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Every now and then, life catches you by surprise. Just last week I said I planned to play many Morningtide Prereleases for fun, and to win boosters to practice for Kuala Lumpur. A couple of hours after that article went online, I received an admission notice for the spring semester at a college I had applied for... in China. During the following week I tried to figure it out my options and sort things accordingly. Right now, I can either try to cancel my flight to Pro Tour: Kuala Lumpur and forget about it, or just cancel the return from Malaysia to Portugal and buy a one-way flight from Malaysia to China, since my presence there is absolutely required on the Monday after the Pro Tour. I have only booked the flight to Kuala Lumpur this month because the lack of answers seemed to indicate that things wouldn't happen so soon.

Since the way I presented the process of analyzing and building a Sealed Deck last week received positive feedback, and since Morningtide's release is imminent, I decided to go at it once again, this time with Sunday's cardpool. Using the same system as last week, here's what I got:

White

Lorwyn

1 Oaken Brawler
1 Goldmeadow Dodger
1 Wellgaber Apothecary
1 Goldmeadow Harrier
1 Harpoon Sniper
1 Crib Swap

Six White cards from a Lorwyn Starter seems a little below average, which can be annoying if we have a bomb card and want to play White as a main color. Of these six, Crib Swap and Goldmeadow Harrier are good cards, and we have two Merfolk that can be played if we end up in that tribe, with Harpoon Sniper being a good reason to go for it by itself.

Morningtide

1 Ballyrush Banneret
2 Burrenton Bombardier
1 Changeling Sentinel
2 Coordinated Barrage
1 Forfend
1 Redeem the Lost
1 Stonybrook Schoolmaster
1 Wandering Graybeard

Morningtide seems to balance the numbers with plenty of White cards to play with. The pair of Burrenton Bombardiers is very solid, as they acting as an evasive creatures and good combat tricks. A pair of Coordinated Barrages can be good if we have a strong tribal theme. The two other Instant spells seem mediocre. Schoolmaster is one more Merfolk to add to the cause, while the rest of the creatures seem passable, based on the ratio of power/toughness to cost. Their incorporated abilities seem minimal, definitely playing more of a support role if we end up in their particular tribe.

Overall

Around 10 to 12 playable cards, which is enough for it to be a main color. Problem is, those cards are very tribally diverse, and none of them, except for maybe Harpoon Sniper, is strong enough to push us into that tribe. They all act as support cards, cards of that tribe that become better in a group but are just average by themselves. A good example would be to compare the Affinity deck to a Lorwyn Tribe. Cards like Arcbound Ravager, Cranial Plating, and the artifact lands are strong reasons for us to play Affinity. Cards like Frogmite and Arcbound Worker are support cards that work well when combined with the other cards in this specific strategy, but alone they're not a reason for us to play Affinity.

Blue

Lorwyn

1 Faerie Trickery
1 Faerie Harbinger
1 Guile
1 Wings of Velis Vel
1 Scion of Oona
1 Glen Elendra Pranksters
1 Stonybrook Angler
1 Paperfin Rascal
1 Protective Bubble
1 Zephyr Net
1 Aquitect's Will
1 Glimmerdust Nap

Here we see the card distribution wasn't symmetrical as we have twice as many Blue cards as White. Despite the numbers, we miss the top Blue commons. For Sealed Deck I think they're Mulldrifter, Silvergill Douser, and Steambed Aquitects, and considering we're also missing Pestermite and Sentinels of Glen Elendra, I wonder how I have so many Blue Lorwyn cards. Instead of what I'm missing, let's see what we do have.

We can find a Faerie theme with Scion of Oona, Glen Elendra Pranksters, Faerie Harbinger, and Faerie Trickery. We'l keep an eye on this option, but an open door closes another, as we don't find exciting stuff to pull the White Merfolk to the top. Guile and some other playable cards compliment the Faerie package, and somehow salvages something from this strangely large pile of Blue cardboard.

Morningtide

1 Floodchaser
1 Grimoire Thief
1 Latchkey Faerie
1 Mothdust Changeling
1 Negate
1 Waterspout Weavers

Not many cards... the one I was happiest to find was Latchkey Faerie, though the others are still playable.

Overall

A good Faerie theme, which makes any subsequent Faerie cards better, and enough numbers for Blue to be one of our main colors. A pseudo-bomb in Guile, and the end of the possible Mefolk plan.

Black

Lorwyn

1 Nightshade Stinger
1 Scarred Vinebred
1 Eyeblight's Ending
1 Mournwhelk
1 Peppersmoke
1 Warren Pilferers

Once again, there are so few cards in this color, but this time the top commons are here: Eyeblight's Ending, Warren Pilferers, and Peppersmoke. These all look good if we add them to our Blue. Nightshade Stinger is another Faerie Rogue, and even Mournwhelk is fine in Sealed.

Morningtide

1 Blightsoil Druid
1 Fendeep Summoner
2 Festercreep
1 Moonglove Changeling
2 Pack's Disdain
1 Revive the Fallen
1 Squeaking-Pie Grubfellows

Fendeep Summoner is a nice rare. As for the rest, despite being somehow all playables, the quality takes a huge jump down once we pass by the Summoner.

