By Christina Page

In the Constructed format, Fatal Brood of Infinite Ruin hints at decreasing the potency of some Control strategies, threatens the utility of several mainstay cards, and heralds the rise of more successful Beatdown decks and decks incorporating Light. And, lest we forget, we’ll likely see a lot of tribal stuff hit the scene, ranging from mana destruction combos with the Armorloids to straight beastly beats with the Beast Folk. On the Limited side of things, Fatal Brood should be a ton of chaotic fun even though there isn’t a new “broken in Limited” mechanic in the set like Stealth. There are a lot of early game drops in the set, and a cards that can be game-breaking due to the low incidence of hand control cards and Slash Charger being a Rare. We’re looking at some pretty speedy duels in Fatal Sealed, and at cards that can throw serious monkey wrenches into your opponent’s Beatdown plans. Before I dive into my review of each civilization for Sealed deck, I’d like to re-hash a post I made on the forums highlighting some mistakes to avoid when constructing Sealed decks and some general tips.

Sealed Deck Mistakes to Avoid

Deck is too large. In Sealed, you do not pull the ideal amount of deck manipulation cards as to warrant having a deck much larger than 30 cards, as that's the minimum amount.

Playing with really expensive cards. For the most part, you want to play with creatures and spells that cost from 1-4 mana, and the creatures and spells that cost more must be good like Apocalypse Vise or Twin-Cannon Skyterror.

Playing with cards that you can never cast. Pack cards that you'd actually be able to play if you had the mana. Avoid Evolution creatures if you do not get enough evobait. I’d sooner skip evolutions, but might be tempted to pack one if I had at least 4 evobait and tutoring.

Not packing enough early game cards. The first 3 turns of the game are very important in Sealed. You want a good chance at playing something, preferably two creatures, by your 3rd turn. And, in the late game you want to be able field more than one creature on a turn so you can swarm. Try to have at least 2 plays for turns 1-3 where possible.

Not playing enough mana sources. Make sure that if you run a civilization that you have at least 5 cards from the civilization in your deck to ensure chances of playing cards from that civ when needed.

General Sealed Deck Tips
 
Make your deck consist mostly of cheap creatures. Since blockers and kill cards are usually very low in count, it's much easier to be aggressive in this format. This format is about speed. The key is to make a deck that can flood the field quickly and keep up the beats.

Run good creature removal cards if you pull any. My 30 card Sealed decks usually run like at least 26-28 creatures—the spells have to be really good and relatively cheap to warrant deck space, like creature kill. Creature removal cards are at a premium in Sealed, so gobble them up.

Expect to play with at least 3 different civilizations. You won't get enough cards to play with less than three, and you really are going to be looking at playing with 4 civilizations, sometimes 5.

Balance your mana. That doesn't mean to have each civ be equal, just base the counts off what is needed. So, if you have 3 Fire cards that can be played over the first two turns make sure that you have enough Fire mana in your deck so that you can get them out when expected.

Play with blockers. You may hate blockers, but they are godly in Sealed if they aren't very expensive and don't have huge negative effects. Like other creatures, they’re harder to get rid of in Sealed if creatures can’t overrun them.

Look for neat card synergies where they are cheap. Often in Sealed there are little combos that work in that format, but that don't see play in Constructed. I recall a player being able to make 11 mana one game thanks to his Dragon/Dragonoid + Bakkra combo. You don't need to have combos in your deck, but if you find some cheap ones that would help your deck be sure to consider them.

Do not judge cards based solely on what you like to play in your Constructed decks. You may like Billion Degree Dragon in your Fire decks, but it's too expensive for Sealed. As previously mentioned, go for cheap and speedy creatures, trying to have most of your deck consist of creatures that can be played in the first 4 turns.

Remember in Sealed you can play with more than 4 copies of a single card. So, if you pull 6 Kalute, then by all means put several in your deck because it's a great cheap hitter.

Fatal Brood of infinite Ruin Sealed Card Ratings

Cards are reviewed mostly for a Fatal Brood Sealed Limited environment. Each Sealed event is different, and you should build off your own experiences as much as possible. Even if you’re new to the Sealed format, take my opinions of cards with a grain of salt—weigh your options in relation to your other cards and the strategy that your cards dictate. The final decision on what’s playable in your pile of cards rests on your shoulders.

Nature Civilization

Nature has a removal offering, a sweet tutor effect creature, and some decent effects. It’s scant on bomb pulls, but it’s likely worth dipping into if you pull Vine Charger or Cavern Raider.

Whispering Totem

If you get 2 or more Whispering Totem, this guy can be a nifty selection. It thins your deck for another Whispering to ensure that you get some type of creature in your hands. That could be useful if you’re setting up a play that requires a certain amount or type of creature presence on the field. If you don’t have any Whisperings in your deck when you perform the search, then you’ll know it’s in your shields (you also can decipher what other cards are there).

