The Rubber Stamp

[IASeldon]

Named "Denial."

Hello. Some may know who I am and what I'm doing, but others will not and I've decided a bit of up-front information helps.

First, since joining the game and playing several dozen matches, I decided to take a shot at making strong decks for weak heros and unusual decks for everything else. Having run into the brick wall that is the unoriginality of Logan and Ter Adun and their lack of any useful supporting cards, I decided to come here and play with an idea that I got from a match in my earlier deck "Countdown."

That idea, as you might realize from the title and first sentence, is Denial. Specifically, the denial of the opHero's shadow ability. As in Constantly. As in, "Never let him use it even once!" With four card types of four each (Priest of Light, Retreat, Radiant Sunlight, and Drain Power) the total amount of shadow energy denied your opponent can be up to 20. Much more than can realistically be gained in a game, barring an abundant use of Shadow Font.

That is the theory, anyhow. In practice it will probably work 50% of the time.

Now, shadow denial can be run out of every human deck, but I also wanted a second denial ability added in, one which used a lot of shadow energy; the constant need for free energy narrowed the choice down to Jericho, and thus we are here in the Priest section. That denial ability is fighting power, and to get it we run Marshland Sentinel. Hence the need for expendable shadow power.

Denying a Hero's ability is certainly a tempo changing event for the opponent. The loss of that ability when you expected it can be frustrating in the extreme, and cards you thought safely reserved for the next turn might suddenly need to appear, denying their use for later emergencies. This, however, as I can attest, is not enough to win the game. But adding a denial of fighting strength on top of the ability denial just might very well make this deck a viable alternative.

Which is what I'm here to find out.

Following this post I will list the 1.0 version of "The Rubber Stamp", I invite comments and suggestions as to the card choice, however I would ask all posters to refrain from attempting to fundamentally alter the premise of the deck, which has already been stated. Open testing in QM will be done after a tweaking time against the AI, and will be a run of 24 matches over a number of days. The matches can be viewed by all, my forum name is the same, and I will keep a running log of win/loss in my blog if anyone cares to follow along.

Thank you for your patience, now on to the deck!

[IASeldon]

The Rubber Stamp

Jericho Spellbane x1

Puwen x4
Brigitte Skullborn x4
Priest of the Light x4
Marshland Sentinel x4
Aeon Stormcaller x2

Healing Touch x2
Focused Prayer x3
Book of Curses x2
Retreat! X3
Good Ascendant x2
Radiant Sunlight x3
Drain Power x3

Legion United x2
Wizent's Staff x3

SOP

A few things to bear in mind: shadow denial abilities can target Heros even hidden by other abilities, such as Into the Forest. Dunno why, but in a few AI matches this issue came up and I was nonetheless able to use the cards to drain shadow energy from the opHero. Secondly, Marshland Sentinel's ability only reduces the base attack of a creature. Put out any sort of damage modifier on that ally and they can attack you again, and the Sentinel has no effect on modifiers to base attacks. So Book of Curses is actually handy to have for this deck, as it can keep those nasty suprises in check.

Ideally the first hand should have a Brigitte, Puwen, Priest, and Sentinel to play in that order. Actually your fourth turn card should be based more on the opHero's shadow ability and how close it is to going off, so Sentinel may sit a turn in order to keep that from happening.

Once Sentinel is out, start your locks. Solo opHero? Start smashing away.

Keep in mind the kinds of buffs you might face. Wulven and Warriors can run out cheap attack bonuses that will bypass the Sentinel lock. If you face Wulven, Warrior, or Priests then it is a very good idea to kill those locked allies before someone throws an attack buff on them. Bloodlust is not commonly seen, but you need to remember about it as well, so killing shadow allies is a good idea too. Destroy King's Pride asap.

Use your Protectors extensively to shield the Sentinel.

I chose The Legion United instead of King's Pride because of one crucial factor: damage reduction vs mages. If they waste twice as many cards as they have to to kill one or two allies, all the better for me. The 2cc difference also makes a difference, as it allows a faster deployment. And, in the spirit of unusual decks, I just never see it played. So, having a use, in it went.

No Tidal Wave, yet. Possibly an addition in 1.5 depending on how the first handful of QMs go. I'm holding off on it to see how this initial version works first.

[IASeldon]

First change: Add Tidal Wave x2 and remove Healing Touch x2

[Vladrac]

Sweet, I'm excited you posted another idea! I actually tried a semi shadow denial tactic with my Serena deck using PotL, Retreat!, and Drain Power. Although the idea wasn't the center nor focus of my deck, it did compliment my main win condition (card denial/outdraw) quite nicely, but it wasn't consistent which is not enough to be competitive each and every game on QM. I still like to use it every now and then because it's unusual and fun (unusually fun!).

