When I went to update my Dark Draft Card Ratings, to get ready to start posting my Duels ratings, I realized that the way I evaluate cards in Dark Draft has evolved so far that I could no longer in good conscience keep and expand my old ratings system. So, I completely overhauled it.
Tiers Within Tiers and Multi-Entry Cards
Card evaluations in Dark Draft are not constant. They change based on what you have drafted so far, what you have passed so far, the other cards in the pack (if picking first from a pack), and how many packs are left to draft. Generally speaking, the most powerful cards are Re-establishing Cards, 0-Cost Cards, and Card Draw. I’ve explained these three pillars of Dark Draft in my Dark Draft Simplified article, and if you have not read that yet, I suggest starting there before continuing here.
My goal for my overhauled rating system was to make something fairly modular that I could use to explain the shifting in card evaluations during a draft.
To do this, I broke all cards I’ve rated so far into four spreadsheets: Slow Champions, 0-Cost Cards, Card Draw, and Other. From there I’ve separated them into between 10 and 14 internal categories and assigned a tier to each category. Finally, all of the cards in each category have an internal category-tier.
Some cards appear in multiple categories/spreadsheets because they can fill multiple roles. In addition, I have different evaluations for Loyalty/Ally cards when you
- Have drafted no other cards of that alignment in your deck: ~,
- Are on track to get around 10 cards of that alignment in your deck (my target minimum for reliably triggering ally effects in limited): &,
- Have already drafted an overwhelming number of 1-cost cards in that alignment (for Ally triggers) or an overwhelming number in general (for Loyalty X triggers). This happens incredibly infrequently and shouldn’t be relied on almost ever: &&
Each spreadsheet has a different distribution you are aiming for in each draft and each category fluctuates in tier score depending on the draft.
All of the spreadsheets can be found here (comments turned on for now): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ULFRdax-SBraiXRpdcRUFr6ZUXpa1Gf-HgiklG8M-5I/edit?usp=sharing
My Card by Card Analyses can be found here: http://www.tomsepicgaming.com/epic-card-game-dark-draft-card-ratings/
Slow Champions (Non-Ambush)
Some of the most powerful cards in the game are Slow Champions. So are most of the worst. Further, drafting too many slow champions is the most surefire way to have a weak deck.
- Draft Approximately 5 Total
The only time the Re-establishing cards aren’t insanely powerful is when you already have 6+ Slow Champions. If you get passed them in this situation, burning them for other distributions can be the right play; however, if you open them, not taking them gives your opponent the chance to draft them, which is painful. If you are ever in a situation where you need to pick between them, having a mix of the types is valuable. Further, if you have a ton of small removal, the Multi-Target Small Re-establishers get a tiny bit worse, same with big removal and the Single Target Big Re-establishers.
Slow Tech cards defy objective overall rating. Most of these cards can range from S-Tier to F-Tier depending on specific circumstances. I outline those in my Card by Card Analyses (or I’ll at least make sure I do as I update them).
Establishing Slow champions are cards that are powerful to play while your opponent’s gold is up on your turn. This is because they guarantee you at least some value when you play them, either Card Draw or Other (mostly token spawning) effects. Some of these cards are inherently incredibly powerful, but they are almost never as strong as Re-establishing champions. I’ll generally avoid these until later in the draft when I’m under my quota of Slow champions.
On-Turn Gold-Punishers are cards that excel when played while your opponent’s gold is down. This is generally because they aren’t difficult to remove if your opponent can spend a gold but are devastating if not interacted with for a turn. I value them similar to Establishing champions, and I prefer to have a mix of both instead of all of one type, assuming my Slow Champion quota isn’t full of Re-establishing champions. However, if you are drafting a more aggressive deck, especially if you don’t have a Mass-Discard Pile Removal effect, these become more desirable.
I don’t want to commit my Slow Champions slots to Health Gain or Burn unless I’m desperate. However, if you’re an aggressive deck, burn becomes better, and if you think your opponent is building aggressive, Health Gain becomes better.
