Hello fellow Dreamers,

It’s been a long time! I hope you all are still enjoying and exploring the depth and innovation brought to the Dreamscape by Night Fusion! Sam Black (and to a lesser extent, myself) have offered you some ideas about Constructed play, but there hasn't been a whole lot said about Night Fusion Sealed.

By the way, if you're just discovering Dreamblade, Sealed is a very fun way to start playing since you don't have to worry about acquiring all sorts of rares, and the game is much more controlled and slower paced. I hope that this article will serve you as a sort of reference sheet when you're trying to evaluate the pieces.

Most of the general rules and strategy you have applied to Sealed and Draft play in the past can be applied to Night Fusion. You should be still be trying to get a good curve, enough total power and enough blade abilities in your warband. One thing in particular to note is that there really aren't many movement blades (lure, skirmish, scare, etc.) in this set. All of the aspects are playable… However, I believe that Passion got the best of it, followed by Valor, then Fear, and Madness last.

I really recommend reading and reviewing your more general sealed and draft strategy in addition to reading this, because what I am going to do here is specific piece evaluation. Some of it will be obvious to many of you, but I thought I might just quickly go through the whole set especially for newer players. However, some pieces are in bold because I wanted to call particular attention to them, as I think they aren't as obviously good or bad as you might think at first.

The evaluations below can be applied to 3-pack or 2-pack sealed, or draft. I will rate pieces either as B, 1, 2, or 3. B stands for Bomb, but not the kind of Bomb you give an awful movie, the exact opposite. A bomb should almost always be picked first if you open it, no matter what. If it's a bomb with heavy aspect that will be problematic, or if there is a SERIOUSLY problematic hole in your spawn curve, then you might pass it up, but these occasions should be rare. A 1 is very good, a 2 is fine, and a 3 should almost never be played if it can be helped. Most pieces will have a rating of either 1 or 2, meaning they are definitely playable. Designating 1 versus 2 might give you some idea which piece is better when it comes down to a draft or cutting decision. Also, remember that a lower rated piece might be more likely to make the cut in order to fill out your curve or to provide something your warband is otherwise lacking, as opposed to being included solely due to objective merit. If I gave something a “plus” it means it's almost at the next level of playability (a “2+” is almost a “1”).

Perhaps the most important thing to remember about this set is that there are incredibly powerful abilities that require you to have other miniatures (usually of a different aspect) present to activate. There are a lot of pieces with average stats that don't do a whole lot in particular, but become much more valuable when they work towards turning on these abilities. You should always layer this fact over the ratings I give here and your own evaluation of pieces when making draft or cut decisions.

That being said, the abilities like “pack” and “insane warpstrike” that require a LOT of one type of guy are generally bad, as it's never correct to be drafting weaker pieces just to add slightly to these “cumulative” abilities; you will be playing at least three aspects almost guaranteed.

I did rank the aspects above, but again, they all have a fair amount to offer and it's really going to depend on what pieces get opened up so you shouldn't worry about this too much. Also, you'll note while reading that Madness has a few pieces that get stronger or weaker in two-pack sealed format because of the refresh rule.

Ok, let’s dive on in!

(If you want to see how I got the order for this list, go to the Dreamcatcher and filter for Night Fusion only, and sort by aspect cost. This will make it easy for you to see the pieces as you read the evaluations).

FEAR:
Fear, like the Passion in the set, has a lot of single aspect pieces, which is nice.

Acolyte of Pain: 1. Almost always solid. There aren't a whole ton of three drops, and you want to try and get two three drops in your warband. The three drop in each aspect should be drafted highly.

Deathhead: 2. His stats are fine, his ability is close to negligible.

Demon Capo: B. Great stats and a great stat line; a high drop that brings a lot of dice but doesn't die easily is fantastic. Throw in a great blade ability and this guy should often be picked first, and is reason enough to lean towards a few Passion pieces.

GraveSpiker: 3. This piece should never make it into your warband. It should be impossible to have enough fear pieces to make him playable.

Infernal Shrieker: 2 It's acceptable (and probably sometimes necessary) to play him to smooth out your curve, but keep in mind that his stat line is below average.

Lady of the Flies: 1+ Her ability is very powerful. This format is about board advantage, not turn advantage. Chucking one of their guys back towards your spawn row, while bringing one of your freshly spawned or recently disrupted guys back into the fray can be all you need to take control of the center of the board (not that this is the only way to make use of her blade). A powerful enough ability to make you lean towards madness, especially since her 9 life means its fairly tough to get her off the board.

Scareclaw Skeleton: 2+ Solid, but not fantastic. Pretty weak stats. Nice if your warband needs more blade abilities though, and you can completely remove an engaged enemy from combat this turn with this ability.

Silhoutte of Death: 2 Unfortunately, shadow isn't that useful. Pack is ok, but remember your warband is probably at least split into three aspects.

