Mono Charge (Master Climb May 2018)

Hey guys, this is the deck that I used to break through after being stuck in Diamond 1 hell for a few days. I noticed that there was a ridiculous amount of Feln Control floating around so I wanted to play a deck that made people rethink their life choices. I knew I wanted Flamestoker so it was just a matter of what I wanted to fit around it. I tried out this exact 75 and quickly went 9-3 to Master. I don't think this is the best version of this deck, mostly because in the influence doesn't work at all (the deck needs a few more Justice sources to be able to play Icaria, the Liberator.) But it is the version I played and want to share exactly what worked, even if I know it can be improved.

I only have 12 games under my belt so doing a thorough explanation of how to play it optimally isn't really something I can do right now. But I can give some tips on what to look out for and why I made some of the choices I made.

Ripknife Assassin is the only two drop in the deck. That seems odd for what looks like an aggressive deck, but there just aren't any other two drops in the game that do what I need done, so we make up for our slow starts with Finest Hour and Bandit Queen. It's also the only unit that doesn't have Charge. It makes up for that by being a free attacker basically every turn, because it trades with literally everything. With Whirling Duo on turn 3 we are able to force the opponent to blow their Hailstorm after taking 5 damage and before we start playing our real haymakers. Also, having Warcry is a huge boon because it makes our charge units even bigger. The big upside of running charging units is that they deal their damage before most opponent's card actually remove it, so you're less likely to have your unit die without dealing damage. Getting buffs on those units naturally means more damage up-front and turns basically every unit into a must-answer.

Sabotage is mainly used as protection. Being able to remove Lightning Strike before attacking, or Hailstorm before they have a chance to play it can basically win the game immediately. This is a card that probably doesn't need to be a 4-of, and going to 3 is probably appropriate if you want to add an extra threat or pump spell.

Flamestoker is the reason the deck works, in my opinion. The ladder is so saturated with removal piles and people who mindlessly jam every card that says "kill" on it, so playing a 5/5 Every. Single. Turn. will eventually overwhelm those decks. Being a 5/5 means that it can attack into all of Feln's units, which is what makes this card so great. I'm only playing 3 copies for the same reason I'm only playing 3 Icaria, the Liberator, I don't want too many expensive things in my hand when my deck otherwise tops at 4. These cards are great to draw, but not in large numbers and not too early.

Dark Return is something I just love playing with charge units. You play a Bandit Queen, deal a bunch of damage, they kill it, then you bring it back as a 4/3 and do it all over again! There are also some fun things you can do with the Infernus that Flamestoker creates, as you Dark Return one and are able to attack with 6/6 and 5/5 Overwhelms.

Finest Hour is insurance against Hailstorm, Torch, and big fat blockers. Sometimes it can be used as a way to deal lethal damage, but it's mainly included in the deck to save your units in spots they would otherwise die.

Most of the other cards are pretty standard in this type of deck. Torch, Quarry, Slay, Whirling Duo, Rise to the Challenge, Vicious Highwayman, and Icaria don't really need explanations I think, they are just removal spells to aggressive threats.

The main gameplan is usually "push it, push it, push it!" If you can deal damage, you should deal damage. There are some exceptions that can come with knowing and understanding the metagame. If you suspect your opponent might have an Auric Runehammer then it is often correct to hold a charge unit back for a turn to rebuild. The same can be said for sweeper effects such as Hailstorm or Harsh Rule. Taking a turn off to play a Flamestoker is usually preferable to playing basically any other unit, unless you have lethal.

The deck can have some fairly obvious plays, but a lot of the actual hard decisions come around Rise to the Challenge. Knowing when you can get an Icaria and when you can't can make the difference between winning and losing a game. The two cards I get the most are actually Whirling Duo and Vicious Highwayman because they are going to be easier to play than the Icaria. Also, should you Rise for the card that got hit with 4 Warcries or a smaller unit? I tend to go find units that weren't buffed by the Warcries, because I know I'm going to draw the warcries soon-ish anyway. So it's better to find the 4/2 Highwayman (Which becomes a 6/2) than the 6/4 one that you're going to draw soon. Obviously, there are exceptions. Maybe you're Rising for a Whirling Duo and need the lifegain immediately...well then you can search for the 5/5 and gain 7 instead of searching for the 3/3 and gaining 5. Torch is another example, if you suspect your opponent has one then Rising for a unit that's going to get Torched doesn't really accomplish anything so getting the bigger unit makes more sense.

This deck has had admittedly minimal testing. I built it and went on a really good run and wanted to share it. Definitely mess around with it, see if a different influence base works for you or something. The deck obviously shares similarities to decks built by TinMan and Batteriez so I'll link their decks as well if you are interested in the archetype but don't necessarily think this is the version for you.

TinMan: Jund Midrange

Batteriez: Updating FJS Midrange


Thanks for reading everybody. Feel free to comment down below with thoughts or questions. You can find me on the Eternal Discord if you want to chat, and be sure to find me on twitch.tv/TheSkeeJay