Survivors of the Megapocalypse Review for Sealed
Part 1: Light
1.17.05

Pojo Note:  cecillbill sent this to me Friday Afternoon.  I was gone all weekend, and didn't get to post any of her columns until Monday.  I feel bad.  I'm going to spread these out over the week.  - Bill

At the Survivors Sealed deck release event Jan. 15-16th three new mechanics will be hitting the scene—Triple Breaker, Speed Attacker and Survivor--alongside a host of card effects that expand concepts such as making players pay more to cast their cards. The Limited climate will change due to the new mechanics and effects on other cards in the set. For starters, we’ll have a wider selection of 5-7 mana double breakers and a playable 7-mana Triple Breaker. If you’ve ever played Sealed then you know why I’ve made a point to accentuate that fact. We’re playing in a whole new ballpark, and to prevail in Survivors Sealed you should be flexible and realistic with the way you judge cards to include in your deck.

Part and parcel to judging a card's playability in Sealed is having an understanding of the current environment. When you look at cards to include in your sealed decks for Survivors consider how effective each card can be, on its own and in relation to other cards in your deck (utility and synergy), within an environment that is defined by: 1. Lack of creature removal spells, 2. Low & expensive blocker composition, 3. More deck and mana manipulation choices, 4. Mechanics that can be game ending due to the likelihood of being unchecked, and 5. Little chances to stockpile mana. If you play with packs from other expansions, then you may have access to more Blockers, quicker drops, and creature removal—but on the whole you’ll still be dealing with low occurrences of such resources. Before settling on a final build take a look over the cards you’ve selected and yourself ask a series of checkpoint questions, including:

1. Do you have at least 2 solid plays on turns 2-6 wherever possible?

2. Are your bombs realistic like Avalanche Giant or wishful thinking like King Tsunami?

3. Is your mana curve reasonable?

4. Is your deck 30 cards or as close to 30 cards as possible?

5. Is you deck more than half creatures?

6. Do your creatures have effects that decrease the efficiency of your deck?

7. Do any of your creatures have golden effects such as bounce, draw, destruction, evasion, tapping or untapping?

There are tons of questions to ask yourself and things to consider when selecting cards for your Sealed deck. Force yourself to judge the playability of cards through a Limited-play lens because certain cards have different value in Limited than in Constructed play. Your job is to assign that value as best as possible within 30 minutes, taking into account your entire card pool and what kind of strategy that card pool gives you.

Survivors Sealed Card Ratings

Cards are reviewed mostly for a Survivor Sealed Limited environment. Even so, my reviews reflect what I’d think of the cards if building a deck with any combination of the current sets for Sealed. My opinions on the cards are based on my play experiences in Sealed. Each Sealed event is different, and you should build off your own experiences as much as possible. Even if you’re new to the game, take my opinions of cards with a grain of salt—weigh your options in relation to your other cards and the strategy that your cards dictate. The final decision on what’s playable in your pile of cards rests on your shoulders.

Playability Rating Scale

Ratings scales used by Magic The Gathering players inspired this ratings scale.

Not Playable

These are cards that are best left out of your deck with the puzzle pieces.

Spell—doesn’t change your field/hand advantage, has ridiculously high cost, has an effect that requires too much of a “setup” or harms you greatly

Creature—cost is too prohibitive, effect too detrimental, requires evo bait creature you don’t have or have barely any chance of drawing

Low

Some of these cards you may run to help you play your bombs or help fill in a mana cost gap, but they’re not necessarily solid selections on their own.

Spell—doesn’t offer much of anything to warrant being decked over other cards, but doesn’t really have an ill side effect or too high cost

Creature—cost is prohibitive, effect detrimental but stands to harm the opponent as well

Medium

These are solid cards that are great assets to your deck but aren’t super-special on their own. Many are synergistic with other cards in the game (or set) and thus are better when paired with other cards.

Spell—offers some field or hand advantage but has another requirement to meet

Creature—usually has a solid effect but may be overcosted or require a setup, offers some synergy but doesn’t necessarily have to be good with other cards

High

Think creatures that seal the game, creatures that are cheap investment for the effect or power, quick drops and creature removal. These are the cards you want to draw and play.

Spell—basically any Removal and most Draw (trigger or cheap)

Creature—easy to play (quick drops), great effects for the price, late game bombs, effect hurts your opponent but not you and has reasonable price

Now that I’ve given some suggestions on how to judge cards for Sealed deck and explained the system that I’m using to rate cards, onto the review for Light.

