Arcane Kara: S rank.
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo1MjcsMzoyMDEzOSwzOjIwMTUwLDM6MjAxNDQsMzoyMDI2MSwzOjIwMTM0LDM6NTQwLDM6MjAyMzcsMzoyMDE0NywzOjIwMjI5LDM6MTAzMDMsMzoxMDMwNSwzOjExMDExLDM6MTEwOTc=
This is my preferred S-rank Vanar list. It is a little tough to pilot but it is a ton of fun. While Fae really shines in her disruption variant, I think Kara is definitely the better match for Arcanysts. I have been running Arcane Kara for a long time, and the Expansion really pushed it over the edge.
It looks like its a bit short on two drops but its not. You typically want 9 turn ones plays as playehttps://forums.duelyst.com/t/ancient-bonds-vanar/9134r one to consistently draw at least one. This happens to have exactly that. Gravity Well, Frigid Corona, and of course Circulus. It favors lots of low cost spells for spamming with arcanysts over typical two drops as it has much better synergy with the deck.
Between Trinity Wing, Coronas Cycle, and of course Circulus, card advantage is just not an issue. In fact your hand is usually quite full. You do need to conserve your resources and avoid casting unless you have a unit out that benefits from spells when you can.
The deck has a lot of mini combos and synergies. Kara really makes illusions shine, and makes Gravity Well a threat all on its own. Gravity well combos with Enfeeble as it changes it from 0/1 to 1/1, just make sure you use karas BBs after enfeeble not before. Speaking of enfeeble, between flash freeze, mana deathgrip, and illusion spam, it is super easy to ping off an entire field. Aspect is great removal, or you can transform a wall. Having so many 0 and 1 cost spells lets you gain a ton of value off of your units. While positioning firestarter just right is tricky karas BBs makes those rush units a real threat.
Of course my favorite combo in vanar for a very long time is Owlbeast and Polarity. It is so easy to pull out massive amounts of damage out of nowhere with it, and in a pinch you can use it offensively and or just to proc your arcanysts. Owlbeast does make units gain health before the spell finishes, and then the total switches over.
Disruption Fey: S rank.
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo1MDEsMzoyMDE0NCwzOjIwMjYxLDM6MjAxMzQsMzo1NDAsMzo1MDYsMzoyMDIzNywzOjIwMTQ3LDM6NTE3LDM6MjAyMjksMzoyMDE2NSwzOjIwMjA3LDE6NTE0LDM6MTEwODksMjo1Mzg=
This is my take on the go to deck of the season, Disruption Fey. All the removal, all the control, all the ramp.
The biggest difference in my list is choosing to run cryogenesis and a single ancient grove. This allows cryo, which is still a solid spell, to provide reliable draw. You typically replace Ancient Grove in order to draw again with cryo, but you effectively have 4 copies of Ancient grove for when you do need it.
Beyond that you stall the game, keep the field clear, and then win with meltdown or grandmaster. I opted for running Crystal wisp as well as deathgrip, because thanks to our little cryo combo, and the higher curve, card advantage is not really an issue, plus the earlier you get out meltdowns and grandmasters the better.
Shocktrooper (Kara Wailing Overdrive): Competitive
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo1MjcsMzoyMDE0NCwzOjUxMCwzOjIwMTQ5LDM6MjAxMzQsMzo1NDAsMzoyMDIzNywzOjIwMTQ3LDM6NTE5LDM6MTAwMTIsMzoyMDE2NSwzOjUzNywzOjIwMjA4LDM6MTEwNjQ=
An older deck of mine that I never got around to posting, it only got one change with ancient bonds, that being Circulus, because it is a ridiculously good card, especially for Kara.
Its called shock trooper as the entire purpose of the deck is to send in one powerful unit into enemy territory to destroy your opponents troops. It accomplishes this with Wailing Overdrive thrown on top of what ever unit is best prepared for it.
Tiger is the most common choice, but my favorite little combo is with Sleet Dasher. An underplayed card, one that Kara barely makes viable. But when combined with Wailing Overdrive you now have a super deadly field wipe.
Between Frigid Corona, Walls, and Gravity Well, and a small swarm, keeping your opponent on their side of the field is rarely an issue. Also other then Snow Chaser, you don’t run any infiltrate, so its perfectly ok to drop your unit on their side, buff it with overdrive, and then have it chase them down on your side of the field.
Kara really makes walls useful, walls are also good with aspect of the fox. The deck also includes an old classic combo of Glacial Elemental and Bonechill Barrier. There are only 6 vespyrs in the deck that can get pulled with Cryogenesis, so its pretty easy to find an Elemental, who pairs very nicely with the decks other Vespyr, Snow Chaser.
Between Snowchaser, Circulus, Coronas Cycle, and Cryogenesis card advantage is not usually an issue.
Kron is very good with Kara, and he tops out or decks curve as a lategame bomb.
The deck is a lot of fun, and its pretty competitive despite being a tad dated.
Wallet Warrior: Theorycraft Competitive
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo1MjcsMzoyMDE0NCwzOjIwMTQ5LDM6MjAxMzQsMzo1NDAsMzo1MDYsMzoyMDE0NywzOjIwMTQ4LDM6MjAxNjUsMzozMDAyMSwzOjIwMjA3LDM6MjAxNDYsMTo1MTQsMzo1NDEsMjoyMDIxMg==
WALLet Warrior, heh see what I did there? So it is a very expensive wall deck packed with legendaries(thus the name.) Early on it looks to flood the field with walls which now work very well with Karas Bbs.
An older deck that got some massive upgrades with the expansion, and quite the overhaul. Ghost Seraphim, and Circulus theoretically really push this deck into a competitive level. Now the deck is still theory craft as I lack Winters Wake, but I think its pretty solid. The old version favored Jax, and Razor back as alt win conditions to winters wake. But this version takes a bit more of a control approach.
So the deck packs every possible wall, since Kara makes them pretty good, it also makes the list spell heavy which benefits Circulus. I opted for Crystal wisp over Deathgrip as the deck likes to have a globe contester that is not a wall, and later on its good fodder to use with Aspect of the Mountain. It also would have a bit of trouble getting great use out of deathgrip as it does not pack enfeeble.
The deck has a higher curve, and packs the same mini card advantage generating combo of Cryo and a single Ancient Grove. Grove also serves this deck much better as it combos quite well with walls. Again you usually replace your Grove as its your only vespyr so you can get off multiple cryos, but it is there when you need it.
Finally onto the decks win cons. It sports a higher curve, and lots of high cost spells to abuse with Seraphim. Frosburn, Aspect, and of course Winters Wake. Between wisp and Seraphim its pretty easy to drop down a Winters Wake when your opponent is still sitting at 6 mana. And she keeps frosburn and Aspect from being turn eating tempo losses. While its best to be avoided since she has better stats without it, when you need to she lets you drop her into the ideal spot to transform with aspect.
I have made it to S rank for 7 of my 11 seasons, the rest was time off or Diamond when I had very little time to play. Since I have not had time to start streaming like I want, I figured I would just share some of my stuff each week and get my name out there so the community knows me a little better for when I do eventually get around to it. Check out my previous post: