For this week’s article I was planning on writing about a new deck for Core Constructed with Worldbreaker. However, with the holidays, I have not had the time to put in to test Core and have not found a deck that excites me. Something I am excited about is Cryptozoic’s announcement for the long awaited World Cup tournament taking place in March in Paris, France. The most exciting thing to me about the event is that we get the opportunity to play in a team tournament, playing with your two best friends/teammates and competing against the best in the world. Core is the main format for the World Cup and I am a big fan of the one game format, but a format I am even fonder of, and have had a lot of fun playing with in other games, is team sealed.

Everyone has gotten a chance to play Core at this past year’s Realm Championships and Continental Championships. Team sealed has never been done in the WoW TCG, and more than likely a majority of the players have not had any experience with the format. I thought it would be a good idea to try a practice team sealed to get an idea of what decisions a three man team will have to make to put together the best three decks possible from a card pool of twelve booster packs. I am doing this by myself, so that may be a good or a bad thing. The good being I have my own strategies and thought processes when building a limited deck and my ideas won’t be convoluted with other's ideas. The bad thing is I may miss something or not think of certain strategies of deck building that two of my teammates may see with the card pool at hand. I think it is very important to get some practice in with your two teammates before the tournament to make sure that everyone is on the same page so that deck building goes smoothly with minimal mistakes.

I cracked 12 packs of Worldbreaker and am ready to build the best three decks; here is what I was working with:

First things first, we have only two factions— Horde and Alliance— to split up between three decks. Let’s figure out which faction has more depth than the other. Horde has a tremendous amount of playables at the 3, 4, and 5-cost ally slots. At first that would make Horde seem like the obvious faction to split over two decks. Alliance does have eight very good 2-cost allies which we want to utilize because in Limited/Sealed Deck play your early game is really important and this is especially true with Worldbreaker. So let’s take a look at splitting up our Alliance allies into two decks. We were lucky enough to open an [Aileen the Thunderblessed] so we will want to make the most out of her and make sure we have enough support nature allies.

Deck A: Alliance nature allies

[Garet Vice]

[Emerald Captain] - Dragonkin

2 [Varandas Silverleaf]

2 [Loriam Argos]

[Terina Calin]

2 [Bella Wilder]

[Emerald Tree Warder] - Dragonkin

[Aileen the Thunderblessed]

[Watchman Visi]

[Zuur]

[Emerald Emissary] - Dragonkin

[Marius Jator]

[Emald Acidspewer] – Dragonkin

[Eranikus] - Dragonkin

Deck B: Other Alliance allies

[Shanis Bladefall]

2 [Savis Cindur]

[Fenton Guardmont]

[Laenthor Shademoon]

[Kalek Deepearth]

[Terina Calin]

[Kirjen Fizzgar]

[Emerald Tree Warder] - Dragonkin

[Andrew Ulric]

2 [Alister Cooper]

[Ruby Emissary] – Dragonkin

[Marcus Dominar]

2 [Wazix Blonktop]

[Jinie Swizzleshade]

[Bayner Cogbertson]

To show where our other Dragonkin went, here is the Horde deck:

Deck C: Horde

2 [Telnor Sunsurge]

[Trade Prince Gallywix]

[Ruby Flameblade] - Dragonkin

2 [Emerald Soldier] - Dragonkin

[Zeru]

2 [Oruk Starstorm]

[Frek Snipelix]

[Jezziki Shinebog]

2 [Huruk Lightvow]

[Mahna Lightsky]

2 [Vala Carville]

[Kerzok Plixboom]

2 [Ruon Wildhoof]

[Sura Lightningheart]

These three lists are merely rough drafts. The first Alliance deck seems much better than the second, so we could move some allies around to change that. Which class we put with each deck may also help with our decision on which allies to play. There are still a few Dragonkin allies we did not use in the decks that are very good like [Emerald Wanderer], [Ruby Skyrazor], [Ruby Stalker], and [Ruby Enforcer]. They are all good allies and will more than likely squeeze into decks later on in the building process. Now for the Horde we needed to use our 2-cost Dragonkin to fill up a void because all we have are 0/6 protectors and [Zulanji] which we can play in our deck, but I would prefer not to. After putting the allies into three different decks, I think it is apparent that the faction split of Alliance 2 and Horde 1 is correct. Also, having two Alliance decks mean we can split up both the [Terina Calin]’s and [Koeus] so that both decks have possible ability and equipment removal, which is a premium in Worldbreaker limited. Now on to which classes we think are the best and what equipment they can utilize.

Death Knight has 2 [Grip of the Damned] which gives it precious answers to both allies and weapons, along with some diseases which are both quite playable and, in the case of [Withering Decay], game changing. We also have 2 [Strangulate], which I am not a big fan of, that could be a useful side deck card if our opponent has a bomb ability or just a bunch of removal in the form of more expensive abilities we can react to. Death Knight looks very promising and will more than likely wind up in one of our decks.

