I'm not an expert drafter by any means. I listen to the podcasts and do my best to learn the stronger archetypes for a given draft format, but I still struggle to make progress on the Arena ladder. On average, I draft between three and ten times per set and will trophy once or twice.

In other words, I'm your average drafter.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, however, because it means my experiences with each set is arguably more reflective of the broader community. My opinion about a given draft format is based on experience through a handful of drafts, not the drudgery of drafting a set multiple times a day. I'd like to think I've struck the right balance, giving me sufficient opportunity to experience a given Limited environment without overdoing it to the point of boredom.

As I reflect on 2024's draft sets, I, like many others, have formulated opinions about each one. I've listened to the aforementioned podcasts already, where hosts have ranked their preferences for each draft set. I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring, not as an expert in the field but as a "nobody" whose experience may more closely reflect the average reader's. Without further ado, I rank the six draft environments of 2024.

Number 6: Bloomburrow

When I look back at Bloomburrow, I don't remember having a particularly negative opinion of the format. Then again, I don't have many positive memories either. The format had a Core Set vibe that led to relatively uninteresting gameplay. It also doesn't help that I never earned a trophy (seven wins in Best of one on Arena).

Props: I enjoyed the flavor of anthropomorphized animals, especially since many of them were particularly cute. The mechanics were fine and the format had enough balance to lead to some diversity in play experience. While I never earned a trophy, my documented drafts on 17lands.com showed that I went 5-3, 6-3, and 5-3 in the set. That's respectable, I guess. Here's the list for my best performing deck - I do love how Blue-Green was a playable color combination in this set after having an abysmal 2023.

Slops: I was never all that excited when playing games with my draft decks. I would do my best to generate incremental advantage with synergies, only to get run over by an aggressive start from my opponent. For example, with the above deck, my wins would frequently take many turns to accomplish: one win went to turn 12, one went to turn 13, and one win even went to turn 15. Those were rewarding games. Then there are my three losses, which ended on turns 9, 7, and 7, respectively. Those optimal curves were always difficult to beat, and it led to a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

Bottom Line: I didn't hate Bloomburrow, but I didn't look forward to drafting it after trying it out a couple times. 4/10.

Number 5: Modern Horizons 3

Modern Horizons 3 contained all sorts of powerful cards and mechanics, leading to a juiced up, swingy format. Based on my performance, you'd think that I would have absolutely loved Modern Horizons 3. I drafted the set just three times, and went 7-1, 7-1, and 6-3. That goes to show you that it's not just about winning (though it of course helps). Here is my first trophy deck, which leaned heavily into the Energy archetype.

Props: Some of the set themes were powerful and fun to unlock. Energy was a dominant strategy, outclassed only by the well-built Eldrazi decks. There were some fun build around cards in the set, leading to some potential for creativity (at your own risk). I loved some of the throwback references of the set, such as Serum Visionary's callout to Serum Visions. The cycle of basic lands were perfect for this set because they tapped for colorless mana to cast Eldrazi, but also helped with color fixing when necessary. This made splashing (such as what I did above for Satya, Aetherflux Genius) relatively easy.

Slops: Writhing Chrysalis. Need I say more? This was effectively a 2 mana 4/5 creature with reach and incremental upside. At common! How did this card even make it through testing, I wonder? If you didn't have an answer for your opponent's common, you were effectively dead. Even if you did have an answer, you'd better hope they don't have a second (or third) copy! My other major complaint was the linear nature of the draft experience. It was fun to draft Energy... once. After that, taking every card that contained the word "energy" led to a monotonous, uninspired draft experience, even if the games could be interesting.

Bottom Line: I was nervous about drafting this supercharged set, but I ended up doing well with it. Still, it lost its luster very quickly due to linear draft nature and overpowered commons and uncommons. Final score: 5/10.

Number 4: Foundations

Foundations was intended to be a simpler set as compared to the other releases of 2024. With this in mind, I think Wizards of the Coast delivered a solid, enjoyable draft experience. It had some longevity despite its simplistic nature - there was just enough build around juice to keep me coming back to the format again and again. In fact, I've already drafted this set 13 times with the intention of doing another one before my winter vacation is over. Granted, this is partly because I don't like Pioneer Masters, so Foundations is sort of the default format of choice.

