A draft mode would add an extra complexity to the game and be a ton of fun to play. Brainstorming how it would work is probably the biggest thing.
I think a Winston Draft would be fitting as a homage to Richard Garfield but also just an unknown to what makes up Mindbug at its core gameplay. The biggest issue with this method is a draft each match will probably take awhile and the actual gameplay will be over in 5 minutes.
Another method I saw was on reddit board games:
- Lay out 4 cards in the middle of the table
- Player A picks a card
- Player B picks two cards
- Player A get the last card
- Repeat step 1-4, but alternate starting player (second set player B picks the first card) until both players have 10 cards
- Shuffle and draw 5 cards, Player B is the start player.
Extra flavor:
- Use a Mindbug card to discard a card from the draft and blindly take the top card of the main deck instead (limit: 2).
To clarify, Mindbug cards are still used after drafting as per normal gameplay rules.
It would save time but then the opponent knows what hand you built but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing as that can be a strategizing way to play your mind bugs.