My Compendium of Decks for Every General (Bloodborn Edition) is out! Check it out here!
Turns out we have some Chinese fans too, who have kindly set up a Chinese version here!
中国朋友请去tieba!
Hey guys! I’m really excited to announce that 2 of my lists have been features on Manaranks, the prestigious meta breakdown hosted by Envy along with professional players like nowayitsj, F8D, and CCalmify ! Go here to check it out! Once again, thank you all for your support!
[(Reddit Link)]
(https://www.reddit.com/r/duelyst/comments/519otw/ryanhs_decks_for_every_faction_shimzar_forum_link/)
Hi all! RyanH here. I’m a Duelyst player who has been playing since pre-alpha, and I’ve sat through every iteration of the game. I’ve hit Diamond and S-rank pretty much every season (with exceptions to those I had IRL stuff with) if you must know. Or as @envybaer says:
"I’m Ryan Henry, and this is my forum thread. I post decks here with my pre-alpha S-Rank skills and my favorite General, Big Faie. Everything in here has a story and a tryhard name. One thing I’ve learnt after a year – you never know WHAT the f$&k I was thinking when I made these decks."
(ty love you bb <3)
Of course, it’s called “Diamond in the Rough” for a good reason.
With Shim’zar, CP has done the impossible: made most factions actually viable. With that being said, here’s my deck for every single faction. The theme of them is Denizens of Shim’zar, meaning that it’ll most likely be based around Shim’zar stuff (regardless of it’s questionable practicability!).
Without further ado, I present:
Ardour -- Midrange Argeon
Argeon Highmayne x1
Lionheart Blessing x2
Azurite Lion x3
Ephemeral Shroud x3
Healing Mystic x3
Sun Bloom x2
Windblade Adept x3
Sun Wisp x2
Divine Bond x2
Silverguard Knight x3
Afterblaze x2
Sky Burial x2
Arclyte Regalia x3
Holy Immolation x2
Inquisitor Kron x2
Ironcliffe Guardian x3
Solarius x2
So this is just standard Lyonar with some good stuff. An obvious combo is Lionheart Blessing with Afterblaze on Azurite Lion, but that’ isn’t your “winning combo”, it’s just a good way to generate cards. Some people have asked why Sky Burial instead of Martyrdom, and that’s because every single point of health matters; giving them more is just shooting yourself in the foot. Everything else should be pretty straightforward.
Solarius is for card draw. It is my firm belief that right now Solarius is the best card draw for Lyonar as unlike every other neutral card draw, it does not give the enemy cards which is huge.
[details=Radiance – Heal Zir’an (With Thanks to GrincherZ)]
Zir’an the Sunforged x1
Sundrop Elixir x3
Healing Mystic x3
Windblade Adept x3
Sun Wisp x2
Silverguard Knight x3
sunforge lancer x3
Arclyte Regalia x3
Holy Immolation x3
Lightbender x2
Silhouette Tracer x2
Circle of Life x3
Inquisitor Kron x2
Ironcliffe Guardian x3
Grove Lion x2
Solarius x2
GrincherZ has a very good Zir’an deck. Although I first doubted the amount of Sundrop Elixirs, they were lifesaving in many cases. The way you want to play this deck is to use your minions to block the enemy from advancing, all while trying to reach mid/late game (which isn’t difficult, as you are Healyonar!). Afterwards, use Grove Lion + boosted attack from Sunforge Lancer (which doesn’t disappear when it dies) + Arclyte Regalia to turn your General into an unstoppable force of death. However, don’t rely on solo tanking too much, this is still a team effort. Come late game, use Solarius to refill your hand in a pinch. Again, thanks GrincherZ for the deck base. It’s also just filled with regular goodstuff like Adepts, Knights, Ironcliffes and Kron. Use Sun Wisp to cycle through your deck, or as a base for a desperate Holy Immolation. [/details]
Betrayal -- Zendo / Hamon Kaleos
Kaleos Xaan x1
Inner Focus x3
Juxtaposition x3
Katara x2
Mist Dragon Seal x2
Chakri Avatar x3
Kaido Assassin x3
Phoenix Fire x3
Ki Beholder x2
Killing Edge x2
Lantern Fox x3
Onyx Bear Seal x2
Four Winds Magi x3
Hamon Bladeseeker x3
Heaven’s Eclipse x2
Grandmaster Zendo x2
Spiral Technique x1
Basically, this is more of a midrange Songhai. Keep your distance, but not too far as you set up Hamon Bladeseeker and then Zendo. Positioning is key here: ensure that your Zendo is further away from the enemy General than your Hamon is, and watch the mayhem ensue.
