Mech Titan Ox (Tech/Help)

[cookedpoo]

Possibly the most competitive Mech deck I’ve created so far, currently in Diamond 3 riding on a 5 win streak while blowing apart wanderer, aggro, and fault decks.

Plays like standard Ox, where you’re planning on dropping 1 minion per turn, and establishing tempo with minions like Dancing Blades, and Bonereaper. The difference between standard Ox, and Mech Ox, is that there is another win-con, at the cost of the trial(s) being slightly less reliable.

Cards
Weird 1-ofs and 2-ofs are due to lack of cards

Mech Package: Mechs are slowly being played more in the current meta, with the nerfs to EMP, the synergies between them, along with a “Trial” that can rival even Wanderer.

Wings is one of the best mechs in the game, denying your opponent a crucial mana tile, and being able to drop threats anywhere.

Sword, being one of the lesser mech units, is incredibly good with Kaleos, as he can be positioned in a safer spot, and then blinked to where he needs to be.

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Bloodtear: Not much I can say about this card that people already don’t know about.

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Azure Herald: Also not much I can say about this, but can be replaced with Metaltooth if the deck needs more removal.

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Thunderhorn: Anti-swarm, disrupts opponent’s positioning, and crazy post trial. One of the greatest 4 drops even after its nerf.

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Dancing Blades: Deals 3 damage, and develops a strong body, usually taken over Geomancer and Kron when replacing.

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Geomancer: Turns your BBS into a 2 Mana machinegun, and develops a strong body. Has no immediate impact, so can be replaced with Sunset Paragon (which I unfortunately don’t have).

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Kron: Has a great body, and develops board, along with being pretty crazy post trial by turning replaces into artillery, can also be replaced with Sunset Paragon

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Bonereaper: I actually had a lot of trouble deciding between this or Eternity Painter, but settled on reaper because this removes threats, has a better body, and locks down enemy units/general. I also didn’t like the idea of turning all enemy units into 1/3 Panddos, but I want the forum’s opinion on which is better.

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Zendo: Zendo is Zendo

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Grove Lion: With control of the board, Grove Lion is the nail in the coffin by allowing your general to attack basically everything without harm, and being immune to the first hit by the enemy.

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Zurael: There is a lot I want to say about this card, but man, this is seriously one of the best cards in the deck. With loads of strong minions in the deck, and the perfect curve, bringing back a single 6 drop is enough to win the game, not to mention it destroying the enemy general if played back-to-back with Ox. Too bad it can’t bring back Mechaz0r.

Replays

https://play.duelyst.com/replay?replayId=-LPNrWTXDyX5_XuccmG3
https://play.duelyst.com/replay?replayId=-LPNrbjbdhuYbA-lWKwf Slight misplay with dropping herald to only get immolated
https://play.duelyst.com/replay?replayId=-LPNrdTDKxWbS2jkF3iy
https://play.duelyst.com/replay?replayId=-LPNrelpe_-2Sz3_jTQK
https://play.duelyst.com/replay?replayId=-LPNrfwoaLmjwkMkUpy0

Thoughts? Questions? Any advice on making the deck even better?

[romdrake]

why don’t you include keeper of the vale in that deck ? don’t you have it ?

[bepoest]

THANK YOU MASTER

Edit: You should call it “Ox-Mex chicken wings”

[alexx55]

Keeper of the Vale works a bit differently to Zurael. While Zurael revives any minions that were killed on your opponents turn, Keeper summons one minion that died during the WHOLE game. Which means for this deck, there is a high chance to summon a bad minion(something you dont want because then Keeper becomes an insane tempo loss)

[bepoest]

• I find interesting that your mana curve is “low”, i.e. you went for 6x of each mana cost and use less of the 6 and 7 mana spots. This is a clever exploration of the archetype.
• I suppose that by bringing Mechaz0r! and other win conditions along this completely makes up for it! I didn’t know Zurael could be so decisive, but your replays clearly show that.
• Also lower cost cards mean that you have more room to play your Geomancer BBS.
• I always see other decks choosing Eternity Painter - I don’t own it so I can’t comment, except that it makes me happy that Bonereaper is a valid choice as well.