Druid has been a very good limited class in the past few blocks, always having access to equipment and ability removal in the form of [The Natural Order] and [Natural Repossession], making it one of my favorite limited classes to play. Druid does not seem to have the same caliber of abilities in Worldbreaker but it does make up for it in ally removal. Our pool has 2 [Wrath]’s for early ally removal and possible direct damage to the opposing hero to finish the game with. We also get THREE [Entangling Growth] to handle any opposing ally. [Rejuvenation] and [Savage Bear Form] are also quite playable making Druid almost a no brainer to play.

Hunter has little removal available with only a [Steady Shot] and possible a [Wing Clip], which I am not a big fan of. The 2 [Tesla] and 2 combat tricks in [Track Dragonkin] make it somewhat appealing. [Stakethrower] may be the main reason we decide to put hunter in one of our three decks. We are not short 4-cost allies in any way, so [Tesla] although a great ally for its cost, will not entirely be an addition to any deck, still would have to take out a 4-cost ally we already have in the deck. Let's see what other classes have to offer.

Mage has some early removal that I like, but I would prefer us to have some way to deal with bigger threats then just a single [Frozen Nerves]. Mage does seem to be the way to go if we pair it with a very fast aggressive deck which plans on killing our opponents quickly while always having tempo. Both the [Frost Wave]'s would help a great deal, and the Alliance hero Mage [Kandus Frosthand] has a terrific flip which would also help in an aggressive Mage strategy. This may be the way to go with the first Alliance ally build whose curve tops out at five.

At first I thought that we should go ahead and write Priest off as a choice for any of our decks. [Divine Fury] is a great ability but aside from that there is not much more to talk about. I think that paired with the first Alliance build, Priest could mesh just as well as Mage would. [Psychic Wail] might turn out to be a great tempo card and [Power Word: Shelter] could save our allies from combat and still deal damage to the opposing ally. The last thing we should like about playing Priest is the 2 [Spiritual Harmony] cards we could use to get back either our [Aileen the Thunderblessed], which may be one of the more powerful allies in the set, and [Eranikus], which is just huge for its cost. 

Shaman has a few good cards like [Lightning Bolt], [Nature Resistance Totem], and [Earthen Blast], but the problem is that they all deal nature damage to destroy opposing allies. We would have to make sure most of our allies deal something other nature damage, so one of our decks does not roll over to a nature resistance ally or an ally with [Mark of the Untamed] attached to it.

Warlock does not have a great deal of cards available in our card pool but does have enough to warrant a look at. 2 [Sardok]'s could be very useful in our second Alliance build with only having [Shanis Bladefall] at the one slot. We also get [Searing Pain] and [Nether Inversion] for ally removal. [Searing Pain] could also potentially deal a good amount of damage to our opponent with the multiples of [Savis Cindur], [Alister Cooper], and [Ruby Emissary] all being Fire allies.

For the rest of the classes; Paladin, Rogue, and Warrior, there just are not enough good abilities/equipments to warrant their consideration. With eliminating both Paladin and Warrior from the mix, Death Knight gets [Bloodied Arcanite Reaper] and [Dread Pirate Ring] to give a bonus to our weapon. With Rogue out of the picture, we can add the [Skinned Whelp Shoulders] to our list of Druid playables and make sure that our Druid deck has an ample amount of Dragonkin in it to support playing the Leather armor. The last equipment that is really good is [Abracadaver] which can be used by Druid, Mage, and Warlock. We will have to wait and see which classes we pick to see which deck the Staff lands in. Hunter and Shaman are still possibilities as well, and we will want to look at the heroes available from Worldbreaker which may affect what class we want to pair with each group of allies depending on the hero's flip and faction and our strategy for each deck.  Now let’s add some of our class cards to our sample ally builds from above and switch a few allies around and see where we are at.

Deck A: Alliance nature allies

Build 1

Hero: [Kandus Frosthand]

Allies:

[Garet Vice]

[Varandas Silverleaf]

2 [Loriam Argos]

[Savis Cindur]

2 [Bella Wilder]

[Kalek Deepearth]

[Ruby Enforcer]

[Aileen the Thunderblessed]

[Watchman Visi]

[Zuur]

[Alister Cooper]

[Marius Jator]

[Emald Acidspewer]

[Eranikus]

[Furan Rookbane]

Abilities:

2 [Fire Blast]

[Frostfire Bolt]

[Frozen Nerves]

2 [Frost Wave]

Equipment:

[Abracadaver]

Quest:

[Corrosion Prevention]

[Crystals of Power]

