Examining my Sealed Scars Pools

Posted on October 5, 2010

This past weekend I enjoyed the Scars of Mirrodin prerelease and I hope all of you were able to as well. Playing with this set after playing M11 for so long is like night and day. Of course a core set should not be anything like it, but M11 seemed to spoil us with so much good removal and card draw. Scars makes you reframe your evaluations quite a bit. Oh, the set is just a bunch of 1/1s and 2/2s? What do you mean there aren't any Pyroclasms or Shrivels?

Scars sealed season is looming so hopefully this rundown of my card evaluations and building process for the two prerelease sealed events I played in will help get your thoughts flowing.

Sealed Pool 1

"Green"

Thoughts: Acid Web Spider is fantastic due to the number of targets for his ability and the power of fliers in general. It is assumed that everyone will have at least a couple pieces of equipment in their sealed decks for the spider to knock out. A 3/5 reach for five is quite the body for not only fliers, but for most of the creatures in this format.

Ezuri's Archers takes down near every non rare flier and due to the power of white common fliers in this set, he will be valuable.

Carapace Forger, along with most of the Metalcraft cards is good if you can activate him. It is important to keep in mind that it is not always just about how many artifacts you have in your deck, but how much they cost as well. If your artifacts are too expensive then you need to reevaluate how good your 2 drop Metalcraft creatures actually are.

Green is one of the two colors along with Black that make up the typical Infect deck as the other colors have zero cards with the word Infect on them. There are three Infect cards here in green and it is something worth keeping in mind while evaluating the black and artifact cards.

Blight Mamba is one of the more annoying Infect creatures to deal with and therefore one of the better cards available for the archtype. The other Infect creatures trade and die, but the Mamba's regeneration allows it to live on and ruin lives. Add equipment and you have something scary to deal with.

Carrion Call is interesting because there are some Infect cards that should probably only be played in Infect decks (i.e. Cystbearer) and others like this can have other applications. First of all, many Infect creatures are pretty small so bringing this card in against an Infect deck can be devastating for them. It gets by Blight Mamba's regeneration and Ichorclaw Myr's pump ability. On the other hand, a case could be made for playing it maindeck as a combat trick to pick off any wandering Myr, a Volshok Replica or any of the Embersmith cycle. Infect with enough redundancy can be good offensively, but it is wise to respect it as a defensive mechanic as well outside of the typical Infect deck.

"Blue"

Thoughts: Well, my thoughts at the time were probably pretty straightforward. There is not much here to choose from so let's move on.

"Black"

Thoughts: Grasp of Darkness is one of the best removal spells in the set so it is a pleasant sight; however, there is not a lot else to get excited about.

I would probably play Blistergrub in any non-Infect driven black deck because it plays so well aggressively. Imagine these guys with Necrogen Scudder, Bleak Coven Vampires, Exsanguinate, Perilous Myr, and some other aggressive cards and you have some reach.

Exsanguinate has performed well for me and in sealed, if you can simply get your opponent below ten life then this card can steal the game. Being able to shift the table from them killing you next turn to you being able to kill them next turn makes the lifegain pretty good too.

The rest of the black is unplayable or unexciting.

"White"

Thoughts: The white is leagues better than the other colors simply because we have three good removal spells and it helps that the creatures are better too.

Arrest is one of the best white cards and one of the top removal spells in the format. The downside of course is that there are more answers to it than there were in m11 for Pacifism.

Dispense Justice is another reason to be in white. There are not a lot of tokens in this set so you will be getting some amazing value if you play it with Metalcraft. Even without this card is great.

Ghalma's Warden would probably be good enough in this set even without the Metalcraft ability. A 2/4 is huge!

Soul Parry interests me. I really want to play it because it just seems like basically a two mana Safe Passage, but I have yet to see it in action and I have not been able to cast it yet.

Having Elspeth seals us in playing white as one of our colors

"Red"

Thoughts: Spikeshot Elder with equipment is insane, but even without it he is efficient and a big reason to go red. Just like Spikeshot Goblin was in Mirrodin, there are a lot of targets.

Galvanic Blast, Oxidda Scrapmelter, and Turn to Slag give us a good number of removal spells in a set that is a bit lighter on them than those of recent years past. They should be enough to push us into red.

Embersmith can get a lot of work done and would be even better if only we had a few Glint Hawks. Regardless, he will make a good addition to this RW deck.

"Lands"

Lands (2)
1 Glimmerpost
1 Forest

Thoughts: So with the artifacts, the first thing I look for are those that will make my deck regardless of what color I am playing. In this pool they include Bladed Pinions, Palladium Myr, Argentum Armor, Mox Opal, and Etched Champion. Evasion and first strike are always powerful abilities and with such a cheap cost, Bladed Pinions is fantastic.

Argentum Armor seems too slow at first glance, which is understandable. Most likely your opponent is packing removal for artifacts in their deck. With a total of twelve mana to play and equip, you will probably be playing it for six and passing, which then leaves you open for that Acid Web Spider or Revoke Existence they have been holding back. On the other hand, if they do not have a way to deal with it then you are going to just win unless they have such overwhelming board position despite you destroying their best attacker. If we are lucky we can also live the dream of equipping our Spikeshot Elder and create memories.

