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Pojo's MTG
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BMoor's Magic The
Gathering
Deck Garage
Today's article is a bit of a departure from the traditional "here's the decklist, you know what to do" format. I received this E-mail from none other than singer William Hung (so the Pojo staff told me) shortly after the Guildpact release tournaments requesting help with building decks in Sealed Deck format. I know that that was a while ago, but I do have lots of decklists to attend to and I can't give special treatment, now can I? (Incidentally, if you know when Guildpact was released, you get a good idea of how long a wait most deck garage E-mails can expect. A frustration I know, but the E-mails come in faster than I can write.) I was very grateful to get the E-mail, as I am a big fan of Limited tournaments, both Draft and Sealed Deck, and I participate in them as often as I can facilitate it. I'll be more than happy to share the fruits of my experience with you, as I consider the job of a Deck Mechanic to be not just telling you which cards to use, but helping you become a better player. And this falls under that category. Who said this isn't the kind of article I'm supposed to be writing?
Well, William, I'm glad you sent in this E-mail. Even though it's a bit of a departure from my usual format, I'm glad to have the opportunity to write about Sealed Deck, as it's the format that introduces many people to sanctioned tournament play at prereleases and release events, and it's a format that requires good card evaluation skills. I heartily encourage those of my readers who are considering attending such a tournament to do so, as it can be very fun and a good way to obtain cards.
Now, for a look at William's deck. William went for the Boros/Selesnya/Gruul combination, using Gruul's agressive creatures with some Red removal and a few Selesnya utility cards. He's definitely done some things right here:
1) He has 14 creatures. That's a good number. Plus Fists of Ironwood, Pollenbright Wings, and Congregation at Dawn can all help him get more creatures. In a format where games are usually won or lost by who has the most/best creatures, that's a good thing.
2) His removal consists of Viashino Fangtail, Devouring Light, Galvanic Arc, and Pyromatics. Boros Fury-Shield isn't removal, but it's tempting to count it as such since it can finish the game for you. I tend to count Gather Courage and Seeds of Strength as removal, since they can technically kill a creature, or save yours against a removal spell, or push through the last few points of damage to finish the game. That makes six removal spells, one of which (the Fangtail) can take out multiple creatures, which is also a good amount.
Trouble is, there are a few problems with the deck as well.
1) William's playing three colors, and his land count is 6-5-5 plus one bounce land, an Elves of Deep Shadow, a Wild Cantor, and a Farseek. The Elves are useless here as a mana producer (no need for Black mana), the Cantor is sub-par, and Sealed Decks should not try to play three colors in equal proportions. Two colors and a subcolor represented by a few cards is fine, but unless your tournament staff says you can only use the lands you open with the tournament pack (which hasn't been the rule in a while), then your best bet is around 8 lands of your main two colors, with 2 or 3 of your subcolor (splash color).
2) William has a Gruul Signet in his sideboard. I think he would've
 been better off playing it maindeck.
Now, that we've got that settled, I honestly believe that Red-White-Green probably isn't even the right color choice given this cardpool. When William says Blue would make a better third color, I agree with him. In fact, Blue seems deeper than Green in terms of material, so perhaps a RUg build is in order. The best multicolor cards in this cardpool are Schismotivate, Wee Dragonauts, Boros Guildmage, Streetbreaker Wurm, and Pollenbright Wings, and since Ravnica block Sealed Decks tend to be determined by the multicolor cards, I'd say a Red-Blue deck with a green splash for Streetbreaker Wurm, and either Battering Wurm or Fists of Ironwood is in order.
Here's the decklist I assembled from this cardpool:
1 Goblin Flectomancer
1 Wee Dragonauts
1 Boros Guildmage
1 Boros Recruit
1 Streetbreaker Wurm
1 Viashino Fangtail
1 Vedalken Dismisser
1 War-Torch Goblin
1 Glass Golem
1 Battering Wurm
1 Torpid Moloch
1 Bloodscale Prowler
1 Ethereal Usher
1 Schismotivate
1 Gruul Signet
1 Galvanic Arc
1 Pyromatics
1 Flight of Fancy
1 Train of Thought
2 Infiltrator’s Magemark
1 Fencer’s Magemark
1 Boros Garrison
1 Izzet Boilerworks
7 Mountain
7 Island
2 Forest
The deck I built features a lot of high power creatures, much like William's, but the Blue gives us Flight of Fancy, Infiltrator's Magemark, and Ethereal Usher, which can aid a Streetbreaker Wurm or Glass Golem in swinging through for the win. There's also Battering Wurm, who gets harder to block as he gets bigger-- a perfect target for Schismotivate. When building your deck, it's important to remember that you're not just picking the best cards, you're building a deck. Your cards should be able to interact favorably with each other. There are a total of thirteen creatures, which is a reasonable number. Removal includes the Fangtail, Pyromatics, the Arc, Schismotivate (if Seeds of Strength counts as removal, so does Schismotivate), War-Torch Goblin, and Vedalken Dismisser. Some of this is pretty situational removal, but the saying goes that in Limited, any removal is good removal. Also, this deck has Train of Thought and Flight of Fancy to draw cards. Whoever draws/plays the most relevant spells usually wins in limited formats, so don't underestimate the power of card advantage.
Notice also the mana base. Two bouncelands and a signet (yes, the Boros Garrison produces RW, and there are no white cards here, but Boros Guildmage can use it and bouncelands really are good), plus 16 basic lands. That's 18 lands and a Signet, which is a bit on the heavy side but there are some expensive cards in here. Notice also there are two cards that need Green mana, and three Green mana sources (2 forest and the Signet). That's considered the optimum amount; any more Green in this build and you're dividing the manabase too far.
One more thing that one should keep in mind when building a Sealed Deck; is how you'll use your mana later in the game. In the event of a ground stall (a very common affliction in Sealed deck), you'll want to be able to do something productive with your mana. The easiest way to do this is with activated abilities, and this deck has those in the form of Boros Guildmage, War-Torch Goblin, and to a lesser extent Torpic Moloch. It isn't much, but giving a creature first strike or haste might help break the symmetry of a ground stall. And it's not the most crucial thing to worry about, but it is useful if you can make it happen.
That's just about everything to take into account when building the deck. Hopefully this walkthrough will be a boon to all of you who want to snag an extra booster as a prize at your next tournament. Thanks again to William for the E-mail, and the opportunity to do what I enjoy best-- write about Magic and help people. Until next time!
~BMoor
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