My total record in Foundations draft is 49-34; it's not stellar, but it's not embarrassing either. I've earned seven wins only twice - the list below was my favorite, going a perfect 7-0!

Props: All five colors are viable, and many of the color pairs are at least good enough to draft. I appreciate how common removal, such as Stab, Bake Into a Pie, and Banishing Light are all powerful cards again. The format doesn't offer a ton of build arounds worth drastically changing pick orders for, but the straightforward nature of the format is actually refreshing in some ways. I also appreciated how the draft metagame evolved as Foundations aged - Green went from being the worst color to being solid (especially if you had Llanowar Elves on turn one).

Slops: The set can lead to some linear, uninspired draft experiences and game play. Like with many modern formats, it was easy to get run over in best of one if your opponent had an aggressive start. If removal cards weren't flowing your way, it would lead to some inevitably bad games due to lack of answers. Bombs aren't unsurmountable, but because the power level of Foundations was a little flatter, some of the high-power rares really stood out. Also, Leyline Axe is disgusting. That card's win rate when in a player's opening hand was egregiously high - I hope Wizards of the Coast doesn't do something like that again.

Bottom Line: Wizards of the Coast was aiming for a clean, simple set and they delivered brilliantly. The straightforward nature of Foundations limits its upside, but it was a surprisingly pleasant draft experience that had me coming back over and over again. 6/10.

Number 3: Murders at Karlov Manor

Murders at Karlov Manor was Magic's first release of 2024, and it started off on a rocky foot. The set's theme didn't inspire me, and I was admittedly uninterested in drafting the set too many times (I ended up doing 7 drafts). Below was my best performing deck, which went 7-0.

This is also one of the sets where the top-ranked mythic player's experience is significantly different from an average drafter. At the top tables, players complained of repetitive gameplay against perfectly curved-out Red / White decks. turn one Novice Inspector, turn two 2-drop creature, turn three Inside Source, turn four attack with everything and cast On the Job - this was nearly impossible to beat if you were on the draw.

Fortunately, if you were middling in the gold and platinum ranks, you didn't have to face this nearly so often, leaving the window open to experience some of the other decks this set had to offer.

Props: I enjoyed the mechanics of this set a good bit. Investigate led to chances to draw out of sticky situations in a longer game. Disguise was a nice enhancement to Morph, making the turn three face-down 2/2 creature play a lot less embarrassing thanks to the Ward 2 clause. Collecting Evidence was a new way of leveraging the graveyard has an additional resource, and I think the mechanic landed well.

The cases were a neat new card idea - they tended to be hit mor miss, but at least they opened the door for possible build arounds. While I had mixed levels of success, I at least tried to dabble in significantly different decks, giving me a well-rounded experience. In general, as long as you were avoiding the top levels of competitive play, MKM had a lot to offer the average drafter.

Slops: I didn't care much for the bomb rares of the set. Since I only did a handful of drafts, I never had the pleasure of drafting Magic's winningest card of 2024, Aurelia's Vindicator.

This card did it all and was prohibitively strong to play against. MKM's second best card, Izoni, Center of the Web, wasn't fun to play against either. If you weren't playing against the bombs, then you just had to fear the perfect curve I described above. According to 17Lands.com, MKM gave one of the largest advantages to the person on the play in best of one, about 53.5% win rate. This rate was eclipsed only by Modern Horizons 3, which had an even higher win rate for the player who goes first. This is a testament to the speed and aggressive nature of the format, and can be a major detriment to a set's draft experience.

Bottom Line: Since I didn't draft the set as much, and I wasn't good enough to battle the same Boros Aggro decks again and again, I was pleasantly surprised with this set's gameplay. Given between the choice between this or Foundations, it would be a toss-up. 6/10.

Number 2: Outlaws at Thunder Junction

I played more Outlaws at Thunder Junction than any other set in 2024: 16 drafts in total! That's definitely up there, in the same ballpark of some of my all-time favorite sets on Arena. My overall win rate was 57.9% across these drafts, including 3 trophies. Here's the last trophy deck, which earned me a rare stop at the Diamond 4 rank!

