ZTC 4.0 - The Feedbomb Legacy

Well, it's been several months in the making/theorizing/tuning/revising the latest version of my Zaladar build. Rather than say a lot about it right now, I'll reserve a spot for my comments, but will otherwise leave it to your imagination. All this said, I give you:

"Zaladar Total Control, v4.0"

Zaladar

4x Ironhide Karash
3x Infernal Gargoyle
3x Death Mage Thaddeus
2x Darkwood Wraith

4x Mind Control
2x Shadow Font
2x Interference
2x Ley Line Nexus
3x Feedback
2x Soul Reaper

4x Bad Santa
4x Bazaar
1x Word of the Prophet**

3x Shadowvein

Total: 39+hero

Ironhide Karash: With the release of DP, Karash has been the standard replacement for Brutalis, the (2) workhorse from the CotC set. I initally wanted to keep Brutalis as the utility ally for early board assistance, due to its resistance to allies and abilities that target it/kill it. Lightning Strike, ZalBlast, most (3) allies' attacks - all of these kill Karash, but all leave Brutalis intact, at least, by themselves. However, I'm not that concerned with the early board state, and in the later game, I wanted something that could be attacking for 2 points of damage, rather than only 1. Also, Karash is pretty utilitarian against most weapons, which will need to be boosted in order to kill it. So, after going back and forth, Karash was the choice for the new version's (2) ally. However, depending on the matchup, and what you expect your opponent to drop, it's not necessarily the best T2 drop you can manage, perhaps being behind Bazaar in importance, also depending on what you have in hand. This isn't a Banebow deck, and so Karash isn't always the best T2 play.


Infernal Gargoyle: for the same reasons that it is a staple ally in pretty much every Shadow deck, it is in this one also. Reasonable cost for an ally that is tough to kill, and good in the early, mid, and late phases of the game. Another reason why Gargoyle serves ZTC well is that since it almost always requires more than one source of damage to remove it from the board, it prevents those two damage sources from being targetted at your hero, and thus allowing you to live that much longer to set up your big late-game plays.


Death Mage Thaddeus: Ping damage is a great compliment to ZalBlast for killing off many allies, as well as DMT's ability to bypass the protection of stealth and armor.


Darkwood Wraith: After playing many games with the standard blend of utility allies, I found that later in the game, Mind Control was not plentiful enough, nor resource-efficient enough to be the sole source of direct ally control. Adding in Darkwood Wraith allowed me to keep my ally pool size the same (12 allies in the deck) as well as adding a versatility element to that pool. As ZTC can often lose the early board, I found that a T5 Wraith could be quite invaluable.

Hypothetical illustration: Opponent opens with traditional Puwen, Jasmine, Aldon on turns 2-4; conversely, ZTC responds with T3 DMT and pings Jasmine down to 3 health. Now, when the opponent plays Aldon on T4, Jasmine will kill DMT with her attack. On your T4, you play Shadow Font, go to 7SE, and use your ZalBlast to kill both Jasmine and Puwen. On your subsequent T5, you can play Darkwood Wraith to return Aldon back to their hand. Now, even assuming they played another ally on their T5, you have a 2/5 threat on the board that they need to address, along with 4SE in tow. On their T6, they will likely need to use both their hero ability alongside an ability or an ally's attack to get rid of your Wraith. Now you open your T6 with enough SE to ZalBlast, plus enough resources to play up to two more allies, a Mind Control, or even a Shadowvein.


Mind Control: Does this really need an explanation?


Shadow Font / Interference: Shadow Font is good for the same reasons it's always been good in Zaladar: it's tantamount to Lightning Strike. Interference is also a very powerful card, as it can not only boost your Shadow Energy levels to even greater than Shadow Font, but it also shuts down your opponent's hero ability for the next turn, which can completely (and surprisingly) ruin his plans and swing the board to your favor. However, despite the fact that Interference can be far more powerful than Shadow Font, there are also many times/matchups where your opponent doesn't keep much SE stored, and so Shadow Font is far more useful to you. That is why there is a 2/2 split between the two of them.

