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DeathsAdvocate's Master Thread: Ancient Bonds

Master Thread
It is getting to the point that I have to many threads to update separately so I am collecting everything here. I will continue to post new threads, which will then be copied and updated to here. I am going to start making a master thread for each expansion, and the older ones can just serve as archives.


Current S Rank Decks:
For those that just want the best of the best, right to the point, what I currently ladder with, here it is. You can look up the details on them in the master list below. These have all been very well tested and were either used to get to S rank, or in the top 50.

Summary

Midrange Vaath Golems


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjExMDg4LDM6MTkwMzgsMzoyMDEyNSwzOjQzMiwzOjEwMDEyLDM6NDI4LDM6MjAxMTcsMzoxMTAyOCwzOjIwMjE4LDM6NDMzLDM6MjAxMjIsMzo0MDU=

Sanguimancy


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMjoyMDA1OSwyOjIwMDcwLDM6MjAyMDEsMzoyMDA1MiwzOjEwOTkzLDM6MjAwNDksMzoxMDMwMiwzOjEwMzAzLDM6MjAwNTcsMzoxMDMwNiwzOjEwMzA1LDM6MTEwOTcsMzozMjAsMjozMzg=

Antidraw Starhorn


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MTgsMzoyMDExMiwzOjE5MDUyLDM6MTAwMjAsMzo0MDksMzoyMDEyNSwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MjAyMzQsMzo0MTcsMzoxMTA4NiwzOjIwMTE3LDM6MjAyMTgsMzo0MzMsMzo0MDU=

Good-stuff


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToyMDEsMzoyMDA5NSwzOjIxMSwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MjI4LDM6MjAwOTksMzoyMjYsMzoyMTUsMzoyMDE1MywzOjEwMDEyLDM6MTEwOTEsMzoyMDI1NCwzOjIwMTA1LDM6MjIw

Arcane Kara


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo1MjcsMzoyMDEzOSwzOjIwMTUwLDM6MjAxNDQsMzoyMDI2MSwzOjIwMTM0LDM6NTQwLDM6MjAyMzcsMzoyMDE0NywzOjEwMzAzLDM6MTAzMDUsMzoxMTAxMSwzOjIwMjA3LDM6MTEwOTc=

Arcane Faie
http://i.imgur.com/FEYZSto.png
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo1MDEsMzoyMDEzOSwzOjIwMTQ0LDM6MjAyNjEsMzoyMDEzNCwzOjU0MCwzOjIwMjM3LDM6MjAxNDcsMzo1MTcsMzoxMDMwMywzOjEwMzA1LDM6MTEwOTQsMzoyMDIwNywzOjExMDk3


Highly Competitive Decks:
These are either top notch decks that are either not as well tested or are runners up to the S rank list, Meta decks that I don’t play very much but have tested a little to optimize, or S rank decks from previous seasons that I have updated and should still be competitive. Again, full details on them can be found in the master list. Obviously I have more competitive decks then just the ones listed here and above, but I am trying to keep these two sections limited to one per general.

Summary

Splice: Vaath Smash!


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjExMDg4LDM6MTAwMjAsMzoyMDEyNSwzOjEwMDEyLDM6NDI4LDM6MjAxMTcsMzoyMDE1NywzOjIwMjE4LDM6NDMzLDM6MjAxMjIsMjoxMTA3NywzOjQwNSwxOjIwMTE4

Poltergeist


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoxOTA1MiwzOjMzMSwzOjIwMjAxLDM6MTEwODgsMzoyMDA0OSwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MTEwMTQsMzoyMDEzMywzOjIwMDU3LDM6MzEwLDM6MTA5NzUsMzozMTgsMzozMjA=

Ramp Fae


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo1MDEsMzoyMDE0NCwzOjIwMjYxLDM6MjAxMzQsMzo1NDAsMzo1MDYsMzoyMDIzNywzOjIwMTQ3LDM6NTE3LDM6MjAyMjksMzoyMDE2NSwzOjIwMjA3LDE6NTE0LDM6MTEwODksMjo1Mzg=

Fast Cass Aggro


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMjMsMzozMDgsMzoxOTA1MiwyOjIwMDcwLDM6MjAyMDEsMjoyMDA1MiwzOjIwMDQ5LDI6MTAwMjAsMzozMjcsMzoyMDI0MywzOjMwOSwyOjMwMDIwLDM6MzI0LDM6MTA5NzUsMzozMjAsMToyMDIxMw==

Tempo Argeon


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToxLDM6MTkwNTIsMzoyMSwzOjIwMDY0LDM6MjcsMzoyMDA0NCwzOjksMzoyMDE4OCwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MTEsMzozMDAxOCwzOjEwOTc2LDM6MjAwNjcsMzoyMDIzMg==

AggroMar


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MTgsMzoyMDExMiwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MTkwNTEsMzoyMDEyNSwzOjQzMCwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MjAyMzQsMzoxMTA4NiwzOjIwMTE3LDM6NDA3LDM6MjAyMTgsMzo0MzMsMzo0MDU=

11 Likes

And here is the master list complete with long winded posts on each. I never make a bad deck, I put a lot of work and love into each one, many will never be tier one, but they should all at least be quite playable. Some really old stuff may never make it in if it is to dated.

Lilith:

[details=Summary]

Sanguimancy : (Arcanyst) S rank

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMjoyMDA1OSwyOjIwMDcwLDM6MjAyMDEsMzoyMDA1MiwzOjEwOTkzLDM6MjAwNDksMzoxMDMwMiwzOjEwMzAzLDM6MjAwNTcsMzoxMDMwNiwzOjEwMzA1LDM6MTEwOTcsMzozMjAsMjozMzg=

This one got its name due to being all about spell spamming with Arcanysts, so its just a fancy word for blood magic, which is similar to necromancy, but much more about using spells directly rather then reanimating the dead to do your bidding.

In my previous post I made a Cass deck designed around DeathKnell/Nightshroud. A fun combo but a little unreliable due to the randomness of death knell and the awkwardness of nightshroud. This version skips Nightshroud in favor of Darkfire, Trinity Wing, and more spells all around. Darkfire can let you get your Arcane engine rolling quick or lead to early Deathknells. Using a darkfire to bring out trinity so you can then spam the spells the gives you is extremely effective.

Between Sphere, Trinity, and some high end curve you usually do just fine on card advantage as long as you manage your resources and learn when and what to replace, and when to dig for certain things.

Of course Death Knell, who does indeed work with trinity wing, is our huge late game bomb, but I keep Knell, Grasp, and darkfire at 2 for the extra room and because they are all a little situational. I chose Lillith over Cass as she is much better at making dark-fire work, and ritual banishing is almost as good as punish for her. It skipped out on sister or dancer because between void pulse and trinity your usually ok on healing.

The main thing to know about the deck is your not a face deck. You want to conserve your resources and try to make sure your getting some synergy out of your spells before you throw them down. While you can get quick wins, remember your strongest in the lategame thanks to Death Knells and Revenants.

Poltergeist: S Rank

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoxOTA1MiwzOjMzMSwzOjIwMjAxLDM6MTEwODgsMzoyMDA0OSwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MTEwMTQsMzoyMDEzMywzOjIwMDU3LDM6MzEwLDM6MTA5NzUsMzozMTgsMzozMjA=

A poltrageist is an angry spirit, so combine Furosa (Fury/Anger), with an emphasis on death watch and that is what inspired the name.

I have avoided the classic deathwatch swarm approach for awhile now due to the aoe Laden meta, but the classic picks are as strong as ever and the Furosa/Crypto combo gave the archtype a nice little boost. This is a very aggressive low curve swarm deck looking to dominate the early game with a lot of cheap minions that fuel our three death watch cards. Don’t confuse aggression with SMORC face style, this is not a face deck, its a synergistic combo deck. Furosa/Crypto, cheap unit spam plus death watch, or stalling until revenants. It can pull out very quick wins with cresendo plays, or it can overwhelm your opponent with chip damage.

I usually advocate against Jammer in non face decks, but this deck has an extremely low curve and despite being very aggressive its worst match up would ironically be slow control decks since they pack extra aoe and removal, and those such decks rarely make good use out of jammer. The fairly large body on it helps with aggression, and deathwatch adds another whole layer to whether your opponent wants to kill it or not, if they kill it they don’t get to draw, if they don’t then you can combo it with deathwatch.

Jaxi/Cresendo are a classic match, but people know about this and deathwatch in general so if you have a cresendo and you have a couple units out dont be greedy and try to get a huge field just go for it or you will end up with an empty field and a dead cresendo. In the same vein never expect your units to live very long so while you want to try to set up death watch plays dont be greedy. In general you dont want to play Furosas unless you can BBs that turn, idealy you dont want to play just one either, I often save them untill I can chain them together with multiple copies and or cryptographers, remember 4/4 is the magic number as it dodges plasma and frostburn.

Some thoughts on grimwar vs cresendo. You usually don’t want to include both as they tend to start cluttering up your hand, one is not strictly better then the other but they do require you to build and play a little differently. I usually opt for cresendo because I dislike having to put my general in a bad position to get use out of it, and cresendo just gives you much more reach and flexbility. Grimwar on the other hand can actually protect your field rather then having to try to get your field to stick first, but while it makes your field less vulnerable its much harder to use due to positioning and lots of ping. If you prefer grim then I would orient the deck to be more of a face deck and consider playing tracer.

Its a competitive deck and its strength lies in if your opponent ignores your field and tries to smorc you down you can punish them with huge deathwatch plays, or if they concentrate on removing your field they slowly loose to chip damage and end up facing down revenants.

The aoe laden meta really does make it struggle a bit and it takes a lot of practice avoiding over extending and knowing when its best to kill off your units or try to build a field. But even when played poorly the deck just ends up being a crap shoot of "does your opponent have AOE? No? You win? Yes, well you probably loose. " So you can get a decent win rate even that way, and its just oh so satisfying when you get those big deathwatch plays.

Master Challenge V2:(Variax/Horror) S rank

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoyMDA1OSwzOjMzMSwzOjIwMjAxLDM6MTEwODQsMzoxMTA4OCwzOjIwMDQ5LDM6MTAwMjAsMzoxMDk4MSwzOjMzNCwzOjIwMDU3LDM6MTkwNDksMzozMjAsMzozMzM=

Before I moved on to test other stuff, I climbed up to 68 with the deck.

I call this deck Master Challenge. This one’s name is a bit more obscure but I am rather proud of it. Challenger Deep is the deepest part of the ocean and is often referred to as the Abyss. Horror Burster is based on a deep-sea Scorpion. So, Master Challenge implies a very difficult quest to the deepest part of the Abyss, the place where you will find such deep-sea creatures such as Burster, led by the legendary Grandmaster of the Abyss, Variax.

After the Variax nerf she felt way to slow, while the older lists are still competitive they can struggle to keep up a bit. This new variation was born to try and adapt to both the nerf and the new meta.

This version looks to really dominate the early game with the Furosa wraithling combo, and cheap minion spam+Horror Burster, then if you don’t crush them early with one of those combinations or you get countered by aoe, it transitions into a late-game Variax deck who provides all the advantage you need despite likely having dumped your hand by the time she drops.

Its got a solid control kit for mid range decks, some healing for aggo, utility minions that are resistant to aoe, and a natural transition from early to lategame just sort of skipping the usual mid-range plays which conflict with burster anyways.

You can either drop a couple things and suicide with Burster, or you can pop your burster manually with ritual or darkfire. You typically want to try and have an active minion before you pop burster so you can make use of that 6/6 right away. It takes some practice but you can manipulate where you spawn your 6/6 by holding off on other summons, or suiciding those you do not want to transform. It opted out of midrange picks like sister, death watch units since they are a little slow and conflict with burster.

Once you have your awesome BBS unless you have a big lead, you usually want to retreat to a corner so you can wall yourself in, and slowly overwhelm the board with your 5/5s. I know it seems odd to run three copies of an expensive card you never want to cast more than once. But trust me, you want it for the consistency, it is the backbones (Heh cus ya know she has a bunch of those.) of the deck.

Non arcane Lillith decks did not get much from the expansion, but she can still hold her with something like this which is well equipped to compete in the current meta.