Just Bad cards are just bad. You basically only want to draft them if all of your options are just bad.
0-Cost Cards
0-cost cards let you manipulate the game to dodge your opponent’s 1-gold cards and maximize your own. While 1-cost cards have stronger effects, 0’s can be more impactful by either forcing your opponent to spend their gold first or giving you plays after you commit yours.
- Draft At Least 10 (but don’t take terrible ones to fill your quota)
- No Upper Limit Except Other Distributions
Having a Mass Discard Pile Removal card effectively means your opponent can’t win by decking out (winning by having an empty deck when they’re required to draw a card), as long as you recycle it as soon as possible after playing it. If you don’t recycle it early, it is possible your opponent could draw all the way through their deck and win while your card is either still in your discard pile or deck. Generically, this is arguably the most important category in Dark Draft both to get one for yourself and to deny one to your opponent. That being said, if you are already drafting a fairly aggressive deck that can win through damage, other S-Tier cards can eclipse these.
0-cost Re-establishing cards do effectively the same thing as their 1-cost counterparts. They remove a small threat and give you a small threat. These are particularly powerful early in the game and when there are practically no champions in play. The left over bodies can also make excellent chump blockers. Only in the most excruciatingly powerful packs would I pass these cards.
Muse is an S-Tier card that doesn’t fit the other S-Tier categories.
Having a good mix of 0-cost Blitz champions, Ambush champions, and Small Removal is valuable for fighting the 0-cost war that is the current Dark Draft meta (10/25/2020). Blitz champions give you an immediate threat while both players’ golds are available. Ambush champions give you either chump blockers without needing a gold or an off-turn threat when both golds are spent and the board is empty. Small Removal lets you get rid of those Blitz and Ambush champions before they can have an impact, in addition to functioning as high gold-tempo answers to low health threats like Thought Plucker or Pyrosaur.
All of the Other 0-cost cards are just solid cards that don’t belong to any necessary-to-split-out categories. You don’t need any of them, and there is no limit to them. So, take as many as you can get, while still focusing on satisfying your deck requirements.
0-cost Tech cards once again defy objective overall ranking. Most of these cards can range from S-Tier to F-Tier depending on specific circumstances. I outline those in my Card by Card Analyses (or I’ll at least make sure I do as I update them).
Targeted Discard Pile Removal, Health Gain, and Burn are all secondary considerations based on how the draft is unfolding. If you haven’t been able to pick up a Mass Discard Pile Removal effect, the targeted version cards get a bit better. If your opponent seems to be drafting an aggressive deck, Health Gain gets better; If you’re drafting the aggressive deck, Burn gets better. Using your unlimited 0-cost slots to gain an edge in these categories is better than using your limited Slow Champion slots.
Finally, we have the Mediocre 0-cost cards. Still better than some 1-cost cards though.
Card Draw
The primary function of Card Draw is to enable you to spend your gold every turn your opponent spends theirs, at minimum. It also gets you to your most powerful/situational cards sooner, in addition to finding you more 0’s.
- Draft At Least 15
- Be Careful not to Over-draft Draw and Under-draft Threats though, especially if you don’t have Mass Discard Pile Removal
Re-establishing Cards with “Or Draw 2” effects are absurdly strong and now reliably versatile.
Cards that “Draw 2 And” give you another effect are phenomenal since you’re going to have to draw anyway, might as well get more when you do. (Also while Thought Plucker isn’t technically a Draw 2 And, you do net gain 1 card in hand on your opponent and have something left over. Mainly, it is an S-Tier card I didn’t feel like creating its own S-Tier Category for. And I’m tired of it.)
See 0-cost Mass Discard Pile Removal section above for my explanation of why these are critical (opponent effectively can’t deck out).
