Crazy Flying Lizards aka Gauntlet on Hard Mode

First of all, this deck is not a great one for grinding. It is a fun deck to play if you like control, Dragons, drawing cards and being put in difficult decisions and to break up the monotony of the grind. It is a very difficult deck to play optimally and easy to make careless mistakes and sequencing errors compared to other decks. Skylord Tolek is an absolute bomb in this deck, fixing our influence and powering out some sweet OTKs from time to time. This card is the whole reason to play three faction and a large part of the fun in this build. I suspect that a Skycrag build is probably better but it still won't be an optimal deck for grinding.

I talked about the Market extensively in my article here so if you're interested, check it out but suffice it to say I think it's pretty close to optimal now.

A few exclusions of note. I do not run Oni Dragonsmith or Teething Whelp because there are simply too many pings in gauntlet, and if you do not curve one into the other you're getting beaten by a Firemane Cub. Similarly Burningcore Drake just doesn't cut it with one health and no ability to block. Teething Whelp does not work because the aggressive decks will overrun you in gauntlet. You need a three health two-drop or removal in the two-slot in general, with very few exceptions (Crownwatch Paladin, Ripknife Assassin etc). You will also notice the list runs zero Torch instead opting for the full playset of Suffocate. This deck will win the game easily if you can stick a few Dragons and very rarely needs Torch to go face. The decision is very close when you factor in Spellbound Vestige but surprisingly Suffocate still has tested better. Suffocate hits a TON of units that Torch doesn't and the vast majority of the cards Torch hits still. We need four because we have no early units, and we have no early units because my testing revealed that they are pretty unplayable. If Teething Whelp ever gets buffed to a 2/3, it will be a snap include and then Oni Dragonsmith goes back in despite the ping risk. A good three-drop Dragon would also be of great help and that would allow Smokedancer to be an include as well.

Strategize gets the nod over Dragon Forge (sadly) or Quarry because one, we don't have any weapons and two, we run a lot of removal which can be very situational and high cost cards which can be bottomed early to add much needed consistency. I couldn't find room for the 4th copy though.

Removal wise, we can't run Desecrate because of SS influence so Ice Bolt gets the nod to beat multi-faction units like Reality Warden. I already talked about Suffocate, Annihilate is a pretty standard three of, and four Permafrost are just great. Blazing Salvo is fantastic as additional early removal because believe me, this deck needs it.

The powerbase is tenuous but passable with just enough consistency thanks to our three faction pledge Tolek. I picked the Seats that I most wanted for turn one and a few Crests for consistency. Diplomatic Seal is actually good in this deck, because with the exception of Tolek, the influence requirement is FFPS and it fills in the missing influence more often than not. Be very careful with sequencing your power, and note that in slower matchups you may have to take the time to get depleted power, perfect influence even if that means missing a turn two play. I'm not sure i'd change it at all but the deck probably would like another primal and shadow influence if it could fit. Common Cause is not playable because we don't run enough units being a control deck.

Vile Collaborator helps win races and Cozin Darkheart is a great value engine. Look to combo it with Rapid Shot for a unit kill plus a Dragon and a Treasure. Don't be afraid to just hit face for 5 either to get a Dragon on board and a card.

The last card I will discuss is Black-Sky Harbinger over Karvet, Solar Dragon. BSH is not only easier on influence, but it mops up tokens admirably which is very important for this deck. The card is great, essential as a four of in this build and oh so fun to play when cost reduced by Crimson Firemaw.

Have fun playing this, remember it's a good deck but no where close to the best deck on a gold/hour basis.

Results:

7 wins Company of Exiles
7 wins Power of Progress
4 Wins with loss to a good draw from Kodosh's Armory. I also made several MASSIVE punts that might have cost me the game.
1 Win, Combrei Alliance beat us with a Double Divining Rod special...
5 wins, loss to strength in numbers. Another GIANT misplay. Failed to pull Eremot's from market which would have wiped the board. Should eat dinner before 10 PM apparently. This loss was entirely pilot error and should have been a trivially easy win.
2 Wins, AI nut draw Argenport Shootout and I drew power. Lots of power.
4 wins, AI nut draw with the High Council. They had exact lethal when we had lethal on the crackback. And a 1 cost BSH in hand. Deck needs relic hate (Obelisk is a beating), which I have since added in the form of Kaleb's Choice.
5 wins, Combrei Alliance with Elias Destiny on the very top card (of course).
7 wins, Limitless Possibilities