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Nakaiya21 on VS So You Want to Play Sealed? A General Guide to Playing VS Sealed Format with an Emphasis on MHG
By Nakaiya21J
So you want to play in a sealed VS format and you don’t know what you are doing? Well don’t worry because I am going to give you some pointers that I have learned over the years of playing in sealed format. Of course if you do know what you are doing then you can always humor, criticize, or ignore this article entirely…it’s all good.
**Disclaimer** I am by no means an expert. The advice I am giving is purely based on my own experiences playing VS Sealed format at various events (sneak peaks, pcq’s, etc…). Therefore this article is purely an opinionated piece, merely created to give all new players a hand and generate criticism from everyone else.
Before you get to your event: Before you get to your event, it is a good idea to know what set you will be playing with. Different sets tend to emphasize certain mechanics over other sets. This brings us to our next point – know your mechanics. I can’t tell you the number of times I have been at a sealed event where some of the players don’t know card mechanics – even old mechanics. Don’t think that this is limited to sneak previews because this has actually happened at tournaments that I have attended. Look, you may be new, but always do your homework. Going to an event not knowing your basics basically sets you up for suicide. (It also makes you look foolish to anyone that has spent the time reviewing the mechanics.) It is also a good idea to go over a spoiler for the set being played (if you have one available). I am not saying to memorize the spoiler…just read over it once. It will give you a good idea of what to look for, both for yourself and from your opponent. Nine times out of ten, the really good sealed cards stand out automatically. Try looking at various websites for information and opinions on cards. There are a ton of forums and articles based on people giving their opinions concerning various cards and play environments.
And for those of you that just want the good stuff: Reader’s Digest Condensed Version (RDCV): Do your research and know your mechanics!
Now I am here. What do I do?: When it comes to deck building at a sealed event, time is your enemy. Many times you will open your packs and register your cards. If this is the case take your time registering your cards and go over them while registering. This will save you time when you actually have to build your deck. Besides, the event can’t really move forward until you have finished. (Keep in mind that if you take an exceptionally long time registering you will probably earn some resentment from your fellow players.) Now if you don’t have to register your deck, this sometimes is the case at small sneak preview events, you will probably just have to jump into ‘deck building’ mode. In this case organization is your friend. Separating by affiliation (including PTs) is extremely important. You will find that, for many players, a good rule of thumb is to go with the affiliation that you have in abundance. This isn’t always the case, but it is a good rule of thumb nonetheless. RDCV: Time is your enemy so try to be organized!
Building a deck: The general rule of thumb for deck building is 20 characters and 10 PT’s, locations, and equipment. However, as always, there are exceptions to this…especially for MHG. Here are some things to look out for: 1.) Search characters – Characters that search for other characters, PT’s, equipment, and locations should rank high in sealed – especially in that order. When it comes to MHG characters are extremely spread out and team-up plot twists are rare. It isn’t uncommon to only have 1 team-up in your entire 5 packs. Thus, it is extremely important to use characters that search for other characters and PT’s when playing MHG sealed. In sealed play you can expect that most games will result in either you or your opponent under-dropping on a turn. Therefore, you goal in building your deck is to minimize this from happening to you. 2.) Cycling cards – Any card that allows you to cycle through your deck is extremely important – especially in MHG. Cards to watch out for in this set are Submariner, Mind Gem, and Arsenal of Doom. These cards can help you pan through your dead stuff to get you closer to your perfect setup. With these additions to your deck I feel it is safe to go as high as 32 cards in a deck. However, you want to make sure that no matter what, you keep your deck between 30-34. Having more than 34 cards in your deck will set you back when it comes to dropping the right character each turn.
