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Elysian Dino's Gauntlet Grinder

Gauntlet Deck By
konan

+2

Cost Curve

Type

Faction

Information

I recently got very fond of the Gauntlet format and tried quite a few of kc_bandit's gauntlet decks (https://www.reddit.com/r/EternalCardGame/comments/7r88h1/gauntlet_masters_grinding_thread_20_post_set_3_ai/). I didn't have the shiftstones for the Grenadin deck and most of the Gauntlet grinding decks felt so linear it was a rather boring grind. I then started brewing with Elysian quite a bit - I tested a more classic Elysian Midrange deck, but it often felt too slow / clunky against some of the really agressive gauntlet decks.

I then just brewed with the Dino archetype a bit more and finally found a shell with which I got 3 7 win runs in a row. It's basically a Dino deck with a quite the extensive Explorer package consisting of Evelina, Valley Searcher,Sauropod Wrangler,Trail Maker and Nocturnal Observer. Each of those explorers are fine when played individually, but in combination with Evelina, Valley Searcher you can get some pretty busted buffed up Dinosaurs. On top of that they give you some early game chump blockers, which are really needed. The inclusion of False Prince might seem odd at first, but he is one of the main reasons why Elysian is worth playing, since the A.I. doesn't understand his ability. The A.I. will never play damage spells like Torch or Vara's Favor on him unless that would kill him from the damage. Also interesting to note is that it will basically always block breakthrough attackers no matter what. E.g. the A.I. will block him with a 2/2 and 3 1/1's when they are playing a token deck (on the first attack, unless they are super close to lethal). The same is true for Dawnwalker and Worldbearer Behemoth.

Another neat interaction is the Nocturnal Observer + Dawnwalker combo, where you can discard Dawnwalker to bring him back with False Prince the next turn.

For budget reasons you can actually play Xenan Initiation over Twilight Hunt, I actually went with a 2/2 split for a long time. Also note is that you often have to attack into your opponents biggest threat and then Dawnwalker + Killer to finish their threat off.

I also started by playing 4x Xenan Obelisk, but in the end it often felt too clunky, because you need some serious board presence for it to really shine and while this deck can grow wide quite a bit it usually involves playing the echo creatures.

Also note that I included 2 Seek Power (those were initially 2 more monuments), to help with finding more power early on as this deck is very power hungry.

Why I love playing this deck is that there are almost always multiple lines how you can play your hand and the deck basically never runs out of gas with the combination of Echo + the Ultimate of Aviasaur Patriarch. Also each game plays very differently depending on your opening hand. Enjoy :-)

Details

Shiftstone Cost
Does not include campaign cost
34,000

Premium Cost
156,800

Influence Requirements
3 2

Power Sources
16 13 8 4

Power Calculator
Shiftstoned Icon View Deck on Shiftstoned

Deck Rarities
22 17 27 4

Card Types
39 3 8 0 25

Contains Cards From Campaigns
Jekk's Bounty [Set1001]

Archetype
Midrange

Added
January 26, 2018

Views
2,041

Eternal Version
The Dusk Road

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Comments

Comment Deleted
calango Edited Eternal Version: 1.27
Thanks for sharing this list, it's a pretty fun and good deck !
It has so many ways of playing out the games, it's a refreshing experience away from the ladder grind.

Some budget replacements I made due to not having the cards, but the deck still feels strong with them:

-3 Nocturnal Observer >> +3 Wisdom of the Elders
-1 Twilight Hunt >> +1 Xenan Initiation
-2 Worldbearer Behemoth >> +2 Frenzied Omnivore
(the most impactful replacement obviously, since I'm missing 2 copies, but the Omnivore does some work too in this deck. Won a couple games cause his stats got out of control but many times, he'll be just a Terrazon that kills an opposing weenie when summoned. But he also has the discard mechanic, inherent to Observer and can send your Dawnwalkers straight to the void, to be recalled. It is certainly a downgrade from Behemoth, but an ok replacement in his place as a 2-of.)
konan Eternal Version: 1.27

I'm glad your enjoying the deck and also agree that it every game with this list feels different from the last. It might not be strongest Gauntlet Grinding deck, but it's definitely one of the most fun decks for me.
I actually initially ran Wisdom and Strategize and ended up cutting them, since I didn't need more cards, I usually just needed to be able to cast them. Now that I'm thinking about it, I could see cutting an Observer and a wrangler for 2 more seek power...