[{"text":"Hey everyone, I'm back again to discuss a topic we've been putting out more content about lately: the Main Character draft.&nbsp; I play a lot of DCDB, and I talk to lots of players who play DCDB.&nbsp; A common point of frustration I see in other players stems from a problem that I believe occurred during the draft phase. "},{"header":"pet decking"},{"text":"Pet Decking is a term often heard in card games, and it directly correlates to DCDB.&nbsp; Some players have tendency to learn a team and then force games with that team over and over. They play against players of varying skill level, and their results often resemble a roller coaster. They win a game, lose two, then win the next. I believe this stems from two separate issues:"},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"The player perhaps doesn't give enough respect to the draft"},{"caption":"Their opponents perhaps don't give enough respect to the draft"}]},{"text":"When I say the player perhaps doesn't give enough respect to the draft, I mean that no matter their drafting position, from first drafter to last, the player will pick the same team if it is available. When I say their opponents perhaps don't give enough respect to the draft, I mean that they may or may not be paying attention to what the drafters around them are doing.&nbsp; They might be a Pet Decker themselves, meaning they are content with drafting what they are familiar with, or they might have seen your draft picks and are now counter drafting you."},{"header":"the counter draft"},{"text":"Player A:&nbsp; I dunno how I just got last, I played Oliver Queen &amp; Roy Harper the last two rounds and won both times. Player B: Did you realize you picked it knowing there was an Alan Scott &amp; Beast Boy team playing directly before you? Player A: Yeah, but there should have been enough Super Powers for both of us... I've heard dozens of stories along these same lines."},{"double":[{"src":"oli445462oliver-q.jpeg"},{"src":"roy507511roy-harp.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"ala640542alan-sco.jpeg"},{"src":"bea503737beast-bo.jpeg"}]},{"text":"Lets briefly look at how this would have transpired in a 3-player game of players A, B and C; A will be drafting first, then B, then C.&nbsp; Player C will be playing first, followed by B and then A (assuming no-one draft The Flash): - All players pass on tier-1s A: Pass on tier-2 B: Pass on tier-2 C: Drafts Alan Scott, then pass on tier-2 A: Drafts Indigo-1 B: Draft Oliver Queen Let's pause at this point and review the known information at the table up to this point.&nbsp; Player C has clearly signaled that he is content playing Beast Boy \/ Alan Scott vs two players who passed on 1's and 2's.&nbsp; Player A has drafted a character that leads me to believe they will be on either a Hero\/Villain team, or perhaps they opt for the wide open Indigo &amp; Cyborg team. Since we are playing after the Alan Scott \/ Beast Boy team, we should expect Super Powers to be few and far between.&nbsp; We could look to cut Heroes and Villains from Player A, but Indigo-1 + Cyborg has proven itself a worthy opponent against people trying to hate draft them, so perhaps that's not the best option. I feel one of the greatest mistakes that can be made here is to draft Oliver Queen, yet I see this happen quite often, even in high-level tournament play.&nbsp; You can see some examples of this same thing by viewing the MC selections from the recent Texas tournament (https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=10854). Take the following draft for instance:"},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"Player A (First Pick): Unknown"},{"caption":"Player B: Alan Scott"},{"caption":"Player C: King Shark"},{"caption":"Player D (Plays First): Unknown"}]},{"text":"As player A arrives at their tier-3 selection, they are now forced to make a choice, with the following characters drafted so far:"},{"double":[{"src":"kin39243king-sha.jpeg"},{"src":"car66166card-bac.jpg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"ala20019alan-sco.jpeg"},{"src":"car335851card-bac.jpg"}]},{"text":"Although not yet locked in, the ability of Killer Frost player to destroy Super Powers in the Line-Up, and the knowledge that AS\/BB will buy every Super Power they can means that Super Powers will quite likely be in very short supply this game, and I would want to steer clear and wide of them. Player A, being the first to draft on tier-3's, can consider a few facts: 1.) They will play after a Beast Boy player, who plays after a Killer Frost player. 