Chirganth Spells

This deck started as an attempt to stymie the Shadow decks that were running around playing 4 cost spells this league. The first 3 cards added were Chirganth, Ice Regent, Iron Ursa, and Stormblast. I started with only 2 Chirganth, but should probably play 4 (but I didn't have enough dust to craft). The idea behind these cards is that they are flexible and protect themselves while also hosing expensive spells (in particularEavesdrop, Wrong Turn and Voprex's Choice). The stormblast is a very playable counterspell because its not a dead card against aggro.

The other major deck in the meta was a heroes deck staring Xultan Ambassador. I was hoping to remove the ambassadors as quickly as possible. So for that we added Frostburn, Warning Shot, Bullseye, Trick Throw. All of these are solid cards on their own, but they make the deck a near lock against aggro decks in addition to dealing with ambassadors. Warning Shot in particular is a very strong card because 0 is a very good cost, and inscribe lets you keep so many hands you would have had to mull otherwise. For a while I was struggling with the Rakano matchup (because of bigger units and aegis, but the new and improved Ice Bolt has helped a lot with that matchup.

That's the base, but what else can we put in a deck with a lot of counterspells and early game removal to clear the way? Plunk Wumpkin! The deck certainly doesn't need it to succeed, but as long as it's as overtuned as it seems to be we'll jam 4. I got a number of wins when people scooped after I played a turn 2 Plunk. The other card I put in because of all the small damage spells is Iceberg Warchief. There's a strong chance this should just be Quinn, Master Tracker (which I don't own yet), but the Warchiefs do help us turn our early game removal into late game burn. With 7 power and an extra card in hand, Warchief + Trick Throw deals 7 from hand, which is nothing to sneeze at. They also buff Plunks and each other and swing reasonably well as 5/3s.

The thing that was a pleasant surprise to me is that we still have a game against control. All of the counterspells are especially relevant here, and Ursa can be a huge pain when they want to play a sweeper. We can either midrange them out with well protected threats, or we can out card advantage them by 2-for-1ing them with Ursa and Chirganth and by Stormblasting their card draw/ramp. Of particular note here are how well Bullseye lines up with Stormhalt Plating. I made a few adjustments to shore up the control matchup. We're playing Eilyn's Favor over Skycrag Blueprints because the aegis matters in some matchups. We're also playing 2 Kaleb's Choice for a bit more counterspells and Artifact (esp. Plating) removal. Finally I've got 1 of Crackling Bauble which should probably be a 2 of.

The power base feels really solid. Very few mulligans, and I think I've gone to 6 only 1-2 times. The runes are especially useful and worth holding on to for value in the late game.

The list isn't totally tuned, but I think it's pretty close. The list is how I played it, but I would have turned the Hellfire Valkyries into Chirganth, Ice Regent if I had the dust, as well as playing a second Crackling Bauble over Serpent Hive. The Caustic Rains were power more often than a sweeper, because we do a good job keeping the board clean. Not really sure what we should play in that slot. As mentioned Quinn, Master Tracker might be better than Iceberg Warchief, but that's not entirely obvious. I'd also like to try Torq, Ballistics Crafter at some point as it seems to fit the theme.