Gate crash

With what's been spoiled so far, what do we think the best mechanic in sealed is going to be?  I really am unsure of what will work best.

It's tough to say with so few cards revealed.

I have a feeling Boros will do very well in limited formats, with white agro and flying creatures and red burn to back it up. Batallion seems pretty strong to back it up, too.

Simic will likely run line Selesnya - if you get the good cards to play with their keyword, it will be powerful, if not, you'll be weak.

Dimir has potential with its unblockable aspects. Limited has less removal and less answers for threats like unblockable.

Gruul is tough to judge. Blood rush is super powerful, but needs card draw or it'll run out of fuel extra fast. If good enough card draw is printed in green or red (or even blue, I could see splashing Simic with gruul) then bloodrush is going to get really scary.

Orzhov could get out of hand too. All those life-linking-pings from their keyword is going to set a tempo that is tough to handle. Remember blood artist? Well, an orzhov deck is going to be doing that every turn, and doesn't have to have a creature die to do it.

I like boros and orzhov for sealed, myself. But it's still too early to say.

Having seen more, I believe dimir stands a fighting chance.

Cipher is my favorite mechanic ever, but I don't think it'll be great in Limited.  Same with Evolve, although I've never personally played a game of Sealed or Draft so I shouldn't be giving too much commentary on the subject.  Still, in terms of Limited Extort looks best, but Cipher is definitely best in Constructed.  Battalion doesn't show too much promise anywhere except an Odric deck (Commander, maybe, if enough monowhite Battalionbis printed, which I doubt) in my opinion, and Bloodrush is a huge variable based on who's using it.  I have a feeling it'll impact Modern more than Standard, with all the Jund running around.  Again, though, I have much more experience playing against Modern decks than Standard.

I think Cipher will be difficult to utilize in Draft. If you're picking Cipher cards, evasion will be a premium, since you won't be able to smash your way past your opponents' defenses with .

However, going BUG might pay off. If you cipher an evolved creature, he might demand constant chump blocking, which makes him a quasi-removal.

Keep in mind: cipher is almost like an aura. Granted, you still got the intital effect, but part of the value is banking on getting repeated use from it. Otherwise, it's an overcosted instant/sorcery. Getting the creature destroyed may not quite be a 2-for-1, but effectively it is card advantage for your opponent.

Agreed, even I can tell Cipher will suck in Limited.  I'm going Dimir at the prerelease just for the cards, and I was considering going BUG in it anyway.  The more thought I give it the more it makes sense, and Esper might be good too; Extort off of a buch of Ciphered copies for game!  Granted, it will all go much smoother if they trust the Dimir with a shiny new unblockable. (they can't reprint Dimir Infiltrator because Transmute is gone)

Do we think RWG will be playable, for sealed?

Quote from: Imdowd80 on January 06, 2013, 08:31:47 PM

Do we think RWG will be playable, for sealed?

If you think about it, you will want to play all your creatures in order to utilize Battalion. That being the case, you'll probably want to refrain from using Bloodrush, lest you sabotage your RW strategy by shorting yourself on creatures. And if you won't use Bloodrush, running RG sounds a lot less appealing.

I would probably prefer playing or . But, like most Limited, you'll just have to see what you open. If you get Naya bombs handed to you, go for it.

That makes a lot of sense, and you actually have talked me out of leaning that way.
I mean it does matter what cards I pull, but I'm not going in thinking that.

What are the best limited cards you guys have seen so far? I hope they hurry up and spoiler more cards so I can get a better idea of what to play at the prerelease.

Best limited... Maybe Domri Rade, or Treasury Thrull.

Best limited... Maybe Domri Rade, or Treasury Thrull.

I think I'm going to go esper... Picking Orzhov since the bomb is so strong and hoping I get some good Dimir to supplement it.

I'm not sure if I'm just being stupid, or if no obe has figured this out yet (hopefully its one of my stupid phases)- Cipher requires you to CAST the card before encoding it. This sucks for constructed somewhat, but it really won't do anything in limited with how high these things cost. Did anyone realize that, or am I just a retard?

Quote from: izik99 on January 07, 2013, 08:42:21 PM

I'm not sure if I'm just being stupid, or if no obe has figured this out yet (hopefully its one of my stupid phases)- Cipher requires you to CAST the card before encoding it. This sucks for constructed somewhat, but it really won't do anything in limited with how high these things cost. Did anyone realize that, or am I just a retard?

Not sure if I'm following you...
Can you please rephrase?

I'll link a card to help explain.
 Hands of Binding
 It says "then" which means after the effect of the card. Therefore cipher can only be used once you cast it. I originally thought it was a pot better, that you could exile it from your hand.

No, you are correct. It does require it to be cast normally first.

One thing to remember is that with 40 card decks in limited you can have a higher mana count and your fewer more expensive cards won't be too hard to hit.

I like to think of cipher as an aura with an ETB effect. Way oversimplified, but that's how it makes sense in my pseudo-simple mind.

So lets say all things are equal for terms of creature cards and the whatnot. Would you rather go with a splash, or with a splash? 
I'm thinking Dimir with White as to play some extort, as well as mill.