Green Is Good (Updated)

Do you like gold? Yes? OMG! Me too!

Do you like gauntlet? I mean, I do, but it’s ok if you don’t as long as you like gold enough.

A few years ago I found myself wanting to stockpile gold for an upcoming release and began to focus heavily on farming gauntlet. While doing so, I realized that it was an activity I enjoyed, but that also felt inefficient. The resources available at the time seemed lacking, and the decks I was coming across struck me as… suboptimal. It seemed as though many people were basically using whatever ladder decks were popular, and when I was able to find decks specifically designed to take advantage of AI play patterns, they were few and poorly tuned. Understandable, I mean, farming gauntlet probably isn’t a high priority for the majority of players. However, this led me to something of a quest to try and optimize the gauntlet farming process.

If this was an infomercial, this would be the part where a disembodied voice asks if you’re tired of losing to power screw, flood, or just plain boss degeneracy. Cue black and white montage of a man smashing his keyboard as his avatar explodes on screen.

THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY!

Well I have good news for you, there is! I mean, you probably guessed as much from the fact that you’re reading this in the first place. The decklist off to the side was probably also a bit of a giveaway. As I played there was one archetype that consistently stood out as being THE BEST. Yes, I believe capital letters are warranted. The deck has changed quite a bit between new releases and balance changes, but as an archetype, it has basically always held the distinction (for me) of being the uncontested best gauntlet deck.

So what is this mythical creation you ask?

The award for the best gauntlet deck goes to…

*Drumroll*

Mono J.

Now some of you might be skeptical upon hearing this and think, “Ok, well that’s just some random guy talking about what works best for him.” Which admittedly, yeah, you got me. But this seems to be a common format among people posting about how amazing their gauntlet decks are.

So what is the basis for my belief? Well, besides the fact that some decks just feel great when you play them, there is also the fact that I genuinely believe the deck is HIGHLY favored against ALL of the high MMR gauntlet bosses. I will go into greater depth about this in a bit, but the results bear this out.

A friend of mine asked me to share my (then) current list. I obliged and informed him that I had gone 37-0. He was impressed, and said something to the effect of, “I’d love to clear 5 runs in a row.” It was at this point that I had to clarify that I had cleared 37 FULL RUNS without losing. It had actually been 264 games before I finally lost. Yes, the deck is THAT good. And yeah, I consider it a strong endorsement when people hearing your results are impressed even though they’ve shortchanged you by a factor of 7.

Now, you might be thinking, “What’s so great about Mono J? Isn’t it just a bunch of justice cards?”

Yup. You got me again. In their defense though, justice cards are like, pretty good. This actually presents a problem when optimizing the deck. There are so many good cards available that you can’t even include them all in a single 75 card deck. In fact, you could probably build 2 or 3 viable decks using the extra cards that aren’t quite good enough. Additionally, many of these cards are very similar in power level, making it difficult to distinguish which cards deserve the coveted deck slots.

As an archetype, Mono J isn’t something I would consider to be particularly bold or unknown. I’ve seen many versions posted over the years, and I usually try them to see if there’s something I’ve missed. I’ve found that while these lists are functional, they aren’t optimal.

So how do you know which cards to include?

Well, mostly by playing with them. A LOT. In different combinations. Seeing what feels good, seeing what wins the most. There’s usually a pretty high correlation between the two. It ends up being a lot of work, but it’s also the sort of thing I enjoy and something I was probably going to do anyway. Fortunately, once the initial work was done with the existing card pool, it mostly became a matter of testing out a few cards whenever new sets were released. When it comes to gauntlet Mono J, if there’s a card that could reasonably be included, I’ve probably either tried it, or have a good reason for not including it. I’ll take some time to walk through my card choices.

-Units-

Ghostblade Outcast: This card does a lot for 1 power, and contributes heavily to being able to beat some of the cheatier AI draws. This card can single-handedly turn Sudden Death nut draw games from utterly hopeless into an absolute route. This card also dominates the Highly Skilled matchup as a 3/3 lifesteal for 1 that will Exalt to give one of your non-lifesteal units +4/+4 and lifesteal when it dies. Against more mundane opponents, the lifesteal is useful for racing or allowing a large unit to prevent the opponent from going wide. The AI also lacks the foresight to properly navigate around the Exalted keyword, which can be exploited to allow your temporary buffs to be carried over to another unit permanently. Exalted also makes Outcast a good target to buff with Justice Sketch as it will effectively require dealing with twice.

