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  1. #1
    Senior Member highmystica's Avatar
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    Cool Zaladar [C]rush: RUTHLESS A.I. Farming Deck!

    I present the Zaladar [C]rush Deck:

    Heroes (1):
    Zaladar
    Hero whose ability can hurt both the hero as well as kill an ally making food for a Rotling.

    Allies (16):
    Hellsteed *4
    Boosts allies and will be able to attack (eventually).
    Ally that boosts the other elemental allies in this deck.
    Ally that *might* be boosted.
    Ally that will boost itself with other elemental allies. *Might* have it's C.C. lowered.

    Abilities (9):
    Bloodlust *4
    Boosts all allies.
    Recovery and something to do if they stall.
    Boosts all allies and gives Ambush.

    Artifacts (4):
    Shard of Power *4
    Boosts allies attack.

    Total Cards: 29+1
    Total Cost: 4620g

    Okay when I posted this I accidentally posted it here: http://www.shadowera.com/showthread....er-than-Before! If you are interested you can see the evolution of this deck for the new Dark Prophecies cards there. Originally I only went for speeding up the kill against the A.I., then altered it to deal with certain counters ending up with this version, which is technically just as fast (on average), but is more stable and MUCH more RUTHLESS.

    I posted a request to the admins to move it to strategy but they didn't and I never gave a full breakdown of it, so I'm posting it here (where it should be) and giving a better write up for it.

    While this deck is as fast as it was before, you will win virtually always by T4 to T6, but sometimes (as always) you can get a bad draw, or they can stall (Into the Forest, Holy Shield, Rain Delay) and it will take longer. This is why I decided to put in 2 Bad Santa so that you can build card advantage while they hide. Likewise if they manage to hide several turns in a row and do a board wipe then B.S. is a lifesaver. The reason N.A. is in it now is for a similar reason, let's say Gwenneth Truesight manages to hide and then break out with a Soul Seeker, then you can attack without healing her because your allies will have Ambush. She managed to hide from me with Into the Forest three times in a row then dropped a Soul Seeker. By that time I had a horde out and a Shard of Power, so on my turn I played both Bloodlust and N.A. and I would have been able to do 34 pts of damage beyond what I needed to kill her, and though that much is rare, 7-14 is rather common (think on that for a sec). What this means is whereas before I might get close to losing, now losing is not even possibe.

    Technically, I don't buy into the "ideal game" with these decks, it only happens part of the time. The A.I. may be stupid, but they can pull out things beyond what I have mentioned like Ice Storm, Lightning Strike, Traps, Arrows, etc. that can put you back then give them enough time to bring out something really annoying like Wrath of Summer/Voice of Winter/Soul Seeker. They can destroy your Shard, you get the idea. In those cases with the previous incarnations I found it painful to win. I'd still win (I did lose a few times with my C.o.t.C. versions to Zhanna), but it was obnoxiously long. With this version I always recover so quickly it makes no difference what they do. Further with this version it is as fast against ANY of the A.I. opponents, no longer forcing you to stick to specific opponents. Though in truth I have only used it against Boris, Eldawen, Gwenneth, Nishaven, and Zhanna and it will be awhile before I level up to try others. From my C.o.t.C. version I know Jericho and Lance will be shamelessly easy. And I don't see any of the other missing heroes being much of a hassle. And I always found it funny that these threads mention Gwenn and Zhanna, but never Jericho or Lance. Just weird.

    As an aside this build will work with Elementalis just as well (depending on the opponent). About a quarter of the time I never get to use Zaladar's ability. In those cases Elementalis is just as good, and in some cases Elementalis does work better; being able to protect your Flares (always buff the Flares first specifically the one on the furthest left because the A.I. hates them the most) from things like Lightning Strike and what-not.


    Updated version HERE or just scroll down.
    Last edited by highmystica; 08-25-2013 at 12:31 PM. Reason: fixed spelling and formatting, added update

  2. #2
    Senior Member highmystica's Avatar
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    I suppose it goes without saying that when you use a deck like this you focus all your damage against the opposing hero ignoring all other allies except Jasmine. Kill her if she comes out if you can do it without sacrificing an ally to do it, especially when it comes to playing against Boris.

