack 3, take creatures over everything except .
  • Get 5–6 creatures that cost 2 or less. Beginners tend to pass them, so you can pick them up late.
  • Watch what . The pack you opened comes back to you after it goes round the table (with 8 players, that's pick 9). If good cards in one color came back, that color is open.
  • Pack 2 passes the other way, so the colors flowing to you change for one pack. In pack 3 you're fed from the same side as pack 1 again, so pack 1's open color should be open again.
  • Don't change colors after the middle of pack 2 unless your colors have given you almost nothing playable.
  • Late in a pack with nothing for you, take the card that would hurt you most in someone else's deck (a "").
  • Use your phone as a backup. If the table is fine with phones, the Lookup tab shows any card's grade in two taps.

The whole plan

  1. Aim for black. It's the deepest color, with lots of and good creatures. In the 17Lands data, Goblin Army (black-red) has the highest win rate of any two-color deck and Ferocious Wolves (black-green) the second highest.
  2. Picks 1–5: take the best card, using the pick order below. After that, move into the color that keeps coming late, and from pack 2 stay in two colors.
  3. Build 40 cards: 17 lands, about 16 creatures and about 7 other spells (removal first). Stay in two colors and don't .

Pick order

  1. : a rare or mythic such as a big , a card that makes a creature every turn, or one that pumps your whole team.
  2. : any card with the removal words from the checklist. Cheaper is better.
  3. Good creatures: a fair stat line for its cost (rough guide: 2 mana 2/2, 3 mana 3/3, 4 mana 4/4) plus something extra: flying, , , draws a card, makes a .
  4. Cheap creatures (2 mana or less).
  5. Last: (+2/+2 until end of turn), cards that only work with a creature type you don't have, and expensive cards that do nothing the turn you play them.

Avoid green "big dumb creature" decks in this set. Black's common Crude Bent Blade makes the opponent a creature of their choice, so a deck with one big creature at a time loses it to a 3-mana card. Draftsim's guide ranks green last of the five colors, and in the 17Lands data every green deck except Ferocious Wolves (black-green) wins less than average.

The 20 cards worth memorizing

The best commons and uncommons by color. You'll see the commons most often, about 3 times each per 8-person draft. If you only have time for some, learn black and red first (the first 11). Read the rares when you open them. The traps below look strong but lose games, so skip them.

and win rates from . Each win rate is a .

Black

  1. Crude Bent Blade Artifact — Equipment
    Best common in the set. The opponent sacrifices a creature of their choice, and the Blade stays as a +2/+1 Equipment. A- 60.4% 60k games
  2. Bilbo's Deadly Slice Instant
    Destroys target creature for 3 mana, with no drawback. B- 57.7% 48k games
  3. Stir Up Trouble Sorcery
    Destroys a creature for 1 mana. As you cast it, you also sacrifice one of your creatures or artifacts, or pay 4 more. B- 57.0% 48k games
  4. Gollum, Silent Slinker // Meager Meal Legendary Creature — Halfling Horror // Sorcery — Adventure
    Menace on a 4-mana 4/3. It is an Adventure card, so you can cast its 1-mana spell, Meager Meal, first and the creature later. B+ 59.2% 53k games
  5. Desolation Prowler Creature — Wolf
    Pay 2 life, once each turn, to make this 2-mana 2/2 a 4/4 until end of turn. A- 61.2% 30k games
  6. Nighthowl Pursuer Creature — Wolf
    Gets +2/+2 when it attacks while you control a creature with power 4 or more, so this 1-mana 1/1 Wolf with menace hits as a 3/3. B+ 59.6% 23k games

Red

  1. Pinecone Strike Instant
    An instant that deals 3 damage to a creature for 2 mana, enough to kill most early creatures. B+ 59.4% 56k games
  2. Dori, Bearer of Friends Legendary Creature — Dwarf Warrior
    Makes a Treasure when it enters. The body is a 3-mana 3/2 with trample. B 57.8% 45k games
  3. Bothersome Noisemaker Creature — Goblin Bard
    Each noncreature spell you cast, such as removal or Equipment, amasses Goblins 1 while this 2-mana 2/2 is on the battlefield. A- 61.0% 28k games
  4. Burn, Burn, Tree and Fern Enchantment — Saga
    A 4-mana Saga that deals 6 damage to an opponent's creature as it enters, then destroys one of their artifacts, then adds on each of the last two chapters. B+ 60.1% 25k games

Black or red

  1. Goblin Plate Mail Artifact — Equipment
    When it enters, it amasses Goblins 1 and attaches to the Army, giving it +1/+0 and menace. It costs 2 mana, and you can play it in black or red. B- 57.3% 59k games

