It appears that Vs. System’s Japanese contingent came prepared to draft as well as they played Constructed. I sat down to talk with Masami Ibamoto, Akihiro Shimizu, and Shota Yasooka to discuss Sealed Pack strategy from the other side of the globe.

Ibamoto, Shimizu, and Yasooka all live in the Tokyo area. The proximity allows Ibamoto to have the local Vs. players over to his house to, in his words, “Draft and draft and draft.” Vs. is a relative newcomer to Japan, and Ibamoto admits that there are “not may players” in his area. Even still, he finds enough people (“not usually eight; sometimes four or six”) to do “lots of drafts every week.”

All that drafting is paying off here in Atlanta. Ibamoto just 3-0’d his first table with a monster of a JLA deck. His favorite team is Secret Society, mainly because of Slaughter Swamp, which he feels is the “most important card for the deck” and an almost automatic first pick. “It helps me hit my curve. It helps me power up with JLA. With Injustice Gang, I can make my opponent increase their hand.”

Other cards that Ibamoto has at the top of his common pick order include Death Trap, Nth Metal, Gorilla Grodd, and Trial by Fire.

Even though Ibamoto went 3-0 with a JLA deck in Draft 1, his deck’s MVP has to be Slaughter Swamp, which enabled an outrageous number of ally-triggered power-ups. Without further ado:

Characters

2 Ray Palmer ◊ The Atom, World’s Smallest Hero

1 Gypsy, Cynthia Reynolds

3 Connor Hawke ◊ Green Arrow

1 Faith, “The Fat Lady”

2 Elongated Man, Ralph Dibny

1 Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose

1 Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman

1 Zauriel, Guardian Angel

1 Dr. Sivana, Thaddeus Bodog Sivana

2 Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman

2 Poison Ivy ◊ Kiss of Death

1 Firestorm, The Nuclear Man

1 Martian Manhunter, J’onn J’onzz

1 Hal Jordan, Hard-Traveling Hero

1 Gorilla Grodd, Simian Mastermind

1 Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas

1 Mogo, The Living Planet

Plot Twists

1 Funeral for a Friend

1 Funky’s Big Rat Code

2 Reform the League

Locations

2 Slaughter Swamp

Equipment

1 Atlantean Trident

1 Philosopher’s Stone

Ibamoto’s deck features a great early curve backed up by a variety of bombs. Combined with the JLA first pick Reform the League (Ibamoto got his first copy fourth pick in pack 1—a signal to go JLA if there ever was one), Connor Hawke ◊ Green Arrow and Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman give Ibamoto access to multiple No Fear effects every turn. Even if he doesn’t draw one of his two copies of Reform the League, Ibamoto has multiple copies of many of the characters in his deck, allowing him to stay on track and keep powering-up.

Ibamoto only has three Secret Society characters in his deck, but Funky’s Big Rat Code is still great. The ability to mill four cards gives him a better chance to find his later drops and extra copies of his early guys, all of which he can return to his hand with Slaughter Swamp.

While not as broken in Ibamoto’s deck as it is in others, Gorilla Grodd is about as good as Justice League of America 6-drops get. Ibamoto’s inclusion of Funeral for a Friend is in there mainly as an answer to opponents’ copies of the character-stealing ape.

Martian Manhunter, J’onn J’onzz’s ridiculousness has already been discussed by Melody Maysonet. Suffice it to say that he’s the de facto best 5-drop in Sealed Pack for JLA and JLI.

Ibamoto and his compatriots appear to have brought a strong understanding of JLA Draft with them from Japan. Providing Ibamoto can get his hands on a few more copies of Slaughter Swamp, we might be seeing a lot more of this Vs System globe trotter.