2.) They have an unknown entity playing after them (player D, who has not drafted any characters yet), so no counter-draft information is available to them to gain an advantage over this player. 3.) King Shark was chosen after Beast Boy, strongly indicating this will be a Killer Frost team, hoping to hate out the Beast Boy player. 4.) Outside of other information, we should deduce that Super Powers will be in short supply this game! For this game, player A chose Oliver Queen + Roy Harper.&nbsp; The final count ended up being:"},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"Killer Frost + King Shark: 41 VP"},{"caption":"Oliver Queen + Roy Harper: 28 VP"},{"caption":"Alan Scott + Beast Boy: 24 VP"},{"caption":"Animal Man + The Flash: 17 VP"}]},{"text":"Player D ended up on Animal Man + The Flash, and was hit with a horrific SV FAA which effectively removed them from the game.&nbsp; The important thing to notice is the relative difference in VP between the other three players.&nbsp; The Killer Frost player ended up winning by a good margin, and the two Super Power centered teams both finished comparably to one another.&nbsp; Its quite possible that Player D would have finished in first or second had they not lost a SV to another Super Villain FAA and been effectively taken out of commission. In this case, I believe there was to much hate for player A to choose Roy\/Oliver, and they should be expected to have a ruff game as a result.&nbsp; They ended up getting second thanks to a timely SV attack, but perhaps a different MC selection might have given them a better chance in the game."},{"header":"consider your options"},{"text":"Let's consider some options Player A has in this position, assuming we think Super Powers are cut-off:"},{"double":[{"src":"gol704671golden-g.jpeg"},{"src":"car165643card-bac.jpg"}]},{"text":"Picking Glider here is not bad.&nbsp; You are first pick, so player D can't snatch it from you if you pass on 3's.&nbsp; The only reason I don't like it here is because we suspect the Killer Frost player will hate out the Beast Boy player, leaving the Beast Boy player to have a bad game.&nbsp; This hinders us because we'll inevitably teamwork the Beast Boy player at some point, and can expect their deck to be pretty bad overall. I prefer Glider in games where nobody has noticeably counter drafted anyone else, so that my teamwork hits will be as good as they can be.&nbsp; I need other players to have good decks so that my VP is well spent! Otherwise I feel that Glider is best drafted from first pick position, because all of your opponents will have already played a turn, meaning your first turn teamwork has the chance to hit a non-Starter card: your best case scenario."},{"double":[{"src":"red233260red-lant.jpeg"},{"src":"car302893card-bac.jpg"}]},{"text":"Assuming our King Shark player pairs with Killer Frost, we will get a nearly guaranteed RLSG trigger every rotation.&nbsp; Furthermore, the other two players will likely try to destroy Starters throughout the game, meaning picking up RLSG plus any other three a solid pick. This also has the bonus of being somewhat of a passive pick, and we can wait out player D and see what they spend at least 3 of their points on.&nbsp; If it is very type specific we can look to punish them potentially. I would not fault a player for picking RLSG here, and would likely do it myself in several instances."},{"double":[{"src":"ind938313indigo-1.jpeg"},{"src":"car1217card-bac.jpg"}]},{"text":"Indigo-1 can be a solid pickup when played directly after two players dead set on destroying or purchasing Super Powers.&nbsp; You'll effectively have free reign of Heroes and Villains at the table.&nbsp; Furthermore, it would be a blunder for Player A (who is playing after you) to draft a Hero\/Villain strategy after such a telling pick from you in Indigo."},{"header":"give yourself the best chance"},{"text":"I've presented three options here for characters you can take in this scenario, and I'm sure there are others you can take as well.&nbsp; My advice would be to play something that appears open, or that is a non-type committed team when faced with a scenario like this.&nbsp; Watch as each draft develops, and try to learn from it.&nbsp; Break away from the pet-deck mold and learn to be flexible in every pick.&nbsp; No two drafts are the same, and you should try and account for this as best you can.&nbsp; It's quite possible you will win or lose the game before the Line-Up is ever revealed! Until next time, may the draft leave your opponents covered in tiers! "}]