There are certain mechanics you will want to key in on for MHG. These include Terraform, Reservist, Boost, and Cosmic. Reservist goes without saying as there are times when you will need to put a character in your resource row. Being able to pull that character back out of the resource row can be critical. (That is why sets like Avengers are easier to play sealed.) Now boost, on the other hand, can be temperamental. In my opinion if you are going to use a boost character, then make sure it counts. There is a good chance you will be under-dropping, but regardless the boosted ability of a character is something that needs to be kept in mind. I try to stick to the following – use characters that have a boost of 1 and gain either an attack boost or some sort of KO-ing ability. Always remember that if you are going to under-drop you are going to have to even the playing field somehow. Terraform is the reservist mechanic for locations, so you really can’t go wrong there. Unfortunately there is not much in the way of Terraform that isn’t team-stamped, so that can be a problem. Last, but not least, is cosmic. This mechanic is probably the most common mechanic you will see this set. Most of the cosmic effects are pretty good – nothing outstanding. Of course I guess I should mention the other effects in MHG, such as Concealed/Concealed-Optional, Press, and Cosmic-Surge. Concealed characters can be tricky. Your goal, in this case, is to have low-drop concealed characters and higher drops that are concealed-optional. There isn’t much in MHG in the way of attacking hidden characters so being able to hide your lower drops is perfect. Yet when it comes to turn 3+ you need to make sure your field is covered. Leaving your field open is basically leaving your endurance wide open. Now when it comes to cosmic-surge, I can admit to mixed feelings. On the one hand these effects are really nice, but on the other, gaining that cosmic counter can be extremely difficult. Having PTs that generate cosmic counters makes or breaks cosmic-surge. What I have learned is to stick to Heralds and Inhumans for cosmic-surge effects and get the two teams teamed up early. Of course the last mechanic is Press. Press is extremely tricky to pull off. This mechanic should only be attempted if you have a large number of press characters that are 2 and 3 drops and PTs that support multiple character recruits. I don’t recommend playing 4-drop press characters just because the cost in sealed play is too high. In fact every person that I have seen that has used this mechanic has had an extremely difficult time in sealed play. It is just one of those things I think people should just try to play constructed.
To curve or not to curve? Well when it comes to sealed format the answer is almost always go curve. Certain sets (Avengers and Crisis) give special attack boosts to off curve characters, allowing them to attack up the curve. However, I haven’t seen that in this set. Instead MHG is all about team affiliations – the more the better. (Hence, this is just one of the reasons that team-ups are so crucial in this set.) Actually the only team I would agree to play off-curve is Kree and only if I could somehow obtain all those low drop press characters and supporting plot twists I mentioned earlier. Otherwise I say just curve your deck the best you can and splash characters where you fall short. The best ratio of characters I have found is: 1-drops x 0-2 2-drops x 5 3-drops x 4 4-drops x 4 5-drops x 3 6-drops x 2 7-drops x 2 Of course it all depends on what you receive in your packs.
What should I use? Well, like I mentioned earlier, many players will build decks based on which team they get their majority of characters from. This makes sense, but isn’t always the best logic. What you should strive for is synergy within your deck. Basically you have to turn to your plot twists and see where the support lies. In MHG it isn’t necessarily about big characters…come to think of it many of the characters tend to be slightly askew; usually in their attack stats. The key to this set is getting your PTs to work with your characters. Many of the plot twists revolve around cosmic counters so using cosmic characters is a bonus. I have found that the best deck build seems to focus on Heralds and Inhumans with a splash of Doom. In general the Kree plot twists focus too much on multiple character recruit which only works of you get the right ratios of Kree press characters, Doom plot twists focus too much on having a character actually named Dr. Doom, and then you have the cosmic counter plot twists. Of course there are other generic plot twists out there and those plot twists should be the first choice for your deck. Plot twists such as Sworn Enemies, The Uni-power, and Barbaric Brawl make this list. Now when it comes to locations, it is hard to find cards that aren’t team-stamped. In this case, look for other effects. One great example of this is Arsenal of Doom. While the location has an effect that is team-stamped, it also has another effect that allows you to cycle through your deck. When looking at equipment, keep in mind that you really need to get the most out of your equipment cards. In MHG we have several pieces of equipment, including the mind gems. Of course some may disagree with me, but I feel that other than Mind Gem and Power Gem, the gems are not going to get you much – oh yeah, and you can pretty much forget the Infinity Gauntlet for sealed play. (Very bad idea) In general, try to stick to free equipment that gives you a power boost of some kind. Stay away from team-stamped equipment since you won’t always have the team at the same time you have the equipment.