On a side note, used alongside Shadowvein, Interference can be incredibly powerful. Let's say your opponent is Eladwen, and you have no allies on the board, compared to his Raven, Aldon, and Kristoffer Wyld - conversely, your board is empty. You have 4SE stored, and Eladwen has 3SE. You use your ability, dealing 3 damage to both Raven and Aldon - you are @ 0SE. You play Shadowvein, and attack Aldon to kill him. You go to 1 SE, Eladwen goes to 4SE. Now it's your opponent's turn. Eladwen goes to 5SE, and attacks you with Krist (killing him) and Raven, leaving her at 1 health. You go up to 3SE, and Eladwen is now at 7SE, and still has no targets upon which to use her ability. Now it's your turn, and Zaladar goes up to 4SE. You use ZalBlast to kill off Raven and deal 3 damage to Eladwen, leaving you @ 0SE. Now you play Interference, sending you soaring to 7SE, and with your remaining 3-4 resources, you play an ally such as a Gargoyle or DMT, and your opponent cannot use Eladwen's ability on their following turn. You also still have 1 durability left on your Shadowvein This could go on and on, but you see how poweful this combo can be.


Feedback: Seriously?


Ley Line Nexus: Primary purpose for inclusions are The King's Pride, powerful weapons, such as Soul Seeker (especially with Gwen, who is one of the tougher matchups for this deck) and Snow Sapphire, which can slow your progress , as it can anyone's. Note, Dimension Ripper is to be feared, as it can steal your Feedbacks, which can spell disaster for you later on when turned against you.


Soul Reaper: The deck, with only 12 allies, seems ill-suited for Soul Reaper. The truth of the matter is that this deck can often come dangerously close to death, all the while only being 1-2 turns away from winning it all. Being down to 7 life against a Mage, for example, is very dangerous, regardless of how many resources you have, as they can throw a Lightning Strike and Fireball at you and end the game. By the time this has come to pass, you've likely gotten at least 3 allies in your graveyard, and so a Soul Reaper at this point gains you 6 life, putting you above that dreaded "blindside kill" threat range. Two are included because nothing is more annoying than only having on Soul Reaper in your deck and drawing it in your open hand.


Bad Santa: Fodder for Feedbombs, or at the very least, Santa Bombs early, midway, or late in the game. On T1, if you've got a Bazaar in your opening hand, it's definitely alright to sacrifice one, or even two, Bad Santas. You only need 1-2 later on throughout the game to get off a poweful Feedbomb, alongside Bazaar.


Bazaar: The heart of the deck. It's that simple. You CAN win without it, of course, but your battle will be much harder. I wouldn't advise ever sacrificing even an extra one, until you've really gotten your board in place (T5+ with cards in hand) because if your opponent gets off an early Shriek of Vengeance, or Artful Squire against you, it's very hard to keep pace with them, as they'll likely have drawing power, and you will not.


Word of the Prophet: Almost exclusively to help your T1 hand. It's very, very strong to have a T2 Bazaar, especially if going first, so having a Word of the Prophet in hand is akin to having 5x Bazaars in your deck, in terms of your odds to play a T2 Bazaar. It also can empty your hand of expensive items on T1, so you can Santa Bomb on T2, as well as having replaced the cards from your hand that you wouldn't be able to play early on in the game, anyway (Feedback, Shadowvein, et al). If you get one in your opening hand, but it doesn't help your T2-3 situation, it's best to just use it as your T1 sac.

Yay! Finally! :D Thank you!!

I very much agree with the use of WotP. There are some decks that certain t2 play wins the whole game.

I'm looking forward to seeing your detailed explanation on card selection and how it is different from CotC version :D

nice deck to some degree.

Interesting changes to the FBD. Gonna go and try it out, thanks!

Yes :).

Woot!

I'm having a difficult time seeing how this deck can win with so little attack power. Seems like priest and mages would have an easy victory. Can't wait to hear the details.

I might be wrong but as i see it creatures are there to hold the board at early and middle game, after that is a rush on zaladar's ability sustained by shadowvein while the feedback+santa combo will be acting as extra muscle to make sure things don't get out of hand. Basically keep your opponent dealing with the threats on the board while you build the momentum to use the Zar ability several times in a row (interference will win you games).

Your not playing Eternal Renewal anymore?? Why 2 Soul reapers with so little allies?

Idk if I like this version, waiting for your explanation.