So tomorrow will be my first sealed gameplay. Do I need to bring lands? Also I assume we are playing 40 card decks. What is normally a good ratio of lands to cards? 25:15?
Thanks!
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No idea because my favorite decks keep getting banned or having the rules changed against them
Some stores provide lands, but bring your own to be safe. Most sealed environments have a good ratio of 23 spells to 17 lands, but from what I hear, Theros has more higher mana costs than most blocks, so 22 spells and 18 lands might be best.
40 card minimum deck size, no 'four-of' rule, so you can play as many of any one card as you open. Best to run no more than two colors in a set like this.
I always have my own lands just to avoid the mad scramble to get lands from a big box that everyone has their paws in.
40 card minimum; for a set like this you're probably best off with 18 lands but that doesn't mean 17 (or any other number) is necessarily wrong. Look at your curve and try to determine how heavily your deck relies on hitting that 6th land or so. Even try shuffling up the deck, draw a few sample hands and then recalibrate your land count.
Depending on what other events you go to I would highly recommend you have all your things in your backpack and in your hands at all times. With prerelease events tending to draw a lot of people there can be folks who aren't really on the up-and-up. Basically, never hurts to be safe and watch yours stuff closely amidst the chaos that a larger event (which prereleases usually draw) brings
If this is one of the first sealed/limited events you're participating in remember the BREAD acronym to assist with your deckbuilding since you obviously have a different environment you're building in (not being constructed). If you're not totally new to limited then please don't take this as an insult; mo information = mo betta!
People have different takes on BREAD (some use BREAK or just different definitions) but basically:
Bombs - pretty obvious
Removal - based on Theros it seems that even slightly overcosted removal is worth it. Regardless, you need to be able to get stuff on the other side of the table out of your way.
Evasion - evasion is always going to help you sneak in that extra damage or at least pose a threat that demands/forces an answer from your opponent.
Attackers - you need solid bodies in your deck for it to function regardless of how many tricks you have. I use attackers over 'aggro' because players tend to think of good aggro different than just having good attackers/bodies.
Defense - most sealed environments lend themselves to a more pro-active game plan. Some folks use 'Duds' here but we're trying to categorize anything that is either unplayable, sideboard or (if it were a draft) hate drafted to remove a potential threat from the opponent's pool.
You shouldn't need to bring lands, but I'll echo the suggestion that if you can bring your own it's not a bad idea. If you've got a box with, say, 12-15 of each basic land in it, then you can just build your deck without leaving your seat, instead of having to gather up your things, make your way through the (likely) crowd, and dig through the store's land box. It's not a huge deal, but if you've got the lands just laying around and something to put them in, then go ahead and make your life easier.
23 spells, 17 lands is considered normal, but 22/18 is not uncommon and a lot of people are suggesting that will be the best for Theros (Bestow and Monstrosity give you things to do with extra mana, so getting land flooded isn't so bad).
If this is your first sealed, then don't go under 17 land. At some point you'll probably be sitting there, agonizing over which last one of your spells to cut, they'll all seem like they could be useful in some situation, and you'll be tempted to cut a land instead. Don't do it. We've all been there, believe me, but stick to your guns and cut a spell that's only useful some of the time instead.
First prerelease tomorrow as well. Not sure what to expect. I've been looking over the set and I think R/B minotaurs might be a good idea to try out.
Some advice: don't get married to a certain gameplan or strategy before you see your sealed pool. You really never know what you're going to get with these sealed pools, and the color you pick is misleading this time around because the seeded pack with your color included off-color cards as well. It is very important when you're building your deck to forget about whatever cards you hoped to get, and instead focus on cards that you actually have available and build your deck around those. If you start forcing a certain strategy without the card support you'll really hamper the potential of your sealed pool.
Simply put, play your best cards regardless of the color you choose or the deck you want to build at the beginning.
Do we get to see what colours are in our packs first or do we have to choose the mono colour booster first?
Btw, thanks for the advice.
The way it works is that you select a 'path' (color) and are given a box with: 5 regular Theros boosters, 1 seeded booster (explained below) and then your spindown die and some other papers.
The seeded booster will contain cards that are either matching your selected path/color or that pair with it. There is no guarantee of all cards sharing your selected color and from what packs I've seen it would be rare if they did. If you open one in your seeded pack, the only mythic you can receive is the appropriate colored god card.
Do NOT go into this sealed event planning on any particular strategy. Since the contents of the seeded pack can vary from useless to bomby; you may open your other 5 packs and not even play your originally chosen color.
Focus on evaluating your best possible card pool and build from there.
You can, and as far as I know you can sideboard with any of the cards you opened...
I had a guy who went to grab his side board, then said, "Actual, this is what I wanted to play" and proceeded to play the 2nd game with another deck he made with his packs. I don't think your supposed to do this but if not, watch out for stuff like this. This was my first event also.
Oh, and if the guy your playing in the last round before the top 8 start trying to tell you how this works and how where both probably not gonna make it in and this or that, tell him to stfu and play because hes trying to manipulate you.
You can, and as far as I know you can sideboard with any of the cards you opened...
I had a guy who went to grab his side board, then said, "Actual, this is what I wanted to play" and proceeded to play the 2nd game with another deck he made with his packs. I don't think your supposed to do this but if not, watch out for stuff like this. This was my first event also.
Oh, and if the guy your playing in the last round before the top 8 start trying to tell you how this works and how where both probably not gonna make it in and this or that, tell him to stfu and play because hes trying to manipulate you.
For sideboarding, you do have access to everything you opened and its perfectly legal to change your deck entirely.
As for the last part, I agree people should shut up about it but most aren't trying to manipulate you, its true that the stupid swiss tiebreaker system can lead to pointless matches.
