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I know I'm usually a one article a week kind of guy but I just finished my first M11 sealed and thought that the deck was interesting enough to discuss at some length. Normally I find most core set sealed pools to be relatively straightforward, but this set of packs provided a number of powerful options and some great options for sideboarding.

Unfortunately I forgot to save a copy of the pool as I opened it, so I reconstructed it in my deck editor. Here is what my packs gave me:

 

 

The cards that immediately jumped out at me as highlights are:

 

 

Those are some spicy bombs! Air Servant is a little more vulnerable than Air Elemental was, but it more than makes up for it with its ability to completely lock down the skies. Considering that both Blue and White are very strong colors in M11, it's a good bet that fliers will be a big factor in many games. Serra Angel is a classic, providing excellent offense and defense. Grave Titan is on the short list for best limited cards in the set. It gives you a huge presence on the board as soon as you play it -- usually it's going to be a two for one by itself, and the zombies it adds are just icing. If you can back it up with instant speed removal or combat tricks it gets even more insane as opponents are unlikely to over block it due to the deathtouch. Royal Assassin is very fragile but if it isn't removed it makes combat extremely difficult for your opponent. In some formats it wouldn't be quite as big of a bomb as it is here. In M11 it's especially good because U/W is such a good color combination, and those colors practically scoop to the assassin. Chandra Nalaar is arguably the best planeswalker in limited given that she is reusable removal and if you can get her ultimate off you will have a very hard time losing. Crystal Ball goes into any deck and gives you immediate late game power as it all but ensures that you won't get flooded. Of course it also helps dig for the other bombs and allows you to find answers much more easily when you need them.

 

Blue offers some reasonable support cards to go along with Air Servant:

 

 

A couple of good fliers, some counters and a couple of bounce spells provide a respectable but uninspiring core. I'd rather not play two Unsummon main.

 

White's supporting cast, on the other hand, is quite deep:

 

 

White features a bunch of quality fliers, some tempo cards in Excommunicate, a Blinding Mage, several decent role-players and some combat tricks. I'd rather not play both charges unless my deck is very aggressive. That said, White offers a good curve and lots of evasion so an aggressive deck is not out of the question.

 

With both Grave Titan and Royal Assassin Black would have to be exceptionally shallow for me to not want to play it, and luckily for me there is plenty of good Black to be found:

 

 

Despite the combo with the skeletons I'd rather not play the Seers. The same goes for the Stabbing Pain, rats, and Bog Raiders. The rest of the cards though are quite good, providing both a solid removal package and some good early creatures.

 

I really want to play Chandra Nalaar, but Red is... well, core set Red:

 

 

Red is pretty crowded at the four drop slot, providing little other than some solid but uninspiring creatures. Shiv's Embrace is a very powerful card, but it requires a heavy commitment to Red. I'm not going to rule this color out though because it is very aggressive, which does count for something.

 

Lastly we have Green, which unfortunately does not feature any standout bombs. Despite that fact, the color is very deep and provides a lot of enticing possibilities:

 

 

Here we've got some acceleration, fixing, and no shortage of impact creatures. Multiple wurms provide some great late-game punch and the pair of spiders give the color great game against decks that plan to win in the air.

 

 

Deckbuilding

 

It took me the full time to decide on a deck, and clicked "submit" with the expectation that I'd be sideboarding into a different deck at some point during the tournament. In core set limited, I think it's much more viable to just build a "good stuff" deck than it is in a more complex format like Rise of Eldrazi. This approach is also more likely to work in sealed than in draft. That said, I'd still like to build a deck with an eye toward synergy and having an overall plan. Lets take a look at each color combination and see what it has to offer:

 

W/U: There's definitely some synergy here with plenty of evasive beats and some good tempo cards. That said, the colors lack any good ground defense and are pretty cold to anyone who can stop a bunch of small to medium sized fliers.

 

W/G: Unfortunately both of these colors' strength lies in their creatures, so when you put them together you end up with a deck full of decent guys but little else. Decks like this rarely work well

 

W/B: White's creatures work well with Black's spells, and Black's creatures fill some of White's vulnerabilities. The two Child of Night help build up an impressive early game while Grave Titan provides the game ending finisher that White lacks (beyond Serra Angel).

