This weekend I participated in a very casual Innistrad Sealed Deck event with four of my friends. Opening my packs I discovered the following pool:
White
Selfless Cathar
Avacynian Priest
Elder Cathar
Village Bell-Ringer
Chapel Geist
Fiend Hunter
Abbey Griffin
Thraben Militia
Gallows Warden
Moment of Heroism
Paraselene
Rally the Peasants
2x Rebuke
Blue
Stitcher's Apprentice
Fortress Crab
Battleground Geist
Dream Twist
Memory's Journey
Think Twice
Curse of the Bloody Tome
Forbidden Alchemy
Claustrophobia
Lost in the Mist
Black
2x Typhoid Rats
Screeching Bat
Village Cannibals
Abattoir Ghoul
Bloodline Keeper
Stromkirk Patrol
Ghoulcaller's Chant
2x Gruesome Deformity
Altar's Reap
Skeletal Grimace
2x Night Terrors
Sever the Bloodline
Maw of the Mire
Curse of Death's Hold
Red
2x Night Revelers
Village Ironsmith
Feral Ridgewolf
Rakish Heir
Pitchburn Devils
Scourge of Geier Reach
Rage Thrower
2x Harvest Pyre
2x Nightbird's Clutches
Curse of the Pierced Heart
Burning Vengeance
Traitorous Blood
Blasphemous Act
Green
Ambush Viper
Boneyard Wurm
Villagers of Estwald
2x Orchard Priest
Woodland Sleuth
2x Festerhide Boar
Grizzled Outcasts
Somberwald Spider
Wreath of Geists
Moonmist
Travel Preparations
2x Spidery Grasp
Bramblecrush
Artifact
Evil Twin
One-Eyed Scarecrow
Creepy Doll
Ghoulcaller's Bell
2x Silver-Inlaid Dagger
Wooden Stake
Cellar Door
Grimoire of the Dead
Lands
Ghost Quarter
Isolated Chapel
And what I built:
Creatures
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1x Avacynian Priest
1x Selfless Cathar
1x Elder Cathar
1x Village Bell-Ringer
1x Chapel Geist
1x Fiend Hunter
1x Gallow's Warden
1x Thraben Militia
1x Abbey Griffen
2x Typhoid Rats
1x Screeching Bat
1x Village Cannibals
1x Abattoir Ghoul
1x Bloodline Keeper
1x Stromkirk Patrol
Artifacts
2x Silver-Inlaid Dagger
2x Rebuke
1x Sever the Bloodline
1x Grimoire of the Dead
1x Curse of Death's Hold
Lands
8x Plains
8x Swamp
1x Isolated Chapel
My deck performed fine, going 3-1 against my friends, losing 1-2 against an aggressive Werewolf deck when I experienced major land flood in one game, and got blown out by the unexpected appearance of Cobbled Wings in another, which were attached to a 7/7 Werewolf to kill me in two painful swings. Apart from that I only lost one other game all day, to a rival Bloodline Keeper (that card is just stupid in Sealed).
Could I have done anything better with my pool? I felt that Black was an obvious conclusion, with three excellent rares to play with. The blue cards were nearly nonexistent (though I did consider splashing for Forbidden Alchemy and Evil Twin), and Green seemed fine but very boring. In the end I thought white provided the best contributions to my curve, especially given that a lot of Humans should work well with my Village Cannibals and especially a pair of Silver-Inlaid Daggers!
One choice that created much discussion on the day was my decision not to maindeck Creepy Doll. I sided it in (generally for Grimoire of the Dead) in pretty much every match, but that's partially because every one of my opponents was playing green and I wanted an answer to big ground-pounders. My friend Dom Camus (of minor mtgsalvation.com celebrity) suggested that it should go into basically any deck, but I personally am very reluctant to play a 5 mana 1/1, even one as robust as the doll, in a format that I think is quicker and more aggressive than people are currently giving it credit for. Was I badly wrong?