Eternal Army: S rank

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoyMDIwMSwzOjIwMDQ5LDM6MTAwMjAsMzozMjYsMzoxMTAxNCwzOjIwMTMzLDM6MjAwNTcsMzoxOTA0NSwzOjExMDQzLDM6MzEwLDM6MzI0LDM6MzE4LDM6MzIw

Little has changed for it in the last two expansions, but it still remains compeitive allthough tough to play.
Anyways onto the deck. The name is fairly simple, just a reference to Sarlac the Eternal and his little brother Gor.

Skorn has been a nightmare for swarm decks for some time now. Lyonar is regularly running tempest, plasma storms and mankantors are everywhere, ghost lightning is seeing play, stars fury is back in play now that vet has to try extra hard against range, even vanar has aoe now. Sarlac and Gor are natural counters to all of this. They also serve as dispel bait.

Now for a long time they have both been considered pretty bad, slow, and awkward. It was not until I started running skorn alongside them that I discovered just how strong they can be in this meta.
Sarlac/Gor +Blistering Skorn+ death watch does insane things on top of it just being good ping. Skorn plus sister is insane healing. They provide reliable sacrifice fodder, and they give you the ability to place important units in safe places even if your boxed in.

There are many combos with the deck. It has threat after threat, good removal, great healing and a sticky field. Being effectively immune to aoe on top of having your own makes for a very deadly deck.
Its curve is a little low, so you need to know how to manage your resources, and its a little hard to master when and how to pull off your combos, but when you get the hang of it, it is a ton of fun.

sWARm: Competitive

[details=Summary]http://i.imgur.com/mdTRK5E.png
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoxOTA1MiwzOjMzMSwzOjIwMjAxLDM6MTEwODMsMzoxMTA4OCwzOjIwMDQ5LDM6MjAxMzMsMzoyMDA1NywzOjEwMDEyLDM6MzAwMDIsMzoyMDA3MiwzOjMxMCwzOjEwOTc1

Similar to my Poltrageist deck but instead of trying to play it safe and be able to curve into the late game this one just goes all in on the swarm tactic.

A very aggressive deathwatch list featuring Grimwar. I don’t often include War and Cresendo as Cresendo is usually for less aggressive lists, but they both really fit the deck and make it work. It has a very low curve and short of an early tempest its very hard to stop you if you get either Grim or Cresendo.

Grimwar is very useful at protecting your swarm, it is not only fine, but encouraged to throw it on before you plan to go in for the kill as it will make it very hard to deal with your swarm. While you need to be a little more careful with Cresendo you should not be greedy with either of them or you risk loosing your field, if you can get a couple procs you should go for it.

Its a strong deck that can steal a lot of quick wins, but ultimately it can get shut down really hard by aoe and it has a pretty tough time recovering, thankfully the deck can largely dodge ghost lightning and skorn between furosa, priestess, and two health drops. But tempest and 5 mana wipes are really rough if you don’t have a grimwar so you have to be very weary of those and digging for grimwar is usually a top priority. Its competitive but its counterable nature keeps it from being top tier.[/details]

Reanimator: Competitive

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoyMDA1OSwzOjMwMDA1LDM6MjAyMDEsMzoyMDA0OSwzOjMwMDE0LDM6MjAwNTcsMzoxMDAxMiwzOjIwMDcyLDM6MTEwMTgsMzoyMDA1MCwzOjMxOCwzOjMxNCwzOjMyMA==

One of my older decks that was S rank back when kron was in his prime. When he got nerfed, and aggro got sped up and took over the meta it fell out of favor. Now that aggro has phased out a bit the deck is leaning towards competitive again. The only issue is Blood of Airs transform and Aspect of the Fox are rather popular and annoy the reanimator engine.

As the name implies the deck centers around things just not staying dead. The deck looks to ramp into big minions so as to get a lot of leverage out of keeper/nether.

For those that don’t know, keeper/nether don’t summon tokens, wraithlings are tokens, and don’t get summoned by keeper/nether, so your always guaranteed to bring back something big.

Notes on playing: typically, you want to use keeper early, and nether late, since neither can muddle up keepers summons. Typically, you replace pretty aggressively early on to try and start with a low-cost hand to get you rolling, then promptly start replacing low cost stuff. Usually I like to hold onto at least one keeper/nether as they really can seal the game.

Watch the Master: Competitive

Summary

http://i.imgur.com/DaVJFtd.png
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoyMDA1OSwzOjMzMSwzOjIwMjAxLDM6MTEwODQsMzoxMTA4OCwzOjIwMDQ5LDM6MTAwMjAsMzoxMDk4MSwzOjIwMDU3LDM6MzEwLDM6MzE4LDM6MzIwLDM6MzMz

During its season during the bloodborn expansion: http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x203/xx-jason-x/WatchMaster%20Rank.png

A tad dated since the Variax nerf, but still strong.

So, this one I have dubbed Watch the Master…because it’s all about deathwatch and the grandmaster.
It is very similar to my Master Challenge deck, it just drops the Burster package in favor of some classic Abyss picks Priestess, and Shadow Dancer. Still not running crescendo or anything like that because it’s a bit too hard to set up between how fast the meta is and how many aoes there are.

The game-plan is pretty simple, it’s all about getting your Grand Master out, hopefully early with darkfire, and just abusing that BBS. Variax is very strong but you need to be able to survive doing nothing for two turns when you summon her, unless you’re lucky enough to drop her early with darkfire, so the deck is just crammed with healing making it very hard for aggro to deal with you. It’s got a bit of removal/dispel to deal with slower decks. Once you have your awesome BBS unless you have a big lead, you usually want to retreat to a corner so you can wall yourself in, and slowly overwhelm the board with your 5/5s.

I know it seems odd to run three copies of an expensive card you never want to cast more than once. But trust me, you want it for the consistency, it is the backbones (Heh cus ya know she has a bunch of those.) of the deck.

It’s a very strong deck, the healing makes aggro fizzle, it has good removal, dispel, and unlike a normal swarm or death watch deck, this does not really need to develop much of a board nor is it very weak to aoe.

Priestess is usually a more defensive card to make a wraithling shield then it is a primary win con.
I choose Sphere of darkness over something with better draw power as it is a solid card and helps us consistently get out Variax. Once Variax hits we don’t usually need more card advantage, and the decks curve is high enough to usually keep us from running out before that.

Animate Dead: Competitive/Gimicky

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMjoyMDA1OSwzOjIwMjAxLDM6MTA5OTMsMzoyMDA0OSwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MTAzMDIsMzoxMDMwMywzOjIwMDU3LDM6MzM2LDM6MTAzMDUsMzoyMDA1MCwzOjExMDk3LDM6MzIwLDE6MzM4

Another take on Arcanyst Lillith. This time featuring Nightshroud. While not drastically different then any other arcane list this one has a neat trick. Bond, unlike opening gambit, can indeed work with reanimation abilities, both Nether Summoning, and of course Death Knell. This allows us to get a lot of extra mileage out of Nightshroud and or Trinity Wing. Nether of course has its classic combo with Spectral Revenant and is an all around solid card, reviving Owlbeasts is pretty nifty to.

The deck does not pack a ton of spells as this variation is more about Reanimation with bond/rush then it is spell spamming, but it certainly has enough spells to get good use out of your other arcanysts.
Between Trinity and a medium curve card advantage does not tend to be an issue. It has healing covered with Nightshroud and Trinity. It only packs one Death Knell in this variation as he is a tiny bit redundant with Nether, and thanks to nightshrouds you really tend to win if you drop him, but keep in mind you only have one so don’t be to quick to replace him even if its early.

Nightshroud is not usualy considered optimal due to the awkwardness of trying to get his bond off, and the RNG summoning of Death Knell. But I am really fond of the card and have wanted to make it work, I think I finally found a way to make him pretty good. I doubt it will be better then the nightshroud free variants, but it should be pretty close. I have put in limited testing with it and it is probably ultimately still a gimmick but it should be pretty competitive.

Lilith’s Cradle of Filth: Competitive/Gimicky

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoyMDA1OSwzOjMzMSwzOjExMDg4LDM6MjAwNDksMzoyMDE5OSwzOjIwMjU3LDM6MjAwNTcsMzoxMDk4MiwzOjMyMiwzOjMxOCwzOjExMDk1LDM6MzE0LDM6MzIw

A really fun deck, its name comes from the two cards that inspired the deck,
Grimes, and Echos. Because Grimes is filthy and Cradle of Filth is a screaming metal band so that is represented by echos.

As much as love echos though, it probably hold the deck back. May be better off as an Ephmerial Shroud, but when Echos works it really is beautiful.

Its primarily a dying wish deck looking to abuse Blood Echos and Lurking fear, Reaper of the Nine Moons is exceptionally potent with Echos.

Early game you have the potent crypto/furosa tech, combined with both Darkfire Sacrifice, and Lurking fear to start ramping out those big dying wish minions. While you usually use Lilliths BBs to fuel Darkfire or Ritual Banishing your dying wish minions, especially Grimes, are quite solid targets as well. Between the decks high curve and a little draw from Void Hunter you have card advantage covered.

The deck can pull some sick combos and maintain a very sticky field, but it a little slow and gimicky, but it is a lot of fun.

The Sweet Release of Death: Gimicky/Competitive

Summary

http://i.imgur.com/i39fN1D.png
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoyMDA1OSwzOjMwMDA1LDM6MjAyMDEsMzoyMDA0OSwzOjIwMDU3LDM6MTAwMTIsMzozMDAzMCwzOjIwMDcyLDM6MTEwMTgsMzozMTgsMzozMTQsMzoxMTA5MywzOjMyMA==

Based on my Reanimator deck this one is an attempt to make The Releaser work. The card is pretty awkward but it has potential to work as a less situational Nether Summoning. Unlike nether you don’t require something to have died recently, any time will do, and you can equip it early and then do stuff rather then wait until later.

The Releaser is especially potent when comboed with EMP, who is also a solid revive target. Releaser also doesn’t clutter up your graveyard with weird stuff like Nether does. The deck drops Nether and Blade to make room for its new toys, because 3 revives is a tad redudant, and blade conflicts with EMP.

The deck is certainly viable and it was hard work but I think I made The Releaser good. However ultimately I think the standard Reanimator deck is better.

Control Variax: Average

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoxMTA4NCwzOjIwMDQ5LDM6MTAwMjAsMzoxMDk4MSwzOjIwMjQzLDM6MzAwMTQsMzoyMDA1NywzOjMyNCwzOjIwMDYxLDM6MzE4LDM6MjAyMjcsMzozMzMsMzozMjA=

Just a dedicated control set up, even more healing, even more removal to just ensure that you will be able to get the late game and abuse your Grandmaster. I have not tested it very much but I suspect it may be a little slow.

Undying: Average

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoyMDA1OSwzOjMwMDA1LDM6MjAwNDksMzoyMDE5OSwzOjMwMDE0LDM6MjAwNTcsMzoxMDk3NiwzOjExMDE4LDM6MjAwNTAsMzozMjIsMzozMTgsMzozMTQsMzozMjA=

Its a neat deck but it’s a tad dated, it currently can’t really change without completely scrapping the idea.
This one I call Undying Abyssian, as things tend to just not stay dead and also undying…dying wish…heh.

Notes on Playing: Use keeper first, and nether second, as both nether and Nine moons can mess up keeper. You almost never want to cast two lurking fears as it hurts your hand, you want one early, and then its replace fodder later. Other than that, the playstyle is pretty similar to the first one.

While it may seem odd not to run Unseven in a dying wish engine I found that he really did not add much and just ended emptying out my hand. Instead of trying to force draw into the deck by running the awkward as ever Rite, or the subpar undying draw minions which muddle up my keeper/nether plan I took him out and found that the deck ran much smoother.

No klaxon? Outside of a creep deck it’s pretty meh, deck already has enough high costed minions, needs the lower cost options and various utility I have instead. I also find creep to often be a draw back because of things like nimbus and fox.

Paranoia: Gimmicky

Summary

http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoyMDA1OSwzOjExMDg0LDM6MTAwMjAsMzoxMDk4MSwzOjIwMTk5LDM6MzM0LDM6MjAwNTcsMzoxOTA0NSwzOjEwOTgyLDM6MzEwLDM6MzE4LDM6MzE0LDM6MzIw

So, the name is based on the two cards the deck is designed around, Lurking Fear, and Horror Burster, both cards with an emphasis on fear.

Its similar in principal to my consuming burst deck, but instead of trying to combo consuming we are just going for full on ramp with a constant slew of dying wish minions to help flood the field and provide hand advantage. Horror Burster just might bring this deck up to a competitive level but ultimately, it’s still gimmicky because it lacks the removal of the others and requires a good starting hand to get rolling properly.

