Zendikar Sealed

[Jak]

I'm going to one tomorrow and I was wondering if anyone did some Sealed today with Zen. How did it go? What did you run with? What colors are awesome? What cards are awesome?

[Hightower]

I played at a pre-release yesterday, was great fun indeed..

Well, it really depends on what you open in your 6 boosters, what bombs you get etc etc. but Landfall is obviously insane in limited. Fx if you can go red and get a Plated Geopede DO IT! The "Ally" theme can also be good if you get a rare Ally and/or some of the good common ones (Umara Raptor and Oran-Rief Survivalist), other then that it's just your normal intuition.. what cards seem good, use those and pray you don't open alot of lands as your rare cards (I opened 3 =()

So.. Cards with Landfall are insane - Allies can be good. Good luck.

[JeroenC]

Draft pointers are welcome too. I'll try forcing BR aggro, but other plans are welcome.

[Nihil Credo]

There are fairly few sources of CA in this format, and the usually high land count doesn't help. So, unless you're not going for a very tempo list, which in Sealed is probably even harder to pull off then in Draft, pay attention to those opportunities. Summoner's Bane is fine, Khalni Gem is good, Soul Stair Expedition is really good, etc., and obviously almost every Kicker creature is valuable as it's pretty easy to get a 2-for-1 (including Kor Sanctifiers/Mold Shamblers given all the targets in the format, some of which are really dangerous, e.g. uncommon Trusty Machete, common Exile to Nowhere, and plenty of Ascension. As a matter of fact, Disenchant effects are very maindeckable in Zendikar).

[Ectoplasm]

Don't forget less obvious bombs like harrow, khalni heart expedition and explorer's scope which all count as giant growth effects for your cheapass landfall dudes :D
Also, as it stands, disfigure is really good since it instakills pretty much every ally, kor and landfall dude.
Of course the obvious ones like gatekeeper of malakir, mold shambler, heartstabber mosquito and kor sanctifiers which generate 2-for-1's all around.

[majikal]

I missed the sealed portion of the prerelease here, but from the drafts that I won I can tell you that UW is a really good combination, and that guys with 3-toughness will get you there. Oh and maindeck Kor Sanctifiers, because there is always going to be a target.

[rockout]

I played RGW. I would advise staying away from W and trying mainly Blue for lots of amazing flyers and red has a ton of decent removal in the common slot like 2R sorcery sac a land deal 5 damage to target creature. I like the U 0/2 that has the landfall ability to mill 3 cards and the 4 drop 2/2 flyer that gets +2/+2 landfall. I came to realize that I won most games when I was able to get a 3/3 or up onto the field and I lost most games when they had a 3/3 or bigger. Also, almost every enchantment in the format is good and should probably be played if you see them.

[niknight]

I ran 4c good stuff with Harrow, 2x khalni and an explorer's scope with about 4 on color tap duals. My mana was fine... my ability to kill guys wasn't. I knew my day was over during my last game of round 3 when I drew exactly 0 creatures in the top 21 cards of my library. On the plus side, out of my "pity pack", I pulled an NM- Revised Trop, so my day wasn't all bad.

It seems like there is less removal in this format compared to others. Most sealed decks I saw at the pre-rel had at most 3 removal spells (a large number only got 1), so you really have to ration it.

Also, the flyers in this set are generally fantastic as they survive most of the removal in the format.

[DragoFireheart]

Plated Geopede really sucks when you are facing it...

[Jeff Kruchkow]

I really enjoyed when I played in the sealed (although i prefer draft). Color wise i went RB aggro because if you get some decent removal, cheap dudes will get there. However, in draft if you can get 2+ harrow, then G/x is sick. I lost several games to not blocking a steppe lynx and getting harrowed. Speaking of which, the lynx is savage. Ill probably look at BW if i draft ince hagra croc and the cheap white fliers seem really really good.

[paK0]

Played prerelease sealed yesterday and i hated it.

I really don't like Zendikar, I'll most likely stay away from Drafts as well.

