OK, so Werewolves are back. Some of the first magic I played was with the original innistrad, but I never drafted it and didn't know what I was doing.
I did play a 3xINS draft on Cockatrice, and I found playing against werewolves to be VERY warping to the game. Probably this was all sorted out 5 years ago, but I didn't find a useful summary via the Googles. (Although lots of *****ing about DFCs....)
I guess the werewolf player is typically trying to beat down, get ahead, and hope the opponent can't cast something (luck) or you pass the turn (tempo loss) while ahead to transform into the good side. Then there is a late-mid-game period where your opponent can flip them all back whenever they want, but eventually run out of cards (plus if you are ahead, it's easy to pass to flip them up again).
So...
Werewolf player - just play beat down cards, combat tricks are not that good (you might not want to trick/play a dude 2nd main), you don't want to get into an instant war. Are there common (obvious?) situations where you should pass to transform?
That's the gist, but a couple other dynamics that came up:
- If your opponent is (or is likely to be) playing werewolves, maybe don't cast that cheap spell automatically to be mana efficient. Drew a Traveler's Amulet when you don't really need more lands? You should probably hold onto it to help you cast two spells later. Have a Silver-inlaid Dagger in your opening hand? Think things through before before playing on turn one. What if there's no 2-drop in your hand, you cast the dagger and pass, and then your opponent plays Gatstaf Shepherd//Gatstaf Howler or, God help you, Mayor of Avabruck//Howlpack Alpha? Unless you draw a 2-drop, you're going to flip your opponent's werewolf for them and you won't be able to flip it back for several turns.
- Werewolves love activated abilities and flash creatures, and they don't hate equipment. Having a way to pass the turn with no spell but still advance the board, or at least not waste your mana, is great.
The biggest issue I had with drafting werewolves IRL is that because all the werewolves are DFCs, everyone else at the table knows you're drafting werewolves and can hatedraft cards from you accordingly. Like, "oh the pack 3 is mediocre for me but there's a Mayor of Avabruck, better hatedraft it so that guy, Jim, I'm passing to who took all the other werewolves doesn't have it," or "oh hey a late Villagers of Estwald/Moonmist, better stop Jim from wheeling that because there's not a lot for me in the pack."
In my experience, actually playing Werewolves is great because when the game goes late your guys are pretty much always Werewolves. This will be exacerbated even more in Shadows over Innistrad because there is nothing similar to Flashback to make it a little easier to cast 2 spells a turn late in the game.
The biggest issue I had with drafting werewolves IRL is that because all the werewolves are DFCs, everyone else at the table knows you're drafting werewolves and can hatedraft cards from you accordingly. Like, "oh the pack 3 is mediocre for me but there's a Mayor of Avabruck, better hatedraft it so that guy, Jim, I'm passing to who took all the other werewolves doesn't have it," or "oh hey a late Villagers of Estwald/Moonmist, better stop Jim from wheeling that because there's not a lot for me in the pack."
I think this was a much bigger hypothetical worry for some players than it was a real problem in practice; or, at least that's how it was at the stores where I drafted. Really, DFCs telling you exactly who you're hatedrafting against should have a negligible effect on the decision to hatedraft or not. You know that someone is going to get that Mayor of Avabruck//Howlpack Alpha, so what difference does it make to know that Jim is the player who'll get it? If anything, you should be slightly less likely to hatedraft it, because it's less scary when you know which player has it, so you can play accordingly.
In practice, I think the only really noteworthy effect of drafting DFCs (other than the logistics) was that it became possible to send perfect, unambiguous signals. If you see the player on your right take a Bloodline Keeper, you know for a fact that they're drafting black and you should stay the heck out. I know there were multiple times where I made those kinds of decisions, like taking Silent Departure over Brimstone Volley because the player passing to me first-picked Kruin Outlaw//Terror of Kruin Pass, or taking Ambush Viper over Stitched Drake because I know I'm getting passed a Daybreak Ranger//Nightfall Predator.
I initally hated the DFC design when it was spoiled (looked like flip cards in a new wrapping), but actually came to like it. The main point is that I think the werewolves played really well; the transform trigger made for interesting plays and deck decitions. It was a major reason Innistrad limited was awesome, imo.
Werewolves are like a double dose of punishment for not having a good curve. You don't have a drop to oppose you opponent's early drops *and* they flip into something unfair for their mana cost.
We've yet to see many commons, so it's hard to judge, but the uncommon in SoI are mostly very good.
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OK, so Werewolves are back. Some of the first magic I played was with the original innistrad, but I never drafted it and didn't know what I was doing.
I did play a 3xINS draft on Cockatrice, and I found playing against werewolves to be VERY warping to the game. Probably this was all sorted out 5 years ago, but I didn't find a useful summary via the Googles. (Although lots of *****ing about DFCs....)
I guess the werewolf player is typically trying to beat down, get ahead, and hope the opponent can't cast something (luck) or you pass the turn (tempo loss) while ahead to transform into the good side. Then there is a late-mid-game period where your opponent can flip them all back whenever they want, but eventually run out of cards (plus if you are ahead, it's easy to pass to flip them up again).
So...
Werewolf player - just play beat down cards, combat tricks are not that good (you might not want to trick/play a dude 2nd main), you don't want to get into an instant war. Are there common (obvious?) situations where you should pass to transform?
Anti-werewolf player - cheap cards good. Instants good. Card draw good.
What am I missing?
E.g., there's that werewolf that can, on curve, search up something instead of laying another creature down, which would then flip the next upkeep.
- If your opponent is (or is likely to be) playing werewolves, maybe don't cast that cheap spell automatically to be mana efficient. Drew a Traveler's Amulet when you don't really need more lands? You should probably hold onto it to help you cast two spells later. Have a Silver-inlaid Dagger in your opening hand? Think things through before before playing on turn one. What if there's no 2-drop in your hand, you cast the dagger and pass, and then your opponent plays Gatstaf Shepherd//Gatstaf Howler or, God help you, Mayor of Avabruck//Howlpack Alpha? Unless you draw a 2-drop, you're going to flip your opponent's werewolf for them and you won't be able to flip it back for several turns.
- Werewolves love activated abilities and flash creatures, and they don't hate equipment. Having a way to pass the turn with no spell but still advance the board, or at least not waste your mana, is great.
In my experience, actually playing Werewolves is great because when the game goes late your guys are pretty much always Werewolves. This will be exacerbated even more in Shadows over Innistrad because there is nothing similar to Flashback to make it a little easier to cast 2 spells a turn late in the game.
In practice, I think the only really noteworthy effect of drafting DFCs (other than the logistics) was that it became possible to send perfect, unambiguous signals. If you see the player on your right take a Bloodline Keeper, you know for a fact that they're drafting black and you should stay the heck out. I know there were multiple times where I made those kinds of decisions, like taking Silent Departure over Brimstone Volley because the player passing to me first-picked Kruin Outlaw//Terror of Kruin Pass, or taking Ambush Viper over Stitched Drake because I know I'm getting passed a Daybreak Ranger//Nightfall Predator.
We've yet to see many commons, so it's hard to judge, but the uncommon in SoI are mostly very good.