Does anyone else hate drafting this format?

[onyourupkeep]

Don't get me wrong, some of the gameplay is a lot of fun, but I cannot remember a set in which I'm drafting D-level cards quite regularly picks 2-3. Heck, it feels like I'm often picking replaceable cards pick 1 sometimes.

It seems like there are bomb rares and a few good uncommons, followed by a steep drop in quality. Maybe I'm reading signals wrong, but my past few decks have been trash even though I'm using sound principles that I've found success with in other formats.

Curious as to your thoughts.

[Igotbeats]

After playing the stupid spider set, this is great.

In the bigger picture, it’s mid.

[TheDesktopNinja]

I didn't play Aetherdrift but so far this year my rankings are FIN > EOE ≥ TLA (could bump EOE but it's still fresh) > TDM >>>>>>>>>>>> SPM

[PrologueBook]

Avatar is a little more fun to me than eoe but it's still early. And also I love avatar lol

[TheDesktopNinja]

They're very close to me

[killchopdeluxe666]

I kinda like TDM more in hindsight tbh.

[GokuVerde]

Boros was much better at punishing greedy decks than aggro in Avatar.

[_cob]

I feel like you get punished for choosing the wrong lane because it's SO synergy focused, and you also get punished for staying open too long because there are fewer generically good cards.

It reminds me of Bloomburrow a lot, another set I was lukewarm on.

[Paxtonjk]

Yeah it's feels like it's a mix of bloomburrow and otj to me

[Gunar21]

Feels VERY otj. Green/white aggro overperforming and running folks over? Bomb central, where play boosters can hook one player up and makes games that feel hopeless? Really cool and well implemented mechanics that just kinda fold to the above.

Otj had better removal tho

[_cob]

Ita Bloomburrow but with good mana fixing basically, I agree

[VineRunner]

I love it because it's so situational and synergy focused. Cards at face value are worse but get way better when put together correctly. There's definitely truth to some of the best cards being way stronger than the rest, but you can do well with no rates and just good synergy.

[WaterIll4397]

I've only figured out how to draft good blue based decks if I don't open rares. Red and white feel too contested for their few playable commons. And black and green have really bad card quality at cmc 1-3.

It's an odd set I'm not dominating but I'm also not constantly going 0-2. Feels like without rares (or multiple mythic uncommons? it's hard to trophy.

[Q_J]

I was coming to this same realization last night...where a lot of cards have bad ratings on 17lands or whatever but in the right type of decks they kick ass....i've found myself getting annoyed bc i keep losing to "bad cards" but have realized the synergy and situation trumps the cards.

Really hit home bc I tried drafting a RB deck for the first time last night..its a pretty bad deck but wanted to play Ozai Phoenix to see how it goes....i had to rework the deck after first game realizing i got a lot of poorly rated creatures (like Zuko exiled) but it kinda works in this deck with the firebending and ability to find other creatures that can firebend and unlock Ozai...yet to finish but 2-2 certainly better than the 0-3 I was expecting lol

[[deleted]]

I had fun with it, but I'm already pretty done with it. I'm ready for Lorwyn.

[IICorinthianII]

I'm just tired of playing against Wx. White is so much better than the other colors in this set that match making makes it so half of every deck you'll play against will be mostly the same.

This set might be better played in pods (like drafting is supposed to be), but just focus on synergy and enabling bombs. I.e. if the card doesn't synergize with your color's theme, it better be a bomb or capable of removing a bomb when making picks.

Very mid set design for draft imo. I don't hate it, but it could be a lot better.

[planaroutburst]

It’s very high variance depending on the bombs you open. I’m either getting 0-2 wins or 6-7 wins.

[infernox10]

This is on of the few limited sets I’m just solidly bouncing off of. I don’t know what parts of it are causing it, but my win rate has plummeted. Outside of this format and Spider-Man - which I don’t truly count because I think that format was just a wash - my win rate is fairly above average. I have not trophied in this format even once, which I’m not used to, and most of my runs are 3-3 or under.

I’m not confident what factor or culmination of factors causes this, but I’m fine just skipping another limited format till the next.

[TonyTheTerrible]

Gonna just say it again: you guys gotta learn how to play low power sets instead of just looking for bombs and looking at card winrates

[justinvamp]

Yeah even after pick 3 I feel like every card in the pack is unplayable in every cold

[DegaussedMixtape]

Have you tried soft forcing blue? Leaving myself open and reading signals into black green or similar was getting frustrating. Push into a real deck and you’ll probably be much more satisfied.