All things considered, a very interesting deck for me and another strong urge to craft unplanned Legendaries…

I’m thinking some people would like more Grandmaster Zendo in there.
I agree that some Sunset Paragons would be good.

I find that Grove Lion is a great pick, the end game is generally pretty tight for this type of deck in my experience.

If you want to slightly increase your Trial chances, you may slip in a single Dagona, probably removing a 1-drop.

Kaleos is a brave choice, and I learned a bit watching the positioning in your replays.

Thanks a lot for sharing.

[melkorita]

mmm I’m playing Ox right now but the playstyle is kinda different between the regular one and the mech one, but still there are some thoughts I can share…

First of all, the most shocking, I don’t use thunderhorns or dancing blades! oh the heresy!
I feel like that thunderhorn can easily be played around most of the time, and not playing mist dragon seal or kiling edge or aspect of shimzar, most of the time it ends up being a 4/4 that dies to the usual bad things at 4 hp mark and when you play it after the trial it looks like an overkill to me, at 4 mana I’m playing 2x flamewreath,2x lightbenders and 2x purgatos and i’m very happy with that (even though benders are situational, but when you want it, you REALLY want it).

At 5 mana, after a bit of testing I went with sunset paragon and kron, the first is for wanderer mainly, and could give you the chance for a 2 for 1 or 3 for 1 if your opponent is unaware. I still not sure if i’m 100% happy about it, cause i don’t like reactive plays, but it does its job vs wanderer, which plagues the game right now.
Kron is just an overall amazing card, annoying as hell if not dealt in 1 turn, the spawns triggers the trial, he got provoke… me likes him.
Dancing blades, while having a very nice body and a good OG they can be still played around and i feel like they are not impactful enough…

Geomancer… well i really feel it doesn’t fit this kind of deck, you don’t have eight gates, mentor, you are not aggro…idk i just feel that at 5 mana there are better cards for OX.

Bonereaper is surely annoying af, but sometimes 2 dmg is not enough, so i feel like that as AOE removal painter is better, even though i hate too to deal with 1/3 pandos vs wanderer, but 1/3 is still better than a 9/7 that just got 2 dmg from reaper

Grove lion again i feel like doesn’t do enough. Not having spells i always want minion with big impact on the board.

Zurael can be ok i guess (while i still prefer emp and calligrapher, especially since you have no draw in ox) but the question is… how often do you reach the trial? You just got 3x zurael to reach the 7 minions mark, is that enough?

Also, have you considered juxtaposition? I feel like it’s always an amazing card, even though i guess that mechs have even less space than regular ox

[deathsadvocate]

I did do some experimenting with a mech Variant. I did not like it as much as my standard one so I neglected to publish it, and did not quite finalize the build, but here is where I left off:

http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToxMDEsMToxNTQsMjoxOTA1MiwzOjE5MDAyLDM6MTEwODQsMzoxOTAwMywzOjE5MDA0LDM6MTkwMDUsMzoxOTAwNiwzOjExMTE1LDM6MTEwNjQsMzoxMTAzMCwzOjEzOSwyOjEzMSwzOjExMDkzLDE6MTExMjE=

If budget is a concern kron can be switched for Dancing Blades, Zendo for Bone Reaper, and Dagona for a third bloodtear. The rest of the options feel pretty mandatory though.

[alplod]

Purple Unicorn is probably the best Neutral for control purposes now. Not running it is criminal, imho.

With this curve some draw may fit, but I’m not sure.

Zurael seems cool though. I tried it myself in OX decks to no success, but it could shine here with lots of cheap minions around.

[bepoest]

@deathsadvocate How would you feel replacing the EMP with Zurael the Lifegiver in there?

