I’d like to start with some entry-level strategy that I have found to be valuable early in my experience playing Gods Unchained. As the weeks go on, this piece will become a higher-level strategy guide, but I wanted to start with some basics to ensure the on-ramp for this format is as short as possible. Today, we’ll look at what I've found to be the three main ideas that provide value when constructing your deck: How to Draft Your Packs, An Easy Acronym to Aid You in Drafting, and Curving Out.
As this is a longer piece, I will not be adding a draft walk-through / matchplay video this week. Be sure to come back next week for some strategy AND media content!
As this is a longer piece, I will not be adding a draft walk-through / matchplay video this week. Be sure to come back next week for some strategy AND media content!
How to Draft Your Packs
TL;DR
- Draft your packs from right to left, prioritizing higher cost cards
- Play a God/Power that has strength in the late game
I love to read. Because of this, I've picked up the habit of reading from left to right, which is normal in 99% of the things I run in to in my daily life. Not Gods Unchained. Let me paint a picture to illustrate how this led to an early pitfall:
My earlier drafts were with War/Blitz. In my trap of reading left to right, I was drafting packs with a high priority on one and two drops, with little weight being given to any card that was more expensive on the curve. This took me down the path of drafting decks that would sometimes top out at 4 mana cost cards. While an aggressive strategy can be powerful, you need to have a strong top-end of your curve to be able to close out games. After pressing the lose button on repeat for several days I decided to do something crazy: Draft right to left, and play a God/Power better suited for the late game.
This change, quickly, did a number on my performance:
In choosing to start playing either Magic/Blastwave or Nature/Leech Life, I opened myself up to having a much stronger late game, while not giving up any of the benefits I was seeking in playing aggressive strategies when I started the game.
The trick to drafting right to left isn’t so much that you’ll get a better deck - the benefit comes in knowing you are ensuring your late game options are the most powerful you can get your hands on during the draft. In starting at your higher cost cards, you can become easily aware of your curve. This is critical to having success in this format. We’ll talk more about a good curve and curving out in the last section of this article.
Not BREAD, but a Valuable Acronym(ish)
TL;DR
- BFBBADA (bombs, frontline, bigs, backline, abilities, defense, attack)
To anyone who missed the welcome piece yesterday, I come from playing Magic: the Gathering. Anyone who has played MTG for a fair amount of time has probably heard the following draft acronym: BREAD
B- Bombs
R- Removal
E- Evasion
A- Attackers
D- Defenders
The idea behind BREAD was to give players an easy to read acronym that helped make the best picks during a draft. It still is INCREDIBLY effective. The first thing I talk to my friends about who are new to Magic is BREAD. They’ve all reported back that it’s done wonders for their game.
God’s Unchained is so new, that nothing like this exists, yet. To be honest, my solution may become wrong with time, but this is a great place to start. Without further adieu, my (not-quite) acronym for God’s Unchained:
B - Bombs
F - Frontline
B - Bigs
B - Backline
A - Abilities
D - Defense
A - Attack
BFBBADA (pronounced: bee-eff-bee-bee-ada) May not roll of the tongue well (unless you use the added pronunciation guide 😉) but I have been using this to great success in my journey to Draft Mythic.
The examples below are all core cards, as I have found it more likely for a player to have access to core than Genesis:
B - Bombs
Bombs are anything designed to put a game out of reach of your opponent. Often, bombs are independently powerful and don’t need many synergies to be great. Bombs can be bigs, frontlines, backlines, and/or have great abilities. When a card has multiples of this type of ability, there is a good chance you are looking at a strong card for limited play.
Example Cards:
Example Cards:
F - Frontline
Frontlines, big and small, carry a lot of value during a game of limited. They serve as protection to more valuable creatures, and can do a great job at getting you to the late game. I’ll often find myself in a position where I’ll have 4 great cards I can pick up in a pack, but the fifth card feels pretty flat in power compared to the remaining cards in the pack. When this happens, I’ve started defaulting to any Frontline cards in the pack, as, again: Frontline will protect your more valuable cards. In taking 4 great cards in the pack, having a Frontline as the fifth card chosen ensures some protection for the strong picks you’d made earlier in that pack.
Example Cards:
Example Cards:
B - Bigs
Bigs can (and should) have frontline to be great. Bigs are cards that offer exceptional stats for their rate. Brandished Bull as a 10/10 for 7 is a perfect example of this type of card. Bigs are your closers, and should be prioritized as such. Don’t load up on all closers, but having cards that you can rely on to end a match has a lot of value.
Example Cards:
Example Cards:
B - Backline
Backline doesn’t come up often during drafts, but it is important to understand the role of backline when these cards to show up in your packs. Backline is an ability inherently designed to give protection to your creature. Backline creatures cannot be attacked unless they are the last creature on that side of the board. Often, this type of card comes with a re-usable ability that can be triggered once per turn, on your turn. As this is, basically, just an ability creature (with the ability to use the ability multiple times) they do get a slightly higher rating than a card with a good ability.
