One of Asia’s highest ranking Sealed Pack players, Dominic Ortega proved himself an all-arounder when he took home the trophy from last year’s Marvel Modern Age $10K Manila. Today, he is playing his favorite format and definitely upbeat about his chances of winning the home trophy twice in a row.
Prior to the event, he told me that though he’s been drafting a lot in preparation for the tournament, he still has little experience in Sealed Deck. “Sealed Deck is harder to playtest because there are no UDE sanctioned tournaments in that format other than the PCQs. I just hope I get powerful cards for the Sealed portion.”
Dominic’s Sealed Pool
Arkham Inmates
1 The Joker, Permanent Vacation
Checkmate
1 Amanda Waller
1 Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot
1 Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker
1 Graziella Reza
1 Harry Stein, King in Check
1 Huntress, Reluctant Queen
JSA
1 Chay-Ara ◊ Hawkgirl, Eternal Companion
1 Hourman III ◊ Hourman, Time Machine
1 Kate Spencer ◊ Manhunter, Fearless Renegade
2 Kendra Saunders ◊ Hawkgirl, Eternal Heroine
1 Power Girl, Earth 2
1 Prince Khufu ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Warrior
1 Richard Tyler ◊ Hourman
2 Sand, Sanderson Hawkins
2 Ted Grant ◊ Wildcat
Secret Six
2 Cheshire, Jade
2 Lex Luthor ◊ Mockingbird, Evil Exile
Shadowpact
1 Black Alice, Lori Zechlin
1 Blue Devil, Dan Cassidy
1 Detective Chimp, Bobo T. Chimpanzee
1 Dr. Occult, Richard Occult
1 Ibis, Prince Amentep
1 June Moon ◊ Enchantress, Good Witch
1 Nightmaster, Jim Rook
1 Ragman, Redeemer of Souls
1 The Phantom Stranger, Fallen Angel
1 Zatanna, Showstopper
Speed Force
1 Bart Allen ◊ The Flash, Impulsive Speedster
Villains United
1 Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1
1 Cheetah
1 Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant
1 Hunter Zolomon ◊ Professor Zoom
1 Ishmael Gregor ◊ Sabbac
1 Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard
2 Sinestro, Villain Reborn
1 The Calculator, Crime Broker
1 Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive
Equipment
1 Knight Armor
2 T-Spheres
Locations
1 Brother Eye
1 Checkmate Armory
1 House of Secrets
1 Rann
1 Secret Checkmate HQ
1 Thanagar
1 The Oblivion Bar
Plot Twists
1 Burning Gaze
1 Check and Mate
1 Defend Yourself!
1 Deflection
1 Forbidden Loyalties
1 Grand Gesture
1 I Still Hate Magic!
1 Justice United
1 Living Legacy
1 Magical Conduit
2 Magical Lobotomy
1 Mystical Binding
1 No Mercy
1 Stepping Between Worlds
1 Target Acquired
During the card registration, Dominic looked over at the table opposite his and was astounded at the pool that player was registering. He recalled, “I saw two Hourmans and Hawkgirls alongside a whole lot of good plot twists.”
When it was announced that the deck swap was with the person opposite, Dominic was elated. His pool was so good he said that none of the cards were among the later picks in Draft.
All of his affiliations were playable, though it was clear that JSA had the best characters and would form the backbone of his deck.
Dominic’s Sealed Deck
JSA
1 Hourman III ◊ Hourman, Time Machine
1 Kate Spencer ◊ Manhunter, Fearless Renegade
2 Kendra Saunders ◊ Hawkgirl, Eternal Heroine
1 Power Girl, Earth 2
1 Prince Khufu ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Warrior
1 Richard Tyler ◊ Hourman
2 Ted Grant ◊ Wildcat
Shadowpact
1 Black Alice, Lori Zechlin
1 Blue Devil, Dan Cassidy
1 Dr. Occult, Richard Occult
1 June Moon ◊ Enchantress, Good Witch
1 Ragman, Redeemer of Souls
1 The Phantom Stranger, Fallen Angel
1 Zatanna, Showstopper
Villains United
1 Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1
1 Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant
1 Hunter Zolomon ◊ Professor Zoom
Plot Twists
1 Burning Gaze
1 Defend Yourself!
1 Deflection
1 Forbidden Loyalties
1 I Still Hate Magic!
1 Justice United
1 Magical Conduit
1 Mystical Binding
Locations
1 Rann
Equipment
2 T-Spheres
Dominic eventually went with Shadowpact as his secondary affiliation for access to team-stamped plot twists. However, this meant that he would have some trouble filling out certain slots in his curve and would need to splash three characters outside of his core strategy. But even these splashed characters were good—Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1; Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant; and Hunter Zolomon.
Dominic’s main complaint was that he did not have a good 3-drop from the Shadowpact affiliation. But he was also quick to concede that having the best 2- and 5-drops in the game was plenty of compensation. Given his aversion to running 7-drops, he was also happy to have The Phantom Stranger, Fallen Angel around, as it could double as a plot twist when discarded from hand.
With this deck, Dominic’s strategy is to win by turn 6. He said that his 2-drops can trade with most 3- and 4-drops with some backup from his plot twists. This would generate board advantage for him, which would be his means to victory.