It's a Massacre! (Rank #6 Sealed, 33-7)

I feel like my best sealed decks often feature board wipes - in this case, 2x Saloon Massacre. Throw in a pile of removal (including 2x Divebomber and Summary Judgment to kill what Saloon Massacre can't) and some sturdy bodies that life through the board wipes, and you have a recipe for success.

I skipped week 1 - my initial pool felt fairly weak, with almost no playable rares. Week 2, a Trail Maker and Cloudscraper made me more willing to splash Time, and I ended up going 14-6. Was busy and skipped week 3 (played a single game, which I won). Week 4, I opened the second Saloon Massacre and Spire Loyalist, which let me build a really consistent gameplan around the Massacre. I was rewarded with an 18-1 record, for a total record of 33-7.

The influence definitely felt a bit sketchy at times - ran into issues here and there, particularly with double influence cards (I actually had a They All Fall in my pool that I didn't play because it felt too greedy, even for me). That said, having access to two board wipes meant it was very possible to catch up if I fell behind. On the flip side, 3x Unseen Marksman provided a very strong opener, and were generally the cards I most wanted in my opening hand.

I'll also call out Cloudscraper and Brigade Hall, both of which are absurd cards. Soul Feast also overperformed - there were a number of games where my opponent declined to block an attack and ended up being burnt out.

MVP: hard to say - probably Brigade Hall for being such a powerful lategame win condition (and games definitely went late). That said, the removal suite was obviously the reason why I consistently reached the lategame in the first place.

Highlights: a tilted opponent playing their own Saloon Massacre and conceding... while I had my own in hand. A very satisfying way to play around it.