a mirror draft would be a mode containing the best of Hearthstone and Scroll draft aspects (according to me). on top of that sexy mix, we would add some very pox-ish additions. how it would be. • you enter into a draft • pick 1 of the 3 random factions. • you start getting a window, where you choose 1 rune of A, B or C. all these suggestions are "random". • you always see what the next "3" option you will have, but just the next one. so while you choose between A, B or C, you will know what the next D, E or F will be. • all 3 options are of the same faction and same rarity. for example, you choose between 3 commons. • in the whole draft, you will have to choose between A, B or C 15 times. 5 commons, 4 uncommons, 3 rares, 2 exos and 1 legendary. • it means that your deck will consist of 15 cards. you will be matched against other person in draft, the rest of your deck is what your enemy has drafted (the same as you did) • you will be figure outing what is half of your deck in actual match. so all matches in draft are funny, challenging and unexpected.
It's certainly really interesting. It could turn out one of two ways: -It's really freakin' awesome -It's full of stalemates or one sided matches. I'd like to see regular draft inputted first, but this is a cool place to go eventually.
Personally I hope they spend resources on a lot of other things before this. Doesn't sound like a mode I would ever want to play.
I really like this idea and would think it would improve the drafting experience 10fold! The only thing that would need to go with it is to make sure you do not award the runes drafted to the player and instead offer random rewards based on your performance (similar to hearthstone). This way it keeps the cost of participating in the draft low to populate it.
Several years ago, I suggested a similar idea for constructed (Split double) -- instead of a user picking 30 runes of their own and the opponent picking 30 runes of their own, each person assembles a deck of 15 runes of one faction and then both players play with same combined deck of 30 runes. It gives you a chance to see how your opponent plays your deck, and is a format accessible to new players. It was received well in the past, but I haven't reposted it since I'm hoping the developers focus on the revamp first.
two main issues with the current draft system: • you're forced to pick higher rarity runes since what you draft is your award. some might argue you're not being forced, but that feels like a punishment • upgrade system. many champions ended up being played very differently (in a bad meaning). again, some might argue it was skillcap to enter this gamemode, but considering "how popular" it was, the barrier might be too high (and most importantly very unfun).
I'd imagine they will probably tackle this after the revamp. From what I see in the current previews at least some of your recent second point will be taken care of in that all abilities will be visible on the champ when picking. The fact that the current system requires you to memorize the first two upgrades of each champion was a huge turnoff for me and I love drafting. Your first point is very valid and I'd agree in skewing the choices more towards hearthstone instead of MTG. With 8 factions opening up random packs means you have a mishmash of champs and it is fairly obvious that Pox is not designed with drafting in mind like MTG. I'd say randomize 3 factions and you get to select either 1 FF or 2 Split faction for drafting. Also love the idea of incorporating all rarities so that each experience is awesome. That's part of the benefit of allowing higher rarities and different payouts in that it markets and entices people to want to play/spend to get those fun runes that you got a taste of in draft.
I've never understood why an online game has you keep what you draft. As mentioned, it presents a conflict of interest in the draft, and goes against one of the main ideas of drafting, in that it's self contained.