The really great part is that the combo above is not only generally consistent, but the parts are also good on their own: a 5 cost 8/8 with nothing to dispel is pretty damn good by itself, and the Grandmaster’s effect is always good as it stops the General from moving and removing your minions (like Zi’ran or Sajj!)
Ki Beholder also really helps with the “keep your distance”, as the movement lock can be pretty crucial at times. Everything else should be straightforwards.
Mimicry -- Meld / Spell Reva (With Thanks to UnoPro)
Reva Eventide x1
Inner Focus x3
Juxtaposition x2
Mana Vortex x3
Bloodrage Mask x3
Saberspine Seal x3
Chakri Avatar x3
Mirror meld x2
Phoenix Fire x3
Tusk Boar x3
Xho x2
Killing Edge x3
Lantern Fox x3
Spelljammer x3
Four Winds Magi x2
Heaven’s Eclipse x1
Full credit to UnoPro. Basically, this deck is aggro unleashed. But that doesn’t mean go face only, it means playing your cards right and casting spells as much as possible. Mirror Meld can create some funny (but rare) OTKs with Tusk Boar, but otherwise a solid combo with Chakri Avatar. The rest is pretty straightforwards. The only thing I disagreed with UnoPro is the Zen’rui; I have 2 Xhos instead to boost the range of cards you can have. More spells is never bad!
Legacy -- Goodstuff Zirix
Zirix Starstrider x1
Siphon Energy x2
Scion’s First Wish x3
Ephemeral Shroud x2
Healing Mystic x3
Jaxi x3
Pax x3
Rasha’s Curse x2
Scion’s Second Wish x3
Falcius x3
Inner Oasis x2
Saberspine Tiger x3
Inquisitor Kron x2
Nimbus x3
Aymara Healer x3
Dominate Will x1
Circle of Desiccation x1
So this is more like a midrange / aggro Zirix, with reliance on First and Second Wish. The great part about Second Wish is that it forces removal which moves it off your more valuable minions like Inquisitor Kron or Nimbus. Otherwise, pretty straightforward: stack up your minions, play Inner Oasis, then come late game use Dominate Will or Circle of Desiccation to even the odds.
Subjugate -- Control Sajj (With Thanks to F8D)
Scioness Sajj x1
Siphon Energy x3
Scion’s First Wish x2
Healing Mystic x3
Pax x3
Rasha’s Curse x2
Scion’s Second Wish x2
Blistering Scorn x2
Falcius x3
Sojourner x2
Wildfire Ankh x2
Dioltas x3
Lightbender x2
Nimbus x3
Spinecleaver x2
Aymara Healer x3
Dominate Will x1
Circle of Desiccation x1
I consulted F8D on this deck, made some slight changes and I feel that I’m the most happy with my version. He said 2x Zen’rui, I said 2x Grove Lion. He said 2x Bloodtear Alchemist, I said 2x Rasha’s. Why? Well with Zen’rui, it’s too situational IMO and that you might not always draw Falcius; Grove Lion’s a pretty good substitute. I also took out Bloodtear Alchemist as I feel that’s more of a thing of the past, and Rasha’s Curse is pretty important for removing Arclyte Regalia, Dawn’s Eye, Spinecleaver or Ghost Azalea.