Dead Of Night: 1. It’s hard to rate this piece, so I gave it it’s highest possible rating. Let me elaborate: I value locations a lot more then most players do; you could have seen me playing the likes of Citadel of Torture at Gen Con. Is Dead of Night a fantastic piece, or a lot of value for your spawn? Probably not. But including it in your warband gives you options. On a given turn what you may need to do is to ramp up the damage somewhere, not spawn a guy in your back row. For that reason I’m urging you not to under-value this piece. However, if you already plan on including another piece or two with a similar function (like a miniature with reinforce) this piece’s value decreases drastically.

Egg Spewer: 1. I do like low drops with a single aspect, but being able to produce a scare reasonably often on a four drop with average stats is soooo good

Bladecape Vampire: 3. I know pack can do a lot of damage, but this guy has a lot of awful stats to make up for even if you hit a blade with him.

The Sweeper: 3 This aspect is going to be very intense for limited formats. You also won’t have as many expendable allies to chuck to his ability as you might in constructed. Stats are awful. I hate to say it, but stay away.

Hiveling Royal Guard: 3+. Maybe one of the more playable 3’s, but this guy is only situationally even passable. You can almost never even think about running him out until well into the mid-game.

Skull Punk: 1. Two drop. Three power. Turns on aspect.

PASSION
Passion has a lot of guys with about four power and overall unexciting stats who don’t bring much else to the table. Other then that, you have a handful of bombs.

Bewitching Assassin: 2+. Her abilities are great; lure is very good in limited. But she’s just a very vulnerable package for seven spawn. Also...Got bodyguards?

Blood Golem: 3+. Certainly not unplayable, but this guy’s ability just isn’t enough. He doesn’t bring quiet enough pain with his attack dice. Remember Dr. Agony and Bloodhound? This guy wants to be, but isn’t, those guys.

Bristleback Basher: 1+. Great stats. This guy takes out a lot single-handedly. The ability is icing on the cake.

Mad Monkey Monk: 1. Important, aspect enabling, curve smoothing 3-drop.

Nightfire Giant: B. Can you say…murderer?

Red Reaver: 2. The problem is that there are almost no creatures in the entire set with 5 or less life. Use him for the four dice I suppose.

Reluctant Beast: 3. It’s asking for a lot to assume the spawn adds up such that you can spawn a valor ally during a turn in which you need to increase this guy’s power. It’s not worth the effort of modifying what you spawn to try and make this guy’s stats acceptable.

Teethmauler: 2+. Of all of the Passion guys who don’t seem to do much except bring some dice to the table along with mediocre stats, this is one of the good ones. Six dice is a reason to play something.

Deathwish Dragon: 1. This guy has incredible stats for eight spawn points. His ability is probably a drawback all things considered. Be very careful with him! This piece will reward good players who are careful to avoid his self-destruction, but will punish harshly those that aren't careful not to lose him.

Dragonship Golem: B. Dear GOD. Could you ask for a better blade outlet? With this guy in combat you’ll get the double blades reasonably often. Really stop and think about how much your gaining out of two blades. Protect this guy though, he's small for an eleven drop.

Fury Hunter: 2. Again, another generic passion guy with a minor ability.

Soul Mine: 3. I really don’t think it ever deserves a spot.

Kendra Vale: B. You need to realize that Bloodport and trample are insane. Kendra is a reason to go into passion. If you have at least two other passion guys (or you think you can get two) you feel ok about playing I would almost always pick her.

MADNESS
I would try to stay out of madness if you can. The disparity between Passion and Madness in this set is huge. That being said, there is some good stuff here.

Bubble Sludge: 2. I like how this guys sticks around. He’s better then the Smeech, and that guy was slightly closer to playable then a lot of people gave him credit for.

Crypt Koi: 2+. That plus sign is assuming you have fear guys to be bringing back.

Escape Artist: 1. The best of the common three drops.

Faceless Desperado: 3. Sorry, the stats are abysmal.

Tragicomic Gunslinger: 3. You won't have enough madness pieces in your warband.

Death Chanter: 1. good stat line; you're definitely netting some spawn advantage at some point in the game. Significantly worse in 2-pack format I imagine.

Master Puppet: 2+. The stats aren't great but the ability is quite good. Significantly worse in 2-pack format I imagine.

Triskelion: 3. The problem is that if even one purge goes off you are losing your best piece, which is a lot worse in limited then in constructed (where your pieces are close in value). He might be ok if there were some more multi-blade guys. The funny thing is, you still want to be careful with him, but this guy could be decent in 2 pack format, just make sure you don't spawn him too early. Wait until your reserves are emptier and the battles are big.

Chronosphere: 1. Rerolling the initiative is pretty darn good.

Gibbering Giant: 3. When you're at war in the Dreamscape, pacifists aren't really what you want to recruit onto your team.

Headhands: 2+. Think carefully about his ability; this guy is very hard to kill. He does great solo, where he can completely nullify an opponent's attack by hopping over to an empty cell, leaving them with no targets for damage.

