Banebow and Hungry Hungry Oggy

[Anson Darkeblade]

First time posting a deck here, from what I've seen it'll get picked apart (in the good way!) and that's what it really needs because I feel like it *could* be better, I'm just missing some things.

1 x Banebow

3 x Infernal Gargoyle
3 x Plasma Behemoth
3 x Fire Snake
3 x Dark Flayer
3 x Molten Destroyer
3 x Oggloth the Glutton

3 x Poison Arrow
4 x Fire Arrow
4 x Death Trap
3 x Acid Jet
4 x Shadow Font

3x Crimson Vest
4 x Guardian's Oath

44 cards total

How I play:
The main way I play the deck is by using Gargoyles and Flayers along with BB's ability to keep early board control. Once I can afford it, I'll drop Oggy, and use everything I can to keep him fed until he leads my Molten Destroyers in for the kill.

Death Traps synergize with Oggy well, leaving him +1/+1 and my opponent without his ally.

I prefer using Acid Jet over LLN/Shriek since smaller armors can be broken by just my weenies, and larger ones usually just take one Jet and they're gone, without costing me a resource. The only problematic items I've run into are Snow Sapphire and sometimes Voice of Winter.

My main shortcomings that I've noticed:
1) A disabled Oggy really limits what I can/can't do late game. Does removing Crippling Blow with Severed Ties bring the ally back to base attack, or to what they had when they got crippled?

2) I sometimes run out of cards. I know I can swap in Wrath of the Forest, but my allies don't really die at a pace where I'd benefit too much.

3) If I lose early board control, it's a real struggle getting it back, especially once Aeons and Sandworms come out. The arrows help, but it's not always enough.

Changes I'm considering:
1) PBs are good, but I find myself either sacrificing them, or not being able to use their ability since I'm casting other stuff. Should they be swapped out for something more cost-effective?

2) Crimson Vest could be dropped entirely. The heal is nice, but by the time it hits the board, it's usually too late to have much of an effect. Replace with Wrath? I tend to not worry about the armors breaking since GO can one-shot smaller attackers.

3) Either abandon the Oggy, or find a better way of using him. This is probably my biggest concern since I like his ability, and within a turn or two, he can eat any enemy for 3 resources. I'd prefer to keep him, and just learn to keep him safe.

Big thanks to anyone who gives some input, and I'll gladly answer any questions about my sometimes sideways logic that anyone might have for me.

[Preybird]

Hi, welcome!

First thing that jumps to my attention is that you have zero draw. Dropping the Crimson Vest for Wrath of the Forest is a good idea, and make sure you boost your Wrath to four copies. Swapping out Guardians Oath with Soul Seeker can replace the healing of Crimson Vest.

I feel you only need two Ogloth, not three. He is unique, and expensive, and having two should mean you will still get him when you need him.

I'd replace the Fire Snakes with Death Mage Thaddeus, and replace the Flayers with Brutalis. Brut has more survivability and combos well with Banebows ability, and DMT is awesome for his instant ping effect.

PB is a good resource sink and can help you deal with those Aeons/Worms/Earthens. I'd keep him.

As Banebows ability is so cheap, I'd remove 2 Shadow Font and add 2 Bad Santa to help give you that extra instant draw.

Remember Banebow will always have trouble with fatties, however if you can keep Oggy safe long enough there should be no issues.

Good luck!

[Anson Darkeblade]

I've been working a lot in the last week, so I've had plenty of time to make changes and test it (yay for hotel clerk-ing).

First, thanks for the suggestion to pull the Fire Snakes and Flayers. DMT has been working far better, and Brutalis as a meat shield is far better. Guess I was just prejudiced against his measly 1 attack. Also, Soul Seeker is *PRO*. Can't tell you how much I'm loving it.

I tried playing around with the quantity of Wrath of the Forest, Shadow Font, Bad Santa, and PB, and concluded that, at least for my style of play:

1) PBs are too much of a resource sink. I dropped them entirely.

2) Wrath wasn't very effective for card draw because once my mid to late-game allies hit the board, they tended to stay alive. For possible card draw I added 4 Wulven Trackers. I know that they have a bad reputation, but my logic is this: to remove them to prevent my draws, most opponents have to use one good card or ability (Crippling Blow, Fireball, Elad's ability) to instantly disable them, or a combination (Maj's ability + Lightning, etc.) to kill them, or attack with at least two allies, and the only time I don't get at least one draw is vs. Sandworms. They are more diversions than anything, but if left on the board, the draw is nice.

3) Spamming Banebow's ability is too good to pass up. 4 Shadow Fonts were consistently useful, especially against well-armored heroes and Sandworms.

My deck now looks like this, and plays a lot smoother, faster, and more efficiently despite a higher card count. Maybe I'm just getting lucky, though, and I'll be back here once I hit a brick wall again.

1x Banebow

4 x Infernal Gargoyle
3 x Brutalis
3 x DMT
4 x Wulven Tracker
3 x Molten Destroyer
2 x Oggloth the Glutton (dropped one like you suggested, great advice)

4 x Poison Arrow (I undervalued these initially)
4 x Fire Arrow
4 x Death Trap
4 x Acid Jet (upped the number when I saw more and more pesky armors/weapons)
4 x Shadow Font
2 x Sacrificial Lamb (gets rid of crippled Oggy or DMT)

4 x Soul Seeker

46 cards total

There is now nothing I "don't really get to use" in the deck now. It all has a place, and I think that's what I was looking for. Thank you again for your help.