Building an Outlaws of Thunder Junction Prerelease Pack Sealed Deck, Start to Finish! | Magic MTG

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How should you build a deck for your prerelease? Let me run you through it!
Have a question? Post a comment! You can also catch me, Gavin Verhey, on the rest of the internet at:
Twitch: / gavinverhey
Twitter: / gavinverhey
Instagram: / gavinverhey
TikTok: / gavinverhey
Thumbnail art is Mirage Mesa from Outlaws of Thunder Junction, by Andrew Mar.
#magicthegathering #unboxing #mtgthunder

[@shatterst0rm380]

As a new player, watching you struggle with making your deck is reassuring. When i struggle hard making a deck, I can realize it's not just because I'm a noob. The pros struggle too.

[@lasterman94100]

That's why prerelease is a good starting point, experienced players have still an edge because they have overall better understanding of what makes a card good, but the fact the set is brand new and the opening is random really balance it as much as possible. Also, most experienced players will love helping you building your deck, especially when they're done building their own, these events are the most casual after kitchen table commander so don't hesitate to ask for opinion/advices

[@maxwatson6617]

‘I like this beaver a lot’ - Gavin

[@madkoala7281]

Only Canadians would get it i guess. Or people who watched it How i met your mother

[@arjunheart5859]

Take note... Even Gavin almost sorted the prosperity post cards into white even when they're not technically "white".

[@ddalton86ify]

Had the same problem with the MKM card frames. They're just not well designed from a readability standpoint.

[@yugiohmbm]

This, my friends, is called user testing. If that was done and Wizards cared, they wouldn't keep doing it. Literally Gavin, who works with these cards on the daily, can't do it, then why is it expected to be good design?

[@MrClobberthesaurus]

Literally thought the same thing.

[@ddalton86ify]

After playing the prerelease last night I can confirm that the Breaking News treatment is terrible from a readability standpoint Had to really pay attention when I was sorting my cards and building my deck.

[@Sondreign]

Something I found really useful in this video is knowing when to go off-archetype. Knowing the archetypes can be helpful, but in prerelease you may not have the cards. You built WB with no sacrifice, and you made a really good looking deck.

[@Billchu13]

"I'll try building both and see which I like better' This is one of my favorite things to do in sealed because really you have 2 or 3 decks

[@LoonyLucyRM]

I've started using the Gavin Method™ of Pre-Release building and it's helped a ton, it's made assembling a deck so much faster and gives me time to help newer players at a pre-release! :D

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Hurray!! I'm glad it's been so useful ❤️

[@JulioUriega]

It makes a lot of sense I'm just more bodered than I should by the fact that he didn't sort them W->U->B->R->G form the start hahaha

[@macurvello]

Oh, I watch these before every prerelease, super helpful. Sure, lots of repeat info, but I still learn.

[@robboomsma6739]

I attended my first ever prerelease and wanted to come back to say this video was incredibly helpful. Especially the creature curve suggestion.

[@GoodMorningMagic]

So glad it helped out!! Thanks for letting me know and hope you had fun ❤️

[@Vina971]

Great video. The fact that u missed eletrodominance because the card frame doesn't strongly suggest that is a red card is a wake-up call for me.

[@llAlukall]

It should be one for the designers, too :D

[@Arzheu]

one problem I keep seeing in every pre release: packs and the pre release kits doesnt give the tokens I need. I know we can use basically anything to represent the tokens, but having the actual thing is better

[@user-ob9xm6qr3v]

That's why I bring Infinitokens or any other dry erase tokens to any draft or prerelease event.

[@Billchu13]

They have done this in precons for years. I don't need the rare and mythic tokens but give me the common and uncommon ones

[@magic_claw]

I use sticky notes, but agreed. Especially aggravating for new players which prerelease is supposed to be friendly to.

[@Billchu13]

I remember getting all the dungeons with the dnd pre release kits which was probably a life saver for event organizers

[@CeleViiGC]

That's been a big problem with draft too

[@De_Gazoomba]

Gavin is out here taking all the good cards before the set releases 😂

[@t_s_albatross3270]

I would try building double bruse tarl for a few reasons First is that while Jace is a really neat card, you can’t win the game off of it specifically. It’s a good accelerant card that can enable a strategy but they’re not really top ends. Red and White seem to have the best removal from what you pulled. You also have the desert that fixes your mana pretty well. Your mount that gives you additional attackers synergizes very well with outlaw medics that die and draw a card, especially when you can mount using bruce to get additional ETBs from him and possibly more Oxen.

