The New Player’s Guide To Building a Sealed Constructed / Prerelease Magic: The Gathering Deck

Improve Your Magic: The Gathering Gameplay by learning all about Card Advantage here: • Tolarian Tutor: Card A...
Learn all about Building Better Limited Mana Bases in Draft and Sealed here: • Tolarian Tutor: Buildi...
Is it Worth It To Attend Prerelease: • MTG - Is Prerelease St...
What's it like at an MTG prerelease: • MTG - What's it like a...
Prepare For Prerelease: • MTG - Prepare For Prer...
Tolarian Community College is brought to you by Card Kingdom! You can support The Professor just by checking out their store through this link: www.cardkingdom.com/TCC
There are many different ways to play Magic: The Gathering. Sealed Constructed is the way used by prerelease events, some competitive tournaments, and a lot of casual play. If you want to go down to your local store and play in a prerelease, the format you will be playing is Sealed Constructed.
So what is Sealed?
In Sealed Constructed, players open 6 sealed booster packs of Magic: The Gathering and build a deck from those cards, that is, the six booster packs provide you with a pool of cards to choose from, and you will ultimately make a 40 card minimum deck from the options you have available after opening your booster packs.
Since sealed constructed is the format of Magic prerelease, and also a great way to have casual games with friends, it is a good format for new players to learn and understand how best to build a deck for.
Sometimes even experienced players may need help in the basics of sealed deck construction. This video will guide you through the process of building a sealed constructed deck for prerelease, launch, and other sealed events.
This video is intended for beginners, if you are looking for more intermediate lessons, my own Tolarian Tutor series covers everything from Building Better Limited Mana Bases to Mana Curve and Card Advantage, and I will link both resources in this video’s description.
Music Courtesy Of:
"Vintage Education" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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"Airport Lounge" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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"Deliberate Thought" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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[@jacfac9969]

Sorry all I heard was take every shock and gate and force 5 colors. Have a fun time beating me at the prerelease this weekend

[@bobmcmahan9931]

Lmao

[@jamesgilbreath7763]

"No Class Before 10 AM" - My personal policy that gets thwarted every semester

[@Jaqen-HGhar]

if only I had listened I wouldn't have gotten dropped from my English class 2 weeks into the semester lol

[@jamescampbell1242]

James Gilbreath I remember when waking up for 8 AM class seemed like an impossible feat

[@t1748ya]

At least that's over now

[@thomaskawel]

Prof, your videos are a great resource for the students in my high school MTG club. As the faculty advisor, I can’t thank you enough! We have an outing planned for GRN this weekend, and your work has helped a great deal to increase student confidence. Keep up the good work!

[@brettjacobson4600]

Awesome man. I'm a teacher as well, and I'd love to do something like that. But alas, I live/work in a smaller district in the midwest, mtg isn't huge out here lol. Over an hour drive to closest lgs.

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

Hey folks, just a heads up that a lot of the classic TCC merch is very close to being sold out (most of the classic t-shirt sizes are already gone) and I don't as of now know if a new line of merch will look similar or dramatically different. If you've ever wanted to pick up a TCC shirt, playmat, dice bag, pin, or other TCC swag, now would be the time to head over to www.tolariancommunitycollege.com/store

[@justinvanliew3802]

Hey Prof, Just wanted to let you know that I made this in honor of you: mtgcardsmith.com/view/professor-brians-shelves

[@everfree5569]

nice coffee pouring, just like before.

[@archerc3811]

Didn’t you already make a video exactly like this

[@captainstash8645]

Can't wait to go to the Guilds of Ravnica pre release at my LGS, amazon!

[@xsiverider1351]

Can't wait to go to my LGS Card Kingdom. Only an 8 hour flight from where I live!

[@NeuroticLobster]

Professor, thanks so much for making videos like this! I started playing Magic last weekend because KZbin recommended your videos to me for some reason, so I found a local game store hosting a Return to Ravnica draft event and I went and did it! Now I'm hooked and going to prerelease next weekend. Thanks a bunch.

