Jeff Zandi is a five time pro tour veteran who has been playing Magic since 1994. Jeff is a level two DCI judge and has been judging everything from small local tournaments to pro tour events. Jeff is from Coppell, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, where his upstairs game room has been the "Guildhall", the home of the Texas Guildmages, since the team formed in 1996. One of the original founders of the team, Jeff Zandi is the team's administrator, and is proud to continue the team's tradition of having players in every pro tour from the first event in 1996 to the present.

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This Space For Rent

The Southwestern Paladin
Fun With Magic
Two Player Fat Draft
by Jeff Zandi
December 30, 2005

It’s just about the end of another nice holiday season. Lots of people are traveling to visit family. Magic players, like me, are always looking for more ways to get some fun out of opening packs even when there aren’t enough people around for a booster draft. Well, me and one of my friends have come up with a new format you might want to try when you have a lot of boosters you don’t mind opening for some fun limited format play. We call it TWO PLAYER FAT DRAFT.

Me and my pal Trent Boneau found ourselves with some time to kill and some boosters of Ravnica laying around. I asked Trent if he wanted to draft one-on-one, he shrugged disapprovingly. Soloman draft? Trent put his hands up and rolled his eyes. I got an idea and Trent feigned interest while I explained it. We gave this draft a try. Here’s how the format works and what we did with it.

Two Player Fat Draft

Each player begins with SIX booster packs. Each player opens their first pack and drafts TWO cards from the pack. Then, each player exchanges the remaining cards. From the thirteen remaining cards opened by the other player, you each draft TWO more cards. This continues until you have each drafted ten cards from the two packs. You should have drafted two cards from the pack you opened a total of three times and you should have drafted two cards from the pack your opponent opened a total of two times. The remaining five cards in each pack is put aside, presumably for the winner of the draft.

Each player then opens their second booster pack and continues as with the first pack, drafting two cards at a time, exchanging packs with the other player, and so on. At the end of the draft, each player has drafted sixty cards, ten cards from each of the six draft rounds. Each player then builds a forty card minimum deck out of the cards he has drafted.

Here are the packs that me and Trent opened, what we drafted and the decks that we built from this draft:

Zanman opens pack Z1

Flight of Fancy
Boros Signet
Seismic Spike
Sewerdreg
Conclave’s Blessing
Sabertooth Alley Cat
Stinkweed Imp
Tidewater Minion
Golgari Rotwurm
Ordruun Commando
Thundersong Trumpeter
Seed Spark
Golgari Thug
Carven Caryatid
Followed Footsteps

Trent opens pack T1

Disembowel
Boros Signet
Flight of Fancy
Dizzy Spell
Dryad’s Caress
Rain of Embers
Dimir Aqueduct
Convolute
Wojek Siren
Civic Wayfarer
Coalhauler Swine
Overwhelm
Voyager Staff
Wojek Apothecary
Chorus of the Conclave

Zanman drafts Followed Footsteps and Flight of Fancy Trent drafts Overwhelm and Disembowel Zanman drafts Boros Signet and Flight of Fancy Trent drafts Golgari Rotwurm and Stinkweed Imp Zanman drafts Boros Signet and Thundersong Trumpeter Trent drafts Civic Wayfarer and Chorus of the Conclave Zanman drafts Wojek Siren and Rain of Embers Trent drafts Carven Caryatid and Golgari Thug Zanman drafts Sabertooth Alley Cat and Ordruun Commando Trent drafts Dimir Aqueduct and Voyager Staff

The remaining cards from packs Z1 and T1 are put in the prize bucket for the winner of the draft.

Zanman opens pack Z2

Conclave Equenaut
Elves of Deep Shadow
Sell-Sword Brute
Infectious Host
Dizzy Spell
Dromad Purebred
Courier Hawk
Dimir Aqueduct
Coalhauler Swine
Strands of Undeath
Drift of Phantasms
Divebomber Griffin
Telling Time
Greater Forgeling
Golgari Grave-Troll

Trent opens pack T2

Golgari Signet
Faith’s Fetters
Snapping Drake
Lurking Informant
Zephyr Spirit
Gate Hound
Clinging Darkness
Surveilling Sprite
Benevolent Ancestor
Scatter the Seeds
Incite Hysteria
Stoneshaker Shaman
Chant of Vitu-Ghazi
Selesnya Guildmage
Sisters of Stone Death

