Rochester Draft
Rochester Draft is an obsolete limited Magic: The Gathering draft format which can be played individually or in teams.
| Where to Play | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Paper | MTGO | Arena | |
| Limited (Draft) | |||
| Players | 2+ | ||
| Life | 20 points | ||
| Decks | 40+ cards (plus sideboard) | ||
Description
In a Rochester draft one booster is opened at a time for the entire table instead of each player opening their own pack.[1][2] The fifteen cards are laid out on the table and players are given about twenty seconds to review their choices. After that, players take turns picking one card at a time to build their decks.
The greatest difference between Booster draft and Rochester formats is the amount of information available to the player. Players are aware of the cards in their opponent's deck and are perhaps able to handle them better. However, most critics cite draft length as Rochester Draft's greatest problem: while a conventional draft is 45 concurrent picks among 8 people, Rochester Draft is a full 360 single picks, which, even with only a few seconds per pick, will guarantee the draft lasts several hours.
The name "Rochester Draft" came about because in the early days of Magic, R&D invented the draft format, and first showed it off at a convention in Rochester, NY, in late 1993 or early 1994.[3]
Rochester tournaments
Rochester draft was used as a format at Pro Tour, National Championship and World Championship events between 1997 and 2006. In early Pro Tour seasons, there was typically one Rochester and one Booster draft each year, while Nationals and Worlds alternated between the two. A team variant of Rochester was introduced in the 1999–00 Pro Tour Season and was phased out of competitive play two years after the last individual event.
Individual
The following Pro Tours used an individual Rochester draft format:
- 1997 Pro Tour Los Angeles. Sets drafted: 2x Mirage and 1x Visions.
- 1997 Pro Tour Mainz. Sets drafted: 3x Tempest.
- 1999 Pro Tour Los Angeles. Sets drafted: 3x Urza's Saga.
- 1999 World Championships. Sets drafted: Urza's Saga, Urza's Legacy, and Urza's Destiny.
- 2001 Pro Tour Los Angeles. Sets drafted: 3x Invasion.
- 2001 World Championships. Sets drafted: Invasion, Planeshift and Apocalypse.
- 2002 Pro Tour San Diego. Sets drafted: 3x Odyssey.
- 2003 Pro Tour Chicago. Sets drafted: 3x Onslaught.
- 2003 World Championships. Sets drafted: Onslaught, Legions and Scourge.
- 2004 Pro Tour Amsterdam. Sets drafted: 3x Mirrodin.
- 2005 Pro Tour Nagoya. Sets drafted: 3x Champions of Kamigawa.
Team
The following Pro Tours used a team Rochester draft format:
- 1999 Pro Tour Washington, D.C.. Sets drafted: Urza's Saga, Urza's Legacy, and Urza's Destiny.
- 1999 World Championships. Sets drafted: Urza's Saga, Urza's Legacy, and Urza's Destiny.
- 2000 Pro Tour New York (Team). Sets drafted: Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, and Prophecy.
- 2001 World Championships. Sets drafted: Invasion, Planeshift and Apocalypse.
- 2001 Pro Tour New York. Sets drafted: Invasion, Planeshift and Apocalypse.
- 2002 World Championships. Sets drafted: Odyssey, Torment, and Judgment.
- 2002 Pro Tour Boston. Sets drafted: Odyssey, Torment, and Judgment.
- 2003 World Championships. Sets drafted: Onslaught, Legions and Scourge.
- 2003 Pro Tour Boston. Sets drafted: Onslaught, Legions and Scourge.
- 2004 Pro Tour Seattle. Sets drafted: Mirrodin, Darksteel and Fifth Dawn.
- 2004 World Championships. Sets drafted: Mirrodin, Darksteel and Fifth Dawn.
- 2005 Pro Tour Atlanta. Sets drafted: 2x Champions of Kamigawa and 1x Betrayers of Kamigawa.
- 2005 World Championships. Sets drafted: 3x Ravnica: City of Guilds.
- 2006 World Championships. Sets drafted: 3x Time Spiral.
References
- ↑ Anthony Alongi (August 05, 2003). "Before You Bust Those Packs...". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22.
- ↑ Alex Shvartsman (January 21, 2005). "Rochester Draft Primer". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-10-19.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast (February, 2003). "Ask Wizards - February, 2003". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2018-12-13.