Yeah, often times the pressure isn't even caused from the cards, it's from putting extra pressure on yourself for an event that ultimately has pretty low stakes. If you can't decide, just go with the card that looks more fun. :)
I'm going to a prerease tomorrow because a friend invited me, I have followed magic for years but I have only played for the past two days. Thank you for the guide. I think not hesitating to cut the colors with few creatures will be a help. :)
Sorting by spells AND creatures instead of just color seems super useful as a tip. A guy i saw at the Duskmourn sealed event brought a set of 5 of the spindown dice, essentially just to have easy counts going without having to recount stuff. Especially in going from sorting whats pulled, and then a sort of rough cut to a deck, before finally grabbing lands. The guy finished in like 5 minutes and literally went out to grab a pizza while everyone else was still making decks
Use whatever works. After you do a few of them it'll start coming easier. At this point I've played so many sealed and draft events over the years that even if I don't play one for a year+ it just takes a few minutes to assemble the deck. Also, watching some of the creator events streams with people drafting will help identify a few cards that are stronger in limited formats. And some of the podcasts covering limited play as well. :)
I usually get stuck when building a sealed deck because I try to build a deck with 1) enough creatures, 2) enough removal, and 3) a decent mana curve, and I can usually only tick two of those three boxes. I have never compromised on mana curve, which unfortunately is usually the one box that is hardest to tick, and I end up splashing a third colour to smooth it out, which of course leads to mana screw unless I managed to find some fixing. Your curve here is what I would normally consider unplayable, as it's quite top-heavy. If it's actually possible to get away with having a more top-heavy curve though I'll try to be less strict next prerelease (which is tonight! Bloomburrow). Great video and I look forward to putting this system into practice!
You can definitely get away with a higher curve. You just end up spending your early turn ramping or playing a bunch of removal so you have some stability on those later turns. But you don't have to be crazy low on the curve. Remember that you also have fewer cards, so your odds are higher of seeing each card. Ultimately though, it comes down to what your card pool is. That said, Bloomburrow needs to be faster with solid removal for small creatures. Mice, Bats, Lizards, and Rats all have potential to have fast starts you'll want to be able to block against or remove those early threats.
@@PowrDragn Update: Prerelease went extremely well; I got my deck together before anyone else and placed top 6. This will be my go-to Sealed system from here on out. Thanks again PD!
Do you sleeve all of your cards right away, or only the ones that eventually make it into your deck? I'm wondering how to optimize the time spent preparing for the game and actually selecting cards.
Dang, thats a pretty good primer. Out of curiosity, how would we categorise permanents that part-time as creatures (vehicles; permanents that can animate themselves; or permanents that transform into creatures)?
@@PowrDragn That's fair. So if we were to use some recent examples: Monument to Perfection would be treated as a non-creature due to how stringent the animation condition is; Grond, the Gatebreaker would depend heavily on how many sources of Amass you have; Levitating Statue could be treated as a creature. Though this does raise the question of Man-lands like Mishra's Foundry. I assume that we treat them as lands unless they're particularly powerful (The man-lands from Adventures in the Forgotten Realm come to mind as well as Crawling Barrens.)
I would always treat lands as lands. If they animate that’s a bonus but you don’t want to have your deck be weaker on the creature side because you counted a land you may never draw as a creature. I would hesitate to treat vehicles as creature too because they usually require another creature to be live but that’s definitely a more subjective thing.
Not really. Drafts have way more variables. I feel like whatever I tell someone, they'd just run into the exception for that set in the next draft they go to. But generally speaking, you're going to aim for basically he same ratios in your final build as you would for sealed.
Amazing and pretty nice tutorial ! And one thing, to create a casual deck is the same process usually? (Buy 6 packs and create a favourable deck with them?). And I suppose that this kind of deck is a balanced and solid ones for less experienced player (It is a midrange type, right?). With the same 6 cards (or with another pack), as experienced player, you valorate to create another one ?
I'm not sure I follow. This is not something I would generally play against another person's deck unless they were in the same event as me (also laying a deck built from 6 packs). Most of the time this is just the format used at Prerelease events. I was giving people tips for building a deck in these events if they have no done so before. I also have this video for prerelese tips as well if you need it: th-cam.com/video/rGhXF6KNWnk/w-d-xo.html
@@PowrDragn first of all, sorry for my bad english, It is not my mother language! What I wanted to say is that you have shown a way to create an optimal deck (good mana curve, creatures, ...) and that I understand that it can always be used in a general way. What I would like to know is if you, as an expert who knows more about the synergies of the cards, would choose to create an alternative deck (like more enchantments than creatures, etc.) - that is, with other archetypes. I would love to see another example with, for example, if possible, a prerelease deck and create two types of alternative decks: one more for a beginner and another that has more complex mechanics that an expert player would show. I don't know if I explain myself.
Yes. All official released Magic cards are able to be played in MTG events. Some just aren't allowed in some formats. For example, you can't play LotR in Standard, but they are legal in formats like Modern and older.
Really good primer. My problem with sealed is always decisin paralysis, and I think that will help a bit
Yeah, often times the pressure isn't even caused from the cards, it's from putting extra pressure on yourself for an event that ultimately has pretty low stakes. If you can't decide, just go with the card that looks more fun. :)
I'm going to a prerease tomorrow because a friend invited me, I have followed magic for years but I have only played for the past two days. Thank you for the guide. I think not hesitating to cut the colors with few creatures will be a help. :)
Be sure to go even more prepared with my Prerelease Tips video!
th-cam.com/video/rGhXF6KNWnk/w-d-xo.html
Sorting by spells AND creatures instead of just color seems super useful as a tip.
