I went with vampires for the numbers and a better curve along with the banner. Though was told I could go another way if my vampires didn't work out and the games took too long on the next match so I couldn't possible change anything. Is there anything I could have done a bit better with everything I had?
This deck seems pretty good, and close to what I would build given this pool.
But you do have a couple of odd inclusions, like Imperial Lancer. It is a 1/1 Human for W, with no dinosaurs and no equipment/enchantments to put on the guy just doesn't seem like he would be pulling any weight. So I would trade it out for the third Queen's Bay Soldier, which is just a better creature in general. And is also a vampire so goes great with the Banner.
I would also cut the Pterodon Knight, again a 3/3 for 4 with no other benefits (as you have no dinosaurs to give it flying) just doesn't seem great. I would swap it for the Shining Aerosaur. Sure the dinosaur is more expensive at 5 mana, but it gets the added point of toughness which is useful and most importantly flying. The thing your deck is missing is some evasion.
Personally I don't care for running Duress in Sealed. I just think that it would be better to have an extra creature, like maybe the Raptor Companion. And bring in Duress from the sideboard for the games when you know your opponent has a bomby non-creature spell or something you need to answer that way.
We also have to be very careful when running Ruin Raider. While a great source of potential card advantage, the deck has a fair few high cost cards. So with no way to control the top of our deck, we could quite easily die from one too many triggers from the guy. I wouldn't cut the Raider, just noting to be cautious with him.
To be honest, your black doesn't look all that enticing to me. It's quite solid all right, but there's nothing that would draw me into that color. Though I admit, that I'm a bit biased against black in Sealed, since no pool of mine in the last years had had much going for that color. Your white, otoh, looks good, so I would start there.
With the creature types all over the place, the Banner has little value, so I left it out, but I'm somewhat heartbroken about it. With 4 removal spells and 3 combat tricks, this deck can deal with a variety of threats. Overall though, it seems to be of about the same power level as your deck. I'd feel more comfortable with this build, but that's my color preferences talking. In my opinion, that this would have been a suitable alterantive.
1 Bishop's Soldier
1 Bright Reprisal
1 Glorifier of Dusk
1 Goring Ceratops
1 Imperial Lancer
1 Kinjalli's Caller
1 Legion's Judgment
1 Looming Altisaur
1 Paladin of the Bloodstained
1 Pterodon Knight
1 Raptor Companion
1 Ritual of Rejuvenation
1 Shining Aerosaur
1 Vampire's Zeal
Blue
2 Cancel
1 Depths of Desire
1 Dive Down
1 Favorable Winds
1 Herald of Secret Streams
1 Lookout's Dispersal
1 One With the Wind
3 Shipwreck Looter
1 Siren's Ruse
1 Storm Sculptor
Black
1 Anointed Deacon
1 Contract Killing
1 Deadeye Tormentor
1 Duress
1 Grim Captain's Call
1 Kitesail Freebooter
1 March of the Drowned
3 Queen's Bay Soldier
1 Queen's Agent
1 Ruin Raider
1 Seekers' Squire
1 Skittering Heartstopper
1 Skymarch Bloodletter
1 Skulduggery
1 Brazen Buccanceers
1 Demolish
1 Frenzied Raptor
1 Headstrong Brute
1 Lightning Strike
1 Lightning-Rig Crew
1 Makeshift Munitions
1 Rile
1 Rummaging Goblin
1 Storm Fleet Pyromancer
1 Sun-Crowned Hunters
1 Sure Strike
2 Unfriendly Fire
1 Vance's Blasting Cannons
Green
2 Ancient Brontodon
1 Blinding Fog
2 Commune with Dinosaurs
1 Blossom Dryad
2 Colossal Dreadmaw
1 Crash the Ramparts
1 Ixalli's Keeper
1 Jungle Delver
1 New Horizons
1 Pounce
1 Ranging Raptors
1 Tishana's Wayfinder
1 Vineshaper Mystic
1 Waker of the Wilds
1 Wildgrowth Walker
1 Call to the Feast
1 Dire Fleet Captain
1 Hostage Taker
Artifacts
2 Gilded Sentinel
1 Prying Blade
1 Sentinel Totem
1 Vanquisher's Banner
Land
1 Unclaimed Territory
1 Anointed Deacon
1 Bishop's Soldier
1 Deadeye Tormentor
1 Glorifier of dusk
1 Imperial Lancer
1 Kitesail Freebooter
1 Paladin of the Bloodstained
1 Pterodon Knight
2 Queen's Bay Soldier
1 Queen's Agent
1 Ruin Raider
1 Seekers' Squire
1 Skittering Heartstopper
1 Skymarch Bloodletter
1 Bright Reprisal
1 Call to the Feast
1 Contract Killing
1 Duress
1 Legion's Judgment
1 Skulduggery
1 Vampire's Zeal
Artifacts
1 Vanquisher's Banner
1 Unclaimed Territory
7 Plains
9 Swamp
But you do have a couple of odd inclusions, like Imperial Lancer. It is a 1/1 Human for W, with no dinosaurs and no equipment/enchantments to put on the guy just doesn't seem like he would be pulling any weight. So I would trade it out for the third Queen's Bay Soldier, which is just a better creature in general. And is also a vampire so goes great with the Banner.
