The morning started with everyone meeting up and hitting up those trade binders hard core. After registration, we started registering a sealed pool, then passed that sealed pool two seats over. We received this new sealed pool, verified its contents, then passed it again two seats to the left. This new pool we received, would be the one we constructed with. Fortunately, I had this sweet card to play with.
The mighty green planeswalker was as good as you'd expect him to be. He won every game he saw play in, which sadly wasn't that many. I also had a Geist-Honored Monk in my pool, so I decided to do a G/W token theme, which looked like a lot of fun. My record was 2-3 before I dropped after having some insane wins and very close losses. I ended up playing a lot of U/W decks or W/x decks that kicked my butt. Here are my field notes from the games.
I must say, White is probably the best color in Innistrad sealed, considering creatures with power greater than 4 are a liability, since most of the decks with W/x had access to Smite the Monstrous (a card I definitely underestimated). My big fatty green creatures got crushed by this removal spell, along with Rebuke, which are both Commons! I also think that Green is probably the weakest color, because it lacks strong Morbid abilities and creature death enablers, which are abundant in the other 4 colors. Furthermore, the Green creatures are generally larger with a higher mana cost than non-Green creatures, so the copious amount of removal in the format preys upon destroying your tempo by destroying these creatures. I also observed the power of 2/2 creatures first hand. Creatures with 2 power and 2-3 toughness were surprisingly very good and overwhelmed opponents that weren't able to put more dudes on the board. I think Innistrad sealed is very similar to M12 with respect to the power of 2/2s and it's very interesting to see the similarities in power level of these Grizzly Bears between M12 and Innistrad.
Evan Forster also researched Innistrad Sealed and tested a multitude of online sealed pools. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to post these notes before the PTQ here in Fl. For anyone who's preparing for upcoming PTQs out of state, these field notes might help you guys out more.
'With the PTQ in Kissimmee fast approaching, Innistrad sealed is getting a ton of focus. Most people consider sealed deck the most random Magic format. Any player could open Garruk Relentless, Devil's Play, or even no playable rare at all. However, you'll always have something worth playing in your pool, whether it be a bomb rare, removal, evasive creatures, or a flexible mana base. The main problem with the format is you can't have it all. You have to decide which pile of cards you can do best with and run with it. Let's take a look at some of the better commons and uncommons in Innistrad so far.
White: In white, you get some cool cards in the common slot starting with Doomed Traveler, a 1/1 for 1 white that replaces itself with a spirit token when it dies is solid and has synergy with cards that require you to sacrifice a creature. White also has its usual cheap fliers, such as Chapel Geist and Voiceless Spirit and has some interesting combat tricks like Village Bell-Ringer. My favorite pick for the best uncommon is Fiend Hunter, a card I'm never disappointed to see in my pool. Journey to Nowhere was a strong card in limited and getting a 1/3 body attached to it is a sweet bonus. My honorable mention is Mausoleum Guard that forces your opponent to deal with 4 power, 2 of it evasive, in 3 dudes for 4 mana.
Blue: Blue gets a few sweet tools too. Claustrophobia is one of the better blue removal cards and can help shut down an opponent's bomb or leave the way for your dudes to swing in for game ending damage. Blue has quite a few card draw and digging spells like Forbidden Alchemy and Think Twice. My favorite reason for playing blue is Invisible Stalker. And he's a HUMAN creature. His human creature type gives him all those little bonuses of the equipment for humans, including Butcher's Cleaver, which ends games very quickly.
Black: In Black, you get some solid removal at the common level with Dead Weight. Enchanting an opponent's werewolf creature, then causing it to flip will usually be enough to kill it. Vampire Interloper is an aggresively costed flyer and is very strong for aggro decks. Markov Patrician can generally trade with one of your opponent's creatures and gain you 3 life in the process. If you do manage to clear the ground for this lovable lady, she can quickly swing the game in your favor. Finally, the key uncommon for Black is Diregraf Guel, this SUPER efficient card is a better version of Grizzly Bear for black. Plus it has some synergy as a zombie with other zombie themed cards in the set, which, sadly, there aren't that many.