What it all comes down to is this – look at your cards and ask yourself the following: 1.) Did I get anything that searches? This is your first choice for your deck. Start with characters that search (actually search; not reveal X cards off the top of your deck) for other characters, then move on to characters that search for plot twists, locations, and finally equipment. 2.) Where are my best plot twists? The best plot twists will be your team-ups, followed by you generic defense pumps, then your generic attack pumps, and finally your team stamped plot twists. Remember combos don’t work in sealed play! 3.) What team has drops at each turn? It isn’t enough to have the most characters, but to actually have drops at each spot. 4.) What are the best characters at each drop? Look at not only effects, but also flight and range. 5.) Does my equipment bring enough to the table? Stick to zero cost equipment and stay away from team-stamped or alternative cost equipment.
With all that being said, I am actually going to give my top 5 cards for MHG sealed play: 1.) Dr. Doom – Richard’s Rival 2.) The Uni-Power 3.) Galactus – The Maker 4.) Sub-Mariner 5.) Arsenal of Doom Now as I write this I realize that many of your may be questioning my choices. After all, I haven’t listed any rare cards at all and two of these cards are my ‘Doom splashable’ characters. Let me explain…In sealed play there is no point in hoping for a particular rare card, so you might as well not even consider them beforehand. You can forget about pulling off all those really neat combos and the like that you read about in forums. What you can count on is getting some cards that are uncommon and at least 1 usable rare. That means the top five cards for MHG are going to be cards that are reasonably found, powerful, can be splashed in any deck without recourse, and help smooth out those all too common sealed play glitches.
RDCV: Keep your deck around 32 cards. Look at card mechanics. Curve your deck. Deck building is all about synergy. There are 5 questions every player should ask themselves when building a deck in sealed play.
Playing your deck: When it comes to playing VS sealed, sometimes it is all about the initiative and who has it. Of course when it comes to MHG take the odd initiatives ALWAYS. Normally I wouldn’t say this…I am more of the, “It depends on what characters you are playing”, but in this set take odds. Most games in sealed will go to turn 7 – actually most games will end on turn 7, so taking odd initiatives gives you an advantage. The other reason lies in the possibility of you or your opponent having Galactus. Basically you want to be the one playing Galactus or you want to try your hand at taking a pot shot at him. Letting your opponent use Galactus’ effect can be game breaking when you have the advantage and his beastly stats alone will kill you if you are behind.
If you do not have a 1, 2, or 3-drop in your opening hand (or a way or getting them) you mulligan, regardless of all else. Not everyone plays a 1-drop and you can afford to take a little damage on turn 2, but if you are not dropping characters consistently by turn 3+ you are in trouble. Not only do you have issues with character strength (basically your characters getting trampled) but you will have issues with board control. It is certainly not unheard of for a player win based on sheer presence alone.
Save your team-ups until you absolutely need them. Team-ups are rare so using one right away to team up two teams that you don’t have a lot of support for is just a waste. Hold off until the point you will either need major reinforcement or unless the two teams you are teaming up compose the majority of your deck and team-stamped plot twists. Actually you should probably hold off most, if not all, plot twists until at least turn 4+ so that you can get the most out of them. This way if you drop off-curve at least you have some help.
Keep track of your effects. A good portion of effects in MHG trigger at the start of the combat phase, so keeping track is essential. This also goes for your locations as well. Sometimes getting +1 attack boost out of a location can make the difference between a stun.
Outside of this, winning in VS sealed play has quite a bit to do with luck. Sometimes you just don’t get the cards that count or you get a mess that there is no hope of bringing together. Other times it will seem that your opponent is just one step ahead of you. It is all about the luck of the draw. Basically sealed play is about 60% luck and 40% skill so you can be a great player and still get screwed.
RDCV: Take odd initiatives. Don’t be afraid to mulligan. Save your support until you absolutely need it. Keep track of your effects. Sealed play relies a lot on luck.
Well that is about it. I think I have covered all the basics. Hopefully I have given you some insight to VS sealed play. If not, perhaps I have amused you a little. I realize that most of this article is just common sense, but I think it is important to go over everything…hey, you never know when something will come in handy. If you have any thoughts on MHG sealed play, let me know…I will be happy to read your comments. Perhaps I will even e-mail back…you never know.
e-mail: Marvelvs2004@aol.com
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