Why does Wizards push drafting over sealed deck so much? It seems like sealed decks makes the most sense for several reasons:
-makes them more money
-much easier for new players to understand
-less of a time constraint
-don't need many players
The only thing I think drafting has over sealed deck is that it is more difficult to slip cards into your deck but for competitive events you register your pool so it doesn't seem like it would be that big of a problem. If you want to draft yourself, you need quite a few people and that makes it difficult, whereas you can do sealed deck with one partner. Unless all of your friends play Magic it seems like it would be pretty hard to do a draft. And while Limited is good for new players, I think drafting requires metagaming which adds another layer of complexity to it. So what exactly is so good about drafting?
I've only ever drafted once but I would definitely play Limited more often if there were sealed events.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern RGTron UGInfect URStorm WUBRAd Nauseam BRGrishoalbrand URGScapeshift WBGAbzan Company WUBRGAmulet Titan BRGLiving End WGBogles
>Draft is cheaper, so it's easier to get more people involved in, and requires less initial commitment from the store.
>Draft is more skill-intensive. Your card evaluation skills determine the quality if a draft pool, while blind luck determines the quality of a sealed pool. This is the main reason that it's used as a Day 2 format for sealed PTs and GPs, and the main reason it's pushed as a format.
>A significant number of people enjoy draft more than sealed, therefore it makes sense for Wizards to push Draft.
Draft is more skill-intensive. Your card evaluation skills determine the quality if a draft pool, while blind luck determines the quality of a sealed pool. This is the main reason that it's used as a Day 2 format for sealed PTs and GPs, and the main reason it's pushed as a format.
This one this one this one. Draft has a higher skill ceiling than Sealed; it rewards card evaluation ability and signal-reading ability, on top of deckbuilding skill.
In Sealed, you are replacing everything except deckbuilding skill with more variance (beyond the variance that occurs in a game of Magic.) Some people are just going to have ridiculously weak or ridiculously strong pools. That's a turn-off for a lot of people.
Sealed has very little luck involved and more about getting bombs.
Oh, sure, there is some skill involved in building a deck. But once you're able understand the basics, it all becomes about what bomb you opened.
To put it another way, in sealed it is entirely possible to get packs of nothing but bombs and nothing but duds. In draft, no matter how good or bad pack you open, you only get the best (or least worse, or something your neighbor desperately wants) then have to share the rest. The luck factor is spread out. You can't be dumped with all good or all bad cards.
I think drafting requires metagaming which adds another layer of complexity to it.
Yes, it does. Which is a _good_ thing.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
Draft is more fun for most people, WOTC ultimately sells fun experiences...so catering to drafters matters. If people tended to have more fun doing sealed you'd see them play it more, simple as that. It isn't like your local shop has a reason to prefer one over the other, they are going to offer what people like.
All of that said...I'm curious to know how exactly you see WOTC pushing drafting to the detriment of sealed? Because I don't see it. Most low-mid level live limited events (PPTQ's and the like) are sealed and on MTGO they've given us multiple sweet sealed league options.
I think the more precise answer is "it's a cost thing" and "it's a cost thing" rather than "it's a cost thing" and "one is better" thing. N=6 for sealeds not because that's the perfect number for such a format, but because that's what they can get people to afford, I feel pretty sure of that. You see so many more cards in a draft compared to a sealed that it's crazy, and if money was no object a much larger of packs would probably be used, and the variance would probably go down pretty drastically, Law of Large Numbers. But asking players to shell out for 12, 18, or 24 packs to create an experience that's closer to discovering a new block format than it is to packwars is economically unfeasible.
(Note: it's possible that the super high N sealeds would suck compared to draft anyway, but we don't really have the stats nor anecdotal data for that so it's speculation)
I'm #teamsealed myself, but I think it makes sense for them to hype draft more. I'm not convinced that draft is more skill intensive than sealed, but a lot of people do believe that, and the perception itself is valuable. If you're selling the experience of limited, you want your losing players to walk away thinking "I must have done something wrong. I can't wait to do this again to get another opportunity to not screw up." In sealed there's a perception that your pool greatly decides your fate. In draft, there are SO MANY decisions, along with an element of hidden information, and it's easy to imagine you screwed up somewhere, and imagine what would have happened if you took some other decision paths. So draft is the format they should push for people who want to believe that if only they did something different they could have won.
Of course this is all theoretical and ultimately the truth lies in mtgo's statistics on who are the bigger addicts, drafters or sealed players.