[deathsadvocate]

Cant say I am a fan, but also cant say I have tested it. EMP is just such an important catch all.

[cookedpoo]

@deathsadvocate

How do you feel about Bonereaper vs Painter in the meta as a whole, and in the deck? Having only one discourages me from using it, but will take a look back at it and might replace zendo for it.

[eurasianjay]

Tbh I’d play Zendo before either and reaper before Painter for what it’s worth. Painter remains horribly situated in the current meta and while I’m a old fan of reaper, a more proactive approach seems better suited here.

[melkorita]

I’m using 2x of both painter and zendo and i feel like they are both situational… Zendo without KE is just good in general cause it disrupts positioning etc, but not considering the times you manage to make the opponent crush into a dagona i’d say it’s good but nothing spectacular…

I almost feel like that painter is better in most situation, cause aoe removal is just very good, and even if you put him in the face of the general he still have to use a removal on him.

It’s a close call imho, even if i prefer them both to reaper

[deathsadvocate]

Painter is one of the decks few actual answers to big threats and can sort of double as AOE. Wanderer Buff, Titan, Chakram and the like have made pandos less appealing, but it still feels like a must have as sometimes it can just win a game outright, other times pandos with buffs are annoying but still tend to be a lot less scary compared to what they used to be. And when all you need to do is stall another turn or two until trial Painter is the best bet for that.

Reaper has always been a sollid card but it happens to share an expensive mana cost with a lot of faction powerhouses. It’s a good card and a sollid substitute, and occasionally a good fit for a list, but there are usually just better options.

Zendo is great here to, but actually setting up good Zendo plays is tough and a rare occurrence, and it’s even more difficult in the mech variant. Which is why I was willing to cut him to two in this variant. I share @melkorita sentiment here, Zendo is a powerhouse but the deck already has a proactive approach and trial to win so Zendo is not as needed. Of course it is much stronger in the version that runs more dagonas and higher stat things and I do have it at three there, but the mech version is extra cramped on room.

Painter is priority number one, Reaper is a decent substitute for either, and Zendo is the next best.

[owlbeastmd]

Honestly don’t get the obsession with the “titan” part of any ox deck hewing to such rules. You’re shooting yourself in the foot by omitting jux, as it can win games on its own lol.

Edit: if you aren’t running wreath, you should really question why you aren’t running reva as well.

[owlbeastmd]

nods sagely

…

[deathsadvocate]

I have tried the Mist/Jux variant, and while yes both are crazy strong spells, it just does not feel consistent. When you chose that route you sort of end up with a deck that is slightly weaker then normal Midrange Kal and Titan, I have found specializing to be the better bet. Ox is just a wildly different deck then normal Kaleos and thats partly why it was thought of as bad for so long because people would try to build and play it like normal Kal which just was not great.

While there are some very powerful movement based units like Wreath, Backstab, and the like, there are units that are nearly as strong without needing movement based stuff. As for why to not run reva there are a couple reasons: Heartseekers without buffs are pretty underwhelming, in general you dont want to use your BBs at all you want to curve out, and finally Kal has natural synergy with the big bodies and stuff like painter that the deck prefers:

http://www.bagoum.com/deckbuilder#MToxMDEsMToxNTQsMzoxOTA1MiwzOjExMDg0LDM6MTA5ODEsMzoxMzAsMzoxMTA1NiwzOjEwOTkxLDM6MTExMTUsMzoxMTA2NCwzOjExMDMwLDM6MTM5LDM6MTMxLDM6MTEwOTMsMjoxMTEyMSwtMzoxMDMwNiwtMzoxMTA4MCwtMzoxMTEwNw==

DeathsAdvocate's Master Thread: Eternal Trials of Mythron

On release people did not expect Ox to end up being powerful, but once folks figured out that there was an abundance of quality minions to fit the curve and that if you were willing to forgo spells entirely, or at least for the most part, the deck became very consistent, that mixed with a few interesting interactions lead to the deck being a real sleeper.