Overall

Black brings us our only power card so far, along with some quality removal and some situational removal. Pack's Disdain can be good, and Moonglove Changeling is effective at its job. Just like White, we have around 10-12 playables. This time the advantage is that our Black cards are good by themselves, like Summoner, Pilferers, and Eyeblight's Ending, unlike White and its tribal support cards. Black remains a potential main color.

Red

Lorwyn

2 Blades of Velis Vel
1 Boggart Sprite-Chaser
1 Smokebraider
1 Soulbright Flamekin
1 Mudbutton Torchrunner
1 Glarewielder
1 Flamekin Harbinger
1 Caterwauling Boggart

In Lorwyn Red we find the base of the Elemental engine. We have Smokebraider and Soulbright Flamekin to fuel it, Flamekin Harbinger to search, plus Glarewielder and Caterwauling Boggart to destroy the blockers math to our opponent. Unfortunately, we’re missing an outlet to channel the fuel, like Inner-Flame Igniter or Ceaseless Searblades.

Morningtide

1 Brighthearth Banneret
1 Hostile Realm
1 Kindled Fury
1 Lightning Crafter
1 Release the Ants
1 Seething Pathblazer
1 Shard Volley
1 Sunflare Shaman

Three more Elemental cards: another power card (Lightning Crafter), one removal spell, and one situational removal spell.

Overall

We have an obvious Elemental theme and a small Shaman theme. The problem with the Elementals is that there are no cards to power them up. Their strength relies on a fast aggro strategy, playing fast elementals thanks to Smokebraider and Banneret and then messing with the blockers with Caterwauling Boggart and Glarewielder. I don't think this is good enough for Sealed because while this works in draft, the strategy is much more focussed. Here, if things don't come together quickly, we're left with just average cards. Besides, I don't think an all-aggro strategy should be the plan for Sealed unless in desperate card pools. Another downer for Red is the tiny amount of removal compared to its usual standards. Good things is we have a small combo for our power card, Flamekin Harbinger and Lightning Crafter.

Green

Lorwyn

1 Bog-Strider Ash
1 Nath's Elite
1 Gilt-Leaf Seer
1 Guardian of Cloverdell
1 Lammastide Weave
1 Oakgnarl Warrior

Can we skip this?

Morningtide

2 Bosk Banneret
1 Bramblewood Paragon
1 Deglamer
2 Fertilid
1 Orchard Warden
2 Reins of the Vinesteed
1 Winnower Patrol

Usually Green offers us big creatures for the mid to late game. Morningtide Green surprisingly brings us efficient creatures for the early game. Three creatures costing two, and three creatures costing three. Bosk Bannerets... I consider them the best of the Bannerets, simply because their body is actually capable of blocking, and Treefolk are the tribe that are more desperate for something that can simultaniously accellerate and block. A pair of Fertilids are a welcome addition for Sealed, and they can make splashing (and your manabase in general) run smoothly.

Overall

Good cheap creatures that can help out any mana curve, a pair of Fertilids for the manabase, but a lack of real win conditions.

Artifacts and Lands

1 Springleaf Drum
1 Diviner's Wand
1 Veteran's Armaments
1 Moonglove Extract

1 Spinerock Knoll
1 Shimmerig Grotto
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Marsh

Moonglove Extract means I only need to find 22 (or even just 21) colored cards. Other than that, we have a pair of equipment that don't excite me. There’s some mana fixers in two Vivid lands, Shimmering Grotto, and Springleaf Drum.

Where do we start?

This is a very even card pool, with all colors having close to 10-12 playable cards, and with none being that much stronger than the others. I think that White is the weakest color. We have Bombardiers, Goldmeadow Harrier, and Crib Swap, but the rest are support cards.

Blue has the Faerie theme and an unusually high number of playables, so I'll set it as my starting point.

Black has the best removal and one of the power cards (Fendeep Summoner).

I'm not attracted to the Elemental or Shaman theme in Red, so I'm only looking at Lightning Crafter and Shard Volley.

Green can be the solution if any of the stronger colors has a really bad mana curve. I can try Green/X, but for now I'll try Blue and Black, since Blue has almost 15 playables. That's my best chance to hit, and Black seems the natural fit, having removal and overall good cards.

Blue playables by casting cost

Two mana:
1 Stonybrook Angler
1 Grimoire Thief
1 Wings of Velis Vel

Three mana:
1 Scion of Oona
1 Glimmerdust Nap
1 Faerie Trickery

Four mana:
1 Faerie Harbinger
1 Glen Elendra Pranksters
1 Latchkey Faerie

Five mana:
1 Waterspout Weavers

Six mana:
1 Guile
1 Floodchaser

Others:
1 Negate

I soon realized that there were only two paths to go with this card pool: the Blue way, or the Red way. These are the two colours with depth, but they could not be merged together as their cards and game plans were very different from each other. The deck would be full of good cards, but they’d have very little synergy between them. I opted for the Blue base as I thought that evasion and tricks are more important for Sealed Deck than random aggro creatures. After choosing my base, the next stop was to pick the sauce to mix. I started with Black.