Shen-Ra, Unbreakable: Another strong one-drop. While not as versatile as Ghostblade Outcast, Shen-Ra is great at attacking. Mastery 10 may seem a bit daunting after the nerf, but this deck has the support to pull it off reliably ahead of schedule. Once her Mastery has been triggered she will also play defense quite well. This card is a great target for Tarra’s ability since there is relatively little downside to attacking with her. I mean, most of the time you aren’t going to be holding Shen-Ra back to block, right? This is a card that is better early, but her Mastery and invulnerability allow her to remain relevant if the game goes longer.

Kira, the Prodigy: Kira’s ability is a unique effect that synergizes well with the temporary pumps that are plentiful in this deck. Many enemies lack access to the hard removal required to beat a buffed Kira. Kira in conjunction with Crownwatch Tactic from Steyer’s Eyes, Helena, Skyguide, or Wind Conjuring can often race or blank the enemy board. Her 2 / 3 statline also makes her a solid stopper against most enemy one and two-drops. Don’t be afraid to hold off playing her until turn 3 if you happen to have Finest Hour when you’re facing a deck with Torch or Suffocate. Her ability is actually incredibly useful against Burn Scars where your temporary pumps won’t normally save your units from dying to Decay damage once they wear off.

Mistral Messenger: I had always imagined that a 2/3 flying, endurance unit at 2 cost would likely be one of the best defensive units possible for gauntlet, but figured that it would probably be a bit too good to ever be released. Now Mistral Messenger isn't exactly that, but it is pretty close. Being a 3/3 blocker on the second turn makes Messenger an excellent wall against aggressive decks, while Flying and Endurance mean that you won't have to choose between attacking or leaving it back as a blocker. Messenger's combination of keywords also lends itself very well to carrying Tarra's buff. Very often Messenger will come down on turn two and keep atttacking for two damage per turn until the game is over. As an additional bonus, Messengers keywords mean that it triggers Unseen Commando's effect.

Steyer’s Eyes: When I first saw this spoiled I was floored. A 2/2 flyer for 2 isn’t bad stat-wise, but the added versatility on this card is amazing. Admittedly, outside of the Best Served Cold matchup, you should basically never choose the Adjudicator’s Gavel option, but even ignoring that, this card is bonkers. Crownwatch Tactic is an excellent tool for racing, it can push damage or trigger masteries faster, and if it lands on Kira, some opponents can’t beat it. The Lingering Influence option is equally strong. Because you are guaranteed at least 2 power when you redraw your hand, and because of the fact that this deck’s curve tops at 3, any redrawn hand with Steyer’s Eyes will allow you to play every card in your deck. In the event that you don’t really need more power and can’t effectively utilize Crownwatch Standard, you can still discard a power to cast Lingering Influence and Scout to smooth out your future draws.

West, On the Trail: When this promo was first released I wasn’t sure how well it would compete with the slew of other two-drops. I know that some might look at the contract and think, “6 is waaay too much!!” There’s a lot to unpack here though. A 1 / 3 Flying, Endurance for 2 is actually pretty reasonable stat-wise for gauntlet. Against Sudden Death and Mindless Aggression, West is actually a very good early game blocker for their one and two-drops. Having two keywords means that West will benefit from Unseen Commando’s ability. The ability to scout while attacking is also quite strong, especially in conjunction with Flying and Endurance, which often make the attacks “free”. Now, getting to the contract. Is 6 a lot? Yes! Absolutely!... sometimes… The fact that it is a contract ability means that if the game is ending this turn or the next, you may not really be required to shoulder that burden. Now, not every unit is going to be worth tying up your power to remove, and a poorly-timed contract can absolutely cripple your ability to play the game. On the other hand, there are units which MUST be answered if you want to win, and West provides additional options for handling them. It is important to be able to discern when it is correct to use the contract and when to not, and also when it is in your best interest to hold West if the opponent is very likely to play good targets for the contract. Don’t be afraid to play West on turn 2 if you need a play. Ultimately, I think West, On the Trail is a strong inclusion in this deck that helps it to beat large, problematic units when you are short on market access.

Helena, Skyguide: This card has been changed so much that now it has come full circle. In her reverted state, she can combo with Kira, the Prodigy to end games in an extremely fast and dominant fashion. She is an excellent too for beating stun-heavy opponents and is an effective wall against most early enemy boards. She's great at pushing the last bit of damage you need, while her contract can also target enemy units to break Aegis. Helena makes this deck win faster and more often.

