From: ZZanman@aol.com [SMTP:ZZanman@aol.com]
 Sent: Monday, February 02, 1998 4:19 PM
 Subject: Re: Why Bad Things Happen to Good Players

 To the Nedophile -
      Yes, if they put a big event out in Hawaii, (I'm thinking pro-tour) I'd
 have to think very seriously about getting there!

      Tips for the limited environment?  I don't think I know much that
 doesn't sound cliche on this subject, but here's a few.

 (1) Until the last pack is opened in a draft, or at least halfway through a
 Rochester, take the best card available, with the greatest ability to change
 the game in your favor, even if you're not sure that you'll be able to use it.
 Use the last half of a Rochester, or the last pack of a draft, to cement your
 best colors.  Early in a draft, power cards out of what you think your colors
 are are much better than just staying in a color.  A good three color limited
 deck will beat a bad one color limited deck.

 (2) Don't defensively draft.  If you don't want a card, can't use it or just
 plain don't like it, don't draft it just to keep it from someone else. You
 need to use every possible pick in a draft to make your deck better. Only
 rarely can you afford to worry about the other guy's potential deck options.
 Also, it's fruitless to try to imagine what someone else MIGHT be able to do
 with the cards that you pass on.

 (3) Don't use even amounts of mana for each of the colors in the deck that you
 build.  Pick the color that is most important, is the fastest, or has the most
 creature removal options in it, and over-commit to that color.  Even amounts
 of mana allow you to have an opportunity to be evenly mana screwed in every
 color.  On Saturday, I won a booster draft tournament 4-0, never losing a
 game, playing three colors, red black and blue.  6 blue spells, 10 black
 spells and 7 red spells.  The red spells included three with double red
 casting costs, so I went with eight swamps, six mountains and THREE islands.
 The blue spells were knock-out punches that I simply did not need early, and
 of course, included no double-casters, they included a pair of Breezekeepers,
 a Tim, a 1U creature enchantment that gives flight and that you can sacrifice
 to return enchanted creature to your hand and two unsummons. (okay, it was an
 unusual draft, 4th/Visions/Weatherlight).

 (4) If possible, practice drawing your deck, with land, for a while before
 commiting your limited deck to an official decklist.  The other guys don't
 think that this really helps, but this practice has saved me from playing a
 really DUMB card that looked good at first, and allowed me to become MORE and
 MORE confident about the power of unbalanced mana.  Practice drawing saved me
 in the final eight at PTQ-Mainz in Little Rock the weekend that I won my first
 qualifier.  Practice drawing was not allowed in Mainz, where you were forced
 to record your deck before receiving your land.

      Later, dude!  -ZZanman