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What is this?
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This is a list of each card in Set 6 and the associated draft packs, rated based on how strong we think the card is specifically in the context of the format, and accompanied by comments explaining ratings. A few things to keep in mind regarding that:
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1. This is not a pick order; the rating is how strong we think a card is, but you aren't always supposed to take the strongest card. Figuring out when to do and not do this takes thought and practice, but one thing we'd specifically like to mention is multifaction and factionless cards; early on a multifaction card is -much- less likely than a single faction card to end up being playable, given you don't know what factions you are; meanwhile, a factionless card is always playable. A good rule of thumb for the first few picks is to adjust factionless by +0.5 and 2faction by -0.5, to keep it simple.
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Also, exhaustively ranking all the 3.5s would be a lot of annoyance for not much gain. Cards with the same grade tend to be close in power; you'll get your own feel for some of this as you draft and play.
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2. You'll notice that the contributors obviously do not all agree on every card, and you may notice that some of them have different rating tendencies than others. That's unavoidable, and it's part of why several of us rated. Collectively, our best guess is the average rating, but just know that there's some uncertainty to all of this.
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3. The commentary isn't completely exhaustive, but if we didn't make a note about something, it probably is not interesting in the format as we see it. If you feel you need notes about something we didn't go into detail on, feel free to ask, although we don't guarantee a response. Obviously, one commenter's opinion doesn't necessarily reflect anyone else's.
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4. If a card has a low rating, this does not necessarily mean the card does nothing, or that it is NEVER worth playing - we've all played cards like this, and we've all lost to people playing cards like this. It means that in most decks, we think the card is too weak to be worth running; if it's a buildaround, it means we think that the card is difficult enough to build around that most attempts to do so will fail and result in a worse deck. In some cases, what you've drafted is GREAT with such a card; you'll have to recognize these situations yourself, but don't be too eager to walk into traps.
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What faction should I try to be in this format?
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None of us have much confidence in any ordering of the factions this set. A few of us think that Justice/Shadow are a bit weaker than Fire/Time/Primal, but if that's true, it's only very slightly. They're all playable, they can all produce great decks, they can all produce bad decks. So the answer to what faction to be is to just read the signals and be what's open. Don't force, don't avoid.
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It's worth mentioning that Primal is not as weak as some people seem to think. It has the worst commons in set 6, but they're still perfectly serviceable in the context of what primal decks do (1/4 units defend well in this format). And it has the best uncommons, by far.
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I don't know how to draft/don't understand this format at all! Can you help?
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That's beyond the scope of this document, but we can say a few things. Generally, we (that is, the TDC contributors) draft by picking good cards, trying to read open factions to be in, and being flexible about what we're willing to play. A lot of strategies can be successful, but you should have a plan for each stage of the game; particularly, you can't ignore the earlygame, doing nothing for the first 3-4 turns is a good way to lose.
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For a rough deck construction outline, your deck should have 2 factions and 45 cards in it. 18 of these should be power (sometimes there's a reason to have more or less, but 18 is always close to correct), and the add power button probably gives you a good enough influence split. Ideally, you have 18 or more units, although in this format sometimes 15ish units is acceptable. And again, you should have a plan for each stage of the game; particularly, don't neglect the earlygame, and don't overdo the lategame.
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For this format specifically, the set 6 packs have a lot of depth and a high power level, and the curated draft packs are quite shallow and weak. In total, it's more difficult to hit playable count than it was in previous formats (seriously, the curated packs are really weak - it's not unusual to only get 3-4 playables from one). The implication, here, is that you don't have as much room as in most previous Eternal formats to speculate on things that are not playables in a main color. This includes coins and dual-faction power; at some point you know whether you can take these, and sometimes you don't have a better option, but playables are important.
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Also, it's rare to be anything other than a straight 2 faction deck with no splash. Last format, it was common to be in 3 or more factions; here, it's difficult to find splashables/fixing, and the mono-faction payoffs are rare and mostly not worth trying to play.
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If you have any questions about the list, or about drafting in general, most of us can be found in the #draft channel on the discord (link below) occasionally, and there are other helpful people around sometimes too (not that we always agree with everyone's advice, of course). We don't always guarantee an answer, but there's usually someone around.
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Official Eternal Discord
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