Zanman drafts Conclave Equenaut and Divebomber Griffin Trent drafts Sisters of Stone Death and Selesnya Guildmage Zanman drafts Faith’s Fetters and Snapping Drake Trent drafts Golgari Grave-Troll and Elves of Deep Shadow Zanman drafts Telling Time and Sell-Sword Brute Trent drafts Scatter the Seeds and Golgari Signet Zanman drafts Benevolent Ancestor and Clinging Darkness Trent drafts Strands of Undeath and Dimir Aqueduct Zanman drafts Courier Hawk and Greater Forgeling Trent drafts Lurking Informant and Surveilling Sprite

The remaining cards from packs Z2 and T2 are put in the prize bucket for the winner of the draft.

Zanman opens pack Z3

Sell-Sword Brute
Brainspoil
Leave No Trace
Stone-Seeder Hirophant
Rain of Embers
Wojek Siren
Selesnya Sanctuary
Dogpile
Mortipede
Tattered Drake
Boros Garrison
Watchwolf
Sunhome Enforcer
Vindictive Mob
Bloodletter Quill

Trent opens pack T3

Tidewater Minion
Flight of Fancy
Dizzy Spell
Caregiver
Sundering Vitae
Mortipede
Tattered Drake
Boros Garrison
Guardian of Vitu-Ghazi
Torpid Moloch
Roofstaker Wight
Devouring Light
Belltower Sphinx
Recollect
Glimpse the Unthinkable

Zanman drafts Sunhome Enforcer and Watchwolf Trent drafts Guardian of Vitu-Ghazi and Devouring Light Zanman drafts Belltower Sphinx and Recollect Trent drafts Brainspoil and Mortipede Zanman drafts Dogpile and Sell-Sword Brute Trent drafts Mortipede and Glimpse the Unthinkable Zanman drafts Boros Garrison and Tattered Drake Trent drafts Vindictive Mob and Selesnya Sanctuary Zanman drafts Boros Garrison and Wojek Siren Trent drafts Roofstalker and Caregiver

The remaining cards from packs Z3 and T3 are put in the prize bucket for the winner of the draft.

Zanman opens pack Z4

Elves of Deep Shadow
Galvanic Arc
Quickchange
Boros Recruit
Elvish Skysweeper
Boros Fury-Shield
Gather Courage
Sabertooth Alley Cat
Stinkweed Imp
Tidewater Minion
Golgari Rotwurm
Svogthos, the Restless Tomb
Nullmage Shepherd
Dimir Machinations
Ursapine

Trent opens pack T4

Peel from Reality
Skyknight Legionnaire
Siege Wurm
Surge of Zeal
Shred Memory
Drake Familiar
Woodwraith Strangler
Terrarion
Torpid Moloch
Mortipede
Induce Paranoia
Blockbuster
Pollenbright Wings
Telling Time
Twilight Drover

Zanman drafts Galvanic Arc and Stinkweed Imp Trent drafts Siege Wurm and Pollenbright Wings Zanman drafts Skyknight Legionnaire and Drake Familiar Trent drafts Golgari Rotwurm and Elves of Deep Shadow Zanman drafts Boros Fury-Shield and Sabertooth Alley Cat Trent drafts Mortipede and Terrarion Zanman drafts Telling Time and Peel from Reality Trent drafts Nullmage Shepherd and Ursapine Zanman drafts Gather Strength and Boros Recruit Trent drafts Woodwraith Strangler and Shred Memory

The remaining cards from packs Z4 and T4 are put in the prize bucket for the winner of the draft.

Zanman opens pack Z5

Mountain
Siege Wurm
Fiery Conclusion
Dimir Signet
Quickchange
Golgari Brownscale
Smash
Scatter the Seeds
Incite Hysteria
Golgari Rotwurm
Vedalken Entrancer
Telling Time
Congregation at Dawn
Nightmare Void
Gleancrawler

Trent opens pack T5

Veteran Armorer
Seeds of Strength
Viashino Fangtail
Surge of Zeal
Lurking Informant
Zephyr Spirit
Consult the Necrosages
Golgari Rot Farm
Viashino Slasher
Roofstalker Wight
Stasis Cell
Keening Banshee
Boros Guildmage
Clutch of the Undercity
Razia, Boros Archangel

Zanman drafts Fiery Conclusion and Vedalken Entrancer Trent drafts Keening Banshee and Veteran Armorer Zanman drafts Razia, Boros Archangel and Viashino Fangtail Trent drafts Gleancrawler and Siege Wurm Zanman drafts Scatter the Seeds and Golgari Rotwurm Trent drafts Seeds of Strength and Golgari Rot Farm Zanman drafts Viashino Slasher and Boros Guildmage Trent drafts Golgari Brownscale and Nightmare Void Zanman drafts Telling Time and Incite Hysteria Trent drafts Roofstalker Wight and Lurking Informant

The remaining cards from packs Z5 and T5 are put in the prize bucket for the winner of the draft.

