The draft as part of the match
In many competitive games, the match does not begin when play starts. Before it, each side takes turns removing options (bans) and claiming options (picks). The options can be characters, heroes, maps or loadouts. By the time play begins, a good part of the contest may already be decided, or at least tilted.
This article focuses on the structure of those phases as a feature of competitive formats. The tactical side, such as how to build a composition inside a MOBA, is the subject of the draft phase article, and fighting game counterpicking has its own treatment under character counterpicks.
Why alternate
If one side chose everything at once, it would have a large advantage or the options would need to be perfectly balanced. Alternating turns lets each side react to the other. A pick that looks strong can be answered with a ban or a counter. This turns the draft into a game of its own with imperfect information about what the opponent wants, since each side holds some plans back.
There are several common structures:
- Ban then pick, in a fixed order. Each side bans a few options, then both alternate picks.
- Interleaved bans and picks. Bans and picks are mixed in a sequence, so later bans respond to earlier picks.
- Map vetoes. Sides alternately remove maps from a pool until the ones to play remain. Map pools are a common use of this structure.
- Winner or loser chooses. After a game, the side that lost, or won, gets the next choice.
What bans do
Bans serve different purposes, and the same ban can do more than one.
Denial. A side removes an option it considers too strong or too hard to play against. If a character or map is strong in general, banning it protects the team.
Targeting. A side removes an option that the opponent specializes in. If a team is known for one player’s best choices, removing them forces the player onto weaker ones.
Protection. A side bans the counter to something it plans to pick. This hides the plan and also protects it.
Bluffing. A ban can mislead. A side can ban something it does not mind losing to suggest a plan it does not hold. Because the opponent only sees what is banned, not why, this adds imperfect information.
Turn order and first choice
Turn order is rarely neutral. Picking first allows a side to claim the strongest available option, but it also reveals information, as later picks can respond. Picking last gives full information but a smaller menu. Which is better depends on how strong the top options are and how much counters matter. In games where one option is clearly dominant, first pick tends to be valuable. In games where counters decide matches, last pick may be.
Formats often compensate by tying turn order to something earned, such as seeding or side choice, or by alternating who goes first across games in a series. It is also common to let the side that lost the previous game choose, which gives the trailing team some recovery in the draft.
Across a series
Over a best of three or best of five, the draft changes meaning. Some formats forbid a team from reusing an option it already won with, or from picking something used before. That limit forces depth: a team with only a few strong options runs out of them, while a deeper pool does not.
This ties the draft to preparation. The side that has practised more options, or studied the opponent’s tendencies, can adapt across games. Studying professional matches and reviewing scrims are the usual ways teams build that depth, and the series length decides how many chances the draft gets to matter. A longer series therefore rewards flexibility as well as raw skill.
What the phase rewards
The draft rewards several abilities that are different from execution:
- Knowledge of the full set of options and how they interact.
- Reading what the opponent is likely to want.
- Preparing answers in advance.
- Staying flexible when the first plan is denied.
It also introduces a form of variance. A strong team can lose a game in the draft if it is outguessed, even before play starts.
Limits of the design
A draft can reduce diversity if a few options are so strong that they are always picked or banned, which is why game balance changes often follow major events. It also adds time, and a long draft can slow a broadcast. Some games use a hidden or simultaneous pick for part of the sequence, to reduce the reactive advantage of choosing last.
Reading results needs care. A team that wins many games might simply have the stronger draft and weaker execution, or the reverse. Looking at the draft and the play separately gives a better picture than looking at the win only.