Alessi, Combrei Archmage
x1
1
Cliffside Porter
x4
1
Dark Return
x4
1
Excavate
x1
1
Ghar, Master Sandmage
x1
1
Meditation
x3
1
Swear Vengeance
x4
1
Xenan Lifespeaker
x2
2
Immortalize
x2
2
Strategize
x4
2
Xenan Initiation
x4
3
Crown of Possibilities
x2
3
Pearl Abbey Smuggler
x4
3
Pristine Light
x4
3
Stonepowder Alchemist
x4
5
Crownwatch Press-Gang
x4
Justice Sigil
x1
Primal Sigil
x1
Shadow Sigil
x1
Time Sigil
x1
Crest of Cunning
x2
Crest of Mystery
x4
Crest of Order
x4
Crest of Progress
x3
Crest of Vengeance
x4
Crest of Wisdom
x2
Emblem of Grodov
x1
Emblem of Kodosh
x1
Emblem of Linrei
x1
Emblem of Makkar
x1
View Deck on Shiftstoned
I like the idea of tinkering with allesi. Seems like an obvious option in pressgang and fast-spell buff heavy decks. Not sure it can compete with its alternatives though. Question is when would you get this over xenan lifespeaker, cliffside or ghar. Seems not so obvious to me.
Outcast fortress? Cant imagine you d ever pick that from the market. Put a knife in there it might save you in some aggro matchups.
Using smugglers decreases the likelyhood of you finding pressgang or cliffside porter (cause u cant put one in the market). So you wont combo as often. This is a combo deck so thats really bad.
I used them in my first version of the deck. Going J-merchant turned out to be better. (although i agree that the body of the smuggler is slightly better for the same reason allesi kinda works. Having some more reliable flying blockers is not so bad eather though.)
I tinkered with the xenan temple for a while. Noticed I barely ever want it over the other options so it eventually had to go.
Bastion of dawn is some artifact hate in the market which is an improvement over my list. On the other hand that card has really low synergy in a destiny deck (you wont have cliffsides in hand you want to combo with. Theyre on the board.)
Excavate is most of the time just worse then meditation. Doesnt buff and cant save your unit from being silenced. Meditation only barely makes the cut. So this card propably doesnt.
Open to ideas. But some of your changes just feel really arbitrary (like your market).
so, I am going to just guess that play styles of different players affect the piloting of decks. I tried your version 2.0 out and was only using the market to grab pristine.. a couple of times I got knife but overall there was never anything I really wanted out of the market.
Alessi does for me what the knife in the market of your list does.. I had more spell tools in this version, so I actually found grabbing her, with 2-3 spells in hand actually swings the game a bit.. and when the sites are down and she is there, it’s also free triggers, (same reason for the smuggler). I actually grab her a bit, and she is an excellent magnet for removal. Inevitable threat the way I see it.
Sites. Exactly what you think about them, is the veil I want to cast. I don’t actually care about any of the passive on the sites (although bastion has proven to synergize the best), but I more so grab them for distraction (enemy doesn’t pay attention to life and automatically attack sites to buy time) and if they survive, the unit that gets played from them all just serve to give another win con... I essentially run the version of the deck without the need for a market.. it’s just extra utilities.
Excavate because I’m not only buffing porter, but because this version utilized more tools, the excavate are generally for non-unit grabs from void.. (spells, sites, things discarded)
So overall there was some method to the madness.. I come from MTG, so I’m always deck building in my head, trying to see if there are more ways than one to skin a cat.. I’ve been recently playing with this deck, and it’s about as satisfying as the Vara sanctum decks. When the combo goes off, it’s so awesome.. so far the only issues I’ve had were against rakano aggro, certain yeti builds, and games where I get power screwed (3 power for 3+ turns).. but of course I need to pilot the deck more and adjust based on meta pockets.
Ps, this build also finally got me my “win 10 ranked in a row” achievement :)
You're aggro problems sure would be helped by a knife though.
And you can also just the sites that actually synergize as an alt-win-con. Having 5 market slots that all do the same is not reasonable. You say you dont need the market, but the most important mechanic of the market is, that it gives you answers for diffrent situations (like an ingame sideboard if you come from magic). So you should have tech cards in there, and it should be diverse.
The other thing that the market does well is making combos more reliable, but I can also see someone making the deck a little less about the combo, and more about just buffing units that profit highly. (like those smugglers)
Still convinced this isn't an optimal use for market if you go strictly by winrate.
