Seek Power
x4
1
Veteran Strategist
x1
2
Bring Down
x3
2
Dazzle
x3
2
Edict of Kodosh
x2
2
Just Desserts
x2
2
Shadowsea Expedition
x1
2
Transpose
x3
2
Vicious Overgrowth
x3
3
Equalize
x4
3
Realign the Stars
x1
3
Storm Spiral
x1
3
Wisdom of the Elders
x4
4
Forbidden Research
x2
4
Wasteland Broker
x4
6
Svetya's Sanctum
x2
6
The Speaking Circle
x4
7
Massive Greatsword
x2
8
From the Heavens
x2
9
Channel the Tempest
x2
Justice Sigil
x4
Primal Sigil
x5
Clan Standard
x2
Hooru Painting
x4
Justice Symbol
x4
Primal Symbol
x2
Seat of Order
x4
View Deck on Shiftstoned
I'll give it a try, please update it if you make improvements to it.
Any tips on how to play it efficiently?
I don't play Throne, so I will try it in Expedition & see how it goes. I'm not playing competitively so it should be fine but if I can think of improvements I will tell you.
Just by looking at the list, I can come up with a few questions, that might get their answers once I've played enough with the deck:
- A single Veteran Strategist is the only way to get the Fire influence needed for Knucklebones. Is that enough in your experience? Adding a single Fire sigil would improve that since you play 4 Seek Power.
- Can you play From the Heavens often enough to justify it? Especially that you noticed that sometimes you were lacking power. Aren't the 4 Equalize enough as sweepers? Then those 2 From the Heavens could be ramp, like Eilyn's Favor or Beseech the Throne (but I like the extra Aegis source).
- Against which decks is Reverberating Strike useful?
or Mercy of Kodosh. Most main and market choices from this deck are based on Tuesday Night Eternal meta. Maybe in Normal Expedition need some changes. For example in this tourney i start face and lose to Rakano Sentinel and i lose one of the games with him having 4 health, no field/hand while i have 9 health and no hand and field, but draw power while he draw unit. The next match was x Ad Nauseam and i won a game thanks to the From the Heavens amplify. Sadly he have enough discard and counterspell to win the other 2 games and 1 of those games i lose because i add {F} instead of {P} and end with only 1 {P} and casting no card. Don't worry i will try update this deck next year. First i need have more cards from Set 10.
I had trouble dealing with relics, especially relic weapons. Massive Greatsword & Backbreaker are quite popular and the deck doesn't have any clear answer to them. But armory decks are probably not that frequent on the ladder, the higher you go, it's just that I felt helpless against those.
Also, and as most decks currently I guess, Mandrakes are so hard to deal with, even when the deck runs well. I can't wait for them to nerf Shoal Stirrings, I believe that this is the card that pushes them over the top and makes them so difficult to deal with.
About the deck itself:
- Equalize is a real MVP, a strong card against all types of decks. I'm glad I've crafted them :)
- Bring Down & Edict of Kodosh in the main deck are fine but I often wish that they would be in the Market instead.
- Instead I'd like Permafrost and more Just Desserts I guess, but Silence vs Stun vs Damage really depends of the meta.
- I almost never saw the 1x cards. Personally I like more consistency, especially that we don't draw that much. I like 1 Realign the Stars though, even though I never draw it :P
- Yes the deck sometimes wants more power, since the 6 & 7 cost cards are so critical. I tried Mandrake Simulacrae in the Market for the extra plunder effect. Not great but it can do the job.
- I never was able to cast a single Channel the Tempest. And I'm not sure that the deck needs them since I never had that many cards in hand in the late game.
- Speaking of the Market, I'm not a big fan of Rain of Frogs (except in a Mind Link deck) and Reverberating Strike, that I never used. But it's difficult to find other options at the 4 cost slot.
- I'm not a big fan of Wasteland Broker neither, as it's not very reliable and most of the Market cards I don't really need them in several copies.
- Lastly, and quite importantly for me, I think that I actually played Knucklebones only once or twice. I'd like to find ways to play it more often since I mostly play Control decks for this card ;)
Sorry if I sound negative, I had a lot of fun playing it and when it works well it feels super "controllish". I'm just trying to see how it can be improved, at least for my taste.
On a different topic, I just started making a Grenadins Control deck to play Knucklebones. Have a look at it if you feel like it :)