Yet another sealed pool

rhaze · Joined: 02 Nov 2005 Posts: 62

Hey guys. so ive come up with yet another sealed pool this time for a different grand prix trial. neways here it is. have a crack at it ; tell me what u think and howd u would build it (possibly even coming up with a decklist).

as usual after getting enough feedbacks (hopefully) i will post up the decklist i played with.

one interesting point to note is that theres (possibly) three different builds one could come up with in the sealed pool. if ur one of the guys who actually spotted the builds, can you please discuss the merits of each build and why they should (or should not) be played as my main 40 cards. am looking for good constructive opinion here. even if u cant produce any, a simple suggestion on what build u would probably go with is just fine i guess.

thanks again guys!

White
Ajani Goldmane
Crib Swap
Goldmeadow Harrier
Harpoon Sniper
Hillcomber Giant
Kithkin Greatheart
Militia's Pride
Shields of Velis Vel
Springjack Knight
Triclopean Sight
Burrenton Shield-Bearers
2 Changeling Sentinel
Forfend
Swell of Courage

Blue
Amoeboid Changeling
Benthicore
Broken Ambitions
Deeptread Merrow
Merrow Harbinger
Scattering Stroke
Sentinels of Glen Elendra
Shapesharer
Tideshaper Mystic
Dewdrop Spy
Fencer Clique
Ink Dissolver
Latchkey Faerie
Mind Spring
Thieves' Fortune

Black
Boggart Harbinger
Boggart Loggers
Dreamspoiler Witches
Exiled Boggart
Eyeblight's Ending
Ghostly Changeling
Hornet Harasser
Mournwhelk
Nath's Buffon
Festercreep
Maralen Mornsong
Noggin Whack
Pack's Disdain
Prickly Boggart
Squeaking Pie Grubfellows

Red
Adder-Staff Boggart
Boggart Shenanigans
Caterwauling Bogart
Lash Out
Needle Drop
Stinkdrinker Daredevil
Tar Pitcher
Boldwyr Intimidator
Fire Juggler
Mudbutton Clanger
Seething Pathblazer
Stingmoggie

Green
Battlewand Oak
Elvish Handservant
Fertile Ground
Hunt Down
Imperious Perfect
Kithkin Mourncaller
Oakgnarl Warrior
Spring Cleaning
Ambassador Oak
Bosk Banneret
Bramblewood Paragon
2 Deglamer
Elvish Warrior
Orchard Warden
Winnower Patrol

Artifact
Moonglove Extract
Herbal Poultice

Rink · Joined: 16 Jan 2007 Posts: 18

I'm terrible at anything that requires manipulating quantities of magic cards on a screen, but if I were you I would not be able to avoid playing white.

Ajani is a huge creature pumper, when you have creatures. A great staller if you can hide behind something and gain life. Possibly a finisher, and in the worst case he's a terrible holy day.

Crib Swap and Harrier are great cards for controlling the game a bit.

Changeling Sentinels are good too, having tons of synergy with tons of things.

And of course, Swell of Courage is a fantastic finisher or turns one creature into a beast.

As for the other color, I would probably pick the green. The black has some good removal, but the green has a solid warrior theme. Paragon is a great 'lord' and with Imperious Perfect they are great. Not to mention Winnower Patrol, Ambassador Oak and Elvish Warrior which are all good cards in their own right.

It would be annoying to go three colours without fixing, but maybe off the Fertile Ground you could splash some black? Hard to say. Maybe if you were feeling lucky.

That's my two cents.

rhaze · Joined: 02 Nov 2005 Posts: 62

actually, me too Rink. i cant friggin understand how ppl can just like scan thru the list and come up with builds? i mean... what the heck?? i gotta actually hold the cards and feel them and arrange them in such a way that i would actually see the connection and interactions.

but yeah that aside, i agree with u on the fact that white has the most bombs. what do you think about the blue in the pool? is it worth it pairing up blue and white together?

Avata · Joined: 03 Dec 2006 Posts: 372

Looking over the list, there are definitely options out there, but in the end I'd go with white/blue.

Starting off, I simply can't avoid white. The color itself is pretty shallow, but the few cards that you do have are simply amazing, in that Ajani, Swell of Courage, Goldmeadow Harrier and Crib Swap are all cards you should be excited to have in your pool.

