Wispy Woods (Xenan Wisp Tribal)

Props to Reddit user Gallowgrim for brewing a list which I heavily tweaked to make this one here.

I like weird tribal decks, and I was already messing with this one when DWD went and buffed it. After that, I played it more-or-less exclusively from Gold I to Master this month, and here we are. After experimenting with a Primal splash for Haunting Scream and flirting with the idea of dipping into Justice for Crownwatch Press-Gang, I decided to commit to pure Xenan for consistency's sake, and that's the version I've gotten the best results with.

I guess you'd call it an aggro combo deck. You win by playing Weary Spitelings and/or Pathlighters and recurring them until they get humongous, then killing your opponent with them.

Twelve recursion spells may seem like a lot, but this is a deck that lives or dies on its main gimmick, so I wanted as much redundancy as I could get. Your main threats get stronger every time they come back, and your opponent is going to run out of removal spells eventually. Silence hurts pretty badly, and if they're running Equivocate, there's not much you can do in response aside from be sad, but that's just the cost of doing business.

It must be said that I'm not an amazing player. I've never placed in a tournament, I don't make Master every month, and when I do, I've never hit triple digits. But I like to play fun decks, and this is a fun deck. Maybe you'll have fun with it too.

With all of that said, here's a few notes. Take them with a grain of salt.

* Always mulligan aggressively for wisps. You want bodies on the board ASAP.
* Pathlighter's Infiltrate ability is basically flavor text. It's nice when you can discount your Soulbringers, but don't hold out for it.
* Entrancer seems unassuming, but they do some serious work. Always silence Merchants when given the option to do so.
* Void Drummer might seem like a win more card, but I say it's a win exactly the right amount card. At worst, it's an inevitable clock if your opponent can't remove it. More frequently, it makes your threats snowball hard. An argument could be made for running three of them, but I like having four. That said, though, Drummer's a super niche card, so craft at your own risk. They're great in this deck but not in much else as of yet.
* Kerendon Merchant is a perfectly reasonable option in place of Ebon Dune Smuggler if you'd like, and having another Deadly unit to apply a Killer effect to is certainly nice, but being able to drop EDS on EOT and play the thing you grabbed on your next turn is very useful in a deck with such a low power curve.
* Feel free to swap out Annihilate depending on the meta, but four Banish is non-negotiable. Adjudicator's Gavel ruins your day hard, and having something in your maindeck that can dumpster it is a must.
* If you have the power to spare, don't forget to Dark Return your Soulbringer or Guide instead of your wisps for extra value!
* Xenan Temple is good, but don't hesitate to replace it if you're on a tight budget. I threw it in because I pulled one, it's not a make-or-break card.
* I've experimented with Magenta Wisp, and while it sounds good on paper, it's consistently underperformed for me. Feel free to try it if you want. Maybe you'll have better luck.
* Likewise, Memory Dredger may seem tempting, but the fact that it has to survive for a turn and then make contact before it does anything is a pretty big dealbreaker in my book. You want your wisps back immediately.