Darn! I just barely missed adding another trophy to the collection. In case you missed the coverage of $10K New York, you can find it here. In my last article, I alluded to the fact that I really wanted to win another Sealed Pack $10K and that I looked forward to writing about the experience. Of course, finishing third was still a sound accomplishment of which I am proud, but I wanted nothing more than to face off against my good pal Tillman Bragg in the finals in a repeat of this past March’s $10K Los Angeles. Tillman, by the way, finished fourth. I've said before that I think Heralds of Galactus is an amazing set and I’m still sticking with my story.
This series of articles chronicles the ten most noteworthy cards each team has to offer from the Heralds of Galactus set. Two weeks ago we looked into the Heralds of Galactus team. Since covering the team, I have come to appreciate a few cards more than others that I featured in this article, but as a whole I feel so far that I was pretty well on-target. Last week’s article focused on the Kree team, and so far I don’t think I have changed my opinion of which ten cards deserve the biggest parade. This week, we move onto the team that gets to attack more often than most, The Inhumans.
In past sets, no rare has come close to being as powerful in Sealed Pack as Karnak, The Shatterer. I had this bomb in my Sealed Pack at the Heralds of Galactus Sneak Preview event. I remember discarding him early in my first match when I had another 5-drop in hand already. In one of my later rounds I found myself in the same situation as round 1 and thought, “Maybe I’ll try this guy instead.” I felt pretty dumb after I saw how significantly Karnak affected the match. On turn 6 of that game I drew a 1-drop with an alternate recruit cost, letting me recruit my 6-drop with it. My 1-drop stunned my opponent’s 6-drop thanks to Karnak and the game was soon over. The Inhumans have a lot of team synergy with a number of their characters having the concealed keyword. It is quite possible that your pesky recruit from turn 1 or 2 will still be around when Karnak comes online provided that 1- or 2-drop stays hidden through turn 6.
Speaking of concealed 5-drops, Black Bolt, King of the Inhumans is one of my favorites of the non-rare variety. The way you make up for allowing your opponent to attack you directly is by being able to make better attacks into a bunch of exhausted characters. Black Bolt, King of the Inhumans will definitely save a few characters from getting stunned back, which will help keep endurance totals a whole lot closer. Flight and range are big pluses, especially because Black Bolt is a leader.
Dewoz, Dark Reflection just barely makes this list. I’m still not sure if Dewoz is as good as my initial impression tells me he is. Martian Manhunter, J’onn Jonzz’s power was similar to Dewoz’s, but the Manhunter’s power had a much more devastating effect in most games. Dewoz gives you a way to conceal your other characters that aren’t blessed with the stealthy power. He also gives you the option to pull off tricky reinforcements. Because most of the Inhumans team’s synergy hinges on concealed characters, I think Dewoz will withstand the test of time and make my top ten at the end of the Heralds of Galactus limited season.
What Franklin Richards, Creator of the Counter-Earth lacks in ATK power, he makes up with a great power that is of course, highly synergistic with the rest of the Inhumans team. Actually, Franklin works well with any cosmic character, particularly the handful of non-concealed Heralds characters and one Skrunucklehead who all have cosmic—surge.
Lockjaw, Inhuman’s Best Friend and Crystal, Elementelle are two of the Inhumans team’s strongest “fixer” cards. In Sealed Pack play, being able to team-up is one of the fundamentals of deck-building. At least, in my mind it is fundamental. I did play a 2-team deck for my first 5 rounds of $10K New York without a Team-Up card in my deck, but that type of decision is pretty uncharacteristic of me. Crystal, Elementelle has no drawback; she just makes your day brighter. Lockjaw does come with the slight drawback of discarding a card, but it is probably too much to ask to get a card like Boliver Trask, Creator of the Sentinel Program to come with range, 2 ATK, and unlimited in-team search power. Lockjaw’s power is appropriately discard-required. The only thing that really stinks is that on turn 1 it is often incredibly hard to decide which card you won’t need throughout the course of the game.
With the release of the terraform mechanic, I have gained a new love for locations in Sealed Pack. Blue Area of the Moon is definitely one of the Inhumans’ premium locations. Similar to Black Bolt, King of the Inhumans’s power but more flexible, Blue Area of the Moon can be used earlier in the game and is best in the middle turns, where combat demands higher DEF values. One of the worst feelings your opponent will have is when you attack down the curve, sending your Inhumans character into battle against a lower-cost Doom character. Your opponent will think the trap is set, but upon playing his or her The Devil We Know and anxiously anticipating your larger character’s demise, you can flip and activate your Blue Area of the Moon. His character will be KO’d while your board will remain intact.
All of the Team-Up cards in the Heralds of Galactus set seem pretty wonderful to me. Extended Family is probably my favorite of them all. Being able to add that surprise cosmic counter has always proved to be a powerful and sometimes unexpected play. Karnak certainly wouldn’t mind getting his power online a turn earlier. A lot of the visible characters with cosmic and cosmic—surge on the Heralds of Galactus team benefit nicely from teaming up with Inhumans via Extended Family.
Terragenesis is the final card worth mentioning here. You have probably noticed my trend of praising cards that can add cosmic counters. Terragenesis is one of the best ways to consistently add cosmic counters, even though it will become taxing on your hand over time. Ideally, you won’t need to discard more than a few times over the course of the game, giving you an outlet for unwanted characters that you draw mid-game.
I know the articles in this series are short and sweet. I’m hoping that you will enjoy these just as much as my more verbose articles. I personally can’t wait to revisit this series in a few months after I really have my best grasp on the Heralds of Galactus Sealed Pack format. Congratulations again to Yoel Izsak for his $10K win! I will be covering the Doom team next week. For the meantime, take a look at Yoel’s Top 8 draft deck; I’m sure you will see a number of cards from his deck featured next week.