Drafting Megacorp

There are more than a few differences between the draft environment of Megacorp compared to the constructed environment, and again more differences between drafting Megacorp and drafting other collectable card games. We'll explore this for a bit.

First, let's go over the basic rules for Megacorp drafting. Each player opens three packs in total - seeing 36 cards - from these cards, they build a 20-card deck. The resource deck is a mere ten cards, and can only contain basic consumers or drafted resource cards. Compare this to Magic, where you choose 45 cards and play between 22 and 24 of them. This difference in numbers means we only reject a few cards out of our final pool, so each pick counts for far more. We can't waste them on unlikely possibilities or expensive rares that we have no chance of actually playing; see below.

In constructed Megacorp, there is the potential to make a large stack of money using combinations of cards like Factory and Sea, Barracks and military characters, a mech suit and Incarnate Donor, and to use this money to fuel large, gorilla-style, board dominating plays. You cannot do this in Megacorp draft - fundamentals are everything! You'll need to rely on your consumers to provide a steadily increasing small cashflow, protect them from enemy attacks, and rely on early-drop characters to obtain board advantage. This changes our evaluation of so many cards compared to our evaluation for constructed that it isn't funny. Here's a few examples of cards that are outstanding in constructed Megacorp, but ones you shouldn't be looking twice at for drafting.

Don't even think about running Battle Angel in draft. In constructed she does two things; dead drops a ton of equipment onto the field for you to win the game with, e.g. a Horizon Industries Mining Suit, Vulcan Cannon, and Guided Munitions; or finds and equips an Angel Carapace, then clears the opposing board with a multi-target weapon spray. Firstly, the odds that you'll open both Battle Angel and Carapace are insanely low, and second, you're unlikely to be able to even afford to play her. Draft cashflow usually tops out at 3-4 million per phase, which doesn't even cover the upkeep cost for a single turn. Your only real chance to play her is going to be on turn 1 - then you'll be divesting her at end of turn because you can't pay the upkeep cost, and your opponent will buy her out of your open market to dead drop their own equipment onto the board. Too expensive and a giant liability to boot - not the sort of card to be running in a limited format, except in very specific circumstances

Dash Dingo won't leave your opponent in deep didgeridoo like he does in constructed; deck searching simply isn't as common in draft. Luke Seti isn't available as a founder for draft play if you're GMO-minded, and Corp Dead Drop decks won't be starting their list with 4x Corp Executive, 2x Maxim Glazhov, 2x Corp Executive like the lists I like to play do. But he still has his advantages, and is great to run if you're running Illithis or The Glass Man, with their regular and reliable search effects. Two of the important advantages possessed by Dash here are cost and stat distribution.

Consumer combat is far more common in draft than constructed - frequently, if you're ahead on the board, you can maintain that position by crippling your opponent's cash flow - and the Dingo's stat distribution is a healthy 2/1/2/2, keeping him alive during most consumer challenges. But his cost is notable; not so much the $3m, but the fact that he doesn't have a trait cost involved to play him.

Whether or not you are paying trait costs turns out to be one of the most important facets of Megacorp drafting. Damage is at a relatively low level compared to constructed play, which means blocking attacks with your business is a far more viable defensive tactic - you will want to leave it un-engaged where possible. The other reason it is important is because of the restriction on consumers. You can only run basic consumers unless you drafted other resource cards, and all basic consumers have a trait cost associated with them. Because cashflow is so important, you will be buying that basic consumer every turn, so you will be engaging something already for a trait cost, and may not be able to pay additional trait costs, especially if they are a different type to the consumer you just bought - and of course, you still want to develop your board position.

Characters without trait costs should definitely be taken early in your draft picks, and characters with high trait costs go down in value a little.

