So most of the big name players have posted their own budget guide. I keep getting asked to help people with budget decks/help choosing a faction. So I am whipping together a short guide on it. Just figured it was time to compile the things I have been spreading around. I have made it to S rank every season I have had time to play and am always happy to share my experience.
For the rest of my stuff and upgraded decks check here:
If you have any questions please either leave a comment on my Master Thread, or private message me.
Choosing your faction comes down to play-style and theme preference. You have your choice of control, aggro, midrange, or combos.
My summary of factions.
Vetruvian: The Egyptian Machines: Think necrons. A strong faction with a lot of value plays. They are known for having some of the most powerful midrange minions. They usually play midrange decks and fall back on their strong value minions. The two unique things they have going for them are Obylsks the structures that summon dervishes a unit that has a lot of synergy in the faction, and alternatively they can go a dedicated artifact deck, they also have blast which is a neat take for a ranged+aoe unit. They have a lot of room for creativity but they all run the same couple power house cards, and are pretty much always mid range decks.
Abyssian: The necromancers: They summon hordes of wraithlings sacrifice them for power and love when they die with their factions signature death watch mechanic. Alternatively you have the creep which controls the board by spreading damaging tiles and has big finisher cards. They are a versatile faction with many deck types.
Magmar: The big, fast, hard to kill dragons: Lots of control spells, the most access to rush and frenzy. They have the egg and growth mechanics which can make some some stuff hard to kill. They also have ramp. Another very versatile faction in playstyles but they have a bunch of staple cards that are almost always run.
Vanar: The Ice People? Now this faction is a little strange, it is very versatile with a lot of control and positioning stuff. Their signature mechanics revolve around which side of the board things are on. Sadly the more unique aspects of them often get ignored favoring very aggressive or dedicated control decks. But they can make all kinds of neat decks. They have a faction unique tribe called Vespyrs which have some synergy with each other, and a unique unit summoned by effects called walls, which are immobile and dispelable but have a lot of utility and can be built around.
Lyonar: The archetypal holy Paladins with a lion theme: A tanky defensive faction that revolves around provoke, high health, good control spells, and their signature kill Divine Bond. Strong but predictable. They also excel at tempo or aggro due to having some of the stronger two drops and draw power.
Songhai: The fire ninjas: Would you rather play a magic the gathering Red burn deck instead of duelyst? Then Songhai is the faction for you. They love to ignore the board with teleports, ranged, and high out of hand burst/burn damage. Very strong but a lot of solitaire.
I am happy to help you out with anything but the fire ninjas, I have less experience with them and don’t really like them, so I will likely put in someone else’s list and give credit to them, or just point you in their direction. I have taken the other factions to S rank multiple times so I know them quite well. As an Abyssian main I dislike the Lions on principal, since necromancers and paladins dont get along, so I will probably whine if that is the faction you choose but I will still help.
In this thread I will mostly just talk about how to upgrade the decks, for more details on choices and how to play check my master thread for decks similar to the budget lists.
Starting off you should mostly invest in the Core Set orbs as they give the best value and have a lot of staple cards.
If your not quite sure what direction you want to go in you can alternatively invest in Mechs or Arcanysts which can be played by just about any faction and are quite affordable.
In order to get the legendary Sisters you need to craft 3x all of the core rare(blue) cards for your faction of choice. You can toggle off Shimzar or search for core to make sure you don’t accidentally craft shim rares instead, as you only need the core stuff. Once you have your sister you are free to disenchant the bad rares you don’t want.
Structure Vet
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToyMDEsMzoyMDA5NSwzOjIxMSwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MjE0LDM6MjI4LDM6MjAxOTYsMzoyMjYsMzoyMTUsMzoyMDE1MywzOjEwMDEyLDM6MjE2LDM6MjAwNzcsMzoyMDk=
Oblysks are tough to get used to for a new player but even if piloted poorly the deck is very powerful and packs alot of value, once you get used to how Oblysks work its a very fun and powerful deck.