I barely remember what I liked so much about this set if I'm honest - clearly, it was one of my favorites in 2024 since I drafted it so many times. Looking at my draft history, it looks like I leaned very heavily on White, mixing it with Red, Green, and even Black. I had very little luck drafting Blue.

Props: The bonus sheet that contained a bunch of removal was powerful and added interesting variance to the draft experience. The whole theme of committing crimes was a major hit, and Wizards of the Coast struck the perfect balance of encouraging crime committing without making them overly powerful. The presence of the desert lands made for plenty of splashing opportunities (such as the inclusion of Laughing Jasper Flint in my list above). The format was fast, but the removal was effective enough to keep up some of the time. Plotting was another great mechanic I enjoyed exploring.

Slops: Bonny Pall, Clearcutter was miserable to play against.

This creature should have been a mythic rare. Seriously. Trained Arynx on the play was also difficult to deal with a lot of the time, though not impossible. The mount theme in general was fine; I think it was just the 2-drop 3/1 mount that bugged me. Lastly, I wasn't a huge fan of the outlaw mechanic since it was tricky to keep track of what was an outlaw and what wasn't. Shot the Sherriff must be one of the most frustrating cards to play with in 2024 because you were always surprised that an opponent's creature was randomly an outlaw. Seriously, they have a cowboy hat on and suddenly they're immune to one of the set's premier removal spells? Not a fan.

Bottom Line: When I originally rated this set in my head, I had given it a lower score. As I explored my play history on 17Lands, however, I remembered how much I thoroughly enjoyed drafting this set over and over again. That being said, I wouldn't put it as an all-timer. 7.5/10.

Number 1: Duskmourn

That leaves me with my favorite set of 2024, Duskmourn! The reality is, I didn't draft this set as much as I did OTJ - according to 17Lands, I completed twelve times and I had a relatively poor performance if I'm honest. Overall, I clocked a win rate of just 51.5%! Below is my only trophy, which did go 7-0.

So why did I like this set so much?

Props: The mechanics were all a ton of fun to play, and they interacted really seamlessly, making for a most challenging draft and gameplay experience. If there was a "expert level" set of 2024, this would definitely have been it. I think that's why, at the end of the day, I struggled so much with this format. I already admitted I'm an average drafter, and a deeply complex and challenging set like Duskmourn is sure to give me challenges. When do you prioritize removal? How do you sequence your plays to maximize effects like Eerie and Delerium? Which card do you place face down and which do you bin when you Manifest Dread? When do you unlock a room and when do you play something from your hand instead?

There were so many decisions like these, and I don't think I drafted the set enough to master them sufficiently. Hence, my sub-par win rate.

Another positive was the fact that the uncommons were quite powerful, helping you keep up with the occasional bomb rare (sans Valgovoth's Onslaught or Overlord of the Mistmoors, the two winningest cards in the set).

Slops: I have two nitpicky complaints about the set. First, I am disappointed the Survival mechanic was pretty much a dud. Wizards of the Coast could have given us more tools to tap our own creatures without having to attack with them. Perhaps that would have made the effect too powerful, however, so I can't condemn too much for their decisions. The second is that pesky background when you play Duskmourn on Arena. I could take or leave the theme of the set, but why do we have to have a sea of television screens in the background while playing Magic? It just seems out of place; at least you can turn the televisions off while you play.

Bottom Line: My favorite sets on Arena of all time are Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty and Ikoria; Duskmourn falls just a little short of these two. That could be because I didn't play Duskmourn enough to truly become a strong drafter of the set. Of all of 2024 set's, this is the one I'm most likely to revisit in an Arena flashback draft when the time comes. 8/10.

Wrapping It Up

That wraps up my draft set evaluation for 2024! Did anything surprise you? Do you agree with my rankings, or do you have a completely different list? Everyone experiences a draft set differently, so I won't be shocked if I receive a lot of pushback comments. At the end of the day, I've boiled down my rankings based on my own appreciation and enjoyment of each draft set. Things ended relatively strong, and it gives me hope for 2025.

As long as I don't have to deal with Pioneer Masters. Hard passing on that one while I wait patiently for the next big release.