[@Gandhiji87]

Good info for beginners. To be clear: There is no extra promo rare in guilds of Ravnica, the rare in your "seeded" booster pack IS your stamped rare. Like prof said, not all sets have that extra rare.

[@Jerry-zf3ip]

Well, at Open House events they gave out a special artwork Boros challenger. That's something?

[@Gandhiji87]

GamerBear Yes, at open house etc you get a promo card, but not necessarily a rare. But at prerelease, you want that random extra promo rare, for value AND you can play it at your prerelease. They have given an extra promo rare in kits for over 2 years now, but this is the first set in over 2 years that don't have an extra rare.

[@Gandhiji87]

GamerBear Yes it's not separate from the kit. But still, there usually are seven rares in a prerelease kit, thanks to the extra promo, but that will not be the case in Guilds of Ravnica.

[@dac314]

Shame. Amonkhet and Hour of Devastation were great in sealed cuz of the extra rares. Pulled a Torment of Hailfire with a stamp, bombed out some fools with it.

[@Gandhiji87]

dac314 You mean you got to win against a couple of honourable opponents 😀 Yeah, Ixalan block has them, Kaladesh block had them, Battle for Zendikar block had them too. So it's a bit sad that this block doesn't have an extra rare.

[@thehermitdruid]

Thanks for the lesson Prof!

[@dailyboobies1448]

you are welcome

[@tannerastle8988]

Thank you for this. I have been stressing about the prerelease event (my first ever magic event) all week and I feel much more confident now.

[@N1GHTH4WK986]

I need that mug. Also, I see that shade at Wizards announcement regarding Walmart, Target, and Amazon. And I 10000% agree with you.

[@pops91]

Friendly advice from someone that always ends up top 8, while bread is a good guide line I prefer to prioritize removal over bombs. Unless the bomb is overwhelmingly good removal would normally triumph. What I do is I choose 2 colors. One with most removal and a other with best aggro. Then if I have a really good bomb if possible I would splash for that color if feasible. All in all removal is KEY. Chose the color with most removal and you will get far.

[@saltefan5925]

Agreed. The colour with most removal, then the colour with the best creatures. Splashing for a great bomb is desirable, but you should stick to two colours whenever possible.

[@keep7smiling]

@@saltefan5925 Colors depend on how good your fixing is. Don't be afraid to play 3 or even 4 colors with amazing fixing (dunno if that will happen in sealed, though, i am more of a draft player and won drafts with 4c decks before). Also we can all agree on one thing: No matter the limited format, be it sealed or draft, removal is the single most important thing!

[@saltefan5925]

3c is viable, and so is 4 if you have amazing fixing, but I consider 2 to be a base, and the third as a splash for bombs and removal rather than a part of the deck core. We do indeed agree about the removal though.

[@keep7smiling]

@@saltefan5925 we also agree on the colors haha :)

[@zanerich9460]

I go for a similar tactic, m19 pre release I really just wanted to open banfire (I wanted Nicol and tez too, but I tried to be more reasonable) and just one game win with a game ending banefire. Did both then opened a foil banfire from one of the pre release packs you get through the night.

[@arabicforitsownsake9199]

Thanks man. I’m just getting back into Magic after around twenty years (I remember buying Ice Age booster packs as a kid…), and I want to go to a pre-release event without being a total drag on the other players.

[@AresGod0fWar]

Do it!! I’m going for the first time this week for War of the Spark. I’m pretty stoked actually. So glad I stopped in to my local store. It felt very nostalgic walking in there again. They even gave me a bunch of cards for free and welcome decks when I told them I was trying to get my cousin into it. Those guys are awesome! I started with Alara/Conflux and stopped playing when M10 came out.

[@Agent_OB]

@@AresGod0fWar how did it go ?

[@AresGod0fWar]

@@Agent_OB It was a good time! So many people registered that the event didn’t start until late. It was a long night. Had fun, and even talked my friend into attending with me. He also enjoyed himself. Also, met one of the guys I play games with online for the first time at one of those events. We did two headed giant and got our asses beat. Lmfao. I was going to start going to my local store on Fridays around that time, but then I got a midnight job at the time and couldn’t do it. So I played on Arena mostly. Loved the Kaldheim set, and haven’t really played since then.