 

W/R: I missed this color combination entirely while deckbuilding, but now that I look at it again I think the potential is there for a very aggressive deck. Red has some nice early drops and White provides good evasion. The two Lava Axe and Fling get a lot better here, as do the Inspired Charges. In the end I think I still would have stuck with what I ended up building, but I definitely underrated this possibility.

 

U/B: While these two colors share many of the strengths of W/B, I think the White is pretty much just better than the Blue, which is a little shallow. If you pair Black and Blue I think you'd end up playing a few too many of your low end cards.

 

U/G: This color combination has the same problem as W/G. Not a chance.

 

U/R: Combining the two shallowest colors is not a viable strategy, especially as W/R would just be better.

 

B/G: Another strong contender, these two colors are a little weaker in the early game but make up for it with a ton of late game. I have a hard time imagining many opponents being able to deal with the absolute stream of fatties that these two colors would provide. While W/B provides a better start, B/G provides a better finish.

 

B/R: I don't think there is enough removal to make these colors work, especially given that the Black lacks any evasion. If the ground stalls out, I'm pretty sure the B/R deck just plain loses, especially given that the Assassinates are going to be very poor in this inevitable situation. These colors do provide the two biggest late game bombs, and that does count for something.

 

G/R: I don't even want to think about it. Green is top heavy as it is and Red is absolutely clogged in the four drop spot. No chance.

 

 

 So that leaves W/U, B/G, and B/W as the main contenders. I eliminated W/U first mainly because of the lack of removal. The W/U build is strong but not so overwhelmingly so that I felt like I could get away with only temporary answers to my opponent's creatures. I spent a long time going back and forth between W/B and B/G. The W/B deck would almost certainly be two color, but given the presence of some green fixing I figured that I could at least entertain a splash in the B/G build. The problem is that there isn't much that I'd really want to splash. All the best cards in other colors require a more substantial commitment with the exception of Air Servant, which is playable off a single Island but not optimal. The Blue was closest to making the cut as a splash color with the four fliers being possible inclusions, but ultimately I decided against it. I also considered splashing Chandra simply because she is that good, but this seemed like a suboptimal solution given that the B/G deck was already so strong in the late game.

 

Ultimately, I picked the W/B deck to start because I felt that having a better early game with a good late game was better than having an unstoppable late game but questionable early game. That said, I did anticipate siding into the Green version if the situation warranted it.

 

Here are the two decklists that I used:

 

 

 

Here's how the matches went:

 

Round 1 vs. danhowland

Game 1:

Unfortunately MTGO lost the replay of this game, but it wasn't terribly interesting. My opponent appeared to be playing W/G and played some solid but unspectacular creatures supported by Crystal Ball. I mostly held off his creatures with my own and played my own Crystal Ball to help me dig my way out of an early mana screw. Once I started to hit my lands I ended the game quickly with removal and fliers. My opponent did show me a mountain toward the end but no red cards.

 

Game 2:

My opponent elected to play first and kept his seven. I kept a hand of 2 Plains, 2 Swamps, Child of Night, Wild Griffin, and Royal Assassin, figuring that there would be a good chance that my assassin could carry the game. My opponent started with Rootbound Crag and passed. I drew a third swamp, played a plains and passed. He played a plains and led with a Blinding Mage. I drew Infantry Veteran, laid down a swamp and followed up with Child of Night. My opponent missed his third land drop but played an Infantry Veteran of his own. I drew another plains and attacked with Child of Night, trading with his veteran before playing my Wild Griffin (22-20, my favor). danhowland quickly dug out of his mana problem by drawing and playing a forest followed by a Cultivate for a plains and a mountain. I drew Assassinate and then played my assassin and veteran after cracking for two with the griffin (22-18). He untapped, played his plains and Fireballed my assassin and veteran right off the board -- nice red splash -- leaving a white open to tap down my griffin. I drew my own Blinding Mage and assassinated his mage after he tapped my griffin. I then played my own mage after combat. At this point I'm ahead on the board but have only a plains in hand to his four cards, all of which are spells given his lack of land drops past five. He drew and played another forest and then dropped his first fattie into play: Yavimaya Wurm. I drew a welcome Assault Griffin, cracked with his wild cousin (22-16) and then play him. I tapped down his wurm before combat during his turn, and he followed up with a pair of Squadron Hawks, one fetching the other.

