Kylt's Banebow: 87.5% Win Rate

[Kylt]

Banebow was the first hero I fell in love since I started playing this game. And I was right - he taught me so much about the basics of Shadow Era.

I played this deck when I was around 310 rating. 40 matches, 35 wins - 87.5% win rate (including 1 draw and 1 frozen game).

I am not in a guild, so you guys can have my deck list.


Cost of making this deck
11550 Gold


DECK

***HERO***
Banebow

***Allies (24)***
3x Plasma Behemoth
4x Death Mage Thaddeus
4x Shadow Knight
4x Ironhide Karash
4x Morbid Acolyte
2x Death Collector
3x Furrion Terror

***Abilities (8)***
1x Shriek of Vengeance
1x Acid Jet
3x Sacrificial Lamb
1x Sever Ties
2x The Perfect Shot

***Armors (3)***
3x Wrath of the Forest

***Weapons (4)***
4x Soul Seeker

TOTAL: 39 cards + Hero


This is an ally heavy aggressive deck.
Always predict opponent's "turning" play (e.g. retreat + ally).
And always try to have at least 1 active ally on your board.
Your prime aim is to have as many active allies on your board as possible.
In other words, this deck's strategy is very simple: keep playing threats until your opponent dies.


Type: Aggressive Control
Resource: 5~6
Speed: Middle



Karash
New staple shadow 2cc allies. wear downs weapons like Anklebreaker, Soul Seeker.
Not the Perfect Shot, but IK is the biggest reinforcement Banebow got in DP in my opinion
Auto 4 include.

DMT
His ping damage is still very useful for BB.
Karash + DMT for opponent's annoying PotL.
BB's ability + Karash + DMT to take down opponent's Morbid Acolyte.
1 damage is sometimes decisive so 4 is included.

Morbid Acolyte (MA)
100% better than Garg in BB's deck. MA can die to opponent karash + Majiya or Zal's 3 damage, but BB can kill opponent karash before MA is killed. Also MA helps to deal with opponent tank allies (sandworm&garg) as well as Oracles.

Death Collector
I like to have 2 of 3/4 ally in BB deck. DC is the best 3cc 3/4 ally in Shadow faction.
It can become 4/5 to take down health 4 when needed.And it can (dis)organize graveyards.
Optimal t3 play when going first.

Plasma Behemoth
The most powerful ally in Shadow Era. PB is especially good in BB deck.
BB can take the board before any other heros can. Then drop a PB. Opponent must deal with PB before dealing with BB's karash and MA.
As a result your early drops are safe and can stay the board. PB is the optimal t5 play when going first.

Shadow Knight
After PB is dealt and dies, play SK. I even do this when I am against Elementals. Also SK loop can save your hands and buy some time to get to 7, 8 resource to play SK + 1 ally. This play is especially important in mirror matches.
SK is the main draw engine in this deck.

Furrion Terror
You need either FT or Soul Seeker when going second. CIP ability to deal 2 damage is so useful with BB's ability.
Since I really need FT or SS by t5, I included 3 FT and 4 SS.


SoV
Acid Jet
Sever ties
- your choice.

Sac Lamb
I find SL very useful in an aggressive ally heavy deck. There are games you need to get to 7~ res. (e.g. mirror matches). That's when you need a SL. Unilateral draw for 2cc and there are 24 allies in this deck. So why not?

The Perfect Shot
What BB needed. Even though there are FT, SS and MA, you need it when you need it.
In my original version I had +1 PS, -1 FT.


Wrath of the Forest
I don't really like this card. This is too slow. I've learnt not playing a threat on t4 is fatal for BB. WotF cannot be the main draw engine for BB anymore. Having said that, WotF is a good ALTERNATIVE t4 play when I don't have 2nd 3cc ally. But remember, do not cast WotF on t4. That's a big waste of tempo.


Soul Seeker
Instant 2 damage generator. The single most important card against rush Elad. You need SS on t5 to turn the board in your favor when going second. Arguably the strongest card in Hunter's card pool, so why not include 4?



Going First

t2 Karash
t3 DC/MA/DMT
t4 DMT/MA/DC
t5 PB/SK/SS
t6 SK to return PB in hand

Going second
t2 Karash
t3 MA/DMT/DC
t4 MA/DMT/WotF/DC
t5 FT/SS/PB/SK loop


Q. Why no Poison Arrow?
Simply because I don't need it. Some say PA is needed to get the board back. But I'd like to ask, why do you need to use PA in the first place? Why did you get into that situation where you need PA to get back the board? My answer was to prevent situations where I need to use PA. PA is not a threat. It is a waste of hand.


Keep playing allies until your opponent gets exhausted. That's how I achieved 87.5% win rate with Banebow.


Any questions?

[FlyingFerrari]

Most people know why I hate having FT in BB so I wont say anthing about that

I do have used PB in BB before and he's for me often in the way while I want to make the board frightening, being the more aggressor instead, by spitting out a bunch of 5cc drops when PB often prevents that (he needs to use his ability). You stated yourself you want to keep playing allies but I can see people still prefere him while he can take over games on his own. Sac lamb is OK i guess but what you described about PA, Sac Lamb for me is sometimes just a dead card but yet I can see why you use it.