The absolute pinnacle of draft removal:
cheap cost and able to destroy multiple
low-IQ targets (i.e. everything)            

The same trait cost restriction applies for removal cards, and evaluation of removal in draft changes accordingly. Kidnapping is one of the best constructed removal cards, and you may think that given the tight money situation in Megacorp draft, that it would be great here as well. Instead it is merely good, because you frequently have to take an entire turn off to pay the trait costs involved in playing it. Players also have a smaller field in draft, so efficiency of removal takes a backseat to the ability to hit multiple targets; Telekinetic Slash, Mindfire and Political Corruption all increase in value; Kickback and Kidnapping are a little worse. Assassination Contract is still great, however, because of its permanency. Remember, also, when drafting removal cards that some work better with certain founders than others do. Psionic Scream and Telekinetic Slash can be found by the search ability of Illithis, Gnost Prophet - but Character Assassination isn't so easy to locate. The Glass Man, of course, does a great job of finding and re-using #unethical removal, but as we just discussed, that removal does lose some of its value in draft.

Here are some other cards that make a huge leap upwards in the draft pick order, and a few more that become far worse:

Still good - but you want
to prioritise obtaining a
mech suit to re-use the
deploy effect. Upkeep 
is markedly worse in   
Megacorp draft. 7/10    

First-pick quality; immune
to two types of damage,
can't be blocked, cheap,
and able to avoid removal
or lethal attacks at a price
9/10

The very definition of   
a bomb uncommon,     
punishing over-spending
early, and a heavy hitter
in the late-game. But not
cheap; acts more like a
one-shot effect in draft.
 8/10

Great stats for cost; even
though it includes a trait,
it's only a single one, and
he doesn't die to combat
when attacking. 8/10      

Great stats for cost, plus no
traits to pay. Good card for
any deck, just like Incarnate
Neonate and Gnost Layman
7/10 - a high pick

Its greatest advantage, 
untargetability, is not   
applicable in most drafts.
Still immune to two types
of attack, but with a high
trait cost, now filler: 5/10

Expensive, and you're not
likely to have both it, and
the ability to crew it, at
the same time. Almost 
always a poor choice: 1/10

Great stats for cost (are
we sensing a theme in
my writing here?) and
potential for combat 
tricks make all three
martial artist cards high
picks. 7/10 and rising if
you have good targets

Stats are a bit lackluster
and the ability isn't as
quite as broken when
you can only get a single
basic consumer out; not
as good as in constructed
6/10
 

Megacorp draft has more of the feel of managing a small business than running a world-spanning corporation; you need to be obtaining maximum value for money out of every single asset and event. One of the things that can hurt you the most is a dead card or two in your hand. Cheap, fighting assets is where you want to be in Megacorp draft, not $6m luxuries like Corporate Jet.

The one thing you can't forget about is founder choice. In draft, only the four starter deck founders are playable unless you open one of your own; here's a quick run-down on the advantages and disadvantages of each.

The Glass Man
Pros: offering a repeatable search effect and re-use of #unethical removal, Aohu's criminal mastermind is a card advantage machine
Cons: low BQ stat, one of the more common traits to challenge on in draft, frequently needs protection

Illithis, Gnost Prophet
Pros: a repeatable search effect, positive interaction with #psionic removal and cards referring to Magellan Cells, strong EQ stat
Cons: low IQ stat and several strong cards are immune to her EQ damage; she isn't a fighting founder by any stretch
Heracles, Senior Counsel
Pros: high MQ stat; the ability to counter #unethical removal or game-winning cards like Political Corruption, he's a strong defensive founder
Cons: low EQ stat, does not offer a repeatable search effect, several strong cards are immune to his MQ damage

Raamaa, Incarnate Hierarch
Pros: high BQ stat, one of the more common traits to challenge on in draft, difficult to kill due to regeneration and stats - they're all a minimum of 2, positive interaction with Life Insurance Policy, 
Cons: does not offer a repeatable search effect;

A couple of things to note about the starting founders; none of them are pure fighting machines. We don't have access to the heavy-hitting search ability of Luke Seti, the chunky stats of Chi, Corp Socialite or the action-based-and-difficult-to-kill founders Azrielle and Xu Huang, Gnost Monk. Don't expect to throw The Glass Man or Illithis, Gnost Prophet straight into combat - you may be better off using their search ability.

I hope this has given you all some insight on how to pick in your next Megacorp draft. Don't forget that Rabblemaster Games is holding them regularly; keep an eye on our Facebook events page and join in on the next one!