Windstorm Obelysk is fine in the budget so that you have enough structures to make Whisper of the Sands good. But you should fairly quickly look to replace it as windstorm can be a trap since its health buffs prevents wind dervishes from suiciding, often making everything weaker by blocking paths and wasting turns.
The first thing you will want to invest in is Aymara Healers, as they go in pretty much every Vet deck. After that you likely want to invest in Ancient Bonds so you can get Blood of Air which is a pretty important card.
Check my Necron Obelysk Deck on my master thread for further details.
Swarm Abyssian
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoxOTA1MiwzOjIwMjAxLDM6MTEwODMsMzoyMDA0OSwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MTEwNDYsMzoyMDA1NywzOjEwMDEyLDM6MTkwNDksMzoxMDk4MiwzOjIwMjA1LDM6MzEwLDM6MzE4
Swarm and Death watch is a lot of fun, but it can be hard on a new player having to position a ton of units and dealing with AOE but if its your thing this a great place to start.
The first big thing you should craft for Abyssian is Spectral Reveant, its a crazy powerful card that gets used in almost every list. After that it depends on the direction you want to go. Bloodborn orbs will open up a lot of possibilities because Furosa/Cryptographer are run in most Lillith decks, and Grandmaster Variax can be very useful, or depending on the direction you want to go you should pick up either Deathfire Cresendo, or invest in Ancient Bonds for Arcanysts.
There are a lot of ways to build and play Abyss, the closest deck to this one in my master thread is Poltergeist.
Midrange Magmar
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjIwMTEzLDM6MTAwMjAsMzo0MjAsMzoyMDEyNSwzOjQxMiwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MTkwNDksMzoyMDExNywzOjQwNywzOjExMDI4LDM6MjAyMTgsMzoxMDk1OQ==
This is a great Magmar starter deck for new players.
Adamantine Claws and Greater Fortitude make a great fillers while your still working on some of the rares.
The first expensive thing you want to get is Makantor Warbeast as it goes in all Magmar lists, than you should probably invest in a single Bounded Life force as its a great one of in most Vaath decks. After that you should invest in Ancient bonds to get a hold of some very powerful Magmar cards, primarily Lavaslasher.
This deck most closely resembles my Frenzy Midrange deck at the bottom of the Vaath list on my master thread which is a very solid way to go, but I would, of course, recommend my Midrange Golem list at the top, or if you want to play control my Splice deck.
Face Fae
Seriously, Face Fae is just actually cheap. There are ways to upgrade but it starts to become a little bit different, turning into either a wall deck, an overdrive deck, battle pets or vespyrs. Lots of things you can do but there is not really just a strait upgrade that I have on hand.
There was a time that “Faice” was the deck for Vanar but it has since fallen off a bit since Dissruption Faie or Arcanyst Vanar are really powerful. To upgrade you should pick one of those directions and then probably start investing in Ancient Bonds orbs.
Kara:
Budget Arcane: 2280
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo1MjcsMzoyMDEzOSwzOjIwMTUwLDM6MjAxNDQsMzo1MTAsMzoyMDE0OSwzOjIwMTM0LDM6MTAzMDIsMzoyMDE0OCwzOjUxOSwzOjEwMzAzLDM6MjAxNjUsMzoxMDMwNSwzOjExMDEx
If your going to go the Arcanyst route anyways Kara offers a fun budget version while you work on getting your Ancient Bond orbs. The upgrade path pretty much depends on what you pull from your Bonds orbs. Both Kara and Faie have very powerful versions of the deck, although the Faie version is a bit easier to play.
Tempo Lyonar
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToxLDM6MTkwNTIsMzoyMSwzOjIwMDY0LDM6MjcsMzoyMDA0NCwzOjksMzoyMDE4OCwzOjIwMDY4LDM6MTAwMTIsMzoxMSwzOjE5MDQ5LDM6MTYsMzoxNw==
A very strong, cheap, and easy to play deck. Great for beginers with a very clear upgrade path.
For upgrading holy immolation is probably your first priority, followed by Dioltas, then Regalia, then Trinity Oath.
