Seat Position Changes Everything: Strategy by Pick Order

Fourth pick has a bad reputation. By the time you place, the three best corners are gone, and you roll last on top of it. Plenty of players sit down in seat 4 and sigh.

They should not. Every seat has its own edge and its own trap. This lesson shows what each one is, and how to plan from wherever you sit.

How does the snake draft work again?

A quick recap from Lesson 2. In a four-player game, the order runs 1-2-3-4, then back 4-3-2-1. Each player places a settlement and a road on each pick, and your second settlement pays your starting cards.

Here is what that means for each seat:

That middle column is the heart of this lesson. The more settlements land between your picks, the less you can count on your second pick.

And it is worse than it looks. Thanks to the distance rule, every settlement also takes the corners right next to it off the board. One settlement fills its own corner and blocks up to three neighbors, so six settlements can take as many as 24 corners out of play: 6 settlements times 4 corners each. And they will be the good ones.

What should seat 1 prioritize?

The edge: you get the best corner on the board. You also roll first and build first, every round.

The trap: your second pick is the last of all eight. Six settlements land in between.

The priority: take what is hardest to replace. If the best corner on the board touches the only good ore, take it. Wood, wheat, and wool are usually plentiful, and some decent version of them will still be open at pick 8. The best ore will not.

Before you place, glance down the list of good corners from your Lesson 13 board read. Ask what will probably still be open at pick 8, around the eighth to tenth best corner. If all of those look short on wheat, your first pick should bring the wheat.

The good news comes at the end. You place last with everything in view. Nothing is left to guess, so your second pick can fill your gaps exactly, the way the Lesson 7 checklist suggests.

What should seat 2 prioritize?

The edge: you still get the second-best corner, and that is often nearly as good as the first.

The trap: seat 1 has already shown you their lane, and four settlements land before your second pick.

The priority: take a strong corner that does not race seat 1 for the same lane. If seat 1 just took the big ore and wheat corner, a second ore player is now fighting for scarce cards. A strong brick and wood corner, or a corner set up for a port, may serve you better. Then plan two or three backup spots for pick 7, since some of them will vanish.

What should seat 3 prioritize?

The edge: only two settlements land between your picks, and you have already seen two lanes taken. You can plan a real pair.

The trap: those two settlements belong to seat 4, who places twice right before your second pick and can see exactly what you need.

The priority: ask what seat 4 is most likely to take. If your ideal second spot is also a great spot for them, take it first, and save the less contested spot for pick 6. Keep a backup ready anyway.

Why isn’t fourth pick a curse?

The edge: two picks in a row, and nobody can come between them. You can build an exact pair: two corners on the same resource with a path to its port, or brick on one and wood on the other. You have also watched three players choose their lanes, so you know which lane is empty.

The trap: you roll last, and the top three corners are gone. Seats 3, 2, and 1 still place after you, so three more settlements may land near your spots.

The priority: plan the pair as one decision. Take the empty lane. Then protect your room to grow by pointing both roads at open space, since three more settlements are coming.

Here is what that looks like. Seat 4 watches seats 1, 2, and 3 all take corners heavy in ore and wheat. The best brick and wood are still open, on corners of 10 and 9 pips. Taking both makes seat 4 the only wood-brick player at the table. For the first several turns, everyone has to come to seat 4 for roads.

Lower pips, an empty lane, and a guaranteed pair. That is not a curse. That is a plan.

How do the seats compare?

In a three-player game the same ideas apply. The order is 1-2-3-3-2-1, so seat 3 is the one placing twice in a row.

Does turn order matter after setup?

A little. Seat 1 rolls first every round, so in a close race to 10, seat 1 gets the first chance to finish each round. Seat 4 builds last, but it also sees what everyone did that round before deciding.

The difference is small next to the opening itself. A strong opening from seat 4 beats a weak one from seat 1 almost every time. Your seat changes your plan. It does not decide your game.

For more on placement and reading the other players, see our guide on how to win at Catan.

Try it this week

Your drill: play from each seat and compare your openings.

1. Rotate seats. Over four games, take seat 1, 2, 3, and 4 once each. Ask your group to rotate first player, or just move chairs.
2. Plan before you place. Before setup, write down your seat and the corner you hope to get at your second pick.
3. Record the opening. After setup, write both spots, their pip totals, your checklist score out of 5, and your lane from Lesson 14.
4. Check your plan. Was your hoped-for second spot still open? If not, which pick took it?
5. Write your finish. Note your place and final score.
6. Compare after four games. Which seat felt hardest? Which corners vanished sooner than you expected? Next time you sit in that seat, plan for it.