Sealed Deck

Players build decks from randomized pools of cards — no drafting required.

Sealed may be the simplest way to play Cube. Like Limited with fresh booster packs, give each player 90 random cards from the cube. Players build decks of at least 40 cards with any cards from their pool, plus any number of basic lands.

Sealed has a big advantage over other ways to Cube in its flexibility. There’s no requirement on the number of players, or that everyone be able to sit down to draft at the same time. Deck-building can be asynchronous and more players can easily join in.

Many of the disadvantages of sealed are mitigated by Team Sealed. Team Sealed does take a bit more structure and a certain number of players, but makes deckbuilding less challenging and more consistent.

Sealed can present some challenges for cube composition. Compared to sealed booster sets, many cubes are more complex, more synergistic, and more powerful. This can make Sealed deck-building a challenge, as two-card combos and synergistic packages will rarely be in the same pool, and the flatter power level of many cubes can make it hard to identify the final 40. Cube designers can ensure synergy decks thrive with very broad synergies, like Strixhaven’s Magecraft keyword.

For more design tips for Sealed, check out Episode 3 of Lucky Paper Radio