The Four Point Gaming Club’s Competitive Corner
Presents:
Playing Sealed, Winning Regionals and Time Management
By
Scott “CramCompany” Cramton
Ladies and Gentleman* Wizkids’ BIG Regional event is coming in just a few weeks, days, minutes or already happened… depending on when you’re reading this. These big events are 100% Sealed, folks, which means you have roughly 15 minutes or 15 seconds (depending on how good you are at opening packs) to construct your best team from two random boosters.
What you need to have in order to accomplish this and become Regional Champions is a PLAN. In this article I am going to help you… YES, YOU… develop a plan for success.
“Boy Commandos?”
What are you doing?
300-Point Sealed: Players who advance to the Top 8 will be provided with two new booster packs free of charge. Players will use these new boosters to construct a new 300-Point Sealed team using only game elements contained in the new booster packs. This new team will be used for all single-elimination rounds.
Wizkids wrote the above and there is really no better way to say it.
Know your opponent.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the en
emy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” – Sun Tzu
That guy knows his stuff… but if your first name is Sun, then you’re kind of going to have to be great. What this means in Heroclix is that you must know your own team and know what you are likely to play. For example, if you want to win Regionals, you must realize that you will play against some Stealth busting stuff. There is too much of it in the set to not come across it. It also means that you must know your own clicks: how long they are, and when they hit the sweet part of their dials.
What do I do with those 15 or fewer minutes?
1 minute: Open your packs, quickly. Do it violently like they owe you money. If you break something, who cares?
1 minute: Put characters on their cards.
2 minutes: Separate your clicks into 3 piles: “Must Play,” “Avoid like a Republican Debate,” and “Meh… I guess these are okay.”
“How does the sand help this trap?”
3 minutes: Build teams in an ideal world. Start with your Must Play pile ONLY. Try to get them to work together… synergy is for the weak in this round. You pulled Mary Marvel… Did you also pull another Mary Marvel? Those gals play well together. Not because they’re good together, but because they’re both off-the-charts good. This first round will likely not work, but it’s worth the time to try it.
5 minutes: Build 3 realistic teams. Go for balance, but also for something it’s good at. I would rather play Hypersonic with TK than with Outwit because I know how hard it is for an opponent in sealed to catch something with that big of a reach. In this moment, try everything from your two piles, but avoid the third pile… those clicks are dead to you.
1 minute: Count your points twice. Don’t second guess your team even once. Your team is done. Don’t flip-flop — it never works. Just trust yourself and move forward. You can’t waste time.
With the 1 or 5 minutes you have left, do not talk about your team to others. Do not drink your water; do not look at the poster of She-Hulk in a bathing suit on the wall. Learn your team with laser focus. Look at their synergy. Ask yourself: How can this team beat Shazam? How can it take out Stealth? Cram as much knowledge into your head as you can… Pun intended. Score!
Bonus Section
Who is in the MUST PLAY pile? Must Play to me means MUST Play; figures that are so good that even if you could have a balanced Metal Men team or a theme team, you play this figure anyway. Because of that, the list should be short. I also broke the list down by rarity:
Common (Figures you might pull)
– Superman 001: He’s 90 points and is the bricky-est brick that ever bricked a brick.
– Superman 002 – 90 points for HSS and 11 attack and 14 speed… that’s crazy, y’all.
– Batman 004 – My favorite kind of attack is the kind that hits. 12 attack hits. Use him.
– Booster Gold – Solid everything, high defense, and most importantly: SUPER PC.
Uncommon (Figures you MAY pull if it’s your birthday or something)
– Jason Blood 029 – This is close, but high attack, PC, Outwit, and some odd chance perks would make most of my teams.
Rare (Figures you didn’t pull, but you have to play against in early rounds)
– Superman 033 – 90 points for super Penetrating Blast, long range, and high defense. Oh, and he sees through your stupid Stealth.
– Elasti-Girl 035 – Anybody remember when 50 points didn’t give you Senses plus Shape Change, an 18-defense and 4-damage?… This piece is broken in ANY format, not just sealed.
– Toy Master 036 – Love this support piece in all formats. If you happen to get a robot, he’s amazing.
– Element Man 040 – He shuts down HSS figures. He is a swiss army knife. He needs to be in your lineup even with his 4-Rrange. Also, I heard that Outsiders is a good team ability.
– Mercury 043 – 25 points and he has TK. That’s enough.
– Mary Marvel 041 – Will win you this tournament. She is the Icons Veteran Superman of this set. If you have no other figures to play with her, then you play her and pieces of cardboard from the box she came in.
– Zatara – He says that you can hit your opponent when you attack. That’s really enough to put him on the list.
Super Rare/Chase/Prime (Figures you see pulled by the people across from you
– Harlequin – It’s close, but it’s really a figure that attacks twice with a high attack value. Too solid at 90 points to pass up.
– Metallo – +1 to all his stats and he’s amazing. Also, he can Pulse Wave in a pinch.
– Alloy is not on this list… even though people will tell me he should be.
– World’s Finest – Look at the 75 point version and try to find something better in this set for 75 points. Other point values are in the “Meh” pile.
– Superman 17B – Gah… he’s exactly who you don’t want your opponent to have. A chance-based figure that hits like a Mac truck… “Oh, but ANYBODY can Mind Control him.” So? I pray my opponent keeps this beast on top dial and Mind Controls him instead of hitting him.
– EVERY SINGLE CHASE FIGURE… everyone is more broken than anything in the set (except my girl Mary). Do your best to fit them on your team. If not, they should at LEAST be on their “I like to watch” click.
Okay gang, article is getting long and Trump recently revealed that Americans hate to read. So I will catch all of you on the flippity-flop. See you… YES, YOU… at Regionals!
Yours in Competitive Gaming,