Scion’s First Wish is a super good card because not only does it give crucial stats, it also cycles itself by drawing a card, thus also thinning the deck. This increases consistency.
Healing Mystic is needed because using your Bloodborn Spell, you will be punching lots of minions. Use the Mystics to recover.
Pax is the best 2 drop for Vetruvian, since it gives a 2/1 body and another 2 2/2 bodies. It’s a massive tempo play if you drop it turn 1.
Second Wish forces a dispel or removal, pushing pressure off your higher value minions like Aymara or Nimbus.
Rasha’s Curse, because Abyssian is running Ghost Azalea and Spectral Blade; Lyonar is running Arclyte Regalia and Vetruvians are running Spinecleavers.
Ankh is great value with your BBS, and allows you to keep your distance. Combine this or Falcius with Spinecleaver and your BBS for a great time. Keep in mind though, don’t hide in the corner like a mouse, your minions still need you!
Falcius is the best minion here aside from Nimbus and Inquisitor Kron. Not only does it give you +2 attack, it makes your general immune. This means that combined with your Bloodborn Spell, for 4 mana you can clear a 8 health minion for free. This means you can kill Aymara without taking the Dying Wish, clear large minions like Ironcliffe (with another 2 drop), Nimbus and Inquisitor Kron.
Skorn is just in case you’re missing that 1 teeny point of damage, whether it be for lethal or for removal.
Sojourner is because this deck needs card draw, and hit Bloodfire Totems for free cards!
Dioltas is much better than Allomancer, simply the 0/10 takes some pressure off you.
Lightbender is also a must since Cassyva with Shadow Creep decks are dominating the meta. Use it to dispel enemy Nimbuses or Shadow Creeps.
Nimbus is the best card out of the expansion. Not only is the body superb, everytime it takes damage it summons an Obelysk that destroys any minion that damages it. The value that it generates cannot be put in words.
Spinecleaver is here because the Bloodfire Totems (0/4, deal 1 damage to your General EVERY TURN) it generates for the enemy are very hard to get rid of. Play it during the right time and watch your enemy’s own minions ping him to death.
Aymara Healer is to ensure your lategame is just as strong as your midgame. The 10 health difference created upon Dying Wish is also another huge tempo swing and might mean winning the game or dying.
Dominate Will is awesome, but only as a one of.
Circle of Desiccation is another failsafe. Keep it mind this doesn’t kill your Soulburn (Nimbus) Obelysks, nor does it wipe enemy Bloodfire Totems.
Don’t play too aggro, use your own General to clear minions (if it’s safe, if it puts you too low, don’t). It should become pretty basic to you once you get the hang of it: ensure your minions and your general are positioned within an arms reach of the enemy. Bypass huge minions like Abyssal Juggernaut with Falcius + BBS or Siphon Energy; keep up the assault and you’ll win through sheer strength. Remember: you outgun the enemy 10-1. Play your cards right and you’ll win.
Engulf -- Aggro Lilthe
Lilthe the Blightchaser x1
Grasp of Agony x2
Void Pulse x3
Blood Siren x3
Daemonic Lure x3
Flameblood Warlock x3
Inkhorn Gaze x3
Jaxi x3
Primus Fist x3
Spectral Blade x3
Blaze Hound x3
Saberspine Tiger x3
Shadow Reflection x2
Spelljammer x3
Spectral Revenant x2
Although Lilthe seems to be rather bad this patch, she still has her place in Aggro Lilthe. As you can see, we use Void Pulse to create a 5-health difference, Grasp of Agony to clear the enemy board as well as put more damage on the enemy General, and then Spectral Revenant and Shadow Reflection to clean everything up.
Some people have asked my why Inkhorn Gaze, and that’s because more minions you can summon = the more things you have attacking. Blood Siren also serves well with Spectral Blade; use it to heal up while taking little to no damage. Remember: you can’t aggro them if you’re dead.
