UPDATE 2019-03-02: Added back in Commando, swapped back to Reflex, and re-added in Vara Favor to help with powerscrew. Vanq Blade just wasnt cutting it often enough to be worth using, especially when the tradeoff was either "more lifesteal" or "more power" which are both better. Current version is on a 21-0 streak again.
UPDATE 2019-01-28: Updated with some tweaks based on the latest balance changes and some further testing. Unsurprisingly the
Unwavering Exorcist was a bad addition to this deck...I've gone back to
Devastating Setback to handle boardfloods instead which is overall far more useful. This also means no more
Harsh Rule since I found it kind of redundant so I opted for the new site
Regent's Tomb which is highly flexible and useful! Finally, I've again gone with good ole
Vanquish in the market over the nerfed
Avigraft since it effectively does the same thing for 2 less power.
UPDATE 2019-01-06: Finally got around to updating this list with some of the new tools for set 5. I felt like there were 2 directions to take this list in: More reactive with a lot more removal (such as the great new
Defiance card), or more aggressive with
Hojan, Crownbreaker who needs a few attachments to really shine. In the end I opted for the latter since I prefer to play as fast as possible versus the AI before they can bust out any of the many bombs they run at Masters-level gauntlet. Also, I'd gone back-and-forth on Shadow versus Justice market but the new
Hidden Road Smuggler makes the point moot while also providing added lifesteal! Being able to pull out
Thief's Pick on demand is a huge game-changer especially versus token decks. The
Unwavering Exorcist is mostly there to deal with hostile
Permafrost and is probably the weakest market card at this time - I will probably revisit it. The deck has gone 7-0 4 times over in this form and I'm confident with this update. The sideboard now has a few cards worthy of additional consideration if you are so inclined, but I am quite pleased with this deck in its current form.
An "updated" version of my old AP gauntlet grinder deck:
Paladinotaur: Easymode Gauntlet Grinder (NOT RECOMMENDED for Into Shadow). Some key changes highlighted below.
Vara, Vengeance-Seeker basically invalidates the Paladinotaur deck since she kills the aegis of
Crownwatch Paladin and she's a better overall card than
Copperhall Paladin, so trying to continue with Paladin synergy just wasn't making a lot of sense while using her.
Good luck versus the AI!
Dark Return
x4
1
Sharpened Reflex
x3
2
Annihilate
x2
2
Hojan, Crownbreaker
x4
2
Ripknife Assassin
x4
2
Vara's Favor
x3
3
Auric Interrogator
x4
3
Hidden Road Smuggler
x4
3
Slay
x4
3
Unseen Commando
x4
4
Auric Runehammer
x4
4
Inquisitor's Blade
x2
4
Vara, Vengeance-Seeker
x4
5
Tavrod, Auric Broker
x4
Justice Sigil
x6
Shadow Sigil
x7
Argenport Banner
x4
Crest of Vengeance
x4
Seat of Vengeance
x4
View Deck on Shiftstoned
My suggestion is to get Into Shadow pronto. That campaign gives you some neat stuff.
Peace
I really don't like Cull here honestly. Interrogator and Tavrod are a ton of card cycle by themselves and Annihilate is, in a way, a "hedge against a bad draw" versus the more aggressive decks the AI busts out. Especially that ridiculous Oni tribal one...Annihilate saves you there but Cull - likely - will not stave off a super-fast opening on the AI's part!
See mastercaura's post below for a brief discussion of Reflex versus Finest. I personally found Reflex to be less useful in practice, though it does have a host of benefits (such as permanently activating Interrogator and providing a Scout).
In regards to replacing regent's tomb, I'd probably go for a Crownwatch Standard if you find that you are losing out on power/influence issues sometimes. It can provide both power and more lifesteal help! I'd also consider some attachment-hate cards like Burglarize since sometimes the AI plays things like Obelisk which can be brutal to handle...
HTH!
Remove Telut, Queen's Hand from mainboard
Add Suffocate
This was necessary to make the early game more consistent, as the Telut in the market is enough and able to be grabbed when you can actually cast it. Most of these games are decided in the opening turns and having him in your opening hand can kill you.
