Praxis Smol Bois -- LightsOutAce's favorite archetype (Kappa)

Okay, so, new expansion, new site, new idea on an oldie but goodie--Praxis tokens--aka Praxis Smol Bois. Threw this list together, and it did surprisingly well for me in top 100 throne on winrate (not that that's particularly meaningful in this day and age since it's not ECQ Eternal), flowed pretty reasonably, so I thought I'd throw together a write-up.

So first off, the list is **rough**. While I think a lot of cards are definitely good, some are a bit less so. Let's go down the list.

Grenadin Drone: backbone of any go-wide strategy in throne. Pretty self-explanatory.

Initiate of the Sands: the big issue with initiate of the sands is that aside from getting bolted, going too soft on ramp dorks made them undependable, and going too hard on them meant rancid topdecks if your opponent could deal with your initial onslaught. However, because of a new card we'll get to in a second, initiates have, I think, become a bit of a staple once again.

Kindling Carver: you're a go-wide deck, this card turns your dorks into more gas. Furthermore, because most of the deck's curve is fairly low it seems like a pretty decent home for carver.

Logistics Expert: now here's the real deal as to why we run initiates. This new badass card--while she doesn't chip away early like initiate of the sands does, unlike initiate of the sands, logistics expert is NOT a dead topdeck, instead turning into a 4/5 overwhelm, or if the game draws on late enough, an 8/9. How would you like to have your cake and eat it too? That's logistics expert, and basically one of the two reasons to revisit the archetype.

Torch: you're a proactive fire deck, it's torch, run 4, be happy.

Kato, Arena Herald: again, go-wide deck. If your opponent can't deal with your board, Kato is 2 bodies and sac fodder for 2 power, which is a great deal. And if the game does draw on or you run into hailstorms, suddenly, Kato looks like a monstrous threat down the stretch. Still pretty much a staple as far as go-wide decks go, though needs an obelisk to really get going on a proactive plan.

Temple Scribe: now here's where some people may advocate for Midchief Salus, but my reasoning for temple scribe was that Praxis Tokens is a bit of a synergy deck as opposed to necessarily a goodstuff deck, coupled with the fact that you don't necessarily want to give your opponent's cheap, damage-based removal a good target. A temple scribe is a great topdeck that presents a threat (assuming obelisk out) and cycles to the next card. Oh, and provides fodder for kindling carver. Obviously, not the best of 2-drops, but if your bird eats a bolt, having something on 2 is better than nothing. However, if you want to cut scribe for Salus, please feel free to do so, as it's one of the inclusions I'm least certain of.

Assembly Line: again, go-wide deck, and this is 3 bodies from a single card. Not the cheapest of plays to be certain, and if there were some other 2 bodies for 2 cost card, this may very well be a cut. In any case, it's still fairly slim pickings for "cards that make multiple bodies for less than 3 power", and in the 3 power slot, this makes 3 bodies, no questions asked.

East Annex Smuggler: the market access of choice because I think this deck would like both mono-fire and mono-time cards in the market, and charge is a great skill to have, so, Praxis smug it is.

Tocas, Waystone Harvester: multiple appealing reasons for this card. First off, the deck runs the new site, which we'll get to in a moment, so if you're on the play, imagine a curve of initiate -> Tocas -> Inferno den to conflagrate your opponent's 2-drop. That's absolutely nasty. Furthermore, there's incidental hate against Kira decks, or even some Elysian where Pause for Reflection is involved. Lastly, this deck plays obelisk, and Tocas's twist is a real consideration as far as getting to 8 power for that huge bonus.

Cykalis, the Burning Sand: proactive time deck. The card's amazing short of an irrelevant tribe (for now), though time has seen better days as an aggressive faction.

Xenan Obelisk: staple Praxis Smol Bois card, and the reason you play the deck. A pair of them at 8 power suddenly turns all your dorks into 5/5s and upward. We've known how good this card was since set 1. That said, a bit of a heads-up, if you're against a deck that can pack relic hate, be aware of that and use your obelisks with that in mind.

