Battle Pack 3: Monster League is now available in stores, and Official Tournament Stores around the world have begun hosting official draft and sealed play events.

Remember that the top cut rounds of our Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series tournaments are done through Battle Pack draft play, so make sure you get some heavy practice in at draft as well as constructed play, especially if you’re planning to attend the first YCS of the Monster League era, in Toronto on September 6.

Also remember, as always, the special Monster League rule for BP3 sealed and draft play: All monsters are all Types.

We’ve had requests for some more hands-on insight on draft strategy. So I dug up one of our drafting test sessions from when BP3 was under development, and I’m going to walk you through all 45 draft picks I made, and my thought process for each.

At the end, I’ll go over a “what if?” scenario, too, which will put things in a little different perspective from the first time you read this.

So let’s get to it!

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FIRST ROUND

(Remember, each round you open 3 packs. Open up your packs, get a pool of 15 cards, pick 1, pass to the left. Pick 1 from the 14 cards just passed to you, pass the remaining 13 to the left, etc.)

This was a 4-player draft pod, so 3 cards from each stack would disappear before I got another pick from that stack.

Pick #1, Available Cards: Bashing Shield / Forbidden Scripture / Gonogo / Intrigue Shield / Koa’ki Meiru Doom / Mark of the Rose / Mask of Weakness / Pollinosis / Rhinotaurus / Sacred Crane / Shadow Spell / Telepathic Power / Uminotaurus / Vampire Koala / Zero Gravity

My Pick: Bashing Shield

Why: Everybody has their own approach to draft play. Some people like high-ATK monsters because they’re self-sufficient. Others like to put together combos, since combo components can be easier to pick up because the self-sufficient monster crowd skips them. Others flock to monster removal, or cards that Special Summon.

Me? I’m a huge fan of battle outcome changers. As I explained in my Battle Triad article when Battle Pack 2 came out, battle outcome changers come in 4 categories: battle stoppers, position changers, equip cards, and ATK pumps.

I like to pack up on battle outcome changers first, then go back and fill in the monster assortment for my deck. Naturally, battle outcome changers are useless without monsters to use them on, and vice versa, so you need to use your cards judiciously as you play them. But putting monsters and spells/traps together has always been one of the core mechanics of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, and it’s very much in force in draft play.

My second choice here would have been Zero Gravity, which I wanted very much. But I just passed it and hoped it came around for my 5th pick.

Several other cards were appealing here, including Forbidden Scripture (which is sort of a battle outcome changer) and Shadow Spell (which is both a battle stopper and a reverse ATK pump). I’ve seen a lot of chatter online about how good Mark of the Rose can be, so I know you all recognize the value of that card. These were all good cards, but in draft play you need to make some tough choices, and I went with Bashing Shield.

(TIP: The first choice is HARD! Nobody else has gotten anything from your first stack, so you get the pick of the litter. Don’t stress over it too much, though. Remember that the other players are making equally agonizing decisions and are going to be passing you some cards they really want, too.)

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After choosing, I passed the remaining 14 cards to the player on my left, and the player on my right passed me her 14 cards from the packs she opened.

Pick #2, Available Cards: Call of the Mummy / Evilswarm Ketos / Gale Lizard / Gentlemander / Herald of Green Light / Jurrac Protops / Koa’ki Meiru Doom / Master Craftsman Gamil / Miniaturize / Mythical Beast Cerberus / Unstable Evolution / Winged Rhynos / Wonder Wand / Zero Gravity

My Pick: Zero Gravity

Why: Well I was hoping the Zero Gravity from the first pool would make its way around to me again, but lo and behold, another Zero Gravity was coming my way from the packs opened by the player on my right. With thoughts of “will Zero Gravity make it around to me again?” fresh in my mind, I went for the sure thing and grabbed this second Zero Gravity while I could.

Keeping in mind that I like to stock up on battle outcome changers first, other good picks here were Miniaturize and Wonder Wand. But Zero Gravity is great because you can stop an opponent’s attacks (by shifting them to defense) but also use it to kill enemy monsters in your turn (shift them to defense where their lower DEF comes into play, then summon a monster to destroy them).

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I passed the remaining 13 cards to the left and got the next stack from the right.

Pick #3, Available Cards: Blue Thunder T-45 / Defender, the Magical Knight / Electromagnetic Bagworm / Gyroid / Lion Alligator / Magical Arm Shield / Magicians Unite / Metabo-Shark / Metalmorph / Noble Arms – Arfeudutyr / Psi-Curse / Quantum Cat / Recycling Batteries

My Pick: Metalmorph

Why: Still going hard for battle outcome changers, this early in the draft.  Metalmorph is strongest when you’re attacking, but can still surprise people when used on the defensive. Opponents will frequently attack your 1700’s with an 1800 or 1900, and the +300 flat boost from Metalmorph gives you just enough ATK to turn that into a win for you.