For those who question 3x Lurking Fear there is actually a really good reason. You almost never want to cast it more the once as it hurts your hand. It may seem weird running a playset of something you only intend to use once. But the reason for that is its only good in the first couple turns so you need 3 in the deck to get it at all consistently, because after the first couple turns its just replace fodder. It’s awful at one, meh at two, and replace fodder at 3. But to be worth the slot at all it needs to be a playset.

Flood Protection: Gimmicky

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoxOTA1MiwzOjExMDgzLDM6MTAwMjAsMzozMTcsMzoyMDIwMCwzOjExMDQ2LDM6MTEwMzgsMzoxMDk4NywzOjE5MDQ3LDM6MjAyMDUsMzoyMDA3MiwzOjMyNCwzOjIwMTU0

With this list, we can really capitalize on low cost flood things like Wraithlings and Zyx without nearly as much fear of Aoe thanks to Lady Lock, Mirkblood, and yes even Bastion! Then we add void steal and puppy dragon to give the deck some real killing power. No death watch? Nope the whole point of this build is to value your swarm, you don’t want it to die, you want it to multiply! I currently have chosen Inkhorn over whip just because it helps support the flood, the deck gets rolling pretty fast, and Voidsteal also doubles as a soft removal so I think it is surprisingly well covered on that front. Sister gives the deck some much needed healing and with that huge swarm it gives a lot of value. Try it out, you may be surprised at just how well it performs.

Angry Lord: Gimmicky

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzozMzEsMzozMDAwNSwzOjExMDg4LDM6MTAwMjAsMzozMTcsMzozMjgsMzoyMDIwNSwzOjIwMDg5LDM6MjAwNzIsMzozMjQsMzoyMDA2MSwzOjIwMjI3LDM6MjAxNTQ=

This one I call Angry Lord. Furosa=Fury=Angry, Baronete=Baron=Lord.
I bring you a proper wraithling swarm deck. It’s pretty competitive with its Furosa+Crypto combos, on top of having insane burst out of nowhere with Baorenete combos. It can either swarm and overwhelm or turn a single wraithling left alive into a game ender.

It plays every single wraithling card. I was not too sure about some of them, like Necrotic, and Horn, but they all come together really well. It can dump its hand early like swarm does and later refill with rite. Or switch over into control mode with its abundance of removal while it waits for the moment to one shot your opponent with a baron combo.

There is no death watch or sacrifice effects to be had here because this deck values its minions and does not want any of them to die. It can be pretty aggressive, and has a decent late game.
I have put much less testing into it then the other two, because despite that it is not as vulnerable as traditional swarm to Aoe, especially small pings, a well-placed tempest, immolation, Frostburn, or frenzy still usually cripples us beyond recovery. This discourages me from playing it competitively because I dislike the Rock Paper Scissors effect of do you have Aoe? Yes? I lose. No? I win. But it is a lot of fun, and if your tired is the usual death watch or Big Abyss and just want to play proper swarm, this is probably the best way to do it. Perhaps it would be better with classic picks like Revenant and Blood Priestess over some of the more clunky wraithling cards, but I like it how it is.

Consuming Burst: Gimmicky

[details=Summary]


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoyMDA1OSwzOjE5MDUyLDM6MTEwODQsMzoyMDE2NiwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MTA5ODEsMzozMzQsMzoyMDA1NywzOjE5MDQ1LDM6MzEwLDM6MTEwODUsMzozMTgsMzozMzM=

So, after Burster got hotfixed my Master Challenge deck just was not quite as consistent. I still really like burster and wanted to try and make him work. What better way to do that then to combine it with another card I really love Consuming Rebirth. This is effectively an update to one of the other off decks that were part of the Eternal Army Series. It’s a bit gimmicky, but it is a lot of fun.[/details]

Zenruai Swarm: Gimmicky

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoyMDA1OSwzOjExMDgzLDM6MzEzLDM6MTAwMjAsMzoxMTA0NiwzOjMxOSwzOjIwMjA1LDM6MjAwNzIsMzozMTAsMzozMTgsMzoxMDk5NCwzOjMzMywzOjMyMA==

Bloodborn Update: As usual Variax makes most Lillith decks better. Between a high curve, and Variax it does not need any draw power.

It’s a little bit gimmicky, but it may have more potential then I give it credit for. Since Void Steal is now absolutely mandatory for swarm I thought it would be fun to build around it a little. I missed Assassin, even though it’s sort of a mini Zenrui after its many nerfs abyss just couldn’t find room for it. Speaking of Zenrui the deck fits him as well. The idea is with Void Steal, blood sire, and darkfire sacrifice it becomes easy to abuse Assassin and Zenrui. We have some traditional swarm tools, and by skimping on healing and draw power the deck has a couple unique tricks up its sleeve.

Voodo: Gimicky

[details=Summary]


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoyMDA1OSwzOjMwMDA1LDM6MjAyMDEsMzoyMDA0OSwzOjIwMDU3LDM6MTAwMTIsMzozMDAzMCwzOjIwMDcyLDM6MTEwNDMsMzoxOTA0MiwzOjMxOCwzOjMxNCwzOjMyMA==

I really wanted to make the releaser work, but its just so bad. Still the deck is a lot of fun. Anyways I named it Voodo because the deck is all about hurting your self in order to hurt your opponent. It was actually better suited for the Sanguimancy name, but that was already taken.
This tries to make the Releaser work by including skorn and bone naga as both solid field control, and ways to break the releaser quickly.

Anyways the deck is based off of an old favorite of mine Reanimator, which abused keeper and nether by making sure to not include low cost minions other then tiger. Instead geting by with wraithlings (who are tokens and never get brought back), artifacts, and spells for the early game.
Its a neat deck but Reanimator just does what it is trying to do better.

[/details][/details]

5 Likes

Cassyva:

[details=Summary]

Stitched (Hybrid) : Competitive

[details=Summary]


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMjMsMjoyMDA3MCwzOjIwMjAxLDM6MjAwNDksMzoxMDAyMCwzOjMzNywzOjMyNywzOjIwMjQzLDM6MjAwNzIsMzozMDksMzozMTAsMjozMjQsMzozMTgsMzozMjAsMjoyMDIxMw==
I have been experimenting with hybrid Cass for awhile. It was always a solid deck, but ancient bonds finally released something that could just push it into being the top notch Abyss deck. A true hybrid card, Nocturne.
We can now comfortably stitch together creep, wraithling, and deathwatch cards in one deck, thus the name. Nocturne and Wraithling swarm is amazing creep generation, Cass’s BBS now acts as a mini dark transformation, Sphere of darkness can block paths, and all those wraithlings make deathwatch deadly. Sadly shadow nova still does not make the cut as its just not very good.
Our two death Watch units, Shadow Dancer and Blood Priestess are classics. Very powerful and reliable. We do not run crescendo or anything like that because it’s a bit too hard to set it up reliably, besides we have obliterate as a wincon.
The curve is a little low but it gets away with out draw power by having some high cost stuff to draw into and of course our favorite cycle. It is very good at controlling the game until you are ready to move in for the kill.
Because the deck has the alternate win path with Deathwatch it’s safe to just use Obliterate as a board wipe rather than a finisher, and when using it like that we have a back up one for later. I made sure to fit two since the deck has very little draw power and really wants to be able to find an Obliterate in time. It also lets us fit two sister, and grasps for when they are needed. I have never been a huge fan of grasp because of how situational it is, but with Flash Juggernaught in the mix its important to pack a good counter.
Its a very competitive deck with multiple routes to victory, some healing to help against aggro, and tons of control spells. [/details]

Fasst: Competitive

Summary

http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMjMsMzozMDgsMzoxOTA1MiwyOjIwMDcwLDM6MjAyMDEsMjoyMDA1MiwzOjIwMDQ5LDI6MTAwMjAsMzozMjcsMzoyMDI0MywzOjMwOSwyOjMwMDIwLDM6MzI0LDM6MTA5NzUsMzozMjAsMToyMDIxMw==

Really not much to say about it, pretty standard. Go face, make creep, heal, win. It’s the standard competitive Cass deck, this is just my take.

Midrange: Competitive

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMjMsMzozMDgsMzoyMDIwMSwzOjIwMDQ5LDM6MTAwMjAsMzozMjcsMzoyMDI0MywzOjMwMDE0LDM6MTAwMTIsMzozMDksMjozMDAyMCwzOjMyNCwzOjMzMCwzOjMyMCwxOjIwMjEz

Way too much Aggro in this game, always makes me sad to see Cass get watered down into yet another aggro deck. So much potential to play the long game with a lot of powerful synergy.

While the list is not to different from Fast Cass you will notice, it has a slightly higher curve and more focus on the long game. This decks goal is to drag the game out, as the longer the game goes the more devastating your creep synergy cards are.

Focus on keeping the board clear and do not go face. Tiger is a very good removal card when combined with your BBs. Klax is great for being on the defensive and if her effect procs its usually game over. Blade provides both healing and pseudo removal. Remember you are relying on curving out not draw power so conserve your resources don’t vomit your hand.

Fester: Competitive

Summary

http://i.imgur.com/H1Yvs0l.png
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMjMsMzoyMDIwMSwzOjIwMDQ5LDI6MTAwMjAsMzoyMDE5OSwzOjMyNywzOjIwMjQzLDM6MTA5ODIsMzozMDksMzoxMDk3NiwzOjMyNCwzOjMyMiwzOjMzMCwzOjMyMCwxOjIwMjEz

This one I call Fester, because it is a slow creeping infection that revolves around tissue dying.

An interesting take on Cass, it still runs the essential creep tools for the late game but the dying wish engine fits in nicely providing draw and some fun early/mid game tools. Klaxon being dying wish is the main attraction for this archetype.

It may seem a bit light on two drops, but it has 9 turn one plays for player one which is the ideal number for consistency. Ooze, Lurking Fear, and sphere of darkness, and if your really desperate you could use a shroud.

For those who question 3x Lurking Fear there is actually a really good reason. You almost never want to cast it more the once as it hurts your hand. It may seem weird running a playset of something you only intend to use once. But the reason for that is its only good in the first couple turns so you need 3 in the deck to get it at all consistently, because after the first couple turns its just replace fodder. It’s awful at one, meh at two, and replace fodder at 3. But to be worth the slot at all it needs to be a playset.

For awhile I really tied to make Blood Echos work, but unfortunately it just held the deck back, swapping it with shroud really helped give the deck a boost. If your still interested in trying to make it work here is a little extra reading:
Blood Echoes is a super cool card introduced with Ancient bonds. Its a tad gimicky, but it has some sick combos with dying wish units. It even works with Reaper unlike consuming, and man does it work well with reaper. It can also be used to heal or un-dispel juggernaughts and sisters. So, we have both creep and dying wish referenced in one word :D. With ancient bonds I added Scream to the name as a shoutout (heh) to Blood Echoes.

Necromancy: (Arcanyst) Average

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMjMsMjoyMDA3MCwzOjIwMjAxLDM6MjAwNTIsMzoyMDA0OSwzOjEwMzAyLDM6MzM3LDM6MjAyNDMsMzoxMDMwMywzOjEwMzA2LDM6MzM2LDM6MTAzMDUsMzozMjAsMzozMzgsMToyMDIxMw==

While the Abyss has always had necromancy themes and reanimation style cards, Arcanysts are proper necromancers. Spell-casters that dabble in dark arcane arts, their leader being powerful enough to raise an entire army from the dead in an instant.
The main win con of the deck is Death Knell, who is especially deadly when combined with Nightshroud. Unfortunately Death Knell summons stuff one by one and in a random order so Nightshrouds are anywhere between an instant game ender when Death Knell drops, or a healing mystic. However even when you get screwed on the summoning order you should still have a massive army to win with or protect you until you can finish the game off with an obliterate or Spectral Revenant.
The deck has very little creep generation so it only runs the one obliterate as a pay off card on the front. But it has a good control kit and swarming capabilities thanks to Prismatic Illusionist. It has healing from Nightshrouds and Sister to help against aggro, and Owlbeast can as usually be a win con all by its self.
If Death Knell did not have its randomness issue it would likely be a top tier deck. It is still quite competitive regardless.

Cass’s Cradle of Filth: Competitive/Gimicky

[details=Summary]


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMDEsMzoxMTA4NCwzOjIwMDQ5LDM6MTAwMjAsMzoxMDk4MSwzOjIwMTk5LDM6MjAyNDMsMzoyMDI1NywzOjEwOTgyLDM6MTA5NzYsMzozMjQsMzozMjIsMzoxMTA5NSwzOjMyMA==

A really fun deck, its name comes from the two cards that inspired the deck,
Grimes, and Echos. Because Grimes is filthy and Cradle of Filth is a screaming metal band so that is represented by echos.

Its primarily a dying wish deck looking to abuse Blood Echos and Lurking fear, Reaper of the Nine Moons is exceptionally potent with Echos. Beyond that its packed with healing to help against aggro, a couple solid removals, and a high curve and a little draw from void hunter to cover card advantage.

The deck can pull some sick combos and maintain a very sticky field, but it a little slow and gimicky, but it is a lot of fun.[/details]

Control: Average

[details=Summary]


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMjMsMzoyMDIwMSwzOjExMDg0LDM6MjAwNDksMzoxMDAyMCwzOjEwOTgxLDM6MzI3LDM6MjAyNDMsMzozMDAxNCwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MzI0LDM6MjAyMjcsMToyMDE1NCwzOjMyMCwyOjIwMjEz

Just a truely dedicated control set up, slow and steady wins the race. The midrange version sometimes can pull fast wins out, that is very rare with this one. Sometimes you can win fairly quickly by just keeping the field clear and going face while outhealing your opponent, but that is not the goal. [/details]

Variax Cass: Gimmicky

Summary

http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTozMjMsMzoyMDA1OSwzOjMwOCwzOjIwMjAxLDM6MTEwODgsMzoyMDA0OSwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MzI3LDM6MjAyNDMsMzoxOTA0OSwzOjMwOSwzOjMyNCwzOjMyMCwzOjMzMw==

While Variax is not good for traditional Cass she does open up a new way to build her. More control/ramp, no obliterate, Azalea optional. Will it be top tier? Probably not. But diversity is good.

The deck runs a lot of one and two drops for Darkfire Sacrifice targets, combined with draw to try and find your win cons Juggernaut and Variax. While cryptographer does not combo with Variax for Cass, the extra ping and creep generation is very valuable plus its great sacrifice fodder.

It also sorts of helps bring back budget Cass. Sub Rite of the Undervault for Soujner, sub Sister for Healing Mystic, and Revenant for Azure Herald and now you have a fairly cheap and competitive deck. Yea it takes a little to invest in bloodborn orbs, but it’s still cheaper than normal Cass, and a lot of fun. [/details]


Vaath:

[details=Summary]

Midrange Vaath Golems: S rank

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjExMDg4LDM6MTkwMzgsMzoyMDEyNSwzOjQzMiwzOjEwMDEyLDM6NDI4LDM6MjAxMTcsMzoxMTAyOCwzOjIwMjE4LDM6NDMzLDM6MjAxMjIsMzo0MDU=


The deck is insanely good, that win streak pic has a lot of the top rank players, I think the deck is even stronger after the patch because while the thumping nerf hurt, not having meltdown to worry about and the small changes to the meta really highlight its strength. I laddered with it until rank 17 before saying thats enough, and moving onto something else.

The patch that nerfed thumping wave made me reevaluate this deck, with the loss of Makantor/Thumping as a finisher I added in the tried and true combo of Drogar/Crypto to give the deck an additional win con.

The deck combines the best and most reliable parts of the classic midrange list, and golems. I had to drop shroud which makes the occasional Mech match up harder, but overall I think it is for the best.

An aggressive deck packed full of small combos and value. Flash/Sunsteel, Drogon+Crypto, thumping+rush, golem synergy, and topped off with some healing, and removal.

It curves nicely throughout the game, and gets away without draw as It can win really fast, and as always Vaath by himself gives you a solid lategame. You tend to pull ahead early, and win if top decking does happen.

Splice Vaath: S rank.

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjExMDg4LDM6MTAwMjAsMzoyMDEyNSwzOjEwMDEyLDM6NDI4LDM6MjAxMTcsMzoyMDE1NywzOjIwMjE4LDM6NDMzLDM6MjAxMjIsMjoxMTA3NywzOjQwNSwxOjIwMTE4

A proper Vaath Smash deck. I named Splice because Magmar is all about genetic perfect, evolution, and all that stuff, combined with the fact that it is simultaneously aggressive and control. While it focuses on controlling the field it gets pretty aggressive with Vaath himself usually going face with him once he has three or more attack while your spells and minions control the board.

Drogars effect is indeed exponential, Drogar+Cryptographer lets you go from 3 attack to a whopping 18. Even if you only have a single drogar and no cryptographer, combining it with a late game Vaath makes him just an absolute monster.

The deck looks to leverage this effect by packing in a strong control shell using Vaath as your primary win con. The Meta has finally slowed down enough that a proper control deck like this can really shine without getting SMORCED down before it can get rolling, and if you do come across aggro just dig for and never replace those Earth Spheres.

Previously the deck packed more healing and skipped Crypto/Flash to help get to the lategame where Vaath really shines, but now with Makantor/Thumping gone it needed another finisher so in went the Crypto package leaving it as a very powerful deck without any particularly bad match up.

Ramp Golems: Highly Competitive

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjExMDk4LDM6MTkwMzgsMzo0MDksMzo0MzIsMzoxMDAxMiwzOjIwMjE4LDM6MjAxMTcsMzoxMTA5MiwzOjQzMywzOjIwMTIyLDM6NDA1LDM6NDM0

I took it to S rank in the firs season of Ancient Bonds, and the deck has a great match up against everything but disruption Fey, meaning while it is still a top tier deck I don’t play it much because Fey is everywhere.

Juggernaught is insanely strong, between him and Faie they warped the meta. For awhile I pretty much auto included him in everything, this one especially crams as much ramp as possible into the deck to abuse him.

It comes with some great golem synergy of which magmar probably got the best deal on. We did not go overboard with golems just included the best ones, leaving room for some standard magar picks.

The deck curves well so you can get away without draw, but you can run out of steam if you get countered or you cant find high cost stuff.

The Return of the Queen Competitive/Gimicky

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoxMTA4OCwzOjIwMTI1LDM6NDEyLDM6MTAwMTIsMzo0MjgsMzoyMDExNywzOjIwMTU3LDM6MjAyMTgsMzoyMDI0NSwzOjQzMywzOjMwMDI1LDM6MjAxMjIsMzo0MDU=

The Ancient bond update update for an old favorite of mine. Vaath, the (Drag)Queen of the Dragons, tending to her brood of eggs. Unfortunately with C-burst going to 6 mana there is no longer really a brood of eggs as it has been replaced by Valknu. There was a very brief window when this was a proper S rank list, but then C-burst and thumping got hit dropping the decks viability. Its still quite strong, but now lags behind a more proper control list.

So, we start with a Vaath Smash chassis to have a solid control shell, then we add in Morin-Khur and Valknu for some powerful combos. It also includes young slithar who is always solid, but has a little extra synergy with Khur. Its pretty safe to replace Valknu until late game because you never want to use it unless you can combo it with Egg Morph at 8 mana, Khur at 9 Mana, or if you already have Khur equipped.

A small FAQ regarding Valknu. He is summoned just like any other minion nearby a unit you control. He copies Vaaths current attack/health including artifacts when he hatches. He does indeed gain the Egg hatching ability of khur. If dispelled he looses all abilities and bonuses.

While Valknu is not as powerful as old C burst, I do rather like the lack of rng, he can basically extend the reach of Vaath so if you manage to get drogar to stick but your opponent stays out of Mele Valknu can come to the rescue. The longer the game goes on the bigger Vaath gets and therefor the better Valknu gets. Its a surprisingly competitive deck and it is a lot of fun.

Novocaine: Competitive

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjEwMDIwLDM6NDA5LDM6MjAxMjUsMzoxMDAxMiwzOjIwMjE4LDM6NDE5LDM6MjAxMTcsMzoxMTAyOCwzOjQzMywzOjIwMTIyLDM6NDA1LDM6NDM0
It got its name due to things in the deck being numb to all the self inflicted pain.
The self damaging ramp has tons of synergy with taygete, sunsteel, and of course juggernaut. While of course helping you drop early makantors or lavaslashers. Toss in some control and healing and its a really strong midrange deck.
It curves nicely throughout the game, and gets away without draw as It can win really fast, and as always Vaath by himself gives you a solid lategame. You tend to pull ahead early, and win if top decking does happen.

The Golem Queen: Competitive/Gimicky

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjE5MDM4LDM6NDA5LDM6NDMyLDM6MTAwMTIsMzoyMDExNywzOjIwMTU3LDM6MjAyMTgsMzo0MzMsMzozMDAyNSwzOjIwMTI0LDM6NDA1LDM6NDM0

This deck was competitive, but it took some heavy nerfs. No more god hands with flash/jugger, C-burst brutally nerfed, and thumping to top it off. It is the only deck I have that still keeps C-burst since it is built to make use of it.

Vaath, the (Drag)Queen of the Dragons, tending to her brood of eggs, but this time she is more of a stay at home mom while the golems do the hard work. A variant of my Queen Vaath deck, with more of a focus on golems then eggs.

Juggernaught is very powerful, and he fits right into the egg play style, right along side of a natural ramp engine. The three big magmar golems plus metalgurist, as part of our ramp engine, are just enough to get bond off with rage who has extra synergy with Khur.

Eggmorph takes up our dispel slot since it is solid on its own, and has some extra synergy combined with our own eggs.

C-Burst is hit and miss but devastating when it works. You only cast it if your opponents field is empty, or if you already have Khur equipped.

Khur is a solid equip, and can really make the deck do some crazy things with Juggernaught or C-burst, and it is a good beat stick to.

Its a very strong deck and it can absolutely steal games with combos, but it is a bit less stable then most decks since if you do get countered you can have a tough time recovering.

Controlem: Competitive

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MTkwMzgsMzo0MDksMzoyMDEyNSwzOjQzMiwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MjAyMTgsMzoyMDExNywzOjQzMywzOjIwMTIyLDM6NDA1LDM6NDM0

Yes I know the name is a terrible pun.

A more control oriented Golem Vaath list, rather then dedicated ramp from the last post. It favors more control spells and dispell, and opts out of a bunch of the cards that would conflict with them to make room, and skips breacher due to both the low golem and minion count.

Its a strong consistent list that does well against most match ups, it wont give you those quick and devastating wins as often as other variants, but slow and steady wins the race as long as you have a knack for playing control.

Aggromar: Competitive

Summary

http://i.imgur.com/vWl5Thz.png
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjExMDg4LDM6MTkwNTEsMzoyMDEyNSwzOjQzMCwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MjAyMzQsMzoxMTA4NiwzOjQyOCwzOjQwNywzOjIwMjE4LDM6NDMzLDM6NDA1

After the gaze nerf it fell off a little, its still strong, but the meta has shifted towards including healing so it struggles. But if you want a face deck its still one of the best.

Here is the new and very cancerous AggroMar. Rancour+self-damaging effects can lead to turn two wins. Add in some standard aggro tech, the old rush/thump package, drogar finisher, the insane and out of hand damaging draw power cards to sustain the aggro, Vaaths BBs and you have an aggro deck that is about as bad as Reva Spellhai at its strongest.

Masochistic Jutsu: Gimmicky/Competitive

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjExMDk4LDM6MTAwMjAsMzo0MDksMzoyMDE2MiwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MjAyMTgsMzo0MTksMzoyMDExNywzOjQzMywzOjExMDYwLDM6NDA1LDM6NDM0

It’s an old gimmicky deck, but still a lot of fun, Ancient bonds really gave this old deck an overhaul. Sadly Khymera has been replaced by Juggernaut, he will be missed. Although if your really dedicated to old school, you could always run him over rawr or taygete. They all serve the same purpose as being really strong when ramped with self damaging effects.

I fondly call this one Masochistic Jutsu, because it’s all about inflicting pain on my own units for value. Also, Jutsu/Kujata sort of sound alike… I should really stop explaining these.

The decks idea is to really take advantage of Flash Reincarnation and Kujata rather than simply using them for ramp. Both of them proc Rawr, Taygete, and Juggernaught multiple times on summon. You can of course just use both to ramp as usual to drop early slashers or makantors. Celebrant also helps ramp and its higher health lets it survive self damaging effects.

