Bright Lights Draft Primer
Join me as I do a quick dive into what to expect for Bright Lights draft!
The Future is Bright
In Bright Lights, all heroes are Mechanologists and therefore can play any card in the set (with the exception of Expansion Cards). However, each hero has adopted a unique playstyle: Evo, Crank and Boost. All three playstyles styles also share plenty of overlaps which we will be covered in the full set review for Bright Lights.
This is also quite a nuanced set with plenty of mechanics that overlap and compliment each other. As such, evaluation for some of these can be tricky.
Teklovossen
Teklovossen usually plays out as a midrange or control deck. His first line of text always ensures that you’ll be able to play out Evos even if they get boosted or scrapped away. It incentivizes players to get the value out of scrapping Evos that were blocked from hand.
The second line of text is where things get creative. By playing Evos at instant speed, you can make plays in the reaction step to either give your Teklo Leveler go again or even alter its power to 3 at instant speed. There is also a special interaction with Blade Break Base equipment where you can transform it into an Evo in response to the Blade Break trigger.
For Teklovossen, drafting Evos is one thing, ensuring that you have enough Evos covering different equipment slots (Head, Chest, Arms, Legs) is another.
Evo Cards
The Evo Sentry Base set provides good defense and being an Evo Base means you can still transform it after it has blocked for you. It is a decent starting point if you’re drafting a more defensive build for Teklovossen.
You could also ignore the defensive Evos and aim to be the first to be in a fully decked out suit! As such, you’ll be looking out for these Evos:
Do keep in mind that there are some Evo equipments that benefit the other heroes more than Teklovossen, so don’t be afraid to pass on those, as drafting too many Evos that doesn’t fit with your gameplan runs the risk of having awkward hands that will cost you the game.
Upgrade Cards
While having evolving equipment is cool, you’ll need cards that synergize with them in your draft! The Evo Upgrade cards do just that and incentivize you to suit up ASAP to reap their benefits. While the majestic cycle of Upgrade Cards have cool effects, you’ll likely have to build around these cards. Terminator Tank and War Machine have better on hit effects for limited, but bear in mind that for the cards to be considered “on rate”, you’ll need at least 2 Evos equipped. While I wouldn’t really consider these “first pickable majestics”, their unique and powerful effects require more evaluation as the format matures.
The Rare Evo Upgrade cards are mostly just vanilla attacks, with the exception of Heavy Artillery, which provides decent evasion once you have 2 or more Evos equipped. Both Liquid-Cooled Mayhem and Mechanical Strength are playable as a 3 cost 6 attack with at least 1 Evo equipped.
Scrap ‘Em
Scrapping is the value engine for Teklovossen; sometimes you’re forced to block with an Evo card early on, so scrapping basically draws you an Evo.
Some of the scrap cards to look out for:
Hydraulic Press: An all round good card for all three heroes. Overpower is premium evasion in a set with plenty of 3 block action cards.
Junkyard Dogg: The red one scraps for 7 attack, making it above rate. Teklovossen is also the hero that plays 2 card hands quite well, since you can block with an Evo plus 1 other card, then scrapping the Evo that was used to block the previous turn to attack for 7 with Junkyard Dogg.
Scrap Compactor: Allows Teklovossen to play 1-2 card hands, as you’re able to play the scrapped Evo as an instant without having to use his hero ability.
Overall, Teklovossen is a very flexible deck that plays well off 2 card hands, so don’t be afraid to block often. Once you have multiple Evos equipped, the Teklo Leveler makes your 2 card hands very efficient. He also requires you to draft a number of Evos for different equipment slots, so a general advice would be to remember which Evos you have drafted to avoid drafting multiple Evos for the same slot.
Dash, Database
Dash is the item based hero of the set. Her weapon needs her to play items for it to attack, and she is able to play items at instant speed from the top of her deck, giving her access to 5 or 6 card hands. The downside is that if those items find their way into your hand, you will have trouble blocking, as she starts at 18 life.
Items Galore
Bright Lights introduced a whole new plethora of items with crank, a mechanic that allows you to play an item with one less steam counter in exchange for an action point. You can stack action points by cranking an item which was played as an instant from the top of the deck! The extra action point can be used to attack with the Symbiosis Shot an additional time, as it does not have a “once per turn” clause.
Boom Grenade, Mini Force Field and Hadron Collider are probably some of the best common items for Dash. Boom Grenade basically forces blocks if you’re at life parity with your opponent, and also has the added upside of being played as an instant from the top of your deck in the reaction step to sneak in an extra 4 damage if your opponent decides not to fully block an attack.
Mini Force Field is like an Oasis Respite if played at instant speed using Dash’s ability, or you can play it at as a chain ender as it basically gains you 4 life.
Hadron Collider is usually a +3 to the next attack you boost, and in some cases a +4 if played off the top of your deck, generally an on rate effect for the red version.
You might be wondering how consistent can Dash be, if she relies on the top of her deck being an item?
