Gravebone build

[andrewbenw]

I almost never have a problem with having my plasma behemoths buried, but maybe I play differently than other folks? Shrug.

my current gravebone deck:
2 Brutalis
2 Plasma Behemoth
4 Fire Snake
4 Belladonna
2 Research
4 Portal
4 Supernova
3 Bloodlust
4 Here Be Monsters

the gameplan is basically
turns 1-3: Fire Snakes, Brutalis, Bloodlust
turns 3-4: Here Be Monsters, Portal
turn 5: Supernova
turn 6+: portal -> profit

the HBM's are super important for making sure you don't get Sandra'd out of the game.

I stole your deck build and tweaked it to:
2 x Infernal Gargoyles
4 x Brutalis
3 x Plamsa Behemoths
4 x Fire Snakes
4 x Belladonna
4 x Portal
4 x Bloodlust
4 x Here Be Monsters

It seemed to work well last night. Between this and a Nishaven burn deck, it's been fun to beat the 350-400 rated Eladwen decks I've been going up against.

[tangmcgame]

Are you guys bothering to recur the cheap allies - Brutalis and Snakes? Because it seems like you'd have a shortage of Shadow Energy in the late game if you spent a bunch early.

[mithril]

Are you guys bothering to recur the cheap allies - Brutalis and Snakes? Because it seems like you'd have a shortage of Shadow Energy in the late game if you spent a bunch early.

i think that would depend on the situation, though most likely than not, you wouldnt need to.

[Calmdown]

I'm a really big fan of this deck, but not quite in that build. As far as I'm concerned though, its still Tier 1.5 to Eladwen - on the up side, it will still beat Eladwen assuming you outplay them.

The problem is, this deck is really just another Portal deck when it comes down to it. More and more good Portal decks makes me :/

[andrewbenw]

Are you guys bothering to recur the cheap allies - Brutalis and Snakes? Because it seems like you'd have a shortage of Shadow Energy in the late game if you spent a bunch early.

If it fits my resource curve and I have a Bloodlust or I need to get to a Bella next turn I do. Not every time though. They're to keep early damage off of me mostly.

[Spazik]

Think this would still be a viable 4 portal build post patch. Go with 4 death bones and 4 belladonnas to maximize the effectiveness of gravebones ability btw. There's 12 cards to get you started, throw in 4 snakes too for 16. Then I guess we go with 2 research (keep it simple), 4 Fireball, 4 Lightning Strike, 2 Devestation, 2 Gargoyles. Bada bing bada boom. Totally just made that up just now

[andrewbenw]

I'm a really big fan of this deck, but not quite in that build. As far as I'm concerned though, its still Tier 1.5 to Eladwen - on the up side, it will still beat Eladwen assuming you outplay them.

The problem is, this deck is really just another Portal deck when it comes down to it. More and more good Portal decks makes me :/

Yeah. I'm staring to become a fan of the "unconventional deck" thread. Players online don't seem to know how to react to a straight Nishaven burn deck and they make some strange plays sometimes.

[andrewbenw]

Think this would still be a viable 4 portal build post patch. Go with 4 death bones and 4 belladonnas to maximize the effectiveness of gravebones ability btw. There's 12 cards to get you started, throw in 4 snakes too for 16. Then I guess we go with 2 research (keep it simple), 4 Fireball, 4 Lightning Strike, 2 Devestation, 2 Gargoyles. Bada bing bada boom. Totally just made that up just now

I really find with recycling Bellas that I don't need Research at all. If my opponent chooses not to kill her I get a 4 point beat stick.

Early rush is a bit of a problem so Snakes and Brutalis are actually fairly useful.

[Calmdown]

I really find with recycling Bellas that I don't need Research at all. If my opponent chooses not to kill her I get a 4 point beat stick.

Early rush is a bit of a problem so Snakes and Brutalis are actually fairly useful.

I agree, but Research is strong regardless. Also, you can't rely on it since most of the time if you have 2+ allies on the board, I'll make sure when I kill them that you can't recurse Belladonna and force you to recurse either a Behemoth or small guy; and the deck can't guarantee that it will always be able to execute successfully with only Belladonna(s) out. Also remember she can be Crippling Blowed, Captured Preyed, etc, and your card draw engine just went kaput and probably the game with it. Research is guaranteed card draw, Belladonna is situational.

Personally I think Brutalis is a bad card (outside of rush decks with Bloodlust/Elemental Shard/War Banner). Snake is 1 and takes a hit for you. Brutalis hits your curve (stops your Research being laid if you have one) and doesn't do much for you in return. The only reason he gets played is for lack of better options, he shouldn't be nearly so widespread as he is. Although Shadow is generally horribly devoid of 2 cost cards, so it's understandable.

[andrewbenw]

I usually only play Brutalis on turn 2, ideally after a Snake and before a turn 3 Bloodlust. Other than that it's usually resource fodder unless I'm a point or two away from a win or have a Bloodlust. I guess it depends on what you run with it, but on its own as a throw in, I agree that Brutalis isn't very good. Sometimes he gets ignored at nets me 3-4 damage. Eladwen players sometimes want to wait for a bigger ally to snipe.

As for Research, I find I need all the resources I can get to cast allies. I usually get into 2-3 copies of Bella by the time one gets disabled or Mind Controlled. I'm also fairly careful never to discard a Bella to Resources and I like to keep one in my hand at all times (unless playing Elementals). It's not perfect, but I found that Research just sat in front of me unused until turn 8 or later because I had other things to play.

YMMV

Mind you, I've only been around the game for 2 weeks or so now...