Zanman opens pack Z6

Golgari Signet
Conclave Equenaut
Skyknight Legionnaire
Dizzy Spell
Caregiver
Sundering Vitae
Courier Hawk
Greater Mossdog
Barbarian Riftcutter
Consult the Necrosages
Terraformer
Divebomber Griffin
Flow of Ideas
Grifter’s Blade
Bottled Cloister

Trent opens pack T6

Transluminant
Shambling Shell
Perplex
Goblin Fire Fiend
Necromantic Thirst
Dogpile
Golgari Rot Farm
Convolute
Courier Hawk
Dimir Aqueduct
Coalhauler Swine
Carrion Howler
Drooling Groodion
Suppression Field
Phytohydra

Zanman drafts Skyknight Legionnaire and Conclave Equenaut Trent drafts Drooling Groodion and Phytohydra Zanman drafts Dogpile and Courier Hawk Trent drafts Greater Mossdog and Golgari Signet Zanman drafts Divebomber Griffin and Grifter’s Blade Trent drafts Shambling Shell and Transluminant Zanman drafts Convolute and Coalhauler Swine Trent drafts Courier Hawk and Bottled Cloister Zanman drafts Sundering Vitae and Caregiver Trent drafts Golgari Rotfarm and Carrion Howler

The remaining cards from packs Z6 and T6 are put in the prize bucket for the winner of the draft.

Zanman’s Deck
2 Conclave Equenaut
1 Divebomber Griffin
1 Faith’s Fetters
1 Boros Fury-Shield
2 Courier Hawk
2 Skyknight Legionnaire
1 Sunhome Enforcer
1 Boros Guildmage
1 Thundersong Trumpeter
1 Galvanic Arc
1 Viashino Fangtail
1 Ordruun Commando
2 Sabertooth Alley Cat
2 Sell-Sword Brute
2 Dogpile
1 Grifter’s Blade
2 Boros Signet
7 Plains
7 Mountains
2 Boros Garrison

Trent’s Deck
2 Golgari Rotwurm
1 Gleancrawler
1 Drooling Groodion
2 Siege Wurm
1 Sisters of Stone Death
1 Shambling Shell
1 Overwhelm
1 Disembowel
1 Scatter the Seeds
1 Brainspoil
1 Transluminant
1 Selesnya Guildmage
1 Civic Wayfarer
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Carven Caryatid
1 Keening Banshee
1 Mortipede
2 Golgari Signet
2 Elves of Deep Shadow
2 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
1 Plains
7 Forest
6 Swamp

