Prototype Serena Deck

[ThorFolklore]

Hi there, I've just returned to the game after taking a half-year hiatus from it due to work commitments. The meta's changed a lot since I stopped playing. It took me a few days of constant playing to get back up to speed. Anyway, the first hero I chose to play as was Serena. This is my build of a Serena control deck. Some advice and criticism, even compliments would be appreciated. Go easy on me, I just got back to SE!

Hero:
Serena x1 - Simply because she's more interesting to play compared to Lance.

Allies:
Priest of the Light x4 - Really helps when I want to delay an opponent from using their Hero Abilities for a turn. Not to mention the 4 extra health, which comes in handy since I have no other way of healing Serena.

Tainted Oracle x4 - One half of the draw engine of this deck, together with IGG. Combos well with EP for even more draw power plus a decent 4/4 hitter.

Earthen Protector x2 - The set-up guy. Works great with Tainted Oracles and Aeons.

Aeon x2 - To set up the Aeon-EP lock whenever possible. More of a bonus when it works. Also good to give the rest of my allies a buff since I don't use Aldon.

Abilities:
Sorcerous Poison x1 - That little bit of poison adds up in the long run. Too many times I've been killed by Damage over Time effects. Now I want to dish out some of my own. This is only here to poison the enemy hero. Any opposing allies affected by it counts as a bonus.

Retreat! x3 - The ever-splashable card in human decks. Only a 2-drop but so versatile. Love it!

Assassination x3 - I've tried the Kris + Assassination combo but have decided not to run it (this despite the fact that I probably should since I don't have Lance's ability to cast). However, I usually use this on a Tainted Oracle. Most players will either disable it (with Jasmine or Marshland Sentinel, for example) or just ignore it, so I make them pay. Either way, it's a win-win for me.

Stop, Thief! x4 - You'd think that this is adequate, but I don't seem to be drawing it often enough. Thinking of adding 1 or 2 LLN, what say you?

Items:
IGG x4 - The other half of the draw engine of this deck. Together with Tainted Oracle, I find myself almost never short of cards in hand.

Black Garb x4 - Need I say more? This is a control deck.

Night Prowler x2 - Because Serena has awesome hand destruction potential. It's only here for opportunistic moments when I can combine this with her ability and get rid of two cards in one go. Sometimes leads to the opponent rage quitting. I know that I'll be advised to play Spelleater Bands, but I'm having too much fun with Night Prowler at the moment.

Anklebreaker x4 - Great to counter fatties, even better to kill off weenies and get an extra card due to IGG. Also the reason why I'm not running Raven or Marshland Sentinel.

DoU x2 - Not too sure about this. I find myself seldom using it, but it does make a big difference when I do use it. Who doesn't like Retreat! built into a weapon? Currently considering taking one out and replacing it with one Golden Katar though. That thing takes forever to get rid of but I feel that it's better suited in a Lance deck seeing as Serena needs to go on the offensive to maximise her hand destruction powers.

Total cards: 40

Some notes:
- I'm no pro or anything but I do feel that something's missing. The synergy is there, I suppose, but insufficient. I mean, I win like 6.5/10 games but I wish the win rate was a little higher.
- After extensive playtesting, I've discovered a glaring problem. The control aspect of this deck takes until mid game to set up. As a result, I'm vulnerable to weenie rushes and those annoying mages who will use a Supernova (hate that card!) to finish you off. Usually, I'm forced to play defensively during the early game but once I hit 5 resources and can deploy a weapon, this deck really starts to shine. The problem is this: sometimes, it's too late to catch up because Serena is missing too much health. Would Crimson Vest remedy this situation?
- I don't run Kris and Nightshade, common choices for Rogue decks, because I wanted to try something different. However, I'm thinking of playing them. Should I? They are great at chipping away at enemy armour like Black Garb, not to mention the Kris + Assassination combo.
- Do I need Lily or Master Smith? With the reliability of my draw engines, I usually have a weapon/armour on the field plus a spare one at hand. Lily would take priority for me though because I'm a little low on allies.

[Woeden]

Newbie here... but I've been reading a lot on Rogue and have played some battles myself. I currently use a Serena Deck. I like your Earthen/Tainted/Aeon trio, sounds nice. I would only add Golden Katar, I see you're thinking of adding it, do it! Works great with IGG I never use it to hit the Hero just leave it there as a pain dealer against allies until it gets stealen or breaken by defending heros, then I'll just put another one on. It's like a black garb (won't kill the ally but wil take -2 damage with no durability lose)

I don't like retreat that much, but I see it's a forum favorite...
Night Prowler would be hard to put up, but would be a nice combo.

[ThorFolklore]

Newbie here... but I've been reading a lot on Rogue and have played some battles myself. I currently use a Serena Deck. I like your Earthen/Tainted/Aeon trio, sounds nice. I would only add Golden Katar, I see you're thinking of adding it, do it! Works great with IGG I never use it to hit the Hero just leave it there as a pain dealer against allies until it gets stealen or breaken by defending heros, then I'll just put another one on. It's like a black garb (won't kill the ally but wil take -2 damage with no durability lose)

I don't like retreat that much, but I see it's a forum favorite...
Night Prowler would be hard to put up, but would be a nice combo.

Thanks for the suggestion, but if I were to use Golden Katar, I would remove Night Prowler for something else, maybe Crimson Vest or Spelleater Bands. To make the Serena + Night Prowler combo work, one has to be on the offensive. Doing so would use up Golden Katar's durability.