White

  1. Celebrate the Mountain-king Enchantment
    Best uncommon in the set. It exiles their best nonland permanent until Celebrate leaves the battlefield, and it recruits. A 62.2% 31k games
  2. The Mountain-king's Return Enchantment — Saga
    A 3-mana Saga that recruits, then returns a creature card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard, then adds a +1/+1 counter . A- 61.1% 30k games
  3. Stone by Sunlight Instant
    An instant for 2 mana. Destroy a creature with power 4 or more, or make one of yours indestructible until end of turn. B+ 60.3% 28k games
  4. Magnificent End Instant
    Deals 5 damage to a creature for 5 mana, or for 2 if it targets a tapped creature, such as an attacker. B- 56.8% 46k games

White or blue

  1. Patient Instructor Creature — Human Citizen
    A 3-mana 2/2 with vigilance that recruits. You can play it in white or blue. B 58.3% 55k games

Blue

  1. Plunder the Trollshaws Instant
    Draws a card for 2 mana. Later, cast it again from the graveyard to draw 2. B 58.5% 51k games
  2. Bilbo, Luckwearer // Burglar's Plot Legendary Creature — Halfling Rogue // Sorcery — Adventure
    Can't be blocked, and each time it deals combat damage to a player you draw a card, then discard one. A 2-mana 1/1. B+ 60.3% 30k games

Green

  1. Mirkwood Pathmaker Creature — Elf Ranger
    Costs 3 mana, and its power and toughness equal the number of lands you control, so it is a 4/4 on turn 4 and keeps growing. B+ 59.6% 19k games
  2. Quarrel Instant
    This 2-mana instant has your creature deal damage equal to its power to one of theirs (a one-sided fight). B- 57.0% 34k games

Traps

Words that point to each deck

Each of the five two-color decks the set was designed around has a word to look for. If several cards with that word keep coming to you, that deck is open.

  • Goblin Army

    Deck win rate 57.6% +1.4 vs average 85,459 games

    Look for: “Amass”, Goblin, Army

    Attack with one that keeps growing, and kill blockers with black and red . Aim for it by default. It has the best win rate in the 17Lands data.
    • Bothersome Noisemaker

      In this deck 61.7% 18k games

    • Goblin Plate Mail

      In this deck 58.1% 30k games

    • Bolg of the North

      In this deck 55.4% 12k games

    Learn the Goblin Army deck

  • Ferocious Wolves

    Deck win rate 56.9% +0.7 vs average 57,277 games

    Look for: “Ferocious”, power 4 or more, Wolf

    Get a creature with power 4 or more down, and your Wolves get their bonuses. Black and big green creatures make it the second-best deck.
    • Ravening Warg

      In this deck 58.0% 18k games

    • Nighthowl Pursuer

      In this deck 59.4% 10k games

    • Large Bear

      In this deck 57.2% 8.8k games

    Learn the Ferocious Wolves deck

  • Dwarves & Equipment

    Deck win rate 56.5% +0.3 vs average 52,797 games

    Look for: Dwarf, Equipment, “Storied”

    Play cheap Dwarves and and attack. Once you have 3 , cards or on the battlefield, you have an "", and your cards get their bonus for the rest of the game.
    • Iron Hills Blacksmith

      In this deck 58.1% 12k games

    • Dori, Bearer of Friends

      In this deck 57.7% 20k games

    • Thorin Oakenshield

      In this deck 57.2% 14k games

    Learn the Dwarves & Equipment deck

  • Draw Two

    Deck win rate 56.4% +0.2 vs average 58,594 games

    Look for: “Recruit”, “draw your second card each turn”

    Draw a second card on your turn to trigger Bard the Bowman and Lakeshore Apothecary. Counting your draws each turn makes it harder to play, so go into it only when white and blue are open.
    • Patient Instructor

      In this deck 59.7% 33k games

    • Plunder the Trollshaws

      In this deck 60.3% 31k games

    • Bard the Bowman

      In this deck 59.5% 21k games

    Learn the Draw Two deck

  • Elf Landfall

    Deck win rate 52.5% −3.7 vs average 22,251 games

    Look for: “Landfall”, Elf

    Put extra lands onto the battlefield to get extra triggers. Of the five designed decks it is the weakest. Take it only when blue and green cards keep coming late.
    • Thranduil, Sindarin Liege // Silvan Rally

      In this deck 58.7% 6.3k games

    • Silvan Reveler

      In this deck 53.8% 6.8k games

    • Wood Elves

      In this deck 54.3% 7.3k games

    Learn the Elf Landfall deck

6 habits during the game

  1. Keep hands with 2–5 lands. Otherwise : shuffle, draw 7, and put 1 card on the bottom for each mulligan.
  2. Play a land every turn, and use your mana every turn. Cheapest creatures first.
  3. Save for creatures that matter, such as , big creatures and ones with ongoing abilities, rather than a random 2/2.
  4. Attack when they can't block well. Before attacking, check whether any block they could make would cost you a creature for nothing.
  5. Count their untapped lands. A player who keeps mana open on your turn may have an (a trick or removal).
  6. Read the opponent's cards, and ask what they do. Everyone at the table is learning, so asking is normal.