The Play-By-Play

GAME ONE

T1 Trent plays first keeping Swamp x2, Forest, Gleancrawler, Shambling Shell, Mortipede, Sisters of Stone Death. Plays Forest.
T1 Zanman keeps Mountain x3, Plains x2, Courier Hawk, Conclave Equenaut.
Draws Grifter’s Blade, plays Mountain.
T2 Trent draws Overwhelm, plays Swamp.
T2 Zanman draws Skyknight Legionnaire, plays Plains, Courier Hawk.
T3 Trent draws and plays Swamp, Shambling Shell.
T3 Zanman draws Sell-Sword Brute. Plays Mountain, Skyknight Legionnaire, attacks with Skyknight and Hawk (17-20)
T4 Trent draws Golgari Rotwurm, plays Swamp, Mortipede. Attacks with Shambling Shell blocked by Courier Hawk. With combat damage on the stack, Trent sacrifices Shell to give Mortipede a +1/+1 counter.
T4 Zanman draws and plays Plains. Attacks with Skyknight (15-20). Plays Sell-Sword Brute.
T5 Trent uses Shambling Shell’s Dredge ability during his draw to retrieve the Shell instead of drawing a card, dredging Siege Wurm, Forest, Forest into his graveyard. Plays Shambling Shell. Attacks with Mortipede, blocked by Brute. Trent sacrifices Shambling Shell to give Mortipede a +1/+1 counter. Zanman takes two damage from Brute when it goes to the graveyard
(15-18)
T5 Zanman draws and plays Plains.
T6 Trent uses Shambling Shell’s Dredge ability during his draw to retrieve Shambling Shell instead of drawing a card, dredging Stinkweed Imp, Elves of Deep Shadow and Brainspoil into his graveyard. Plays Shambling Shell, attacks with Mortipede (15-12) Zanman plays Grifter’s Blade, attaching it to Skyknight Legionnaire.
T6 Zanman draws Skyknight Legionnaire, plays Mountain, Conclave Equenaut.
T7 Trent draws and plays Forest, attacks with Shell and Mortipede, Mortipede blocked by Skyknight and Equenaut (15-9) Plays Golgari Rotwurm.
T7 Zanman draws Viashino Fangtail, plays Plains, Fangtail and Skyknight Legionnaire
T8 Trent draws Transluminant. Attacks with Rotwurm and Shell, Rotwurm blocked by Fangtail and Legionnaire. With combat damage on the stack, Trent sacrifices Rotwurm to use Rotwurm’s ability to make Zanman lose one life (15-8), then combat damage resolves (15-5). Plays Transluminant.
T8 Zanman draws Boros Signet, concedes
TRENT WINS GAME ONE

GAME TWO

T1 Zanman plays first keeping Mountain, Boros Garrison x2, Skyknight Legionnaire, Sabertooth Alley Cat, Galvanic Arc and Conclave Equenaut. Plays Mountain.
T2 Trent keeps Forest x2, Swamp x2, Golgari Signet, Brainspoil, Siege Wurm.
Draws Golgari Rot Farm. Plays Swamp.
T2 Zanman draws a Plains, plays Boros Garrison returning a Mountain to his hand.
T2 Trent draws Swamp, plays Forest, Golgari Signet.
T3 Zanman draws Courier Hawk, plays Mountain, Skyknight Legionnaire and attacks (18-20)
T3 Trent draws Gleancrawler, plays Swamp.
T4 Zanman draws Grifter’s Blade, attacks with Skyknight (16-20), plays Plains, Sabertooth Alley Cat.
T4 Trent draws and plays Disembowel targeting Skyknight, plays Swamp.
T5 Zanman draws and plays Boros Guildmage. Plays Courier Hawk, plays Boros Garrison returning a Plains to his hand, attacks with Alley Cat (14-20)
T5 Trent draws and plays Swamp, Gleancrawler.
T6 Zanman draws and plays Plains. Attacks with Hawk (13-20). Plays Conclave Equenaut.
T6 Trent draws Selesnya Sanctuary, plays Forest. Attacks with Gleancrawler
(13-14) Plays Siege Wurm.
T7 Zanman draws Conclave Equenaut. Plays Plains. Plays Galvanic Arc onto Equenaut targeting Trent for three points of damage (10-14), attacks with Hawk (9-14)
T7 Trent draws Carven Caryatid. Plays Brainspoil targeting Boros Guildmage, Zanman responds by activating Boros Guildmage twice, giving Alley Cat and Courier Hawk first strike. Plays Selesnya Sanctuary returning a Forest to his hand.
T8 Zanman draws and plays Mountain. Plays Conclave Equenaut, activates Alley Cat and attacks with Alley Cat, Equenaut and Courier Hawk (3-14)
T8 Trent draws Shambling Swarm. Plays Forest, Carven Caryatid drawing Forest. Trent concedes.
ZANMAN WINS GAME TWO