But sites are propably the most fun cards in this game standalone. So I can see why it is appealing to put some suboptimal once in there as well. I havent played bastion at all yet myself, which is quite a shame.
You. Should. Play. BASTION.. a lot of the sites, which I though were useless I am starting to see shells for.. (even profane nexus is starting to appeal to me with the builds I’ve played against)... but by far in this version, bastion is what I grab the most.. between desert Marshall, enforcer, trickster, and now even decimated shen-ra, there is a lot of silencing going around, and when porters and such are bigger and badder than they should be, silence is backbreaking for us.. so I will say I value that site the most.. the other two were replaced, tomb is just a revenge mechanic in itself, and palace is too good with a revenge porter on board.. buffed.. omg.. I could go on forever about synergies lol.. but you know.. you started the deck!
Edit: I'm allready trying this and I love it. Might need the prideleaders though if I face more aggro again. Its just a good standalone card. But for control having +1 crown and pristine sure is alot better.
If youd replace the prideleaders what cards would you put in? Im thinking just the 4th pristinelight and the 4th crown. Mbe actually maindeck tomb so i can get the quirin into the market. Thats certainly an interesting alternative. (my deck cant run prideleader in the market cause I use J-merchant)
I mean bastion is a 5 power card. Of course it does something when you play it (it has to). But palace is just so op. I think it makes it really hard for other sites to be relevant.
The tomb... I am actually so sad that this card just barely makes the cut. I mean it is the ONLY alternative card that gives a unit revenge and its still really not that great in this deck which is crazy to me. I like it in the deck but srsly you d think if there was any deck where tomb overperforms it would be this one. Makes me sad. (we should make some noise for new revenge givers)
I think meditation is a great counter to silences. (a fast spell one at that) Sadly, while in some games its crazy good, in others the card is just dead. And with my setup I can't get it of the market.
Did you ever need the second lifespeaker? I think the ghustrider in a deck that draws alot cliffside porters is just really strong.
Also did you try reweave? Someone else mentioned that the synergy to ghar is really good, which is almost an understatement.
Theres really a billion things to consider with this deck.
I have tried reweave and really only used it for ghar.. it slows the gameplay down tremendously having a shifter unit, that isn’t huge when it’s unshifted, and you basically lose 3 turns, which you could’ve actually done something, so I removed it completely.
I normally draw my 1-drops in this sequence +/- ... porter, then xenan, then alessi if xenan lives, or second xenan when they kill my first. I put the second one in there, for the reason that when I needed to start getting lifegain units, my one copy would be in void and I would have no re-animate spells in hand. I’m pleased with 2 in the deck.. while gust rider is strong, I hate the fact that I have to discard TWO.. smfh. One would make him appealing to me, but two can hurt a lot sometimes
I am liking meditation. It helps all of my units, and with the porter, I don’t have to wait for a dark return or initiation to buff him. And I draw him right away.. I personally like it.. before hand I was drawing max 2/3 Porters at a time from void, which couldn’t compare to board state.. now, I average a 3/4 porter and hit 4/5 consistently as well..
Bastion has been awesome for me. Duplicating porter in hand, or crownwatch.. the relic hate has been awesomee... 5 drop, 5 loyalty. It’s great cause a lot of the time I can allow shields down and it can take a turn getting hit, and still survive to continue your plan. I only grab palace when I am almost positive I have the game wrapped up.. it’s an icing on the cake addition for me.. I am also sad about tomb. It’s should at LEAST be 3 loyalty. 2 is unfair.. maybe we can petition it hahaha
Also, in discord, someone recommended I add memory dredger to the list. What do you think about that card in this build?.. I told them that I didn’t think it fit, but did I speak too soon?
Also dredger and has the famous problem of doing nothing when played. And our deck is not build arround making him able to hit face. Without running removal I dont think that card hits its full potential.
Im happy you feel the same about meditation as I do. That card sucks so hard, but its just perfect for the deck, so it actually kinda works.
At some point I started keeping the xenan in hand until a turn where I can play darkreturn or immortalize alongside it. But i can see the value in just running the first one out, having a backup plan so you can actually make them remove a 1-drop with removal. I might think about it.
I think your right about reweace. Xenan initiation serves as a sacrifice outlet most the time as well. Ghar combo is nice though.
I used to run a single copy of unfinished buisness in the deck as another way to trigger revenge. Makes the porters pretty big pretty fast to. (but slow spell buffs are just generally bad I guess)