So I finally 6-0'd a VVV draft last night and I did it by abandoning my first 7 picks.

I opened a pretty bomb rare in Necropotence and followed this up with some good black and blue cards for the next 6 picks. Then I get passed an 8th pick Goblin Warchief.

This is arguably the best Goblin in the set and the only card I think you pick over this (if you are going goblins) is a money card. This led me to summise that goblins was open as no-one else (apart possibly from the person who opened it) was going into goblins. So I basically abandoned the whole of pack 1 and had 2 packs left to draft goblins.

Fortunately, Goblins was open and I ended up with an obscene deck. I went 6-0 and never even got close to losing a game. I even managed to beat a turn 2 battle screech in the finals (Sol Ring, which my opponent had (in foil no less) is busted). I managed to live the dream in Game 1 of the finals by going:

Turn 1 - Mountain, Goblin Lackey
Turn 2 - Plains, hit for 1 play Goblin Goon
Turn 3 - Chain Lightning my opponent's tapper (who had summoning sickness), swing for 7 play Beetleback chief.
Turn 4 win

So, has anyone else made such a late switch? Was it successful? What does it take to basically abandon a pack?

It's a hard, HARD call. I tend to force things pretty hard when I've got something good going, but I do recall a time or two where I was, by drought of the color I desired combined with exceptionally potent picks in a different one. I can't think, though, of a time where I thoroughly abandoned all my picks as you did. More often, It would be something in the lines of this: open with a serious white bomb and then take a few picks in white and red before finding white dried up, eventually resulting in running a black/red deck that didn't run that white bomb nor the few (potentially solid) supporting cards that I got early in pack 1.

How is Necropotence a bomb rare?

Yeah, necro is pretty bad in limited. First of all, it's triple black. Second, it makes you skip your draw step, which can become a pretty big drawback going into the lategame. Third, the card depends on your ability to do broken stuff with it, which you really can't do in limited.

I once made a switch during pack 2 out of mono-green (13 green cards drafted) into red / blue. It did decent, though not a winning 6-0.

~SE++

If you can play this on turn 3-5 you normally win. This is basically an uber dark confidant or phyrexian arena. You play this turn 3 say (if you are mono black). At the end of your opponents turn 3 you draw, say, 4 cards for 4 life. You will always hit every land drop and probably play your optimum card nearly every turn. This card was banned and restricted for being too good and that's even without graveyard or storm shenanigans (which are the obvious ways this card is broken).

I agree opening this pack 2 or 3 may not be a bomb but in pack 1 barring foils there is nothing in VVV that I would take over this (or even close).

Sol Ring is simply better. As is Empyrial Armor.

Necropotence says: you never draw a card again, unless you pay life. Against an aggro deck, this is a death sentence. Goblins says thank you if you play it. Battle Screech too. Even against madness, you can't hope to keep up. Imagine you're at ten life on turn five, with Necro in hand. If you play it, you will lose.

just to be clear, you never get cards from necropotence any time besides the end of your own turn. you can activate it whenever you want but the actual cards wait until your next end step.

Sol Ring is definitely more powerful but you aren't opening this and Sol Ring in the same pack. P1p1 I think I take this over the Armor.

Necro is for combo decks. You're not supposed to play it fair. Unless you have the nut storm deck it's terrible. Unless you kill them right away with the card it just doesn't do very much.

U/B is the statistically worst archetype. Blue and Black are the worst colors in the format.

I don't know where you get this idea of "you normally win if you play this turn 3-5" because I have never seen that happen and I don't see people play necro even in cube where you should be able to play it in combo decks. Also, the decks you said its bad against is the bulk of the format. It's bad against any deck that does anything, basically. I don't see why you'd want to play it.

I keeping getting forced int Bx agro decks. Seems like its pretty wide open every time. Usually have about 3 to 5 Carnophage even with only finally switching end of pack 1 or possibly pack 2. I remember beating someone else on turn 3 one game and turn 4 another game doing this. They hymmed me both games but when all your stuff is garbage and cheap it doesn't really do much to you.

I can remember at least one draft where I switched in deck construction. Got a powerful card first pick and didn't notice it had not actually drafted enough to support it or play that color until then. Though that does not end up going well.

British Falcon, what decks have you run that you have used Necropotence? I have seen it in draft many times and I think I took it once, mostly for the cool factor of having that piece of history. I did not run it even though I was playing black. I've also only seen one deck that ran it but it was at least a 3 color deck and the only reason I saw it was I hymmed it out of their hand because if they had tried to play it then it would of only helped my agro against them. I have never seen it wheel like I have seen many very playable cards.