Although Spelljammer isn’t my favorite draw method (Rite is), Rite is far too late to be useful. Everything else should be pretty obvious.
Onslaught -- Shadow Creep / Aggro Cassyva (With Thanks to Pixizz)
Cassyva Soulreaper x1
Abyssal Crawler x3
Grasp of Agony x2
Sphere of darkness x3
Void Pulse x2
Daemonic Lure x3
Ephemeral Shroud x2
Healing Mystic x3
Ooz x3
Spectral Blade x2
Abyssal Juggernaut x3
Ghost Azalea x1
Shadow Sister Kelaino x3
Inquisitor Kron x2
Rite Of The Undervault x2
Klaxon x2
Spectral Revenant x2
Obliterate x1
Encore, avec grâce à mon très bon ami, @Pixizz. Sans lui, je ne voudrais pas avoir cette grande géniale!
Alors, allons-y!
Abyssal Crawler is pretty damn strong right now. It generates a Shadow Creep tile per turn.
Daemonic Lure is to get rid of threats if you don’t have Ephemeral Shroud or if the body is too big.
Spectral Blade, because you need to survive early game aggro somehow. Actually, aggro in this game is not “me go face”, it’s control early AND hit early.
Ephemeral Shroud is if you need to remove something that will have a lasting effect, like Pandora or Ranged minions.
Healing Mystic is for you to stay alive, should you ever need it.
Ooz is a very strong Battle Pet, not only because of it’s 3/3 body, but because it generates a creep tile on an enemy space.
Abyssal Juggernaut is more like a mid/lategame threat where you can drop 7/7 + mega tanks (and after they’ve used all their removal of course).
Ghost Azalea isn’t a finisher. It’s a persistent threat that only grows bigger the longer your opponent leaves it alone, so use it to trade twice and hit the enemy General once.
Sphere of Darkness, because you need to generate Shadow Creep.
Shadow Sister Kelaino, because more healing.
Kron, because duh.
Rite of the Undervault, because I’ve noticed that you tend to run out of cards when you play aggressively.
Klaxon is there as your late game threat, but also pulls you through midgame by stalling the opponent with Provoke.
Spectral Revenant, because you need more control.
Overgrowth -- Grow Vaath
Vaath the Immortal
Flash Reincarnation x2
Diretide Frenzy x2
Gro x3
Blistering Scorn x2
Earth Walker x3
Moloki Huntress x3
Spelljammer x3
Twin Fang x2
Earth Sister Taygete x3
Egg Morph x3
Elucidator x3
Grimrock x2
Kolossus x2
Makantor Warbeast x3
Mandrake x3
This is also a fun one: you try to abuse Moloki Huntress given to us in Denizens of Shim’zar, and watch the enemy recoil in horror as your Grow minions grow ever faster. Once the snowball starts, it never stops. In addition to your growing flood of minions, you also have the standard stuff like Elucidator, Warbeast and Mandrake, as well as Taygete. You know what to do.
Stampede -- Battle Pet Starhorn
Starhorn the Seeker x1
Flash Reincarnation x2
Amplification x2
Razor Skin x3
Amu x3
Sol x3
Gro x3
Golden Mantella x3
Repulsor Beast x2
Thumping Wave x2
Earth Sphere x3
Egg Morph x3
Nature’s Confluence x2
Plasma Storm x2
Makantor Warbeast x3
Mandrake x3
Probably my silliest deck to date. The goal is simple: play aggro and spam pets like you’re the owner of a certain menagerie in a certain World of Warcraft tower which is in a certain recent Hearthstone expansion controlled by a certain mage rhyming with…Bedivh.