Kinetic Equilibrium plays a similar role to the ramp cards serving as both Aoe and ways to proc our Masochistic dudes. The deck can get quite a few units out there, and or its units have high health so they can really take advantage of Equilibrium.

Battlepets can really cause these masochistic cards to be abused. Speaking of battle pets, everyone knows how good of a card thumping wave is…now we can transform an opponent’s minion AND force it to attack one of our masochistic dudes.

Between Equilibrium, Taygete, and Rush you have great board control and aoe. It can pull out some really strong combos.

Keeper of Dragons: Average

Summary

http://i.imgur.com/ZhzcCq4.png
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjIwMTE2LDI6MjAxMTMsMzoyMDEyNSwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MjAxMTcsMzoyMDE1NywzOjQwNywzOjIwMjE4LDM6MTEwMTgsMzoyMDEyMiwzOjExMDc3LDM6NDA1LDE6MjAxMTg=

It took me to S rank a while ago, and my highest of that season was rank 57. Its a bit dated now but it can still certainly hold its own.

Qeltar posted a great video showing how it plays out https://www.twitch.tv/qeltar/v/93484338
Keeper of the Veil is one of my favorite cards, last I week I shared how I used it in Abyssian, this week let’s talk about how I use it for Magmar. The first deck here is the control variant. The basic idea is to abuse rush with keeper.

Game plan is to just kill everything your opponent puts out while playing defensively powering up Vaath. Then switch to aggressive Vaath Smash style later on. The deck can go face with rush units early on, but it prefers to go the long game, as the longer the game goes, the more of a threat Vaath becomes. In fact you almost never want to attack the opposing general with Vaath unless it is to seal the game that turn or shortly after as your health is very valuable.

The deck does not run any dispel as between thumping, and egg its usually fine. Even against mechazor you can just rush him down. Plasma and natural selection are a given for a control style game. Last season I took a similar deck to S, instead of Kron, and thumping, I ran the classic metamorph+harvestor.

A few fun mechanics: Since keeper does not proc opening gambits it gets exceptional value out of Elucidator. The deck avoids running any low-cost creatures other than tiger to make sure we get big value out of keeper.

Flash reincarnation is great as it makes the otherwise expensive deck feel cheaper, one of my favorite turn 1 plays is flash Elucidator, run him into a mana orb then throw a buff on him.

Aggro Keeper: Average

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjIwMTE2LDM6MjAxMTMsMzoyMDIyNSwzOjIwMTI1LDM6MTAwMTIsMzoyMDIzNCwzOjIwMjE4LDM6MjAxMTcsMzo0MDcsMzoxMTAxOCwzOjIwMTIyLDM6NDA1

The problem with normal Keeper Magmar is the meta is insanely fast, faster than it has ever been. KeeperMar is a very slow deck that gets extra punished by the number one deck Aggromar due to all that forced draw, and then it has an unfavorable match up against the slowest deck in the game Variax Lilith.

So, this one tries to hit a happy medium between being aggressive enough to beat Variax, and good enough at dumping its hand to punish Aggromar. It’s fairly competitive, on paper it looks really good, but it’s a bit draw dependent so the games can be a bit swingy. A crushing victory one match, then a struggle the next.

Game plan is very match up dependent, so there is a bit of a guessing game to what you’re up against. If you guess wrong it’s going to be tough, because you want to set up your hand for either hyper aggression or the long game. The low creature count is not really an issue due to the decks digging power and it packs both wonderful control tools and very aggressive out of hand damage.

Arcane Vaath: Average

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjIwMTE2LDM6MTA5OTMsMzoyMDExMywzOjEwMzAyLDM6MTAzMDMsMzoxMDAxMiwzOjIwMTE3LDM6MTAzMDYsMzoxMDMwNSwzOjIwMjE4LDM6MTEwOTcsMzo0MDU=

Magmars cheap selection of buff spells and of course the ever notorious flash really do go quite well with arcanysts, and of course rush units.

Diretide is especially potent on a flying unit like trinity, and has a neat combo with Soujuner who can draw multiple cards with a single attack. Between it and Makantor we skip Plasma which would conflict with our units.

Now earth Sphere and Souj are flex slots, if you feel you have enough healing from trinity you could skip sphere in favor of one of Magmars many staples, or if you preferred Blue Conjurer to Souj its a real solid choice. The deck lacks any proper dispel, thumping being the only thing in that vein, and I opted out of Lightbender because it conflicts with Vaath…and pretty much everything else, but the deck can probably do without.

While I think Argeon is better suited for Arcanysts then his in faction tribe, Vaath golems are hard to beat, but the deck is quite viable and a neat take. [/details]

Frenzy Midrange: Average

Summary

http://i.imgur.com/lmVumMZ.png
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoyMDExMiwzOjExMDg0LDM6MjAxMTMsMzoxMDk4MSwzOjQxMiwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MTkwNDksMjoyMDE1NywzOjQwNywzOjIwMjE4LDM6NDMzLDM6MjAxMjIsMzo0MDUsMToyMDExOA==

It’s a tad dated, and I have only done limited testing with it. Shoved in Lavalasher with the latest update, but other then that I have not messed with it much.

So here is my take on optimizing the recent trend of Diretide + Sojourner. For those who don’t know Sojourner can draw you multiple cards from a single attack with frenzy. To top that off we have all the rush units who are the classic combo with Diretide.

4 Likes

Starhorn:

Summary

Antidraw Starhorn: S rank

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MTgsMzoyMDExMiwzOjE5MDUyLDM6MTAwMjAsMzo0MDksMzoyMDEyNSwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MjAyMzQsMzo0MTcsMzoxMTA4NiwzOjIwMTE3LDM6MjAyMTgsMzo0MzMsMzo0MDU=

With Ancient bonds in I dropped gaze for lavaslasher, becuase slasher is an auto, and gaze got nerfed. I also traded mandrake for bloodtear because its curve and spells are a bit high for him, and with mandrake out I opted for Kujata/Earth Sphere instead of the healing units. This comfortably pushes the deck back into top tier as it has a very good match up vs Faie, Argeon, and Vaath.

So, to start off this is the Anti-Draw Starhorn deck I took to S during the season gaze was at its finest, and then yet again in the second season of Ancient bonds. Once the patch dropped I put the deck together and flew with about an 80%-win rate from low diamond to S.

It uses ramp to speed up your clock and pull off Decimus/Vindicator+Tectonic combos early. It has the usual thumping/rush Package but without Lucy since the 4 slots are busy. Between Starhorn, Tectonic, and a medium curve we are perfectly happy to vomit our hand early.

The deck just has so much out of hand burst potential, yet is a bit more stable and can play the long game better then a dedicated aggro list. It can either be hyper aggressive, or go passive and wait for its big combos to finish the game later, constantly spilling out threats or removing your opponents with spells or instant value minions.

Its strength lies in being well rounded having healing, dispel, removal, a lower curve with unending card advantage, and most of all that almost everything provides instant value. It skips out on plasma since it has so much psedo removal built in and it wants to sport a lower curve and play more aggressive. [/details]

AggroMar: Highly Competitive

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MTgsMzoyMDExMiwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MTkwNTEsMzoyMDEyNSwzOjQzMCwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MjAyMzQsMzoxMTA4NiwzOjIwMTE3LDM6NDA3LDM6MjAyMTgsMzo0MzMsMzo0MDU=

After the gaze nerf it fell off a little, its still strong, but with the meta shift the deck decided to go just a touch more midrange favoring Earth Sphere and Lavalasher to help you win the longer games.
I really like how earth sphere lets you win the aggro match up, and gives you the option to just back off and win from range. Without it I quite often run into situations where the game ends in a draw because the linear damage kills us both.

You still could go dedicated aggro if you wanted trading out earth sphere and lava lasher in favor of Greater Fortitude and Vindicator. Or you could try and tech Plasmastorm to help vs swarm decks, but I have had the most success with the current incarnation.

Rancour+self-damaging effects can lead to turn two wins. Add in some standard aggro tech, the old rush/thump package, draw power cards to sustain the aggro, and the anti-draw synergy cards, and you have an aggro deck that is about as bad as Reva Spellhai at its strongest sporting insane out of hand damage.

Momentum: Competitive

Summary

http://i.imgur.com/TV0abDi.png
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MTgsMzoyMDExMiwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MTkwMzgsMzo0MDksMzoxMDAxMiwzOjIwMjM0LDM6MTEwODYsMzoyMDExNywzOjIwMjE4LDM6NDMzLDM6MjAxMjIsMzo0MDUsMzo0MzQ=

So the name is born from the decks incredible amount of draw power keeping your momentum, and of course Juggernaut (Xmen reference) who is rather known for gaining and keeping momentum.

Juggernaut is still very good after the Flash nerf and I enjoy splashing him into stuff, so here he is being tried out in my Anti-Draw Starhorn variant. I figured sporting a low curve, ramp, and a ton of draw would help make getting Juggernaut consistent.

You could run Ragebinder instead of Earthsphere as the deck has enough golems to support him, and he meshes well with plasma storm, but that’s a bit of a meta call on how much healing you think you need.

With the thumping wave nerf Magmar decks need to try a little harder to close out games, Juggernaught helps provide an alternative win condition to decimus spikes, and while I usually like to have Vindicator in my starhorn decks he got cut to make room for the golem package.

The Dentist: Competitive/Gimmicky

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MTgsMzoyMDExMiwzOjQyMSwzOjExMDg0LDM6MTAwMjAsMzoxMDk4MSwzOjQwOSwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MjAyMTgsMzozMDAxNywzOjExMDQzLDM6NDMzLDM6NDA1LDM6NDI1

There was a time when this was a competitive S rank list, but between the skorn nerf and the power creep of the expansions the deck has become dated. I have done my best to update it. Its powerful combo is amazing when it works, but its back up plan of flood into mandrake is now a tad slow for the meta, leaving it solid but gimmicky and reliant on its combo.

I fondly call it The Dentist…you know because twin fang=teeth…and then add in lots of pain.
So, my silly names aside, would you look at that, a deck besides the Dance of Memes that can really capitalize on twin fang.

Game plan is to flood the field, throw on twin fang, and then cast a blistering skorn for a massive buff. Fang can also really capitalize on Juta/Flash summons who combo help flood the field which can make fang strong on its own. Rex while usually bad does exceptionally well in this deck thanks to it being a one cost flood enabler that combos with Kujata, Skorn, and Fang thanks to rebirth keeping it from just dyeing to self-inflicted ping.

MecHorn: Average

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MTgsMzoyMDExMiwzOjE5MDAyLDM6NDA5LDM6MTkwMDMsMzoxOTAwNCwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MTkwMDUsMzoyMDIzNCwzOjExMDg2LDM6MjAyMTgsMzo0MzMsMzoyMDEyMiwzOjQwNQ==

This one is just named MecHorn, heh, see what I did there? The deck aims for lightning speed Mechazors fueled by ramp and made consistent with draw power. It loves to puke out its hand and punish the opponent for drawing.

It’s not quite as fast as aggro, not quite as stable as my other stuff, and it does not have many answers to your opponent’s threats, but it is quite deadly. It supplies numerous massive threats from both aggro, anti-draw synergy, and mechazor.

Decimus/Spikes gives you a solid fallback option if you Mechazor gets countered. Its a strong deck but the prevalence of Sunbloom and Chromatic cold mean you can get countered pretty hard, and a dedicated aggro deck can often just rush you down.

FloodHorn: Average

Summary

Classic Floodhorn
http://i.imgur.com/eXDhn9G.png
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MTgsMzozMDAyOCwzOjExMDg0LDM6MTAwMjAsMzo0MjAsMzoxMDk4MSwzOjExMDQ2LDM6NDEyLDM6NDIzLDM6MTAwMTIsMzoyMDIxOCwzOjQzMywzOjQwNSwzOjQyNQ==

Unstoppable
http://i.imgur.com/jQRTu1u.png
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MTgsMzoyMDExMiwzOjMwMDI4LDM6MTAwMjAsMzoxOTAzOCwzOjQyMCwzOjQwOSwzOjQyMywzOjQzMiwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MjAyMTgsMzo0MzMsMzo0MDUsMzo0MzQ=

Portcullis
http://i.imgur.com/o2jYOUi.png
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MTgsMzoxOTA1MiwzOjMwMDI4LDM6MTEwODMsMzoxMDAyMCwzOjQyMCwzOjExMDQ2LDM6NDIzLDM6MTAwMTIsMzoyMDIzNCwzOjExMDg2LDM6MjAyMTgsMzo0MzMsMzo0MDU=

Godhammer and Lavalasher have given the archetype a nice boost. Moloki combined with godhammer or gro is particularly deadly. The decks sport a low curve in order to use Starhorns BBs to keep you topped off on card advantage.

