buh-ton more like duh-ton amiright?

Why should you play Stonescar? Here are the reasons!

- DAB on people who spent time, energy or even money grinding shiftstone and packs of the latest set as you beat them with a deck that is 99% old cards.

- LAUGH as you win game after game by simply reaching 4 power with a Jekk and a sigil in hand.

- HIGHROLL your opponents by simply playing cards on curve.

- MAKE A MOCKERY of the concept of influence by casting a card with harder influence than Icaria the Liberator on turn 4.

- CRUSH your opponent's pathetic blockers with overstatted units, overwhelm on every card, and the most tempo-efficient removal in the game.

- ZOOM through the ladder as every game takes less than 5 minutes to complete.

Maindeck Card Explanations
Darkblade Cutpurse pushes a lot of damage when combined with the efficient removal cards in the deck.

Ixtun Merchant is in the deck because I was unsatisfied with both the Salvo and Condemn market options, and there are no mono-shadow market cards good enough to compensate for the -1 point of life (relevant against un-Sigiled Jekk, Blightmoth, and Chemical Rounds) and lack of Overwhelm (relevant when Persuader is one of the market cards) that Cen Wastes Smuggler has.

Suffocate is an underplayed card in Stonescar. I firmly believe in running 4. It is particularly relevant with your 2 drops, as Cutpurse, Warleader and Instigator all have good synergy with it. I also see some people running Tocas and Pacifier for some reason. Finally, it dodges Silverblade Intrusion (and you are fairly happy if they have to waste a Friends in Low Places on it, especially early on before they can get the influence effects).

Buh-ton, Death's Reach is not as good as I hoped he would be, but he's alright. He does enough to earn his place in the deck and is a solid but not amazing inclusion. I prefer him over Bandit Queen because the deck doesn't go that wide and he's much better against sweepers. He also has strong synergy with Champion of Chaos and Cutpurse.

4 copies of Flame Blast is not standard, but I have long since been an advocate for it in Stonescar. The amount of face damage it lets you push is incredible and it gives you the ability to draw an out in many situations. While some people find it too clunky, I find that the sheer power level of the card is too high to want to remove it from my deck.

29 power is more than most people run, but I have a lot of ways to use extra power (Flame Blast, Jekk, Cutpurse, Phoenix Stone) and I firmly believe that the most important thing you can do with this deck is to curve out.

Market Card Explanations
Open Contract is a Slay for 1 power. The downside is not as relevant as most people think. A curve I often go is 2 -> 3 -> Merchant + Contract.

Kaleb's Persuader is impressive because it has synergy with so many different cards in the deck. Every Overwhelm unit (and there are a lot) appreciates it, Warleader can proc extra times off it (and be harder to block, which is one of the issues Warleader has later in the game), it gives units really high attack so Buh-ton can imbue them to kill enemy blockers, and Jekk draws two Troves off it (not to mention getting twice as much attack off the weapon itself because of Double Damage). Also, you can curve a Merchant on 3 into a Persuader on 4 on that Merchant.

Shugo Standard provides much-needed Overwhelm to cards like Jekk and Buh-ton, while also helping you fix power issues and Fire influence (important for Buh-ton, who needs FFFF).

Phoenix Stone is a power sink that provides good utility in board stalls and against control. The relative lack of relic hate floating around in Throne helps it stick around.

Bandit Queen has an extraordinarily powerful effect and can push lethal very easily if your opponent ever allows you to get a board. While Stonescar decks aren't built around it any more, it's still a terror to face when the opponent gets it in the right situation.