Went to my first PTQ and played sealed, ended up 3-3 then dropped which I was somewhat happy with considering I felt my pool wasn't very good. Not really any top aggro cards(skyguard, wingsteed, etc.) and zero control cards(magma jet, bolt of keranos, sip, griptide, sudden storm, etc.) Tried getting a little greedy with my deck considering I had to play my best cards to have a chance to even get prizes(felt no way I could top 8). So what would you build with this pool?
Splashed Underworld Cerebus off Springleaf and Karametra's. Figured if I wanted my best chance to win I'd play all 3 of my bomb rares. Considered going R/G which I felt wasn't aggro enough to beat control decks and lacked some removal, and also R/B which also lacked removal. My G/B deck performed well it just didn't have any combat tricks to confuse players and didn't have much defense against fliers except leafcrown dryad and skyreaping out of the side.
Blue and white are utterly unplayable and red is almost as bad. I'd have done basically what you did. You have plenty of power in green and black and the red splash isn't tricky. Scourgemark doesn't have much purpose in your deck though - no heroic and only a couple of evasive guys. Just maindeck the Fade into Antiquity, probably.
I would have gone RG with a black splash instead of the other way around. Your black is not that great except for the harpy, eater and cerberus. With drums and the high CMC of these cards, you would have time enough to get the necessary black mana. (Maybe harpy is too greedy, though). In red you got double fearsome temper, which is less risky in sealed as people have less removal, and the inability to block makes it playable. The archtype, swallower and butcher are good and the ordeal is nice too.
OTOH, I think akroan horse has no purpose in your deck. You don't have evasion, so that 0/4 is annoying and the 1/1 it gives not synergetic with your deck. It will just give your opponent a good blocker.
Curve:
1 ccsss
2 ccss
3 ccccsss
4 cccc
5 c
6 c
7 c
Note quite sure on the content, maybe cut eather of hope for harpy as 7 is a lot of mana? Or rollicker for harpy? I don't think it's clearly better than your deck, but it does remove three bad creatures: akroan horse, black oak and black minotaur.
That has a decent curve and I think maximizes the decks strengths, which is trying to create a big threat. I like the Ember Swallower much better than the Eater of Hope as a finisher/win condition, and the 2 Fearsome Tempers can be backbreaking. The three black cards I'm splashing for are pretty good whenever you draw them, and the mana shouldn't be too bad between the Drum and the Favor, both of which make your Trompers much better. The Archtype is actually a nice surprise here too, giving some huge guy trample when the opponent isn't expecting it.
Running Black main doesn't add a whole lot. Shrike Harpy and Disciple are fine, but better in a more devoted Black deck and slower. The black removal spells are just meh. I'd rather have Coordinated Assault and Ordeal. Eater of Hope is also okay, but expensive. Red just seems to pair up better.
EDIT: So, yeah, basically exactly what pie said, except I have the Baleful Eidolon and he still has the Eater of Hope in there. I think we were typing up our posts at the same time, but there's no more preview that lets you see what's been posted in the interim.
Ambush Krotiq makes me laugh so much. I keep rereading the card and it keeps not having Flash. In what sense is this an ambush again? I just have visions of this huge Krotiq poorly concealed in some bushes, feeling slightly sad that his carefully planned ambushes never seem to work.
How is blue "utterly unplayable"? If paired with black you get shipwreck singer and you have very good late game flyers that pair well with Akroan Horse. The BG might be better, but I think this blue-black build is reasonable. If the baleful eidolon/drown in sorrow/weight of the underworld lets you get to the late game its going to be hard to answer all the flyers/ceberus:
How is blue "utterly unplayable"? If paired with black you get shipwreck singer and you have very good late game flyers that pair well with Akroan Horse. The BG might be better, but I think this blue-black build is reasonable. If the baleful eidolon/drown in sorrow/weight of the underworld lets you get to the late game its going to be hard to answer all the flyers/ceberus:
Possible you should sub out the horizon scholar for the Sphinx's disciple since there are 2 ways to tap it without attacking.
Green adds a better early game, another removal spell, obviously more powerful creatures and the ability to splash the Cerberus. Blue simply adds some win-con finishers and one good card before turn 5. the BG deck already has tons of excellent finishers. There's nowhere near enough early game or removal/bounce in UB to give him any change to legitimately survive long enough for the fliers to actually win him the game. I can see an argument for GR, although I don't agree with it, but I see no argument whatsoever for UB.
2 mana
Leafcrown (which you'd prefer to cast on 4)
3 mana
Nyxborn Wolf (which you'd prefer to cast on 5)
Time to feed (which is going to be a 1-for-2 usually when you cast it early).
