Drafting-Alliance Allies

I know a lot of you out there don't care about draft. But whether you like it or not, it is going to be a major factor in crowning the National champion and most likely the World champion as well later in the year. I want to talk some more about drafting here leading up to Nationals. Before I get started, I want to also recommend reading all of Alex Brown's articles on draft over at StarCityWoW. He is one of the best drafters in the world and has valuable insights into drafting. While I have done a few hundred practice drafts on the Draft Simulator at TCGPlayer and several live drafts, I don't feel like I have enough experience to really consider myself an expert at Draft yet. Having said that, I've done thousands of drafts in other games and a lot of the basic concepts still apply here. I do feel comfortable enough in my abilities to at least give you a place to start.



The Alliance curve (commons only)



One thing that is very important in drafting is knowing which cards are worth taking. One of the things that I do in WoW a little differently than a lot of people is instead of rating every ally against every other ally, I have rankings within each spot on the curve up to six. Alliance decks tend to rely more on playing a solid curve than Horde decks, so this is probably more important on the Alliance side. More important than the actual ranking within each spot on the curve, though, is the categories I put them in. Each ally goes into one of three categories, Wanted, Playable, Junk. On top of knowing where each ally stands within its slot on the curve, knowing which drops are harder to get is huge in making tough decisions between allies. Knowing that getting solid 5-drops is the hardest slot to fill in is important as you go through the draft.



I also rank all the commons in the draft pool, not by individual set. This way I know which slots give me solid options later and which ones need to be a priority in the Heroes packs. So without further ado, here are my common ally rankings with categories for the Alliance commons.



1-drop



Wanted:



Apprentice Teep
Apprentice Merry
Scaramanga

Playable:

Korthas Greybeard
Warden Tonarin
Dorric the Martyr

Junk:

Cerwyn
Miner Moggun

Dorric is borderline junk, but he can sometimes squeek in as a 29-30th card because the Alliance tends to play a couple of high drops which he can heal to allow them to take out an extra ally. The 2/1's for 1 are the 1-drops you want in your deck. The 2 protectors can get into your deck if it's mediocre, but I don't like having to play them.



2-drops

Wanted:

Latro Abiectus
Avanthera
Jeleane Nightbreeze
Milo the Unmerciful
Galahandra

Playable:

Bubula Del Kessel
Freya Lightsworn
Brother Rhone
Crazy Igvand

Junk:

Tracker Gallen
Darnassus Sentinels
Ironforge Guards

The 3/2's here are again the ones you want in your deck. I go back and forth a lot on where I rate Galahandra. Sometimes, she's incredible. Others she's not so great. I rate Avanthera above Jeleane because of the fact that allies are far more prevalent in Limited than abilities and the pseudo-elusive is a lot better late in a game. I have no problems playing Freya or Bubula. The 2 protectors are a little different. I'm not happy about playing either one, but sometimes you have to. One thing about the 2-drop slot for Alliance is that it's really deep, so you can usually pick up solid 2-drops in every draft even with your middle picks in every pack.



3-drop



Wanted:

Parvink
Warden Ravella
Mya
Durdin Hammerhand
Kor Cindervein

Playable:


Tim
Sha'lin
Grint
Vestia
Kena

Junk:

Courtney Noel



Three-drop is another deep slot for the Alliance in both Heroes and Dark Portal. I rank Warden Ravella ahead of the 3-ATK allies because with Protector she affects the board as soon as she hits play. It doesn't matter that much because you will rarely have the decision between Ravella and Mya or Durdin.



4-drops



Wanted:

Moira Darkheart
Vindicator Enkallus
Tristan Rapidstrike


Playable:


Margaret Fowl
Barnathrum

Junk:

Valanos
Reverand Tobias
Maxum Ironbrew
Ryn Dreamstrider



4-drop is a little light on the good allies. You've got 2 outstanding option in HoA but nothing after than and one outstanding option in TtDP with 2 solid ones after that. This is one of the slots that when you're playing Alliance has to be a priority. It's one of the most important turns in the game and one of the lightest quality slots for Alliance. If you are playing Alliance Moira and Tristan should be very near the top of your list to pick. Vindicator is very good and how highly you rate Barnathrum and Margaret depends on how your HoA packs went. If you didn't get any 4-drops they go way up. If you got a couple, they're not as important. You could still pick them, but they would be a much lower priority.



5-drops

Wanted:

Lynda Steele
Nerra Lifeboon

Playable:

Liba Wobblebonk

Junk:

Lilnas the Calm
Hannah the Unstoppable

When you see playable 5-drops, you have to take them. You get some help from the uncommons here, but if you pass a 5-drop in Alliance it better be for something spectacular or else it's going to come back and bite you.

6-drops

Playable:

Ka'vai the Wanderer
Bretander of the Claw
Anika Berlyn
Raul "Fingers" Mauldren

Playable:

Stylean Silversteel

Junk:

Lafiel

6-drop is pretty solid for Alliance and you only want 1 or 2 anyway. You will have several opportunities to pick up a 6-drop or 2 so you should usually try to pick them up in packs with nothing else in them that you want. There are also several incredible uncommon 6-drops in Acolyte Demia and Braxiss the Sleeper and the uber-bomb Lorekeeper Darian at the rare.

Overall, Alliance decks tend to care more about their curve these days whereas Horde decks seem to be focused more on the quanitity of allies they are able to flood the field with. Remembering how your curve looks throughout a draft is an important part of making a cohesive deck. While Lynda Steele and Bretander of the Claw are both great cards, you have to know when to take a card that might not be quite as powerful as another, but fits into your deck better.