Definitely a tier 1 deck at the moment, is only held back by the prevalence of Vara, Vengeance Seeker. This deck absolutely crushes most other decks, and can often outgrind varas with
Heart of the Vault. I've been playing this at the #1 spot on ladder, as well as in the past 2 weekly tournaments, both of which I finished 2nd place in.
Praxis pledge has 6 flex slots, which are currently being taken up by 3 copies of
Amaran Stinger, 2 copies of
East Annex Smuggler, and 1 copy of
Devotee of the Sands. There are no copies of
Sandstorm Titan or
Zuberi, Outlands Warlord because this deck needs cheap cards to play on turns 2-3, not more expensive fatties. Stinger in particular is still an extremely powerful card, and its newfound vulnerability to torch is far less relevant than it seems on first glance as this deck has so many must-torch units already. Smugglers have been extremely strong for having more access to
Xenan Obelisk, as well as being extra insurance against flood (one of the main weaknesses of pledge decks in general). Lastly, the single copy of devotee is in there as a 9th 2-drop, since having a card to play on turn 2 is critical. I'm playing it over the 4th stinger because stinger gets a lot worse in multiples. It's usually possible to connect with the 1st stinger, but the 2nd one will generally get stonewalled by your opponent's developing board and/or their removal. I'm generally happy to draw 1 stinger in a game, but not multiples, which is why I'm playing a single devotee over the 4th copy.
Initiate of the Sands
x4
1
Torch
x4
2
Devotee of the Sands
x1
2
Glasshopper
x4
2
Teacher of Humility
x4
3
Amaran Stinger
x3
3
Auralian Merchant
x4
3
East Annex Smuggler
x2
3
Tocas, Waystone Harvester
x4
4
Cykalis, the Burning Sand
x4
4
Darya, Warrior Poet
x4
5
Gunrunner
x4
5
Moonstone Vanguard
x4
6
Heart of the Vault
x4
Fire Sigil
x2
Time Sigil
x5
Crest of Impulse
x2
Praxis Banner
x4
Praxis Insignia
x4
Seat of Impulse
x4
Shugo Standard
x4
View Deck on Shiftstoned
What is the legendary crafting path do you suggest for a newer player like me?
I currently have 4 Cyka, 1 Darya, 2 Tocas (1, theme, 1 pack).
Just dusted my two newly crafted Daryas is response to the nerf, but I can remake them anythime.
I'd say the most important legendary for this deck is Cykalis, the Burning Sand, which you already have, followed closely by Heart of the Vault. Tocas, Waystone Harvester is a good one as well, though it's not nearly as important as those first 2. As for darya, I'm really not sure about her at the moment. I think she's still probably better than any of the other available pledge options, but she can definitely be substituted with other pledge cards and the deck will still work almost as well. If you're low on shiftstones I would recommend leaving the daryas aside until later and spending the stone on Heart of the Vaults instead, especially since HotV sees a ton of play outside of this deck as well.
A word of caution: Although I think Praxis Pledge is still a strong contender post-patch, it has certainly lost some of its power. You may want to wait to see the results from the next few tournaments before crafting any more cards for the deck, as it may not be as good anymore depending on how the post-patch metagame changes.
Cheers!
Erik9099
I don't mind you posting another person's decklist at all.
In my opinion, praxis pledge is one of the worst budget decks out there, since it relies heavily on powerful legendaries in Heart of the Vault, Teacher of Humility, and Cykalis, the Burning Sand. I would not recommend building the deck if you can't afford 4 copies of each of these. If you're looking for a powerful budget option, I would recommend looking at some of the budget stonescar aggro lists that are floating around.
Cheers,
Erik
Praxis Pledge isn't dead though, the powerhouses of the deck (Glasshopper, Cykalis, Gunrunner, and HotV) were left untouched, and the nerfs to maiden and vara are very helpful for the deck. We'll have to see how the meta evolves.
Also thank for the list. I climb from 300 to 30 in minimum time.
The problem with bore is that only the smuggler gets it, so you'd have to switch 2 auralian merchants for 2 smugglers, and auralian merchant is just far better than smuggler in this deck. Passage of Eons is just too expensive for the effect.
The other problem with these options is that we already have a relic removal card in dissociate, and you want to avoid overlap in market cards as much as possible. Although it would be nice to be able to blow out multiple permafrosts or rat cages, it's not worth the sacrificed market slot in my experience.
Cheers
Could I ask a favour?
It's totally ok if not, but if you have the time I could really use a pro's advice on this deck i've been working really hard on.
It's an ixtun deck sorta aggro-mid, and i've got it "almost just right" but can't make the last hard decisions.
https://eternalwarcry.com/decks/d/ybd2raOhaJ0/ixtun-madggro-1-1
Any advice, even harsh, would be appreciated.
P.S. I have a just-for-fun deck that's actually turned out to be decent in action, https://eternalwarcry.com/decks/d/0joDImcoLr8/experimental-equaltaurs based on Tavrod+Equalizer+Minotaurs.
Thanks for your time, and any advice would be awesome, but i'll understand if your busy.