August 2018 Sealed Event Draft - Prior to last 2 pack openings!

So after really going through some synergy opportunities I've come across some synergy between two cards that I believe might be worth looking into/actually giving it some though into how I could pull it off.. I was looking into specifically Time/Fire/Primal.. However this isn't going to limit my choices or decisions on what to play.. I just noticed right off the top that Time and Primal have a TON of synergy and Fire also has some dual faction removal such as Mortar which requires 1F1P to play and costs 4 for 4 damage.. I have two copies of that card, plus a 1F 3 cost card "grenade" that not only deals 6 damage split between the unit chosen and the player of 3 damage each but the sacrifice proc can come in use later in the game possibly..

Anyways I first ran into the card Stirring Sand which allows me to play a sentinel from my void, exhausted, while also having the text "For each of your Explorers, you may pay 2 and exhaust it to play an additional Sentinel from your void exhausted" Now I've seen this Stirring Sand card played in casual matches as some jank combo deck, however I'm not entirely sure if it requires that you pay two for EVERY extra Sentinel, or just an additional cost of two in order to play the trigger for any number of Explorer cards to play the extra Sentinels. However I'm willing to bet that it's an extra two power for EVERY EXTRA SENTINEL I wish to play from my void, exhausted that is. Not that I have many Sentinel choices to begin with in the Fire/Time/Primal factions in this Event's Card Pool..

The good news is however, when I DO run into any of the THREE or FOUR Sentinel cards, I have PLENTY and I mean PLENTY of ways to get those Sentinels into the Void so that I can pull off some early game awesome Sentinel Combos..Especially since one of the said Sentinel cards is Pillar of Amar which is not a very bad card if you ask me, especially if played on turn 4! Very powerful indeed and if you don't have any hard single target removal then it's going to simply stick on the board and pump out a 5/5 unit each and every turn that you don't handle it.. The real problem now transforms into does my opponent possess any hard board removal spells? Hard meaning Harsh Rule type of removal since a simple Hailstorm isn't going to cut it unless you've not only got two copies of something like Hailstorm but the power to play both of them in the same turn by the time that you need em!

Well then, I have a decent amount of cards with discard or "Draw and Discard" utility in the event that I do draw into any Sentinel cards plus Stirring Sand (or hope I draw into Stirring Sand early enough). So that's not going to be an issue.. But some more Time Synergy that I also have are Time Cards such as...

Disciplined Amanera which I would really like to include in any deck that I make since I have cards such as.. Sanctuary Priest which clearly has just an amazing Empower Ability to have fantastic synergy with the Disciplined Amanera

I also have Refresh w/ obvious synergy @ Disciplined Amanera AND helps any card stick/trick with Fast Spell!


Decay - Kill an enemy attachment.. Which is clearly a situational card by itself.. However when it does land it also is a great card to allow you some synergy with the Disciplined Amanera BUT also gives you the opportune chance of destroying something like Xenan Obelisk which if left UNCHECKED could possibly out ramp your play and allow cards to stick that otherwise wouldn't have a chance to without the +1/+1 or even more powerful mid/late game +2/+2 stats.. Game ending stats right there! It can also destroy a card that can help out ramp you such as an Power Stone
Or even destroy a Crystalline Chalice which might seem like a random example but in my 6 matches earlier this month, I actually ran into not one Chalice.. But TWO Crystalline Chalice relics. Now it may seem like something bad to play but in my opinion a card like Chalice in a Limited or Monthly Sealed Event such as this Limited event it can be a VERY powerful card if left unchecked and built around a plethora of smaller units..

Then we have the card Bolster which simply put can heal you AND literally help a board swing that you're performing early mid up to even LATE game turn the tides on an entire board fight that otherwise wouldn't have gone in your favor or simply turn a stale, neutral board state into a fight that's going to turn a top deck late game into a game you're going to win.. Plus the obvious Amanera synergy.. That is if you haven't played that card and lost it already, or you've drawn into the card and also have maybe this Bolster and any other +health cards mentioned already..

So those cards plus having the Sanctuary Priest with the Empower giving the Disciplined Amanera easy procs every turn unless one of the two get dealt with fast enough so that you're now just going to rely on the Priest to give you a free health point each match and if both Priest & Amanera are in the void then you can simply use the other health gaining cards for what they're used for at face value and delay a lethal turn against me so that I can draw into something game changing, or just to help turn the board state around on an otherwise tied/losing board!

Then I have Catbrush Cartographer which has a TON of synergy with my Explorer cards & my other card draw units/spells even the card Amber Acolyte simply because it draws an power Sigil which you actually might need, but also just draws a card period to give you an extra +1 attack on top of the original top deck draw..

