Hello everyone! I just reached S rank this season, and I wanted to share with you all the deck that I used for the majority of my climb; Catalyst Ragnora. This deck is a version of the Bloodrage/Twin Fang list that I normally use to hit S rank season, with the name changed to be a bit less of a mouthful.
Decklist
About the Deck
This deck is centered around a combination of 3 main combos:
- Catalyst Quillbeast + Bloodrage
- Krater + Twin Fang
- Ripper Egg/Propagate Rage + Wild Inceptor/Egg Morph + Greater Fortitude
These combos have a surprising amount of overlap; Bloodrage can work well on Ripper Eggs due to Celerity, and having a Twin Fang up can make it easier for your general to aggressively place Ripper Eggs. Rippers also have the potential to get off 2 procs for twin fang, and 4 procs for Blood Rage. Krater and Catalyst Quillbeast can also be interchangeable in most cases, with Krater having the advantage of dealing damage to both generals whereas Quillbeast can A.) have multiple procs and B.) allow Bloodrage to be used on 1 health minions.
Since this is a combo deck, I am running x3 Spelljammer to help the deck thin out and to obtain combo pieces faster. Kujata and Cryptographer are both good combo supporters, and Flash allows us to get our combos going faster and stronger. Kron also is a huge help in the deck; not only does provoke help pin down enemies for twin fang, but the tokens can be immensely helpful when used in conjunction with Twin Fang or Blood Rage (particularly when you are able to get Bloodrage on a Range, Flying, or Rush token).
Strength in the Meta
In total, I played 58 games with this deck on my climb; 18 in Gold, and 40 in Diamond. In Gold, I won 13 games and lost 5. In Diamond, I won 30 games, lost 9 games, and had 1 draw.
The deck has some of its strongest matchups against Swarm lists, Xor’Xull decks and Fault decks, as the deck runs multiple forms of AoE through Krater, Quillbeast, and Makantor. Furthermore, the multiple bodies strengthen our Bloodrage, allowing us to use the opponent’s minions against them (especially if they have Sarlacs and Gors on the field). Against Mythron decks, the matchup gets a bit tougher, but as long as you can maintain board and utilize your combo burst potential you can definitely have a chance against them. The deck also fairs well against Aggro decks, as long as you manage your health responsibly and weigh your burst potential against your opponents.
The deck’s weakest matchup is artifacts. Outside of Makantor, Krater, and Ripper hatching, the deck doesn’t have a lot of ways to deal with artifacts if you’re not close to the enemy general.
Replays
https://play.duelyst.com/replay?replayId=-LFTD1NuN7wgmo35Tl-J
https://play.duelyst.com/replay?replayId=-LFTD5T-EVx5Iqr4p7Rj
https://play.duelyst.com/replay?replayId=-LFTDC8qsnlAuWOJdCjY
https://play.duelyst.com/replay?replayId=-LFTDJeAF4FlEaAb2e7U
https://play.duelyst.com/replay?replayId=-LFTDO5ibWB3e90r0mDX
Final Thoughts
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I would say that this deck has a pretty high skill level. You need to be able to manage your combo pieces while keeping in mind what your opponent can do to interfere with your setups. Understanding positioning is key with this deck. In many cases, you want your units to be in attacking range of the opposing general, yet out of range of being destroyed. Positioning also comes important when you’re managing your combo pieces; if you’re putting your general at a distance from the enemy general, then you don’t want to hold onto Twin Fang. Instead, you will want to set up a Ripper Combo, whether that be with Greater Fortitude or with Bloodrage.
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Be mindful of health thresholds. You may be able to deal a huge burst of your damage, but if you don’t have the tools in your hand to finish the job afterwards you may find it difficult to finish the job. In most cases, if I have the opportunity to do a huge Bloodrage or Twin fang combo I willl end up commiting, but I also keep in mind of whether or not I should clear enemy minions or just go in face.
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Know what you combos you can pull off at different mana costs. I’ll list some common ones that I end up using, especially with Flash.
-Flash + Catalyst Quillbeast/Krater + Bloodrage = 5 mana (doable on 4 mana with a mana tile)
-Twin Fang + Flash + Krater = 4 mana
-Twin Fang + Flash + Quillbeast + Flash = 4 mana
-Twin Fang + Flash + Quillbeast + BBS/Fortitude = 5 mana
- You will very rarely use all 3 combos in one game. Rather than focus on achieving all 3, prioritize certain win conditions over others depending on your opponent. For example, Twin Fang tends to be better against Magmar due to their inability to deal with artifacts well. At the same time, it will be difficult to pull off Ripper+ Fortitude on a Vaath to take advantage of celerity.