[rockout]

What do you think the absolute first picks are? I'm probably going to draft for my fetches so I'm trying to compile a decent list of first picks or cards that are underrated commons/uncommons or even those 5+ equipment floating around.

[Media314r8]

A bog part of my color pie analysis is the amount of removal in each color, as I really have a bad habbit of playing synergistic decks of commons/uncommons and hate losing to topdecked bombs. Having answers and keeping the beats flowing is a must.

Removal at common/uncommon:

White: 2 reliable removal
Common:
Journey to Nowhere
Uncommon:
Arrow Volley Trap (this card is actually really awful.
Pitfall Trap

Red: 6 reliable removal
Common:
Burst Lightning
Magma Rift
Spire Barrage
Torch Slinger
Uncommon:
Inferno Trap
Murasa Pyromancer (needs a decent ally backing, but insane once he starts going)
Punishing Fire

Blue: 1 reliable removal, 2 bounce, 2 counters
Common:
Cancel (good luck having a proactive 1UU open with lacerators and tons of bears in the format, this is more of a late game insurance policy against bombs if you're playing RU or UB)
Into the Roil (a possible 2-for-1, as some of the auras are very maindeckable, and card neutrality if kicked for tempo)
Whiplash Trap (I'm not sold on this yet, it's great on the play if you have gas, but very mediocre if you're in a stalemate, or on the draw. I have yet to have this be payed for it's trap cost)
Paralyzing Grasp (great removal if you played any M10, you can sympathize with having to make do with entangling vines. This costs 1 less, is in a defensive color, and lacks the 'enchant tapped creature' clause, allowing you to proactivly remove bombs, though there are no tapping pingers/royal assasins in this set, so it seems like it would have been better placed in M10. Still the only REAL removal in blue)
Uncommon:
Summoner's Bane (situational mystic snake, but CA in this format is CA)

Black: 2 reliable removal spells
Common:
Disfigure
Hideous End
Heartstabber Mosquito (i played this all day, and it was always a 2/2 flyer and was commonly sided out, 7 freaking mana for a kill spell is steep when 6/6 baloths realisticly come down as early as turn four.)
Mire Blight (just absolutely terrible, 2-for-1s the WRONG way are horrible in a set with few sources of CA)
Uncommon:
Feast of Blood (very situational, only for a forced draft, but these will go late if there are any in your pod)
Gatekeeper of Malakir (better be HARD black or it had better be turn 5+ if you plan on playing him with kicker)

Green doesn't have removal, but makes up it with cards like the common vines of vastwood, which you should definatly expect to see at a pre-re and release event, so if you plan on shocking that 2/2 flyer/bear, you should wiegh the advantages of doing it during your opponent's turn vs the risk of being blown out with vines and taking an unexpected 6 more damage than you thought you'd be taking. I tend to play removal at sorcerry speed/when my opponent taps out if I notice a lone forest being left untapped frequently. Harrow is the nuts, and an early pick, but I must warn you about Khalni Heart Expedition, it looks great at first glance, but beware: this alluring CA card that may trigger a few landfall guys, but happens turn five at the earliest, and doen't affect your mana production until turn six, is a horrible topdeck at any point after turn three, and will generally make you want to hang yourself for playing it MD. I played it in one sealed pool where I needed to hit WW on arrow trap and World Queller in my secondary color as well as my blue splash, but I would advise against it in most decks. Try it, test it, or barring that, play with it and you will learn. Green does have many large guys and deep playable commons, including the allways amazing Mold Shambler. I would recommend green be included in your sealed pool or draft unless you have a super-aggro RB pool or the early makings of a good, controlling Ub or Ur draft.

My records so far:
3-0-1 for finals split with Gr aggro beats in 16 man midnight draft
4-2 for prize with a GWu in a 30 man mediocre sealed pool
4-0-1 for finals with RB aggro split in a 28 man sealed

My favorite archetype has to be RB aggro, but my sealed pool had 3 (!!!) lacerators, Hideous Ends, and Goblin Shortcutters, but was all commons with two uncommon equips, torch and machette (which is usually a first-third pick in draft). Pay heed to your bombs, but I went undefeated with my fast, consistant RB aggro deck rather than play my on color green bombs of Gigantaform, Terra Stomper, Beastmaster Ascension, and 2x Vastwood Gorger, as I had only 1 mana fixer and an erratic curve.