The deck should be pretty straightforwards: you’re trading mana control/positioning control for raw stats. This is where the 2x Amplification comes in. However, if you’re smart you can position your Pets so they hit certain minions but not Generals, and vice versa. Thumping Wave is not only a good finisher, it is also a odd form of removal. Have fun with Zookeeper Starhorn! Now, if only there was a minion who gained stats according to the amount of Battle Pets you had…(maybe substitute 3x Mandrake or 2x Thumping Wave for Calculator?!)
Hearthfire -- Aggro / Vespyr Faie
Faie Bloodwing x1
Snow Chaser x3
Chromatic Cold x2
Crystal Cloaker x3
Frostfire x2
Bonechill Barrier x2
Hearth-Sister x3
Hailstone Prison x2
Cryogenesis x3
Snow Rippler x3
Glacial Elemental x3
Spelljammer x3
Wailing Overdrive x2
Razorback x2
Frostburn x2
Frostiva x2
Aspect of the Mountains x2
The idea of this deck is by using extremely powerful Vespyrs and spells through the expansion to dogpile them to death. Vespyrs!
Some cards:
Snow Rippler gives your infinite value because it’s generating cards out of thin air, and Snow Chaser works along the same vein: recycling cards.
Glacial Elemental makes a surprising return, and with Bonechill Barriers, kill not only their minions but force them to stay on their home base. Afterwards, Wailing Overdrive any of the minions or Frostfire the Vespyrs to deliver 10 pounds of pain. If things get rough, use Frostburn to clear the board.
When the lategame hits, use Aspect of the Mountains and Snow Chaser or the tokens from Frostiva to clear the enemy formation. Frostiva also provides a source of Vespyrs (as if your deck isn’t 90% Vespyrs already).
Otherwise, use Hailstone Prison on things like Nimbus and Inquisitor Kron, while using Chromatic Cold to kill Obelysks and Abyssal Juggernauts. Finally, use Cryogenesis to seal the deal or to flat out kill smaller minions while refilling your hand.
Should the Vespyr train slow to a halt, use Spelljammer and fill right up.
Play super aggro. The party don’t stop until they concede!
Blizzard -- Control Kara
Kara Winterblade x1
Snow Chaser x2
Chromatic Cold x3
Crystal Cloaker x3
Hailstone Prison x3
Hearth-Sister x2
Bur x2
Cryogenesis x3
Saberspine Tiger x3
Snow Rippler x3
Spelljammer x3
Arctic Displacer x2
Frostburn x2
Frostiva x2
Huldra x2
Inquisitor Kron x2
Aspect of the Mountains x2
While you have the standard buffed up Tiger to kill, you also have a very lethal 2 turn combo: Arctic Displacer into Huldra + Hearthsister. However, as with all combos, don’t focus too much on accomplishing solely that. You’re Kara! As you buff up your deadly minions like Snow Rippler or Frostiva, don’t forget that your deck is loaded to the brim with removal tools like Hailstone Prison, Frostburn, Chromatic Cold and Cryogenesis. Spelljammer is your main card draw once the train’s out of fuel, so be careful with it. If worst comes to worst, use Aspect of the Mountain for a fantastic clear. Lategame, you have things like a mega buffed up Kron and / or Frostiva to help you stay alive.
EDIT HISTORY
EDIT 1 (9/6/16): Added images to Subjugate and Malevolence.
EDIT 2 (9/7/16): Added Ardour, Betrayal, Legacy, Engulf, Overgrowth, Blizzard. Changed Subjugate.
EDIT 3 (9/8/16): Added analysis to Ardour, Betrayal, Legacy, Engulf, Overgrowth, Blizzard. Changed Subjugate (again).
EDIT 4 (9/20/16): Added Onslaught, a Cassyva Shadow Creep / Aggro deck in place of Malevolence.
I hope you all enjoyed these decks. Although they may not be the best, they are certainly the most Shim’zar! Post questions, comments, or compliments below and I will be swift to answer!
And remember: Good luck, stay civil, and have fun.
–RyanH