Secondly, I want to see what artifacts support my best colors and bombs. The artifacts that support white in this pool are Auriok Replica, Glint Hawk Idol and Gold Myr. The artifacts that support red in this pool are Iron Myr, Panic Spellbomb, and Vulshok Replica. We have four on colored Myr, which should allow us to run less land, help us reach Metalcraft early and consistently, as well as allow us to ramp into our expensive stuff (i.e. Argentum Armor, Turn to Slag). Glint Hawk Idol is the best of its respected cycle and will give us another early Metalcraft enabler and an evasive threat. The two on color replicas are good, with Volshok being a bit better, although will be some of the last cards if they make the deck.

Finally, we take a look at the rest of the artifacts that are good and possible sideboard options. Myr Galvanizer is naturally better with each additional Myr and with this pool he should be outstanding. Even as a 2/2 for 3 he is not worthless, but we should be able to count on him to upgrade a mana Myr into a Bear.

Tumble Magnet is a card that I do not want to put into that category of artifacts I will always play, but it has been annoying to play against and good enough for me. In an aggressive deck it helps you push through damage. In a control deck it buys you time to get to your end game. Against Infect decks it buys you needed time. Tumble Magnet is no Trip Noose, but it gets the job done when used properly. Some players this weekend were using it when they did not need to and therefore you always may as well enter your attack phase to see if they use their Magnet even if you do not plan on attacking. Even if the possible attack would not make any sense, it might make them think you have a trick and therefore, play cautiously and burn a counter off of it.

Heavy Arbalest is pretty slow, but I would consider it more if the pool had less removal. It is pretty good on Infect creatures and also good with creatures that untap or untap others (i.e. Soliton, Myr Galvanizer).

Perilous Myr can be obnoxious. There are a lot of one and two-toughness creatures out there so sitting this guy back there on defense can put your opponent in an awkward position. A lot of people seemed to like this guy and for good reason; however, I can certainly imagine not maindecking him since you are still playing a 1/1 for 2 and it is not the most proactive creature out there. Similar to Carrion Call, Perilous Myr can also do a lot of damage out of the sideboard against Infect decks.

I took 3^rd at my first prerelease with this build losing to my opponent having an answer to my Argentum Armor and then me having no answer to an Argentum Armor of his own. With 11 artifacts below a casting cost of 3 and seven costing two or less, my Metalcraft cards were enabled without a lot of effort.

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

1 Auriok Edgewright

1 Auriok Sunchaser

1 Embersmith

1 Ghalma's Warden

1 Kemba's Skyguard

1 Oxidda Scrapmelter

1 Spikeshot Elder

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

2 Arrest

1 Dispense Justice

1 Elspeth Tirel

1 Galvanic Blast

1 Turn to Slag

[/Spells]

[Artifacts]

1 Argentum Armor

1 Bladed Pinions

1 Etched Champion

1 Glint Hawk Idol

2 Gold Myr

2 Iron Myr

1 Mox Opal

1 Myr Galvanizer

1 Palladium Myr

1 Tumble Magnet

[/Artifacts]

[Lands]

9 Plains

7 Mountains

[/Lands]

[/cardlist]

Sealed Pool 2

"Green"

Thoughts: A similar group of green as the first sealed pool.

Bellowing Tanglewurm would be insane in almost any other format, but a 4/4 for five with an ability is always welcome. I especially like it in Infect decks to give your green Infect creatures free reign with a couple key removal spells.

Tel-Jilad Fallen is another great card out of the board for green non-Infect decks. A lot of decks will have problems swinging into this guy.

Wing Puncture and Tel-Jilad Defiance are also solid sideboard options; however, green is not looking like a very deep color for us to be in unless Infect is a heavier theme in black and brown.

"Blue"

Thoughts: Disperse seems fantastic in this format. It can do cruel things in combat such as hitting their equipment or their third artifact for Metalcraft. Cheap bounce effects are frequently decent in limited and Disperse does not disappoint.

Neurok Invisimancer is a very good creature for blue and another unfair creature with equipment.

Grand Architect deserves mention for being a lord and all, but I have not been impressed by the blue cards in this set in general. Grand Architect's power seems much greater in draft and with a sealed pool with deeper blue.

"Black"

Thoughts: Behold! Carnifex Demon is just the sort of bomb I can get behind to single handedly steal games away from my opponents. This format is basically a bunch of weenies. Although a simple Shrivel or Pyroclasm would be the best card ever for this set, it does not exist since it would be way too good. Carnifex Demon gives you not only a 6/6 flier for six, but also that Shrivel effect you yearn for.

Necrotic Ooze is just a 4/3 for four much of the time. Other times you block, tap for two to play an instant and then sacrifice it for green to destroy an artifact. This kind of efficient beater is very welcome and the fact that you are playing black hopefully means you are killing some creatures with nice activated abilities to reap. Imagine killing their Blight Mamba and having regenerate or their Vector Asp and having Infect. Necrotic Ooze might not be a bomb, but it can do some very crazy things.

Instill Infection looked less than great at first sight and I don't think I was the only one. Four mana for this? I could play a card of equal power in m11 for a single black and it did not make my deck that often. Despite my initial impressions, Instill Infection plays a lot better than previously thought. The removal seems rare, the combat tricks seem less than great and cantripping is the best card draw there. Therefore, in context, this will probably make my sealed deck in multiples every time. There are plenty of worthwhile targets and the feeling of killing something and drawing a card felt like I was doing something powerful. It is all about context.

Painsmith seems worse than Embersmith, Riddlesmith, and Myrsmith, unless you are playing Infect. Despite this, she is almost always good enough to make your deck.

Fume Spitter is another great card out of the board to fight Infect decks. Hopefully none of us lose to Infect again after reading this article.

"White"

Thoughts: There is an Arrest, which makes me immediately want to play white. Unfortunately, the rest of the color is extremely shallow.

Glint Hawk is amazing. At first the ability seems like a drawback to slow down your ability to cast a 2/2 flier early and it is. However, you can give your Smiths some extra work, reset a Tumble Magnet, reset a Trigon, or put a creature back on defense. I cannot figure out if I like Glint Hawk or its Idol more.

Abuna Acolyte creates problems. Again, this is a format with combat between weenie decks and this guy complicates the board state. They now cannot block your 2/2 with their 2/2, which also means that they cannot race since you can hit for two, while they hit for one. Add on to the idea that he can slow down Infect decks significantly and it seems like an all-star.

"Red"

Thoughts: Red is shallow in the number of cards, but it has some good ones.

Shatter is a worse Doomblade, but still functions as such most of the time. It will always have a target and will always be good, but it is wrong to assume that Shatter deals with everything.

Barrage Ogre can turn those Myr you make with Myrsmith or even the mana Myr you play into shocks. It interacts pretty well with Grafted Exoskeleton by withering away all of their creatures or by hitting them with poison counters. He also works well with Liquimetal Coating, turning all of your lands into shocks.

Thoughts:

Before looking at the artifacts, it looks like we are in B/R; however, the artifacts push green a little ahead of red with the two Sylvok Replica, Copper Myr, and Wall of Tanglecord.

Prototype Portal is a little risky with all the artifact removal. If we decided to play it with this pool then we could make a copy of Sylvok Replica, Wall of Tanglecord, or Tumble Magnet every turn, which is very powerful. If you get hit with a Shatter then you just wasted the target that you wanted to get out there to begin with, which makes Portal a much better sideboard card. In one game I brought this in against an Infect deck that did not destroy any of my artifacts in game one. I was able to imprint Wall of Tanglecord and made Walls every turn after. We sat there for a while until I finally drew one of my bombs to end his misery.

Liquimetal Coating is almost always good enough and has a lot of powerful interactions to make me want to play one. Although the red in this pool has the Barrage Ogre, Shatter, and Oxidda Scrapmelter to interact with, the green still has Tel-Jilad Fallen and Sylvok Replica. In one match I was on the road to being beaten by a Venser when I drew Sylvok Replica to take it out. Nice artifact brah. Imagine it with Rust Tick and now you can tap anything down. It also nearly always keeps you hitting Metalcraft since it will hit two of the three for you. This is only the starting point, but I can imagine seeing it alongside cards like Molder Beast, Tel-Jilad Defiance, Viridian Revel, Kuldotha Rebirth. I have been seeing these going later than they should in draft so make sure to grab these when you see them. With enough interactions I would even play multiples.

I split in the finals at my second prerelease with this pool; however, I certainly felt that it was a worse pool than my first pool and that I could have built this pool more optimally.

[cardlist]

2 Blistergrub

1 Carnifex Demon

1 Exsanguinate

2 Instill Infection

1 Necrotic Ooze

2 Painsmith

1 Acid Web Spider

1 Carapace Forger

1 Accorder's Shield

1 Copper Myr

1 Liquimetal Coating

1 Livewire Lash

1 Moriok Replica

1 Myr Battlesphere

1 Palladium Myr

1 Snapsail Glider

2 Sylvok Replica

1 Tumble Magnet

1 Wall of Tanglecord

10 Swamp

8 Forest

[/cardlist]

Should I have played the extra Liquimetal Coating with more shenanigans? Is Glint Hawk or Glint Hawk Idol a better draft pick? Should I start drafting Infect decks to cope with the trauma of losing to poison counters? Let me know your thoughts in the comments and I hope you had a great prerelease weekend!

Props:

House of Games for supporting me and being the best gaming store in Ohio, if not the universe.

ManaNation for allowing me to rant here.

Tyler Mantey for being so jolly.

Slops:

Untamed Might for costing me ~80% of my losses in both sealed and draft with weekend.

Jason Santchi for hating keyboard cat and the dancing meringue dog. Talent like that is to be strived for.

TAGS articles, limited

Examining my Sealed Scars Pools

Sealed Pool 1

"Green"

"Blue"

"Black"

"White"

"Red"

"Lands"

Sealed Pool 2

"Green"

"Blue"

"Black"

"White"

"Red"

"Artifacts"

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