This deck of yours above I am going to build and toy around with. Hopefully, I can learn something from your idea to further enhance the play with my Serena.

[IASeldon]

I have to warn you, the draw engine is faulted bad. I'm trying to work on how to fix that problem, but in the two QMs so far it was lack of drawing power that lost the game.

Also incidentally, while fooling around with this deck I thought up one for Zhanna as well, which performs Suprisingly well, considering how it was one of my, " Well, what if we put this in?" decks. The concept is not very original, compared to this one or Countdown, but it has some power potential behind it and uses a few cards that most Zhanna decks do not seem to be running.

Legions of the Light

Zhanna Mist x1

Jasmine Rosecult x4
Puwen x4
Kristoffer Wyld x4
Aldon the Brave x3
Armored Sandworm x4

Inner Strength x3
Tidal Wave x3
Retreat! x3
Focused Prayer x2
Good Ascendant x3

Bazaar x3
Book of Curses x3

The King's Pride x2

So here is another variation on the theme of Warrior Zhanna. Originally I started off with things like Mournblade and Reinforced Armor and a few other little doo-hickies that no one ever uses. Worked pretty good against the AI, and the draw is very nice (having learned the lesson about draw issues with The Stamp). Essentially this deck is over-control rush. A good starting hand will let you go from 1cc to 5cc allies out and damaging without a break. If the other player agrees to this, of course, which you can be sure he won't. Still, it has happened for me, and in a recent QM on my new alt Kurosagi CDS this is exactly what did happen. Poor fellow quit in frustration.

SOP is almost like a warrior or an Elementalis deck. Put peeps out, kill everything that moves, keep peeps alive. If this fails, or you lose the board - wait a while. Let them put out some more allies. Wash, rinse, and repeat from step one - but FASTER!

The deck can survive a pretty heavy wipe, and it can come back from almost certain death. See QM IASeldon for a recent show against a fairly nasty varient of the solo Ter Adun. Got hammered in that match all the way to the end, then just ran out everything I had been holding up in my hand and beat him to death in two or three turns (from 29 health, too.)

Early loss of the board can be crippling (same alt, vs Elementalis), even worse is that situation without seeing a Tidal Wave (same game). Hold at least one in hand at all times to prevent this.

Inner Strength should go on Sandworms if you can help it. If you can't, then put it on the first peep you have that can kill that annoying bastard ally the opHero just ran out!

As stated earlier, the deck started off with Mournblade. Trouble was: I needed Retreat! Mournblade is level 2 cost, beaten only by the Pride. It almost never appeared in a game, either. So, away it went. Wizent's Staff is neither recommended or asked for for this deck. Zhanna needs to heal herself, and if GA hasn't appeared yet, she needs to heal the all-important allies on the board to help maintain control. Loss of Shadow Energy is unacceptable, which is why Bazaar is in. Bad Santa is out of the running for me, as I prefer my draw engine to be stable.

Big decisions will need to be made starting at 2cc. Bazaar instead of Puwen. Go with your gut. More big decisions to be made at 3cc; with Jasmine, GA, Book of Curses, and Aldon all able to go out. Generally I go with a Jasmine here, to help maintain control if necessary. 4cc is a mulligan, allowing a 3cc card to come out here. T5 should show you a Sandworm, but sometimes you might want to hold him a breath and run out additional peeps, items, or abilities that will come in handy down the road. You should start holding reserve allies at T6, preparing for a wipe if the opHero has one.

Welp, I know it is strange seeing a fairly reliable and straightforward deck from me, but there it is. Have fun!

[YouOnlyDieOnce]

I think you should run at least two Bad Santas as well. They're just too good. Imagine an unlucky opening hand with a Kris and a bunch of support that you don't want to cast, plus a Kris. Turn 1 - Sac & Kris. Your opponent sacs and passes. Turn 2 - sac and Bad Santa. You just drew 3 cards and your opponent drew 1 (the one he would have drawn anyway next turn).

[IASeldon]

Well, that is properly a discussion for another thread. In any event, personalize the deck for your tastes, that is what makes a good deck even better.

Back to more wonky deck ideas, I just had another one. Spell-less mage. It'll go up in the Mage section if I find no one has done something similar.

[aardwar]

I was also messing around with shadow energy denial last time i was playing,
not the greatest deck/no real obvious finishing power could surely use some tweaking
think I got up to about 250 rating with it before it petered out/got bored

1x Zhanna

2x Jasmine
3x Aldon
4x PoTL
4x Armored Sandworm
4x Tainted Oracle
2x Aeon

4x Tidal wave
3x Focused Prayer
3x Smite
3x Retreat
3x Radiant Sunlight
4x Wizents Staff