You can, and as far as I know you can sideboard with any of the cards you opened...
I had a guy who went to grab his side board, then said, "Actual, this is what I wanted to play" and proceeded to play the 2nd game with another deck he made with his packs. I don't think your supposed to do this but if not, watch out for stuff like this. This was my first event also.
Oh, and if the guy your playing in the last round before the top 8 start trying to tell you how this works and how where both probably not gonna make it in and this or that, tell him to stfu and play because hes trying to manipulate you.
It's possible. I've had sealed pools where I switch entire decks out based on opponents strategies etc.
You can, and as far as I know you can sideboard with any of the cards you opened...
I had a guy who went to grab his side board, then said, "Actual, this is what I wanted to play" and proceeded to play the 2nd game with another deck he made with his packs. I don't think your supposed to do this but if not, watch out for stuff like this. This was my first event also.
Oh, and if the guy your playing in the last round before the top 8 start trying to tell you how this works and how where both probably not gonna make it in and this or that, tell him to stfu and play because hes trying to manipulate you.
You actually can have a side deck completely different from your first deck. Prerelease's dont enforce writing down decklists so your free to change between rounds/matches.
Well, went 2-3. Ended up playing a red/blue deck that jsut didn't have enough removal. I pulled a Purphoros, God of the Forge and Thoughtseize so I am pleased. It was a fun night. Thanks for all your help!
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Current Decks
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No idea because my favorite decks keep getting banned or having the rules changed against them
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Thanks!
40 card minimum deck size, no 'four-of' rule, so you can play as many of any one card as you open. Best to run no more than two colors in a set like this.
I hope this helps! Good luck, and Have Fun!
40 card minimum; for a set like this you're probably best off with 18 lands but that doesn't mean 17 (or any other number) is necessarily wrong. Look at your curve and try to determine how heavily your deck relies on hitting that 6th land or so. Even try shuffling up the deck, draw a few sample hands and then recalibrate your land count.
Depending on what other events you go to I would highly recommend you have all your things in your backpack and in your hands at all times. With prerelease events tending to draw a lot of people there can be folks who aren't really on the up-and-up. Basically, never hurts to be safe and watch yours stuff closely amidst the chaos that a larger event (which prereleases usually draw) brings
If this is one of the first sealed/limited events you're participating in remember the BREAD acronym to assist with your deckbuilding since you obviously have a different environment you're building in (not being constructed). If you're not totally new to limited then please don't take this as an insult; mo information = mo betta!
People have different takes on BREAD (some use BREAK or just different definitions) but basically:
Legacy
WUBRG TES
UWR Blade
UWB TinFins
EDH
UWB Sharuum
Rules Advisor
23 spells, 17 lands is considered normal, but 22/18 is not uncommon and a lot of people are suggesting that will be the best for Theros (Bestow and Monstrosity give you things to do with extra mana, so getting land flooded isn't so bad).
If this is your first sealed, then don't go under 17 land. At some point you'll probably be sitting there, agonizing over which last one of your spells to cut, they'll all seem like they could be useful in some situation, and you'll be tempted to cut a land instead. Don't do it. We've all been there, believe me, but stick to your guns and cut a spell that's only useful some of the time instead.
Some advice: don't get married to a certain gameplan or strategy before you see your sealed pool. You really never know what you're going to get with these sealed pools, and the color you pick is misleading this time around because the seeded pack with your color included off-color cards as well. It is very important when you're building your deck to forget about whatever cards you hoped to get, and instead focus on cards that you actually have available and build your deck around those. If you start forcing a certain strategy without the card support you'll really hamper the potential of your sealed pool.
Simply put, play your best cards regardless of the color you choose or the deck you want to build at the beginning.
I will carry my lands tomorrow. Good luck to you guys tomorrow!!
Btw, thanks for the advice.
The way it works is that you select a 'path' (color) and are given a box with: 5 regular Theros boosters, 1 seeded booster (explained below) and then your spindown die and some other papers.
The seeded booster will contain cards that are either matching your selected path/color or that pair with it. There is no guarantee of all cards sharing your selected color and from what packs I've seen it would be rare if they did. If you open one in your seeded pack, the only mythic you can receive is the appropriate colored god card.
Do NOT go into this sealed event planning on any particular strategy. Since the contents of the seeded pack can vary from useless to bomby; you may open your other 5 packs and not even play your originally chosen color.
Focus on evaluating your best possible card pool and build from there.
Legacy
WUBRG TES
UWR Blade
UWB TinFins
EDH
UWB Sharuum
Rules Advisor
I had a guy who went to grab his side board, then said, "Actual, this is what I wanted to play" and proceeded to play the 2nd game with another deck he made with his packs. I don't think your supposed to do this but if not, watch out for stuff like this. This was my first event also.
Oh, and if the guy your playing in the last round before the top 8 start trying to tell you how this works and how where both probably not gonna make it in and this or that, tell him to stfu and play because hes trying to manipulate you.
For sideboarding, you do have access to everything you opened and its perfectly legal to change your deck entirely.
As for the last part, I agree people should shut up about it but most aren't trying to manipulate you, its true that the stupid swiss tiebreaker system can lead to pointless matches.
It's possible. I've had sealed pools where I switch entire decks out based on opponents strategies etc.
You actually can have a side deck completely different from your first deck. Prerelease's dont enforce writing down decklists so your free to change between rounds/matches.
Third or fourth paragraph down explains it a little bit.
http://blogs.magicjudges.org/rulestips/2012/06/in-limited-events-without-decklists-you-can-change-your-deck-between-matches/
EDIT: ULTRA Snarthed! At least i attached some sorta information about it.
H/W List http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=112656