Inferno Den: another bit of spice from the latest expansion. The passive's terrific, Erica's absolutely nuts if she pops because you have a whole bunch of power with which to deploy double damage chargers, etc. However, to do things right, you get a deal 3 on the front end, and then if you have an obelisk out, an inferno dance amplified 3x (6 total power, so third spell if on curve) represents a devastating amount of damage from that alone (14 charging damage off the inferno dance with an obelisk out). Basically, the only sort of iffy aspect of it is the bottoms up. Everything else is very, very solid.

Power base: bunch of non-seat duals, waystones (again, 8 power is relevant, so emblems are a bit of an iffy choice I *think*), and a couple of sigils because enemy ice bolts are a thing. Granite waystone is particularly sweet if you can activate it because, again, go-wide deck.

Market:

Be Gone: high-tempo card against more expensive threats (4+).
Flame Blast: proactive red deck, here's your reach when torches don't cut it. Obliterate or Deheen Blitz are also fine considerations for this job.
Dissociate: modal negate or anti-attachment interaction.
Purify: spot removal against softer targets. Champion of Chaos is particularly susceptible here, but can also tag a Kira if bubble shield is absent because of the silence effect. Not great, but does the job in a pinch.
Waystone Fragment: probably the best of the two other "wannabe obelisk" cards (Clock of Stolen Hours being the other one). If you need that anthem effect, you just need it, and if it comes with a pair of dorks that gain you life, that's not a joke either.


Other cards worth consideration, in no particular order:

Auralian Supplier: it just feels like the other 3-drops are kind of mandatory. But if you want to play this card, I think Tocas has to be the cut, because it can't be your market access or your go-wide card. That, or you put den into the market and play 16 (!) 3-drops.

Vault of the Praxis: I don't think there's enough hard control out there to really gear up for a super-long grind. Furthermore, Inferno Den is all sorts of vicious beatings against that sort of deck archetype as it stands. But if you want to, consider cutting something from the market.

Blazing Salvo: A legitimate consideration for market access, and might allow you to cut East Annex Smuggler entirely to make room for Auralian Supplier. Other 2-cost considerations are Sear and Relentless Pursuit.

Fire Conjuring: probably worth experimenting with, I just didn't think of it when making the draft of this deck. Again, probably worth putting into the market since you need to be sufficiently ahead/wide for this to be really worth it, which means keeping the smuggler.

Obliterate, Deheen Blitz: as I said, if you don't like flame blast as a method of reach, these are reasonable alternatives. If you're running Deheen, though, that gives more consideration to putting a Doorknocker into the market as well.

Jekk, Mercenary Hunter: if you want to tailor the power base by cutting waystones to increase the chance of double damage Jekk, be my guest. In such an instance, I'd imagine you send either Den or Cykalis to the market, since he's competing for space at the top end. The low sigil count coupled with 8 power matters means that Jekk might not be at his best here, but again, to each their own. Jekk's a very powerful card, so, he's definitely worth consideration.

Thunder of Wings: can potentially come out turn 2 off an initiate/logistics expert (!). Maybe there's a praxis aggro deck that takes that exact route. It wasn't at the forefront of my mind when building this deck because I wanted to explore the go-wide route, but I have to believe that the amount of dorks this generates means this is a 4/1 flying charger for 3 almost always with very little downside. Just have to find the space for it.

Lumen Shepherd: no plunder and only 4 ways of accessing the market means you're often left with a brick in this variant of the build. However, I can certainly see a world in which a deck might play Passionate Stonehammer and maybe Blazing Salvo for market access in addition to the smuggler, at which point, this card's stock would rise substantially.

Various time fatties: don't turn on your opponent's spot removal, even if Inferno Den is a card.

So yeah, hope you guys enjoyed this write-up, now go and spam some Praxis Smol Bois.