Third and probably final version of the deck.
Idea is to push early for damage and finish the game with either
Crystallize or
Maul. Which one you need will depend on the matchup. For instance:
Palace control is an instant
Maul fetch. That deck has lots of card draw. Two things to take into account: if you get an early merchant, try to push for as much damage as possible pre-turn 5 (harsh rule incoming). Keep if possible an available
Equivocate if they have a
Vargo Redclaw and they are about to hit turn 6, to
Equivocate before it gets the +4+4 aegis. If
Maul damage is not enough, you can hold until they get a
Xo of the Endless Hoard, and let it attack, so that they draw the treasure troves. That is when you
Maul. Finally, one thing to note is that
Permafrost will be less reliable post turn 6, so swapping it for somthing in the market is a very valid option.
Aggro decks. Here it will depend on whether or not you managed to keep your units, and how far ahead/behind you are. In a stalled board, you want
Crystallize. If you got early presence, and an early merchant,
Clock of Stolen Hours is good. If you feel the need to kill something asap, maybe
Xenan Initiation is what you need. Keep in mind here, that you can delay playing
Teacher of Humility for one turn to play
Teacher of Humility with
Bear Guard Bayonet, and avoid
Torch /
Suffocate. Will die to
Vanquish now, though.
As a general rule, you will want to pledge a
Cykalis, the Burning Sand, a
Moonstone Vanguard and lastly a
Shadowlands Borderscout (in that order of preference). This is a GENERAL rule, as you may prefer pledging a
Moonstone Vanguard if you already have a
Glasshopper against an aggro match up, you may want to pledge to keep the curve as smooth as possible (more than one
Moonstone Vanguard or
Cykalis, the Burning Sand and
Shadowlands Borderscout both in hand). Still, pledging is not compulsory, and if you have a decent hand, you may want to keep it (having more than one card that benefits from pledging in your hand, and being unable to pledge is an instant redraw, though)
Another general rule is that, if you pledged a
Cykalis, the Burning Sand, you will want to play
Dusk Raider BEFORE a
Glasshopper, to give the created cykalis berserk (and you almost always want that).
You may want to keep an eye open for whether or not you play
Teacher of Humility +
Bear Guard Bayonet in the same turn (I know i'm repeating myself, but bear with me). To keep in mind: justice will still be able to kill you with both
Vanquish and
Defiance; shadow will kill you with
Annihilate, but not with
Suffocate;
Torch will no longer be a threat. Plus,
Teacher of Humility gets overwhelm, and will most likely trigger its infiltrate if you attack (if you also have
Twilight Hunt, you can unleash the wombo combo).
As side notes, although i do not like
Shadowlands Borderscout in general, this deck plays many removal magnets before
Shadowlands Borderscout comes into play, vastly increasing its survival chance. Once it's down and ready, this card is a beast, especially combined with one of our relics, or with a possible berserk, or with bear guard bayonet. drawing 4 cards from an atack is beautiful.
Mirror Image has earned its place here because most of what you can duplicate has a great added value. Be it a merchant, a
Cykalis, the Burning Sand, a
Glasshopper, a
Dusk Raider, any creature to which you added killer, etc. Still, having two in hand is extremely awkward, so only two in the deck
Initiate of the Sands vs
Journey Guide:
Initiate of the Sands wins (for me) because of the following: i. it allows a turn two merchant into a turn three
Clock of Stolen Hours. ii. it allows a turn two
Teacher of Humility +
Bear Guard Bayonet. iii. It allows a turn two crest (or other depleted power, remember, turn one you want to pledge) and
Dusk Raider. iv. It allows you to push for some (meager, yes, but still non-zero) damage. The only real advantage
Journey Guide has (IMO) is not dying to
Snowball (being a better blocker is not important, as you will almost always be wanting to atack early).
I think that's all. Only things i'm still testing are the
Cobalt Waystone in the market (which I still VERY occasionally need), and the split
Permafrost -
Equivocate (permafrost less useful against palace control and SST/
Moonstone Vanguard). Any idea will be greatly appreciated.