Tips for newbie Moonstalker?

[bukojuice]

Hi guys,

I used to play Amber and Lance, but I got tired of it and was wondering if this newly constructed Moonstalker deck is OK? Would appreciate your feedback as I am not used to playing this hero, or even Shadow allies, really.

The thing with my deck is that I hope to put as many allies on board using jeweler's dream and speedstrike, then hide them with the ability of Moonstalker to protect them. I chose to play Moonstalker with allies on board coz IMO going solo is kinda boring to be honest lol.

Total Cards: 40
Hero Moonstalker (1)

Allies (19)
Carniboar x 2
Pack Wolf x 4
Infernal Gargoyle x 3
Death Mage Thaddeus x 3
Wulven Tracker x 2
Plasma Behemoth x 2
Shadow Knight x 3


Abilities (14)
Captured Prey x 3
Now You're Mine x 3
Speedstrike x 3
Shriek of Vengeance x 2
Bad Santa x 3

Weapons / Items (6)
What Big Teeth x 2
Jeweler's Dream x 4




So far I played one game with it and I won. But I really would appreciate the feedback to tweak it if necessary. Thanks in advance!

[Shadowborn]

-2 Carniboar
-2 WBT

+2 Wulven Tracker
+2 Plasma Behemoth

My reasons
-2 Carniboars cuz 2cc allies are useless even in mid game. Wulvens have terrible draw right now and getting a dead draw in the form of Carniboar could be a win for the opponent. Wulven Trackers because like i said you need some draw power and MS ttaditionally works well with higher cost allies

-2 WBT. No reason to include it here. MS isnt Darkclaw you‘ll do better with more fatties. PB is great because it helps with board control. A stealthed PB is often enough to win the board

Speedstrike+ JD combo is a little unreliable since you need both of them to be out though i suppose it does work well with Bad Santa. Also a little unsure about NYM and SoV. Both arent really essential imo but if you have reasons for adding them then it should be alright. Personally ill go with Shadow Font to make MS ability more spammable, Sac Lamb for draw since your aim is swarm allies so you need to have plenty of allies in your hand in the first place and max out Gargoyle cuz they‘re just that good. Thats my Moonstalker basically

[graphlem]

You seem to be wasting some good slots with weapon-focus cards; I'd steer clear of them, except for WBT, those can a nice surprise to drop down on an Opp and they don't go away easily.

Plus you seem to be short changing yourself a bit in the early game with only 2 Carniboars (6 2CC allies) -- I'd either up it 4 Carnys to be sure to get a good 2CC drop, or i'd abandon the 2CC's altogether and concentrate on removal early game. personally, I'd make these changes:

-3 Speedstrike
-4 Jeweller's dream
-3 Bad Santa (I'm never a fan of giving your opp cards)

+2 Carniboar
+1 Captured Prey
+1 Now You're Mine
+1 WBT
+4 Wrath of the Forest (you definitely need draw, this works great w/ your 2 CC-ers)
+1 Plasma behemoth

[graphlem]

On second thought, I see your strategy a little better now -- use JD to pump out a bunch of 2 CCers. In that case you definitely need more 2 CCers, i'd do this. My thoughts were centered more around a control/big beatdown build -- for your idea you might just focus it more:

+1 speed strike
+1 captured Prey
+1 Now you're mine
+2 Carniboar
+1 DMT
+1 Plasma
+1 Santa
+2 Oggy (your 2 CC-ers can be fodder for him when no longer needed)

-2 WBT
-3 SK
-3 Garg
-2 Tracker

I'm guessing your ideal strategy is something like this?

T1 going first, sac, do nothing, 5 cards in hand
T2 draw, Carny or Pack Wolf, 5 cards in hand
T3 draw, Speed Strike, 5 cards in hand
T4 draw, Jeweller's Dream, play some combo of NYM/2cc ally/Santa, 3 cards in hand if no santa
T5 draw, Plasma and a 2 cc card, 2 cards in hand if no santa
T6 draw, Oggy, still 2 cards in hand

Actually it looks like it could be pretty fun, nice job :-)

[iClipse]

But why would ou want to play weapon and somewhat rush focused if you play Moonstalker?

[graphlem]

But why would ou want to play weapon and somewhat rush focused if you play Moonstalker?

Something different to try? Maybe his thought is to keep the opponents back to the wall right off the bat, draw out all the removal and then drop Plasma? I don't know, it's certainly not my style of deck to play, but it does look intriguing...

The main downside I see is it will have to work perfectly for him (Speed strike at right time, JD at right time, 2 CC-ers at right time, etc) for this deck to work, and that's not usually a safe way to go about things.

[iClipse]

I don't know. I think the very same deck, but with Darkclaw would work better.

Moonstalker should be ally based, or else your ability is not as effective as it could be. Though, that doesn't mean I disagree with using weapons. I definitely think that WBT or so can be very handy in a MS deck, I just don't get the Speedstrike and so. Even if you can get it out, a deck will never have enough draw to keep such a flow of resources going.

[meeklosh]

I have one tip, too. DON'T PLAY MILLSTALKER!

[graphlem]

I don't know. I think the very same deck, but with Darkclaw would work better.

Moonstalker should be ally based, or else your ability is not as effective as it could be. Though, that doesn't mean I disagree with using weapons. I definitely think that WBT or so can be very handy in a MS deck, I just don't get the Speedstrike and so. Even if you can get it out, a deck will never have enough draw to keep such a flow of resources going.

Yeah, actually I agree with you, this would work better with DC for sure... I think he just wanted MS because he eventually wants to drop a Plasme and hide him. But you would get more back for buck, especially with weak 2CC-ers, if it was supplemented by DC's powerful Ambush attack, good call.

And yes, he's definitely going to run out of steam in a hurry, assuming it all went as planned in the first place

[bukojuice]

Something different to try? Maybe his thought is to keep the opponents back to the wall right off the bat, draw out all the removal and then drop Plasma? I don't know, it's certainly not my style of deck to play, but it does look intriguing...

The main downside I see is it will have to work perfectly for him (Speed strike at right time, JD at right time, 2 CC-ers at right time, etc) for this deck to work, and that's not usually a safe way to go about things.

yup, this is exactly what I want to do. Overwhelm the opponent with 2 cost allies with the jeweler's dream and speedstrike resources then hide them. Later on I drop a fatty and hide them too.