[@slickest0flick723]

Going into my first ever pre release event tomorrow. This was super helpful!!!!

[@laboratorymaniac7324]

Good luck and have fun! It is worth noting that the promo situation will be a bit different than normal with this set's prerelease. You will get two promo cards instead of one, but only the one from the main set will be playable (this one will have a 2023 foil stamp in the corner of the artwork). The other promo will have the symbol for the commander supplemental product and can NOT be played in the event.

[@slickest0flick723]

@@laboratorymaniac7324 Ahh, thanks so much for letting me know!! May your future games be blessed

[@JM-nothing-more]

now that's a good coffee cup

[@nephsbirth]

Thank you professor! Your videos are always a great refresher! And spot on with supporting your local LGS! You keep that through all of your videos and its awesome!!

[@Teifling]

Nice zing at Amazon, GOT 'EM! I recall previous videos on the subject but I am never upset to have reminders and updated guides. Thank you Professor!

[@Slash_ld]

going to my fist pre release this friday, thanks for teaching what sealed looks like! - hey, 2024!

[@jerseyse410]

Awesome, I've been looking for this type of video as I will be playing sealed for the first time on Saturday at the pre-release event.

[@tillybillyboyboy]

This KZbin channel is so excellent! I love and appreciate all of this advice eventhough I'm just a casual player.

[@GamingBear_Q_E_D]

Thanks Prof, looking forward to this coming weekends events.

[@lilith1544]

As a player that is about to do his first pre-release, I must thank you! This is amazing!

[@ribbontoast]

Going to my first in person prerelease this weekend and am super glad for this resource!

[@Elltrixer]

Going to my first pre-release tonight , and I really appreciate this simple to follow advice and explanations.

[@cleftboywonder]

I've needed this for a very long time. Thank you very much

[@phastcast]

Awesome video professor! I just got new friend into magic and was hoping to take the to the prerelease this week, so this is the perfect tool to keep them from getting overwhelmed and allow them to have a fun time.

[@Gantzie]

Thanks for having these resources available! Attending my first pre-release tomorrow!!

[@andreaswerle4503]

Great video. I am playing since 18 years, still watched it until the end. Great job.

[@IzzGoobyTime]

Oh boy just in time! this is my first time attending a pre release!

[@cleftboywonder]

Im doing the midnight pre release!!! Good luck dude

[@Randolphlalonde]

Great video with fantastic info. I really liked the coffee bit, you should do more subtle fun stuff like that, I'd love to see it!

[@sullysosavage365]

I haven't played seriously since Scars of Mirrodin and I'm going to my first draft tonight so these videos are super helpful! Love your channel Prof. 🤘💀🤘

[@wayfaringstranger5808]

Great message at the end, you are awesome!

[@brennanclement8582]

Excellent stuff, just sent this to my new players

[@pizzaman42]

I haven't played tabletop since the Rath Cycle and attending a local SNC Prerelease ... thank you very much for your unending knowledge and wisdom, and will prove useful today!

[@nicowindows4589]

Preparing for my first pre-release tomorrow! LOTR 2023 Argentina

[@deantakelly6653]

Just went to my first prerelease for Theros Beyond Death and this video helped a lot! (I didn't get to actually participate in the tournament due to getting stuck in traffic and arriving about 20 minutes late, but the games I played with people who were between rounds were fun and I learned quite a bit from them and from making my deck)

[@ryanbowen4526]

just did my first prerelease after 20 years of playing, thanks for the tips! it was a BLAST

[@thepeterwan]

Your videos always have very good advice to casual and new players i really appreciate that, also i think that your finals words in the video about spend money in local store is the best advice. Thanks for the video!!

[@EZxSPRAY]

Started playing commander back in Feb of this year (2020) going to my first prerelease for core 2021 next weekend! So stoked

[@GoDirectly2Jail]

Perfect timing for the upcoming pre release this weekend :) cant wait!

[@angelojohnson9441]

This is a great video, as I had recently commented on the tournament pack video about how this was the closest you could get AND was just going over the skeletal structure with a newer player. Outside of that I’m not sure which has me more intrigued: the “You” card you have framed or your cereal bowl-sized coffee mug.