Hog Fairy: 2. Unfortunately there isn't more multi-blade action. If you have powerful double blades she could be very decent for you, but otherwise, not too exciting.

Nevret Flamer: 1. What a great stat line. And a good ability too.

Torture Chamber: 3+. I know what I said earlier about locations, but 10 spawn is a bit much. I could see including this possibly if you had some real passion beaters in your warband, though. This must be very carefully evaluated; a warpstrike for 8 is a hell of a lot better then a warpstrike for 6.

Bliss: 3+. If the aspect really won't be an issue, then bump her up some, but blight is not so hot and her warpstrike is a lot better in constructed.

VALOR
Brings a lot of different stuff to the party in this set. One thing that's very important to note is that the high quality valor pieces in this set require more play skill to utilize fully then the high quality pieces in the other aspects.

Animated Standards: 1. A very high pick assuming you have some madness guys.

Armadillo Shieldbearer: 2. Bodyguard isn't nearly as exciting when it doesn't always work; This guy is a lot worse then Inspired samurai. Whereas the samurai has a very high life for his spawn cost, the armadillo doesn't really. That being said, it's pretty sweet if they can't deal any damage if they roll six or less damage on an attack, which will especially come in handy for deathblows. Be cautious, hold back, and set up formations that allow you to gain bodyguard. Otherwise, this piece is not worth the cost.

Bloodcut Martyr: 2. fine, nothing too exciting.

Knight of the Bronze Horn: 1+. You will be able to set up turns where you can crush with the initiative or retreat such that they can't gain enough from attacking. This sort of spawn phase movement gives you a big edge on your opponent. Actively pick up a solid teammate for him to move around.

Zungar Wayfinder: 2+. having the initiave is generally worse in limited then in constructed. That being said he is cheap and single aspect and you have decent control over his ability. Perfectly decent for filling out your curve.

Copper Bloodcat: 1. This thing is a murderer. Like the Deathwish Dragon, this much power just can't be ignored. For the love of god try not to take risks with him. You have a lot more at stake then if you were swinging with a redcap. Generally one big attack with a skirmish self will be enough to drastically change the gamestate.

Sun Titan: 1. He's big. Don't use his ability unless the math really adds up though. Remember that even if he knocks off two eight drops all you've done is break even in the final equation of spawn points...of course it depends on the situation most importantly. Try and save him and use him as an escape plan: when you were hoping to win the initiative but didn't, you can just blow everything up.

Runner with Scissors: 2. Perfectly fine but I think he's a tad overrated. Regenerate is awful. I swear.

One-man Army: 3.

Ancient Valkyrie: 3. If you don't have a totem lord or dualist, this thing is probably unplayable. Even with those pieces it isn't great, because you can't guarantee spawning them but you CAN guarantee this guy setting you back some spawn and board advantage for his awful stats. There just aren't enough VV guys in the format.

Angelstar Shrine: B. Easily, EASILY one of the best picks in the set. Trust me. If you need a big fatty bomb and there's a big fatty bomb in the pack, maybe, but...just trust me :)

Runetagged Initiate: 3+. God, that double aspect is pretty darned rough for a filler piece. It might help out your curve if you end up with him... Just keep in mind, Zunger Blademaster he ain't.

Totem Lord: 1. The reason why this guy isn't a bomb is that often your opponent will just be able to hit eleven damage if he's rolled high enough to trigger the shield strike, and then the totem lord bites it. If your opponent is careful about how many dice he moves into the cell he should be able to avoid being punished too severely a good portion of the time. Still, certainly a piece to watch out for, especially if you have pieces that specifically need a bodyguard.

Zungar Winddancer: 3+. Probably too fragile for this format. If you noticed you ended up with a bunch of three power guys for some strange reason, then he could randomly be playable. But don't try to build around him. In this format he'll just get trapped and killed.

Bloodcut Champion: 3. I don't like my eight drops dying that easily.

Dualist: B. Maybe this guy deserves a 1+ instead, but he is very, very good. Riposte is generally reducing the number of shifts you need to get back in the action from a disrupt from 3 to 2, which is a humongous difference. This guy is one of the most frustrating pieces to play against. Just make sure you have some attack power to throw in with him.

Stained-glass Angel: 2+. It really depends. If you have a bunch of valor she's better...try to make sure her aspect isn't a problem because hard spawning her isn't awful in a pinch.

Sir Wolven: 2. I really don't think he's as good as I wish he was. The aspect and his stats are horrific. If you are valor heavy I can see playing him, but don't try and draft around him or anything.

So, there you have it. I hope this article was helpful, maybe at least as a quick reference guide or for newer players. If you are a new player who doesn't understand why certain pieces got certain ratings, a good starting point is to start looking at all of the piece's stats for spawn total in comparison to each other.

I'm sure some people will wildly disagree with some of my assessment, and I would love to hear about it on the forums.