[@demiurge2501]

i would 100% agree. generally when i build sealed i want at least 3 cards that answer their threats and 3 must answer threats of my own in whatever color pair i pick. you need to have ways to recover from bombs and ways to press advantage, and the double jace doesnt match that "quadrant theory"

[@farbencut]

A good compromise between opening packs by themselves and opening all at once for me is opening each pack and place them face down, then I take each stack and go through them as if I just pulled them out of the pack.

[@nicolaswelch2630]

This was GREAT. Awesome to see that it's not easy for you Gavin! I'm ready for prerelease now!

[@jjzwak]

This has been such a helpful learning lesson! I love going to pre-releases but always struggle with time / forcing stuff. I probably would have forced mindslaver and stoneforge mystic here 😂

[@IanRJoyce15]

the respect for the store owner +++ going to do the same thing tonight for the prerelease

[@thefinoll1535]

Your left thumb has evolved for card sorting. That is awesome!

[@royphelps2008]

I've wondered this or it was something else😂

[@Beesechurger_73]

Going tonight. Thanks for the tips!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Have a blast, and hope they help out!!

[@PieBandit]

Gavin, you can level up your method of sorting cards in a couple ways: 1) start with the easiest. Lands and either colorless or mutlicolor (depending on the set) are usually easiest to id and will have the fewest cards, making them the quickest to make their own pile. 2) if you hold the deck between your first finger and your second and third, you can actually double up your process: tuck one color between your thumb and pointer finger, and one between your ring and pinky. Do it twice as fast!

[@BREAKERisDEAD]

Seeing how you construct your kit is actually really helpful. Thanks for the insight!

[@diSTUD013]

I would love to see some gameplay with these sealed decks you build. I understand that it's not conducive to your tabletop aesthetic but maybe either goldfishing the deck or doing it on Arena could be cool!

[@aymanmz]

These are great, hope we see more of these in the future

[@bethmaxwell7834]

Tough pool! It was helpful to watch you build- I think you made the right deck.

[@justinstorm30]

Hey, Gavin thanks for the tips. I have always seperared my drafts by color then CMC, but never separeted creature and non-creature to consider when the card will actually be played unless it was obvious. So thanks. Will give it a try tomorrow. P.S. thanks for the stories and insights.

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Hope it helps out! And have a blast 😄

[@davidbain7629]

New gavin catch phrase: "you can play it if you want" 😂

[@charmyy2175]

I just came back for my second prerelease (MKM was the first one). Highlights of the deck were Roxanne, Starfall Savant and Stingerback Terror. It was a great time. Thanks for the video, it helped a great deal

[@aarongrass1136]

This really helped me in my first event last night. I managed to come in 2nd using the deck design advise from this video. Thanks Gavin!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

That's awesome!! So glad it worked for you, and nice job!

[@danieljodrey]

Oooh mindslaver! I'm smh and then you get the Mystic. 🤯

[@3LimbedHero]

I separate by color, then look for "removal" in each stack and build based on the colors with the most removal with late game big creatures.

[@yellowskulls8090]

love these videos thank you

[@bangarangbobby215]

Amazing deck building tips, thanks you 🎉

[@jasa4079]

You are a monster for cracking all the packs at once. I just toss my pack wrappers once the deck is made and sleeved up.

[@GatheringTheMagicYT]

Fully going for this method of opening at prerelease tonight!!

[@gunX1998]

This was really eye opening to me, I could really use these methods next time another prerelease rolls around.

[@KaladeshExpress]

I also sort my cards this way. Also great pulls!

[@nicktargontsidis9177]

What a great Pe release open for you! Some amazing cards in there

[@dontaylor0034]

Thank for showing so many options

[@ty_sylicus]

I'm all about that Boros life but, my aggro decks have been stopped at PR on multiple occasions. Playing aggro in Sealed is often a nail-biting experience.

[@camj1758]

Gavin I picked Bruse and the calamity horse in my pre release and went 2-1! Came 9th. Mardu is such a sick archtype in this. Really loved this pre release and thanks heaps for the guide leading up to it :) Helped me out a lot

[@GoodMorningMagic]

So glad I could help!! And well done mate!! 😄

[@ty_sylicus]

I swear, I've been attending PR events for over a decade and I dread this deck building challenge everytime, given how difficult it can be under a time limit, and how indecisive I am given my past mistakes. 😬

[@yetiz_gaming230]

I’d build both and sideboard them in depending on the match up. Never let them know your next move.