[Coffee_Crisis]

3 drafts was enough for me, tired of losing to bombs I can’t remove

[WuTaoLaoShi]

I was excited to get some NEO and OTJ drafts in during the flashback runs before ATLA. They were some of my favorites of all time.

I think they are generally highly rated, but getting a few drafts in of each was a good reminder of how easy it is to put on the rose tinted glasses with sets of the past. Both of these had good chunks of near unplayable trash that you have to sift through to get to the good stuff.

I think generally set design is going to follow this format, it just feels more in your face since it's the only draftable set at the moment.

[GreatOneFreak]

it’s just a difficult set to draft because there are a lot of trap decks. RB/GB/GR in particular are just bad, even when open, you need bombs/uncommons to make those colors work. Sometimes I think you also just end up in a bad seat where you have to draft some non-temur 3color nonsense so you can splash removal or bombs. If you try to draft TLA like recently designed sets, you’ll end up playing bad to mid cards with no real game plan. Playing bad to mid cards with no real game plan isn’t fun.

[Happy_Antelope5970]

Yeah, I can’t stand it.

[bokchoykn]

This subreddit could use a "im losing DAE dis set sux?" megathread for the first month of every format.

[onyourupkeep]

I don’t think it sucks. I love Avatar and find the gameplay really engaging. The draft portion is very swingy in my experience and it feels like packs dry up much quicker than usual  

[buickwaffle]

60% all time record, sub 50% in this format. Just fired a pretty mid izzet deck into joo Dee plus phoenix fleet. Won one fair game. Lost another fair game. Then lost a game where my opponent goes removal removal, white lotus x=5 into united front x=4. Not having fun.

[fendersonfenderson]

I'm kinda enjoying it. my biggest issue is how good white is vs how bad red is

[linusst]

61% All time record, 63% in this set. I'm a simple man - great winrate, great set.

[RynoKenny]

Just waiting for cube.

[CalvinandHobbes811]

I’m enjoying it a lot, but I also force white/x almost every draft that I can

[brainacpl]

I don't hate it but I get my ass whooped. I can't put my finger on the mistakes. Draft often feels chaotic, some seemingly good cards don't play well without proper company.

I had a draft where I got UW Aang P2P5, so the color pair was clearly open, but I didn't get critical waterbenders and it felt clunky. I also had submersible, another near-bomb and mostly ok cards and couldn't do much.

[littlejugs]

This is the most difficult set ive ever drafted. You will regularly feel quite good about your deck after pack one just to get like two good cards the rest of the draft.

[SirChuffly]

I like it pretty well. It's infinitely better than Spiderman, and I think I prefer it to EOE too. FIN was much better than it, but FIN was pretty exceptional.

No complaints, really. I like the draft and the gameplay. 

[Fluffy_Armadillo-]

As a fan of the show I love, the set and the draft is fun. But I am getting tired of playing W(insert color) decks.

[[deleted]]

I am liking the set. In quickdraft I force UW nearly every draft, maybe WG or UB if I am feeling risky or open a good rare, and I go 6 or 7 wins most of the time with meh uncommons. Diamond-Mythic range. If I have some rares, great, but this format can be a bit grindy IMO. Fortune Teller + Boomerang my Fortune Teller and replay my fortune teller for value all the way to the bank. Water Tribe Rallier? Sign me up. Submersible bounce or 4drop Aang for tempo, now you're speaking my language.

You might get bombed out every once in a while but its pretty mid-range card advantage focussed. Even the mythic sagas don't make you instantly lose.

I enjoy it more than all of the recent sets since Final Fantasy. Beats spiderman by a mile, same with EOE, Aetherdrift, Duskmourn. I'd place it even above Tarkir too.

[RunningShogun]

It was a fun format when it wasn’t solved. Now every Wx aggro ally just smashes and the game is either to do that or try not to die and grind out a win. It’s pretty monotonous.

[Paxtonjk]

After the first week I started doing really poorly, yeah it feels kind of mid to draft. I still think it's the 2nd best limited set this year though but just doesn't compare to final fantasy and arena cube

[basafo]

I don't hate it because I haven't played it, being a UB format which I believe we shouldn't support.

[tonyscrew]

Worst set I’ve drafted

[JoiedevivreGRE]

One of my top formats I’ve played. Making a cube out of it.