Just another Zal Deck 1.6

[Aebrams]

Well, I generally like to keep my decks private, but I've snagged enough off of here and tweaked them that I decided it was time to give one back... now with foils!

1x Zaladar (FOIL)

4x Brutalis
4x Infernal Gargoyle
3x Death Mage Thaddeus (FOIL)
3x Chimera (FOIL)
4x Molten Destroyer (FOIL)

3x Bad Santa (FOIL)
4x Here Be Monsters
3x Shadow Font (FOIL)
4x Mind Control (FOIL)
4x Dimension Ripper (FOIL)

2x Shriek of Vengeance
2x Acid Jet

=41Cards Total

There are many other guides on Zaladar that I don't really want to re-state everything. Fou DeLile has an excellent write-up that explains strategy (http://www.shadowera.com/showthread....ere-Be-Zaladar). I am just going to go over some of the differences I have compared to most Zal's and why I believe they make this deck work... also having a playset of foils makes everything look awesome.

The allys are pretty standard except Chimera. I think he adds a lot of versatility to the 4 drop world. He is fat enough to not be taken out by a fireball / elad ability and if left alone, he poses a serious T5 threat with his 1 cost pumping ability, and he's foil. A T4 Shadow font is usually the correct call, but he definitely is a threat that has to be dealt with and can throw a wrench in your opponents plan. The 4 cost can also come in handy when recovering from board clears in the late game while still having the threat a 5 cost ally.
I also think that MD > PB. While I agree that PB is more versatile, I dislike the stall he adds to your resource pool and I believe Zal's ability, DMT, and MC are enough removal to get that job done without him.

If you're going first, a T2 Bad Santa is the greatest play ever. If your opponent does not have a T1 drop, you effectively gain 2 cards to their 0 (when you count up draws) and can be a big advantage down the road.
Going 2nd, a T3 HBM is a great way to slow up their game and keep yours moving towards the sacred T5 first.
Both of these plays are a great way to keep up your card count, which Elemental definitely lacks.

The last thing I do differently is Acid Jet > LLN. Acid Jet costs less and has more versatility. I dislike Shriek/LLN because it seems like you always just have the wrong one in your hand at any given time. With DR, BS, and HBM I don't feel like the draw effect from LLN is really missed.

One of the general themes is just a "cheaper" style of Zal deck by using less resource hogs with Chimera / Jet over PB/SK and LLN while keeping up the draw with HBM/BS/DR. I think MC/DR/MD as the only 5s instead of those 3 plus another 5cc ally / LLN make the deck flow better from start to finish.

-Aebs

[Natethegreat]

Zaladar is really a good hero, but also really straightforward. KILL THE OTHER PLAYER. I agree on the t2 Santa if going first, and the going second HBM, I always seem to go first and it always helps a lot, since you draw three, and your opponent draws one. I however question the inclusion of the chimeras in here.