In this monthly series I take a deck that I enjoyed playing on ladder and post a video in which I explain the idea behind it, talk about potential swaps you can make and play a few games to show it in action.
In the first episode I talk about a personal favourite, TJPS Crafty Heroes. The deck uses different synergies (heroes, spells, bolster, bounce effects to protect cheap threats and/or to reuse strong summon abilities) to generate a lot of early tempo and/or to accrue a lot of value. The three core cards of the deck are Xultan Ambassador, who turns every other unit in your deck into card draw, Lost Traveller, who can permanently remove units in combination with bounce effects, and Crafty Infiltration, which can find those two and any other unit in your deck, which makes all your little synergy packages more consistent. For a more detailed explanation you can check out the Youtube video:
The ShiftstonedEternal Power Calculator is a deck-building tool that visualizes your odds of drawing enough Influence and Power based specifically on the cards found in your deck.
It's decent, I had about a 70% win-rate over 35 games, but there are definitely better decks to climb and the deck has some bad matchups (mostly control and combo because you are usually not fast enough to kill them early and then they can beat you with board wipes or their combo)
Thanks for the feedback. Throne Room wants a lot of units that can deal damage and/or a deck that consistently is the aggressor with cheap heroes and this deck is neither (you are the aggressor in some matchups, but you rarely have a good attack on turn 3). I also tried to keep the influence as easy as possible, which is why I didn't include any double influence costs.
Derry is pretty important here: She is a 1-cost hero for Ambassador, a strong target for Machinations after you used the ultimate and she delays board wipes. You also easily get enough spells for her ultimate, often a single Crafty or Condemn already does it. Out of your replacements I'd say Javan and Olos could fit in here (as possible replacement for campaign cards that someone doesn't have). Severin is too slow and needs double shadow, Hojan needs too many J sigils to work in here (otherwise great card) and Varret needs more ways to buff him and/or removal to secure successful attacks to be good.
I do agree that Machinations in the market isn't a must, taking 2 spots is definitely rough. The card is crazy in this deck though, you usually get an insane board and maybe even some card draw with it. But yeah, you can just run other stuff instead. I'd definitely play a removal spell, like Turn for the worse, Edict of Makkar or Suffocate, and then maybe some additional recursion or protection like Indifference.
Alessi, Combrei Archmage
x4
1
Condemn
x4
1
Derry Cathain, Ripclaw Rider
x4
1
Hifos, Reach Captain
x2
1
Pause for Reflection
x4
1
Safe Return
x4
1
Seek Power
x2
2
Dran, Won't Back Down
x4
2
Grumbo, Tota Legend
x4
2
Send an Agent
x2
2
Xultan Ambassador
x4
3
Crafty Infiltration
x4
3
Lost Traveler
x4
3
Zadia, Fearsome Outcast
x4
Justice Sigil
x1
Primal Sigil
x1
Shadow Sigil
x1
Time Sigil
x1
Combrei Painting
x4
Diplomatic Seal
x3
Feln Painting
x2
Greater Plans
x4
Hooru Painting
x4
Xultan Conclave
x4
View Deck on Shiftstoned
I've never had much success running Derry Cathain, Ripclaw Rider, how about Hojan, Crownbreaker, Severin, Inevitable, Olos, Elder Ranger, Javan, the Steel Crest or simply Varret, Hero-in-Training instead? I know they don't have strong Summon/Ultimate effects but they can win games on their own if left unchecked by the enemy player.
I'm not sure about Eremot's Machinations in the Market, either. Sure, it's a really strong card but you use up two Market slots for it. I would put any two of these cards instead: Turn For The Worse (the best combo with Condemn there is), Xumuc Whisper, Silverblade Intrusion, Call the Ancients, Indifference, Excavate, Infinite Hourglass
I'll definitely take this deck for a spin!
Derry is pretty important here: She is a 1-cost hero for Ambassador, a strong target for Machinations after you used the ultimate and she delays board wipes. You also easily get enough spells for her ultimate, often a single Crafty or Condemn already does it. Out of your replacements I'd say Javan and Olos could fit in here (as possible replacement for campaign cards that someone doesn't have). Severin is too slow and needs double shadow, Hojan needs too many J sigils to work in here (otherwise great card) and Varret needs more ways to buff him and/or removal to secure successful attacks to be good.
I do agree that Machinations in the market isn't a must, taking 2 spots is definitely rough. The card is crazy in this deck though, you usually get an insane board and maybe even some card draw with it. But yeah, you can just run other stuff instead. I'd definitely play a removal spell, like Turn for the worse, Edict of Makkar or Suffocate, and then maybe some additional recursion or protection like Indifference.