Agent of Horizons
Blue early game:
2 mana
Shipwreck singer
Deepwater hypnotist
3 Mana
Wavecrash triton (4 toughness good on its own and you have Fate Foretold, Stratus Walk, and Scourgemark to target it cheaply)
Crackling Triton (with the ability to activate off of the red splash)
I'm really not seeing a dramatic difference here. The tritons being able to survive Drown in Sorrow seems pretty relevant as well. There are also the guardians of Meletis to bring in against aggro if you need to.
In terms of removal I think shipwreck singer is at least equivalent to time to feed. It can be a blank, but it can just kill a whole mess of stuff in some boards. I'm not really sure which one is best (and they are both pretty meh), but I do think it is close.
Because you're looking at numbers, not card quality. Triton (when splashing or not playing red) and Deepwater Hypnotist (particularly when attacking in the air) are not good cards. The UB deck is just plain terrible. The GB and RG decks are both decent, at least given the pool.
PS: You know you're having trouble with your argument when you have to point out irrelevant "flaws" in the the green cards and ignore the blatant flaws of the blue cards. Yes, you'd rather bestow Dryad or Wolf. How is that a weakness? I'd rather drop the Dryad as a 2 than the Hypnotist AND I have the option of bestowing him if I topdeck it.
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2 observant alseid
1 acolyte's reward
1 battlewise valor
1 excoriate
1 traveling philospher
1 scholar of athreos
1 griffin dreamfinder
1 god-favored general
2 hold at bay
1 ephara's radiance
green
1 skyreaping
3 setessan starbreaker
1 defend the hearth
1 mortal's resolve
1 aspect of hydra
1 sedge scorpion
1 agent of horizons
2 pheres-band tromper
1 nessian wilds ravager
1 fade into antiquity
1 nyxborn wolf
1 karametra's favor
1 leafcrown dryad
1 time to feed
2 fearsome temper
1 coordinated assault
1 impetuous sunchaser
1 archetrype of aggression
1 nyxborn rollicker
1 ember swallower
1 satyr rambler
1 ordeal of purphoros
1 pinnacle of rage
1 kragma butcher
1 portent of betrayal
1 scouring sands
1 boulderfall
1 demolish
black
2 eye gouge
1 forsaken drifters
1 cutthroat maneuver
1 loathsome catoblepas
1 weight of the underworld
1 drown in sorrow
1 eater of hope
1 shrike harpy
1 scourgemark
1 baleful eidolon
1 black oak of odunos
1 felhide minotaur
1 fate unraveler
1 disciple of phenax
1 coastline chimera
2 prescient chimera
1 horizon scholar
1 divination
1 stratus walk
1 wavecrash triton
1 deepwater hypnotist
1 crackling triton
1 benthic giant
1 fate fortold
1 sphinx's disciple
1 gainsay
2 evanescent intellect
artifacts
1 springleaf drum
1 akroan horse
3 guardians of meletis
1 flamecast wheel
multi-color
1 underworld cerberus
1 shipwreck singer
1 akroan hoplite
1 chronicler of heroes
My Deck
1 sedge scorpion
1 agent of horizons
2 pheres-band tromper
1 nessian wilds ravager
1 leafcrown dryad
1 nyxborn wolf
1 eater of hope
1 shrike harpy
1 baleful eidolon
1 black oak of odunos
1 felhide minotaur
1 disciple of phenax
1 fate unraveler
1 akroan horse
1 underworld cerebus
1 springleaf drum
1 karametra's favor
1 time to feed
1 mortal's resolve
1 weight of the underworld
1 drown in sorrow
1 scourgemark
Splashed Underworld Cerebus off Springleaf and Karametra's. Figured if I wanted my best chance to win I'd play all 3 of my bomb rares. Considered going R/G which I felt wasn't aggro enough to beat control decks and lacked some removal, and also R/B which also lacked removal. My G/B deck performed well it just didn't have any combat tricks to confuse players and didn't have much defense against fliers except leafcrown dryad and skyreaping out of the side.
That's one horrendous pool, though.
OTOH, I think akroan horse has no purpose in your deck. You don't have evasion, so that 0/4 is annoying and the 1/1 it gives not synergetic with your deck. It will just give your opponent a good blocker.
1 sedge scorpion
1 nyxborn rollicker
1 satyr rambler
1 leafcrown dryad
1 agent of horizons
1 archetrype of aggression
1 nyxborn wolf
1 kragma butcher
1 ember swallower
2 pheres-band tromper
1 fate unraveler
1 underworld cerebus
1 nessian wilds ravager
1 eater of hope
1 mortal's resolve
1 coordinated assault
1 springleaf drum
1 ordeal of purphoros
1 karametra's favor
2 fearsome temper
1 time to feed
Curve:
1 ccsss
2 ccss
3 ccccsss
4 cccc
5 c
6 c
7 c
Note quite sure on the content, maybe cut eather of hope for harpy as 7 is a lot of mana? Or rollicker for harpy? I don't think it's clearly better than your deck, but it does remove three bad creatures: akroan horse, black oak and black minotaur.
1 Sedge Scorpion
1 baleful eidolon
1 leafcrown dryad
1 satyr rambler
1 agent of horizons
1 archetrype of aggression
1 kragma butcher
1 nyxborn wolf
1 ember swallower
1 fate unraveler
2 pheres-band tromper
1 underworld cerberus
1 nessian wilds ravager
1 springleaf drum
1 mortal's resolve
1 karametra's favor
1 ordeal of purphoros
2 fearsome temper
1 time to feed
1: CCSS
2: CCCSSS
3: CCCCSSS
4: CCCC
5: C
6: C
That has a decent curve and I think maximizes the decks strengths, which is trying to create a big threat. I like the Ember Swallower much better than the Eater of Hope as a finisher/win condition, and the 2 Fearsome Tempers can be backbreaking. The three black cards I'm splashing for are pretty good whenever you draw them, and the mana shouldn't be too bad between the Drum and the Favor, both of which make your Trompers much better. The Archtype is actually a nice surprise here too, giving some huge guy trample when the opponent isn't expecting it.
Running Black main doesn't add a whole lot. Shrike Harpy and Disciple are fine, but better in a more devoted Black deck and slower. The black removal spells are just meh. I'd rather have Coordinated Assault and Ordeal. Eater of Hope is also okay, but expensive. Red just seems to pair up better.
EDIT: So, yeah, basically exactly what pie said, except I have the Baleful Eidolon and he still has the Eater of Hope in there. I think we were typing up our posts at the same time, but there's no more preview that lets you see what's been posted in the interim.
1 baleful eidolon
1 deepwater hypnotist
1 fate foretold
1 scourgemark
1 stratus walk
1 shipwreck singer
1 felhide minotaur
1 black oak of odunos
1 wavecrash triton
1 crackling triton
1 drown in sorrow
1 disciple of phenax
1 coastline chimera
1 weight of the underworld
1 Akroan Horse
1 shrike harpy
1 prescient chimera
1 Underworld Cerebus
1 eater of hope
9 Swamp
7 Island
2 Mountain
Possible you should sub out the horizon scholar for the Sphinx's disciple since there are 2 ways to tap it without attacking.
Whoops. Sorry, that was just a space out. Fixing...
Green adds a better early game, another removal spell, obviously more powerful creatures and the ability to splash the Cerberus. Blue simply adds some win-con finishers and one good card before turn 5. the BG deck already has tons of excellent finishers. There's nowhere near enough early game or removal/bounce in UB to give him any change to legitimately survive long enough for the fliers to actually win him the game. I can see an argument for GR, although I don't agree with it, but I see no argument whatsoever for UB.
1 mana
Scorpion
2 mana
Leafcrown (which you'd prefer to cast on 4)
3 mana
Nyxborn Wolf (which you'd prefer to cast on 5)
Time to feed (which is going to be a 1-for-2 usually when you cast it early).
Agent of Horizons
Blue early game:
2 mana
Shipwreck singer
Deepwater hypnotist
3 Mana
Wavecrash triton (4 toughness good on its own and you have Fate Foretold, Stratus Walk, and Scourgemark to target it cheaply)
Crackling Triton (with the ability to activate off of the red splash)
I'm really not seeing a dramatic difference here. The tritons being able to survive Drown in Sorrow seems pretty relevant as well. There are also the guardians of Meletis to bring in against aggro if you need to.
In terms of removal I think shipwreck singer is at least equivalent to time to feed. It can be a blank, but it can just kill a whole mess of stuff in some boards. I'm not really sure which one is best (and they are both pretty meh), but I do think it is close.
PS: You know you're having trouble with your argument when you have to point out irrelevant "flaws" in the the green cards and ignore the blatant flaws of the blue cards. Yes, you'd rather bestow Dryad or Wolf. How is that a weakness? I'd rather drop the Dryad as a 2 than the Hypnotist AND I have the option of bestowing him if I topdeck it.