GAME THREE

T1 Trent plays first keeping Golgari Rot Farm, Swamp, Golgari Signet, Siege Wurm, Carven Caryatid, Golgari Rotwurm, Stinkweed Imp. Plays Swamp.
T1 Zanman keeps Mountain, Plains, Boros Signet x2, Sell-Sword Brute, Faith’s Fetters and Skyknight Legionnaire. Draws and plays Mountain.
T2 Trent draws and plays Forest, Golgari Signet.
T2 Zanman draws Boros Guildmage, plays Plains, Boros Guildmage
T3 Trent draws Gleancrawler. Plays Carven Caryatid drawing Overwhelm. Plays Golgari Rot Farm returning Forest to his hand.
T3 Zanman draws Conclave Equenaut. Plays Mountain, Skyknight Legionnaire, attacks with Skyknight (18-20)
T4 Trent draws and plays Swamp, Stinkweed Imp.
T4 Zanman draws and plays Plains, plays Conclave Equenaut tapping four lands and two creatures using its Convoke ability.
T5 Trent draws and plays Forest. Plays Gleancrawler.
T5 Zanman draws Viashino Fangtail. Attacks with Skyknight and Equenaut
(13-20) Plays Faith’s Fetters on Gleancrawler. (13-24)
T6 Trent draws Civic Wayfinder, plays Forest, Siege Wurm.
T6 Zanman draws Divebomber Griffin. Attacks with Equenaut and Skynight, Equenaut blocked by Stinkweed Imp. Zanman activates Guildmage’s ability to give Equenaut first strike until end of turn (11-24) Plays Boros Signet.
T7 Trent uses Stinkweed Imp’s Dredge ability during his draw step returning Stinkweed Imp to his hand instead of drawing a card, dredging Drooling Groodion, Brainspoil, Selesnya Guildmage, Keening Banshee and Sisters of Stone Death into the graveyard. Plays Stinkweed Imp, Civic Wayfinder producing a Plains, plays Plains, attacks with Siege Wurm (11-19)
T7 Zanman draws Sell-Sword Brute. Plays Boros Signet. Attacks with Equenaut and Skyknight, Equenaut blocked by Stinkweed Imp. Zanman activates Guildmage giving Equenaut first strike until end of turn. (9-19) Plays Sell-Sword Brute.
T8 Trent draws and plays Golgari Rot Wurm. Attacks with Siege Wurm (9-14)
T8 Zanman draws Boros Garrison. Attacks with Equenaut and Legionnaire (4-14) Plays Sell-Sword Brute, Boros Garrison returning a Plains to his hand.
T9 Trent uses Stinkweed Imp’s Dredge ability during his draw step returning Stinkweed Imp to his hand instead of drawing a card, dredging Siege Wurm, Swamp, Transluminant, Elves of Deep Shadow and Selesnya Sanctuary into the graveyard. Plays Stinkweed Imp. Attacks with Golgari Rotwurm, Wayfinder and Siege Wurm. Rotwurm and Wayfinder are each blocked by Sell-Sword Brutes, the one blocking Wayfinder receives first strike from an activation of Boros Guildmage. With combat damage on the stack, Trent sacrifices Wayfinder to the Rotwurm’s ability (4-13) combat damage resolves (4-8) Sell-Sword Brute deals two damage to Zanman when it goes to the graveyard (4-6). At end of turn, Civic Wayfinder returns to Trent’s hand when Gleancrawler’s ability triggers.
T9 Zanman draws Conclave Equenaut. Plays Plains. Attacks with Equenaut and Legionnaire, Equenaut blocked by Stinkweed Imp. Zanman activates Guildmage giving Equenaut first strike until end of turn. (2-6) Plays Conclave Equenaut.
T10 Trent draws Disembowel. Plays Disembowel targeting Boros Guildmage.
Activates Rotwurm’s ability, sacrificing Carven Caryatid to make Zanman lose one life point (2-5) Attacks with Rotwurm and Siege Wurm, Rotwurm blocked by Brute and Siege Wurm blocked by Equenaut. With combat damage on the stack, Trent uses Rotwurm’s ability sacrificing Rotwurm to make Zanman lose one point of life (2-4) then combat damage resolves, including two points of trample damage on Zanman (2-2) then Zanman takes two points of damage when Sell-Sword Brute goes to the graveyard (2-0) TRENT WINS GAME THREE

What We Learned About This Format

This experiment was not a rousing success. It took a long time to draft twelve booster packs. I thought it would be really fun to draft TWO cards at a time instead of one, but the resulting decks were surprisingly not that much more powerful than booster draft decks drafting half as many cards. Of course, one on one booster draft usually results in draft decks quite a bit less powerful than decks built from drafting in an eight man pod, since defensive drafting is a lot more useful and to be expected in a two man draft.

If you have a lot of packs to open, and you want to have some fun with them, grab a friend and try our Two Man Fat Draft.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

As always, I would love to know what you think!

Jeff Zandi
Texas Guildmages
Level II DCI Judge
jeffzandi@hotmail.com
Zanman on Magic Online