[beastman]

Open some power and I think you just win. Other than that, white was looking kind of strong.

[Atwa]

I just got back from the prerelease, I did fairly well going 3-2, ending 11th out of 42. Considering the last sealed I played was the prerelease of Mirrodin, I have nothing to complain about.

My deck was BGr, with a few allies and 2x that 4/2 swampwalk guy, almost everyone played black over here.

I have to agree that Plated Geopede is pretty good, although I only saw it once and that was the turn before I went for the kill.

Gatekeeper of Malakir was pretty good all day, as was Inferno Trap (I hardcasted it most of the time). But the best card whole day was Vampire Nighthawk. A turn 3 2/3 flying, deathtoutch with lifelink really rocks. Considering I had enough ways to pump him, I was pretty pleased with him.

Here was my list with my impressions:
8 Swamp
5 Forest
3 Mountain
1 Teetering Peaks (decent all day, I'd play it every red limited deck)

1 Bala Ged Thief (took out some bombs, nothing spectaculair)
1 Hellkite Charger (this was my bomb, won whenever I landed it)
1 Oracle of Mul Daya (good card allround, too bad it's only 2/2)
1 Gatekeeper of Malakir (good removal, never had problems with the BBB)
1 Vampire Nighthawk (best creature in the deck)
1 Inferno Trap (only used it's trap 1x, but even hardcasted it took out whatever needed)
1 Khalni Gem (gave the last boost when needed, nice to return utility lands with (peaks) or to guarantee landfall)
1 Giant Scorpion (pretty meh. but a decent blocker)
1 Vampire's Bite (nice pump, never used the kicker)
1 Blood Seeker (underwhelming for a 1/1, but the few damage mattered a few games)
2 Bog Tatters (was very usefull, 70% of the field played black)
1 Disfigure (good removal, rather have more burn though)
1 Plated Geopede (good creature, but never played it when it mattered)
1 Burst Lightning (good burn, I really like the kicker)
2 Vines of Vastwood (very nice pump, never had any problems with the GG although not good when only splashing green)
1 Harrow (not much to say, one of the best green cards for limited)
1 Oran-Rief Recluse (was pretty underwhelming all day, should have cut it with hindsight)
1 Oran-Rief Survivalist (Was a bear most of the games, although I would certainly play it when I'd played more allies)
1 Territorial Baloth (Good overall, nothing more too say)
1 Vastwood Gorger (plain beatstick, would rather have another Baloth, but it did well)
1 Expedition Map (very good fixing for limited, but a little slow sometimes)

[Jaynel]

I played WG in Draft the other night with 4(!) Kor Skyfisher, 4(!) Adventuring Gear, and Angel of Emeria. Not any good removal but enough stuff to keep Landfall going and get in there with flyers.

[JeroenC]

I played a deck that managed to mull to six and STILL win turn five. Nuts. (draft btw)
Maindeck:
2 Teetering Peaks
6 Mountain
9 Swamp
1 Bladetusk Boar
2 Zektar Shrine Expedition
1 Surrakar Marauder
2 Crypt Ripper
2 Goblin Bushwhacker
2 Goblin Shortcutter
2 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Marsh Casualties
1 Magma Rift
1 Slaughter Cry
2 Grim Discovery
2 Vampire Lacerator
1 Burst Lightning
1 Torch Slinger
1 Plated Geopede
1 Vampire Nighthawk

Only went 2-1, because this decks either wins before the opponent does something, or loses when they have better creatures.

[Meister_Kai]

I went 4-2 at the Pre-release in Kentucky on Saturday, going G/R/B. Everyone was playing green because a lot of the green landfall guys are insane.