[@snackplaylove]

Taking 100 identical sleeves to prereleases, playing the ‘fun’ deck in first games if you have an even or lower record, and swapping to the ‘best’ only on a loss. You get to try out 2x cards and give lower ranked players a fun experience

[@Mr_Dylll]

Gavin!! I too have a smaller thumb on my left hand! We’re out here 👍🏽

[@TheCommandSphere]

In this situation o would have built two decks, a green blue midrange deck with the jaces and some of those good 4 drops, and a red white agro deck with calamity and Bruse as your finishers. If they are playing a fast deck I can sideboard in the UG, if they play slow, sideboard for WR

[@stefanogaleotti9218]

Nice!

[@djkatsuo]

Thanks for the guide! Have to leave it here since maybe you will see it. Please please please consider bringing back the deck box insert in the bundle. It was a great useful addition to the bundle and really feels cheap that it was removed from the bundles.

[@Soulus101]

Thanks for the guide! I wasn't super happy with my pool, but still managed to go 3-2 and finish 6th with a Naya deck. Annie Flash was excellent (why is there an "if you cast it" condition!?!). I have to say there are definitely pros and cons with play boosters. Love the feeling of opening a splashy card (Mana Drain in my prize pack!) but found building a deck quite difficult, all the styles were distracting and there were so many directions with none feeling particularly strong.

[@connormraz6628]

the fastest way to sort is to slap the cards down in piles of each color as you open them. has the same effect as pulling out 1 color at a time but more efficient.

[@dcijluther4015]

Nice pulls!

[@Blaze_1013]

Maybe I'm crazy, but I feel you were undervaluing Dance of the Tumbleweeds. In the GWr deck it gets your desert to enable your splash and it give you a big body late game. Feels weird to leave it out. It also does crimes by getting your desert.

[@sheda111]

If Gavin had some issues mixing the white cards with the alt art I cant imagine how much I'll struggle lmao Thanks for the tips, cant wait to play sealed tomorrow!!!

[@donnylampley6536]

I would have made a Blue-Red deck, splashing white for Bruce. He has one dual land (r/w) so I think if he threw like 2-3 extra white sources he could have those two powerhouses of Oxen. Plus, if he wanted more removal, he could add an extra plains to also run some of the white removal.

[@TheJukeboxzero]

Ox Deck for me.. and see if I could splash the double blue for Jace from dual lands haha

[@iamjag1]

i have not sorted by color with that technique and i will be trying it tomorrow

[@robtron3]

“That’s a nice beaver”

[@lennartvandereijk6126]

Noticing the Bucolic Ranch I would have taken a look at GWr and seriously consider Calamity in such a build. Eventually I would have realized the high potential of BWr, though before actually having gotten to play with the cards I could see myself making several choices differently for the initial 40.

[@ty_sylicus]

"You got this!"

[@Carriantor]

Make a circle of WUBRG with gold in the middle and artifacts/land off to the sides - it is much quicker and predictable every time. If you are playing with sleeves, consider pre-sleeving 10 lands of each color.

[@deshiznet9802]

I’d go GWRU no regrets, play all the good stuff; GAMBLLLLEEEE!

[@Chrs-hk1jk]

Why does it feel like I’ve lost more than one card per pack in a prerelease with these play boosters? I feel like I’m forcing it if I go two colors now. I never had that problem with draft packs. That being said I always had 6ish cards from those colors I didn’t use with draft packs. So why does it feel like we lost more than those 6 cards with the pack design?

[@RaiderX7997]

Jeskai seems viable honestly probably more fun but not as good as the Mardu option. You have the two deserts to color fix, but WB is the way I would go if 3 colors didn’t look viable

[@copperbadge1]

That casual god pool though. 😅

[@xavisiobluttemberg5563]

I called Mardu even before seeing the golden cards :) they're also the best colors of the set so it's not that surprising

[@richie2101]

PRERELEASE CARD LOOKS LIKE A PRINGLE

[@andrewwebb1076]

Excellent video with an explanation. Much better than normal pre-release videos that just goes through which cards are good and not.

[@krisring3945]

That glare on all the cards was rough

[@docseamonster3491]

Yo! Is that a Coral Sword playmat I spy? Nice.

