Mono Fire Aggro - Battle Lines [Master Rank]

With the new set comes rotation and some brand new tech to use, a completely new Meta to explore. With over half the previous deck gone and not a sufficient amount of good Charge and Warcry Units, there’s not many fast, hard-hitting Units to build an Fire Aggro deck around. However, I’ve yet again been pleasantly surprised with a fresh deck. The backbone of which is Back to Back.

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Card Choices

1-Drops

On the Hunt
One of the new reprints added to the deck as a good 1-drop to include. This card is so far great, especially when going first as your opponent is less likely to Hunt the Hellhound off the top of your deck. It swings the momentum of the game entirely in your favor, making your opponent forced to find a quick answer while you continue to set up. It combos great with another newcomer in the deck, Calm Instructor.

Raging Jackal
Another reprint that helps facilitate the strategy of the deck. Combined with Pyroknight, it is a card that you want to see turn 1 as it lets you go into the one-two punch combo of the deck. Valor makes it a good attack with or without buffs as well and can be surprisingly difficult for the opponent to block often ending in an unfavorable trade for them.

Pyroknight
Char
Ignite
Here are some cards that remain from rotation. Pyroknight serves the same purpose as Raging Jackal though not as good in the early game (great mid-late game). The other two serve more as fast early game removal as you are not really worried about Aegis anymore but for a few niche situations. Usually used to guarantee you get a few blows in earlier on without falling too behind.

2-Drops

Grove Supplier
A card that was very situational before feels much more viable now that there is a way to search it and get it into play free. It is a great card to boost the damage of your smaller Units and works best when paired with your evasive Karrina, Hive Guardian or Twilight Lantern. The effect stacks so having multiple on the field is amazing too.

Karrina, Hive Guardian
The new set brings the ability Nomad which give her Flying and is hindered by grounded blockers. It is a nice bonus but the most notable aspect of the ability is that she gets Nomad 3, making her extremely resilient to tons of removal on your opponent’s turn, even possibly tanking a hit from something like Ossuar Longbow. This is one of your better targets to buff as you can continue to hit for big damage in the air.

Twilight Lantern
A card that lost its wind a while back due to the nerf, Twilight Lantern gets a second opportunity in a deck that focus around buffing our smaller Units for big damage. All the previous benefits of it still apply (Nightfall providing damage and draw, triggering its other ability) with the added bonus of being the ideal target of your Back to Back and Ossuar Longbow. Keep in mind that Defy Authority, Calm Instructor, and Ossuar Longbow all have potential to re-trigger the Double Damage ability, hitting crazy numbers out of nowhere.

Defy Authority
Pyre Adept
Another of our good and cheap generic burn Spells in Defy Authority. Not much here to say other than use it as removal or when you know the opponent plans to use Save the Day. Pyre Adept is just here to fill space until something good comes along. It hits hard and makes for a decent buff target. It trades well when you need to chump block or just throw Units at the opponent.

3 & 4-Drops

Calm Instructor
With the loss of Censari Brigand, I was disheartened at a good Charge Unit that could hit as hard. Here’s the next best thing. While its ability to go face is nice, I must say that it Recruit ability is really what shines here. With 22 targets, you almost always get something off of its ability and when you are swinging in with a ton of Units, slapping down a Grove Supplier often puts you so far ahead you can clean up on the following turn. That said, if you anticipate a board wipe, it also helps greatly in rebuilding a board and stabilizing after something like a Light the Beacon.

Back to Back
The main issue now is that Fire does not have great ways of getting in for early damage. You do not usually want to play Grove Supplier as it serves more of a supplementary position rather than an offensive one. The entire deck is built with this card in mind. Set up a 1 and 2-drop in the first two turns of the game, and then give them a permanent boost with Back to Back. A lot of the skill will come in with anticipating the removal of your opponent and playing Units accordingly so that you have two Units when you play this card. The added Overwhelm lets your buffed Units attack straight through defenses and while your opponent deals with those, you tend to have further resources to build up more threats. Do not be afraid to let it rip as long as you have two Units on the board.

Ossuar Longbow
I’ve long debated the usefulness of this card in an Aggro deck, especially in the face of my own favorite card (Karrina, Embercaster). However, since blockers are not that much of an issue with this deck, Ossuar Longbow here provides us with an instantaneous massive boost to stats. Being Versitile, it functions a removal spell as well when needed in a pinch. I did find myself using it far more when attaching it to other Units whether I wanted to build another threat or power up and existing one (looking at Twilight Lantern after a permanent Back to Back boost). It is a good top end card that synergizes well with the strategy of the overall deck.

Power
Once again we keep it simple with just 25 Fire Sigils. You want Power cards that do not come in Depleted as reaching 3 is important to make your one-two punch combo active.

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Summary

It is early to tell and the Meta may swing in different directions but this feels like a great starting point for how the deck might look into the future. I tested in casual and Ranked (reached 1 with it!). I’d say the biggest concerns is the loss of cards like Ankle Cutter and Display of Passion to deal with Lifesteal Unit though if you get a good start, you can usually out damage what they can gain in return. Things are bound to change. Godspeed. (RGF)

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Notes/Updates