Prerelease weekend is officially over, but Dominaria United is just beginning! For players who are looking to enter higher-level Limited events, Sealed is the more common format that you will be playing. Perhaps the most illustrious event coming up that fits this criterion is the Arena Open featuring Dominaria United Sealed scheduled for October First. Otherwise, the Arena Qualifier weekend occurring two weeks from now and the FREE phantom event occurring this week are all Dominaria United Sealed. Should Magic Online be your sword of choice, weekly tournaments are now featuring Dominaria United Sealed! We are rather early into the season for this one, so expect updates as we learn more.
Dominaria United Sealed Overview
For the most part, Dominaria United Sealed feels very midrangey. Domain is the easiest archetype to open in a pool, and big bodies tend to slow games down. This makes bombs have a much heavier impact than in some other Sealed formats because you are pretty likely to get to them. As a result, conditional removal that can deal with bombs like
Vanquish the Weak
Vanquish the Weak
Destroy target creature with power 3 or less.
is much better in Sealed than Draft. Finding ways to out your opponent’s bombs is incredibly important while presenting relevant threats of your own. Here are some quick fundamental decisions to make when opening your DMU pool:
- Do you have threats to keep up with a midrange metagame? If not, consider a different strategy (this generally means going Red, White or Green with an aggressive go-wide strategy). Even if you have a decent pile of removal with some cool synergies, if your midrange game is average at best, you should try to do something different.
- Walls aren’t as prevalent in Sealed as they are in Draft. Assessing your Walls archetype, however, is still important. Winged Chaplain is the new
Zenith Flare
Zenith Flare
Zenith Flare deals X damage to any target and you gain X life, where X is the number of cards with a cycling ability in your graveyard.
for a reason. - Flyers are premium. Evasion is premium, and removal to remove bombs, in particular, are premium
The Strongest Common Cycle
These commons are all incredibly powerful. No matter what archetype you end up in, you want to build around one of these when the general bomb-heavy midrange deck in your pool is not good enough. It’s easy to synergize with these guys using other commons in your collection.
Tolarian Serpent
Tolarian Serpent
At the beginning of your upkeep, mill seven cards.
will be appropriately costed as long as you have some decent instant and sorcery removal. Cantrip spells like Timely Interference can help get them down sooner.
Molten Monstrosity
Molten Monstrosity
This spell costs {X} less to cast, where X is the greatest power among creatures you control.
Trample
encourages players to play combat tricks. Not only can you fight for the board aggressively, but you can also be rewarded for playing what are typically subpar cards by slamming down a 5/5 Trample to try and end the game before your opponent’s cards start hitting the board.
If your deck reduces the cost of
Yavimaya Sojourner
Yavimaya Sojourner
Domain — This spell costs {1} less to cast for each basic land type among lands you control.
to the point where you can consistently get it down on turn four, chances are your deck is insane. You need more than just the Sojourner to make this archetype work (since other people will do this better than you), but this is a great start.
In terms of the cards with the highest ceiling, the black and white permanents are incredibly easy to bust. Writhing Necromass is absolutely absurd with
Eerie Soultender
Eerie Soultender
When this creature enters, mill three cards. (Put the top three cards of your library into your graveyard.)
{4}{B}, Exile this card from your graveyard: Return another target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
. Not only will Soultender reduce the cost of Writing Necromass, but it can also grab it back in the late game. This can easily create a recurrable threat that can trade into anything.
Finally,
Argivian Phalanx
Argivian Phalanx
Affinity for creatures (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each creature you control.)
Vigilance (Attacking doesn't cause this creature to tap.)
is quickly reduced to a reasonable cost. A ton of commons and uncommons in white create multiple bodies. Any of these can result in you dropping numerous of these guys seamlessly.
Read More: Black is Dominating Dominaria United
Biggest Bombs (65%+ WR on 17 Lands)
17 Lands is widely considered to be the best resource for draft data, and
Archangel of Wrath
Archangel of Wrath
Kicker {B} and/or {R} (You may pay an additional {B} and/or {R} as you cast this spell.)
Flying, lifelink
When this creature enters, if it was kicked, it deals 2 damage to any target.
When this creature enters, if it was kicked twice, it deals 2 damage to any target.
has a massive 69% win rate in best of one Sealed. This card also tops the premier draft section, confirming Archangel of Wrath’s status as the best card in Dominaria United Limited. Honestly, this is not surprising. Archangel of Wrath is a threat with evasion and Lifelink that can kill threats, gain life on entry, and kill an opponent at low health. There is nothing this card cannot do.
Sheoldred is the prime example of a threat that gets worse the longer it stays around. Board stalls are super common in Sealed, and Sheoldred revels in them. The longer it sticks around, the closer your opponent is to death. It’s no wonder this card has a 67% winrate in Sealed.
Serra Paragon
Serra Paragon is Lurrus with a lot of extra steps. With a 65% win rate,
Serra Paragon
Serra Paragon
Flying
Once during each of your turns, you may play a land from your graveyard or cast a permanent spell with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard. If you do, it gains "When this permanent is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, exile it and you gain 2 life."
is a house in one card. This card will keep spitting out value until someone kills it. In addition, the card has a decent body on its own. In a format where walls are one of the best things to do, flyers are incredible. With two on this list, it’s not difficult to believe.
Read More: Dominaria United is Making MTG Great Again
There’s a Lot More to Figure Out
This is a VERY quick insight into what Sealed players should expect at a surface level for Dominaria United. As we learn more and become more comfortable with the set, this review will become more technical. Until then, best of luck finding your angels to destroy your opponents!