But using the aforementioned cards that will allow me to DRAW and then DISCARD cards in order to get the few Sentinels that I have into the void in order to play "Stirring Sand" are the same cards will also allow me to buff up Catbrush Cartographer very fast on top of the turn by turn top deck draws.. Which if the opponent also plays any Nightfall, this will only allow me to reach +2 Attack each turn that is may be active for. Just ANOTHER card that I can potentially use in order to put down a threat that MUST be removed or else be punished asap. I have units such as Blind Storyteller x2 and the single Trail Make (both low cost units and Storyteller is one cost but has an ability of two cost to Draw and then Discard a card which if both are out before Catbrush Cartographer is played lets say turn 4, I can get Catbrush up to 4/3 just on the first turn after it is played using only 4 power, due to the fact I can play both of Storyteller's abilities AND the initial top deck card draw. Plus the inspire cards like Journey Guide & Living Example are excellent to ramp up your units drawn with the card draw mechanics available to you, which can also have bonus Synergy with the card already mentioned Sauropod Wrangler which if any unit with 4 attack gets drawn while having Living Example out, will now cost ONE LESS due to the fact that Wrangler is out on the board.




Now these are simply just some cards that I would love to incorporate into a final draft version of any deck that I decide to use that either myself, someone else, or a mixture of everybody else's opinions plus my own into a deck.. Even if I don't use a SINGLE card mentioned I wouldn't be upset.. These are just cards I'm throwing out there that have synergy not only with one another, but actually with a multitude of other cards either mentioned or not mentioned (that you can easily see my total list of 144 to the right of these details.. Lol)!

I also have some Dinosaur Cards such as Evelina, Valley Searcher which is obviously an explorer card that BUFFS dinosaurs.. But I also have a card that not only has synergy with the card just mentioned (Evelina, Valley Searcher) but it also has synergy by discarding a possible Sentinel that you need to discard into your void to play the Stirring Sand combo.. BUT it also buffs up Dinosaurs in two different ways. The first being the obvious because it's an explorer being played alongside the Evelina, Valley Searcher buff ability.. But because this card also gives any unit after you discard a card +1/+1 & OVERWHELM ! However if the unit is a Dino, then the Dino gets +2/+2 & OVERWHELM instead!

This unit being described is Stampede Driver and is just a powerful addition to an already powerful Ménage à trois of Explorer/Dinosaur/Sentinels !



The dinosaurs include a nice good ol' copy of Primeval Plover
TWO copies of the Scavenging Spikeback followed by the unit
Hunting Pteriax which might not sound very "hoorah!"...
However the simple fact that I have SO many Explorer cards such as the Stampede Driver including the Evelina, Valley Searcher in the first place which is actively buffing my Dinosaur units and it will be THAT MUCH easier and/or faster to pull out wins..! Scavenging Spikeback can also get the buffs PLUS tribute of +2/+2 added when summoned for more raw power..


However in order to get the tribute out successfully you're gonna have to get lucky and bait them out with a simple attack that doesn't scream "hey I'm only attacking with this simple unit so that I get it killed and a tribute effect proc'd" or you can wait until turn 7 and use a card like Grenade OR you can possibly run both on turn 6 if I'm able to get Spikeback to 5 attack prior to the Tribute effect if I have out Sauropod Wrangler which if I did have a 5/5 Spikeback while using Grenade first for tribute, then I could easily pump out a single 7/7 3 cost Scavenging Spikeback.. These type of combos alone make me want to just throw every card mentioned in the details together and pretend I have a working compatible list and play with it ! Haha..

Also I do have one more Primal Dino unit Enraged Araktodon which as you can see is a pretty costly unit in a field of cards already not in the realm of "high cost" and kinda makes the deck inherently faster.. Even with an ideal setup such as Journey Guide on the board and drawing the Enraged Araktodon while having a Sauropod Wrangler after maybe getting buffed at least by +1/+1 or even +2/+2 to make it worth it to the tee, but that would still only make it a SIX DROP 7/7 OR 8/8 unit with Berserk which is obviously a pretty strong skill just on its own, but even more powerful if you throw an Overwhelm on it!

That and the fact that shadow has two ways of using void return with dark return AND Surgeon's Saw which could be used on a unit with FLYING that was also given UNFINISHED BUSINESS to really beat down an opponent at a opportune time and then dark return it possibly TWICE giving it a total of +7/+7 total if used Dark R. twice on it.. However these are very specific combos and require drawing a single card that I sadly really only have ONE each of in the pool..


So PLEASE leave some feedback on what you think I should do as far as building my deck for the remaining matches, seeing as I've only played SIX so far in the beginning I have plenty of chances to improve my little FOUR and TWO record.. lol.. If you have ANY and I mean ANY feedback to add, please don't hesitate to do so in the comments section below. I've really only dived into the Explorer/Sentinels/Dinosaurs in the Time/Fire/Primal Factions (however shadow really only has the only other Dinosaurs and NO OTHER FACTIONS that aren't listed being Justice and Shadow have any Sentinels and the only Shadow and/or Justice Explorer(s) belong to Shadow and that's a simple Lethrai Memory-Keeper.. Hardly worth mentioning or adding/changing to Shadow over, lol)