My sister and I have played this variant several times now, and it proves to be a workable format that produces a guided pool not unlike Winston. We've been calling it Squid draft because the first time the cards were in the shape of the squid, but it's more accurately a combination of Cube and Memory. Squid draft is just a cooler name than Memory draft.
Here are the rules:
Each "pack" contains 45 cards. These will be placed face-down in some shape or pattern. The placement is mnemonically important.
Each turn, the acting player looks at three cards and takes any card from the field (whether or not they have seen it).
After fifteen cards have been taken by each player from a single pack, the remaining fifteen cards are revealed and exiled. This is repeated two more times until each player has a final pool of 45 cards and there are 45 cards in exile. Then build decks and play magic!
While drafting, each player has a marker that they can place, remove, or move during their turn. The opponent can still look at and take the card as usual, but it promotes mind games, and is useful as a mnemonic tool.
This means that you can get a lot of "first picks" by looking at cards the opponent hasn't seen, or you can check their trail to find things you think they were trying to save for later in the draft. Mathematically, you have 45 peeks per round, and their are 45 cards on the field, but since the opponent is taking cards every turn, there is plenty of time for both players to see every card left on the field before the round is out.
The decks tend to come out similar to Winston/ Grid draft power level. Much more focused than Sealed decks, but less than a traditional draft pod. There tends to also be alcohol involved, which makes it more difficult and more amusing to struggle with the memory aspect of the game. It's turned out to be pretty fun format, and the drafting doesn't take too long. The concept is really simple, so I wouldn't be surprised if somebody has done this before. I figured this was the place to mention it.
Here are the rules:
This means that you can get a lot of "first picks" by looking at cards the opponent hasn't seen, or you can check their trail to find things you think they were trying to save for later in the draft. Mathematically, you have 45 peeks per round, and their are 45 cards on the field, but since the opponent is taking cards every turn, there is plenty of time for both players to see every card left on the field before the round is out.
The decks tend to come out similar to Winston/ Grid draft power level. Much more focused than Sealed decks, but less than a traditional draft pod. There tends to also be alcohol involved, which makes it more difficult and more amusing to struggle with the memory aspect of the game. It's turned out to be pretty fun format, and the drafting doesn't take too long. The concept is really simple, so I wouldn't be surprised if somebody has done this before. I figured this was the place to mention it.
Low-power cube enthusiast!
My 1570 card cube (no longer updated)
My 415 Peasant+ Artifact and Enchantment Cube
Ever-Expanding "Just throw it in" cube.