11.10.04  The main focus for Duel Masters since it’s release this past spring has been the constructed end of the spectrum. But a crucial part of all games isn’t Constructed, but the Limited format, where you build your deck from a restricted or limited cardpool. With the Shadowclash Pre-Release slowly creeping up, you should probably take into account what you might face and how you intend to tackle a little-explored territory known as Duel Masters Sealed, and hopefully I’ll be able to help.

The only game that’s really delved into serious limited tournaments is Magic: the Gathering. Now, it’s no big surprise that I’m relating the two games again, as they are very similar. But Sealed deck in Duel Masters is going to be a lot different than it is in Magic.

In Duel Masters, you’ll be given 5 booster packs (50 cards total) and build a minimum 30 card deck out of that. This means that you’ll be using at least 60% of the cards you open. In Magic, you’re given a Tournament pack and 2 booster packs (75 non-basic land cards total) and, in general, will use about 23 of them plus 17 or so basic lands (not included in that card pool) for a solid sealed deck, which is about 30% of your total cards. That right there is a huge difference. And considering most magic sealed decks are 2-3 colors, what is there to expect from Duel Masters? How different will it be? The first thing you need to know to obtain success is how to build a deck off what you have to work with.

Building Your Sealed Deck

Well, the first thing you should do is know what you have to work with. When you open your packs, sort them by color (civilization), since choosing what color(s) you should play is probably going to be the most important factor. After everything’s sorted out, go over all the strong and weak points each civilization has to offer from the cards you got out of the packs.

After you do that, it’s time to seek out your strongest color and isolate your weakest. In an ideal set, every color should have about even odds at fighting for most powerful color, but Shadowclash tips the scales in it’s card distribution. There are more Light and Darkness cards in the set than Water, Nature, or Fire, and nine times out of ten, your strongest color is going to be one of these two.

Shadowclash also offers an interesting color support system. An example of this can be found on the card Exploding Cactus, which is a Nature creature that gets a bonus when you have a Light Creature in play. In addition to color support, there’s color hate, like on Dew Mushroom which causes Darkness spells and creatures to cost one more mana than normal. This set’s system is going to make for some interesting surprises, as very few times will Nature and Darkness be a good idea as the centerpiece of a deck, as most of nature‘s card won‘t give of receive and synergy with Darkness cards like Fire and Water do.

It’s also pretty clear that when building your deck you will use at least 3 civilizations, although a very strong cardpool for Light and Darkness might cause a two-color civilization deck with them. I also believe that the way this set’s set up, you should always use at least one of either Light or Darkness. After you isolate your strongest color, find the right support colors.

Example: If Nature offers you a strong cardpool, feel free to force Light since you’re almost assured to have some goodies in there, and the two civilizations will help each other. Fire also allows you to be more lenient into playing Darkness. Water is odd as it mutually benefits both. I expect to see Water used quite a bit at these tournaments as it will always be a nice support color for whatever civilization you happen to be in. Finding the best color can be difficult, but if you know what to look for, you should find it right away.

1: Creatures! The bigger, the better. One cool thing about Sealed is whatever big creature you get, you’ll probably want to play, so long as it’s not a difficult to evolve evolution creature. It’s going to hold true that if you control the biggest creature on the board, you’ll have a huge advantage in the game, considering each player is about even in prizes. Big creatures with some sort of evasion mechanism are even better, like Ethel, Sea Star Elemental, although you won’t see him in this set.

2: The All Important Mana Curve! If everything in your deck is cost at 4 or less, you’ll eventually falter to the bigger threats. If everything is high end, you could get rushed. It’s always important to have a good balance, and to make sure that you can keep up with the tempo by having at least two plays turns 2-4.

3: Blockers and Stalemate Breakers! Blockers are amazing in limited, which may be why Light has the edge in this set. Being able to attack and stay on the defensive will give you a huge advantage. With so many people playing Light, stalemates could occur with blockers and such, and not just with Light, which is why it’s nice to have a powerful spell or creature that can deal with a cluttered board. Cards like Hydro Hurricane are extremely effective, especially in addition to Light and Darkness cards, and Water has cards that assist both.