From there, I'm thinking about colors to pair with white. The cards you have are clearly based more on a mid/late game, measured kind of pace, rather than an aggro approach, which leads me to look at blue with great hope, and the blue pool doesn't disappoint. There's solid men all the way up the curve, and that fits well with the stall + evasion theory white/blue is so good at.

From there, keeping in mind the games will probably stretch out, I'm looking to black for a splash, since it has Dreamspoiler Witches, Eyeblight's Ending, and Packs Disdain, all fine maindeckable cards, and Mournwhelk, Boggart Loggers, and Festercreep as viable sideboard picks.

(Aside on splashing: If you're planning/capable of going to the long game with your sealed pool, it is correct to find a splash, in my estimation, at least 90% of the time. Trimming the 2-3 worst cards in one color for the 2-3 best in another often improves overall card quality a significant amount. Obviously though if you're planning on going aggro (most commonly red/green or white/red in Lorwyn) a splash is much less valuable.)

Other options are available, sure, but I think UWb is the way to go with this pool. You won't win games quickly that often (although many a sealed game has been won by flyer + reinforced swell of courage, I"m sure) but your card quality is very high and can allow you to control the pacing of the game, and I think will have the most success.

ant900 · Joined: 11 Oct 2004 Posts: 2484 Location: somewhere

to me this pool looks very aggro (W/G) Ajani, Greatheart, militia's pride, swell of courage, battlewand oak, imperious perfect, ambassadar oak, paragon, elvish warrior, and winnower patrol

with a quick black splash the deck isn't that hard to make

Ajani Goldmane
Crib Swap
Goldmeadow Harrier
Militia's Pride
Burrenton Shield-Bearers
2 Changeling Sentinel
Swell of Courage
Hillcomber Giant
Shields of Velis Vel
Kithkin Greatheart

Battlewand Oak
Fertile Ground
Imperious Perfect
Kithkin Mourncaller
Bramblewood Paragon
Elvish Warrior
Winnower Patrol
Ambassador Oak
Elvish Handservant

packs disdain
eyeblights ending

Moonglove Extract

i dont know exactly where Avata got u/w from. While the creatures in blue are good, the synergy of all of greens cards, and a few of whites just works out

Vesuvian · Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Posts: 54

The build for this pool is no question agro WGb. If you didn't build WGb you built wrong. The only real thing in question is the manabase, i.e. to play 16 or 17 lands.

Here's the decklist:

Creatures
------------
Elvish Handservant
Goldmeadow Harrier
Bramblewood Paragon
Elvish Warrior
Kithkin Greatheart
Harpoon Sniper
Springjack Knight
Battlewand Oak
Imperious Perfect
Winnower Patrol
Kithkin Mourncaller
Ambassador Oak
Changeling Sentinel
Changeling Sentinel
Hillcomber Giant

Spells
-------
Fertile Ground
Ajani Goldmane
Crib Swap
Swell of Courage
Moonglove Extract
Militia's Pride
Eyeblight's Ending
Pack's Disdain

Lands
-------
8 Forest
7 Plains
2 Swamp

ant900 · Joined: 11 Oct 2004 Posts: 2484 Location: somewhere

i didn't run the sniper because of the lack of support, i have yet to try it in a non dedicated merfolk deck, is it good still?

Avata · Joined: 03 Dec 2006 Posts: 372

Trotsky1 · Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 895

You seem to have missed of what non basic lands you got (assuming you got some) they could make a minor difference to the overall deck build gwb is clearly the most powerfull deckbuild and sealed thats generally what counts the most.

ant900 · Joined: 11 Oct 2004 Posts: 2484 Location: somewhere

Vesuvian · Joined: 18 Dec 2005 Posts: 54

rhaze · Joined: 02 Nov 2005 Posts: 62

thanks for the solid input and decklist to Avata, ant900 and Vesuvian. just before i reveal what i actually built and how i went, i would also like to throw in another idea ; someone (not here) suggested UG. reason being the curve for UG looks very good and sometimes ud still win on the back of curving out every game. to be honest, i was rather sceptical about this view but considering that the player who gave me that advice has a long list of positive reputation and accomplishments on his CV, i thought about it alot as well. what do you guys think?

fact is that there are two builds with different purposes; the more aggro straightforward GW (or GWb) and the more tempo-oriented, controllish UW build. i think everybody agrees on the fact that we've got two (not including the UG build) viable builds here? the question is how would u decide which to play? it took me a heck of a long time to actually build my main 40 cards with this pool. what are the factors you would consider, if any?

and Trotsky1, nope i did not forget to list any non-basic lands. it just so happens there werent any in my pool.