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Good eye! Yes! 😄

[@docseamonster3491]

@@GoodMorningMagic I'm one of the people who met you during the MKM prerelease. I bugged you about a set about the signing of the guildpact.

[@cowonavuwus8758]

2:26 Seing Gavin Verhey, a designer at Wizards of the Coast, playing and thinking about Magic even more than I can in a single day, systematically mistake the BREAKING NEWS border for white cards validates me and my concerns with modern framing treatment.

[@XiaosChannel]

lol black being ignored until the end

[@MatthewAvery42]

I feel like I would have gone blue white control with this pool

[@teamtsn9626]

is that a coral sword play mat?

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Yes!! Good eye 😄

[@tegel619]

I miss good old draft boosters.

[@AZombieWizard]

This pack im probably biting the bullet and going 3 color, preferably in complimentary color pairs

[@ethanglaeser9239]

I don't hate the idea of opening all the packs at once, or the quick sorting of the cards, but I usually do packs one-at-a-time for two reasons: 1. I don't have a lot of money for packs, so I only really get pack opening fun at Prerelease. Savoring it is nice. 2. I find individual pack contents and collation interesting, so I like to see what was in each pack by itself.

[@tomcarmen7169]

Dear Gavin, Please reprint- Mayel the Anima - in a fancy art. Much appreciated

[@ethanglaeser9239]

How did you manage to open two planeswalkers in a set that only has two possible, and then almost no two-drops in a set that has like a million really good two-drops? What an odd sealed pool...

[@Badassest]

I'm only using cards that have cows or hats!

[@someguy4661]

Gavin there seems to be a mistake. That kit was supposed to be mine 😂

[@Tythas1]

I still can't move past the fact that foils bend so much in 2024 and that it's not addressed

[@sanctred]

I like beaver

[@homebrewed]

Gavin I love you but you are a monster for going through one color at a time in the big pile like that...XD 💚

[@williamsimkulet7832]

16:30 Bouncelands ARE great... which is why the surveil text on this card is so bizarre; you obsolete Guildless Commons for an effect that won't come up in most cases. :( Frankly, I'd like to see you print more bouncelands (2x a given color, or 1 color and one colorless are both viable options) and to print them at (C). Ravnica was one of the best draft sets ever, and one of the most popular, which current design's unwillingness to... you know... use it as a template so bizarre.

[@patrickeisert6873]

I’d play the two jaces me able plot anything later

[@heirofheart766]

oh so yore allowed to play the promocard?

[@grantmurdock7385]

Every time I swear there's a short essay on what you can and cannot play

[@timtrain35]

And here’s the problem with play boosters. If a card designer and MTG genius like Gavin struggles this much to build a deck, what chance do us plebes have?

[@clarkjrogers]

Your promo card is already a Pringle.

[@StegRex9419]

Just search your pile for 23 playables. Greatest pre release advice ever. Along with open all at once. Very time efficient

[@finnianschaffer1971]

Did bro chop off his thumb?

[@ccrraazzyyman]

Watching you struggle with color identity during the initial sort is amusing. Is that not considered a problem with designing cards if their important features are not immediately discernable?

[@MsNosis]

not a fan of some cards not being allowed in standard in this standard legal booster pack. I'd rather have all cards be from the latest, legal set, than included wasted space in old cards I cannot play with... :/

[@andrewhighley1468]

How the fuck does this guy pull 2 Jace reawakened

[@bob112b]

lol even gavin things the "prosperity" showcase cards are white cards

[@guitarpunk200]

... My local game store doesn't really clean up the trash from when we open packs! The trash just sort of sits there for really long time.

[@snackplaylove]

Stuff it in your back pockets - dump after build

[@K9affirmative]

I would pay good money for Gavin to submit to a controlled experiment to see once and for all how much slower his card sorting method is than the standard. I need him to know he is factually incorrect about this.

[@viejoverdez]

wr was more than good 3 bombs aceptable curve

[@jory6781]

Bro like what lol

[@Derpingmuffin]

Good video! Going to my first pre release tomorrow! But goodness, could you turn down the lip smacking? You do it a lot and it's not very pleasant >.< like listen to 23:20

[@billkinnunen2384]

Anyone else think that Wizards employees get better sealed boxed than the rest of us??

[@ab-mc2nq]

dang this sealed pool was ass

[@dickyong1173]

Why do people still buy boxes and products when they will be REPRINTED TO OBLIVION