Ok, enough of my own thinking and rabbeling, this is your deck and it looks solid

[Kylt]

Most people know why I hate having FT in BB so I wont say anthing about that

I do have used PB in BB before and he's for me often in the way while I want to make the board frightening, being the more aggressor instead, by spitting out a bunch of 5cc drops when PB often prevents that (he needs to use his ability). You stated yourself you want to keep playing allies but I can see people still prefere him while he can take over games on his own. Sac lamb is OK i guess but what you described about PA, Sac Lamb for me is sometimes just a dead card but yet I can see why you use it.

Ok, enough of my own thinking and rabbeling, this is your deck and it looks solid

Ahaha, let me show you an interesting stats. 4 games of 35 wins ended when I successfully landed a PB on t5, and another 5 games when I played PB - SK - PB. PB is that powerful. You said other fatties are better to make the board more frightening, but PB does its job alone!!

but no.. this is not a valid answer

The reason why I chose PB over others is simply because I think BB has hard time against Warriors and PB can do better in those match ups than any other allies. Inclusion of SL is also for Warrior&Wolf.

Remember, there's always a possibility of facing a millstalker on QMs (although I never faced one when I was using this BB). So if you don't EVER want to see it, keep using PB and make people hesitate to use millstalker!

[iClipse]

I agree that PB is pretty darn powerful. One of my favorite allies. Especially in Moonstalker.

[Kylt]

I agree that PB is pretty darn powerful. One of my favorite allies. Especially in Moonstalker.

Yeah. This is a game where you play against a human who thinks and feels pressure. This is an important aspect in a competition and PB has that power to pressurize your opponent.

[BrokenOne]

Just wanted to say how much I love your deck as a new SE player.
I got to 230 playing since 2 days and fell back to 210 due to silly mistakes .

In ran into problems against solo Darkclaw who's damage output was just too high for me (didnt draw Sever Ties or SoV so I couldnt damage his weapon/double attack ability) and he killed my allies or made them useless with captured prey.

Is solo Dark Claw a weakpoint of this or (most likely) is there some strategy to handle his rather insane hero damage and I was just too inexperienced?

[BlanketEffect]

I like your deck very much, so kudos to you on your build.

My only disagreement is Plasma Behemoth. Typically, when I run Banebow, I never assume I'll have more than 5-6 res in play throughout the entire game. That said, his ability becomes too cost intensive. But, even THAT aside, I literally cannot tell you the last time an opponent played a Plasma Behemoth against me and I actually faced its wrath on the following turn. It NEVER stays on the board and active for a full turn. Maybe that's just been my experience.

Again, though, minor disagreement aside, very nice looking deck.

[Kylt]

Just wanted to say how much I love your deck as a new SE player.
I got to 230 playing since 2 days and fell back to 210 due to silly mistakes .

In ran into problems against solo Darkclaw who's damage output was just too high for me (didnt draw Sever Ties or SoV so I couldnt damage his weapon/double attack ability) and he killed my allies or made them useless with captured prey.

Is solo Dark Claw a weakpoint of this or (most likely) is there some strategy to handle his rather insane hero damage and I was just too inexperienced?

The quickest way is to have more S.Ties and SoV in your deck, especially S.Ties. Removing Lone Wolf and Speedstrike is really effective against solo DC.
I only included 1 each because I draw them when I need :P But standard BB decks have 2~3 SoV and 1~2 Sever Ties so I'd recommend to simply add more of them.

Another way of overcoming solo DC is to overwhelm your opponent. Keep playing allies. Don't play unnecessary cards like Soul Seeker. Try to have as many allies on board. That is going to be your asset in the game. Remember, you don't have to suicide your allies into buffed WBT, and you can use WotF if you need to prevent direct damages. Use sac lamb for quick draw and play more allies.

Also, BB's ability penetrates Full Moon if you didn't know.

[Kylt]

I like your deck very much, so kudos to you on your build.

My only disagreement is Plasma Behemoth. Typically, when I run Banebow, I never assume I'll have more than 5-6 res in play throughout the entire game. That said, his ability becomes too cost intensive. But, even THAT aside, I literally cannot tell you the last time an opponent played a Plasma Behemoth against me and I actually faced its wrath on the following turn. It NEVER stays on the board and active for a full turn. Maybe that's just been my experience.

Again, though, minor disagreement aside, very nice looking deck.

Thanks

But I think you misunderstand my use of PB.

PB is more useful in BB's bad match ups.

PB can deal with Lance's Stealth ally.
Helps maintain the board against Moonstalker.
Warriors CB is half effective against PB.
Better than any other allies to face against Sandworm and Aeon.

I am not saying all of above happens. In fact it tends not to happen. However, in terms of limiting opponents play, PB does so much better than other allies.

For example, Lance cannot just deal with PB with hasted Raven or Jasmine. Lance MUST use Anklebreaker to stop PB. Boris must use Dragon's tooth (or retreat), wasting a whole turn. PB can force these plays. And if they don't have correct answers available, PB brings you a win.

Also, PB is highly likely to be killed. But that's what I want. I play SK and play PB again. Fatty roll.
There are not many heros that can deal with 3rd fatty with 5 health. I never expect PB to stay on the board

So, I'd say that people saying PB never does its job is missing the point. PB is meant to force your opponent to do uncomfortable plays and die. That's how I generate advantages in many games.

[Index]

ley? line? nexus?