Metamorph is also one of just 2 quick effects in the set that can boost any monster’s DEF. (The other is Gauntlet Warrior.) A great tactic in draft play is to switch an opponent’s monster to Defense Position, then attack it. Since almost all battle outcome changers in the set boost ATK only, a monster in Defense Position is usually a sitting deck. Metalmorph can change that, if the ATK/DEF disparity is close (300 or less). Next turn, of course, you can switch your Metalmorph-equipped monster back to Attack Position and go to town.

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On to pick 4. With 4 players at the table, this was the last stack of cards I hadn’t seen yet. Let’s see what we get.

Pick #4, Available Cards: Cyber Phoenix / Dodger Dragon / Enraged Battle Ox / Flame Tiger / Koa’ki Meiru Beetle / Memory Loss / Miracle Fertilizer / Miracle Locus / Murmur of the Forest / Skill Successor / Uminotaurus / Victory Viper XX03

My Pick: Dodger Dragon

Why: This was a very monster-heavy stack, so I figured that the other 3 players who had it before me had picked out the best Spells/Traps already. (Actually, although I didn’t know at the time, the first 3 picks from this stack were Aye-Iron, Frontier Wiseman, and Tutan Mask.)

I considered Miracle Locus very strongly, since it’s a huge ATK pump. But I already had 3 battle outcome changers. Also, the first stack I saw was coming back to me on the next pick, and it had 5 good cards I was looking at using. Even if 3 of them had been chosen in the meantime, that left 2 others coming my way, probably including at least 1 battle outcome changer.

Dodger Dragon’s effect seldom has an impact in draft, but the main appeal is its 1900 ATK. I could have also taken Koa’ki Meiru Beetle but Beetle does require you to have a monster in the hand to keep it alive. So I went with Dodger Dragon as a side dip into monster territory, planning to switch back to spells/traps with the next pick.

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Pick #5, Available Cards: Gonogo / Intrigue Shield / Koa’ki Meiru Doom / Mask of Weakness / Rhinotaurus / Sacred Crane / Shadow Spell / Telepathic Power / Uminotaurus / Vampire Koala / Zero Gravity

What’s Missing: Forbidden Scripture, Mark of the Rose, and Pollinosis had been taken by opponents. Not surprising. All 3 were cards I was also considering.

My Pick: Zero Gravity

Why: My lucky day! The other good cards in this stack were so good that the Zero Gravity I was hoping to come back to me made it all the way around the table again. This meant I had 2 Zero Gravity cards to put in my deck.

When you get a pack with a ton of cards you want, it can be really depressing since you only get to pick 1. But a bonus of this is that your opponents will be attracted by those other good cards, and might skip something you really want in the pack as a result. That’s what happened here.

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Pick #6, Available Cards: Evilswarm Ketos / Gale Lizard / Gentlemander / Herald of Green Light / Jurrac Protops / Koa’ki Meiru Doom / Master Craftsman Gamil / Mythical Beast Cerberus / Unstable Evolution / Wonder Wand

What’s Missing: Call of the Mummy, Miniaturize, and Winged Rhynos had been taken by opponents.

My Pick: Jurrac Protops

Why: Some good choices here, including Wonder Wand which is both a battle outcome changer and a card drawer. Also Unstable Evolution and Master Craftsman Gamil for their very straightforward ATK changing abilities. (Remember that when you’re ahead on LP, you can equip Unstable Evolution to an opponent’s monster to lower its original ATK to 1000.) Gentlemander is also a battle outcome changer, of sorts, and has come in very useful in many draft Duels for us.

I also like Mythical Beast Cerberus as a defender, since you can just choose to never attack with him and build him up into a huge ATK wall your opponent can’t get past without suiciding a monster into it (unless they use monster removal, or a battle position changer – but I now had both Zero Gravities at the table, so no worries there…).

In the end, I went with Jurrac Protops to prop up my monsters a bit. The deciding factor? Somebody had taken the Winged Rhynos from this stack. That meant that somebody at the table was already cherry-picking monsters, so I figured I should get in on that action, too.

(Remembering key facts like where the high-ATK monsters in a stack are is important. It’s very hard to remember all the cards in the pack, but if you can look at key behavior indicators like the single highest ATK monster, that will let you know what the other players are doing.)

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Pick #7, Available Cards: Defender, the Magical Knight / Gyroid / Lion Alligator / Magical Arm Shield / Magicians Unite / Metabo-Shark / Noble Arms – Arfeudutyr / Psi-Curse / Quantum Cat

What’s Missing: Blue Thunder T-45, Electromagnetic Bagworm, and Recycling Batteries had been taken.

My Pick: Lion Alligator

Why: Normally I would take Arfeudutyr at this point. The trick with Arfeudutyr is to equip it to your opponent’s monster, then use it to destroy 1 of their Set cards (monster, spell, or trap!) and lower their monster’s ATK by 500. However, since this was still a test for set development, I wanted to see whether Arfeudutyr would survive another pass around from the other players. So I skipped it as an experiment.

