Welcome to Draft

Welcome to Draft

Marvel Snap’s much anticipated Draft mode has finally arrived and today we’re going to break down the basics you need to know about it. Whether you’ve drafted in other card games before or if Draft is a totally new experience this article should get you up to speed on everything about the mode, so you can jump right into it and have some fun.

So what exactly is Draft?

Unlike in Snap’s other modes where you build a deck from cards in your collection, Draft has you build a deck from a limited selection of cards that will vary from run to run. Whether you’re a brand new player or collection complete, that will have zero impact on making your draft decks. Any roguelike fan will find the drafting system to be fairly familiar as it presents you with 1 of 3 options to choose from when building your deck.

Your first choice is one of your most important, picking a starter set that contains 3 different cards. Each starter set has a theme to it focusing around different archetypes in the game like Ongoing, move, and on reveal. After this you will make more card selections picking the best card that suits your deck until you have a 10 card deck to play with.

I’ve got my deck, now what?

Next you’ll be greeted with a friendly robot who will show you the score of your current Draft run. Runs last until you get a total of 5 wins or 2 losses, whichever happens first, and depending on how well you do you’ll be rewarded with different prizes. Like in some of Snap’s other limited time modes there is no snap function in draft and you win just like normal by having the most power in 2 out of the 3 locations.

Draft uses a ticket system for entry like we’ve seen in other recent modes. There is also a unique token that acts as a revive for your draft run allowing you an extra chance even if your run hits 2 losses,these are consumables that are limited in supply so make sure to use them wisely.

It’s important to note that building your deck doesn't end after the initial card selection at the start. Since after each game whether you win or lose you’ll be given an option to improve your deck by either adding a new card to it (up to a max deck size of 12) or by providing a powerful augment to one of three chosen cards currently in your deck.

Augments change the game.

This is the part of Draft that has me most excited and makes it a mode that I think will have a ton of replay-ability and varied gameplay. Let’s take a look at these cards below as examples.

First we have a legendary Sam Wilson who has an additional 2 power, costs can also be changed as well like we see with this rare 4 / 9 Mockingbird. Changes to character’s power and cost are already a pretty impactful addition but where things get even more exciting is when we’re introduced to the new augments that are unique to Draft like seen here on Doctor Octopus.

In this run I was playing a move deck, which normally wouldn’t have much synergy with Doc Ock. However he had a special augment that made it so he cost 3 less if a card moved last turn, which turned him from a card I wouldn’t otherwise consider for my move deck into a powerful new addition to it.

While I won’t dive into all the unique augments here there are a TON of them that drastically change what cards can do ranging from making them always start in your hand, conditionally reducing their cost, or granting strong abilities we’ve seen on other cards like Black Panther’s on reveal to double its own power.

This is by far my favorite element of Draft as a mode, since it not only provides unique gameplay you won’t find anywhere else in Snap, but it also ensures that even if you have two different Draft runs focused around the same theme it is incredibly unlikely they’ll play out the same. This keeps the gameplay and deck building decisions you have to make interesting and fresh over multiple runs. If experiencing new card effects and combos is one of your favorite things to do in a card game, Marvel Snap’s Draft mode could very well be your new favorite way to play the game.

Rewards

Let's talk about rewards. As with most of Snap’s events there’s a card on the mode’s free rewards track, granting you Hellcow Fractured Frontier at level 7 and if you really want to go the distance there’s a brand new animated emote at the end of the premium track too.

But anyone who’s played a game with Draft before probably is wondering about the potential to ‘go infinite’ i.e. if you do well enough can you keep playing draft essentially endlessly. While I’ll leave exact number crunching to those with experience like Lauren, I am happy to say in my experience the mode does get its reward structure right and you should have no problem playing a ton of Draft during the mode’s two week launch debut especially if you have some high win runs.

Worth the wait

Draft mode has been a feature players have been asking about since shortly after the game launched, and one of the things we’ve heard about its development over the years has been how the team wanted to find a way to make Draft an experience that’s fun, fitting, and unique to Snap. I’m happy to say that over my dozen plus runs with Draft that goal has been delivered upon and was well worth the wait. But don’t just take my word for it, try it in game now and see for yourself!