At this point I considered tapping one of his hawks during my main phase to get in with my fliers, figuring that I could outrace his team. I didn't have to, however, as I drew Excommunicate, which promptly sent one of his birds to the top of his deck. My attacks put the life totals at 11-22, but now I've got no gas left compared to his two cards left in hand. I tap his hawk during his turn with the goal of racing in mind and he bashes me down to 16 with his wurm. He then follows that up with a Stone Golem, throwing a monkey wrench in my plans. I was running hot though and peeled Grave Titan off the top, playing it after attacking him down to 6. He played a plains and passed the turn back. I drew a plains and considered my options. I could have attacked with the titan and netted another two zombies, but this would have only resulted in a trade for the wurm. So I dismissed that course of action and instead opted to attack with just the wild griffin, forcing him to either make an unfavorable trade, chump, or take damage with the plan of tapping down one creature at the end of his turn and another during my next turn to alpha strike. Of course, I missed the obvious play of just tapping his wurm and bashing with everything, which would have left him at two and forced him to chump with both of his hawks.

Ultimately this mistake made little difference as danhowland took his own turn to peel one and ripped Day of Judgment off the top, clearing the board. I continued to draw lands off the top while he drew and played White Knight, Yavimaya Wurm, Gargoyle Sentinel, and another Blinding Mage. I found an Assassinate, but that did little to stop his army.

 

Game 3:

At this point I elected to sideboard into the G/B build figuring that his deck wasn't particularly fast. I wasn't worried about getting run over early, and the Green build was a lot more resilient to Day of Judgment as it featured quite a few creatures capable of ending the game single-handedly, thus allowing me to avoid overcommitment to the board. I elected to play last and kept my opening hand of two swamps, forest, Crystal Ball, Giant Spider, Garruk's Companion and Assassinate. He opened with plains while I drew a second Assassinate and led with a forest. He followed up with a mountain while I drew and played a Child of Night off a swamp. He played a second plains and then a Wild Griffin. I drew Grave Titan and attacked with the child, which he blocked (22-20, my favor). I followed up with Crystal Ball, hoping to dig into some much needed lands. He played a forest and an (Infantry Veteran and then shipped it back to me. I scried during my upkeep, putting a forest back on top of my deck and sending a Duskdale Wurm to the bottom. I used the forest to play my Garruk's Companion and passed it back. He produced a Stone Golem off a second mountain. I scried again during my upkeep and revealed a forest which stayed on top and a Child of Night which saw it's way to the bottom of my deck. I then played the forest and my Giant Spider. My opponent played a forest and revealed his lack of tricks by declining to attack. Another upkeep scry revealed a forest and swamp. I kept the black land and sent the green one to the bottom, playing the swamp and then passing the turn. My opponent played a third plains and then a pre-combat Blinding Mage before deciding to attack with his golem. While I felt that it was unlikely that my opponent had just draw a trick, I nevertheless declined the block given the fact that my life total was quite healthy and I was about to play Grave Titan next turn, which would be much weaker alone than with the two existing creatures to support it. I took five down to 17. At this point I was pretty sure my opponent was holding Day of Judgment, with the Blinding Mage play being a ploy to get my to commit multiple further creatures to the board. I decided to assassinate his golem and start putting pressure on him to turn the tables on that plan, so I scried during my upkeep as I would not be needing the full six mana. The solution was on top in the form of Disentomb, which gave me a major insurance policy against any possible removal. I also put the Royal Assassin back on top of my deck as well, second from the top. I followed the plan and bashed in for 5 (17-15). He stung me down to 16 with his veteran and passed it back. He tapped down my companion and took two from my spider before I played Grave Titan (17-13). Sure enough, he wiped the board the following turn with Day of Judgment and followed through with and Obstinate Baloth (16-17). I scried during my upkeep and sent two lands to the bottom before playing my Royal Assassin and using the Disentomb to get back my titan, prompting a quick concession. 1-0!