Tarra, Ever Loyal: Tarra has always been a powerful card and the sooner she comes down, the bigger an impact she usually makes. The Fearless Crescendo nerf really just made market Tarra a lot clunkier to play on turn 3 or 4. Now that I've moved Tarra to the main, I've decided to cut Varret, Hero in Training as his transformative nature makes him interact poorly with both Warcry and Tarra's buff.

Unseen Commando: This guy has been a staple of green gauntlet decks for years, and he still holds up. Flying and Lifesteal are both great keywords when it comes to racing. The +1/+1 trigger is very relevant in this deck, which is great because the AI does NOT account for it properly when determining how it holds back blockers. With Ghostblade Outcast, West, On the Trail, and Mistral Messenger, it’s not uncommon to be triggering Commando’s ability immediately on turn 3. If you are able to grant Kira, the Prodigy two keywords, she will permanently hold Commando’s buff. This card is great against Sudden Death and especially potent against Highly Skilled.

Valkyrie Enforcer: This was one of the first units I came across when I began playing Eternal, and it set an unreasonably high expectation for what a 3-drop should look like. A 3/3 flyer for 3 is already good and if you have other ways of interacting with your opponent, you shouldn’t be afraid to play it just to develop your board. Pretty much every enemy has units that are worth silencing though, and it’s usually just a matter of time until they play one. The Silence can help clear the air of enemy flyers and is one of this deck’s best answers to Sandstorm Titan. Its strong mix of evasive stats and a powerful ability makes Valkyrie Enforcer one of the most well-rounded cards you can include in your justice gauntlet decks.

Winchest Merchant: Nothing exciting here, just more market access.

-Spells-

Finest Hour: The AI doesn’t really play around fast spells and will basically walk into any sort of instant speed pump. It helps to trigger masteries, serves as situational removal, and can also protect your units from damage-based removal. An overall solid card and an additional method of interaction against an AI whose predictability can be easily exploited.

Justice Etchings: This card is basically a depleted power with SIGNIFICANT upside. Much like Steyer’s Eyes, drawing Etchings with two power will basically unlock this entire deck. If you need power, don’t be afraid to grab it without going to your market. Because most of the market costs 3, Etchings allows you to grab and play a 3-cost card on turn 4. Yes, having to exhaust a unit can be annoying, but it’s also fairly common to use it on a freshly played unit that couldn’t attack that turn anyway. The exhaustion price can also effectively be negated if you’re grabbing Wind Conjuring, as long as you are in a position where you are willing to either cast it prior to combat (Kira), or are strategically depleting a unit to bait an enemy attack. Just be careful if you’re desperate for power and facing a deck with counterspells.


-Power-

Justice Sketch: When I initially saw this card I thought the idea of paying 5 to do nothing, then paying another 5 to utilize its effect once would be much too slow. However, as there is pretty much always the option to play a sigil before this, you’re not really sacrificing anything to include it. So I tested Sketch and, Wow! was my prediction off. Yes, the card is “slow”, but it brings to bear a power level that allows you to grind out opponents in longer games, all with relatively little price in terms of deckbuilding. When I say that the card is “slow” I am referring to how many turns a game lasts, not how much time the game will take. As it turns out, once you start doubling the size of your units, opponents tend to die pretty quickly…

Rune of Law: Similar to Justice Sketch, Rune of Law is basically a free inclusion for this deck. Now obviously, you can’t utilize the Saddle Up as a combat trick, but it still has a lot of useful applications with things like pumping Ghostblade Outcast and triggering Masteries. It’s mostly something to do when you’re lacking other action.

While playing with these two special powers, it is pretty unlikely that you will have the 10 power required to activate more than one Research Lab in a single turn, so having more than 1 copy of Justice Sketch may not be useful. Rune of Law on the other hand, has a very immediate impact on the game. It can be difficult to predict which of the two might be more impactful ahead of time. For this reason I generally recommend holding onto one of each as it will give you more options than having two Sketches. Having one of each will let you make a more informed decision of while you are more likely to want once you have more information of how the game is going.

-The Market-

Manacles: This is a powerful attachment that many enemies have no real way of breaking. Forcing two units to sit out a race will usually skew things heavily in your favor. This card is also great for enabling lethal, because the AI will frequently leave back just enough units to block. This often means that they haven’t budgeted enough units for defense if you remove two potential blockers. This card does require caution, as cards like Deepforged Plate, Vodakhan’s Staff, and attachment destruction can be absolute blowouts. Manacles is really at its best when you know that the opponent has no way to interact with it. Try to be cognizant of the fact that if you Manacles two units, only one of which would die to Pristine Light, you need to be careful about breaking Manacles yourself and freeing the surviving unit. Also bear in mind that Manacles will not be effective if the opponent has a face Aegis.