Rating: 3/5

 

Whip Scorpion

I don’t like the 5 mana hard cast, but it’s a shield trigger creature so it could come up for free. It also gains 3000 power when it swings. Not great, but not completely horrible in Sealed.

Rating: 2.5/5

Vine Charger

It gives your opponent mana and he chooses the creature that is forced to leave his field (so he’s likely going to pick a tiny tapped that your creatures could have overran). But, it’s creature removal and it also gives you mana. At 4 mana, it’s going to freeze a turn of creature casting, so think out your plays.

Rating: 4/5

Terradragon Anrist Vhal

Fatal really doesn’t have the powerhouse finishers found in previous sets. In order to be worth it, I’d want this guy to be a double breaker. You’d need to have 3 Nature creatures out in your battle zone to turn Vhal into a double breaker. The cheapest Nature creature is 3 mana, so it’s not like you’ll flood your field with many Nature guys. Plus, things are so random in Sealed that you can’t count on this effect pulling through for you. Worst, if you don’t have any other Nature creatures out, this guy would be at 0000 power and therefore get destroyed or be a dead draw. You’re lucky if you get it at 4000 power.

Rating: 1/5

Storm Wrangler, the Furious

You might be able to play this Evo, as there are two other Beast folk creatures in this set, one costs 3 mana and the other 4 mana (and tutor/card select effects could help you get it into play). The appeal here is that Wrangler can force your opponent to block it with an untapped blocker of your choice, and it gets +3000 power when blocked. So, it basically is there to overrun a blocker and let your other hitters slip by. Otherwise it swings as soon as it hits to break a shield or kill something tapped. Just remember that Evos often are dead draws in Sealed.

Rating: 2/5 (because it’s an Evo)

Solid Horn

Horn has a neat effect. It becomes mana when it would be destroyed. At 5000 power, it can overrun creatures and starve of attacks from many creature in this set. However, at 6 mana I want something that has double breaker or simply to put two little guys into the battle zone.

Rating: 2/5

Silvermoon Trailblazer

The stats are decent for Sealed. You won’t find yourself using too many tap effects in Sealed, unless they impact the board like Rikabu’s Screwdriver. For the most part, you want to swing at something with your creatures. There are a few blockers in Sealed that have 3000 or less power and a spell that can turn a field of guys into blockers, which Silvermoon can help you bypass. However, the problem here is that Silvermoon’s tap effect can only be applied to one race of creatures. Still, its effect could make a difference when all you need is “one more attack” and your opponent has a blocker.

Rating: 3/5

Dance of the Sproutlings

It can be nice to have mana engines in Sealed, but Dance accelerates your mana at the expense of leaving you without hitters to cast. To be worth the cost, you’d need to produce at least 2 mana with it so you have a chance of dropping a creature on the same turn and really bring your later plays online sooner. However, I wouldn’t spend mana on this business spell, as it doesn’t impact the board or my opponent’s hand. Plus, it makes you sacrifice attacking or blocking options.

Rating: 1.5/5

Mana Bonanza

Bonanza is another mana ramp, but one that could lead to decking in Sealed. While it helps you jump tempo in an insane manner, it does so in the late game and the mana is frozen until your next turn. Sealed is about the early game. If you are going to play something with an eight mana price tag in Sealed, then you want it to end creature stalemates like Apocalypse Vise or just win the game for you. Plus, there aren’t any mana zone retrieval cards in this set.

Rating: 0.5/5

Cavern Raider

This creature meets all the requirements I have for ideal Sealed deck creature plays. It’s 3 mana, so it can hit relatively early and help you swarm later in the game. The highlight here is Raider’s tutor effect. Each time this creature attacks your opponent and isn’t blocked you get to search your deck for any creature and put it into your hand. With blockers being low in this format, you can expect to rock its effect. When you give your opponent a random option from his shield you also get to search your deck for the precise creature option you need, like a blocker. If you can protect it, Raider might do its trick more than once. Makes running an Evo tempting and its shuffle effect can enhance the card selection effect of cards like Kelp Candle.

Rating: 4.5/5

Vreemah, Freaky Mojo Totem

You are looking at this guy helping out the Beast Folk you have laid out before you play it and on the turn after you’ve summoned it. So, turn six your Beast Folk guys can become double breakers and gain 2000 power until the end of the turn when you summon a creature. The power bonus stacks, so summoning two creatures would give your Beast Folk +4000 power. Do realize that it will turn your opponent’s Beast Folk into double breakers and juiced up hitters as well. So, if you plan on slamming some tapped Beast Folk watch out for them becoming too strong and your shield trigger creature summons giving your opponent’s beasts double breaker on his turn (there’s only one ST creature in the set). It needs Beast folk to be any good.

Rating: 2.5/5

 

 

 

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