I'd like to take you back four years. It is the fall of 1999. A scrawny little thirteen-year-old kid arrives at his new boarding school, and he intends to bring Magic with him. Magic is his obsession. He played in his first PTQ a few weeks ago, and he is gradually becoming a tournament problem.

The only problem is that no one within thirty miles plays Magic with the seriousness and frequency that his friends back home did; it doesn't help that he can't leave campus, and he is stuck in this place where Magic is just unheard of.

Flash-forward to fall of 2002. This kid is now seventeen. He hasn't played Magic seriously in three years. He still checks the websites and laments the demise of the Dojo. (As do we all - The Ferrett) He has tried to get back into the game, without success.

Then he finds Magic Online.

(time for a Faulkner-esque change of narrators)

I love drafting. I loved it three years ago. I think I had a natural sense for drafting, for card selection. The play was almost insignificant in comparison to the mental rush that was drafting.

With Magic Online, I was able to do it whenever I wanted. Whenever I wanted to think, to get involved, I would just boot up my computer, and that same rush would come back, that fire.

I lost a good amount of money drafting OTJ; figuring out a new draft format when everyone else already learned it made things a lot more difficult than they could have been. I hovered around 1650 until Onslaught came out.

I. How to Draft Onslaught Two Months Ago
Force red/blue.

It was that simple. I played Nick Eisel, the esteemed featured writer here at StarCity. I was playing a red/blue deck against his black/green. I had beaten Shvartsman in the first round because of Lightning Rift stupidity, but Nick smashed me in two games. During the game, I mentioned that I had read about his like for black/green. He told me his favorite color combo. I said I liked it. He said force it.

I started winning. A lot. I now have a rating above 1800. Why?

I drafted red/blue.

Up until people started really listening to Nick, Blue was horribly underdrafted on Magic Online. Getting a Future Sight fifth was really no big thing. Mistform Walls and Lavamancer's Skills flowed like cheap beer at a frat party. I probably drafted red/blue three out of four drafts, and there is no card in my top 15 that is not either red or blue. And it worked. Up until recently. (I'm not going to tell you how to draft red-blue - read one of Nick Eisel's draft coverages, and that should give you a pretty good sense.)

II. How to Draft Onslaught Now
Take what is being fed to you.

A few weeks ago, I went on a horrid losing streak. I must have lost about nine games in a row. My rating plunged from 1830 to 1740. I drafted blue-red more than anything, but my decks were weak and getting weaker. I tried drafting other stuff, but I avoided white like the plague, and I tried to stick to black/green. That didn't work.

Then, for the first time in what must have been like a month, I drafted black-white. It was being fed, I took the deck, I won.

Then I did it again.

An archetype I had once considered mediocre at best was now my new favorite archetype.

Because white was being so underdrafted, good cards were coming around the table. I got a Glarecaster fifth in the first pack in an extreme situation. Granted, the other drafters were quite weak, but the average MODO drafter is unfortunately weak (what other explanation could there be for my success?). Black-white has become playable. I don't suggest forcing it, but if you are getting it....

III. The Black/White archetype
Black-white is based around evasion. Get as many Gustcloak Harriers, Severed Legions, Dive Bombers, and Screeching Buzzards as you can get your hand on. Black-white has two of the best two-drops in the format in Glory Seeker and Wretched Anurid. Use those to get through some early damage, then follow through with the fliers.

I like this deck a lot, also, because it is very flexible. It can move away from evasion and into the cleric deck if you have the right cards - and with the right cards, B/W Clerics one of the best decks you can draft. You can also go with a hybrid of soldiers/zombies and clerics, without missing a beat.

You can also completely shift your play style. I love Convalescent Care, but it never seems to fit in my white-red decks. It's just a little too slow, and I'd rather have a small flier. In black/white, however, your play style can be aggressive or it can be controlling. You can play super-aggressive, and try to beat early with Anurids and finish the game off quickly, or you can play control with cards like Convalescent Care and win the long game.

Black-white is not only playable - it is extremely solid.

Which brings me to my next point. If you want to be a better drafter, this is the best piece of advice I can give you.

IV. First Tenet of Drafting Onslaught Now
Don't fall in love with your first pick. Even if it is a bomb.

V. Second Tenet of Drafting Onslaught Now.
Don't force your colors. Be a submissive drafter.

There is only one archetype in this format that I consider unplayable, and that is white/green. Green/blue has some of the best, most efficient creatures in the format in Snarling Undorak and Mistform Wall/Ascending Aven. Blue-white, if drafted correctly, can flat out roll if it gets enough small flyers. These decks may not be as consistent as those with the removal colors, but if drafted correctly, they are just as potent as anything else. I'm not saying that if you get a bomb, you shouldn't try to follow it... But if you first-pick a Gratuitous Violence and don't see another good red card for the next three picks, move out. Find the color that is underdrafted. If you do, you'll get another bomb. Finding the right color may not pay off right away, but it will when you get that bomb rare fourth in the third pack.

And for Christ's sake, if someone is dumb enough to pass you a Glarecaster, go white!

So take what you are being fed. When you look at your second choice, ignore what you picked first. Figure out what your opponent took, and what he wants you to take.

It is more important to follow a signal than to give one.

I leave you with that.

Will Chamberlain
wchamberlain@thacherNOSPAM.org
Zephyd on MTGO