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The release of Outsiders brought a needed rejuvenation of limited play to Flesh and Blood. Experienced TCG players will be familiar with the basic aspects of Sealed play, but Flesh and Blood offers several unique elements you’ll need to be familiar with to succeed.

Sealed Format

Limited play experiences remain some of the most popular in the TCG space. I know plenty of players who only come out to play their game of choice when a new set releases, so they can experience the joys of cracking packs and building a deck in a more equitable format.

Here’s what to expect at a Sealed event near you.

First, you’ll receive six unopened booster packs. The tournament organizer will have all the players open their packs at a designated time. At this point, you’ll have a five-minute period to “open and observe” your cards. 

Note: Any needed token-rarity cards can be provided to you by the tournament organizers.

If you're at a higher-tier organized play event, you may be required to register your card pool — this is a simple enough process. You’ll swap card pools with the player on the opposite side of the table from you. Each player then records every card in their received collection. Registering your card pool also require players to decide which available hero they’ll play for the entirety of the event.

Deck Construction

In Sealed, the minimum required deck size is 30 cards (this does not include your young hero or equipment) — there is no maximum deck size.

As you sift through your six packs, sort them into piles based on each card’s class affiliation. For Outsiders, that means you’ll have the following piles:

• Assassin
• Ninja
• Ranger
• Assassin/Ninja
• Assassin/Ranger
• Generic

Most of the time, you’ll want to go with the class you have the most cards for. Outsiders is unique in Flesh and Blood in that there are two heroes from each class to choose from. Before making your hero selection, you’ll want to examine the pitch value spread of your pool.

For example, suppose you have more Ranger cards than any other class, but almost all your arrow attack action cards are blue. In that case, you may want to consider non-Ranger heroes — blue-pitch arrows have lower attack values than their red counterparts, so you may not be able to present enough damage over the course of the game to win.

Generic Card Pool

There are some fantastic generic cards to choose from in this set, like Humble, Wreck Havoc, Cut Down to Size, Ravenous Rabble, and Seek Horizon.

Some of the attacks offer devastating hit effects. Each of these attacks forces the opponent to block or face some nasty consequences. Cut Down to Size, in particular, is a must-block attack. However the opponent chooses to deal with it, they will be without at least one card for their offensive retaliation.

While other attacks offer opportunities to stretch out the combat chain and keep the opponent on their heels, the red-pitch versions of Ravenous Rabble and Seek Horizon are two consistent ways for any hero to have go again when attacking while pushing the break-point attack value of four.

How to Select an Outsiders Hero in Sealed

As I mentioned above, Outsiders features six young heroes for Limited play. Once you’ve established which class you’ll have the best chance of putting together 30 or more cards with, you’ll be faced with one more choice.

Let your card pool guide you. If you pull a piece of Legendary equipment or a high-powered card like red Death Touch, your six packs may just take one decision off your hands.

Assassin

Selecting between Uzuri or Arakni, Solitary Confinement comes down to the number and pitch value of your Assassin cards with the keyword Stealth.

Arakni prefers more red-pitch Stealth attacks since the first Stealth attack they play each turn gains go again — allowing you to attack an additional time. You’ll want plenty of blues for this hero, too, in order to reliably attack with your daggers throughout each game.

Uzuri doesn’t care as much what pitch value her Stealth attacks hold. Blue is best since when she activates her ability, the Stealth card goes to the bottom of your deck — leaving you with plenty of resources in the second cycle of your deck.

Note: Since each dual-class category includes the Assassin class, it is more likely that you’ll receive a high amount of Assassin cards in your Sealed pool.

Ninja

With the Ninja class, you’ll automatically gain what could be the greatest Limited-format weapon in Flesh and Blood — the Harmonized Kodachi.

Choosing between Katsu and Benji can be as simple as examining your attack action cards again. Benji prefers attacks with a base value of one or two. Keep in mind Benji’s synchronization with low-value attacks makes several blue and yellow attack actions much more valuable.

If you have a large generic pool and plenty of zero-cost cards, you may consider Katsu. The zero-cost cards will let you swing with two Harmonized Kodachis and at least one attack nearly every turn.

Ranger

Azalea may have just become the darling of the Outsiders era of Flesh and Blood. She has a powerful ability for Limited play with a chance to give an arrow Dominate. Since players start with 20 or fewer health points, pushing unblockable damage at key points in a match could be a deciding factor.

On the other hand, Riptide brings a unique ability of his own. He can place a card into the arsenal zone (assuming it’s empty) whenever he plays a card from his hand. With the card being placed into the arsenal face down, he can follow up this play by adding an aim counter to an arrow with Barbed Castaway.

Sealed Gameplay

Early Outsiders Sealed events worldwide have shown that including more than 30 cards in your deck is an effective strategy. Doing so increases your chances of not falling to fatigue — a common phrase in the community when a player runs out of cards in their deck. While not an auto-loss, running out of or low on cards means you can’t block, attack, or pay for your weapons.

Your deck’s strategy will mainly depend on your card pool. Take note of your most powerful red attacks. These attacks may represent your most consistent win conditions. You’ll want to avoid blocking with these attacks, and you may want to pitch them as resources if you see them in the first few hands. 

Additional Resources

If you’re hungry for more Flesh and Blood Limited content, check out some of the resources below.

• Arsenal Pass’s Limited Time Only playlist
• DM Armada’s Sealed Starter Guide
• Simulated Sealed Gameplay as Benji
• Simulated Sealed Gameplay as Arakni

If you’re still new to the game and want to learn, there may be no better way than the Learn to Play mode on felttable.com