TOPIC: PvP drafting ideas

I am going to try and come up with some ground rules for drafting PvP team combat. We would start with two 4 man teams, one in odd numbered seats, one in even. They would draft a total of 3 packs, passing them in alternating directions for each pack. After drafting, the teams would pool their tokens and equip 4 different classes.

There would 3 rounds, each consisting of 3 on 3 combat. This would require one team member to sit out for each of these three rounds. Each of the 4 members would have to step into the arena for 2 fights, so you can't sand bag by leaving your weakest character on the sideline. Also, once stats are recorded, there would be no sharing of tokens.

To make it a bit more challenging, each player is only identified by a number, so you cannot tell what class they are playing at the start, but you can deduce what class by the players actions.

Combat would be simultaneously to avoid easy kills when one team wins initiative. This can be accomplished with two tables, or just using one with only the attackers being present. A team can gang up one player, or spread out there attacks, but they have to identify the target by choosing a number before sliding.

I am still working on details, but would like input. From whether you would be interested at all, to ideas for the combat itself. This is merely an experiment until fleshed out, and I will try and submit this for consideration at WYC.

I dont attend whosyercon but that sounds pretty fun

Sounds fun - a few thoughts:

1. You could also introduce the character cards available into the draft somehow - so between the 8 people there can only be 1 of each class.

You could do this before the draft so people know better what tokens their team is going for (and what tokens their opponents are going for! For example, if someone on your opposing team picked ranger or monk you might prioritize FoB compatible and Ranger offhand compatible weapons for your side, just to keep them away from them).


If done before the draft, the currency of the character draft could be "picks" via sealed bid auction - e.g. I'll sacrifice a 2nd and a 7th pick to get the Ranger - if that's the highest bid this means I don't get to make a selection from my 2nd and 7th packs, I just pass them along (after 10 passes from any pack the remaining tokens are discarded).

If done after the draft the currency could be starting HP penalty (e.g. I'll take the Wizard at -2 HP!).

2. 9 rounds of combat spread against 4 players with a requirement that each participate in a minimum of 2 rounds seems clunky to me. I'd make it 4 on 4 combat best of 3 rounds.

I'd also have a prize structure, probably more unsealed packs. Maybe 8 packs for the winning team?

That way each player shows up with 4 packs, gets the draft contents of 3, and can win 2 more packs by being on the winning team.

Character Drafts or allow say 2-5 personal tokens per person otherwise it's probably going to be all spell casting pvp

I'd also think about this:

Is there any reason the correct strategy is not to just gang up on 1 player?

If so, maybe instead have the 8 people all draft for themselves (no teams), and then do 3 rounds of "swiss" style tournament:

Round 1. Random initial pairing.
Round 2. The 1-0 players play each other, the 0-1 players play each other.
Round 3. The 2-0 players play each other, the 1-1 players play each other, the 0-2 player play each other.

Prize support here could be:
3 packs for 3-0
2 packs for 2-1

Matthew Hayward wrote: I'd also think about this:

Is there any reason the correct strategy is not to just gang up on 1 player?

If so, maybe instead have the 8 people all draft for themselves (no teams), and then do 3 rounds of "swiss" style tournament:

Round 1. Random initial pairing.
Round 2. The 1-0 players play each other, the 0-1 players play each other.
Round 3. The 2-0 players play each other, the 1-1 players play each other, the 0-2 player play each other.

Prize support here could be:
3 packs for 3-0
2 packs for 2-1

Wait - I thought of some reasons - Bardsong and Cleric healing - never mind - teams are better.

There is some clunkiness, but I was trying to force a little variety in each round. Limiting the 8 players to the ten classes gives you a better idea of what you will be facing and lets you hate draft certain tokens. By choosing afterwards, you can pick a class that suits what you drafted. In Magic, you aren't forced to try and draft a blue/white deck,per se, but you get to craft the deck from what you end up with. I am considering dropping one wizard and one fighter to cut down on the relative duplication of classes.

I don't want to have it be 1v1, as the fights would go much too quickly. Still brainstorming, so any ideas are helpful.

Matthew Hayward wrote: Sounds fun - a few thoughts:

1. You could also introduce the character cards available into the draft somehow - so between the 8 people there can only be 1 of each class.

You could do this before the draft so people know better what tokens their team is going for (and what tokens their opponents are going for! For example, if someone on your opposing team picked ranger or monk you might prioritize FoB compatible and Ranger offhand compatible weapons for your side, just to keep them away from them).


If done before the draft, the currency of the character draft could be "picks" via sealed bid auction - e.g. I'll sacrifice a 2nd and a 7th pick to get the Ranger - if that's the highest bid this means I don't get to make a selection from my 2nd and 7th packs, I just pass them along (after 10 passes from any pack the remaining tokens are discarded).

If done after the draft the currency could be starting HP penalty (e.g. I'll take the Wizard at -2 HP!).

2. 9 rounds of combat spread against 4 players with a requirement that each participate in a minimum of 2 rounds seems clunky to me. I'd make it 4 on 4 combat best of 3 rounds.

There would be 3 rounds, each composed of a fight until one team is knocked out. If one team wins two rounds, there would be no need to play the third round. I like the idea of drafting for classes, but not knowing what the other team is fielding for classes is part of the fun

You might have to leave out or modify certain character classes. For instance, characters with area attack damage spells can throw the balance way off.

If you plan on running several of these I would suggest having the next group drafting while the current team is dueling it out.....seems like this could take done time(2+hours) with setup draft and finally combat.

Yeah, I would like to keep the whole thing in 90 minute or so chunks. I have to get permission/support from Jeff before I can do this though. I think you can draft and build in about 30 minutes, then combat should be be 30-45 minutes max.