Dear Realms,
I would appreciate any help pertaining to Sealed Play. I do very well in constructed, always taking an original build to various tournaments, but I never seem to do well in pre-releases. I would like some insight for the upcoming JLA pre-release and WWTX 10K. Could anyone who is successful in Sealed explain to me such things as, how you construct your curve, what your char. PT ratio is, ect. Thank you for your input.

In general you want about 20 characters and 10 PT/locations/equipment
my Curve is generally

drop # of characters
1-2 4(depending on the format
3 4
4 4
5 3-4(I like 4)
6 2-3
7 2
8 1(not generally needed in avengers draft, was fine in GL and MK)
you generally want about 2 team-ups, KO effects are generally good, like finishing move, chopping block.
You want 3-4 Attack pump of at least 2atk if you can get it and if available run ALL Defenese pump of at least 2df. you win more games from having the defense pump b/c you dont' always have the Atk pump when you need it
Ben Wienburg

Thank you, I appreciate it.

+ there are more attack than there are defense pumps, so if you get one, you should usually play it (no one'll expect it)

Just over an hour ago someone in this very forum started a thread asking for sealed pack help. They're in the same situation as you; they've never played the format before. Why did you feel the need to start this thread?

Here's the thread. There's even a link within to a metagame.com article explaining how sealed pack works and which character ratios are ideal. Specifically it mentions sealed pack at a sneak preview, which is EXACTLY what you're asking about. Again, why did you start this thread?

same curve that i follow, this is the best curve u can possibly have, the plots and locations and sometimes equipments all depend on you.

First and foremost, the absolute most important thing to remember in sealed, is that your curve is the most important part of your deck. Characters, not the accompanying plot twists should determine, what teams you will play. Unless you have received a god pool, you will be forced to run multiple team affiliations. Do not try to be the guy, that runs only 2 four drops, and 1 five drop, because he wanted to stay with just one team. People generally say to stick with one major team, and then splashes of another one, however in a lot of pools, this is simply impossible. I generally try to stick with two major team affiliations, and then some splashes. Especially for DC Sealed, look back in the past it is been tons easier to run a ton of teams in the DC Sealed Sets. If you are weak on a drop, do not be afraid to get some character of that drop from another team affiliation.

Twists are also important, just not more important then your main curve. Try to put cards that will work the most into your deck. A card might be good, but if you draw it four games, and only use it once, was it really a better card then just another small pump. In Sealed, the best three kind of twists you generally use, will be attack pumps, defense pumps, and field control cards, those include cards that KO opponent’s characters, and recover yours. The reason that those twists are the most important is because; they will be useful basically every time you draw them. How many times per game will you be attacking…defending…stunning an opponent’s character…getting one of your own characters stunned, just about every turn? Therefore it will help you more, then say a card that will only help you ½, or ¼ of the time you draw it. However those cards that can be used only in specific situations, if they can turn a game over for you, into lasting one turn, or help you come back from the edge of defeat, then they might be worth it…depends on what the card really does, and what it’s competition is.

Remember to read the cards very good. When splashing a character or twist, make sure it does not have Loyalty, can only be used when you control a character of a certain team affiliation, that you do not plan on running, or makes you discard a character of a team affiliation, that you do not plan on running. Also when looking through your pumps, make sure to be able to tell the difference, between ‘Target Attacker’, and ‘Target Defender’, and ‘Target Character’, as well as the difference between ‘This Attack’, and ‘This Turn’ These are very subtle differences, but they will likely become the difference between, being able to use a card to stun an opponents character, or simply cursing, as you realize that was an illegal target, and now your opponent can play around your card.

Find synergies in your cards. If for example, you have been lucky enough to find an eight drop in your pool, then you want to go for more defense pumps then attack pumps, and a character pool that is generally more defense based. Run cards that gain both people life, then lost both people life; sort of thing. On the other side of the spectrum, if you come to find yourself with say 1 7 drop, and no 6 drops, while you have some nice early guys, and solid pumps, then you will want to go with a swarm strategy. Try to make the game end as soon as possible, as without a card like TNB, or Faces…by Turn 5 your opponent characters will be bigger then your swarm. You need to find what your pool is leaning towards, and build your deck around that.

Ok, now for those all important numbers…

Your Character Curve For A Default Deck Should Look Something Like This

Characters: 19
Twists: 11

One Drops: 1-2
Two Drops: 2-3
Three Drops: 4
Four Drops: 4-5
Five Drops: 3-4
Six Drops: 2-3
Seven Drops: 1-2

Swarm builds should run a lot more character from 1-4, with many less from 5-7. Stall builds should focus less on 1-2-3, and more 6, 7, and 8.


¥«TCCJöe»¥

Team ups are important, or at least cards that can work together without being teamed up.

One strategy it to try and hit VERY hard early on.

All of the advice here is sound...the only thing I can add is practice...next time you have game night with the boys, play a small sealed tourney...get used to playing this way...you already know there is a big difference...

thanks for the advice guys. And techno, did you ever think that maybe I was not aware that someone else started a thread like this?

but thanks for the link.

Or if you get enough low drops with support, build a rush deck!

The lack of skill needed in sealed compared to draft makes me a sad panda.

I agree that Draft is much more skill based then Sealed, but Sealed also uses for specific skills.

While drafting you can lock yourself into a specific team, or team up, before the event, and parctice that(them) team(s). Draft does take a ton of skill to determine what cards are most likely to come back around the table, and having to switch your team(s) in the middle of the draft is very hard. However Sealed also takes some different skills, atleast when I draft, I know what themes I am going for during the draft, so after I have my picks it is very easy to put together a deck, while in Sealed, you are playing with seemingly random packs, because of that it takes a good deck builder, to turn their random packs in a nice deck.

While I agree that the skill requied to be good at the various formats goes like this:

Draft>Constructed>Sealed

But it does take more then just a nice pool to go 5-0 or 6-1 in a Sealed Tourney.