My Top 5 Worldwake Sealed Deck MVPs

After a long layoff from playing in Magic: The Gathering tournaments of any kind, I decided to get back into it recently by attending some sealed deck prerelease tournaments. Even it is typically thought of as a "fun" event, the sealed format is tough to master. The games are very swingy and bomb-dependant, and if you open a bad pool, [warning: bad pun to follow] the deck is stacked against you. After going 2-2 at both the M10 and Zendikar prereleases, I finally broke through into prize territory at the recent Worldwake prerelease, going 3-1 and coming tantalizingly close to undefeated territory. Without further ado, here are my top 5 mvps from that showing:

5) Snapping Creeper: I didn't give this card a second look when it was spoiled, but man, it gave my opponents grief almost every time it hit the field. Being a 2/3 body, it blocks and kills a large number of the creatures in the Zendikar and Worldwake sets. And the landfall trigger granting vigilance means it can do double duty with blocking too. Surprisingly good.

4) Nemesis Trap: Take out their largest guy, block and often kill the second largest. This card stole a couple wins for me. The downfall, of course, is the cost. Leaving the mana open for the casting of it is tough, and one of the savvier opponents saw it coming. Nevertheless, a great removal card.

3) Knarlid Pack/Quag Vampires: I didn't realize just how good multikicker in this format would be. But in the late game, drawing Knarlid pack wasn't just getting a grizzly bear--I often had enough mana to put him onto the battlefield at 4/4 or even larger. Quag Vampires was even better having swampwalk, with many players running swamps.

2) Leatherback Baloth: What a house. 4/5 is almost insanely large in this sealed format. There are very few creatures that can block it and survive, and if you can manage to go turn one arbor elf, turn two this guy, unless they have removal, it's over.

1) Kitesail: A great example of a card that you wouldn't consider in standard for constructed, but it's an absolute beating here. Every time I pulled this piece of equipment it was bad, bad news for my opponent. There are very few flying creatures, and the ones that do exist aren't very big at all. My favorite play involved a Timbermaw Larva sailing over and smacking my opponent for 7 to 8 points a turn.

As you can see, these cards are uncommon or common. Even though your showing in a sealed event is often based on how many bombs you draw, these cards prove that you can find game winners in unexpected places!