Check-Raise
x3
1
Gravitur Trainee
x4
1
Tripwire Trap
x4
2
Lethrai Marauder
x4
2
Spindown
x3
2
Starlight Guide
x4
2
Whistling Quill
x4
3
Lipa, Witch of the Woods
x4
3
Lunar Magus
x4
3
Nocturnal Glider
x2
4
Pincer Ant
x4
5
Insatiable Anteater
x2
6
Hive Queen Uther
x4
7
Mistveil Drake
x3
Primal Sigil
x6
Time Sigil
x7
Elysian Cylix
x3
Elysian Tome
x3
Midnight Reprieve
x4
Seat of Wisdom
x3
View Deck on Shiftstoned
So, I've been wanting to make decks like this in draft for a while now. Mainly to take advantage of all the cards that get dumped into your hand at the end of selecting. It's like a flood of Stargazing, Lastlight Infusion , Winter's Grasp, and as many Lethrai Darkstalker as you could EVER want.
My first card pick was Lethrai Marauder... my draft was insane. I got everything. A Lipa, Witch of the Woods. ×2 of each Thunderpop, Check-Raise, Lightning Strike, the listed junk above, and more. Sad it only got 1 win.
So I made your deck real quick and tried it. Easier now I didn't have to craft Lipa. I haven't played Elysian in Expedition since there was like a dino/hero thing going on around Valley Beyond set. I'm amazed by how well your deck did. So many interesting card synergies. Like deck thinning with Gravitur Trainee, then ramping with that via Spindown 😯 I thought that was cute. I look at those cards and think *Luke Skywalker voice* "what a hunk of junk! Well never make it out of here in that thing!"
I'm surprised it's not playing Riftfeeder Wasp (of course. Or Tongue Lasher. Some staples of the color.
Also surprised by the Mistveil Drake in the main. And of course the no market. Especially because Mistveil is one of the best cards to grab with the delivery market card.
Of course the ONLY removal being Tripwire Trap. No Permafrost or anything else.
And the 8 weapons that don't look great at all on paper.
So... So many interesting things. But it all works so well. I'm like what about lifegain fatties? Problematic relics? Death touch crap. Etc. Etc...
You have the Lethrai Marauder to transform that stuff. Then the idea of just go for speed and eventually either that or the Hive Queen turns tide and wins. The big drops don't at all go with the early game but you can just discard to Marauder. Seriously, she's found a good home here.
So, I guess my question is what do you think about Stargazing? Seems like it might find a home here with this other junk. Your opponent might have to discard because too many cards in hand because of all the nightfall.
So stargazing slows them down but it almost makes me want to look at cards like Teacher of Humility. Well, almost. Would add to what pincer ant is doing... And all the nightfall. Man, there's something here.
It's cool that Tripwire hits Riftfeeder, but I was thinking you could put Altin, Bird Whisperer in market for a desperate blocker with a bonus. Then you could add Mistveil there, and permafrost, annnnd you can get extra creative because you can splash a third color and grab like, a blue+black, green, or red card. Because of the nightfall lands. Could also play crap like Direwood Pack.
Anyways. Amazing deck. Just throwing ideas at it for fun, not that it needs anything.
Lethrai Darkstalker didn't make the cut because it doesn't have any evade skill or overwhelm (Nocturnal Glider is slighlty better here); MVP of the deck could well be Starlight Guide as it offers enough damage AND removal (and if it can't remove and it's a big beast with lifesteal then transform with either Lipa or Marauder).
The deck isn't that easy to pilot but once you get the hang of it it's just fabulous. Got a ton of very close wins, even a couple decided by nightfall damage, but the thrill is always there!
Can't underestimate Whistling Quill as it pays itself quite often and those extra 2 damage came in handy quite often. Same goes for Check-Raise so so good...
Sometimes I don't add markets to my decks, especially when the decks need to be very on curve and can't afford to have a "blank" turn just by going to the market. This is one of those cases, but for those whoe can't live without a market it's easily added by swapping Mistveil Drake (mostly discard fodder on maindeck) and one Spindown.
Special mention to Lunar Magus and Hive Queen Uther that allows you to survive long enought to keep the race going.
Again, thank you for trying it out and feel free to experiment and let me know if you find any great add-on that I might have missed.
Was suggesting Lethrai Darkstalker for draft or something only. Definitely worse in Expedition.
I noticed Stargazing only works on ready units so that makes it a lot worse. But a couple of them can still be extremely pesky. It's like a free turn/Time warp kinda thing.
I made my own version of this with this sort of Teacher of Humility theme of pressing opponent with their power. But ideally you get her down turn two. Then for them to draw all sorts of nightfall cards so they can't play half their hand. But I dunno, don't think it works too well here. May be better in Throne mode?