Update (11/29/17): Rank 1 being steadily held with this deck.
Dropped 1 Purify, added 1 Desert Marshal. Testing Throne Wardens as a potential replacement for Heart of the Vault, but will not update this list with that until more info has been gathered.
I have been getting awesome feedback on the deck and want to thank everyone who has been contributing to playtests.
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Update (11/28/17): Rank 2 has been claimed with this deck.
Playing around with power base now, made a few cuts, down to 25 power.
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Hey guys, TheDRG here, and this is the list that I put together taking me from Rank 700 to Rank 14 in under two days, November 26, 2017.
This is your traditional Rakano Icaria build with a hint of Time to access some higher quality control, consistency, and value.
Why not Tavrod? Because it dies to Vanquish and loses to this deck. On a real note though, I don't feel good playing Tavrod and since this deck actually beats Tavrod, I'm happy leaving him in the dust.
In a meta full of Dawnwalkers, Maktos and Tavrods, silences are an absolute necessity, so I looked nowhere else but Combrei and Praxis to find the best silences in the game.
Purify and Desert Marshal have been absolute MVP's during my time using this deck. The Ambush on Desert Marshal makes it a near instant speed Silence, allowing you to nab in on some valuable trades, and Purify, while good on its own, helps stabilize against early aggressive decks.
I dropped Valkyrie Enforcer since it's main purpose (aside from 3/3 flyer) is Silencing, (we don't care about unit quality outside of Heart and Icaria) and I feel Desert Marshal does this job 10x better by being cheaper and faster, and still providing a blocker.
Amber Acolyte helps you fix into Heart of the Vault, and Icaria, as well as providing a dork to mitigate damage/push damage.
Heart of the Vault used to be a 4-of, but most of the early game is consisted of fixing and staying alive (don't hesitate to Rise for an Acolyte if you need fixing), where having 4x Hearts just ends up being too clunky, considering we are fitting Icaria in as well.
The most important advice I can give for playing this deck is the Influence Priority:
1 FTJ
2 J (Runehammer/ Harsh Rule)
2 F (Daisho)
3 F (Heart/Icaria)
3 T/J depending on hand.
This is my first deck post on this site and formatting might be bad due to sending from mobile, enjoy!
Seek Power
x4
1
Torch
x4
2
Desert Marshal
x4
2
Purify
x3
2
Rakano Artisan
x4
2
Vanquish
x4
3
Amber Acolyte
x3
3
Sword of Icaria
x4
4
Auric Runehammer
x4
4
Reforge
x2
4
Rise to the Challenge
x3
5
Harsh Rule
x4
6
Heart of the Vault
x3
6
Starsteel Daisho
x2
7
Icaria, the Liberator
x2
Fire Sigil
x4
Justice Sigil
x4
Time Sigil
x3
Combrei Banner
x1
Rakano Banner
x1
Seat of Glory
x4
Seat of Impulse
x4
Seat of Progress
x4
View Deck on Shiftstoned
Any suggestions for some tweeks or strategies to deal with it ?
If stuck with a Rise to the Challenge in hand, always grab a Runehammer for the immunity trade and +1 armor, unless you need fixing for Harsh Rule, grab an Acolyte.
That being said, Agro is really tough to deal with, and unfortunately this deck will never beat an Agro deck with a perfect curve.
Edit: Also, you could try going up to 4x Purify 4x Desert Marshal if you're facing literally nothing but agro, and drop 1 Icaria (or heart)
good deck though, very enjoyable and congrats on rank 1
edit: nvm i'm probably wrong after more math
Grenadine Drone into another one, into am assembly line into two Bandit Queens with no harsh rule in sight.