If you’ve drafted before, you might be used to ripping off the pack wrapper, discarding the token or tip card and basic land card from the back of the pack, and feverishly looking through the rest of the cards you opened for that bomb rare.
In full Return to Ravnica block drafts, however, that will all change. First of all, instead of drafting three packs of the same set, the official format will be to draft one pack of Dragon’s Maze, one pack of Gatecrash, and one pack of Return to Ravnica (in that order). That means Dragon’s Maze will always come first.
Moreover, in Dragon’s Maze, the basic land slot will actually be taken up by a Gate, a shockland, or the mythic land Maze’s End. These cards are drafted with the rest of that pack like normal — you don’t automatically keep the single Gate/shockland/Maze’s End you open, and you definitely don’t just throw it into the middle. So, basically, every time you draft a Dragon’s Maze pack, you’ll end up with 15 picks instead of the “usual” 14.
Good luck with your Return to Ravnica block drafts, and may you open lots of mythics and shocklands!
Today’s Tournament Tip written by Paul Baranay