Light Civilization

I’m not a fan of Light in Constructed. However in Limited I almost always run Light due to the mechanics, blockers and decent power associated with creatures from this civilization. In Survivors, Light packs the only early game Blocker, some slight evasion, Blocker/Untapping-Survivor synergy, tapping creatures, mana fixers, and 3 playable Double Breakers. I’ll admit that I want to crack open some packs with Light cards during the Survivors Release Event.

Le Quist, The Oracle

1500 power means it’s not going to stay attacking, but the chance to tap a Fire or Darkness creature to setup its demise is valuable.  It can also take out some creatures like an unpumped Blazosaur/Skullsweeper/Crow Winger, Jewel Spider, Kip Chippotto, and Rikabu. With several Light/Nature and regular Slayers running around in Darkness Le Quist could help you have more control over what those creatures take out from your side of the field.

Rating: High

Thunder Net

Although it’s 2 mana, in Survivors-only Sealed this spell isn’t going to be helpful until the late game. It’s tap effect depends on the number of Water creatures you have in the battle zone. All of Water’s lot falls in the 3 mana and above category in Survivors; the only 3 mana creature makes you lose 1 mana to play it and the only 4 mana creature is Rare. I’d rather run another creature.

Rating: Low

Notes: If you play other expansions take a look at how many Water creatures you have. If you have a reasonable number then take a second look at Thunder Net.

Snork La, Shrine Guardian

This is the cheapest Blocker in the set, and one that could halt the Speed Attackers Rikubu and Bombat. 3 for 3000 power is nice, especially since there are several creatures costing more than Snork that it can block and kill. Its second effect isn’t of real importance but could help if someone drops Cataclysmic Eruption when it’s out.

Rating: High

Calgo, Vizier of Rainclouds

Calgo has slight-evasion that makes it unblockable by creatures with 4000 or more power. Basically that means only Snork can block it unless Gallia Zolh is out. It’d snap it up simply because the cheap drops are far and few between in this set.

Rating: Medium

Notes: Other expansions offer cheaper blockers, so look at all your 3 drops if you play with more than Survivors packs.

Kulus, Soulshine Enforcer

I like this card for Sealed deck. You could beef your mana count and net a hitter with okay power for it’s cost and effect. Sure, straight 4000 for 4 would be better, but it’s still a nice hitter in Limited.

Rating: Medium

Glory Snow

Like Kulus it can fix your mana, expect you nab 2 mana off the top of your deck. It’s also one of the few shield trigger cards in the set. This spell intrigues me, but I’m not convinced I’d play it. It’s one of those spells I’d put in the “maybe” pile and for sure cut out of the deck to make it 30 cards.

Rating: Low

Gallia Zohl, Iron Guardian Q

Effect turns all your Survivors into Blockers, and without Blocker-hate that can go a long way. Obviously Gallia will work better with Smash Horn out (and other Survivors), because a good number of creatures can kill it once tapped and through slayer effects if it blocks.

Rating: Medium

Ballus, Dogfight Enforcer Q

It’s a stronger Toel that’s a bit stingy with its untap effect. Being able to untap is a huge plus for Sealed. Its ability to share this with your other Survivors will be nice too.

Rating: High

La Guile, Seeker of Skyfire

La Guile could dominate the game once it surfaces and its 7500 power gives you an answer to several late game fatties. A 6 mana Double Breaker without any ill side effects is extremely good.

Rating: High

Syforce, Aurora Elemental

A solid late game fattie and it can block a lot of creatures without dying. Just be wary of the slayers in the set. You’ll want to swing for 2 with Syforce if you pull it.

Rating: High

La Byle, Seeker of the Winds

I like this creature in Limited only. Its untap effect will annoy your opponent. It could block multiple hitters in one turn, and be left around to slam a shield. As with all the Light creatures, be mindful of the slayers.

Rating: Medium

Syrius, Firmament Elemental

It has 12,000 power, can block/kill a ton of creatures, and can break an insane number of shields. Insanity! If only it didn’t cost 11 mana. If only…because building 11 mana while ensuring that you drop something on more or less each turn past the 3^rd is a chore.

Rating: Not Playable

In my opinion the majority of Light’s creatures are very playable in Sealed. Light’s spells aren’t exciting, but Thunder Net is splashable if you have a fair number of Water creatures.