Budget Armory

I've seen a lot of people posting their takes on FTJ Armory, but all of them are very expensive and you have to commit a lot of shiftstone to make most of the legendary cards that won't see much play outside of FTJ Armory. So I decided to make a budget version that I think is quite effective. It might not be as cheap as most decks I consider to be budget decks, but it doesn't require a single legendary.


- Relic Weapons -

The heart of the deck is its weapons, and at the center of that is Edge of Prophecy. At base value it's a 6/6 relic weapon for 7, but all buffs that it gains prior to being played get doubled, and if you grab it from the void and play it again it gets even bigger. I've had quite a few games where this is a 24/24 weapon or even bigger. It has a lot of potential and is the main win condition of the deck.

Hammer of Glory is another really solid weapon. It can kill sites and silence small pesky units, like all the corrupt and exalted units running around, but its main draw is simply that it is a 4/5 weapon for 5. This can come down fairly early and efficiently trade with 1 to 2 units and can be grabbed by Dragon Forge on turn 3 for a turn 4 play.

Sword of Icaria is a decent 3 drop. It plays well with the units in the deck and can put some early pressure on your opponent if they are spending too much time setting up or just kill a small unit and make way for yours to punch face. If you're lucky the warcries will land on your weapons.


- Units -

Rakano Artisan, Jadehorn, and Conspicuous Traveler all buff your weapons in some way, as well as provide decent board pressence. Jadehorn is probably the best for this, because of the warcry and it can chump block 2 enemies over 2 turns, which can buy you enough time to play a massive Edge of Prophecy to save you from death and usually win the game.

Strange Blacksmith isn't an amazing unit itself, but can retrieve weapons from the void. The pay 8 effect is usually too expensive, but not impossible to activate.


- Spells -

Dragon Forge. Lets you grab your weapons consistently. You could slot in some niche stuff like Stonesmelt Dragon, but I prefer to make the deck more consistent.

Disjunction. This card lets you counter other relic strategies and get back your weapons from the void. It's crazy good right now.

Shen-Ra Speaks is your best friend. It lets you reset the board when you get overrun and clear the way for massive Prophecies.

Aamri's Choice and Display of Creation help protect your face/weapons. Display also helps you consistently get power and fodder for the market. The last line on Display isn't too useful, but the rest makes up for that.


- Market -

Our market card of choice is Blazing Salvo. The 2 damage is a solid effect, killing small units or helping finish off units your relic weapons can't quite kill. The main reason for using it however is the 2 cost market, which has some really good stuff for armory.

Pillar of Progress. I have always liked having a power card in the market and this is the next best thing. The +1 attack for relic weapons is a solid bonus to go on top too.

Soldrain Smithing. Maybe the best card in the market. gives us more consistent ways to get back Prophecy.

Unmake gives us more ways to counter opponents relics, plus we can hit 2.

Reunite pulls Strange Blacksmith from the deck, so we can get even more relic recursion.

Purify. This last card is more of a flex spot, but being able to silence or deal 3 damage can be useful in some scenarios and most of the more annoying corrupt units hate both effects.


- Upgrades -

Creation Chant. I used seek powers becaus they are pretty much the same thing, but can help save on shiftstone. Use the chants instead if you have them.

Ageworn Vestige and Starsteel Daisho. Both of these cards would probably be my first crafts. Both as one ofs, since the first copy is so much better than each additional thanks to Dragon Forge. Most decks are running multiple copies of each however, some even running all 4, so I would try to fit as many as you have in the deck.

Naoki, Valiant Warrior and Xulta Arcanum. Both of these are bombs in FTJ and can provide a lot of value. I don't think they are as important as the legendary relic weapons though, and can only be played in these colors, so they would probably be my last crafts.