I would also cut the Pterodon Knight, again a 3/3 for 4 with no other benefits (as you have no dinosaurs to give it flying) just doesn't seem great. I would swap it for the Shining Aerosaur. Sure the dinosaur is more expensive at 5 mana, but it gets the added point of toughness which is useful and most importantly flying. The thing your deck is missing is some evasion.
Personally I don't care for running Duress in Sealed. I just think that it would be better to have an extra creature, like maybe the Raptor Companion. And bring in Duress from the sideboard for the games when you know your opponent has a bomby non-creature spell or something you need to answer that way.
We also have to be very careful when running Ruin Raider. While a great source of potential card advantage, the deck has a fair few high cost cards. So with no way to control the top of our deck, we could quite easily die from one too many triggers from the guy. I wouldn't cut the Raider, just noting to be cautious with him.
So I would go your build, just with the following changes:
- Imperial Lancer
- Pterodon Knight
- Duress
+ Queen's Bay Soldier
+ Shining Aerosaur
+ Raptor Companion
But that is just my opinion, make of it what you will.
1 Raptor Companion
1 Paladin of the Bloodstained
1 Pterodon Knight
1 Glorifier of Dusk
1 Shining Aerosaur
1 Goring Ceratops
1 Vampire's Zeal
1 Legion's Judgment
1 Bright Reprisal
That's 10 cards already that I would consider playable. The only other color that seems deep enough for a main color is green.
1 Ixalli's Keeper
1 Vineshaper Mystic
1 Tishana's Wayfinder
1 Ranging Raptors
1 Blossom Dryad
1 Waker of the Wilds
2 Colossal Dreadmaw
2 Commune with Dinosaurs
1 Pounce
1 New Horizons
1 Crash the Ramparts
That's another 14 cards that may be playable. And I would splash some red for its removal, since it is quite plentiful.
1 Storm Fleet Pyromancer
2 Unfriendly Fire
And of course, there's the Vanquisher's Banner.
Put together and cut down, I probably would have built something like this:
6 Plains
8 Forest
3 Mountain
Creatures (15)
1 Bishop's Soldier
1 Raptor Companion
1 Wildgrowth Walker
1 Ixalli's Keeper
1 Tishana's Wayfinder
1 Ranging Raptors
1 Blossom Dryad
1 Paladin of the Bloodstained
1 Pterodon Knight
1 Waker of the Wilds
1 Glorifier of Dusk
1 Shining Aerosaur
2 Colossal Dreadmaw
1 Goring Ceratops
1 Vampire's Zeal
1 Pounce
1 Lightning Strike
1 Legion's Judgment
1 New Horizons
1 Crash the Ramparts
2 Unfriendly Fire
With the creature types all over the place, the Banner has little value, so I left it out, but I'm somewhat heartbroken about it. With 4 removal spells and 3 combat tricks, this deck can deal with a variety of threats. Overall though, it seems to be of about the same power level as your deck. I'd feel more comfortable with this build, but that's my color preferences talking. In my opinion, that this would have been a suitable alterantive.
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)