Majiya Elite Deck

[Aleczander35]

Ok guys, I see some flaws you guys brought to my attention, My edit is posted above and here is a run-through:

-3 Snow Sapphire
-3 Death Mage Thaddeus
-3 Wulven Tracker

+1 Bad Wolf
+4 Chimera
+3 Brutalis
+1 Sacrificial Lamb

Same card count which sucks cause I was hoping to bring it down.

So now I have a T2 ally, a T4 ally who is better than Tracker, an extra Sacrificial Lamb for draw help, and an extra Bad Wolf.

Now I'm going to go test this out and I'll let you know how it works for me.

Also thanks a lot for your comments, This is the exact reason I posted this

[Aleczander35]

Ok guys I have completely redone the deck and it is GREAT I'm so happy with it, I have edited the Initial post so go check it out please

[1ndeed]

New to Shadow Era, I'm trying to build a solid non-portal majiya deck as well. Here's what I've got so far:

1 Majiya
4 Infernal Gargoyle
3 Brutalis
3 Plasma Behemoth
3 DMT
2 Shadow Knight
2 Molten Destroyer
2 Wulvern Tracker

4 Fireball
4 Lightning Strike
4 Research
2 Supernova
2 Shriek of Vengeance
2 Ley Line Nexus
2 Dagger of Unmaking


The decks that give me the most trouble are hero/weapon based, ie: gwenneth. What's the gameplan there? I tried the Molten Destroyer thinking it would be good for those situations, but not impressed so far. Snow Sapphire?

Any advice appreciated.

[Aleczander35]

Yea they are always the hardest for me also, you could add a Ley line and a shriek to get rid of their weapons. And yes Snow Sapphire is great for that. Also Plasma Behemoth helps because he can do 4 damage without getting hit by a weapon. He is pretty much a Fireball that stays out there.

[1ndeed]

Well, I'm trying to keep it at 40 cards, what would you suggest? My current list is this -

1 Majiya
4 Infernal Gargoyle
3 Brutalis
3 Plasma Behemoth
3 Bad Wolf
3 DMT
3 Shadow Knight
2 Wulvern Tracker

4 Fireball
4 Lightning Strike
4 Research
2 Supernova
2 Shriek of Vengeance
2 Ley Line Nexus


I cut the Molten Destroyers. Initially I thought they would be good against weapon-based decks, and would be hard to kill in general. I was kinda dissapointed and feel there are better options. I also cut Dagger of Unmaking. It was really good, but again I feel there are better choices. I started noticing that I wasn't putting enough pressure on my opponents. Added Bad Wolf to help in the early game.

I mean I see that this deck wins (only) when it has serious card advantage. If I don't see a Tome I usually lose. Thinking about adding 2 Sacrificial Lamb somehow.


Also, is Portal much better than non-portal majiya? I feel like you lose some early game, tempo, and some control, but you gain that end-game that I seem to be lacking right now.

[Airact]

Also, is Portal much better than non-portal majiya? I feel like you lose some early game, tempo, and some control, but you gain that end-game that I seem to be lacking right now.

Personally I don't like Portal that much. You bank a lot on your first Portal and if that fails(Shriek, Destroy Arms), you are in a situation where it's really hard to get back to the game. Doesn't mean it's not strong, it is, but personally I don't like it that much.

The reason why your Maj doesn't have the late-game is because you play no Dagger of Unmaking or Molten Destroyer, both of which help keep the board because both are relatively hard to get rid of. And if one or both stay on the board... Hell is loose.

Maj in general doesn't have better late-game board control options than those two. There aren't any. Plasma Behemoth does only so much and you bank on it staying alive. It's way easier to get rid of than Molten Destroyer is due to allies being able to attack PB without that many consequences.

I don't really see a reason to use Wulven Tracker. You have way too many other cards you prefer to play on t4 instead of that. And more often than not it will get disabled or killed before it can give you cards.

-2 Wulven Tracker - +2 Sac Lamb

Having a 3rd Bad Wolf doesn't do you much good and you want that t2 Brutalis as often as possible. It also does surprisingly well in later-game.

-1 Bad Wolf - +1 Brutalis

Speaking about Bad Wolf, I really don't see why you would need the card in any case. Let's get some control over the board. Your fatties are really aggressive and if you want more control and late-game options, I think they need a bit of a change as well. You don't need that many fatties.

