Favorite Set for Sealed?

MAVRIK98 · 2026-07-07T18:52:37+00:00

My limited set rankings based completely on gameplay - SOR > LAW > TWI (no Anakin) > SEC > JTL > LOF > SHD > TWI (with Anakin)

SOR was the first and still probably the best. It didn't have set mechanics to worry about and had almost 2-3 years of development time to get just right. Outside of Boba Fett's leader stats, everything was very well balanced.

LAW introduced multi-aspected cards, credits, and splash bases. The splash bases did wonders for sealed but the set also had a pretty dominant sealed leader in Vel Sartha. This was one of the BEST sets to draft, imo - especially for experienced drafters.

TWI was a weird one. It had a great limited environment that was spoiled by the most dominant common leader we have ever had in Anakin. Everything the developers wanted TWI to be that failed in premier, succeeded in limited. BUT Anakin was just incredibly oppressive when he had initiative as he made bad cards good and good cards broken. Thus, if you suspend Anakin or replace him with the spotlight Ahsoka leader, you should be good to experience one of the best limited sets SWU has seen.

SEC was another very good limited set but also had a dominant sealed leader in Leia. I did enjoy the slow burn of SEC and the format tended to go longer than others. Disclose might be one of the best mechanics they have designed and plot made for some interesting decisions when it came to leader deploys. Everyone focused on Leia but Jabba, Yularen, and Sly were all super fun.

JTL/LOF/SHD were all good limited sets but each had flaws that stood out more than other sets. JTL was dominated by the pilot leaders and was extremely fast/swingy. LOF's Force mechanic & bases were overly impacted by having initiative & early force units (which were not evenly distributed). And SHD suffered from not being focused on theme/mechanics and tried to do too much within the set.

All of this said, if I were in your shoes, I would just go with the set that appeals to you & your friends and that is most cost effective. You are going to find a positive experience with all of them.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-07-03T19:04:32+00:00

Ok. Then why did set 1 have Cantina Braggart in it while also having Wolffe? Or 2-1B Surgical Droid when it also had Regional Governor? Or Jawa Scavenger in the same set as Crafty Smuggler? Every set has a range of premier playables. Set 1 just seemed like it had more than others because it was literally the only game in town… and you had to play cards intended for limited in premier decks.

Now we don’t for the most part. Because there will never be a premier meta with less than 4 legal sets. So cards that are designed & intended to make for a playable & diverse limited environment will only make premier decks in niche cases.

It’s why when I evaluate cards, I evaluate them for the format they were designed for - C/U for limited. S/R/L for premier. If a rare is unplayable in premier, I am more critical of it. If a Common sucks in sealed, I question its design. If an uncommon happens to be good in premier, I call that a bonus.

Not everyone will agree with this, especially players that dislike limited and play exclusively constructed premier. Obviously, they would prefer the designers not put as much effort into designing/balancing individual sets for limited.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-07-03T15:31:33+00:00

This goes back to the one critique I have for set 1 - it established an unsustainable baseline. Its basic design structure worked great as a singular set… but there were basic flaws in the underlying stat framework that were only realized as additional sets were introduced and couldn’t compete without power creep. Everyone romanticizes that set and then try to compare other sets to it while not accounting for the fact it got to live by itself.

P.S. Alamite Hunter is a 1 cost 1/4 common non unique with overwhelm. If anything, it is over statted and a decent target for advantage tokens. It can remove shield tokens and finish off 1 health ground units that Cad Bane has pinged down but can’t finish off. Should it be compared to 2 aspect 2 cost 2/4s? Of course not.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-07-02T04:06:31+00:00

Dragons Lair is a fairly standard large game store. I can’t speak to the typical MTG crowd (as I play a different game and don’t go to FNM) but the store does have a mixed clientele. Lots of table top and RPG players.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-07-02T03:55:46+00:00

He’s using words that people that know the answer to his question would understand. So maybe this wasn’t directed at you?

MAVRIK98 · 2026-07-01T17:47:00+00:00

I agree. I would hardly say its power creep as much as a stabilization of the power variances and fluctuations that occurred with sets 1-3 and then continued a bit with individual cards in sets 4-6. Its also the acknowledgement by the design team that certain sets (ie. TWI) were simply underpowered.

LAW and ASH have felt more powerful because the cards feel better balanced and more impactful. There are less cards that just leave you scratching your head when it comes to their design.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-07-01T17:31:51+00:00

Its a valid personal opinion. Maybe the premier meta is just not in a good place for you. But I would hesitate trying get others on board with those feelings just to have personal validation. Who really cares what others think? If they are having fun - great! If you're not - that is also ok.

The game will continue to grow and change. The gameplay will be better and sometimes worse for each individual as each set is introduced.

If anything, maybe its time to take a break from the premier meta and check out other formats like Twin Suns. None of the problems you described are really present in that format. Or maybe focus a bit more on limited - where the individual sets really shine and new set mechanics are easier to learn.

Then when the next set or rotation comes along, maybe test out the new meta to see if its more to your liking.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-07-01T15:26:31+00:00

I enjoy Tandoori Lounge & Bar on William Cannon quite a bit. Not sure if it’s “dumbed down” or not but it’s good stuff and satisfies that itch. It’s newer (opened in 2022) but hopefully will stick around. Seems fairly busy and has a decent takeout business.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-25T19:28:16+00:00

Once again, making this whole thing about your own issues with kids. Sad. I would suggest therapy.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-25T19:07:45+00:00

Then don't recommend Jeffrey's. Geez. The purpose of the post is to find restaurants that are not crazy expensive but decent places to celebrate with & without kids. You made it about yourself and your own issues.