Red: Red is a color which usually includes good removal, and it doesn't disappoint in Innistrad. Brimstone Volley is a 3 mana lightning bolt, BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! If you kill a creature right now, it will trigger its Morbid clause, then we'll send you 5 damage for the price of 3! This card has given me trouble in every match I've played against it. Chump blocking and combat trades becomes cautious with cards like these because one false move could get you blown out of a game. Acting as more removal, you have Pitchburn Devils. Although expensive, it can trade with any creature as large as a 6/6 since it Lightning Bolts when it dies. I also like Tormented Pariah and Reckless Waif. These werewolves are on the sweet spots of the limited curve. Most players will have the most trouble playing spells on turn 1 and on turn 5, so it seems like both of these guys have a better than average chance of flipping one turn after they've been played. Good luck racing these guys.
Green: Starting right off we see is green removal, Yes, I'm talking about Ambush Viper. A green version of Go for the Throat, it can destroy non-flying creatures. Prey Upon gives Ambush Viper a run for its money as both best green removal and quite possibly the best green common, because of how much it can do in limited. It enables Morbid and is efficient and effective removal. Even though it does take a bit of work on your part, it's definitely a card that I would want multiples of in any green deck. Grizzled Outcasts is one of the most efficient double faced cards, a 4/4 for 5, which is not unplayable by itself, but has the added bonus of possibly transforming into a 7/7 beatstick. At uncommon, I'm looking at Boneyard Wurm. While not the next Tarmogoyf, this guy is reliably a big beater, especially in creature heavy decks. I just wish he had Trample.'
'With the PTQ in Kissimmee fast approaching, Innistrad sealed is getting a ton of focus. Most people consider sealed deck the most random Magic format. Any player could open Garruk Relentless, Devil's Play, or even no playable rare at all. However, you'll always have something worth playing in your pool, whether it be a bomb rare, removal, evasive creatures, or a flexible mana base. The main problem with the format is you can't have it all. You have to decide which pile of cards you can do best with and run with it. Let's take a look at some of the better commons and uncommons in Innistrad so far.
Blue: Blue gets a few sweet tools too. Claustrophobia is one of the better blue removal cards and can help shut down an opponent's bomb or leave the way for your dudes to swing in for game ending damage. Blue has quite a few card draw and digging spells like Forbidden Alchemy and Think Twice. My favorite reason for playing blue is Invisible Stalker. And he's a HUMAN creature. His human creature type gives him all those little bonuses of the equipment for humans, including Butcher's Cleaver, which ends games very quickly.
Black: In Black, you get some solid removal at the common level with Dead Weight. Enchanting an opponent's werewolf creature, then causing it to flip will usually be enough to kill it. Vampire Interloper is an aggresively costed flyer and is very strong for aggro decks. Markov Patrician can generally trade with one of your opponent's creatures and gain you 3 life in the process. If you do manage to clear the ground for this lovable lady, she can quickly swing the game in your favor. Finally, the key uncommon for Black is Diregraf Guel, this SUPER efficient card is a better version of Grizzly Bear for black. Plus it has some synergy as a zombie with other zombie themed cards in the set, which, sadly, there aren't that many.
Green: Starting right off we see is green removal, Yes, I'm talking about Ambush Viper. A green version of Go for the Throat, it can destroy non-flying creatures. Prey Upon gives Ambush Viper a run for its money as both best green removal and quite possibly the best green common, because of how much it can do in limited. It enables Morbid and is efficient and effective removal. Even though it does take a bit of work on your part, it's definitely a card that I would want multiples of in any green deck. Grizzled Outcasts is one of the most efficient double faced cards, a 4/4 for 5, which is not unplayable by itself, but has the added bonus of possibly transforming into a 7/7 beatstick. At uncommon, I'm looking at Boneyard Wurm. While not the next Tarmogoyf, this guy is reliably a big beater, especially in creature heavy decks. I just wish he had Trample.'
Major shout outs to everyone who attended, Sean Wang, Jason Daughtery, Evan Forster, Gyula Goreczky, Stephen Poindexter, Joe Biscuiti, Matthew Deyarmin (XP), and anyone else I forgot to mention. Hope to see you guys again very soon!
Interested in more Magic content? Check out every series on the MTG Casual Network Archive!
-David J. and Evan Forster
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Interested in more Magic content? Check out every series on the MTG Casual Network Archive!
-David J. and Evan Forster
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It was a great experience getting to meet both of you, and really liked the article. As for green being the weakest color in sealed, I disagree. I would actually vote blue as the weakest. Blue does have a lot of power in the set, but I think in sealed they become too situational. Green on the other hand is so versatile. It has a strong werewolf theme (also fits humans if not transformed), combat tricks, removal, and many cards that get bigger based on the graveyard. But I would like know more about how people used blue in sealed.
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