[@user-io1mj9ex8l]

Great Video as always Prof. Keep up the good work :)

[@raydelmartinez2905]

Great video professor. I am planning to join my first pre release on the next set.

[@reccaman]

funny how i was going look for a video like this, and it was uploaded a video ago, thank you so much.

[@sdimerc5571]

Thanks a lot for this concise summary. Have only recently started with Magic and sadly little time to play (why didn't I play this when I was a student?? 😉). Will join my first sealed event today at a Ravica Pre-Release at my local store - so your guide is very welcome indeed!

[@gregbrutsche2]

I’m doing this soon, thanks for the video!

[@charleyboy291]

Thanks for this video. Ive been playing mtg for 10 years and more, but ive always sucked a big one in limited. This video really helped for the basics.

[@JC-hp4od]

Just right when you need it, great video professor keep on the good work

[@Zingystardust01]

@11:20 I love the low-key shade he threw at WOTC for their recent decision one of the many reasons why the Prof is the best MTG content creator Keep it up!

[@emilio9129]

Your video honestly helped me a lot. Thank you. I'm subscribing.

[@whitestreamz]

Yes you absolute legend. I was needing this I'm about to go to a pre-release. Btw that's a massive mug. Should have one full of magic fun

[@govindadass3080]

Wanted to comment on something that helps me out when going to pre-release. I bring basic lands about 17 of each color already pre sleeved. This allows me to maximize my 45 minute time to build a deck. It helps out:) a lot especially new players such as myself. Love your content

[@davidschlichting5203]

I'm going to my local store for the first time to play today. Prerelease M20 and I'm pretty hyped up, so thanks for the vid it helped a lot.

[@davidschlichting5203]

I went 1-1-1 with a White/blue (heavy on White) flyers deck, lol. Yay.

[@samiam5308]

Everyone at mine did white blue flyers as well lol

[@davidschlichting5203]

One dude pulled two Sorins but no vampires at all lol. To me there was no huge choice in deck building. Could've even gone Mono White lol.

[@baconMB9000]

My parents were watching this and they started taking notes like this was actually community college, well done

[@0megamanX]

Thank you for the excellent video Prof! A few notes after attending the Guilds of Ravnica prerelease: (this is all anecdotal evidence of course, so take it as you will) -Very few cards stood out to me as bombs on their own. Most rares seemed like they needed support or synergy of some kind to "go off". Legion War Boss (the only rare in my deck) allowed me to steamroll a round, but only because I got it out turn 3 and my opponent had a severe lack of blockers. I observed fair success in choosing a pool of solid commons and uncommons that worked well off each other, rather than choosing bombs and going from there. -17 to 18 lands always seemed like a bit much to me. I have noticed I have done best at sealed events with 15 to 16 lands. If you are running more than two colors however (which I don't have the nerve to do in sealed) then you will obviously want more. -Izzet rules. Get jumpstarted.

[@saraaaaaaahhhh4214]

Going to my very first event for War of the Spark pre-release and this is so helpful! I think it might be nuts with all the planeswalkers...

[@pyrokazama]

Pre-release is simply amazing, sealed events in general are fun as it gets.

[@HTYM]

Here here!

[@lazuardibarkah7114]

Great video. I'll try to apply it in the next pre-release, assuming my LGS will still exist.

[@Small_Panda]

I can see your doctors said have only one cup of coffee a day didn't they.

[@phoenix0282]

And the doctor not specified the size of the cup

[@HTYM]

If there's ever a coffee bean shortage in the world, I'll know exactly who to blame. Thanks for the video. This is my favorite way to play MTG (besides Commander).

[@SomeScruffian]

Came back among many others who are getting ready for Zendikar Rising prerelease. 1:02 that coffee pour was pretty impressive btw.

[@yorcksegatz]

Thank you for your thorough advice in each of your videos! My GF and me will head off to our very first pre-release event at our local game store today. We feel well prepared ;)

[@danacoleman4007]

How did it go?

