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By: MarcosPMA, nn
Jul 05 2018 12:00pm
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Hello and welcome to another edition of Sealed Success!  The last time I wrote an article on June 14th I announced that I would be taking a two week hiatus until the Magic 2019 Sealed Set Review.  I did this thinking the full set would be released the week before the prerelease, but to my surprise it was released two weeks before instead.  I had thoughts of coming back a week early to do the review but I didn't know what I would do for the next week and so I kept my schedule as is and waited until now to get the set review out.  In the future I'll do better planning and not make assumptions as to when the set is fully spoiled so I'm able to adjust on the fly.  Since last we spoke the Dominaria Store Championships happened and I finally was able to take it down and earn the title of Store Champion.  

The format was Dominaria draft with cross pod pairings featuring two 6 player draft pods.  I started off with On Serra's Wings and picked a few blue cards afterwards but blue dried up and I pivoted to white to finish my first pack with a fair amount of white cards and an even split between blue and black.  Pack 2 I opened Aryel, Knight of Windgrace and after hate drafting one of two Jaya's Immolating Inferno I saw black flowing and positioned myself in W/B Knights.  I got passed a Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage and Cloudreader Sphinx so I afforded myself a small splash in blue after the third pack ended.  In the end I hate drafted a Verix Bladewing along with two Jaya's Immolating Inferno so I would not have to play against the player who drafted red.  I had a nice amount of removal and card advantage and I cruised my way to victory going the rare 4-0, 8-0.

My run with Dominaria Limited ends on a high note and now it's time to turn our attention to Magic 2019.  We had Dominaria for less than three months and while I'm sad to see it go, I'm also excited for the return of Core Set Limited.  In all honesty Core Set Limited feels rather dry/bland compared to other formats, but it's a format I personally enjoy playing.  It's a format that emphasizes the fundamentals of Magic and those players who are very skilled in fundamental gameplay can find success in Core Set Limited.  If you play well and build decks correctly then you have a big edge over most people who you play against.  With that out of the way, let's get started with the Magic 2019 Sealed Set Review.

Magic 2019 Card Rankings

I'm going to be using an A-F scale for the set review.  I do explain the ratings in the videos but I'd like to expand on that more in this section.  The scale is meant to give a card a letter grade based upon what you would expect an A/B/C/D/F card to look and play like.  A's are cards that win the game for you on the spot, they produce an immediate impact and must be dealt with unless your opponent is unable to do so.  Cards such as Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Pack Rat are examples of A's.  B's are cards that are quite strong but do not win the game outright.  They progress the game either by advancing your board position or being powerful pieces of removal.  Murder and Slimefoot, the Stowaway are examples of B's.  C's are filler cards that go in most Limited decks, or higher rarity cards with a lesser impact on the game.  Kari Zev, Skyship Raider is an example of a C.  D's are either bad cards that aren't unplayable, or sideboard cards with narrow but strong effects in the right situation.  They're less reliable and not always the best answer for any random threat, but the right answer for a very specific problem.  Naturalize and Plummet are classic D's.  Lastly, F's are unplayable cards and/or cards meant solely for Constructed play.  Fog is a classic F, as well as Isolate from Magic 2019.

The purpose of this scale is to see how good a card is on its own, not how good it is with or against other cards in the set.  You won't know what cards you're opening, and while context does matter for some cards, being able to analyze them independently of one another is important.  Having said that, I do admit my bias while doing sealed set reviews.  I like cards with staying power and the ability to do well in the later stages of the game and disliking cards that have more of an aggressive slant.  This isn't to say I don't like/won't play cheap/aggressive cards or they are bad, I'm just more inclined to take a controlling stance in sealed deck and grind my opponent out.  

Magic 2019 Sealed Set Review

Conclusion

I hope you all enjoyed seeing my Dominaria background for the set review, I liked how it looked and didn't feel the need to change it for this particular review.  When the new Ravnica block comes out I'll be sure to change the background but for now I felt Dominaria was still a fine choice for the Core Set Review.  I mention the average power/toughness of a creature being 2/3 and while that may not end up mattering, I graded the majority of the cards without that information affecting my bias too greatly.  I still think you don't want 2 mana creatures with 2/2 stats or less, but a certain number of them will have to be played in order to flesh out your curve and guard against people who build decks with a more aggressive slant.  What I do like about this set is almost every creature/threat has an answer for it, and those without answers are at the higher rarities.  I would be conservative with how you deploy your removal and use it only when you feel you can not hold onto it.  There's a fair amount of cards in the set that win the game if left uncontested, so make sure you have an answer for them.

If you have any comments, questions, or concerns leave them in the comments section below.  If you disagree with a rating or feel I'm undervaluing a card(s) leave a comment below and we'll have a discussion about it.  I'm very open to being wrong and I know there are different viewpoints/ideologies when it comes to the game.  A honest discussion can help both parties learn and grow, something I encourage greatly.  You can subscribe to my YouTube channel here where you'll find all my videos in this article series posted early along with content exclusive to the channel.  Currently I'm working on a Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis Commander deck, so if that's something you might find interest in go check it out.  Good luck in your prerelease events and have fun!

Thanks for reading/watching!