Pristine Light: Now this is a CARD. It is difficult to overstate the degree to which Pristine Light absolutely CRUSHES some opponents. A well-timed Pristine Light can transform the Labyrinth Treasury, Power of Progress, Defender of the Spire, and Sibling Rivalry matchups into free wins. This card is one of the primary reasons that this low-curved deck is able to compete in longer games. You can even use a pump effect on an opposing unit to bring it into the 4+ attack threshold needed to kill it.

Wind Conjuring: This card has quite a bit of versatility to it. You can use the ready/Endurance effect to break stuns or ambush attacking units. +4/+4 is a lot for a combat trick, and is also very good at powering up Kira and Shen-Ra. If that wasn’t enough, Invoke can be game breaking or used to convert excess power back into fodder for Steyer’s Eyes or market access cards. I’ve played Wind Conjuring maindeck in previous builds, but I found it was less good in multiples. The first Wind Conjuring was usually the best one, which made it more attractive as a market option. Playing multiple copies maindeck would also sometimes lead to draws with too many pump spells and not enough units, resulting in losses to removal-heavy opponent's. As far as the Decimate on Wind Conjuring is concerned, well... yes, it is dependent on the game state, but I generally avoid Decimating unless I have 5 or 6 power.

General Fiera: Sometimes you want a proactive card from the market but aren't really in a position to defend Lord Steyer's Tower properly. Fiera is hard to kill, but that won't stop the AI from tryin. The AI is notoriously bad at playing against Fiera, which means that they will attack and block into her as though she wasn't invulnrable to damage. This makes Fiera a very solid tool when you need a threat or the ability to whittle down he opposing board.

Lord Steyer's Tower: Having cut Fearless Crescendo and having moved Tarra, Ever Loyal to the maindeck, I wanted another proactive card and Tower had historically performed well for me in that slot. I find myself grabbing Tower less often than General Fiera, but they serve different enough roles that I have found having both to be reasonable.

Now that I have covered the cards that made it into the deck, I will go over some that I get asked about frequently which did not.


Icaria, Valkyrie Captain: This is a card which I frequently see included in green gauntlet decks. However, it has never really been one which I’ve cared for. A 1/1 body for 2 is actually rather bad, you can slap some battle skills onto it, but Flying and Endurance aren’t keeping Icaria from dying to Vara’s Favor or Firemane Cub. A 1/1 body can’t really block opposing one-drops without trading either, and it usually can’t trade with two-drops period. The 1/1 statline is just a huge liability to overcome in gauntlet, and this deck isn’t really designed to capitalize on what Icaria, Valkyrie Captain has to offer. Her ability doesn’t really ramp this deck to anything worthwhile here and this deck doesn’t plan on reliably reaching the SIX Justice influence required to turn on her passive ability.

Iron Priestess: This card seems great on paper. That’s because it is. I spent a lot of time playing with Iron Priestess and I was fairly happy with it. You could discard it to Steyer’s Eyes to get the weapon, and the void clause made her a good investment for buffs. So why did I cut her? Well, I began realizing that I was dropping games more often after including her than I was with previous versions. I began paying closer attention to how the card played and started to realize that this card actually has an issue against the AI. As a 2/2 Valor unit, the AI does NOT like trading for Iron Priestess. and will basically only block her if their own unit is expected to survive. This commonly resulted in scenarios where the opponent had a unit too large for Priestess to effectively block, but that the AI wouldn’t use to block Priestess either. In the end, this made it too difficult to leverage Valor into a worthwhile trade which meant that you wouldn't even get a weapon. Simply put, it was overly difficult to trade effectively AND get the weapon, which largely resulted in only being able to do one or the other.

Ursa Squadron, Crownwatch Paladin, and Tinker Unionist: After West, On the Trail was originally released, I initially replaced the twice-nerfed Helena, Skyguide with West in an effort to lower the decks curve, and was playing 19-20 2-drops. The problem ended up being that not all of the 2-drops were able to scale well after turn 2. This basically lead me to the conclusion that the deck just couldn’t support so many 2-drops and reinforced the importance of their scalability.

