With prereleases coming up, I was wondering what your thoughts were of sealed. First off, I've heard mixed things. Is it even really worth it to play in a sealed prerelease event? Secondly, what are the strategies for it? Obviously it depends on what you open, but how many pokemon should you be running, how much energy, etc.? Any other strategies you find yourself using for deck building?
Discussion Sealed Discussion and Strategies
- Thread starter TheAman
- Start date
Is it worth it to play in the prerelease tournament? In my opinion, absolutely, since (at most Leagues AFAIK) you receive extra packs just for participating.
As far as strategy:
- Stick to a single basic energy type and Pokémon of that type in addition to Pokémon of other types with Colorless attacks (or Dragon-types that use the basic energy you're playing.)
- Don't forget that there isn't a restriction on the number of cards with the same name you can play at prereleases. If your main attacker is a Stage 1, play as many of it and its Basic as you can within reason.
- Play more energy than you would in a normal deck. You need to be attaching an energy each turn to stay in time with your opponent, and having a count of between 14-20 will improve your chances of getting them each turn, which can be difficult with the lack of good draw support.
- I wouldn't play Stage 2 lines. They're clunky in Standard as it is, and playing them with measly draw support, little in the way of Pokémon search, and no Rare Candy is a surefire way to make your prerelease deck inconsistent. (Plus the chances that you get more than one or two of the Stage 2 in your kit are slim.)
- Play a GX if you get it. (Unless it's a Stage 2.) The high HP alone can give you an automatic advantage over decks without a GX. (I don't recommend 39-energy-1GX decks though. Guzzlord may have been an exception, but there's nothing similar to it in Ultra Prism.)
- Play every draw trainer and search card you get.
- Lastly, just a tip, remember that decks won't have Guzma (unless of course they include it in the kits, which would be interesting), so you can safely build stuff up on the bench without risk of having it Guzma-KO'd. (Make sure to read the cards your opponent plays, though. Cacturne surprised me at the Crimson Invasion prerelease I went to.)
Nobody builds these decks and expects them to be great. Just have a bit of fun and build something that can function.
As far as strategy:
- Stick to a single basic energy type and Pokémon of that type in addition to Pokémon of other types with Colorless attacks (or Dragon-types that use the basic energy you're playing.)
- Don't forget that there isn't a restriction on the number of cards with the same name you can play at prereleases. If your main attacker is a Stage 1, play as many of it and its Basic as you can within reason.
- Play more energy than you would in a normal deck. You need to be attaching an energy each turn to stay in time with your opponent, and having a count of between 14-20 will improve your chances of getting them each turn, which can be difficult with the lack of good draw support.
- I wouldn't play Stage 2 lines. They're clunky in Standard as it is, and playing them with measly draw support, little in the way of Pokémon search, and no Rare Candy is a surefire way to make your prerelease deck inconsistent. (Plus the chances that you get more than one or two of the Stage 2 in your kit are slim.)
- Play a GX if you get it. (Unless it's a Stage 2.) The high HP alone can give you an automatic advantage over decks without a GX. (I don't recommend 39-energy-1GX decks though. Guzzlord may have been an exception, but there's nothing similar to it in Ultra Prism.)
- Play every draw trainer and search card you get.
- Lastly, just a tip, remember that decks won't have Guzma (unless of course they include it in the kits, which would be interesting), so you can safely build stuff up on the bench without risk of having it Guzma-KO'd. (Make sure to read the cards your opponent plays, though. Cacturne surprised me at the Crimson Invasion prerelease I went to.)
Nobody builds these decks and expects them to be great. Just have a bit of fun and build something that can function.