Lion Alligator is another 1900 ATK monster, so I picked it. Dodger Dragon now had a best friend. As a bonus, Lion Alligator gives your team piercing.

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Pick #8, Available Cards: Enraged Battle Ox / Flame Tiger / Memory Loss / Miracle Fertilizer / Miracle Locus / Murmur of the Forest / Skill Successor / Victory Viper XX03

What’s Missing: Cyber Phoenix, Koa’ki Meiru Beetle, and Uminotaurus were gone. Looks like everybody else was already in monster mode.

My Pick: Miracle Locus

Why: I couldn’t believe it! This was the second time a card I really wanted had come all the way back to me (the first was Zero Gravity #1).

I was also very surprised to see Miracle Fertilizer still in the mix. But I figured another battle outcome changer was more important than Special Summoning ability from the Graveyard. (Since this draft happened, I’ve moved Miracle Fertilizer up on my priority list significantly. It’s a really good card.)

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Pick #9, Available Cards: Gonogo / Intrigue Shield / Koa’ki Meiru Doom / Mask of Weakness / Sacred Crane / Telepathic Power / Uminotaurus

What’s Missing: Rhinotaurus, Shadow Spell, and Vampire Koala were gone.

My Pick: Telepathic Power

Why: It’s monster removal that gives you LP. I tend to shy away from monster removal in draft, since I prefer to just win battles. But sometimes there’s a monster with multiple equips you just can’t beat, or something horrific like a pumped-up 4000 ATK Aye-Iron. So a little monster removal in your arsenal can’t hurt.

Even if Shadow Spell had made its way around, I’m not sure I would have picked it. Since I had multiple battle stoppers already and I knew there were still a couple more floating around.

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Pick #10, Available Cards: Gale Lizard / Gentlemander / Herald of Green Light / Koa’ki Meiru Doom / Mythical Beast Cerberus / Unstable Evolution

What’s Missing: Evilswarm Ketos, Master Craftsman Gamil, and Wonder Wand. No surprises, here.

My Pick: Gentlemander

Why: I again considered Mythical Beast Cerberus but decided to go with a decoy monster instead. Gale Lizard would be another option but I already had Telepathic Power as monster removal (with 2 more rounds of draft to go after this).

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Pick #11, Available Cards: Gyroid / Magical Arm Shield / Magicians Unite / Metabo-Shark / Noble Arms – Arfeudutyr

What’s Missing: Defender, the Magical Knight, Psi-Curse, and Quantum Cat were gone.

My Pick: Metabo-Shark

Why: Remember my Arfeudutyr experiment? It made it around another pass. I decided to let it go and see what the other playtesters thought of the card. So I picked up Metabo-Shark to beef up my monster selection.

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Pick #12, Available Cards: Enraged Battle Ox / Memory Loss / Murmur of the Forest / Victory Viper XX03

What’s Missing: Flame Tiger, Miracle Fertilizer, and Skill Successor were gone.

My Pick: Murmur of the Forest

Why: I thought about the monsters here. But remember that I have a proclivity for Equip Cards, and Murmur of the Forest can nullify those, so I took Murmur of the Forest to keep others from getting it. It’s also useful as a battle outcome changer (flip enemy monster to defense, then attack while it’s weak).

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Pick #13, Available Cards: Gonogo / Koa’ki Meiru Doom / Uminotaurus

What’s Missing: Intrigue Shield, Mask of Weakness, Sacred Crane

My Pick: Uminotaurus

Why: Just to grab another monster. Gonogo is appealing because it essentially destroys anything it battles, as long as you can follow up with an attack next turn. Doom is another 1700 ATK monster, but I decided to go with piercing over monster effect negation.

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Pick #14, Available Cards: Herald of Green Light / Mythical Beast Cerberus

What’s Missing: Gale Lizard, Koa’ki Meiru Doom, Unstable Evolution

My Pick: Mythical Beast Cerberus

Why: Oh, Cerebus. I do love you so. And you came back to me again like a good dog. This is one of those times where really liking a card nobody else likes is an advantage, because you can just pick it up at the end instead of having to use one of your early round picks.

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Pick #15, Available Cards: Gyroid

What’s Missing: Magical Arm Shield, Magicians Unite, Noble Arms – Arfeudutyr

My Pick: No pick at this point, since it’s the last card I was passed, but Gyroid.

Why: And so endeth the great Arfeudutyr experiment. It didn’t make it around a final time.

I like Gyroid for draft, it’s a good card since players will often just have 1 monster on the field. It’s not a high ATK card, which is what I was gunning for in the later picks, but I did include it in my Deck.

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This was just the FIRST round for this draft. 15 cards, so 15 choices to be made, from a total pool of 60 cards between 4 players.

Two more rounds to go, with 3 more packs opened by each player at the table for each round. For the second round, we passed right instead of left, so a different player psychology was in place regarding who you passed cards to (and got them from). Then for round three, it was back to passing left.