I would say that the usual draft/sealed archetypes are still good here, such as U/W which is basically always good (if you get the cards) no matter what anyone says.

My deck was pretty good, from memory I had heart stabber mosquito, the 3GGG can't be countered 8/8 trample, punishing flame, hideous end, the green land faller that gets +4/+4 and trample for each land, HARROW(!!)...

I lost round 3 to a guy who went U/W (my favorite limited archetype...) who splashed G for Scute Mob. His fucking 2U: tap a creature thing got him there, along with plenty of quality kor guys (like the 2/3 flyer).

I got swept round 4 to a guy who had an insane W/R deck filled with Chandra, lots of good landfall guys, removal, and the white 3/3 for 3WW that makes people sac shit.

Every other round really wasn't close, I swept everyone else. However, thats sealed for you, its a crap shoot, either you get good shit or you don't. I'm pretty sure the U/W guy got top 8 (out of 100 some people), I got 25th.


Nobody at my Pre got a "priceless treasure" but some fucker pulled a foil Lotus Cobra. Bastard. I didn't get a single Fetchland or anything.

[Jak]

I played this...

1 Piranha Marsh
1 Turntimber Grove
1 Scalding Tarn
8 Swamp
4 Island
3 Forest

1 Expedition Map
1 Soul Stare Expedition
1 Disfigure
1 Tangleasp
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
2 Harrow
1 Cancel
1 Paralyzing Grasp
1 Needlebite Trap
1 Grappling Hook

1 Ob Nixilis
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
1 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Reckless Scholar
1 Hagra Crocodile
1 Mold Shambler
1 Bog Traitors
1 Shoal Serpent
1 Windrider Eel
1 Tempest Owl

Deck did well but sucked when my two bombs got removed.

[Arctic_Slicer]

This is the first time I tried to attend a pre-release since MorningTide so it was the first time dealing with their "new" but not improved pre-release structure. Long story short, it was the worst pre-release I ever bothered showing up for.

So my brother, his friend and I went to this shop that was having their pre-release around 5PM so we showed up at 3PM to register. Once there we turned away and told that he wasn't going to register anyone until 5PM so we decided to go kill some time and go get some lunch. We show back up around 4:20PM and the guy had already filled up all of the slots. We told the guy that he said he wouldn’t register anyone until 5PM and he was like “sorry, I had people coming in.” Which was a pretty poor copout considering the fact that we there at 3PM and turned away.

Anyway after all was said and done we decided that we weren’t ever going to that shop and again and ended up going to my brother’s house to play some constructed magic. Overall though was a pretty disappointing way to spend my day off from work.

I just wish the DCI didn’t change their pre-release structure; before they just had a big one that ran all day so there were no issues with limited product and you actually had a chance to play.

[xTrainx]

I went yesterday to my launch event...I ended up making a U/B Aggro deck. Flying with Nighthawk and Welkin Terns + Vampire Bite ended winning it. Had quite a bit of removal.
I went 4-1 in all, and won four packs.
Oh, and someone opened a FoW.

[davidboan]

I played acouple of sealed event on the weekend. I went Green/Black in the 1st which was fail but in the 2nd I went mono black coz I got lots of vampires. Sorin Markhov straight up wins games in sealed. I didn't lose a game that I got Him into play

[tivadar]

I went and popped some pretty good cards. I ended up running white and green allies with the following goodies:

White:
Day of Judgement (hmm, maybe I shoud run white...)
Emeria Angel (ohhh, white is looking good)
3x Kazandu Blademaster (yep, I cracked 3 in 6 boosters...)
Brave the Elements (to protect my blademasters)
Kor Hookmaster (tempo boost)
Kor Sanctifiers (optional removal against decks where I needed it)
2x Pitfall Trap (more creature removal...)
... Another Card or Two ...

