DFT draft kinda has a massive problem

TLDR because I went off on a tangent for what this post is trying to say: vehicles in the set feel bad to draft because—while they do do other things—basically every removal spell in the set kills ‘em which removes one of the main draws of vehicles, the fact that they’re a high statted creature for the cost.

Please note that what I’m about to say is based on 6 online draft games I had with my mates play drafting on draft sim. Obviously what I’m about to say is based on my luck and will likely be different when the draft hits officially on Arena but still I wanted to mention this as there’s something about this draft that’s irking me the wrong way.

Now then, first let me say I was one of the people who was looking forward to DFT—so I’m not saying this because I have a hatred for the set. Nor is this a post complaining about exhaust or start your engines, how those play out well have to wait and see when real, full games hit on arena and tabletops.

So what is this post about? Well it’s about this weird thing I’ve noticed while drafting that kinda makes the set fall flat in a weird thematic way: Namely, somehow, the set that is supposed to make vehicles feel strong has seemingly removed their greatest strength.

What does that mean? Well, it’s simple, vehicles owe a lot of their strength to the fact that they’re artifacts that dodge a lot of removal/wipes as they can turn on/off at their controller’s will. That strength balances out the other inherent weakness of vehicles: the fact you need someone to crew them.

Now I’m not saying there aren’t any strong vehicles in the set or that the synergies aren’t there, cause they are, my issue that’s rubbing me the wrong way is the removal.

The removal. Unlike in even regular constructed play, pretty much all of the various removal in DFT draft also hits vehicles—some very efficiently—which throughout my practice drafts has made it kind of weird. The strengths of each color I’ll leave up to you guys to decide for yourselves, but it’s a fact that the fact that the removal all hits vehicles for the most part is a really big design oversight imo for the quality of the draft.

Now I’m not saying that the set shouldn’t have had efficient artifact removal—cause it really needed it. I just feel like they went totally overboard. Like in my 6 practice drafts me and my buddies all had 1-3 good removal spells a pack/rotation and the fact that all of them removed both creatures and vehicles made us really concerned about, y’know, actually drafting vehicles as a theme.

Cause I mean, that’s like drafting creatures except they can’t attack or block without another creature on board, it’s very weird.

Here’s hoping this concern is totally bs and it won’t play out like that, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel weird to see “oh yeah also kill a vehicle” on almost every piece (not just a lot) of removal in the draft.