Avata · Joined: 03 Dec 2006 Posts: 372

Some factors:

1. Personal preference. Are you more comfortable in aggro, or in control? Are you more likely to make mistakes in a long game, or get frustrated when an aggro plan doesn't work?

2. As a control build, does this deck have the card quality to win the long game against other decks, and the curve to surive the short game? (I answered "Yes" to the w/u/b build, since you have strong early drops and late game bombs.)

3. As an aggro build, do you have enough redundancy (example, 2/x cards for 2 mana) and early drops to ensure a strong start in every game, and the reach (in the form of trample, giant growth effects, removal, or burn) to squeeze in the last few points if the board stalls?
(The green/white/black aggro deck certainly has the reach, but it just lacks the early drops. Pack's Disdain isn't going to see play on turn 2, fertile ground doesn't put pressure on the opponent (and, after turn 3, will become far less useful since the curve tops out so low) and Militia's Pride is a very slow start unless you were lucky enough to get one of your two one drops and have your opponent not commit anything to the board early.)

So, that's three good general questions to consider, and why I answered the way I did in this case. I'm guessing that anyone going with the g/w/b version is going to get to turn 8 a lot of games with the ground stalled out, the opponent at 14, and looking at only Ajani, Swell of Courage, and Imperious Perfect as outs to break a stall. You also have Hillcomber Giant against red, but even in a best case scenario, four outs in the deck that will have to go unanswered for a significant amount of time is not where I want to be sitting in the late game.

Femt · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 16

Your green is great, so I would obvious choose it. Now for second color you could either use B and splash W, or you could use U and splash W.Your W is also some strong stuff, you got ajani, militia pride, crib swap,gold harrier, harpoon if playing U and 2 changeling.
I know it would be hard to decide which color to use, but I really think anything could fit here. Your pool is somewhat great and you have many different ways to explore it, so anything you pick using G would turn into a potentially good deck! Wink

The color to eliminate is R obvious Very Happy

rhaze · Joined: 02 Nov 2005 Posts: 62

rights. sorry for the late feedback on this one. uni got the better of me for the last few weeks or so. but yeah in any case thanks again guys for the input.

and Avata thanks for the rough guidelines. i kinda think i can play either aggro or control because i started off with constructed and i played all kind of decks (aggro control combo) and i find that i have no particular favourite. so its slightly harder as i wouldnt lean naturally onto any color (or its good if u look at it in another way).

but yeah in any case. so uve seen the pool. it was pretty difficult to build as u couldve seen. i took like the better part of 20 mins to build my main 40. in the end, i went with GWb build. at first i went 3-0 after 3 rounds and lost my next two ones before dropping. in hindsight, i think i shouldve played cause of the fact that someone who went with a 5-2 record made top8 (and my tiebreakers shouldve been alright cause i won my first 3). in any case, i won my first 3 in a landslide with very fast aggro (in 6 games, i finished all of them on 20 life barring one - the person won the clash on a lash out). with the right draws, its pretty hard to beat. i dont think i need to list my build here but yeah i was splashing for eyeblights and pack's disdain (with two ways to generate tokens, why not).

but i lost my next one to an almost similar deck and it went down to the races. lost that one 2-1. personally i was thinking i shouldve sideboarded into UG or WU during the second game because of the fact that it curves out much better than the GW build and i could therefore get more man online faster also id have evasion in my attempt to race him. but no i didnt do that and subsequently lost the 2nd and 3rd game.

and the next one i got paired against a RWb deck with loads and loads and friggin loads of removal filled to the brim. it was endless - profane , lash out, tarfire, nameless, violet pall and shard volley. lost my first match against that one, i was thinking i really should side into UW build here due to the fact that i would have more evasion and id hve the hard to remove fencer clique. i didnt as i thought i couldve raced him on the go and i stuck it thru and won the 2nd one. the 3rd one i lost with him getting the upperhand playing all his removals smoothly.

so i kinda think i shouldve changed builts according to the matchups being played. though ive never done that before, i am aware of ppl doing it just to increase their chances of winning. not to mention it would put ppl offguard (hey i didnt see u play that island before... uhhhh.... wheres ur forest? land screwed huh? thats plenty of islands ur playing for a splash).

thanks again guys for the massive feedback people. its taught me a thing or two and i really would come up with another sealed pool soon.

owh and i still personally think the GW build is better. how cool is winning 5 games on 20 life? Very Happy