There are a few ways to make Dash more consistent; one of them is by drafting these Evos:
This is a really strong Evo for Dash. Its ability is similar to Ragamuffin’s Hat, as it draws you an extra card while placing an item that was originally in your hand on the top of your deck, ready to be played as an instant with Dash’s ability.
The Evo Cogspitter is also another great equipment. This allows you to flash in powerful items like Boom Grenades and Mini Force Fields from hand on demand. Granted, this effect will likely be once per game, but it is also an equipment that blocks for 2 once its ability is used.
Full Speed Ahead
Dash also utilizes a few boost cards. Boosting also allows you to get rid of non-items from the top of your deck, increasing the chances you’ll find an item on top.
Data Link and Dive Though Data are the “on hit - opt” cards of the set. It allows Dash to see 3 cards deeper into her deck potentially and as such, can be a relevant on hit that opponents might feel pressured to block.
As Dash, you’re most likely to have items to put from hand with the on hit effect of these cards. Just holding at least 1 card in hand while Expedite or MetEx is on the combat chain will result in a full block from the opponent most of the time. The amount of value you can get if these hit can snowball games in your favour, so your opponent always has to respect these attacks.
Scraps for Sale
Most of the scrap cards provide good value and are generally good for all three heroes, but this one has the most use in Dash, as you’re likely to have at least one item on the arena at any point in the game.
I won’t lie, a lot of Dash’s cards are very hard to evaluate in draft just based on sealed experience alone. That said, I think she is a very interesting hero to draft, and it might take a few drafts to determine which cards or items are important for her, the general rule of thumb regarding her ability to play items as instants will always be stronger on your own turn rather than the opponents’. Having perfect information on the top of your deck also allows you to avoid boosting away key cards in different matchups.
Maxx Nitro
The third and final hero in Bright Lights, Maxx is the aggressive boost deck of the format. His playstyle resembles Fai from Uprising, as both heroes at minimum can turn a 2 card hand (0 cost 3 attack and any blue pitch) into 7 points of value.
Gotta go Fast
Generally the 1 for 4 boost cards are great in Maxx Nitro, as you can do a 2 card 8 value play as long as you have a Hyper Driver on at least 1 steam counter. The 2 for 5 attacks are decent filler that you’ll always have in your draft, but sadly they do not fit the general cost curve of your turns where you’ll boost, activate Maxx to crank and swing with Banksy, unless you have 2 Hyper Drivers on board. 0 for 3 attacks are kind of also filler in Maxx, as they do not present a breakpoint and having too many 0 for 3s is a sure fire way to lose to fatigue as your attacks do not present a breakpoint.
The other synergistic boost cards like Crankshaft and Big Bertha, while they do provide value when they’re boosted away, aren’t the kind of cards you’re looking to pick early. You’ll usually end up with 3-4 of them as they are mostly just filler.
Pump it Up
Maxx is vulnerable to fatigue strategies in limited. As such, non attack actions that buff up the next boosted attack are very important. They function as a 1 for 4, but since they do not require you to boost, they help you shore up card equity. Combining these with an on hit can also be devastating for your opponent. Re-Charge! is probably the best of the three, as the extra steam counter on a Hyper Driver “refunds” the 1 point of resource used to play it, making it technically a 0 for 4.
Quickfire has the upside of becoming a 0 for 4 if you control 2 or more Hyper Drivers. Usually it is played as a 1 cost +4 to your next boosted attack, which is pretty decent and exactly the kind of card you want to be looking for when drafting Maxx.
Lastly, we have Gas Up as part of the common cycle of non-attacks that buff the next boosted attack. The ceiling of Gas Up is insanely high. If you somehow manage to banish a Hyper Driver, red Gas Up provides up to 8 points of value if we’re being optimistic (4 from the attack buff, 3 from the resources off Hyper Driver, 1 for being able to play a Hyper Driver for free). With all that said, even without a Hyper Driver in banish, this card is still a 1 for 4.
Pushing more Damage
Other than non-attack action buffs, Maxx can also use some of the items to great effect. Overload Script is generally good as it fulfils the crank requirement to swing Banksy, threatening another turn of overpower if Banksy hits. The same reasoning is applied to Boom Grenade, where if your opponent blocks your attack actions to prevent Boom Grenade’s on hit, if they cannot defend Banksy, you can put a steam counter on the Grenade to keep it up for 1 more turn. Hadron Collider basically buffs the next boosted attack by 3, which is also decent since it also turns on Banksy.
When drafting Maxx, always be looking for cards that make blocking difficult for your opponent, or cards that generate value, as you’re the deck most susceptible to fatigue. The rare cycle of red cards that gain bonus effects if you’ve boosted 2 or more times is also effective at pushing damage.
Final Thoughts
I hope this writeup has given you a rough idea of what each hero is looking to do in draft, and which are the important commons in this format. Granted, this primer might not be the most accurate as this set is full of cards that can be hard to evaluate in a vacuum. As such, I will be releasing a full set review of Bright Lights in about week or two, so keep an eye for that!
Oh, and I’ll be at the Calling: Taipei in less than a week, so see you there!
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Until next time!