[@itzpharaoh2325]

These are fun to watch I don’t care that I’ve been playing sealed for almost 3 years, I just watch this for the prof

[@SticksAandstonesBozo]

This was a wild time for the professors hair … 🎉

[@adampilarski7083]

I’d never heard of BREAD before! That’s a great acronym for new players! I’ll have to use it when teaching friends from now on.

[@adampilarski7083]

And mind you, I’ve been playing for ten years 😂

[@zanerich9460]

I find it funny what people think it stands for sometimes. To me it's bombs, removal, evasion, abilities, dirt Some people have abilities as attackers, and dirt as dust

[@adamsouter7887]

Thank you professor I have learnt a lot from videos

[@quintencrook6068]

That coffee pour call back though....12/10 Prof.

[@davidorians9178]

I'm super excited to see what you have to say about the guild kits! I think they look really cool and wouldn't mind picking one up, but I definitely want to hear your opinion first.

[@camodude51]

Please do more vids like this. I like them more than product reviews or box openings

[@felipejensen2727]

Awesome guide!

[@FantusyFailure]

This is exactly the video I was hoping to find. Last time I went to a prerelease was the original Eldrazi!

[@seasikberry7120]

The festival I was going to this weekend got cancelled so I guess it's time to spend all that hotel money on magic (at my local game store of course)

[@plaguedoctor917]

Bless you for this video, prof!

[@NileSings]

This will help me in Arena this weekend!

[@jakea4267]

Thanks Prof!

[@karymthekoolguy]

Those coffee pouring skills!

[@TheArcSet]

Thanks for the video, I din't realise this pre-release wasn't going to be a draft.

[@IRSmeger]

nice video would like to see you build a sealed deck for the new set before pre-release (on draftsim.com or another site) while talking through your process

[@babitow]

I think the final advise about not building a secondary deck is just for beginners. Sometimes your deck will be very good but weak against flyers i.e., so you can have a second version of your deck prepared to adress this weakness. Sometimes it's the difference between top 8 and top 4. This is especially true if you didn't open bombs

[@richmoser1621]

I love the coffee cup!

[@toomanyowlz]

I may not be new, but this video was great!👏

[@Gadlight]

Nice video prof. Though i got an anxiety wave when you poured coffee at that cup without watching, thank god you didnt burn yourself.

[@juliansoria7733]

This should come in handy

[@luiscanifru]

Great video!

[@jsum33]

I love you Prof. Please do more content with the dorks from The Command Zone.

[@beefdon]

Appreciate It!!!

[@dunknslownut964]

I would love to see you review the Guilds of ravnica planeswalker decks when thety come out

[@zoemartin1761]

def need this video, i SUCK at prerelease building

[@nickolaslillogodoy3496]

Man, that coffee trick again! Nice!

[@MrFForger]

Can we get a closer look at that card next to the coffee machine?

[@grandadmiralthrawn8206]

Nice coffee mug!

[@danieljanda3612]

Please make a lesson about creating Standard decks, and mainly ideas for standard decks. Fyi You're videos are the best!

[@KhanGarth]

another thing worth mentioning: sealed and draft formats are not restricted to the normal 4-of that constructed is. you are allowed to run as many copies of the same card as you open, if you choose.

[@JustAnotherPest]

Important distinction for Ravnica sets: in regards to multicolor cards, make a different pile for each color combination. There's only five guilds, so that's a five extra piles. Bit harder to do in ten-guild sets.

[@ProtomanBlues87]

I remember using "BREAK" instead of "BREAD" just making the "K" for "krap." Bread just makes so much more sense, also because new players got confused and kept saying "BRAKE" mislabeling evasion as the worst.

[@SkyNet4272]

Wish they did more sealed events where I live :(

[@AtticusWard]

I hope this helps with the pre-release tomorrow, sealed and draft are not my strong suites!

[@druidobianco9734]

I like that tie

[@willlozinak5182]

Uploaded as I searched the subreddit for this very topic......

[@pdc-1365]

Will be useful this weekend. By the way, prof, one English major to another, where did you get your “No Class Before 10AM” mug? I have a mighty need ...

[@dragonsrv]

Thank you, Professor! My boys love this vid. Very helpful