There are three variations of the deck that all play similar but each choose a different win con besides their flood aspect.

The classic Floodhorn list packs an abundance of strong and or utility two drops to throw down then transitions into mandrakes. It is almost purely minions to ensure quick mandrakes and good use out of godhammer. It opts out of one drops or ramp since it only has Starhorn to help with card advantage.

Unstoppable opts for ramp and golems. Its gone through quite a few renditions and I am really quite fond of it. The name was born due to the Flood style game-play and of course Juggernaut. What does a force of nature like a Flood and Juggernaut (Xmen reference) have in common? They are both unstoppable. Flood early, use binder for your healing, and Juggernaught to close out the game in the face of aoe.

The last list, Portcullis, sports the lowest curve of the three but has extra drawpower with its Spikes/Decimus combo. It got its name because a portcullis is a spiky gate, so you know floodgate…tectonic spikes…anyways unlike the first two who like to snowball into victory, this one is a much more aggressive deck that tries to win quickly since it lacks healing, but it can still do just fine if the game drags out.

They are all pretty decent decks, but early aoe really gives them a hard time, however each of them have a real solid back up plan

Clutch: Gimmicky

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MTgsMzoyMDExMiwzOjIwMjU4LDM6MTkwMzgsMzo0MDksMzo0MTIsMzo0MzIsMzoxMDAxMiwzOjIwMTE3LDM6MjAyMTgsMzo0MzMsMzozMDAyNSwzOjQwNSwzOjQzNA==

Starhorn provides alot of clutch draws when you need it, and of course you know, a clutch of eggs.

Eggs got some good support, sadly its still ultimately a gimicky deck, but it can pull off some devastating combos.

Cascading+rebirth is super cool, although you really only want to use it on three+ cost units for best value. RageBinder is a great target, and a badly damaged lava Lasher or Makantor are its favorites.

Juggernaught is very powerful, and he fits right into the egg play style, right along side of a natural ramp engine. The three big magmar golems plus metalgurist, as part of our ramp engine, are just enough to get bond off with rage who has extra synergy with Khur.

C-Burst is hit and miss but devastating when it works. You only cast it if your opponents field is empty, or if you already have Khur equipped.

Khur is a solid equip, and can really make the deck do some crazy things with Juggernaught or C-burst, and it is a good beat stick to.

A very fun deck, but Cascading is ultimately a gimmick card, so while the deck can certainly pull some great combos it lacks alot of important answers in order to make room for all the fun stuff.

Fractal OTK: Gimmicky

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MTgsMzoyMDExMiwzOjIwMTE5LDM6MjAxMTYsMzoxMDk5MywzOjIwMTI1LDM6MTEwMzksMzoxMDAxMiwzOjIwMTE3LDM6MjAxNTcsMzo0MDcsMzoyMDEyMiwzOjIwMDYzLDM6NDA1

Ironically this old gimmick has an amazing match up against the top tier deck of this meta, Disruption Fae, unfortunately it gets slaughtered by the runners up Magmar and Lyonar.

There was a time when this was competitive, but it has not really gotten any new tools, and the meta is just way too fast for it. Perhaps one day in the future there will be a control meta, and then this can shine.

Abjucator+fractual+2 of either fortitude or amplification+Flash+Elucidator is 28 out of hand damage for 7 mana.

Of course, it’s fairly rare I do the whole thing. But at 8 mana flash+elucidator+fractual is 15 out of hand damage and is very easy to pull off. If you have an abjucator instead of flash its 9 mana. Multiple abjucators on a fractal reduce it even more. In a pinch, you can fractal a tiger or mank instead. The deck pretty much without fail wins on the 9 mana turn, frequently at 8, occasionally at 6-7 and with the perfect hand it can win at 5.
Besides the combo its built on a control shell which mag excels at. Let’s the deck usually stall without any issue and then win out of nowhere. Starhorn makes sure you draw the combo/don’t have to play the combo pieces you’re holding onto.

Dance of Memes: Gimmicky

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MTgsMzoxOTA1MiwzOjIwMTE1LDM6MTAwMDEsMzoxMTAyMiwzOjExMDUzLDM6MTAwMTksMzoxMTAxNiwzOjQyMSwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MTkwNTEsMzoxMTAwOSwzOjQwOSwzOjMwMDE3

Could this be competitive? Maybe. But it is very dated, and if your opponent catches onto what you’re doing it’s not too hard to counter.

Obligatory Dance of Memes post. How the deck works is you get Kujata out, then play dance of memes. Now everyone health thing you play will die to Kujata and cause you to draw a card. You then cycle through your deck until you hit twin fang. Play it and continue cycling through your deck, since Kujata is doing damage to everything you summon twin fang makes your generals attack go into double and triple digits real fast, go over and OTK your enemy.

So, at 7 mana you can play two kujatas, dance, and twin fang all in one turn, this is ideal as it can’t be stopped. Against many decks, you can pull it off, but against more aggressive decks that are not going to let you live that long you can always drop Kujata the turn before you combo and hope it survives. So, you can combo as early as turn two at four mana if you’re really lucky. It’s safer at 5 mana where you can play your second Kujata so your less likely to whiff by drawing two drops. Playing fang is safer since it’s not a big deal of it dies, but it will clue your opponent into what you’re doing and they may just forever stay out of melee range at that point.

Now while I would love to take credit for the deck, and while I may have discovered it on my own many months ago, apparently, others have known of it for longer than I had. But with shimzar out I finally have a chance to jump on it. The introduction of a bunch of new pets has greatly increased the decks consistency. I have taken it on myself to refine it.

Ephemeral Shroud, and Ghost Lynx. These two cards prevent provoke and body blocking from being an issue, and are low enough in health and cost to work with the combo. Beyond that it’s just include ALL of the 1 health 1 drops and of course the combo. The decks strength is it is effectively a two-card combo. As once you have a juta and dance you can cycle into fang and Lynx if there is something in the way without issue.

A couple notes on playing. Always recycle 1 drops, as you want to play two drops since they can occasionally mess up the combo. You do not want to flood the board, you want your hand almost full to make sure you don’t whiff on your combo so only play one or two things a turn. It’s usually safe to cycle a fang as well unless you already have your combo and want to try and play it the turn before to go off faster.


Fae

[details=Summary]Arcane Faie: S rank

Summary

http://i.imgur.com/FEYZSto.png
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo1MDEsMzoyMDEzOSwzOjIwMTQ0LDM6MjAyNjEsMzoyMDEzNCwzOjU0MCwzOjIwMjM3LDM6MjAxNDcsMzo1MTcsMzoxMDMwMywzOjEwMzA1LDM6MTEwOTQsMzoyMDIwNywzOjExMDk3

With meltdown and enfeeble nerfed the deck begins to shy away from the disruption variant instead favoring a war of attrition taking advantage of a combination of cheap vanar control spells, and value/card advantage generating arcanyst units.

Currently trying out Flash Freeze, but its a bit of a flex slot, other considerations are Hailstone Prison, or Polarity.

The thing that makes this Variant so good is you have both a very strong field and a strong control kit, and thanks to Faies BBS and Pings from trinity you slowly whittle down your opponent even if your loosing the field. Either your opponent spends their time trying to deal with your field and slowly dies, or they try to rush you down and then quickly get overwhelmed by your powerful Arcanyst synergy. Its just a loose loose situation. Between Circulus, Coronas Cycle, Blue Conjurer, and Trinity you just never run out of card advantage despite your low curve.

Disruption Fey: S rank.

[details=Summary]


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo1MDEsMzoyMDE0NCwzOjIwMjYxLDM6MjAxMzQsMzo1NDAsMzo1MDYsMzoyMDIzNywzOjIwMTQ3LDM6NTE3LDM6MjAyMjksMzoyMDE2NSwzOjIwMjA3LDE6NTE0LDM6MTEwODksMjo1Mzg=

This is my take on the go to deck of the early seasons of Ancient Bonds, Disruption Fey. All the removal, all the control, all the ramp.

The biggest differences in my list is choosing to run cryogenesis, a single ancient grove, and Crystal wisp. This allows Cryo, which is still a solid spell on its own, 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. I opted to include both deathgrip and wisp as ramp is the whole decks point.

Beyond that you stall the game, keep the field clear, and then win with meltdown or grandmaster. Between a high curve and the little cryo combo, card advantage is not really an issue.[/details]

Golem Faie: Competitive

[details=Summary]


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo1MDEsMzoyMDE0NCwzOjIwMjYxLDM6MTEwOTgsMzoyMDEzNCwzOjU0MCwzOjIwMjM3LDM6MTkwMzgsMzo1MTcsMzoxMTA5MiwzOjEwMjA0LDM6MTA5NTksMzoyMDIwNywzOjExMDkz

Take the tried and true disruption Faie package, remove all the cards that just got nerfed throw golems in their place, which come with even more ramp then the deck usually has and voila you have another surprisingly efficient out of faction tribe deck. The deck is also super budget friendly. Circulus is our only arcanyst, because well, its too good not to include and without it the decks curve would be a bit low.

Many disruption Faies were already running EMP as a pay off card, so why not design around him a bit and throw in a couple more golems. Celebrant, and Metalurgist help us get those magic 5 mana turn two plays quite consistently and we pack just enough golems to get good use out of Breacher.

While the Argeon and Vaath out of faction variant decks are super solid, they are probably not better than their usual meta decks. This on the other hand just might be a new top notch Faie deck as it has most of her old strength, without its usual weakness to aoe , and an even faster clock with the added ramp. It also has the unexpected factor going for it so people can really mess up their early game. The only issue is the complete lack of healing could leave it vulnerable to dedicated aggro, but that has phased out a bit lately since it does not do well against a lot of other decks.[/details]


Kara:

Summary

Arcane Kara: S rank.

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo1MjcsMzoyMDEzOSwzOjIwMTUwLDM6MjAxNDQsMzoyMDI2MSwzOjIwMTM0LDM6NTQwLDM6MjAyMzcsMzoyMDE0NywzOjEwMzAzLDM6MTAzMDUsMzoxMTAxMSwzOjIwMjA3LDM6MTEwOTc=

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, or her attrition style arcane build, Kara really shines with a more all in combo approach with Arcanysts. I have been running Arcane Kara for a long time, and the Expansion really pushed it over the edge.

Now you could run it more attrition style like the Faie variant, trading Firestarter for Conjuerer, and Polarity for another control spell or Grandmaster, but I really love the all in combo approach, and really I think Faie does the attrition style better.

It looks like its a bit short on two drops but its not. You typically want 9 turn ones plays as player 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. But you do need to try and conserve your resources and avoid casting unless you have a unit out that benefits from spells.

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. Aspect is great removal, or you can transform a wall for offense. 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.

Shocktrooper (Kara Wailing Overdrive): Competitive

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo1MjcsMzoyMDE0NCwzOjUxMCwzOjIwMTQ5LDM6MjAxMzQsMzo1NDAsMzoyMDIzNywzOjIwMTQ3LDM6NTE5LDM6MTAwMTIsMzoyMDE2NSwzOjIwMjA4LDM6MTEwNjQsMzoyMDE0Ng==

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 and quite often you will put it on a gravity well, but anything will do really.

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, and Aspect of the Mountain which both double as part of our control kit. 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, Cryogenesis, and a medium curve card advantage is not usually an issue. Kron is very good with Kara, he and aspect top out our decks curve as a lategame bombs.

The deck is a lot of fun, and its pretty competitive despite being a tad dated.

Wallet Warrior: Theorycraft Competitive

Summary


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.

3 Likes

Zirix:

[details=Summary]Goodstuff: S rank

[details=Summary]


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToyMDEsMzoyMDA5NSwzOjIxMSwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MjI4LDM6MjAwOTksMzoyMjYsMzoyMTUsMzoyMDE1MywzOjEwMDEyLDM6MTEwOTEsMzoyMDI1NCwzOjIwMTA1LDM6MjIw

Win streak in Diamond:

Midrange Vet decks like this suffered for awhile due to a complete lack of ranged removal, Blood of Air has changed this as one of the better ranged removals in the game, pushing an old struggling archetype from the bottom of the pile to top tier.