One of the decks biggest aces is the fact that Thunderhorn, and to a lesser extent Purgatos and similar, proc off of Oxs effect which can be quite devastating. This along side that luckily the ordering of effects is in our favor as Opening Gambits occur before anything else, so things Like Dagona, EMP, and Paragon will resolve before Oxs effect goes off helping control where you will get the Ox effect. You need to summon things from your action bar for the trial, but not the destiny, meaning Krons effect will not progress the trial, but will do damage once the destiny is online.

The biggest key to the deck is to simultaneously dig for the right card for the right match-up while also sculpting your hand to complete the trial. You very rarely want to play the same manacost twice if you can avoid it, and in general you want to avoid needing to use your BBs and instead look to curve out effectively, making kal the natural choice as your fine with not using his BBs but it also has good synergy with all the big bodies we run. As usual positioning is key, but this deck does take that to the next level as the majority of our cards, as well as Kals BBs, have a heavy positional focus. It will take a lot of practice to learn your matchups as they play pretty differently, sometimes you want to be very aggressive and win with tempo, other times you want to be super passive and just stall for your trial.

Another important thing to know is some various sequence tricks, the most obvious being if you have spare mana for minions on your Ox turn make sure you play ox before you play other things. Beyond simply curving out, your mana globe access can change things a bit as if you get a bigger drop early on that tends to mean you are able to double drop later on and or complete the trial with something cheaper and using the extra mana post Ox, the general rule is high early low later.

Then there is the general preferred order of units, which of course changes based on the match up, like Golden Mantela being the preferred three drop because it guarantees you to get both a one and a three drop, Purgatos being better early where as thunder is better post Ox, Kron being the safe pick but paragon being important depending on the match up, and painter being preferred to Zendo as its a better stalling tool but of course Zendo has various combos and match ups he is important for.

As usual the deck building phase for the deck is very important, but this one had a lot of unusual rules it needed to follow. You need to develop a perfect curve, avoid spells, avoid extra copies of the same mana cost, and rather then look for the usual synergistic songhai shenanigans instead you just want to play the best in slot mana cost units and or things that have synergy with Ox, while picking minions that double as answers to tricky situations rather then just raw power. Constructing the deck in this way not only makes Ox consistent, but it allows you to play a powerful midrange tempo oriented deck that is extremely proactive. You often do not even need your destiny to win, and often just the free body from Ox is all you need, but the destiny really secures the lategame even against things like Fault, Wanderer, or Xor.

There are a couple variants of the deck like the one that includes Mix/Jux as its only spells along side some of Songhais classic movement oriented units, or a mech variant, but I have yet to find a version of those that I feel as confident in as this one. The side deck helps cover certain matchups as well as are cards that may be considered should the meta shift.

The deck is complex both in the deck building phase and practice. But I think I have cracked it pretty well, it has really turned out to be a very powerful deck that has decent matchups across the board, and even favorable ones against some of the top decks.

[zanestheargent]

Pretty much, reminder that my most successful Ox deck, tho it is failing now for reasons beyond my understanding, i wander why, is a mecha-stab setup. Giving up Songhai’s trademark mobility and not making usage of their trademark mech? Giving up the good ol’ DeceptiProtocol combo? Guys, please.

As always the budget player and attempting to keep to keep things in place, this is the thing i’ll be running tonight as a test. I’d love to swap the EMPs for Caligraphers in order to set up a full force Rush finisher order.

The main thing i learned playing Ox is that you crave the sheer tempo of removal/entry and trade-free removal, so this shell basically goes as “everything i run can double as a great forced-attacker”. Protohorn? Protob0t? ProtoChassis? Inner Cannon? Inner Rigger? A lucky Katara? I’m even questioning in taking away the Shrouds to get more Maws and Wings for removal and positional surprising.