 

Round 2 vs. Crivors

Game 1:

Crivors won the die roll and elected to play first. We both keep our openers (two swamp, plains, Doom Blade, Assassinate, Infantry Veteran, and Royal Assassin for me) and he leads with a plains. I draw Armored Ascension and play out my veteran. He lays an Island and block's my infantryman's path with a Silvercoat Lion. I felt pretty good here about my chances given how big of a bomb Royal Assassin is against U/W. I draw Disentomb, play a swamp, and pass. Now I'm even more confident as it will take not one but two splashed removal spells to take out the assassin (my ascension dealing with any Ice Cage shenanigans). My opponent throws a monkey wrench in my plans though with a strong third turn: Mystifying Maze into Sword of Vengeance along with an attack for two (18-20). The maze is a pain for my enchantment and the sword gives him a way around my assassin. At this point, I'm hoping he is creature light. I feel that my best bet is to keep as many creatures off the board as possible and try to kill him quickly.

I draw War Priest of Thune, play my last swamp and assassinate the lion (I assumed that further creatures wouldn't get tapped, so using the assassinate now while I still could seemed prudent) after attacking my opponent to 19 with my veteran. My opponent untapped and passed the turn back without a play. I drew Serra Angel, becoming stuck on three lands myself. I evened the life totals at 18 and then cast my assassin, which ran right into Mana Leak. I think this was a mistake for Crivors as with the sword out the assassin is barely relevant. My opponent untapped, played a plains and then shipped the turn back. I drew Mighty Leap, attacked (18-17) and then cast War Priest of Thune and Disentomb to get back my assassin. This play might have been a mistake, but I felt that my opponent might continue to overvalue the card and devote untoward resources into neutralizing it.

My opponent drew and played a third plans and then passed the turn back. I drew a swamp and played it, then bashed for three (18-14) and recast my assassin, which resolved. My opponent then made a phantom beast - a decent blocker but nonthreatening given that it can't be equipped with sword - and then passed the turn back. I drew my Crystal Ball and elected to beat down by using my Mighty Leap to destroy the Phantom Beast before swinging with my team. Royal Assassin ate a Condemn, thus vindicating my decision to Disentomb it (19-11). My opponent drew for his turn and then tapped an island before untapping it and passing back.  I drew a Child of Night and attacked only to see my priest get mystified -- seems like an odd play for my opponent to turn down the opportunity to cast a spell in order to prevent two damage (19-10). Looking to keep the pressure up I made the Child of Night, keeping Doom Blade mana up. My opponent took the turn back and put an Ice Cage around my war priest. I finally drew a second plains and swung for three with my vampire (22-7) before dropping my angel. My opponent played a terramorphic expanse and shipped it back. I had lethal on the table, but I wanted to seal the deal and cast Armored Ascension to free my war priest, immediately prompting a concession.

 

Game 2:

Crivors elected to play first and quickly took a trip to Paris. I was happy with my seven (three swamps, a plains, Doom Blade, Assault Griffin, and Assassinate) and my opponent kept his six, leading off with a classic island, go. I drew a Child of Night, which promised to speed up my game considerably, played a swamp and passed it back. My opponent played his Mystifying Maze and shipped the turn to me. I drew another swamp and saw my child get Mana Leaked away. He quickly found a way out of his potential color screw with a plains and sent the turn back without any other plays. I drew a major spoiler in Grave Titan but had to make do with only a swamp for the turn. My opponent simply played another island while I followed up by drawing and playing a second plains and casting my Assault Griffin. My opponent made a Phantom Beast and sent it back. I drew another swamp, which I played, before attacking for three (20-17). My opponent returned serve for four with his beast (16-17) and then Excommunicated my bird to the top of my deck. I could have Doom Bladeed his beast but figured that my Grave Titan would stop it cold anyway and elected to save the valuable removal for a creature that actually mattered. With my opponent still showing Mana Leak mana, I chose to run the griffin back out there instead of risking my zombie factory. I took another four (12-17) only to see my griffin get delayed again by a second Excommunicate, which my opponent followed with a Terramorphic Expanse. At this point I decided to go for it and cast my titan, which resolved. My opponent cracked his terramorphic at end of turn, fetching a fifth island rather than a second plains. The explanation for this was made apparent when my opponent played a Harbor Serpent, threatening to double block my titan. Of course this set me up to completely blow him out with Doom Blade. Anticipating a double block, I attacked with both zombies and their maker, who promptly coughed up another two corpses. My opponent apparently sensed something fishy and declined to block at all (12-7). At this point I got a little cocky and passed it back with no plays despite my freshly drawn Infantry Veteran. He put my team to Sleep during his turn and crashed in for 9, but my Doom Blade took down the serpent (8-7). My opponent played out his final card (another island) and passed it back only to see me Assassinate the Phantom Beast. My opponent drew his card and conceded.

 

Round 3 vs. tommy_vercety

Game 1:

Unfortunately MTGO lost this replay as well and I have very little recollection of the game other than that my opponent had a bunch of guys while I had a bunch of guys plus removal. He did show me quite a few fatties.

 

Game 2:

My opponent started by choosing to play first and then mulliganing to six. I kept my seven (swamp, plains, War Priest of Thune, Assault Griffin, Disentomb, Doom Blade, Armored Ascension. My opponent started with a forest while I drew and played a swamp. Tommy followed with a second forest while I drew another swamp and played my plains. I decided to hold my war priest as I knew my opponent was G/W and I expected Pacifism. My opponent played a plains and then a Whispersilk Cloak while I merely drew and played another swamp. My opponent tapped out for Assault Griffin which I eagerly bladed away before untapping, drawing Infantry Veteran, and casting a griffin of my own. My opponent threatened to stop that plan with a Cloud Crusader, but I had an answer in a topdecked plains into Armored Ascension on my griffin and an Infantry Veteran for good measure (20-15). My opponent cracked back for two (18-15) before equipping his cloak and casting Solemn Offering on my ascension off a third plains (18-19). Next turn I drew a plains and knocked tommy back down to 15 with my attack. My opponent dropped me to 16 and passed back with only a third forest as a play. I drew and cast Sign in Blood and drew another two lands (plains, swamp) before attacking (14-11). My opponent took the turn back and played a Vengeful Archon off of a fourth plains before dropping me to 12. I drew yet another land and conceded after my opponent strapped his cloak up to protect his bomb.

It'd be easy to blame this loss on the intense mana flood, but in retrospect I really threw the game away when I used my Doom Blade on his Assault Griffin. I should have known that I wasn't playing a tempo game at that point and should have elected to save my best removal spell for the archon, which I knew he had. It was just about the only scary card in his deck. It's difficult to say if I would have won or not had I held onto the blade, but I certainly would have had a better chance than I did with my actual set of plays.

 

Game 3:

I chose to side into the green build under the theory that most of my small guys were outclassed by his creatures, thus giving me more value by playing for the late game. I chose to play last and kept a hand of two swamps, Sign In Blood, Disentomb, Assassinate, Doom Blade, and Greater Basilisk. My opponent also kept his 7 and started off with a forest. I drew Birds of Paradise and led with a swamp. My opponent cast (Silvan Ranger) off a plains and used it to fetch another plains. I drew Grave Titan and chose to go ahead and cast Sign in Blood (18-20), peeling Garruk's Companion and Spined Wurm. I discarded the companion and passed back to my opponent, who attacked for one (17-20), played his second plains and then used it to cast a Gargoyle Sentinel. I drew and played a third swamp and passed the turn. My opponent attacked me to 16 and then played (Juggernaught) off a fourth plains. I drew Llanowar Elves and used my Doom Blade to stop his artifact from bashing. He got in for one again (15-20) and cast an Assault Griffin. I drew and played a fourth swamp and had to pass the turn again with no play. Attacks brought be down to 11 and my opponent followed up with Llanowar Elves and another Assault Griffin. I drew a Child of Night, Assassinated one of his griffins and sent it back to him, who activated his sentinel and knocked me down to 3 before casting a Garruk's Companion. My deck mocked me by finally coughing up a forest a few turns too late.

 

I really can't fault myself for this loss. My opener was totally keepable on the draw, and I had no idea that I would draw almost exclusively Green spells and no forests despite the Sign in Blood. Still though, this was a frustrating match as I felt like my deck completely outclassed my opponent's. Still though, game two should have been winnable.

 

Round 4 vs. etienne goodall

Game 1:

MTGO lost this replay as well -- what gives? My opponent was U/W though, which is not a great combination for dealing with Grave Titan, and I won pretty easily.

 

Game 2:

etienne chose to play first and I kept a marginal 7 (swamp, four plains, Child of Night and Serra Angel. My opponent started with a Preordain off an island, keeping both cards on top. I drew Assault Griffin, improving my hand considerably, played a plains and sent it back. My opponent followed up with a plains and second Preordain, again keeping both cards on top. I drew Sign In Blood and made my Child of Night. My opponent answered with a second plains and Blinding Mage. I drew Disentomb and sent in the vampire only to see it hit with Diminish and taken out by the Blinding Mage (21-20). I played another plains and passed. He played a second island before evening the life totals at twenty and casting an Alluring Siren. I drew my Crystal Ball, played another plains and cast my Assault Griffin. My opponent put down a Mystifying Maze quickly sent it back. I drew another plains and cast my Serra Angel after the mage tapped my griffin. Unfortunately for me, my opponent had another island followed by a bomb flier of his own: Air Servant. Knowing that I needed to find removal and fast I went ahead and cast my Crystal Ball after drawing War Priest of Thune. My angel got tapped but I did get in for three with my griffin (20-17). He played a third plains and a Cloud Elemental before knocking me down to 15. My end of turn scry revealed a swamp (which I kept), and a plains (which I stuck on the bottom). I scried again and saw Wild Griffin and Assault Griffin. I kept the three power flier (possibly a mistake) and set the two power bird packing. I then used Sign in Blood (13-17) to draw the griffin along with an Infantry Veteran. My opponent tapped both of my fliers before I cast the griffin and took the turn back. He tapped my griffin during my turn with his mage and swung in with his team, knocking me down to 6. I sent two more swamps to the bottom of my deck during my upkeep only to draw another plains. With no way to stop my opponent from tapping my team, I conceded.

Keeping the Assault Griffin may have been a mistake but it was immaterial given that further peeks at my deck showed no removal anywhere near the top.

 

Game 3:

I decided to transform into the green deck again to give me more game against Air Servant. I again chose to play last and kept my seven card hand (two forests, Birds of Paradise, Assassinate, Sign In Blood, Greater Basilisk, Giant Growth.) My opponent started with an island while I drew Disentomb and led with some colorful birds. A plains from my opponent allowed him to make a Blinding Mage. I drew and played another forest and sent the turn back. My opponent drew and played an Alluring Siren off another plains and elected to mana screw me on my upkeep by tapping the birds with his mage. I drew a Giant Spider, played my third forest and passed. My opponent was stuck on three lands though and paper cut me with his siren (19-20) before making a War Priest of Thune. He tapped my birds again and I was forced to do nothing when my draw step provided me with a currently uncastable Child of Night. My opponent hit me for three (16-20) and passed it back with no other action. My deck provided a much needed swamp, which rendered the tapping of my birds irrelevant. Anticipating a Pacifism or Ice Cage from my opponent, I cast the relatively unimportant vampire rather than risk my spider. My read was correct and my opponent pacified the child before getting in for another three points (13-20). Etienne continued to tap down my birds but a second swamp allowed me to clog up the ground with my Greater Basilisk. A Silvercoat Lion from my opponent was inconsequential. With a threat on the board, my opponent decided to try tapping a different animal this time and paid dearly when the top of my deck provided Grave Titan. Etienne tapped the titan at the end of the turn after taking three from my lizard (13-17). He boosted up his war priest with Holy Strength but decided not to attack into my zombies. I drew another Giant Spider and attacked with my two zombies (one forced by the siren) and basilisk after having my titan tapped down. My opponent blocked one zombie with his priest only to lose it when I super sized the brain eater with Giant Growth. Assassinate on the tapper was enough to prompt a concession.

 

While I think this deck definitely had a great shot at 4-0, some bad draws and costly if understandable play errors left me with a reasonable 3-1. While I agree that this format isn't totally about bombs, they sure do have a heavy influence. With a mythic appearing roughly one in six packs (if I recall correctly) and fully two thirds of the mythics being either titans or planeswalkers (and one of the others being Baneslayer Angel, these heavy hitters are going to be a pretty major factor in most M11 sealed matches.