4: The Last Few Cuts! While there will actually be very few cuts from the colors you decide to play, what you should cut to bring the deck to about 30 is pretty key. While you can argue that you’d rather not deck yourself and just play every card of your color, It should usually be decided by whoever draws the most threats. The cards you should cut most would be Spell cards. Creatures, no matter how small they are, can still break shields. Cutting cards that don’t help you achieve the win, like Mystic Inscription (which in this case actually furthers you along into decking yourself) are a good idea as you need to be playing a consistent flow of threats to match that of your opponent if you want to stand a chance.

After that, you should have a pretty solid deck with which to play, and hopefully one that’s at bare minimum 22 creatures. The Spells that you do include should immediately effect the board position. Creature destruction is always good, as are pump spells as they can give your creatures the last boost you need to punch through.

Playing Your Deck

Playing constructed and playing limited are two very different things, especially now with so many mono-colored decks running rampant. In Sealed you will have to make sometimes difficult choices on what to play as mana early game and what to truly save for the mid-to-late game. Mistakes on what to play as mana are forgivable in Constructed, as you’ll see multiple copies of most cards, and often times reflexive to the seasoned pros of this game who’ve tested their decks over and over., although in limited it’s cause for serious consideration. Other times, simple choices on whether to attack early on when your opponent has a sick creature with higher power, whether to be the aggressor or to hold out for one more turn before beginning to unleash will test your skills.

You should also take into account the build of your opponent’s deck in game two. Certain cards and more effective against other colors. When you know what you’re facing, it’s easier to prepare for it. Cards you could’ve dismissed for mana in game 1 can become viable allies in games 2 and 3. You should also keep valiant watch when your library becomes low on cards. With a 30 card deck, 10 of which are used in the beginning of the game (5 shields, 5 starting cards) you’ll be using a maximum of 20 turns, even less attack steps. If you’re opponent is down to a few shields, and you’ve only got a few turns left before you deck, swing in! If you’re going to win by attacking, you’ll have to attack sooner or later.

Tourney Day Prep

What can you do to prepare for Pre-Release day when it rolls around? There quite a few things you can do day of without opening bomb rares in your packs. Lots of sleep and a good breakfast, as always. I’m sure you’ve heard it, but I highly recommend having a full stomach and a good 7-8 hours of sleep behind you to stay on top of your game.

Get there early and reserve your spot, and maybe trade with anyone who might be there. Play some constructed games so you’re already in the swing of things. Also, if you’re going with a friend, or a team, go over strategies, and more importantly, go over the spoiler. Know what cards you should look for when deciding a color. Here’s a small list of color combinations I think would do well, and that you should look out for when you’re playing Saturday.

Nature-Light-Water: The centerpiece for a powerful light deck with water and nature support cards. Is also a strong consideration if Nature is your most powerful color.

Fire-Darkness-Water: The opposite of the spectrum, the aggressive deck that focuses around the Darkness Civilization. With less early-game removal, will probably be less of a threat then if played in past sealed formats.

Light-Water-Darkness: This is what it should look like if you have great Water, and equally solid Light a Darkness. If it’s hard to decide, then why not have the best of both worlds, so long as your hate cards don’t get too in the way.

Well, that’s about all I can say for now. I’m attending the Shadowclash of Blinding Night Pre-Release at Altered States in Syracuse, New York. Hope to see anyone who’s reading this up there, and again just help the metagame by attending your local pre-release. Next week I’ll have an in depth look at my card pool for the Pre-Release. The choices I made and my analysis and reasoning for why I chose to play with what I did, and, of course, the matchup summaries.

Have a good Pre-Release Weekend!

-Ronald (Hydromorph) Waclawski

Kian1602@hotmail.com

AOL: hydromorph1602