A guy i saw at the Duskmourn sealed event brought a set of 5 of the spindown dice, essentially just to have easy counts going without having to recount stuff. Especially in going from sorting whats pulled, and then a sort of rough cut to a deck, before finally grabbing lands. The guy finished in like 5 minutes and literally went out to grab a pizza while everyone else was still making decks
Use whatever works. After you do a few of them it'll start coming easier. At this point I've played so many sealed and draft events over the years that even if I don't play one for a year+ it just takes a few minutes to assemble the deck.
Also, watching some of the creator events streams with people drafting will help identify a few cards that are stronger in limited formats. And some of the podcasts covering limited play as well. :)
Im new to the magic world so thank you for this video!
i learned to prioritize creatures and removal,
I usually get stuck when building a sealed deck because I try to build a deck with 1) enough creatures, 2) enough removal, and 3) a decent mana curve, and I can usually only tick two of those three boxes. I have never compromised on mana curve, which unfortunately is usually the one box that is hardest to tick, and I end up splashing a third colour to smooth it out, which of course leads to mana screw unless I managed to find some fixing.
Your curve here is what I would normally consider unplayable, as it's quite top-heavy. If it's actually possible to get away with having a more top-heavy curve though I'll try to be less strict next prerelease (which is tonight! Bloomburrow).
Great video and I look forward to putting this system into practice!
You can definitely get away with a higher curve. You just end up spending your early turn ramping or playing a bunch of removal so you have some stability on those later turns. But you don't have to be crazy low on the curve. Remember that you also have fewer cards, so your odds are higher of seeing each card. Ultimately though, it comes down to what your card pool is.
That said, Bloomburrow needs to be faster with solid removal for small creatures. Mice, Bats, Lizards, and Rats all have potential to have fast starts you'll want to be able to block against or remove those early threats.
@@PowrDragn I always forget that Sealed is a bit slower than Draft in general!
Thanks for the advice; I'll keep fast removal in mind for tonight!
@@PowrDragn Update: Prerelease went extremely well; I got my deck together before anyone else and placed top 6. This will be my go-to Sealed system from here on out. Thanks again PD!
Do you sleeve all of your cards right away, or only the ones that eventually make it into your deck? I'm wondering how to optimize the time spent preparing for the game and actually selecting cards.
Just the ones I'm playing with. If I sideboard something, I just swap the card in and out of the sleeves.
Dang, thats a pretty good primer. Out of curiosity, how would we categorise permanents that part-time as creatures (vehicles; permanents that can animate themselves; or permanents that transform into creatures)?
It all depends on how often or reliably you think they can be creatures or not.
@@PowrDragn That's fair.
So if we were to use some recent examples: Monument to Perfection would be treated as a non-creature due to how stringent the animation condition is; Grond, the Gatebreaker would depend heavily on how many sources of Amass you have; Levitating Statue could be treated as a creature.
Though this does raise the question of Man-lands like Mishra's Foundry. I assume that we treat them as lands unless they're particularly powerful (The man-lands from Adventures in the Forgotten Realm come to mind as well as Crawling Barrens.)
I would always treat lands as lands. If they animate that’s a bonus but you don’t want to have your deck be weaker on the creature side because you counted a land you may never draw as a creature. I would hesitate to treat vehicles as creature too because they usually require another creature to be live but that’s definitely a more subjective thing.
41 card special, classic 😂
It's the expert maneuver. :)
This was an excellent primer
Thanks. I tried to keep it quick and simple.
Have you done a video like this for drafts?
Not really. Drafts have way more variables. I feel like whatever I tell someone, they'd just run into the exception for that set in the next draft they go to. But generally speaking, you're going to aim for basically he same ratios in your final build as you would for sealed.
Amazing and pretty nice tutorial ! And one thing, to create a casual deck is the same process usually? (Buy 6 packs and create a favourable deck with them?). And I suppose that this kind of deck is a balanced and solid ones for less experienced player (It is a midrange type, right?). With the same 6 cards (or with another pack), as experienced player, you valorate to create another one ?
I'm not sure I follow. This is not something I would generally play against another person's deck unless they were in the same event as me (also laying a deck built from 6 packs). Most of the time this is just the format used at Prerelease events. I was giving people tips for building a deck in these events if they have no done so before.
I also have this video for prerelese tips as well if you need it:
th-cam.com/video/rGhXF6KNWnk/w-d-xo.html
@@PowrDragn first of all, sorry for my bad english, It is not my mother language! What I wanted to say is that you have shown a way to create an optimal deck (good mana curve, creatures, ...) and that I understand that it can always be used in a general way. What I would like to know is if you, as an expert who knows more about the synergies of the cards, would choose to create an alternative deck (like more enchantments than creatures, etc.) - that is, with other archetypes. I would love to see another example with, for example, if possible, a prerelease deck and create two types of alternative decks: one more for a beginner and another that has more complex mechanics that an expert player would show. I don't know if I explain myself.
Can the lotr cards be used to play a normal game of mtg?
Yes. All official released Magic cards are able to be played in MTG events. Some just aren't allowed in some formats. For example, you can't play LotR in Standard, but they are legal in formats like Modern and older.
@@PowrDragn Man thanks for that reply, total noob here trying to find my feet at MTG, earned a sub bro. 👊
I love these tutorials!
Love this! Thanks PD!
You're welcome. Share it with anyone that needs help and a super short primer.
MODERN HORIZON 3 LETS GOOOO