Jada, Peacekeeper: I played with Jada for awhile, and the card wasn’t terrible. However, this deck’s streamlined curve meant that there weren't really a lot of ways to effectively take advantage of his ramping. Additionally, Jada is TERRIBLE against the Burn Scars boss. In combat, a 0/5 is unable to take any presence off the enemy board. The fact that everything has Decay means that Jada would eventually die without killing anything because the enemy will still attack into or block Jada with its smaller units. This made Jada a blank in a war of attrition against one of the most commonly seen bosses.

Prism Golem: A 5/5 for 3? Sounds great, right? For a lot of decks it would be. The thing is, Mono J has access to an all-star cast of three-drops. Unseen Commando, Helena, Skyguide, and Valkyrie Enforcer all have great stats, powerful effects, and FLYING. Winchest Merchant also flies and grants market access. At this point, the deck can’t really fit more three-drops without undermining its early game. Golem also tends to play better in decks that contain enough removal to keep the opponent from effectively double blocking it. While this deck does have access to combat tricks, there aren’t THAT many, and they can still only be effectively utilized if the opponent is willing to block your Golem to begin with. Prism Golem also suffers from other issues, it’s not particularly effective at racing flyers, it doesn’t work with Justice Etchings, and against Defender of the Spire it’s basically only useful as a card to ditch to Steyer’s Eyes or to send to your market.

Take a Stand: This card looked impressive to me at first. +4/+4 works very well with Shen-ra and Kira. Additionally, if you are able to unleash this card it can be absolutely devastating. So why isn’t it good enough? Well, unleashing it was pretty uncommon. The fact that it's not a body was sometimes a liability in removal-heavy matchups where every unit can count. Similar to the times which I played maindeck Wind Conjuring, I found myself dropping games where I ended up with too many pump spells and nothing to use them on.

Mystical Shackles: Good card, but it overlaps too much with Manacles. and Manacles is usually better. While Shackles has a smaller liability, dealing with two units is usually better.

Emblem of Kodosh: Emblems were often viewed as a free inclusion in many decks. The 1 damage is often irrelevant, and usually worth the flexibility and insurance against flooding. However, there are a few reasons why I do not include Emblems in my list. The first is that this deck has the means to utilize its extra power and isn’t really unhappy if it reaches 5 power. As a result, Decimating becomes a larger drawback. In addition to this deck’s ability to effectively capitalize on having more than 3 power, the inclusion of cards like Steyer’s Eyes, Fearless Crescendo, Justice Etchings, and Winchest Merchant allows for a way to dispose of excess power cards. As a result, the issue of flooding, the prevention of which is the primary motivation to include Emblems, is already greatly mitigated. While the 1 damage is largely negligible in most games, so are the number of times you will actually want to Decimate your Emblem. Lastly, the streamlined nature of this deck’s curve means that it really values having all of its power undepleted, and replacing four of your sigils with Emblems decreases your odds of having the sigil you need for Rune and Sketch. I found that while the downside of running Emblems was minimal, that I was Decimating them so infrequently as to not be worthwhile.

Seal of Devotion: A lot of people see a single faction deck and bring up Seal of Devotion, but I STRONGLY dislike this card. Just because you’re a single faction deck does NOT mean you should play this card. As with Emblems, removing four sigils from your deck does decrease the efficiency of your Runes and Sketches, but that’s not even the worst part . The fact that Seal of Devotion does not generate influence is VERY awkward. This means that having Seals in your deck will make it more difficult to utilize Justice Etchings to access your market. However, in more extreme, albeit rarer cases, you WILL lose games because you don’t have enough influence to play your cards. Drawing two copies of Seal in your opening hand is absolutely miserable and can ruin an otherwise great hand, and is a situation guaranteed to come up over a large enough sample size.

The potential payoff of getting a free card isn’t even that impressive, nor is it guaranteed. The warp animation is somewhat slow, which is less of an issue with non-power cards, but players typically begin their turn by playing power. Which makes sense, as you need power to play your other cards. The problem arises when you’re playing quickly, which ideally you will be. Even when everything aligns and allows for Seal of Devotion to be warped, if you’re playing too quickly, you still won’t have time to register that it’s on top of your deck before you’ve already played a different power from your hand.

Unlike many of the other suggestions which end up falling just short of what the deck wants, I think that including Seal of Devotion transcends the realm of suboptimal and ventures into the world of BAD. Do not play Seal of Devotion in this deck, it’s bad. Please consider this a public service announcement.