I'm personally more of a sealed fan myself as well. I usually find it less stressful. There isn't a constant rush to pick and pass cards....and sometimes passing that 3rd pack rare you want for your collection but don't want for your draft is almost physically painful. And yeah, sealed is very luck dependent, but you can make a decent deck out of almost any pool. Being able to make the best of a poor pool is a skill too. And sometimes even what seems to be a crappy pile of cards can surprise you.
I love people that say sealed is mostly luck. Sure, it has more variance than draft, but it's still a very skill-intensive format. Why do you think the people who talk about how important practicing sealed is and who practice a lot consistently do better at it than others?
I love people that say sealed is mostly luck. Sure, it has more variance than draft, but it's still a very skill-intensive format. Why do you think the people who talk about how important practicing sealed is and who practice a lot consistently do better at it than others?
Yeah. Honestly, I always found sealed to be a far more challenging format.
Back when I was traveling for GPs, I used to love the sealed section because you knew walking in that there would hardly be any people in the room who actually knew what they were doing. It's a format that gives you no room to hide your weaknesses as a player. For everyone above: if you're still trying to sell sealed as luck and bombs, I think you should really start playing the format. You'll get beaten down in large event after large event and it won't be coincidence of "bad pools".
Now, regarding the OP's question: I think the driving reason is money. If you're trying to get someone who has never played limited, it's a lot easier to sell them on a ~14USD buy-in than a 20-30USD buy-in. I also know that for smaller shops, the financial outlay on sealed is rough (it goes through massive amounts of product, so the store needs to "bet" larger on their predicted player numbers. If they're wrong, it's either dissatisfying for customers or brutal for the store).
Just got to say, you've definitely earned distinction as an MTGS hero
Quote from Stardust »
Because he's the hero MTGS deserves, and the one it needs right now. So we'll global him. Because he can take it. Because he's not just our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. An expired rascal.
Quote from LuckNorris »
ExpiredRascals you sir are a god-like hero.
Quote from Lanxal »
ER is a masterful god who cannot be beaten in any endeavour.
I am also one whose Draft record is much better than my Sealed record. For many years, I attributed it to not opening good pools in Sealed. I would wonder why opponents opened Mythics and Planeswalkers in their pools, but I didn't. I didn't take personal responsibility for not doing well until I came to the realization - I suck at Sealed, despite being very good at Booster Draft. Then I did much better after that. You have to build the pool that will do the best vs. the perceived field. You have to know what SB cards will be efficient because it's not like Modern where Stony Silence or Choke are super damn good. SB cards have very small effects usually, but maximizing each of these will help you. You have to understand each and every single card in your pool and not overlook anything.
I recently revisited kavu.ru, where you can see your lifetime stats. Despite playing Booster Draft very infrequently every since Zendikar block and not doing particularly well, I am at a 71.78% win rate not including draws in Booster Draft lifetime. In Sealed, I am at 61.61% win rate not including draws. That is a full 10% higher, so the actual numbers jive with how I felt that I did in the Limited formats. As for Limited nowadays, I almost never play it outside of Modern Masters or Eternal Masters drafts, which I played probably a total of 5 drafts in. I just don't have the time and I feel that Limited even more than Constructed, is more about time spent learning the current Limited format or whichever you want to play in.
*I once built an average GW deck for Sealed during Zendikar at a PTQ. I finished 6-3 and was pretty disappointed with myself, despite feeling that the deck did all it could. It was only later that day when I realized that I probably should have played Black with either Green or White because Vampire Nighthawk was such a bomb in that format that the rest of my crappy Black would have been mitigated by having that bomb. I took the safe route in building the best average deck that I could when I should have built the deck that had more variance, but could win pretty strong. Either way, missing the top 8 was the same to me since I have no chance to win the whole thing. If I finished 5-4 with the Vampire Nighthawk, I could possibly live with that rather than getting smashed by superior decks in the x-1 and x-2 bracket because my deck didn't live up to that. These are things that most Limited players would never consider.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I will play either but drafting requires more skill and is cheaper. Also the feeling when you open a god pool in sealed then crush all of your less fortunate opponents isnt amazing.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
EDH BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern: RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
-makes them more money
-much easier for new players to understand
-less of a time constraint
-don't need many players
The only thing I think drafting has over sealed deck is that it is more difficult to slip cards into your deck but for competitive events you register your pool so it doesn't seem like it would be that big of a problem. If you want to draft yourself, you need quite a few people and that makes it difficult, whereas you can do sealed deck with one partner. Unless all of your friends play Magic it seems like it would be pretty hard to do a draft. And while Limited is good for new players, I think drafting requires metagaming which adds another layer of complexity to it. So what exactly is so good about drafting?
