Infestation Shimmerpack [Updated FoA / Masters]

Quick Summary and tips

I climbed the entire ladder with just this deck, it has a very good match-up vs the ever popular TJP Berserk/Blitz list and the Icaria removal pile/armory lists. It's density of deadly units and ability to spam out the board really make it a great anti-meta deck.
As an aside the Vault of the Praxis should very rarely be chosen from market atm but there is still some niche match-ups where it shines brightly. Anything heavy removal with low threats it makes a excellent choice.

A suprisingly strong deck that can hedge its odds vs almost any deck. Spam up the board with tokens, try to get some chip damage in, and then combo with Xenan Obelisks or Shimmerpack for lethal around turn 6-8. Your hp tends to be more valuable than tokens unless you are lining up for a lethal. If the opponent Harsh rules/sweeps your board utilize the Torrent of Spiders to refill but its alright to use it for 2-3 spiders to bolster your board when you have lethal coming up or have more torrents in hand. Make sure to always be counting damage and getting every bit of free chip damage. With the addition of Auralian Merchant We have ways to tech for all our match-ups. As a rule of thumb Sandstorm Scarf is great 80% of the time if you don't know what your opponent is playing.

Match-ups

More soon once the meta settles!

Tavrod, Auric Broker Armory/Argenport Midrange: Praxis Displacer is amazing to disarm any units and send them back for a major tempo loss for your opponent. Be aware that they will typically run Thief's Pick meaning you either need to race fast or save a displacer or two. If you are certain its the armory varient try to pick up a vault instead of a scarf. It's perfectly alright to drag the game out since you can spam up a ton of units to chump Tavrod and weapons for days. Wasps are great for killing any Icaria, the Liberator or Tavrod you can't bump back. If they are running Statuary Maiden be aware that you won't get tons of spiders if they sweep you but don't think its over just cause they get a bunch of maces, they still lack any way to punch through a Humbug Swarm

Elysian Midrange: This can either be a cakewalk or completely hopeless. It really depends on how your hand turns out and how many Dawnwalker they get out. Try to save displacer for Dawnwalkers, Sandstorm Titan, and Cirso, the Great Glutton. Wasps also are great for killing Predatory Carnosaur and Sandstorm Titans. You can also spam enough tokens that Cirso has a hard time, remember that 3 units of any size blocking = 6 damage in Pigs.

Rakano: Fill up the ground game early on with tokens, Scarf is usually the best pick-up from merchant since it is not uncommon for there units to suddenly all be up in the air or for some Unseen Commando to hit the board. Wasps/Spiders are great for killing a unit that they commit weapons onto, Try to just chump it out if you have too. Late game a obelisk or shimmerpack will just lethal them out of nowhere. Scary at first but just remember than tokens are usually worth much less than hp in this match up. Sometimes you have to wasp a Deepforged Plate and it will sting a bit.

Stonescar: These guys can rush us down before we even get started. Not a great match up for us but we fair much better than other combo decks. If you can stall it out with 10 hp or so left its basically won, just aim to stabilize. Scouting party is really good if you can stabilize enough to reach it since it will draw a whole bunch and they have no common maindeck board clears. Spam the board up, use torrent for 2 spiders if you need it, no need to worry about refilling tokens vs Stonescar. Make sure to keep a flier back if you didn't pick up a scarf so you don't get hit by a Soulfire Drake.

Jank: Just kill em with early pressure/shimmer on 8. If it is justice/control just be mindful of the sweepers and hold back torrent to refill over and over. Special shoutout to strangers, these dudes run 0 spells so feel free to play out wasps main phase and spam units with no worries. If you can make trades often since strangers suffer without a board.

Haunting Scream: Get a scarf, win the game. Otherwise try to get fliers to defend from aerial attacks or a teacher through to bog them down.

Feln Control: If you are very very lucky you can get a teacher to hit them early and its all over. Otherwise scarf and vault are very good pick-ups. You will need the scarf for the Champion of Cunning and Black-sky Harbinger otherwise they will just beat you down from the skies. You can come back from a lot of stuff vs these guys so don't be too scared of losing units to the plethora of kill spells they have.


Things to keep in mind to improve your outs and Win %

If you are on 8 mana and have a board try to keep in mind what a topdecked shimmerpack or obelisk could do for your board state. Often times you might be closer to lethal than it appears at first glance.

Be mindful of your power and influence requirements. Optimal play of your power can really change the whole match.

When you are playing Shimmerpack if you only select your guys the opponent doesn't get a response window to kill your shimmerpack or cast any spells. If you transform enemy units as well the opponent gets a chance to interact before the units transform, not always relevant but with a Statuary Maiden on field + Deathstrike all your shimmer targets will die.