Cards that cost more than 3: This is a part of my gauntlet deck-building philosophy. The lower your curve, the less susceptible you are to power screw. Of course there are great cards which are more expensive, but gauntlet optimization is a numbers game where consistency shines and dropping games to power issues adds up. The risk of playing with such a low curve is the danger of being overpowered by the opponent’s more expensive cards later on. Fortunately, Mono J plays such incredibly powerful and efficient cards that it can still go toe to toe even in a longer game. The key is to streamline your curve as much as possible, without giving up too much of your win rate when games bog down. Cards like Mantle of Justice and Sediti, the Killing Steel are obviously powerful, but they’re not actually needed to win. Including more expensive cards really only serves to place an unnecessary burden on your power requirements for minimal benefit. If you play tightly, this streamlined curve is still able to win almost any long game while also having excellent early-game tools which make its matchup against aggressive decks very favorable.

It was previously the case that in high mmr gauntlet you would almost always be matched with one of ten final bosses. Since the release of Battle Lines, this has been adjusted to be a much wider pool of final bosses. I will leave in this already written section as it still applies, just know that this is not a comprehensive list of all the bosses which you are likely to face now. With that, I’ll take some time to talk about the matchups, key cards, and strategies for beating these bosses.

Burn Scars: Units have decay. This fight is essentially a war of attrition over who can field the most stats. The AI will generally always attack and always block, which means you can’t rely on a larger unit to hold off smaller ones. Burn Scars also has several ways of dealing damage directly to units so you can expect whatever units you field to come under fire. As a result, one-health units like Shen-Ra, Unbreakable and Ghostblade Outcast vastly decrease in value. Because they aren't good here, I will often hold them as fodder for Steyer's Eyes or market access. Make sure you are prepared for a Yetipult to come down once they hit 4 power and PPP influence. Decay means that the temporary pump spells lose most of their effectiveness unless you’re using them on Kira. Tarra is great in this matchup as the Warcry and doubled stats she gains help to fight an attrition war. Pristine Light helps keep Yetipult and weaponed units in check. Manacles is risky, as Burn Scars has Ruincrawler Yeti, and getting your Manacles broken can be absolutely devastating. If they end up going too wide you may need to rely on Curfew Enforcement from Lord Steyer's Tower to tone things down. While this matchup is often very attrition heavy, it is usually possible to race in the air if you have enough Flying presence or Unseen Commando. Be very careful with West’s contract in this matchup as all of the possible targets will cost less than 6, and will result in a significant tempo loss.

Company of Exiles: Whenever you play a spell, play a random unit with cost equal to that spell’s cost. I’d imagine it’s pretty obvious that you want to have spells in your starting hand against this boss. Unfortunately, Mono J only contains 12 actual spells. Fortunately, this deck also has ways of generating extra spells between Rune of Law and its market. This fight tends to be fairly random, both because of the boss stipulation, but also because the boss’s possible draws have a HUGE variance in power level. Sometimes they’ll do basically nothing and keep replaying a Snapping Brushstalker that you can bounce until they die. Other times they will have a perfect curve of removal into multiple Crystallizes or Striking Snake Formations. In the first scenario, it’s usually pretty easy to run them over even with a mediocre hand. In the second scenario I’ve found that the ground will usually stall out with random ground units, and you will need to finish the game in the air. Try to avoid getting blown out by their fast spells like Decay, Backlash, Cirso’s Meddling, and Flash Freeze. Also be wary of committing too many units into Crystallize or Icequake. A decimated Wind Conjuring can be two guaranteed spells, while Lord Steyer's Tower can generate three on its own. Company of Exiles is one of this deck’s more difficult matchups as they can stall you hard in the later game, while its high spell-density, in conjunction with the boss fight stipulation, means that the majority of its deck will be 2-for-1’s

Defender of the Spire: Players start with 5 influence of each faction. This boss can be a nightmare for a lot of decks, fortunately, Mono J is not one of them. This is a boss that dies HARD to this deck’s market. Pristine Light and Manacles absolutely crush this matchup, while West, On the Trail can handle most of their units as well. Their only unit that really dodges these effects is Champion of Glory. This means that if your first hand does not contain a way of accessing your market, you might want to redraw. Valkyrie Enforcer is another extremely strong card in this matchup as it’s Silence effect will completely shut down or drastically reduce the strength of every unit in their deck. Expect the ground to stall pretty quickly and that you will most likely need to win in the air. Defender of the Spire does have some removal in the form of Flash Fire and Devouring Shadow, but besides that, it’s mainly just huge units, and they will rarely play more than one card per turn.
Typically, you will want to try to get some early tempo with small units and combat tricks. Eventually they will drop a large blocker you can’t easily get through, at which point you develop your board. You then neutralize their board with Pristine Light or Manacles, which allows you to push damage. Finally, you finish them off by going around or over whatever follow up blockers they might have for the next turn or two.