One mana:
1 Peppersmoke

Two mana:
1 Stonybrook Angler
1 Grimoire Thief
1 Wings of Velis Vel
2 Festercreep

Three mana:
1 Scion of Oona
1 Moonglove Extract
1 Faerie Trickery
1 Moonglove Changeling
1 Eyeblight's Ending

Four mana:
1 Faerie Harbinger
1 Glen Elendra Pranksters
1 Latchkey Faerie
1 Mournwhelk (evoked)

Five mana:
1 Waterspout Weavers
1 Warren Pilferers
1 Fendeep Summoner

Six mana:
1 Guile
1 Floodchaser

Seven mana:
1 Mournwhelk

Others:
1 Negate
2 Pack's Disdain

Strengths
- The Faerie theme, especially the interaction between Faerie Harbinger and Glen Elendra Pranksters.
- Many Instant tricks.
- Reasonable amount of evasion creatures and removal spells.

Weaknesses
- A little underpowered.
- A number of filler cards.

When I put this together it looked like a real solid two-colors deck. Looking at it, I felt it was a little underpowered, but I sensed there wasn't much better I could do with the rest of my cards.

Since the Blue, Red, and Black cards offered a decent mana curve, there was very little Green could add to the final deck. Even Fertilid wasn't as necessary because with the high amount of Blue and Red playables as a base, it was unlikely a splash was required. The two Vivid Lands and Grotto were fine splash enablers.

I still tried many possible builds: Blue/Green, Green/Red, Green/Black splash Red, Red/Black. Summing it up: White was weaker, and mostly supported tribes we weren't playing. Green was weaker than the remaining three colors but provided a good curve and good mana fixing, both of which weren't needed. That left us with Blue, Red, and Black. Black had overall good cards and would be a support color for either Blue or Red, since those two made for a very awkward deck. Here is the Red/Black option:

Red/Black aggro

One mana:
1 Peppersmoke
1 Shard Volley
1 Flamekin Harbinger

Two mana:
2 Pack's Disdain
1 Release the Ants
1 Festercreep
1 Sunflare Shaman
1 Soulbright Flamekin
1 Smokebraider
1 Brighthearth Banneret

Three mana:
1 Eyeblight's Ending
1 Moonglove Changeling
1 Mudbutton Torchrunner
1 Seething Pathblazer
1 Moonglove Extract
1 Mournwhelk

Four mana:
1 Caterwauling Boggart
1 Lightning Crafter

Five mana:
1 Warren Pilferers
1 Fendeep Summoner
1 Glarewielder

Seven mana:
1 Mournwhelk

Strengths
- Very good mana curve
- Many Elementals
- Playing with both our power cards
- Playing with all the removal and situational removal

Weaknesses
- Total aggro strategy, which is not reliable. Easily nullified by stronger cards.
- Plenty of one toughness creatures.

At the time I made my decision between Blue/Black and Red/Black it seemed easier. but the more I look at it the more I'm unsure whether I made the right choice. Both decks seemed close in terms of power, strengths, and weaknesses, so I went with Blue/Black because I thought I would have better chances playing it. This is the decklist I submitted:

Deck:

1 Faerie Trickery
1 Faerie Harbinger
1 Guile
1 Wings of Velis Vel
1 Scion of Oona
1 Glen Elendra Pranksters
1 Stonybrook Angler
1 Floodchaser
1 Grimoire Thief
1 Latchkey Faerie
1 Negate
1 Waterspout Weavers

1 Eyeblight's Ending
1 Mournwhelk
1 Peppersmoke
1 Warren Pilferers
1 Fendeep Summoner
2 Festercreep
1 Moonglove Changeling
1 Pack's Disdain

1 Moonglove Extract

1 Vivid Marsh
9 Island
7 Swamp

The tournament has 33 players and five swiss rounds. This time I played at a different place, a Magic store in the heart of Lisbon, just ten minutes walk from my home. I didn't felt like going out on a Sunday afternoon to back-to-back tournaments. The prize structure and distribution also seemed a bit better than two boosters for a 5-1 score, like the previous day. Unfortunately, the shop is very small and tight, which means playing conditions are sub-optimal to say the least, and it is limited to 33 players, with some people being left out of the tournament.

I went 5-0 in matches. However, as I always tell myself, winning is not a valid argument to defend your decisions. I still didn't know after the tournament if this Blue/Black was better than the Red/Black, but I was happier with this build. I credit the 5-0 score mostly to other factors, like a solid manabase, decent draws, few mulligans (if I mulligan once in every four games I'm VERY happy, as my mulligan percentage in Limited is around one in every match, approximately two in every five games). I don't think this deck would be anywhere near good enough to make Day 2 at a Grand Prix, as a 7-2 score is necessary, and in the last couple of rounds every deck is amazing. But on the other hand, I don't think the Red/Black deck make it either.

Let me hear what you think... Blue or Red?

Thank you for reading.

Tiago