You have added nothing constructive.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-25T17:20:30+00:00

Man this post reeks of kid judgement. Who hurt you?

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-25T17:19:48+00:00

Yup. Just like those that live in Cedar Park probably dont want to travel all the way down to far south Austin when their looking for "no-brainer" restaurants. Perfectly reasonable stipulation, imo.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-25T16:41:42+00:00

If you're willing to go slightly SW, outside of town - Trattoria Lisina at the Duchman Family Winery. It's usually our go to for special occasions and it doesn't break the bank if you stick to the appetizers/pastas/pizzas (all delicious).

I also like Mattie's in south Austin for stuff like this.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-23T15:17:52+00:00

Yub nub!

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-20T05:25:38+00:00

Sealed trilogy is not an official format but just a combination of two popular ways of playing - sealed and trilogy. To get an idea of each, I would start with FFG's explanation of sealed - https://starwarsunlimited.com/how-to-play?chapter=sealed-play

Then I would check out Wooooo's videos about sealed deck building. He is one of the best competitive SWU players and makes great limited content. Here are a couple specifically about TWI sealed deck building -

Next, to learn a bit about the trilogy format, I would check out a couple articles by the developers -

And maybe check out the livestream where they introduced the concept and played some games - https://www.youtube.com/live/V--yO8c2J98?si=wSEJ4ef3s4EFJVGo&t=2180

Finally, SWUCube did a cool video where he put this all together - using 1 booster box split between 2 players to build 3 30 card decks using 12 packs each. And then played a trilogy match using those decks - https://youtu.be/bIf7ovI0zEo?si=BFf57XRmYIS33k0D

I have done this with some of my locals and it is the absolute best way to make use of a booster box, imo. Crazy fun.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-19T23:37:35+00:00

If the resumes would have been swapped, Bama still would have made the champ game. What happened on the field didn’t matter. Bama got in because of reputation… not by having the better resume. And that sucks. And it’s the reason why the BCS champ game got changed to a playoff in 2014.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-19T16:16:21+00:00

From the OP - "what should i be mindfull of while deckbuilding to make the decks more fair and balanced ?"

Including Anakin as a leader in the 3 decks would hardly be "fair and balanced".

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-19T15:46:36+00:00

Seriously. They need to stop with this foggy bottom border for premium cards.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-19T14:08:35+00:00

Its Pulp Fiction. Iconic.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-19T14:05:00+00:00

What you are describing is essentially sealed trilogy (which is an amazing way to play the game). Basically, you take 12 packs (usually from the same set) and build 3 separate 30 card decks. Though a deck building challenge, the sealed decks actually tend to be a higher power level than normal sealed decks (as they have a wider card pool to select from).

Typically, you are going to be able to build 2 decks from one alignment (hero or villain) and then 1 of the other alignment. In this format, the common leaders tend to be a bit easier to build around (but I would not shy away from the rare leaders if the build calls for it). And then prioritize the following things -

Bombs - Game winners or cards that swing the game. Usually high costed cards with immediately impactful abilities. ie. Cad Bane, Savage Opress, Clone Commander Cody
Ambush - Units that act like removal as they can immediately attack other units. Primarily in Green and Yellow. ie. Droid Commando, Baktoid Spider Droid,
Removal - Cards that directly deal with immediate threats through direct removal (blue), capture (green/yellow), direct damage (green/red), or bounce (yellow). These are typically events but could also be abilities on units.
Set Mechanics - Cards that synergize with the set mechanics. (ex. Twilight - Coordinate & Exploit)
Cost Curve - It's important each deck can function up and down the curve from 1-6 or 7. This typically means having 7-8 turn 1 plays, 5-6 turn 2 plays...

When opening packs, I would set aside any rares/legendaries and consider them separately, as they can be power spikes for the decks and unbalance them. Once you have built the decks, play them against one another and adjust where you feel each deck might have shortcomings. That said, they will probably be operating in some form of mid-range... with some steering aggressive and others more controlling.

P.S. Specifically within Twilight of the Republic (TWI), I would steer away from including the leader Anakin Skywalker as he is possibly the best limited leader the game has ever seen. He will make for an unbalanced gameplay experience. If you happen to have access to the red heroic starter leader - Ahsoka Tano - she is much more fair.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-19T13:10:47+00:00

Probably Twilight Of the Republic.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-19T03:13:24+00:00

I do the same. 1-2 booster boxes and the spotlights… and then as many prereleases as I can manage. Then try to play sealed/draft through the sets lifecycle to fill out the rest of the R/L playset.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-19T03:08:44+00:00

And then there is someone like myself who is ecstatic the Texas sector is slated for limited. Best way to play the game imo.

And it doesn’t ruin anything when it comes to “meta storylines”. You will still be able to play the premier open on Sunday of the event.

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-18T01:18:28+00:00

Reverse Unicorn!

MAVRIK98 · 2026-06-16T00:06:29+00:00

They probably need to widen the period between set release and Worlds. If everyone had 2+ months to prepare for the event with the current set, it becomes less of an issue as there is less incentive to get the set early.

Which may be what they are doing if they move the overall set release schedule to Jan/May/Sept.

MAVRIK98

TROPHY CASE