Sealed Pack & Silver Age Interview

We don't call him the Boy Wonder for nothing. In our last episode of The Amazing Antonios, the former Yu-Gi-Oh! star had just taken out his first $10K trophy, piloting the unconventional 'Migga City'. Meanwhile, back in Sydney, the 17-year-old has been cleaning up any tournament he comes across, taking out both Sydney PCQs as well as Canberra's Sealed — all sans splits. Having taken the names of practically all of Australia's pros, surely it's only a matter of luck and time until he has a Sealed Pack $10K notch on his belt too.

Who is your favorite comic character?

Batman. I know it’s cliche, but this guy’s awesome. Having no powers, you’d imagine that it would be hard to fight crime, but this guy does it in style and doesn’t trust anybody — smart guy. Plus the movie was awesome; I must have seen it . . . once.

What card do you most want to crack in sealed today?

Honestly, I don’t think that one card can change a sealed deck. However, today I am more worried about getting a combination of cards that I will be able to use with synergy. If I did have to choose one card then Jay Garrick ◊ The Flash, Golden Age Speedster is the one. Having the ability to recover and attack again . . . it’s insane in Sealed and he can be splashed into any deck.

Is there any card you can build a deck around in Crisis Sealed? (e.g. in X-Men: BBB, Sinister Citadel, etc.)

The Calculator, Evil Oracle and Ahmed Samsarra, White King. They are key cards which decks are based around; they are both game-breaking cards. It can be potentially bad for the controller of the card when it comes to Ahmed Samsarra, White King . . . However, when built right, and once the key card has been obtained, these decks can be very consistent and not that hard to draft.

What do you think is the best archetype / overall strategy in Crisis Sealed?

The main thing in Crisis sealed is being able to maintain consistency within your deck. So, a deck with a good searcher or with the ability to siphon through your deck is good. This can reside in almost all affiliations but the easiest way to do this is in the Checkmate affiliation, although I would expect to see very little of this in my 5 sealed packs. Also, the team is becoming increasingly hard to draft due to people awareness of how good this team is in sealed.

What's the most underrated card in sealed?

Any card that allows you to attack hidden characters in this set is good; Relentless Pursuit or Watch the Birdie are both cards that can win you games or totally change game state. Especially with cards like The Calculator, Evil Oracle and Ahmed Samsarra, White King — they are extremely crucial cards and high picks in drafts and are most likely going to be played if they are in people’s 5 sealed packs.

Who is going to win today?

There are many good players at the event today and I haven’t had the chance to watch many of these players building sealed decks or draft so at this point I would say there are many people who have a good chance of winning.

What's the most busted card in Vs. System at the moment?

Enemy of My Enemy has got to be at the top of my list at the moment. This card has the ability to create decks on its own and is allowing random team affiliations to be used in decks e.g. "Mexican Hardware Store". This is also heavily reflected in its price at the moment . . . it has skyrocketed. So hands down Enemy of My Enemy gets my vote.

What are your impressions of Silver Age so far?

It is an extremely complicated Meta to play in. Personally I think it is awesome, and there are so many undiscovered decks and combos in Silver Age that I think it’s actually the best constructed format available. It also seems to takes a lot more skill to play — especially if you want to pick a Meta deck and play “Deep Green” (Ahmed going to the KO’d pile).

What's the best card in Silver Age?

(Alex looks around)

Alex: “Hey buddy do you have a spare Enemy of My Enemy?”

Random Dude: “I told you 5 minutes ago I want $75 dollars for it.”

Question answered.

Even though I don’t think the card should be banned, as it encourages originality, I do think that it is busted and insane, in a good way, except the $75 part.

What's the best deck in Silver Age?

I think that Silver Age hasn’t reached its full potential yet. That said, judging by the results in previous Silver Age events, “Deep Green” seems to be ahead. I personally would say that there are still a lot of decks that are better than “Deep Green” that are yet to be unveiled.

Are you excited about Heralds of Galactus?

Yes, but I look forward to every set. It’s a chance to invent new decks, draft a new set and potentially adapt to a new metagame.