This first deck is just shoving all of Vets strong value cards and staples into one deck without concentrating on one particular theme or another. It has card advantage covered thanks to a medium curve and two cycles. Dispel and ranged removal are covered with shroud and blood of air.

It packs psedo removal with Rashas and Tiger both of which are prime targets for buffs. Speaking of buffs the deck packs a lot of dervishes and thanks to Fireblaze, Feralu, and Dunecaster they turn from an annoyance to a major threat, especially stars fury which can be a game ender or mass removal.

Feralu is amazing for Zirix, its combo with his BBS alone is almost reason enough to run it. Structures, battle pets, and Dervishes all count as tribes so he really pulls a lot of weight.

It avoids golems and most structures since they are to easy to counter, instead packing a really well rounded and overwhelming kit prepared for most match-ups. Depending on what your up against, it can play aggressively by swarming the field and using rush, or the long game thanks to its snowballing potential and Aymara who also gives a little healing.[/details]

Necron Obelysk: Competitive

[details=Summary]


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToyMDEsMzoyMTEsMzoxMDAyMCwzOjIxNCwzOjIyOCwzOjIwMDk5LDM6MjAxOTYsMzoyMjYsMzoyMTUsMzoyMzEsMzoxMTA5MSwzOjIwMjU0LDM6MjAxMDUsMzoyMjA=

It is certainly my favorite of the three. I have a soft spot for structures. As for the name, between it being an Obelysk deck and the introduction of Allomancer awhile ago and his very cool necro-techmaturgy flavor, the deck just brings out some nostalgia for my fondness of the terrifying unit in Warhammer…the Necron Obelysk.

The deck still suffers vs Plasma Storm but Ancient bonds really introduced some important new tools Feralu, and Blood of Air that help push its viability. Unfortunately Magmar is extremely popular on the ladder right now.

Feralu, fire-blaze, Dunecaster, and sometimes Allomancer, really help make dervishes a real threat and if you get two out they can even dodge plasma. Whisper of Sands is pretty much the reason to play structures, its such a good card, it cycles and can provide a massive amount of instant value out of your structures even if they are dispelled. Between Whispers cycle and a decent curve card advantage is not usually an issue, and top all that off with shroud for dispel, and Falcius/Amyra staples and you have a very powerful deck with lots of strong midrange and immediate value cards to just overwhelm your opponent.

Between their lack of attack, random spawns, and vulnerability to dispel using Obelysks can be a bit tricky, but if you get the hang of positioning them they can provide endless value. A couple positioning tricks to know about: The first is playing them towards the middle of the map early on and using your general to block the path to them. Another is manipulating where your dervishes are going to spawn, the are two ways to do this: the first is just putting units in spots you don’t want spawns, the second is if you have baited your opponent towards a wall you can place the obelysk against the wall eliminating three usually undesirable spawn locations.

Be aware of Lightbenders existence, which due to all the Arcanyst decks introduced with the expansion it has become a lot more popular so avoid putting your structures to close together. The same goes if your against Lyonar because of Sunbloom, or Magmar because of frenzy, primarily Makantor.

I could have gone on a long time about how to play obylsks, but mainly Its all about trying to find the balance of keeping them safe but also far enough forward to be useful which will mostly be learned from trial and error and practice. One more thing before I wrap up, while its fine for a budget deck, Windstorm Obelysk is a trap, its health buff prevents dervishes from suiciding often making everything weaker by blocking paths and wasting turns.[/details]

Golden Army (Golems): Competitive

[details=Summary]


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToyMDEsMzoxMTA5OCwzOjIzOCwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MTkwMzgsMzoyMjgsMzoyMDA5OSwzOjIyNiwzOjIwMTUzLDM6MTEwOTEsMzoyMDI1NCwzOjI0MCwzOjIwMTA1LDM6MjIw

Golems are Vets primary support in Ancient Bonds, and of course the new Blood of Air card gives Vet the ranged removal they desperatly needed now puting them up at the top instead of the bottom of the pile. This deck has stolen the name from my old Flood Zirix deck as it is more deserving of the name, I may update the flood deck later.

The deck got its name because Vetruvian loves their mechanical guardians, and the way the deck works there really is an army of them. Your army quickly becomes hard to kill thanks inner oasis, and even if killed they have a nasty habit of coming back in full force thanks to Sirocco. (Bonus Points if you get the reference.)

The deck combines Vetruvians Staple cards along side golems. Feralu really does a lot of work as it buffs both Golems and Dervishes. The general plan is to throw out golems and just out value your opponent with Vetruvians strong midrange minions. Then when its time for the lategame Sirocco is a pretty big game ender and as always Amyra has got your back.

Between Dreamshaper, cycle, and a medium curve, card advantage is just not an issue despite the decks ramp.

I opted for Starsfury over Boulder breacher as he tends to just feel like a win more card here, and you would rather be using Siroco or blood of air at 5 mana. Starsfury gives some much needed AOE and of course works well with Feralu. The deck is actually pretty Golem light, packing just enough to proc DreamShaper and have Sirroco be useful, but not enough to reliably get Breacher to work. I have tried a more dedicated golem set up but its to easy to get hard countered by aoe when you lean to heavily on your golems. So instead it opts for a lot of strong midrange picks as an alternate win con.[/details][/details]


Sajj:

[details=Summary]
The Artificer: Competitive

[details=Summary]


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToyMjMsMzoxMTA5OCwzOjIzOCwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MTkwMzgsMzoyMjYsMzoxMDAxMiwzOjMwMDA4LDM6MTkwNDQsMzoyMzksMzoyMDI1NCwzOjExMDkyLDM6MjQwLDM6MjIw

While Golems work for both Generals they feel a lot more suited to Sajj then they do Zirx. Breacher and Wind Striker are basically made for Sajj while they do very little for Zirix.

This deck packs a lot of golems to really abuse Sirocco, which also means it has draw power and ramp built in. Combine that with a couple vet staples, and the Tracer/Wildfire Ankh package and you have a solid and well rounded deck.

You can either dump a lot of golems and get an early win with Sircco, or if your hand is golem light and or your Sirroco gets countered you can kite them around abusing blast and playing the long game with Aymara and additional Siroccos. Most of your golems are pretty underwhelming but they provide you with alot of small body blocks to protect Sajj.

Between Ankh, Falcius, and Breacher you can get a lot of use out of Sajs BBS. You often have a pretty large field as well so Breacher does a lot of work on its own.

Tiger and shroud are some of the best neutral cards there are, I find room for them in most decks. Having dispel is pretty important, between shroud and Blood of Airs transform your well covered on that front, and tiger acts as pseudo removal or can close out a game.

Its a pretty competitive deck, Ultimately Sajj still struggles in general as Zirix could do almost as well with the exact same list, but she can pull her own weight as there are quite a few cards that benefit her directly.[/details]

One Shot Robot: Competitive/Gimmicky

[details=Summary]


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToyMjMsMzoyMDEzMiwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MjAwOTksMzozMDAwNiwzOjIyNiwzOjIwMDc4LDM6MzAwMDgsMzoyMzUsMzoxOTA0NCwzOjIzOSwzOjIwMjU0LDM6MjAxMDUsMzoyMjA=

I have tried running a more dedicated combo set up but its just to slow to try to do out of hand, or to inconsistent because artifacts get pinged off frequently so I instead settled on a bit of a control shell to provide an alternate path to victory. It avoids running expensive artifacts opting for staff, ankh, and Windstriker as they are the cheapest and striker helps body block.

This decks main thing is to pull massive burst, and often an OTK out of nowhere, with a combination of cheap artifacts, Auroras Tears, and Time Maelstrom. At 8 mana you can throw on two Staffs, Auroa, and Maelstorm for 20 damage. Usually you try to have an artifact or two equipped already before trying to combo, and if your lucky your artifacts wont get broken and then you can win out of no where, otherwise you have to whittle your opponent down a little and go for a smaller burst.

I opted for Rasha’s Curse over tiger or something else, despite not having any dervish synergy, since artifact heavy Songhai lists are a real bad match up for this, and its two damage is always solid. Its pretty light on two drops as it does not mind giving up the mana globes as it prefers to either win early with a combo or play the lategame.

Its a fun well rounded deck and when you get the right hand its super deadly, but its ultimately a gimmick and not quite consistent enough and or to easily countered to be top tier, but I enjoy it.[/details]

Kamikaze: Gimicky

[details=Summary]


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToyMjMsMzoxMTA4NCwzOjEwMDIwLDM6MTA5ODEsMzoyMjYsMzoxMDAxMiwzOjMwMDA4LDM6MTEwNDMsMzoxOTA0MiwzOjIwMjU0LDM6MjMyLDM6MTEwNjAsMzoxMTAzMCwzOjIyMA==

This deck absolutely loves to blow up its own units for value. Skorn, Bone Naga, and Sunset paragon provide excellent control tools while providing ways to manually proc Nimbus, Rawr, and Aymara. Its higher curve prevents the need for draw, and the rest of the deck is built on the basics of a control Sajj shell.

Its a hilirous deck to play and can either go the long game with its high curve, or get pretty aggressive and go face early. Its a silly deck, but it does certainly work and its a lot of fun.[/details][/details]


Argeon

Summary

Tempo Argeon S Rank

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToxLDM6MTkwNTIsMzoyMSwzOjIwMDY0LDM6MjcsMzoyMDA0NCwzOjksMzoyMDE4OCwzOjEwMDEyLDM6MTEsMzozMDAxOCwzOjEwOTc2LDM6MjAwNjcsMzoyMDIzMg==

My take on the tried and true Tempo Lyonar deck. It is as powerful as ever. Card advantage from wisp, afterblaze, and trinity. Between trinity and Regalia you are very resistant to aggro. Lots of aoe with immolation and tempest. Pack with a bunch of cheap cost effective minions to abuse with Argeon.

Arcane Lyonar Competitive

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToxLDM6MjAxMDksMzoyMDEyMCwzOjIwMTYxLDM6MTA5OTMsMzoyMDA0NiwzOjEwMzAyLDM6MjAwNjgsMzoxMDMwMywzOjIwMDY3LDM6MTAzMDYsMzoxMDMwNSwzOjIwMjMyLDM6MTEwOTc=

Owlbeast, Aegis Barrier, Magnetize, Divine Bond, GG.

I think Argeon is more suited to run Arcaneysts than golems. Lyonar has a surprising amount of super cheap and effective spells to dominate the early game with and abuse Prismatic/Owl. Despite the decks very low curve it has card advantage covered between cycle, Trinity, and Trinity (No that was not a typo). Trinity and Trinity also cover your healing. Arcanysts give us a very powerful dispel built right into the deck so we have the covered as well.

That cheesy combo I listed at the start…is actually quite common and consistent between Aethermasters replace, Aegis Cycle, and of Course trinity Oath. Magnetize is optional but it does pretty much guarantee that your opponent cant reach that owl to dispel it before it pops over and murders them. Aegis is less optional, but also not mandatory, and remember it doesn’t have to be owl doing the killing, it can be any of your units going crazy thanks to owl.

Also don’t underestimate Magnetizes utility outside of the combo. Use it to kill backline units, to ignore a lure or repulsor, to move something into the ideal position for holy immolation, and to reposition your prismatic to safety after it has dropped a bunch of illusions.

This is the more all in combo variant, but if you wanted a bit more midrange or control you could drop some of the cheaper spells like magnetize and beamshock in favor of Blue Conjurer, and of course tiger.

Golems: Competitive

Summary


http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToxLDM6MTkwNTIsMzoxMTA5OCwzOjE5MDM4LDM6MjAwNDYsMzoyMDA2NCwzOjM0LDM6MTAwMTIsMzozNSwzOjIwMDY3LDM6MjAyMzIsMzoxMTA5MiwzOjEwMjA0LDM6MTEwOTM=

While not quite as aggressive as the usual tempo list the deck has a lot more snowball potential, and its a really well rounded deck. Its packed with big stat sticks, ramp, and ranged answers. Trinity lets us get away with a very low curve while also providing healing.

Five mana golems are the magic number as they are the best value you can pull on turn 2 in combination with Metalurgist or Celebrant. Meanwhile lasting judgement actually has the potential to be used offensively rather then as removal thanks to the ramping of high health golems, its real neat combined with Breacher. It is in a flex slot with Tempest but I think between Sunbloom, Emp, Immolation, and lots of low cost minions combating swarm is not to bad.

