Welcome back to a new installment of Deus Ex Machina. In case you are aware, 4 PACK SEALED IS BACK! I have a huge soft spot for this format. Due to this fortunate turn of events, let us switch gears and tackle it!!!

A Brief Intro to the Format

In a nutshell: Player opens 4 packs of a particular set, then will use said pool to build a deck. Unlike traditional sealed, it has a 30 card minimum requirement. Aside from the limited pool and necessary size of the deck, the format behaves very similar to the traditional counterpart. I advise not to be fooled, these minor differences hold great implications to the player and how they should approach the format. As we gain experience in the format, adjusting to the changes will become second nature. In my experience, figuring out the proper land count is the biggest challenge. With that being said, let us take a look at different samples:

6-Pack Sealed 4-Pack Sealed Spells Lands Lands-to-Spells Spells Lands Lands-to-Spells 22 18 45.0% 16 14 46.7% 23 18 43.9% 17 14 45.1% 23 17 42.5% 17 13 43.3% 24 17 41.5% 18 13 41.9% 24 16 40.0% 18 12 40.0% 25 16 39.0% 19 12 38.7%

This table will come in handy when building our decks. At the end of the day, practice will make perfect. Here are a few thoughts I would like to leave you with:

· This is a high risk, high reward format. Do not be afraid of going in deep and attempt to break the bank.

· Bombs play a higher role here. The chance of drawing it is higher, so attempt to capitalize there.

· Mill is a very legitimate and successful plan.

· Hyper aggressive payout every time.

· Keep the curve lower than traditional sealed, unless it is a bomb.

· Land heavy openers payout in the long run.

The Sealed Pool

This is the pool I opened. It is not the worst pool ever, but it is quite diversified. The possibilities for different decks are pretty high. Upon further examination of the pool, I have determined that my approach was probably incorrect. This brings me to my next point:

How would you have built it and why???

My philosophy on learning is two-fold. One fold is through constant practice in order to get perfect at it. The other is through exposure to other’s perspective on the subject matter. I am a huge fan of asking others how they would have approach a situation. Their perspective normally yields an insight that I may have missed. It seems like a fair approach, right? With that being said, I would love to hear on how you would have tackled this pool!

Build a deck and post it in the comments! Keep in mind: minimum require of 30 card deck.

Here Is My Take

Deck Construction

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

I GOT THE BYE! L

Conclusion

As you can see, the ship went down in flames. I am not 100% sure I built the deck correctly, or if the overall land-to-spells ration used was correct. Gatecrash 4-pack sealed is faster than Return to Ravnica. I did not keep that in mind going into this event. It will be kept in mind for the future. Time and practice will yield the proper adjustments in order for success. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Till our next encounter,

Sergio