[Rank 1] Exploited Belax & Bob Seger

Exploit and hand discard strategies are despised by many players. I've often been the victim of a well-timed Exploit just when I desperately needed to play a key card on the next turn. So, for all of those out there who have grown to hate discarding cards: my apologies. Sometimes a player has no choice but to incorporate discard strategies in order to address a deck's shortfalls.

My other Belax builds swap resiliency for sheer power. Rakano builds (using Rujin's Choice, for example, to find either Belax or Grand Suppressor) can be effective to close out a game quickly. However, the inherent card disadvantage of those plays can be problematic. This time around, I crafted a Belax deck that can play the long game if needed, as opposed to dying easily to Harsh Rule or other sweeps. A Stonescar build made sense.

Deans' Chamber, Grand Suppressor and Belax make up the core of the deck. Consequently, having a redundant Chamber in your hand is an issue you need to address. The go-to solution in my Rakano builds was always to use Autotread to discard an unnecessary Chamber for value. I kept that element in this Stonescar build; however, this deck can also discard a Chamber to Shadowcreeper to kill a unit or discard a Chamber to Barricade Basher (a rare play, naturally, since you'll typically have Basher enabled by Suppressor or Chamber on the table). You can also transform a redundant Chamber into a sigil using Exploit - a very handy move I've used frequently. Lastly, Crest of Chaos can help to eliminate unneeded Chambers when they're on top of your deck (and Crest serves double duty by helping search for key cards).

Chamber and Suppressor obviously enable Belax, but in addition, they disrupt your opponent's strategy. Exploit, Shakedown and Subject to Nightmare also provide disruption - just a different kind. The hand discard elements stop your opponent from getting back into the game (i.e., removing a sweep card from the opponent's hand or simply taking away a one-for-one removal card). For those of you who feel Shakedown is less than ideal (since the opponent will draw an extra card anyway from Nightfall), consider that the Nightfall card is "random" - not a known quantity that the player might have bore in mind when choosing to keep an opening hand. The card discarded from Shakedown will typically be a good card costing 3 or less; the Nightfall card drawn could be anything, but not a card that was part of a decision to keep an opening hand. That's the justification for running Shakedown (and sometimes Nightfall just wins games, of course). Subject to Nightmare can wreck reanimator strategies and I've messed around with different numbers of that card and Shakedown. They both have their niche.

Barricade Basher fits with the Suppressor/Chamber elements and is a great beat stick for a cheap cost. However, I also wanted to incorporate another strong and cheap unit: Champion of Chaos. That unit really kicks when you meet the triple fire/shadow conditions, so I decided to ramp up the dual influence power cards. Almost all of the power cards here provide both influences, although often they are depleted when they come into play. That problem is generally mitigated by the benefits of Champion and I haven't usually found that I lose games because of the depleted power. Usually, you can work around that issue.
To address an opponent's aegis cards (and face aegis), Hidden Garrote and Shadowcreeper are amazing. The creepers add synergy by giving you a discard outlet for Chambers, but they also help you pick off a Plunk Wumpkin more easily or even enable your Torches to hit the opponent directly. Garrote serves similar roles, but also synergizes with Kazuo, Melee Virtuoso. For a while, I was using Street Urchin instead of Kazuo, but I found that Kazuo fits better because of Garrote. Kazuo's ultimate also gives you an extra card, and since you get to choose from three cards, Kazuo's draw is often better than the draws from Street Urchin.

Voprex's Choice was a final pick that synergizes with the deck on multiple levels. I often use it early to eliminate a unit, but it's also handy for drawing a Belax from your void when needed, or even a Garrote.

In terms of play tips, I generally always use Exploit, Shakedown or Subject to Nightmare for getting the opponent to discard market access cards, unless those cards are being quashed by Suppressor or Chamber (i.e., ignore merchants, for example). Targeting removal cards is also wise, or even some relics or sites. The deck has no method of killing relics once they hit the table (unless Kazuo randomly generates something), so the game plan is to get the opponent to discard them when necessary. More often than not, however, the correct sequence is to play Suppressor or Chamber first and then discard cards second.

Against aggro decks, always abandon the Exploit plan as the opponent's units are too cheap and will overrun you before you can stabilize. Instead, opt for controlling the board and discard your Exploits, etc, to Autotread if necessary. Kill the opponents' units first and get into the Exploit plan later.

Against reanimator, don't discard the opponent's units with Exploits, etc, since the opponent will want those units in the void. Instead, target the reanimation cards. The reanimator units are often too expensive to be played with their casting cost, so you should leave them in the opponent's hand. If you're playing Subject to Nightmare, reconsider the discard plan: in that case, you may want to discard units because the opponent's void will get voidbound when your spell resolves.

Against Stormhalt Plating control, always grab the big weapon with your discard plan. Plating is the win condition so you need to deal with it.

Against Fire-Time ramp decks, pick off the ramp cards in the early game (i.e., Initiate of the Sands, Logistics Expert, Praxis Adept, Auralian Merchant) and you should be fine. Hidden Garrote will love to see 0/1 ramping units.

So that's it! The deck is a lot of fun to play, but of course, it won't be making friends when you're ripping the opponent's hand apart. Well, "all's fair," as they say. I've piloted the deck to rank 1. It's solid.

Now if only I could get Bob Seger's "Shakedown" to play for my opponent every time I use that card... Then the deck would be perfect.