Shards of Alara Prerelease
Won two rounds. Lost two rounds. Won my last round but we called it a draw at game two (we were both at one win, one loss, and calling a draw meant we would both win something at least as opposed to one winning nothing, ended up playing a third game for fun which I won).
Got one Shards of Alara booster pack as a prize.
Deck:
1x Akrasan Squire
1x Angelic Benediction
1x Bant Battlemage
1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2x Excommunicate
1x Knight of the White Orchid
1x Resounding Silence
1x Sanctum Gargoyle
1x Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
1x Cloudheath Drake
2x Coma Veil
1x Courier's Capsule
1x Tortoise Formation
1x Jungle Weaver
1x Naturalize
1x Kiss of the Amesha
1x Qasali Ambusher
1x Rafiq of the Many
1x Steward of Valeron
2x Obelisk of Bant
1x Quietus Spike
2x Bant Panorama
7x Plains
4x Island
3x Forest
Ended up playing Bant since most of my rare bombs were usable in that shard. I really wanted to use the Broodmate Dragon I opened but there weren't enough good cards in black and green to justify a Jund deck. Having only one bomb is hard to work with too, although the larger creatures of a Jund deck might have helped offset that fact. I know that when I played Bant, I had a difficult time getting through when I didn't draw a bomb because the small creatures of Bant needed a lot of support and didn't really want to tussle with those humongous Naya/Jund cards. Also, the massive amount of burn spells going around wasn't helping.
Was probably playing with too few endgame threats. Rafiq of the Many was amazing but fairly vulnerable due to having only three toughness. Having him in play though meant that at least one of their creatures would go down every turn, or else they'd eat an exalted boosted doublestrike, which adds up very fast.
Really wish I had gotten better control/removal cards, a few games I played I could have won if I had an Oblivion Ring instead of Excommunicate, which is inferior in every way. And a Bant Charm would have worked a lot better. Using Coma Veil meant the creature would still have to be tapped... which I once used in conjunction with Angelic Benediction, but oftentimes I'd have to sacrifice a creature or take a large hit to use it.
Elspeth pumped out large amounts of indirect damage, but all except one of my opponents focused her down and killed her as soon as she came out. The one game she was left unchecked, she managed to make all my cards indestructible and let Quietus Spike (on a 1/1 soldier she produced!) fly overhead for the kill. Saved me from the Realm Razer, for sure.
Speaking of Quietus Spike, that card really scared away larger creatures, and put people on the defensive if they couldn't get rid of it. Getting hit for half your health hurts, but losing a creature to deathtouch hurts too, and you don't even kill the creature wielding the spike if it has first strike (or double strike. Which it usually did when it wasn't flying). Or even... an indestructable 1/1 wielding a Quietus Spike killing a 5/3 with first strike because it brushed off the hit and kept standing.
Games went well but I always felt like it was playing out to be just a mad rush to kill them before they killed me. Without much defensive cards, I really relied on smashing their face in first or forcing them to block instead of blocking myself. I lacked the larger creatures that could get through chump blockers like Rhox Charger, which I saw a few times and kinda wish I had drawn one.
I guess it's in the past. I won a booster pack and feel like I know a bit more about Sealed. Better luck next time! Also, glad I didn't open a Lich's Mirror!
Update: Opened the booster pack to find a second Rafiq (he's mythic!) and the Bant Charm and Rhox Charger I wanted. Wish I had gotten them earlier.