Topic: Help a newb build a "sealed" deck from a fat pack

First post here, hi everyone!

So, I bought a couple of fat packs for myself and a friend of mine (Khans of Tarkir, both of them). I ended up with fat pack because neither of us had any cards beforehand, my friend used to play back in the days but had sold all his cards, and I have only played DotP and Duels on the PC, so we needed the lands. And I kind of like the idea of "sealed".

So, I added all the cards I got from the fat pack to my collection (not sure if you guys are able to see them, though?) and of course, now would be the time to actually build a deck from it. Now, I have close to 0 experience building any decks by myself. But based on the cards I have I think I'd like to go with either Mardu or Sultai.

Thoughts?

Re: Help a newb build a "sealed" deck from a fat pack

Just stating this in case... Sealed is one of the 2 limited formats draft being the other.

In sealed you receive 6 unopened boosters and you attempt to make a 40 card deck from that "pool".  You can try to build a deck with what you open from a fatpack, it's likely to be better than a given sealed pool as long as you stick to 40 cards and just jam things that are similarly colored.

Re: Help a newb build a "sealed" deck from a fat pack

Given what you're sitting on, if I were building a sealed deck, I would go Mardu (which was arguably the best clan for sealed in KTK with Abzan coming in a close second).  Between Ankle Shanker and Butcher of the Horde, you would be making a mistake not to include them.  Jeering Instigator is also fun with Butcher...

That being said, I'm a firm believer that limited  (either sealed or draft) is the best format for newer players as you don't have to run into the top tier decks, are building your collection, and can learn the basics of card evaluation, deck-building, and game strategy.  I would say to build what you think is the best deck, and then you and your friend can play 2-3 rounds.  Afterward, either switch and play with one another's pools and build new decks, OR, build new decks out of your pools that have to be a different set of colors.  This way you can get the most out of your limited collections while learning how the cards interact and the like.  Lastly, don't be afraid to go to your local FNM, even if it's just to watch, as you can learn quite a bit that way.

Re: Help a newb build a "sealed" deck from a fat pack

I know what sealed means, hence the quotation marks since this isn't exactly "real" sealed rules anyway, given the extra boosters and our goal of making standard legal decks with them.

Limited was what I had in mind when I purchased the packs. I thought it'd be fun to try out some deck building with a limited pool of cards, and see what we can throw together, and I thought we'd be on a reasonably even playfield if we get identical sets of boosters even though, of course, the contents will vary somewhat. We're not going to any tournaments with these decks, rest assured smile Just for fun, kitchen table play until we learn the ropes.

I scraped together something, have no idea whatsoever if it's good or not, but it's my first deck so I'd love some critique, and please do tell me if there's anything I definitely should replace. I know already that three Bloodfire Mentors is far from ideal, especially since I only have the one source for blue mana with Mystic Monastery, but I really, really lacked three drops and have pretty much nothing else of value to replace them with, I think.

Re: Help a newb build a "sealed" deck from a fat pack

You built a 60 card deck when a sealed deck only needs to be 40.  One really doesn't need to look beyond that.  If you're trying to get to 60 out of such a limited pool, it's simple enough to just jam the best cards in those colors.  The mana curve and card synergy really don't have to factor in for said scenario.

Build the best 40 card deck you can.  Focus on getting 22-23 playables, with 13-16 creatures, 2-5 removal spells, and the remainder utility spells.  Then you run 17 or 18 lands (most ran 18 in KTK sealed).

I think you can learn a LOT more from that.  Additionally, and this is not to deny feedback, but you'll likely learn a LOT more from playtesting the decks against your friend as you can start learning about the card interactions, lines of play, and things of that nature much faster than anyone on here could explain.

Re: Help a newb build a "sealed" deck from a fat pack

our goal of making standard legal decks with them.

You didn't say that, and it makes a big difference.  There are other questions that come up. 

  • Are you planning on going to FNM?

  • What's your budget?

  • Are you aware of rotation happening soon?

  • Do you know what sets are legal in standard?

  • What's your local FNM/LGS like? Competitive? Casual?

If you want to get into standard, i really suggest finding a deck online from a competent source.

I recommend this because it helps new players a lot.  Deck building is a skill and has to be honed as such.  Some of the best deck builders have been playing for years.  As a new player you don't want to worry about building a deck and learning how to play  format at the same time.  It's also demoralizing when something you "created" fails miserably.  While this can be a learning experience, its  more valuable to learn the mechanics of play first then brew decks when you understand a format and individual card value better.

If this is overwhelming or out of bounds, i suggest sticking to limited formats until you can build up your collection, or perhaps more casual formats like EDH.

Kitchen table is really casual and it doesn't matter what you play as long as the power levels are even and everyone has a good time.

Last edited by elpablo (2015-08-21 17:00:29)

Re: Help a newb build a "sealed" deck from a fat pack

Thanks for the valuable input, I really appreciate it!

I re-did my deck to fit the sealed standard, ie. only 40 cards. I went with Mardu, and today we played at our house some ~10 games. Aaaand... this deck pretty much crushed my friends attempts at anything. I think he won like one out of the ten matches we played, and that was a game where I was starved for mana, I only got 3 mana in my opening hand, and no more for the rest of the game.

I would like to attend FNM sometime in the future, when I get the hang of the game a little better. There's some mechanics not in the PC version on these cards that takes some amount of games to get to your head around, how you should utilize them and when, like renown and morph abilities.

I am aware of rotation, and KTK wasn't really my first choice, my purpose was to buy fat packs of Dragons of Tarkir but the store didn't have them so I went with KTK instead.

But yeah, I think I'll stay on limited for now, maybe attending sealed tournaments. I have no idea about what the local FNM sccene is like, I know where they play and when, but haven't dared attend yet. Now that I have some games under my belt I feel a little more confident that I won't screw up royally during play.

Re: Help a newb build a "sealed" deck from a fat pack

you should go to the store, hang out look around... otherwise how will you know. In general people want to help new players.  Some stores even have loaner decks you can use (usually RDW).   Khans is good until Next Summer... it's not bad to have some.