Green:
Harrow (This card is amazing in a 40 card deck with landfall)
2x Nissa's Chosen (just needed more creatures)
Oran-Rief Recluse (my deck rolled over to creatures with flying)
Oran-Rief Survivalist (another 2/2 ally booster for 2... yep)
Quest for the Gemblades (this card was a lot better than I expected actually)
Savage Silhouette (when it hit play, it was game changing)
Territorial Baloth (basically the only big creature I saw)
Timbermaw Larva (it was ok, just need something in the 4 drop spot)
2x Joraga Bard (Mediocre, once again, needed something in the 4 spot)
... Another Card or Two ...

White was obvious from when I opened my pack, and initially I was thinking of doing both green and black, as I had a few of the one drop black vampires, as well as bloodchief ascension. I also cracked a Scalding Tarn, but really had nothing to go with it. In the end, I decided to run 2 colors and play a couple of inferior cards with a more stable mana base. Amusingly enough, outside of pitfall trap, I don't believe i had any 1-drops. My 2-drops were overwhelmingly awesome however. I basically only got baloth in the way of big creatures, but I was hoping that some of my enchantments, and the overwhelming quality of my other creatures, would make up for that. Apparently it did.

I played a 4-color (pretty bad) deck that managed to drop conqueoror's pledge both games. And both games I hit him with Day of Judgement immediately after. I went 2-0 against that deck.

After that I played against a black green deck and while these games were a bit closer due to his faster rushes with his vampires, my creatures outclassed his and I went on to win.

Third game I got paired up against a red-black-blue deck that played a lot of fliers. First game I almost won, but instead of playing Day of Judgement for a 4-2, I played Savage Silhouette aiming at a 4-1 next turn with me having about 6 or so life left. He responded with hideous end, which put me down to 10 life, which boosted his vampires, and I lost next turn. Second game I just got rolled with fliers.

Fourth game I played against a green white red deck. However, he didn't have my amazingness and Day of Judgement won me the first game, then pretty much emeria coupled with harrow won me the second.

Basically, I went 3-1 and won 5 additional packs. I also got good enough cards in my boosters (go-go fetchland!) so that I'm not complaining at all.

[TrialByFire]

I forced BR agrro in draft and it was nuts. 3-0 never lost a game. Deck had among others

3x Lacerator
2x guy that turns into 3/2 fear
2x Disfigure
2x Machete (2nd pick packs 2 and 3, these are definitely 1st-3rd pickable easy)
2x Landfall enchantment that makes 7/1 hasty tramplers
2x 2/1 goblin that makes guys not block
2x kicker shock
1x 4/3 red guy for 4cc
1x Gravelord Quest 5/5 zombie
2x reverse Soul warden vampire
1x Hideous End

And some filler random 2 drops. 16 lands. Was rediculous

[android]

I ended up with a pretty horrible pool which didn't have good removal in red or black. Green (despite pulling a cobra), had little to no mana accel to support a landfall theme and blue didn't quite have enough to warrant the control route. First build was G/W which was abandoned for U/W/G. No real play mistakes, I was generally just out-accellerated and beaten in the mid-late game.

Pool included (I'm missing a few here):

White:
Arrow Volley Trap
Bold Defense
Cliff Treader
Iona, Shield of Emeria
Kor Cartographer
Kor Duelist
Kor Skyfisher
Landbind Ritual
Narrow Escape
Noble Vestige
Ondu Cleric
Shieldmate's Blessing
Steppe Lynx x 2
Sunspring Expedition

Blue:
Aether Figment x 2
Cancel
Gomazoa
Hedron Crab (MVP - won me 2 games)
Into the Roil
Ior Ruin Expedition x 2
Roil Elemental (I would say this guy's great if he sticks)
Spell Pierce
Sphinx of Lost Truths (kicked him once)
Tempest Owl (never kicked him)
Umara Raptor x 2 (these guys would have been good if I had more allys)
Whiplash Trap
Windrider Eel

Black:
Blood Seeker
Crypt Ripper
Marsh Casualties
Mindless Null
Nimana Sell-Sword

Red:
Goblin Guide
Goblin Shortcutter
Goblin War Paint
Highland Berserker
Slaughter Cry
Tuktuk Grunts