Highly Skilled: Units get +1/+1 for each of their battle skills. Almost all of your units have either one or two battle skills and will benefit from this stipulation. Ghostblade Outcast is particularly incredible in this matchup for the reasons I discussed earlier, and can carry almost any game against this boss. Your units without battle skills aka, Shen’ra and Kira will quickly become outclassed without additional support, and you should weigh that into your decision to redraw. Valkyrie Enforcer is also quite good in this matchup as it is a great answer to Hero of the People and Unseen Commando. If you really need to get rid of an enemy unit, don’t be afraid to trade down in a double block. Highly Skilled has basically no interaction or removal outside of Skycrag Wyvarch and the occasional Finest Hour, although if the game goes too long, you may need to worry about Eilyn, Clan Mother. The way Highly Skilled usually wins is through large, Lifesteal, Flying units, and fortunately, Mono J is very good at both combating these, and also fielding its own Flying, Lifesteal units. West, On the Trail is probably one of your best 2-drops in this matchup, and a 3 / 5 Flying, Endurance unit for 2 is often worth playing without waiting to contract even though this deck will probably have targets for it. Most of this deck's units are very good in this matchup.

Labyrinth Treasure: Units cost 1 less. Mono J is primarily comprised of units, so this is stipulation benefits this deck pretty heavily. Labyrinth Treasury plays some really beefy units though, and can overpower a lot of decks if the game goes long. Labyrinth Treasury has a lot to look out for, Desert Marshal and Scorpion Wasp for Ambush units, Desert Marshal and Valkyrie Enforcer for Silence effects, Predatory Carnosaur as removal, and Knight-Chancellor Siraf and Marisen, the Eldest if the game goes long. Due to the inclusion of several overstat’d units, the ground tends to bog down quickly, and you will most likely end up needing to win in the air. Between Silences, Scorpion Wasp, and Sandstorm Titan this can be easier said than done. This is another matchup where Pristine Light shines, both as an answer to multiple large units, and also as a means of handling multiple Sandstorm Titans. West, On the Trail is guaranteed to have good targets in this matchup, and it is usually best to hold him until you can afford to use his contract. If the ground stalls, Justice Sketch can go a long way toward winning this matchup.

Limitless Possibilities: When a unit is drawn it gets a random skill. This boss stipulation is one that Mono J, with its heavy unit density, takes advantage of well, and you should be looking for a unit-heavy opening hand. Be wary of Ambush units. If they have a handful of cards and they’ve passed with all of their power still available, you should probably expect to be ambushed. Sometimes you can be certain because they will have passed with open power when they could have played a copy of an Echo card which you know they are holding.

Mindless Aggression: Units have Charge. This is one of the scarier bosses is gauntlet, and I will usually play very defensively against it. Racing tends to be dangerous and is more difficult if you’re leaving back blockers for Infiltrate units. Fortunately your Endurance units get to play offensive and defense simultaneously while also dodging Execute. Your goal is mainly to survive and then mop up after. The Lifesteal from Ghostblade Outcast is an excellent tool for stabilizing your health, but watch out for Annihilate and Torch. Set yourself up to avoid losing to Umbren Reaper, Shogun of the Wastes, Argenport Ringmaster, and Steelbound Dragon. Wind Conjuring and General Fiera are some of your better market options in this matchup.

Power of Progress: Players can play an extra power card each turn. Mono J isn’t really a deck that takes advantage of this stipulation particularly well. Fortunately, this is another matchup where Pristine Light is game-breaking. Market access goes a long way toward winning, and I will prioritize it when redrawing. Mystic Ascendant is the scariest card in their deck, and things will quickly get out of control if you can’t answer it. Fortunately, the inclusion of West, On the Trail gives you even more answers to their critical units. One saving grace in this matchup is that the AI will always play out as much power as it can. As a result, they will often be running low on power cards by the time they play their more expensive Empower units. This also means that once they’ve run out of cards, you no longer need to worry about them playing an Empower unit and power on the same turn.