[Mystery Goo]

[The Might U'cha]

[The Witch's Bane]

[The Torch of Retribution]

Build 2

Hero: [Tilly Fiddlelight]

Allies:

[Garet Vice]

[Varandas Silverleaf]

2 [Loriam Argos]

[Savis Cindur]

2 [Bella Wilder]

[Kalek Deepearth]

[Ruby Enforcer]

[Aileen the Thunderblessed]

[Watchman Visi]

[Zuur]

[Alister Cooper]

[Marius Jator]

[Emald Acidspewer]

[Eranikus]

Abilities:

[Divine Fury]

2 [Power Word: Shelter]

[Spiritual Harmony]

2 [Psychic Wail]

[Oppress]

Equipment:

[Abracadaver]

Quest:

[Corrosion Prevention]

[Crystals of Power]

[Mystery Goo]

[The Might U'cha]

[The Witch's Bane]

[The Torch of Retribution]

I like both lists; I think the Mage build may be a little more consistent, but the Priest can handle opposing nature resistant allies like [Mahna Lightsky] much better with [Psychic Wail] and [Divine Fury]. I added in the one [Alister Cooper] to the list so that we also have another out against Nature Resistance allies. I think the [Terina Calin] belongs in the sideboard because it really is not an ally we want to play on turn 3. If our opponent does end up having a weapon, we may have had to row a card face down and Terina would have probably been our best option to row as a resource. I like both decks and find the Priest build much more interesting, trickier than the Mage, and a lot of fun to play. Now onto our other Alliance deck and our Horde deck.

Deck B: Alliance B team Druid

Hero: [Arturius Hathrow]

Allies:

[Emerald Captain]

[Ruby Stalker]

[Varandas Silverleaf]

[Savis Cindur]

[Fenton Guardmont]

[Laenthor Shademoon]

2 [Emerald Tree Warder]

[Kirjen Fizzgar]

[Emerald Wanderer]

[Andrew Ulric]

[Alister Cooper]

[Ruby Emissary]

[Marcus Dominar]

2 [Wazix Blonktop]

[Jinie Swizzleshade]

[Bayner Cogbertson]

Abilities:

2 [Wrath]

3 [Entangling Growth]

Equipment:

[Skinned Whelp Shoulders]

Quest:

[A Matter of Time]

[Counting Out Time'

[Cleansing Witch Hill]

[The Witch's Bane]

[Challenge to the Black Flight]

[What's Haunting With Hill?]

Deck C: Horde Death Knight

Hero: [Ayaka Winterhoof]

Allies:

2 [Telnor Sunsurge]

[Trade Prince Gallywix]

[Ruby Flameblade]

2 [Emerald Soldier]

[Zeru]

2 [Oruk Starstorm]

[Frek Snipelix]

[Jezziki Shinebog]

2 [Huruk Lightvow]

[Mahna Lightsky]

2 [Vala Carville]

[Kerzok Plixboom]

2 [Ruon Wildhoof]

[Sura Lightningheart]

Abilites:

2 [Grip of the Damned]

Equipment:

[Bloodied Arcanite Reaper]

[Dread Pirate Ring]

Quest:

2 [The Key to Freedom]

2 [Locked Away]

[Cleansing Witch Hill]

[The Witch's Bane]

We only have one build for both Deck B and Deck C. The quests for both decks could be switched around a bit. I think that giving the Horde deck the [Locked Away]/ [The Key to Freedom] combo gives it some cheap card draw to dig for its only 2-cost ally, weapon removal ([Grip of the Damned]), and bomb weapon ([Bloodied Arcanite Reaper]). I choose to pair the Horde allies with Death Knight because there is only a small amount of cards we want to use from Death Knight and we have a lot of Horde allies to fill out the remaining parts of the deck. [Withering Decay] is very good and can possibly come in for game 2's in the right match up, but I just don't think we need the card with our excellent suite of allies.

Deck B has enough Dragonkin to support the [Skinned Whelp Shoulders] and I switched in a [Varandas Silverleaf] for a [Savis Cindur] between the two Alliance decks to give our second Alliance deck more of a tempo swing whether we are on the play or draw. Varandas can be awesome at times. I also added in the [Emerald Wanderer] due to its great stats and its very useful power. [Koeus] and [Terina Calin] go in the side decks of both Alliance decks.

There are numerous ways to build these decks and I am sure there are a lot of the cards I left in the side decks that may very well deserve main decking. Cards like [Ruby Skyrazor] and [Toz'jun] are great five cost allies that did not make the cut with our sealed pool. There is plenty  of room for argument favoring certain card choices over others and which class is best suited to be paired with a group of allies. Feel free to debate your thoughts and opinions on the forums; I am very interested to see what others come up with.

Later,

-BillyP