Example Cards:
Example Cards:
A - Abilities
This category should include mainly Roar (enters play) effects and good spells. I highly recommend the following abilities for creatures in this order:
- Shoot: There are a number of creatures that deal damage when entering play. This can swing the tempo of a game in your favor: an important element of gameplay.
- Protected: Being able to absorb or deliver a big hit is huge. Protected ensures you will get a good deal of value from your creature.
- Deadly: cards with this ability can ensure that you can fight through anything (except protected). Value these highly, as you will often be able to leverage deadly creatures in a favorable trade
Regarding spells, look for cards that you can take out creatures with. Getting more than one creature with a spell is what we are looking for.
Example cards:
D - Defense
This was the hardest for me to accept as I became acclimated to the game. High defense feels worthless in MTG. In God’s Unchained: it’s everything. Since damage remains on creatures at the end of the turn, instead of rolling off a the end of turns like in Magic, I learned that having high toughness means having a chance to do something. A plain old 2/4 or 3/4 may seem unassuming, but it will be a solid card in any deck.
Example Cards:
Example Cards:
A - Attack
Attack still serves a purpose. Though, it is the last piece of the puzzle for a reason. The rate on a 4/3 for three mana feels good if you are coming from a game like MTG. This simply isn’t the case in Gods Unchained, though. In the card example provided, you are getting this on board turn two or three at the earliest. By this time, your opponent will have commit a card to the board, and can trade that card (or part of that card if it deals damage or makes a token) + their God power to get a favorable trade. This example, often, cannot occur when playing a 3/4 for the same three mana.
Example Cards:
Example Cards:
Curving Out
TL;DR
- A roadmap for designing a strong curve
- How to ‘curve out’
- two-for-ones
An important element to just about any card game is managing your curve, or the mana cost of cards in your deck. The name curve comes from the idea that your deck will produce a curve of cards when sorted by their mana cost. Depending how a deck is built, and for what game, this can often come out in the shape of a parabola.
Managing your curve is incredibly important. Don’t load up on 15 one drops, or 10 seven drops and expect your deck to do well. You have to push for a density in the middle, and a lighter density of cards toward the middle cost of your deck. I’ve found the following approximations for curve to be stellar in God’s Unchained:
1: 3-6 - This varies from deck to deck. If I KNOW I am control, I’m happy playing 3-4 one drops. If I want to be closing out the game between 6-8 mana, I’m happier in the 5-6 one drops camp.
2: 4-6 - Often, I find that I am happier with more two drops than one drops. There are a number of cards with good attack/defense rates and sweet abilities at this cost. Look for them in your draft. Take them. Prosper.
3: 2-5 - I normally find myself wanting 5-6 of these, but more often than not, I wind up with 3-4. Don’t worry if you have more cards lower or higher on your curve, as most of the truly powerful God Powers cost three mana, too.
4: 3-5 - nothing further on this. Find cards that deal damage or pump your creatures. Take them and win.
5: 1-4 - this is a pretty wide range, but it really just depends on the draft. For the 5+ cards, it does take some feeling out to get the best counts. Just know that 1-4 will serve you well while you get some in game practice.
6: 2-4 - There are A LOT of really good six drops. Look for ability creatures and frontline creatures to fill this slot. These are very important, as I consider six drops to be the transitionary cards of the game, meaning you often change from treading water and developing the board to trying to close out the game after playing a six drop.
7+: 2-4 - I always try to have at least 2 seven cost cards, and 1 8+. These cards cost a lot of mana for a reason: they close out games when left unchecked. These are your closers and should be valued very highly while drafting. Oftentimes, your Bombs will be found at this cost.
An important advantage to look for when trying to ‘curve out’ is being the first to play two cards in a turn. In doing this, you can find yourself ahead in tempo, and can put your opponent in a spot where they can’t properly respond to the board state you’ve built, and you can start to play like a snowball rolling down a hill, getting larger and stronger the longer the game goes beyond the advantage you were able to create.
Another important concept is the two-for-one. When you are able to deal with two or more cards with a single card, that is called a two-for-one. When you can pull this off, you’ve gained another important advantage: card advantage. The benefit of a two-for-one is that you now have more cards in hand than an opponent. By having more cards you have more (and often) better options than your opponent. Use this to your advantage and put pressure on your opponent until you’ve pressed your advantage to the point your opponent can’t come back!
Thank you for joining me on this journey! I am very receptive to suggestions and comments. If there is content you would like to see, if you would like to provide content, or if you just want to chat, feel free to reach me @kreijosh on discord. Be sure to check back on Friday as we get a jump on the Weekend Event with a list of decks to play!
Happy Battles,
kreijosh
PS: If you haven't downloaded God's Unchained yet, it is in closed Beta. This means you will need an access code to install. Feel free to use mine! https://godsunchained.com?beta-key=cSlLMBZCPG
kreijosh
PS: If you haven't downloaded God's Unchained yet, it is in closed Beta. This means you will need an access code to install. Feel free to use mine! https://godsunchained.com?beta-key=cSlLMBZCPG
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