Still in the process of tuning the deck, (especially versus Praxis, which has been nerfed but will still probably exist).
The deck revolves around
Haunting Scream, but doesn't necessarily need it to function. I decided on a more value based version of the deck with cards such as
Gorgon Fanatic and
Immortalize instead of
Dusk Raider and
Rapid Shot.
Vara's Intervention being buffed to two health loss makes it much more useful as an anti aggro card, and allows the value to outlast other aggro decks. The use of intervention is also what pushed me to use
Ripknife Assassin as one of the two drops. Arguably
Dusk Raider should take up parts of that slot instead.
Overall, the deck has felt pretty resilient against control decks since your main value engine keeps coming back. It's decent versus aggro by virtue of having a decent removal package, and having quite a bit of incidental lifegain. It does suffer versus midrange decks with
Sandstorm Titan if you don't have removal on hand.
Opening Hand:
You really want three power in your opening hand and at least one of each type. Ideally you have something like a crest, seat, and sigil. You probably want a two drop, preferably
Blackhall Warleader if you're going first or against control,
Ripknife Assassin otherwise. Ideally, you have a merchant or scream in hand, as well as a good target for the scream. The final card you probably want is removal.
Important Points in the Curve:
3 Mana: At this point you have some ability to play two spells in a turn which lets you build up tempo. It's also the sweet point for getting a merchant down to get what you're missing or to drop a
Gorgon Fanatic down.
5 Mana: Merchant into
Haunting Scream. It's good.
2 Shadow: Gets you
Rhysta, Acantha's Herald and
Desecrate.
Primal: Seriously, you need at least one of it for the deck to really work at all. Sure one isn't enough for
Rindra, the Duskblade but it'll let you play your merchants, fanatics, and screams. Double primal is much less important then your first primal.
EDIT(S):
1)
Vara, Vengeance-Seeker hasn't felt useful in the current meta. Not enough decks running aegis units, and we don't really care about face aegis with this deck. Replaced with
Rhysta, Acantha's Herald for more value and a more aggressive plan.
2)
Annihilate has been good, but has felt like there's a lack of good targets. Temporarily swapping with
Ice Bolt to see how well it works instead. Might swap even for stuff like
Rindra's Choice depending on how things go. Currently suspecting that a fourth
Desecrate and two of
Annihilate is best.
3) Turns out [card[Desecrate[/card] as a four of does play better then the others.
Annihilate has been better then
Ice Bolt. The major issues the deck faces is
Sandstorm Titan and versus Praxis Ramp giving them an extra power has honestly been a bit painful so sticking swapping back. Been having a little issues with power, not quite enough primal at points in the game, and flooding out a little. Swapping out a
Shadow Sigil and
Amethyst Waystone for
Crest of Cunning.
4) Major changes to Praxis which the deck is pretty weak against. Adding in
Suffocate to deal with the aggressive 2 drops that are going to be more popular now.
Vara's Intervention is being taken out. It's a real shame because I do like the card, but it's honestly just not been strong enough to warrant running. There's not enough 2 health units that it works well on, the unblockable won't be as useful with the reduction in
Sandstorm Titan, and the unseen is still nice with
Rindra, the Duskblade but if more grave recursion feels necessary, I'll just up the amount on other aspects. Lowering myself by 1 on
Desecrate just because the extra cost is painful. Fast speed is nice but the deck doesn't really want to be reactive anyways. Might go down on another for something else, but not sure yet.