Hooru Fly High - Gauntlet Grinder

Introduction to FLYING HIGH:

My only consistent deck in gauntlet. I've used this deck for the past year and it has yet to fail me in grinding gold. Overall, pretty cheap to build compared to some other consistent decks out there, but the Dead Reckoning campaign is mandatory for Hooru Pacifier.

Deck strategy:

-Drop fliers, attack face.
-Race AI to zero health. Your units are essentially unblockable vs many Ai decks. You should win many races if Commando sticks on the board..
-Do not trade unless it's necessary (vs stranger deck)
-Ignore non-threatening ground units.
-Save removal / Silence for large threats or flyers that block (Sandstorm Titan, big life linkers, Order of the Spire, Hero of the People etc.)
-End stalemates with Amilli, Cloudmarshal

Deck Strengths

-This is my fastest and most consistent gauntlet grinder deck. It ends games quickly as you don't have to worry about units clogging up the board. Just fly over them!
-Relatively cheap to construct.
-Enough early game to prevent being overrun and can stabilize quickly if you throw a finest hour on Commando or Crownwatch Standard.
-Has answers for almost all situations. Between silence, vanquish, permafrost and finest hour/crownwatch standard, this deck should be able remove a threat when you need to the most.
-This deck snowballs very quickly. Game is usually over if you get 2 Commando's to stick.
-Auto-win vs weapon heavy AI decks with Hooru Pacifier

Deck Weaknesses

-Can have a tough time dealing with Aegis. But don't forget you can use Finest Hour to pop Aegis, if you need to Permafrost a large threat in a pinch.
-It can run out of gas. With only 2 Strategize for card draw, this deck can run out of gas vs mid-range or heavy removal AI decks.
-No Relic removal. Can make battles against Relic Heavy decks like Excavation really hard. Just save vanquish for SST and hope for a fast start.
-Having played the deck for so long, it can get very mindless. Not many decisions need to be made and can burn you out if you play it over and over. At least you'll have gold though!

Budget Options

The deck is pretty cheap overall, but there are a lot of rares that new players will not have access to. It doesn't have many legendaries, but it does require a campaign purchase. Below are some budget substitute/options that you can consider:

Borderlands Waykeeper instead of Kothon, the Far-Watcher
Wild Cloudsnake instead of Stormtamer Operative.
Amilli, Cloudmarshal not needed in Main Deck. Although I would suggest 1 in the market
Crest of Order 4 copies not needed. I ran it with 2 for quite a while.

Mandatory cards:

Hooru Pacifier is a stud. One of the best 3 drops and cannot be torched. It synergizes well with commando, stops aggro in it's track and neuters a ton of weapon heavy AI decks. My favorite card in the deck.

Unseen Commando - His life gain will save you more than once, especially vs the double damage boss. He's also great for stabilizing against aggro and if you can get 2 to stick to the board, you will probably get an easy win.

Valkyrie Enforcer - Silence is just too valuable in gauntlet. It shuts down other annoying flyers, great vs Sandstorm Titan, Order of the Spire and Hero of the People, Units that will snowball if not taken care of immediately. Know AI's deck. Just don't run him out there on turn 3, if you know your opponent's deck runs SST or other potential threats, save him for later.

Card analysis:

Shelterwing Rider - Some folks hate this card. It's true that AI has gotten significantly better in popping Aegis. However, this is a racing aggro deck. If this card sticks, it's 1/5th of the opponent's health on each hit and puts the AI on a fast clock. It also gets a boost from Unseen Commando. There's also not another good option at the 4 drop. Poaching Drake could be useful, but it dies too easily. At least with Shelterwing, you get a 0/4 blocker to help soak up damage and win races if it's Aegis is popped. You could also market out Protect if you need a quick lava axe to the face.

Kothon, the Far-Watcher - Great vs aggro and invaluable to all the stun decks/cards that AI runs. It has a great early game presence and has good late game value. It also gets a boost from commando once it's ultimate is used.

Ice Sprite interchangeable with quick removal like Defiance. Ice sprite is more offensive as you can play it on your turn to stun an opposing flyer to punch in more damage. Defiance is more defensive and situational as you need the opponent to attack with the creature you want to kill/stun, but it's much more useful vs Gauntlet bosses since you need early answers for Sudden Death and Mindless Aggression. Use whichever card you prefer.

Stormtamer Operative wait, she doesn't fly? Yup, a non-flyer in a Flyer Deck, but hear me out. She's great to making most of your units outside Torch range and is a great early blocker vs AI decks that go wide. The deck only has a few 2 drops and the only other substitutes are Icaria, Valkyrie Captain or Wild Cloudsnake. Both are okay options, but die too easily and get frequently pinged by Vara's Favor. Although of the two Flying options, I would go with Icaria as endurance is pretty valuable in gauntlet and her ramp can come in handy.