Exp Cheap-as-Free Upgrade for Diana's Faithful Theme Deck

This is an upgraded version of Diana's Faithful - Argent Depths (Theme deck). I decided to only consider cards included from the starter decks, the original five mono-faction decks from the Intro campaign and the five awarded through in-game quests. As well, I also considered cards from the remaining four Argent Depths Theme Decks where appropriate.

The original Argent Depths' Diana's Faithful Theme Deck is a Combrei Aggro-Midrange deck that uses the set's Surge mechanic to either aid your board state or hinder your opponent's, with cards like Omenscar Wurm and Telut, The Iron Gate respectfully; ramp effects allowing you to skip ahead in the 1-turn 1-power play style from the effects of Secret Pages and Pillar of Progress; as wee, the deck uses a handful of Relic Weapons allowing you to control the board, while also benefiting from the bonus from the Pillar.

Playing the original deck unedited in Expedition is an exercise in patience. While the original deck can work, rarely does it accomplish the goal of this game: having fun by winning matches.

If you have recently picked up this Theme Deck and your collection is composed mainly from the starter decks, then this deck tech is for you. However, if you're looking for an optimized deck upgrade for those who have been playing for a while and have the shiftstone to create what you need, please go to my other list built upon the deck's original theme, here.

My deck here will retain the deck's synergy with the Surge mechanic while dropping the Relic Weapon theme. After playtesting I have found these changes to be more consistent in matches.

From Sands of Time (starter):
While the initial playtesting of the Diana's Faithful Theme Deck yielded mixed results, I found the games where I was able to rely on Predator's Instinct to control the board led to a winning outcome. So, while looking through the original Mono-Time Campaign Deck inspired me to capitalize on the killer mechanic. Thus I made the following revisions:
I decided to swap in 2 more copies of Predator's Instinct; 2 copies of Scorpion Wasp, which work just as well as an instant kill effect most of the time; 1 copy of Ancient Lore, to help the deck with managing card advantage; and the copy of Predatory Carnosaur, carrying on the killer themed revisions. To make room for these additions, I decided to drop the 2 copies of Forget, the 2 copies of Amber Acolyte, the Inspiring Leadership, and 1 copy of Omenscar Wurm. The Forgets' Silence effect doesn't fit the theme of this deck; Amber Acolyte works wonders in three- or more faction decks, but is redundant in dual faction decks; Inspiring Leadership rarely mattered when I needed my cards to make a difference between winning and losing; and the Wurm was just a bit too expensive for my liking in most matches, but it's Surge effect did turn the table in some matches I was loosing.

From Hand Of Justice (starter):
There were some nice choices for addition after reviewing the original Mono Justice Campaign deck. My upgrade here shifts the deck compositions to be slightly more Justice heavy, and with influence easier to acquire in Argent Depths, I decided to capitalize on the idea that more Justice Influence is a good thing indeed. The additions I made here was to add a playset of Mantle of Justice, 2 copies of Fourth-Tree Elder, 1 copy of Rolant's Honor Guard, and 1 copy of Valkyrie Wings. I thus removed the 2 copies of Secret Pages, 2 copies of Xultan Arbalest, 2 copies of Smogwing Tinker, and the 2 copies of Battery Mage. Dropping the Relic Weapons theme, the Arbalests and the Tinkers no longer fit the revised theme; as well, the Pages and the Battery Mages, while letting the deck ramp didn't matter as much with the deck topping out at 6 Power (Nahid's Distillation is really a 5-cost card most of the time). Yet the Elders, the Honor Guard, and the Valkyrie Wings made up for the loss of the Smogwings where they really affected play, in the air.

From Combrei Progress (quest):
The Combrei Quest Deck gave access to 1 more copy of Fourth-Tree elder and 2 more Scorpion Wasps; the deck also yielded 2 copies of Desert Marshal, whose ambush effect makes it an excellent response to your opponent's plans. To make room for these additions, I cut the 2 copies of Pillar of Progress, 2 copies of Combrei Healer, and 1 copy of Sabre of Progress.

From Rakano Glory (quest):
The Rakano Quest Deck allowed for adding a final copy of Fourth-Tree Elder along with 1 copy of Silverwing Commander. These cards allow your late game to be more air-dominant, thus serving an easy win against most decks. I dropped the remianing 2 copies of Sabre of Progress to make room for these additions.

From Roshi's Confounders - Argent Depths (Theme deck):
If you have also obtained the Roshi's Confounder theme deck from the Eternal Store or you have access to these cards already, you can swap in 2 copies of Kodosh Evangel and 1 copy of Wind Conjuring for the 2 copies of Grodov Evangel and the 1 copy of Delay. As I had stated above, this upgraded list attempts to capitalize on having Justice influence above time. Therefore the swapping of the Evangels works better over time. As well, while I have lost count of the number of games I won using Wind Conjuring both as a trick and for its invoke, I haven't lost count of the number of games Delay allowed me to win a match, at a grand total of ZERO. Delay merely delays loosing while WINd Conjuring wins games.

From Touvon's Behemoths - Argent Depths (Theme deck):
As well, if you have acquired the Touvon's Behemoths theme deck from the Eternal Store, you can add the copy of Touvon, Skybreak Giant and 2 more Nahid's Distillation, giving you a playset of the card. During playtesting, both of these additions allowed for gains in card advantage, twice over with Touvon's Ambush ability. To make room for these additions, I dropped the remaining copy of Omenscar Wurm and the 2 copies of Sage of Sands. The Sage's summon ability is great, but I do enjoy the results gained following a Nahid's Distillation after another; Touvon's draw mechanic is a substitute here for loosing the Wurm's draw effect.

And finally, I swapped out 2 Time Sigils for 2 Justice Sigils. When playing this deck you'll want to prioritize having 4+ Justice influence by turn 4, for either the Telut or a timely Trickshot Ruffian or Mantle of Justice. Otherwise, the playstyle remains faithful to the original deck: control the board with your early plays by not dying too quickly; take off and win games once you can establish your board from turn 4 onwards.

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know in the comments section below.