I've only ever drafted once but I would definitely play Limited more often if there were sealed events.
RGTron
UGInfect
URStorm
WUBRAd Nauseam
BRGrishoalbrand
URGScapeshift
WBGAbzan Company
WUBRGAmulet Titan
BRGLiving End
WGBogles
>Draft is more skill-intensive. Your card evaluation skills determine the quality if a draft pool, while blind luck determines the quality of a sealed pool. This is the main reason that it's used as a Day 2 format for sealed PTs and GPs, and the main reason it's pushed as a format.
>A significant number of people enjoy draft more than sealed, therefore it makes sense for Wizards to push Draft.
I hooe some of this helps
This one this one this one. Draft has a higher skill ceiling than Sealed; it rewards card evaluation ability and signal-reading ability, on top of deckbuilding skill.
In Sealed, you are replacing everything except deckbuilding skill with more variance (beyond the variance that occurs in a game of Magic.) Some people are just going to have ridiculously weak or ridiculously strong pools. That's a turn-off for a lot of people.
Oh, sure, there is some skill involved in building a deck. But once you're able understand the basics, it all becomes about what bomb you opened.
To put it another way, in sealed it is entirely possible to get packs of nothing but bombs and nothing but duds. In draft, no matter how good or bad pack you open, you only get the best (or least worse, or something your neighbor desperately wants) then have to share the rest. The luck factor is spread out. You can't be dumped with all good or all bad cards.
Yes, it does. Which is a _good_ thing.
"Sometimes, the situation is outracing a threat, sometimes it's ignoring it, and sometimes it involves sideboarding in 4x Hope//Pray." --Doug Linn
All of that said...I'm curious to know how exactly you see WOTC pushing drafting to the detriment of sealed? Because I don't see it. Most low-mid level live limited events (PPTQ's and the like) are sealed and on MTGO they've given us multiple sweet sealed league options.
(Note: it's possible that the super high N sealeds would suck compared to draft anyway, but we don't really have the stats nor anecdotal data for that so it's speculation)
Of course this is all theoretical and ultimately the truth lies in mtgo's statistics on who are the bigger addicts, drafters or sealed players.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Back when I was traveling for GPs, I used to love the sealed section because you knew walking in that there would hardly be any people in the room who actually knew what they were doing. It's a format that gives you no room to hide your weaknesses as a player. For everyone above: if you're still trying to sell sealed as luck and bombs, I think you should really start playing the format. You'll get beaten down in large event after large event and it won't be coincidence of "bad pools".
Now, regarding the OP's question: I think the driving reason is money. If you're trying to get someone who has never played limited, it's a lot easier to sell them on a ~14USD buy-in than a 20-30USD buy-in. I also know that for smaller shops, the financial outlay on sealed is rough (it goes through massive amounts of product, so the store needs to "bet" larger on their predicted player numbers. If they're wrong, it's either dissatisfying for customers or brutal for the store).
Body Count: GRRRUUUUUUUUUUU
إن سرقت إسرق جمل
Level 1 Judge
My Cube for use with 6th ed. Rules
I recently revisited kavu.ru, where you can see your lifetime stats. Despite playing Booster Draft very infrequently every since Zendikar block and not doing particularly well, I am at a 71.78% win rate not including draws in Booster Draft lifetime. In Sealed, I am at 61.61% win rate not including draws. That is a full 10% higher, so the actual numbers jive with how I felt that I did in the Limited formats. As for Limited nowadays, I almost never play it outside of Modern Masters or Eternal Masters drafts, which I played probably a total of 5 drafts in. I just don't have the time and I feel that Limited even more than Constructed, is more about time spent learning the current Limited format or whichever you want to play in.
*I once built an average GW deck for Sealed during Zendikar at a PTQ. I finished 6-3 and was pretty disappointed with myself, despite feeling that the deck did all it could. It was only later that day when I realized that I probably should have played Black with either Green or White because Vampire Nighthawk was such a bomb in that format that the rest of my crappy Black would have been mitigated by having that bomb. I took the safe route in building the best average deck that I could when I should have built the deck that had more variance, but could win pretty strong. Either way, missing the top 8 was the same to me since I have no chance to win the whole thing. If I finished 5-4 with the Vampire Nighthawk, I could possibly live with that rather than getting smashed by superior decks in the x-1 and x-2 bracket because my deck didn't live up to that. These are things that most Limited players would never consider.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)BRGKresh the BloodbraidedBRG, A box of lands and ideas.
Modern:
RG Titanshift. A deck made of cards too stupid for EDH.
Retired: Lots. More than I feel you should suffer through or I should type out.