Provoke is sort of one of Lyonars signatures, but while neat, without trying to make divine bond plays happen it really does not do a whole lot. But you could alternatively pack Golem Vanquisher and Silverguard in place of lasting judgement and bloodtear helping obviate the need for ranged answers by locking everything down.


Budget Thread: DeathsAdvocate's Budget Guide: Ancient Bonds Update

The Bloodborn Master Thread:
https://forums.duelyst.com/t/deathsadvocates-master-thread/7333/33


Change logs since posting thread:

Summary

May 14:
Added several Lilith Lists. Poltergeist, as an S rank deck, Animate Dead, and a new deck from an upcoming thread sWARm.

May 13:
*Shuffled around the order and rankings of a lot of decks.
*Merged Unstopable and Floodhorn: Updated description and split it into three decks. Classic Floodhorn, Unstopable, and Portcullis.
*Fester: Traded Blood Echos for Ephemeral Shroud.

May 12:
*Keeper of dragons had 37 cards, it was missing eggmorph.

May 8th:
*Lilliths Cradle of Filth: No actual changes have been made, but I mentioned that as cool as echos is, its really gimicky and would probably be better off as an ephemeral shroud.
*Added Golem Faie, Golem Argeon, and Arcane Vaath lists in.
*Mech Vaath list being tested, will put in main thread soon:

Summary

The main thing is don’t make your self to reliant on Mechazor especially because magmar has no way to teleport a dispelled mechazor back into play. You don’t have to go the spike/decimus route, but I certainly wouldn’t include one without the other, and both are pretty much mandatory for Starhorn.

Alternatively you could play a more control oriented Vaath list using Smash as your alternate wincon, something like this:
http://i.imgur.com/2GVZi2r.png
http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MTo0MDEsMzoxOTAwMiwzOjIwMTI1LDM6MTkwMDMsMzoxMTA2MSwzOjE5MDA0LDM6MTAwMTIsMzoxOTAwNSwzOjE5MDA2LDM6MjAxMTcsMzoyMDIxOCwzOjQzMywzOjIwMTIyLDM6NDA1
Ups the curve slightly, skips flash to compensate for the lack of draw power, puts in all mechs to help with consistency due to lack of draw, and squeezes in that extra healing and removal. Leaving you with a deck that does mech early and if that fails you just sustain and get Vaath to the late game where he is a big threat on his own.

May 5th:
Watch the Master: Traded Sister and Bloodtear for the Furosa/Crypto combo. Between the slowing meta and the sister nerf she just doesn’t make the cut anymore. While bloodtear is very good, we already have ping with sphere, and we couldn’t afford to lower the curve further by running both it and Furosa.

May 1:
*Starhorn Aggromar: Traded Gaze for Lavalasher, and Vindictor for Earth Sphere. Updated description.
*Momentum: Dropped Healling mystic, Azure Herald, Entropic Gaze, and Vindicator for Earth Sphere, Plasma Storm, Lavaslahser, and Meturgist. Moved it up to being a very competitive deck.
*Vaath Aggromar: Dropped shroud for Lavalasher.
*Unstopable: No actual changes, but it has lost a lot of viability moving it down to competitive but gimmicky.
*Arcane Faie: Traded Meltdown and Enfeeble for Flash Freeze and Blue Conjuerer.

April 24: Added Tempo and Arcanyst Lyonar decks.

April 22:
*Reanimator: Traded Variax for Sphere. Variax just feels much to slow now, and the deck already has a high end curve. Sphere gives us early game and helps dig. I also moved its rank up to competitive.
*Added “The Sweet Release of Death” deck.
*Shock Trooper: Traded Sleet Dasher for Aspect of the Mountains. As much as I love Sleet, he is terrible, and Aspect pairs really well with all the walls.

April 21:
*Antidraw Starhorn: Traded Mystic/Azure for Kujata/Earth Sphere.

  • MecHorn: Traded Mandrake for Plasma, and Vindicator for Tiger. Mandrake just feels to slow lately, plasma is really helpful in this meta, and with the thumping nerf tiger is an even more must have then usual since it no longer works on Makantor.
    *Necromancy Cass: Traded sister for void pulse, between sisters nerf and the decks desire for more spells I think it is the better choice.

April 20th:
*Added rank/win streak pics for Midrange Golem Vaath.
*Traded enfeeble for frostburn in Arcane Kara.
*Swapped Valknu in for C-burst in the Return of the Queen, which also absorbs the Valknu Vaath deck which I removed.
*Updated deck description for Aggro Keeper.
*Changed the Golem Queens rank to be gimmicky, swapped shroud for egg morph since it no longer is desperate for two drops to combo with burst, and morph is solid and has some combos.

  • Added Makantor back into Aggro Vaath dropping Gaze, and updated description.
    *Changed “Golems” name to “Ramp Golems” since I have a lot of golem decks. With the flash nerf this decks drops from S rank to highly competitive because the current meta is not kind to Juggernaught and now that you cant get those god hands its just not quite as good.
    *Removed old Master Challenge and Swarm Variax since they are outdated and made redundant by the V2 Master challenge list.
    *Overhauled my Clutch starhorn deck.

April 19: Merged and updated Midrange Golems and the Classic Midrange list. Merged and updated Splice and Vaath Smash. Split my Filth abyss decks one for Lillith one for Cass. All decks that ran C-burst are being Re-evaluated.

April 18: Eternal Army: Traded punish for lure. Wrote article for Cradle of Filth. Changed Queen Vaath’s name to the Golem Queen. Added my Return of the Queen Vaath Deck. Wrote article for Arcane Faie. Added a couple Sajj decks.

April 17: Updated Valknu Vaath for Ancient Bonds. Added arcane Faie to S rank list.

April 15th: Added midrange golem deck to the thread and put it as the main S rank Vaath deck.

April 12th: Antidraw Starhorn: Traded gaze for slasher, and mandrake for blood tear, added it to S rank list, removed Unstoppable.

April 10th:
*Sanguimancy: Traded a grasp for a trinity. Its rare to get two grasp plays in a game since if they dont start the game playing around grasp, they certainly will after they see it the first time, and trinity is amazing.
*Added some Zirix Decks

April 8th: Floodhorn: Added in Lavalasher and Godhammer in exchange for Rex and Razor Skin.

April 5h:

  • Clutch: Droped Rex, and Lavalance for tiger, thumping because its to good to pass up, and the former two cards are just sort of bad. Also dropped Kujata, and Shroud in favor Healing Mystic, and Azure Herald since it really needed some healing, and the former two just did not mesh well.
    *Updated Masochistic Jutsu.

March 31: Grime Deck made.

March 26: All Magmar, Abyss, and Vanar decks updated.

2 Likes

Man that was a lot of work. I think thats everything. Pretty much every deck got at least a small update, so even if you have seen them before in the old thread, please check out the most recent versions!

As always I appreciate input and constructive criticism.

6 Likes

Can you just put up the pngs of the decklists instead of the links? Its a lot easier on the viewers, especially those on a phone.

I suppose I could, I tend to have the opposite issue. Images never cooperate on my phone, and when I leave them as links it lets me and other make edits to the decklists with ease, and I do make regular updates.

But your not the first to ask, so perhaps I should start doing both, sigh, more work to be done.

Edit: I also apparently do not know how :sob:

Edit: 2 Think I figured it out.

Edit 3: This is so time consuming…Also I think I crashed bagoom so I guess its time for a break.

Edit 4: Well that took a couple hours, but everything has a picture now!

3 Likes

ive been testing a few of these (abyssian) decks, but i find there isnt enough card draw. then again i usually try to play control style and almost always make it past 9 mana. one game with that master challenge lilithe deck, i left an enemy spelljammer up all game and i still felt i was low on cards

Games rarely go on that long, but Variax Awesome BBs is all you need at that point, hand becomes almost irrelevant. Between Soujner and Variax in the V2 version I never really have a card advantage issue, although you do need to know how to conserve your resources.

I build most decks to thrive and play on curve rather then spend tempo on draw power. In the late game they tend do quite well in the top deck state should it come to that. Having lots of cards should not be needed, just need to know what to dig for and when to save certain things. If your playing a variax list, your late game advantage is covered.

1 Like

so, rarely is about half?? or is it just me?

Depends on the match up, the division your in, and how you play. If you blow all your removal early and play every card you can every turn then you will probably make it to the late game and then run out of steam.

Learning to conserve resources is a skill, there are turns when you just don’t play anything because you would rather have that shroud in hand for a big threat, or its late game and you only have two cost minions but you want to make sure you have something to replace with. Saving your removal for big threats and trading with small ones.

Usualy backing into a corner and slowly overwhelming with Variax does the trick if it comes to the super late game.

2 Likes

Shuffled my S rank list around a bit to include my new Midrange Golem Vaath, and added my Cradle of Filth Lillith deck.

Both decks are similar enough to existing things that I did not quite feel like making their own separate posts. Perhaps once I have a few more things to bundle them with I will, but for now I just tossed them in here.

2 Likes

I added in arcane Faie to the S rank section, and wrote a bit about the deck. I have no desire to make an individual thread for it since it is very overplayed at the moment and while I polished it up a little, I did not really make any groundbreaking discoveries.

I also did a couple updates, and added in the latest stuff from my recent threads.

Made a lot of major changes with the new patch, going to post todays changelog here to bump the post and draw attention.

April 20th:
*Added rank/win streak pics for Midrange Golem Vaath.
*Traded enfeeble for frostburn in Arcane Kara.
*Swapped Valknu in for C-burst in the Return of the Queen, which also absorbs the Valknu Vaath deck which I removed.
*Updated deck description for Aggro Keeper.
*Changed the Golem Queens rank to be gimmicky, swapped shroud for egg morph since it no longer is desperate for two drops to combo with burst, and morph is solid and has some combos.

  • Added Makantor back into Aggro Vaath dropping Gaze, and updated description.
    *Changed “Golems” name to “Ramp Golems” since I have a lot of golem decks. With the flash nerf this decks drops from S rank to highly competitive because the current meta is not kind to Juggernaught and now that you cant get those god hands its just not quite as good.
    *Removed old Master Challenge and Swarm Variax since they are outdated and made redundant by the V2 Master challenge list.
    *Overhauled my Clutch starhorn deck.

Id also like to draw some special attention to a couple decks. Midrange Vaath Golems may be the best deck in the meta now, Splice got a big update and is very strong, and then my Cradle of Filth decks got some pretty big changes to the point where they are basically new decks and there is one for Lillith and Cass.

I feel like showing off what the Vaath deck did before I run off and start playing other stuff, quite a few top rank players in that streak to:


5 Likes

How strong would it be if you’d cut one Plasma and one Sphere for two… let’s say Sisters? Or Boulders?
This is meant serious - thinking of making the deck even better then it already is.
Have you tried this?

With no Elus 3 Spheres seem a bit over the top and 3 Plasmas feel a bit clunky sometimes.
But this is only theorycrafting from my side.

No chance, both are Auto 3 in my opinion, without spheres you loose to aggro decks, without plasma you loose to Lillith, Vanar illusions, vet golems, and oblysks. Both are must haves.

Before the most recent patch I tried out both sister and breacher. While sollid they are better suited for other decks.

2 Likes

DUDE! your magmar golem midrange deck is perfect!!!
managed to reach rank 1 from 5 with a very easy 20 streak victory :partly_sunny:
been stuck at rank 5 all week long…
but now im stuck as well at rank 1 :cloud_rain: :cloud_rain:
any suggestion what deck should i play now ? :confused:
its kinda 50% chance victory at the moment

well done dude

1 Like

Rank one is pretty rough as it has a habbit of matching you with top rank S players at that point. Midrange mag is probably your best bet.

1 Like

yeah, met alot S player :cry:

i played like 20 game here at rank 1 and mostly i lost to some songhai backstab / artifact and mechazord :cry:
which i cannot overcome when they managed to summon it…
maybe some tweak could work ??
like adding 1 or 2 emp reducing 1 plasma storm and sunsteel maybe ?? since it is good against artifact and arcanyst and plasma storm mostly does not work against mirror and sunsteel is not that useful late game… (unless for replacing)

the most plasma storm i used in a game is just 1 anyway against swarm, obelyx, and arcanist.
i think 3 is too much because i tend to replace it and having 2 in a opening hand against mirror is very very bad sign…

else, your deck is very perfected for rank 20 till 1
can’t wait to see your next decklist and thank you :diamond_shape_with_a_dot_inside: