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By: MarcosPMA, nn
Mar 10 2016 1:00pm
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Hello and welcome to another edition of Sealed Success!  This weekend was the big Modern GP weekend and by the time you're reading this we'll have a better idea if there needs to be bannings concerning the Eldrazi decks in Modern.  I personally feel that it should get a ban no matter what because right now the meta is warping around this deck and that's not a healthy place for anybody to be in.  I know it's a different game, but the Force of Will TCG was at one point (and might still be) losing players because of one dominant strategy that warped their metagame around it.  Either you played the deck or a deck to try and beat it and it wasn't fun for anybody.  It was actually the final nail in the coffin for me and I left the game completely.  I know people who are taking a break from Modern because of Eldrazi and if they stay then that break might be permanent and that is not good for Magic.

So last week I wrote about the possibility of spreading out my Sealed League over a few weeks and after putting some thought into it I've decided to go with that route.  My first thought was to do one match a week but since sets come out so quickly I might not get to do enough leagues if I it takes 5 weeks to complete one league.  Instead I'm going to make each league last 3 weeks.  First week will be deckbuilding and round 1, the second week will be rounds 2 and 3, and the last week will be rounds 4 and 5.  This lets me complete the league at my leisure and keep my costs at a reasonable level.  If I do well in my leagues then this may change but for now I'll be sticking to 3 week leagues.  With all that said, let's take a look at the events for this week:

OGW Phantom Sealed

I've done my analysis of the pool in the videos, but I'd like to break down the deck I used using the three principles I outlined two weeks ago: Curve, Removal, Win Conditions.

Curve - Along the curve I'm able to make meaningful plays so in the early game I have cards I can play and in the later stages of the game I can make/draw more impactful plays.  Something that ties into curve is the ability to have mana sinks and use your mana to its maximum potential at every turn of the game.  Generally speaking if you're able to use more mana than your opponent can then you've done more to affect the board and in turn you should have a better advantage in the game.  I can sink mana into Prophet of Distortion, Blinding Drone, Roil Spout, Endbringer and Kozilek's Pathfinder.  Even if I miss on spells past turn 6 I can still do something with my mana and it's almost like I played a spell even though I didn't draw one.

Removal - Blinding Drone is my best removal spell since it can always take care of the biggest thing in play, giving me a lot of breathing room and flexibility as to how I plan my turns.  Fortified Rampart is like a removal spell in the fact that it stops your opponent from attacking with either one or multiple creatures.  Roil's Retribution and Planar Outburst give me a lot of leeway in how I progress my board and/or give me the option to dictate how my opponent maintains their board.  Tightening Coils is quite solid although worse against activated abilities and Kozilek's Pathfinder is pseudo removal against creatures wanting to block it.

Win conditions - Expedition Raptor and Steppe Glider is a very real combo while Endbringer/Prophet give me inevitability if the game goes long.  In a pinch I can hold Planar Outburst until I awaken it and play creatures afterwards.

I liked this pool a lot and it definitely has game against a majority of decks.

OGW Sealed League - Deckbuilding + Round 1

I made several different decks out of this pool but the one I ended up playing in round 1 was my W/B deck.  In the end I felt that W/B was too good to pass up based on the removal, with the only reservation being whether or not to play Ulamog.  Ulamog is a strong card that will likely win the game for me if it attacks, but at the same time it's only good late and can only be cast late.  10 mana is a lot of mana and some games of Sealed don't go past turn 7, so there's going to be some chance that I die with an Ulamog in my hand.

Curve - Curve is a bit of an issue here since I have a lot of 4s and nothing that costs more than 5 unless I play Ulamog and/or Deceiver of Form.  The saving grace is that I can cast two spells much faster than my opponent and some of those spells remove their best threats from the game.  Having three unconditional removals in 2x Oblivion Strike and Thought-Knot make my four mana spells much more powerful than they normally would be because the power level is there is a 5-7 mana spell.  Seer's Lantern does help my curve a bit as I'm able to scry away cards that don't impact the board anymore and increase the percentage of me drawing something useful.  In the end my curve isn't ideal but the spells make up for that.

Removal - This deck is almost half removal spells if you take into account the discard and deathtouch creatures.  I can do a lot of 1 for 1 trades that can leave me with the best possible board state at any given time.  Having so much removal makes it so I have a good chance at beating my opponent's bombs and giving me time to find a way to win the game.

Win Conditions - This is where I find myself wondering how I can close a game.  I have little evasion, but if I can stick Steppe Glider + any creature with +1/+1 counters I'm able to win the game that way.  Essence Depleter + stalled board state is a way to win along with 6/6 Walker of the Wastes and tempo plays with my removals.  I could also, you know, cast Ulamog perhaps?  Ulamog might be a pipe dream, but it's one of those cards that is an auto-win 99% of the time and even though it costs 10 I think this deck can get there.  What do you think?  Should I play Ulamog or not?

Kamigawa Block Draft

I think this is the best deck I've drafted so far in Kamigawa, but that isn't saying much since I don't know what I'm doing.  Blue was open and I might have forced black but the black I did pick up with relatively decent so I'm not upset about that.  Getting passed a Goryo's Vengeance was pretty sweet and made my draft no matter what the outcome was.  Sadly I lost again in the first round even though it looked like at one point I was going to actually win.  Oh well!

Magic Origins Draft

I really need to stop drafting while waffling between colors.  It doesn't help anybody and I'm going to lose more because of it.  I definitely made some mistakes this draft and it had a lot to do with my line of thinking going into the draft.  White is one of the better colors but that doesn't mean I can force it and it be good.  It's not deep enough to have multiple drafters because there are a lot of medium cards that don't win you the game.  I overrated white and in particular Stalwart Aven.  1/3 into 2/4 isn't particularly exciting when there are 2/3 and 3/3 fliers in the format.  Instead of the first Aven I should have taken Skyraker Giant (a card that clearly beats Stalwart Aven) making the Prickleboar I take pick 4 much better.  I could leave pack 1 as UR and possibly draft a good UR deck, although after pack 1 it would be hard to tell what colors I end up in without knowing what everybody drafted.  I still had a shot of going 2-1, but it wasn't meant to be this time.  I might do another Origins draft in hopes of constructing a better deck (and also taking another crack at the Jace lottery).  What do you think?  Would you like to see Origins or Oath?

Conclusion

I did well in Sealed and poorly in Draft, something that seems to be a trend recently.  Perhaps this means I should be drafting more?  As it stands I only draft once a week, which may not be good enough to compete against players on Magic Online.  I'm sure I'd do fine at my local store, but that's not saying much since not many people draft to begin with.  Maybe I should draft twice a week instead?  In any case that's it for this week.  If you have any comments, questions, or concerns leave them in the comments section below.

Thanks for reading/watching!