“Or Draw 2” Board Clears are excellent because they give you a necessary effect you need in all games (draw 2), attached to a highly-situational game-saving effect (board clear when you fall too far behind your opponent). Off-turn board clears are especially valuable because they can deal with most shenanigans your opponent might try to throw at you. Further, quite a few board clears don’t affect certain champions, which you can actively set up to exploit for a one-sided clear. Having a couple board clears, especially off-turn ones, just in case, is a wise move. If you have an overwhelming amount of Re-establishing cards, they become less valuable, but they’re always at least Card Draw.
I haven’t worked out a general guideline on how much Recycle to put in a deck yet, but you don’t want to overly rely on Recycle for your card draw. If you already have a bunch, more Recycle will drop in value significantly.
Tech “Or Draw 2s” are particularly valuable because their floor is a Draw 2. Therefore, aside from overdrafting card draw in general, you’ll never be punished for taking one of these cards. The non-draw 2 effects, however, defy objective overall ranking. Most of these effects can range from S-Tier to F-Tier depending on specific circumstances. I outline those in my Card by Card Analyses (or I’ll at least make sure I do as I update them).
Health Gain and Burn that can also draw cards are some of the most valuable for these categories, since the card draw is always valuable.
Single Champion Removal isn’t a category you necessarily need to draft, but it is nice to have a little that can maintain your board while protecting you from your opponent’s.
All Other “Or Draw 2’s” are also A-Tier, but don’t fall into categories that need to be explicitly split out.
Ambush Champions that Draw 1 Card are frequently solid, but they usually aren’t quite as reliable at explicitly drawing cards.
Tech Cards that Draw 1 Card aren’t effective card draw although I do count them towards the 15 card minimum. Aside from that, defy objective overall ranking, range from S-Tier to F-Tier, Card by Card Analyses.
Slow Champions that Draw 1 Card are a bit less desirable because your slow champion slots are so precious. Getting into a position where you are forced to focus on getting card draw with those slots is not ideal.
Relying on Circumstantial Card Draw is only for the desperate. While not all of them are bad in their own right, you can’t guarantee you’ll be able to get their card draw.
Other
Only draft these if you either can’t get the above or have already met their distributions, with a few incredibly powerful exceptions.
- Filler
- Grab Some Ambush Threats Though
The S- and A-Tier cards are worth taking over a lot of cards in the previous 3 spreadsheets.
Having some Ambush Champions is excellent for those situations where you are able to get ahead with your Re-establishing champions on your turn, and then your opponent spends their gold first on their turn. Follow that up with an ambush threat and they’re back in trouble. If all you ever do when they spend their gold first on their turn is draw cards, you better hope you have a Mass Discard Pile Removal and they don’t, or you (probably) won’t win.
Non-“Or Draw 2” Board Clears, Burn, and Health Gain are all fine to pick up here, since you don’t have spreadsheet level mandatory quotas for Others.
Other Tech cards are gonna Tech card: take them if you have a specific reason why they fit well in your deck, avoid them if you don’t. See Card by Card Analyses.
Other Others are fine.
Just Bad cards are just bad.
Further Updates Coming
Seeing as I was not expecting to completely overhaul my Dark Draft ratings, my timeline for my next big updates for Tom’S Epic Gaming have been delayed a bit. I’m hoping to get them up before the Monthly Tournament (Dark Draft) this Saturday October 31 at 10am CDT which I will be streaming at https://www.twitch.tv/tomsepicgaming. The updates will address my timeline for getting out the Duels ratings (and finishing the Pantheon ratings) among other things.
In the meantime, I didn’t spend quite as much time as I probably should have fiddling with the specific tiers of all of the cards. So, if you see something that looks wrong/you don’t agree with, let me know and we can at minimum discuss it. If I don’t hear anything, I probably won’t make card tweaks until I notice something off while adding new cards. Similarly, there are a few more things I probably should have mentioned in this post that I didn’t, so call me out on them if you think of any, so I’ll feel compelled to address them in the comments and add them. Aside from that, have a nice week.