The Formats of Altered – Sealed Deck

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  • News

  • July 27th, 2024

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5 minutes

Sealed Deck is a format, where you open a set number of booster packs and constitute your card-pool with the cards you open. Choose among different factions and heroes the ones that allow you to build the most synergistic deck while also including your most powerful and versatile cards.

Sealed Deck is a fun and refreshing way to experience Altered and one of the best means to discover and start collecting a new set.

As a limited format, Sealed Deck doesn’t require you to build a deck beforehand.

Setting up an Altered Sealed Deck

  • Sealed Decks are played 1v1 but can welcome any number of players
  • Each player receives 7 Altered booster packs. Players must build decks using only the cards within those packs.
  • Sealed decks must be at least 30 cards following the deck building instructions below.
  • After deck construction, players face one-another in a series of swiss rounds.

Sealed Deck Construction Rules

Players build decks out of their pools of cards. Each player must construct a deck of at least 30 cards, which may include a Hero card.

Limited decks in Altered must adopt the following guidelines:

  • A deck must contain a minimum of 30 cards.
    • Token cards do not count towards the deck minimum. If you have token cards to go with your deck, they start outside of your deck.
  • You may play cards from up to three different factions.
  • A deck can include a Hero card. If so, it counts toward the 30 cards minimum.
    • Your Hero must be from one of the factions in your deck.
    • You may choose to not play a Hero card.
  • There are no restrictions on the number of cards with the same name that you can play in your deck.
  • There are no restrictions on the number or rare or unique cards you can play in your deck.

What are Mana Convergence cards?

Mana Convergence cards are cards that appear in the token slot of some booster packs. If you’re unable to play 30 cards in your deck (because you have less than 30 cards among the three factions you’ve chosen in your pool of drafted cards), you’ll need to fill out the rest of the slots with Mana Convergence tokens until you reach at least 30 cards in your deck. Like all token cards, they can be used from anywhere, not just those in the drafted booster.

Mana Convergence tokens act as any card in your deck, but:

  • They can not be played in any other zone than the mana zone by their owner.
    • They cannot be played in an Expedition, Reserve or Landmark area
  • They can be affected by card effects such as “Discard a card to do X” or “Your opponent discards a card” and are counted as a card for any other purpose like “I gain X boosts based on the number of cards in your discard pile”.

Sealed Deck Tournament Structure Recommendations

  • Structure: Best-of-one
  • Rounds: 4
  • Deck Construction Time: 30m
  • Round Time: 30m
  • Number of Players: Any number

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to play a Hero card in my deck?

You are not required to play a Hero card as a part of your deck in limited formats like Booster Draft, but it is often better to play one in one of the factions of your deck than not play one at all.

When should I scan my cards and add them to my digital collection?

During deck building, any time before you play against your first opponent, unless stated differently by the event organizer.

Can I change my deck between games?

Players may freely change their deck using their pool of opened cards between games while playing limited formats.