[mclamdc]

I like having Lily in my Serena decks just because I seem to have bad luck for weapon draws. for the early game you already have the black garb so I don't think there's too much you can do unless you want to put in some Jasmine or Puwen. Also, I use the Night Prowler combo too and I love it so so much haha.

[Caitlyn0]

@Woeden: if you are using Katar in Serena for the defense of it... add sorcerous poison to your deck AWESOME with Katar. and be sure to attack the opposing hero at least once to poison them too.

[ThorFolklore]

@Woeden: if you are using Katar in Serena for the defense of it... add sorcerous poison to your deck AWESOME with Katar. and be sure to attack the opposing hero at least once to poison them too.

Caitlyn0, thanks for the suggestion to Woeden, but do you mind also giving an opinion about my deck? It was the OP anyway... Lol.

[Woeden]

@Woeden: if you are using Katar in Serena for the defense of it... add sorcerous poison to your deck AWESOME with Katar. and be sure to attack the opposing hero at least once to poison them too.

Thanks! I actually did for a while but with anklebreaker guess I'll try it with katar. I'm on a Lance deck now, and doing better.

To the OP: how's your deck coming along?

[ThorFolklore]

Thanks! I actually did for a while but with anklebreaker guess I'll try it with katar. I'm on a Lance deck now, and doing better.

To the OP: how's your deck coming along?

I'm testing it now with 41-42 cards. Added in 1-2 LLN and it seems ok, but I'm still vulnerable to early rushes because I have no 1cc and 2cc allies at all. Thinking of shaking up the ally combination next.

[Reshiram99]

Early game is what you're lacking in. PoTL and TO aren't what I'd call 'reliable' allies, and by the time you can start up your game plan (T5), you are most likely very far down in health and disabling 1 ally a turn with AB or retreating one with DoU won't save you. So here is my list of proposed changes:

-4 PoTL +4 Jasmine

Why? SE manipulation is fun and all, but it just isn't worth the trade-off of -1 health compared to Jas. Jasmine has that vital point of health more than PoTL and has a much better ability, effectively taking an ally out of the game for a 2 resource upkeep a turn. She is also much more reliable than a Priest, mostly due to the fact, as I said, that she has 1 more health than him.

-1 Sorcerous Poison +1 Retreat
A fun card, but it is ultimately wasted. Especially with just one copy of it in your 40 card deck. Too much of a gimmick to be useable.

-4 Tainted Oracle +4 Puwen / +4 Nightshade
Tainted Oracle.. awesome card, but it is just overkill in combination with Ill-Gotten Gains. What you are lacking in is the department of early board control, and that's what Puwen likes to help with. You could also try Nightshades; it depends on what you want. A stealthy pinger or a straight-up board fighter.

-3 Assassination +3 Bad Santa
Assassination was the card everyone thought to be OP when it first came out, but between your Retreat, DoU, Anklebreaker and Black Garb, you don't need it. The card itself is a bit situational, because you need prior board presence before using this. About the Santas, sometimes you can't draw an IGG and you'll need an accelerant. Santa does the job.

-2 Night Prowler +2 Spelleater Bands
Like you said, NP is fun, but Spelleaters will do much better in the long run. The combo of weapon, Serena ability then this is very situational and expensive.

I've never played Serena before, but these are changes I made off the top of my head, based on standard deck theory in SE. Have fun buddy, and it's good to see you back!

[ThorFolklore]

Early game is what you're lacking in. PoTL and TO aren't what I'd call 'reliable' allies, and by the time you can start up your game plan (T5), you are most likely very far down in health and disabling 1 ally a turn with AB or retreating one with DoU won't save you. So here is my list of proposed changes:

-4 PoTL +4 Jasmine

Why? SE manipulation is fun and all, but it just isn't worth the trade-off of -1 health compared to Jas. Jasmine has that vital point of health more than PoTL and has a much better ability, effectively taking an ally out of the game for a 2 resource upkeep a turn. She is also much more reliable than a Priest, mostly due to the fact, as I said, that she has 1 more health than him.

-1 Sorcerous Poison +1 Retreat
A fun card, but it is ultimately wasted. Especially with just one copy of it in your 40 card deck. Too much of a gimmick to be useable.

-4 Tainted Oracle +4 Puwen / +4 Nightshade
Tainted Oracle.. awesome card, but it is just overkill in combination with Ill-Gotten Gains. What you are lacking in is the department of early board control, and that's what Puwen likes to help with. You could also try Nightshades; it depends on what you want. A stealthy pinger or a straight-up board fighter.

-3 Assassination +3 Bad Santa
Assassination was the card everyone thought to be OP when it first came out, but between your Retreat, DoU, Anklebreaker and Black Garb, you don't need it. The card itself is a bit situational, because you need prior board presence before using this. About the Santas, sometimes you can't draw an IGG and you'll need an accelerant. Santa does the job.

-2 Night Prowler +2 Spelleater Bands
Like you said, NP is fun, but Spelleaters will do much better in the long run. The combo of weapon, Serena ability then this is very situational and expensive.

I've never played Serena before, but these are changes I made off the top of my head, based on standard deck theory in SE. Have fun buddy, and it's good to see you back!

THANK YOU, BRO! Finally, a very concrete reply! Will definitely try out your suggestions, but do you think I should include 1-2 copies of LLN too? I've found that 4 Stop, Thief! is usually enough, but not all the time.

And I did try Nightshades. I used to play them with Assassination to take out strong allies by themselves. Think I'll go back to them and maybe add some Aldons instead of Puwens. Back to the drawing board!