Green:
Cobra Trap
Frontier Guide
Gigantaform
Joraga Bard
Lotus Cobra
Mold Shambler x 2
Nissa's Chosen x 2
Oran-Rief Recluse x 2
Oran-Rief Survivalist
Quest for the Gemblades x 2
River Boa
Scythe Tiger
Tajuru Archer
Territorial Baloth
Timbermaw Larva
Zendikar Farguide

Artifacts:
Adventuring Gear
Expedition Map
Explorer's Scope (probably my best card in limited)
Hedron Scrabbler
Trailblazer's Boots
Trusty Machete

Land:
Graypelt Refuge
Kabira Crossroads
Pirahna Marsh
Sejiri Refuge
Teetering Peaks x 2


After sealed, I drafted a mono red burn deck and went undefeated. All gobbos, red allys and efficient burn.

It was something like:

Bladetusk Boar
Burst Lightning x 4
Geyser Glider
Goblin Bushwhacker
Goblin Shortcutter
Highland Berserker x 2
Inferno Trap
Molten Ravager x 3
Murasa Pyromancer x 2
Plated Gigopede
Punishing Fire
Pyromancer Ascension
Quest for Pure Flame x 2
Runeflare Trap
Spire Barrage
Unstable Footing
Zektar Shrine Expedition
Teetering Peaks x 2

Quest for Pure Flame went off a number of times for the win.

[sunshine]

I got one in. My pool consisted of 3 of those 2/2s that landfall to gain you life, Ob Nixilis, the spell that makes five copies of a creature when it's kicked, a couple of the flying-shrouded-deathtouch vampires, plus tons of removal. Turns out making five copies of an ally is pretty savage.

[deviant]

All I know about the format is that I played BW ball to the walls aggro and my friend played WR balls to even more aggressively to the wall aggro and we split the finals of our pre-release.

Every guy I played complained how they lost with a so much better deck but w/e, weenie beats is good times when people try to be all techy and play too much lands to get land-fall.

So if you have an aggressive pool, go for it.
Apparently goblin bushwhacker is nuts :/

[RogueMTG]

All I know about the format is that I played BW ball to the walls aggro and my friend played WR balls to even more aggressively to the wall aggro and we split the finals of our pre-release.

Every guy I played complained how they lost with a so much better deck but w/e, weenie beats is good times when people try to be all techy and play too much lands to get land-fall.

So if you have an aggressive pool, go for it.
Apparently goblin bushwhacker is nuts :/

RW Aggro I think is probably one of the best decks in the limited format for Zendikar.

It crushed me at the Prerelease anyway, and my deck wasn't awful. (GBw mana ramp (<3 harrow) with a boatload of removal, splashing very little white for 2x Journey to Nowhere, some vampires, landfall fatties to get the job done, and that vampire spell that dome's people for half their life.)

I went 2-2.

Lost round 1 in 3 games to a pair of that crazy obnoxious Crab that mills you for 3 with landfall the turn before I can swing for the win.

Won round 2 against another G/B deck, Turn 6 smash you for half your life I gain that much, twice in a row.

Won round 3 against a RGW something or other, I killed everything he had and finished the game with weenie-kicker guys on the board both games.

And I lost round 4 to a beastly RW Aggro deck. Game 1 was close, I managed to win the turn before I was dead with the two damage from Hideous End. Game 2 he steamrolled me, I played one spell the whole game (turn 2 2/3 flyer, turn 3 +2/+2 enchantment, swing swing, kill your dude, swing, burn your face). Game 3 he peeled removal for my fatty when one turn of swinging would have forced him to chump with his last guy. We go into top deck mode, he wins.

[Pastorofmuppets]

Draft pointers are welcome too. I'll try forcing BR aggro, but other plans are welcome.

Surrakar Marauder with any equipment will quickly start swinging games in your favor.

[JeroenC]

And Goblin Bushwhacker is pure insanity.

[Otter]

I had two Zedkar Shrine Expedition and an Electropotence. It wasn't even remotely fair, nobody recovered from taking 14 in one turn while I was beating them down with Geopedes.