Remove 4 Ripknife Assassin
Add 4 Copperhall Bailiff
The synergy from Ripknife and Unseen Commando was not enough to make this card worth it. The warcry synergy with Auric Interrogator is not lost in this change. Deadly is great to have but between huge creatures: Tavrod, Auric Broker and Vara, Vengeance-Seeker, and kill spells: Vanquisher's Blade, Slay, Vanquish, deadly is not needed in my opinion. What were able to kill me were wide aggro decks that laughed at slay, killed my one early commando and all but ignored my Ripknife Assassin. Copperhall Bailiff eats these decks for breakfast. It's a bit slower, but it adds two important synergies on top of destroying those decks: another Minotaur in the deck means you will have less dead draws from Tavgod, increasing the consistency of the blowout champion of the deck, and finally with my next change:
Remove 3 Annihilate
Add 3 Suffocate
You specifically state the reverse of this change is your preference, and I have to disagree here. Shakedown is not enough for the very early game against aggro, because it lets them draw an extra card even though it gets rid of an important early game card. It's still incredible, but it needs backup. As stated, Copperhall Bailiff synergizes with this by making 4 attack creatures susceptible when you don't have a Vanquisher's Blade or can't use it for whatever reason. Finally, annihilate's single influence requirement is horribly restrictive with the amount of variety in decks you must consistently beat in gauntlet.
Market
Remove Inquisitor Makto
Add Bloodletter
Bloodletter is another activator for Auric Interrogator which is sometimes needed for grind matches, and goes great to turn the merchant himself into a 5/5 flying in a pinch, with some added lifegain which even negates Auric Interrogator's damage to your hero. Makto was the card I wanted to take out least, but after losing him to the graveyard with destiny because of Tavrod a few times, I realized the synergy just wasn't there.
Thoughts are welcome, and again, amazing deck. I couldn't alter the deck if it didn't exist, after all.
Suffocate versus Annihilate I feel like is a toss-up; there's plenty of strong mono color gauntlet decks, especially that damned Oni deck which can snowball hard if you're unlucky, and Annihilate has the added bonus of being useful versus large mono-color bombs that the AI plays. Plus it's a fast spell which can throw the AI for a loop when trading minions. The point that Shakedown isn't enough in and of itself versus aggro is fair however.
4th Suffocate instead of Telut, Queen's Hand makes sense if you're tech'ing hard against aggro. I'll definitely be considering dropping the maindeck Telut personally, though I'll sleep on the suffocate-versus-annihilate discussion as per above.
I really was not a fan of Copperhall Bailiff when last I tried him - even with the Minotaur synergy I found he was just too low of an impact 80% of the time he hit the board. Furthermore, I think you're discounting how dumb the AI is about the deadly keyword; It will often avoid attacking altogether if there's even the slightest risk it will make an unfair loss. Hence I prefer ripknife here. I also feel like there really aren't that many go-wide gauntlet decks tbh.
Bloodletter I honestly think is completely unnecessary in market since a) this deck has a ton of lifesteal between Unseen Commando and Vara, Vengeance-Seeker already b) This deck already has plenty of Interrogator activators in my opinion and c) Makto is a lot more useful in grind-y matchups than the interrogator since he's a threat that keeps coming back. Sure, Tavrod can accidentally discard him so there's some anti-synergy, but in situations where you're stuck at 5 power and haven't drawn a Tavrod yet he's a fantastic backup wincon/delay that Bloodletter just can't compete with.
Though I might not agree with all of these I'm definitely interested in how this later iteration performs - I look forward to seeing the results. Goodluck!
Ripknife Assassin change:
I'm not too proud to admit I was wrong about a few things. I believe a few matchups are made imperceptibly much easier with the Ripknife turn 2 Commando turn 3, and I feel that previously I missed the need to push early damage sometimes. The double justice influence requirement also sometimes hurt the early game where the single shadow requirement is easy, and missing a creature drop early on is a death sentence sometimes. The mono time deck for example is much harder to kill without extra early damage and snowballing from Ripknife.
On top of this, aggressive tactics are great for gauntlet because we're in this for the gold in the end, and faster games means more gold. I completely reversed this change.
Annihilate change and Telut, Queen's Hand removal:
This change has not felt bad like the Ripknife change did. This is still personal preference though.
Bloodletter, Inquisitor Makto: I agree now that Bloodletter underperforms in this deck after testing, and removed Bloodletter. However, I have changed something else in the deck instead of adding Makto back, and feel that it has made a huge difference.
For easy reading, new changelist from original deck:
Remove:
3 Annihilate
1 Telut, Queen's Hand
1 Tavrod, Auric Broker
Market:
Inquisitor Makto
Add:
4 Suffocate
1 Auric Interrogator
Market:
Tavrod, Auric Broker
I am still testing this change but have been very happy having an almost guaranteed Tavrod, while still keeping the same amount of minotaurs in the deck for Tavrod's effect.
As always, thoughts are welcome. Thanks for the deck.
I still feel like suffocate-versus-annihilate is a personal preference choice, but I definitely am interested in your results with it.
Finally, 4th interrogator instead of Tavord maindeck seems logical if you're going market tavrod.