-2 Bad Wolf, -3 Plasma Behemoth, -3 Shadow Knight - +1 DMT, +4 Molten Destroyer, +3 Dagger of Unmaking


This would make the list as follows:

Majiya

4x Gargoyle
4x Brutalis
4x DMT
4x Molten Destroyer

4x Fireball
4x Lightning
2x Shriek
2x Supernova
2x Ley Line
2x Sac Lamb

4x Research
3x Dagger of Unmaking

Total: 40

Alternatively if you aren't that strict about having 40 cards, you could add one, or two of the following:

+1 Dagger of Unmaking - 3x has a risk of not having another in hand if one gets killed

+1 Supernova - More control over the board

+1 Bad Santa - The deck's ally base is not that high(not a bad thing tho) so a 3rd Sac Lamb might not be the best choice so if you feel like you need more draw, add a BS.

+1 Shriek - If you really want Research, IGG, Wrath of the Forest, Jeweler's Dream and Wizent's Staff dead. Also helps a lot against Mill MS alongside Molten Destroyers.

As much as I hate saying it but I feel like putting pressure is a thing not that many decks can do in the current meta, Banebow and Zaladar probably being the only ones doing that consistently. Aggro decks do their own thing but aren't that consistent.

[1ndeed]

thank you for the tips. your list looks very clean and simple, i'm gonna test a bit more and come back to this thread later.

[1ndeed]

Been testing the above list, want to discuss some things.

1) Molten Destroyer vs. Plasma Behemoth?
It seems like both allies are really good in theory, but no matter how you slice it these are the ones your opponent will be sure to get rid of quickly. They both survive Fireball, so I place them above something like Shadow Knight for sure. If your opponent can't deal with either one, it's usually gg regardless of which one you have out. But Molten Destroyer also comes in handy, being a little harder to kill and dealing 1-2 damage, at least. When I wanted to make this deck, it was strictly because I had my ass handed to me by a Plasma Behemoth, so it's hard for me to justify cutting them. My point is that the allies at this slot are somewhat irrelevant, because they attract damage and rarely survive, and if they do survive, their impacts are both good it's hard to distinguish.


2) Shriek of Vengeance, LLN
These cards are very good, don't get me wrong. After playing this deck, I see that Tome of Knowledge is the critical card. If you don't draw one, you lose. Being able to kill an opponent's Tome for 1 is great... I won't go into it, we all know there are good targets for these situational removal spells. However, I feel like Majiya is a more aggresive deck. It can dish out crazy damage late game if you used Tome correctly. Further, Mages can't heal, so it's hard to play a 'control' deck when at any time your life can be whittled down. While it does need board control to be adequately aggressive, would it not benefit from more aggro cards? I'm not sure what though...

[Aleczander35]

Of you lose Ley Line or Shriek, you will never beat Warriors and Hunters with weapon based attack, it'll be an automatic loss every time.
Also PB and MD are not easily killed of you put them out consecutively, there is no way they will keep getting killed.

[Airact]

Been testing the above list, want to discuss some things.

1) Molten Destroyer vs. Plasma Behemoth?
It seems like both allies are really good in theory, but no matter how you slice it these are the ones your opponent will be sure to get rid of quickly. They both survive Fireball, so I place them above something like Shadow Knight for sure. If your opponent can't deal with either one, it's usually gg regardless of which one you have out. But Molten Destroyer also comes in handy, being a little harder to kill and dealing 1-2 damage, at least. When I wanted to make this deck, it was strictly because I had my ass handed to me by a Plasma Behemoth, so it's hard for me to justify cutting them. My point is that the allies at this slot are somewhat irrelevant, because they attract damage and rarely survive, and if they do survive, their impacts are both good it's hard to distinguish.


2) Shriek of Vengeance, LLN
These cards are very good, don't get me wrong. After playing this deck, I see that Tome of Knowledge is the critical card. If you don't draw one, you lose. Being able to kill an opponent's Tome for 1 is great... I won't go into it, we all know there are good targets for these situational removal spells. However, I feel like Majiya is a more aggresive deck. It can dish out crazy damage late game if you used Tome correctly. Further, Mages can't heal, so it's hard to play a 'control' deck when at any time your life can be whittled down. While it does need board control to be adequately aggressive, would it not benefit from more aggro cards? I'm not sure what though...

1.

If both are to be removed anyway, why not force him to pay as much as possible in order to remove the card he needs to remove anyway? MD also one-shots a PB, EP and 6 health allies(they die at the beginning of the opposing turn). The additional resources of using PB ability can be directed towards keeping the control and building up the board.


2.

Why should you care if you can't heal? Just don't take damage.

Without LLN, how do you deal with Snow Sapphire? It also comes handy against Anklebreakers and Soul Seekers.

Without Shriek you can never take your opponents draw engine out off-guard. It's also great against Jeweler's Dream. A part of control is negating draws.


3.

My list is a control build, not an aggro build.