Grid Draft for Three and Four Players: Full Procedure

Grid draft lays nine cards face up in a three-by-three square and lets each player take a full row or column. The two-player version is well known. The three- and four-player versions add one rule, refilling the grid between picks, and that single change makes Grid the best open-information format for a small table.

This article covers the three- and four-player procedure in full, with the pack sizes and pool counts, then the decisions the format rewards. The two-player version, along with Winston and Winchester, is in two-player cube formats; this piece does not repeat it.

What does the Grid draft procedure look like with more than two players?

The procedure below follows the MTG Wiki’s Grid Draft page, which gives pack sizes by player count and the refill rule. Where the wiki leaves a choice open, we say which option we recommend.

Pack sizes. Build packs from the cube sized to the player count: 9 cards for two players, 12 for three, 15 for four. The 9 cards beyond the first nine are the refill reserve.

Setup for four players

1. Shuffle the cube and deal 18 face-down packs of 15. That is 270 cards.
2. Seat four players. Number them 1 through 4. Player 1 picks first in grid one; the first pick rotates one seat each grid.
3. Open pack one. Lay 9 cards face up in a three-by-three grid. Keep the other 6 face down as the reserve.

Drafting one grid, four players

1. Player 1 takes a complete row or column: 3 cards.
2. Refill the 3 empty slots from the reserve, face up. The reserve now holds 3.
3. Player 2 takes a complete row or column from the full grid: 3 cards.
4. Refill the 3 empty slots. The reserve is now empty.
5. Player 3 takes a complete row or column from the full grid: 3 cards. No refill.
6. Player 4 picks from the incomplete grid of 6 cards. They take any row or column, which will have 3 cards if it does not cross player 3’s line, or 2 if it does.
7. The 3 or 4 cards left over go to a discard pile.
8. Lay out the next pack. Player 2 now picks first, then 3, 4, 1.

Setup for three players

Identical, with 12-card packs: 9 on the grid and 3 in reserve. Player 1 takes a line and the grid is refilled. Player 2 takes a line from a full grid. Player 3 picks from the incomplete 6-card grid. Three or four cards are discarded. Eighteen packs of 12 is 216 cards.

End

After 18 grids, each player has between 45 and 54 cards, depending on how many times they picked last and took a 2-card line. Build a 40-card deck with basic lands.

How many cards does Grid draft use?

A 360 cube covers all three counts. A 540 covers four players twice. If you want to use fewer cards, run 15 grids instead of 18 and accept pools around 40, which still builds a deck with 17 lands.

The wiki also describes discard grids: shuffle the leftover cards and draft them as additional grids using the same rules. It reduces the number of fresh packs you need and gives late picks a second look at cards nobody wanted. It is handy when the cube is a 360 and two groups are drafting from it at once.

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Why does the refill rule matter so much?

In two-player Grid, the second player always sees a damaged grid. With refills, players 2 and 3 at a four-player table see a full nine every time. Only the last player sees a broken grid, and the first-pick rotation means everyone is last every fourth grid.

Three consequences:

The last seat is a real position. Picking last from 6 cards is worse than picking first from 9, but not by as much as it looks. The last player knows exactly which cards the first three passed on and sometimes finds a clean 3-card line of playables nobody in the other colors wanted. Over 18 grids, the player who handles the last seat best wins the draft.

Refills create information. The 3 cards that appear after a pick were not visible when the first player chose. Players 2 and 3 are choosing from a grid that is one-third new. A line that was weak can become strong when a refill lands in it. Watching which cards the refill reveals, and whether they complete a line, is the skill.

Hate-drafting is cheap. A line that contains one card you want and two cards your neighbor wants is often better than a line of three cards for you. The discard pile makes this sharper: anything no one takes in a grid is gone for good.

How do you pace eighteen grids?

Grid is quick per decision but there are a lot of decisions. Eighteen grids with four players is 72 picks and 36 refills. Thirty to forty minutes is normal; fifty if the table talks.

• Lay out the next grid while players shuffle picks. One person is the dealer for the night. They deal the next 9 while the last player of the previous grid is finishing.
• A ten-second clock. Players 1 through 3 see a full grid and can usually decide in ten seconds. Give the last player twenty.
• Sort by nothing. Do not arrange the grid by color or cost. Random placement is what makes the rows and columns a puzzle.
• Keep the reserve face down and off to one side. Players should not see refill cards before they land.

When should you choose Grid over Glimpse?

Both work for three and four players. The difference is information.

Grid is fully open. Every card in play is visible to everyone, and you know what you are leaving behind. It is the format to teach with, because a new player can ask “which line would you take?” and get an answer the table can discuss. It is also the format for settling arguments about card quality, because the whole grid is there to argue over.

Glimpse is hidden. You hold a pack, nobody knows what you burned, and the format feels like a normal draft scaled down. It is covered in Glimpse draft: burn two, keep one. Choose Glimpse when the group wants to practice drafting instincts, Grid when they want to think out loud.

Grid also travels well online. CubeCobra’s playtest page (in its two-player form) and Draftmancer both offer Grid draft, which makes it the easiest small-group format to run from a shared screen when one player cannot make it in person.

FAQ

How many players can play Grid draft?

Two to four. The MTG Wiki gives pack sizes of 9, 12, and 15 cards for two, three, and four players.

What happens to the leftover cards in a Grid draft?

They are discarded from the draft. Some groups shuffle them into extra “discard grids” and draft those too, which stretches a smaller cube.

How many cards does each player end with?

Between 45 and 54 across 18 grids, depending on how often they picked last and had to take a two-card line.

Can you run Grid draft with booster packs instead of a cube?

Yes. The wiki suggests removing the basic land and one other card from a play booster to leave 12, which is the three-player size: 9 for the grid and 3 for refills.

Nine cards and a small table

Grid draft with four players is the most open conversation a cube can host. Nobody hides a pack. Everybody sees the choice. The game is the reason. The people are the point.

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