Sibling Rivalry: The first time a player reaches 5 influence of a faction, play that faction’s scion. This is a great matchup for Mono J as all of its power generates the same type of influence. Pristine Light and Manacles are both excellent answers to the opposing scion, and West, On the Trail can serve as an emergency backup. Ideally, you will want to be casting Pristine Light BEFORE your scion has come out. This is usually a pretty easy matchup, but I will specifically look for market access in order to avoid losing to an opposing scion showing up as early as turn 2. Power heavy hands are also better against this deck since you are greatly rewarded for playing your fifth.

Sudden Death: Units have Double Damage. The true boogeyman of gauntlet, and the bane of many slower decks. Once again though, Mono J is basically the best deck for combating boss shenanigans, and I genuinely believe this matchup is heavily in Mono J’s favor. While the games do tend to feel close, I can’t actually recall the last time I lost this matchup. Mono J has a lot of things going for it here, the combination of which is basically impossible to find elsewhere. To start, all of your power should be undepleted, and you will never be color screwed. This is something which can’t be said about ANY two color deck, and is incredibly important against a boss that can absolutely DESTROY you if you stumble on power. The next thing Mono J has going for it is its extremely streamlined curve, including eight highly relevant one-drops. Ghostblade Outcast and Shen-Ra, Unbreakable are both incredible first turn plays in this matchup, and with some additional support can basically carry the game. Mono J also has access to quite a bit of Lifesteal, which makes it much easier to race or outright stabilize. Access to Flying units and Silence also helps to mitigate how much damage you take from non-combat sources like Ticking Grenadin and Umbren Reaper. I redraw very aggressively in this matchup, looking for Ghostblade, Shen’Ra, Steyer’s Eyes, Kira, and Unseen Commando. This is one of the few matchups where market access is actually a secondary concern. Your first priority is to avoid dying in the first four turns, which leaves very little margin to be taking trips to the market with cards like Winchest Merchant or Justice Etchings. This can be an extremely punishing matchup so it’s important to both set yourself up for success and to play tightly.

So yeah... Mono J is basically a perfect storm of upsides that other decks difficulty competing with. It sidesteps the power issues inherent to dual-faction decks without really sacrificing its card quality. All of its power is effectively undepleted, it doesn’t get color screwed, it has an incredibly low curve that tops at 3, it has access to 33 power sources, and it has flood mitigation. The streamlined curve means it doesn’t easily get run over, while Pristine Light and Justice Sketch allow it to come out on top in longer games. Mono J isn't lacking for Lifesteal or Flying, two of the best battle skills in gauntlet. With very favorable matchups against all ten of the high MMR gauntlet bosses, Mono J is pretty much the best bet for quickly clearing a run. The reward difference between a 6 and 7-win gauntlet run is almost 50%, which means that consistency is a huge factor when it comes to farming gold, and well-piloted Mono J is about as consistent and fast as you can feasibly get.

Admittedly, piloting this deck does mean a lot of decision making, especially concerning power mitigation and market choices. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise, as once you’ve hit 3 power, every card in your hand becomes a potential play. Mono J’s high flyer count means it is good at winning in the air, which tends to result in quick games. After my initial 37-run streak prior to the release of Cold Hunt, I did another 28-run set with my updated version for comparison. I timed each run, and went 27-1. My one loss came in the 22nd run against Dragon’s Den after they literally played 20 attack worth of units by turn 3. Despite such a monstrous start, the game was still salvageable if not for a hastily made and catastrophic misplay on my part. Between the deck, myself, and my opponent, I would say the deck deserves the least of the blame for that one.

So let’s talk numbers. Using my original sample data, the average time it took me to complete a 7-win run was 19 minutes and 41 seconds. After factoring in my failed run, this resulted in a GPM (gold per minute) rate of 40.08. My average game lasted less than 3 minutes, which is comparable to some of the more aggressive gauntlet decks I’ve seen which have noticeably lower win rates. These times were, however, a product of playing very quickly.

My results are essentially the upper limit of both speed and win rate possible with this deck and are probably pretty close to a theoretical maximum. That being said, it would be unrealistic to expect the same results if you are new to piloting the deck. What you should expect is one of the most powerfully consistent decks which rewards experience, of knowing this deck, as well as knowing your the opponent’s. As your familiarity increases, so too should your speed and win rate. Balance changes have taken a toll, but the deck is still very good. Ultimately, Mono J can effectively hit the upper limit for consistency without being too far from the realistic boundary for speed. If you like gold and winning, and you’re willing to put in the time to learn the deck, then I can not recommend this deck enough. Good luck, and good grinding!

-ItsTenz