Pocket Aces (Masters - 5/19/2020)

This deck has gone through a lot of iterations on its way to my first Masters. It was heavy Yeti for a while with Champion, Crone and Iceberg and then it went full on Second Sight fest with Thunderstrike, Hurler, Static Bolt and Second Sight to generate as much tempo and card advantage as possible. When I finally hit Diamond I needed to refine it as tightly as I could and here’s what I came up with: Cheap dragons that don’t care how sticky they are so long as they can attack once to generate their tempo.

Every Dragon has been chosen to be played on Turn 3, torch proof and near resource-screw proof, if you get an early spellbound. Crimson is one of the weaker cards in terms of combos but if the opponent lets me get a turn 4 double damage swing the game is basically over as I can just play defense and grab that last 15 damage with spells. God forbid you can’t kill Crimson 5th turn and I provoke him. 2 turns of attacks with a single ally and you’re dead by T5. Brutal Frostlord is a weird card choice with all these other great dragon options but he’s crucial in keeping the board clear early and activating your Spellbound. Coming in to crush a Carver or Pioneer can really ruin your opponent before he starts. Fun Fact: Double damage works with his less-used ability. I’ve had multiple situations where I put him in late game for 2 and activated his ability to do 10+ dmg.

Make no mistake though: Ace is the King here and I’ve built more decks around him then most people would think is healthy. He turns niche cards like Cinder Clucth and Downpour into bombs that can swing games. If I put one out, kill it immediately. He can make a simple Backlash do 5 damage. Rockslide can target two enemies with 4 damage for 2cc. Crystalize becomes a board wipe. Hell, with the deck’s ability to add double damage it’s not out of the norm to put down 8 3/1 allies with a single Cinder Clutch because of him. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Touch of Force played on an Ace the opponent can’t kill,with Cinder Clutch in hand, but 4 1cc spells that do 8-10 damage and bring in 8-10 allies is basically unbeatable in any meta.

Spellbound helps keep things flying in when you’re resource locked and push an extra 2 damage to a double damage spell late game. It’s very good to grab early tempo or to stall an opponent with weaker spells until you can take board.

Downpour looks like a garbo card until you realize that one Ace proc and it becomes a natty 4 dmg spell that clears your opponents board, scouts you a card and hits them too boot. If you get it back with Sorcery or boost it with Touch of Force after Ace touches it... gg.

The best part of the build is this deck is highly customizable. Wanna use Torch or Rockslide instead of Sear? Go for it. Wanna run Second Sight and throw snowballs? Live your best life. Want to go balls deep into Yeti and just have the spells to support? Ace turns cards like Snow Pelting into Hiroshima. Not loving the weakish Market? Throw in Salvo for Kaleb just be careful not to pump it up with Ace and deal 5 to yourself. Play it your way and enjoy yourself! All I will warn you of is watch your curve. T2 Spellbound into T3 Ace or Crimson is the goal. End games quick before your opponent builds up an answer that outraces your burn - you can only kill so much before you get backed into a corner.