FPS Midrange

A big midrange I've been playing in a fun set of colors. This deck plays a controlling, value-oriented early game before turning the corner with a series of big flying/lifesteal threats and game-swinging sites. Bonus: much dragon. Thanks to Vaylin for help testing and refining the list!

Threats
Vara, Vengeance-Seeker is still a great card, but I haven't played another shell where she shines like this since the nerf. I originally toyed around with the idea of other four-drops to lock in a bigger body (Rindra, the Duskblade was interesting), but this deck really wants the aegis hose with all its spot removal, so I went with Vara and haven't regretted it. She is an incredible target for Mirror Image off your Peaks to trigger her summon again; if your opponent couldn't remove the first Vara, it is very likely the pair of them will finish off the game. It is generally best to try to get value out of her summon by not giving your opponent easy outs - try not to play her into a torch or let them sacrifice something they don't care about, as you want the race-swinging threat typically - though the 3/3 version is still useful against aggro.

Eclipse Dragon has a ton of utility. Its ability to accelerate a clock is important here, as the deck is slow early but often wants to end the game quickly once it deploys threats on a stable board. The fast-spell power is the best thing about the card; casting your Wisdom of the Elders without spending a turn or actual power is great, as is deploying a threat and still holding up removal. Additionally, killing sites immediately is nuts, and if they aren't losing the site they are probably losing a unit for free to chump the quickdraw.

Black-Sky Harbinger is one of the best stabilizers in the game. Just the summon likely wins you the game against a lot of aggro, and it's extremely valuable if unanswered as a sizable flying lifestealer. Pinging off aegis, Auric Runehammer, or x/1s from aggro/Rakano decks is great utility.

Xo of the Endless Hoard is card advantage in big dragon form and allows you to top off the line of threats with a real game-winner. It is usually too slow to do much of anything on the board in any deck that plays it, but drawing cards is good and an opponent who can't remove Xo probably isn't coming back after the attack. You typically want to market away Xo, and you should look to play him when you believe you have exhausted your enemy's removal.

Sites
Howling Peak and Dizo's Office are the heart of the deck's top-end. Each is capable of removing a unit AND generating a card (on board or in hand, respectively) if they survive just one turn, which is not hard with built-in removal. Peak also gets you to 7 power, while Dizo's stabilizes your life among the best in the game. Playing multiple sites in a game is a really, really good thing here. Don't be afraid to remove an existing site to deploy another if you need the removal, copied unit or life gain. 6 expensive sites maindeck may seem greedy, but these cards more than anything are how you win games. I considered titling the deck "FPS Sites."

Smugglers
Howling Peak Smuggler is no-doubt one of the best and amazing with all the damage spells in the deck. Blight Pass Smuggler has fantastic defensive stats (and survives your Hailstorm) and turns into a meaningful unit and lifestealer with Threaten off Dizo's. The strength of these merchants with our gameplan is a major strength of the deck.

This brings us to the market. Royal Decree has a critical target or two in some matchups, but is almost always good and one of the most fetched market cards off your first smuggler. The other common early fetches are Hailstorm - you don't need multiples and 8 smugglers means it essentially always gets played against aggro - and the Feln Banner. Molot & Nakova is for when you need a big finisher above and beyond the sites, and is even capable of bringing you back into a nearly lost game by brickwalling late-game threats. Flying and aegis is a potent combination, and 8/8 is a whole lot with that in mind. Spark can be triggered in a lot of ways (a good one is Kaleb's Favor from Peak, which also helps get to the 8 power). This ability is capable of extremely swingy plays like destroying a site, or hitting a wide board with Dizo's out and gaining 20 life. Since Sediti, the Killing Steel has been nerfed, I don't think Kaleb's Choice is as necessary, and Vaylin and I have been thinking the market has been missing something. I'm trying Vicious Highwayman at his suggestion, as the market does lack something proactive and it has a variety of valuable functions. Other options on the table for this flex slot arePermafrost, Feeding Time, or Honor of Claws.

Vaylin and I have been discussing possible tweaks like market Peak and extra removal; we have settled for now on an extra removal spell over the 8th smuggler. We have also just added Cauldron Cookbook to the market, as Decree is quite inconsistent and it is really punishing to whiff or get the onslaught denied (wasting your market turn and subsequent turn), and Cookbook is Sediti levels of sustain.

Have fun and let me know what you think!