  3. #3
    Senior Member highmystica's Avatar
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    Just to illustrate pseudo worst case scenarios I just played a bunch of games trying until I managed to get a game with each of the ones I have available till I got a game where I went second and did a write up of each I played with some of my reasoning for my plays. I think you might be surprised who came out to be the easiest matches. Also you'll notice that the more they stall the greater the amount of damage I can pull off.




    Going second V.S. Boris

    Concerns: Jasmine, His ability which he will have a chance to use and Jeweler's Dream preventing you from taking advantage of Shard of Power.

    Actual Game:
    I started with Nocturnal Advantage *2, Shard of Power, Bloodlust, Spark and Rotling

    T1

    (AI)
    Sac

    (me)
    Draws Hellsteed
    Sacs Nocturnal Advantage (Painfull, but I *should* only need one)
    Plays Spark

    T2

    (AI)
    Sac

    (me)
    Draws Bloodlust
    Sacs Bloodlust (I worry about Jeweler's Dream when playing Boris and ambush is handy)
    Plays Hellsteed and Rotling
    Attacks for 2

    T3

    (AI)
    Sac
    Plays Jasmine (Shocking I know)

    (me)
    Draws Spark
    Sacs Bloodlust (I know Jeweler's dream is coming)
    Plays Shard of Power (I have N.A. to stack with Shard of Power)
    Kills Jasmine (Can't allow her to freeze my allies)
    Attacks Hero for 5

    T4

    (AI)
    Sac
    Plays Crippling blow on Spark

    (me)
    Draws Hellsteed
    Plays Spark and Hellsteed (I need more allies because of crippling blow and Boris's ability)
    Attacks for 7
    (saves ability just in case)

    T5

    (AI)
    Sac
    Uses ability on Crippled Spark (idiot A.I.)
    Plays Jasmine
    Casts Crippling Blow on Rotling

    (me)
    Draws Spark
    Casts Nocturnal Advantage
    Uses Hellstead to kill Jasmine
    Saves Ability
    (Even if I went all out attacked with all allies and used my ability boris would still have 2 health and Jasmine)

    T6

    (AI)
    Sac
    Casts Enrage (Only makes it so this is going to take one more turn)

    (me)
    Draws Rotling
    Plays Spark and Rotling (Eating one of the Jasmine's Corpses)
    Attacks for 10
    Uses ability for 3 more damage

    T7

    (AI)
    Sac
    Nothing (really?)

    (me)
    Draws Bloodlust
    Plays Bloodlust
    Kills Boris with the potential of doing 23 more points of damage, whereas I took no damage. Normally he does some when I go second, that's kind weird. Normally doesn't go to T7 either.





    Going second V.S. Eldawen

    Concerns: Allies being disabled by skills/items or killed outright with spells/ability. No need to be carefull in the same way as with Boris.

    Actual Game:
    Starts with Flare *3, Rotling *2 and Bloodlust

    T1

    (AI)
    Sac

    (me)
    Draws Shard of Power
    Sacs Flare (There is a good chance I will draw a card with CC1 and I want to be able to play 2 allies on T2 even if I don't happen to get a Spark)
    Plays Rotling

    T2

    (AI)
    Sac

    (Me)
    Draws Rotling
    Sacs Flare
    Plays Rotling *2
    Attacks for 1

    T3

    (AI)
    Sac
    Casts Fireball for 4 damage

    (me)
    Draws Hellsteed
    Sacs Flare (I will cast Hellsteed on the next turn with Bloodlust)
    Plays Shard of Power
    Attacks for 9

    T4

    (AI)
    Sac
    Plays Aldon the Brave

    (me)
    Draws Spark
    Sacs Spark
    Casts Bloodlust and Hellsteed
    Attacks for 16 killing Eldawen without using my ability (potential to do three more points of damage to two targets), I only took 4 points of damage.





    Going second V.S. Gwenneth

    Concerns: Traps, Arrows using Into the Forest to stall long enough to pull out weapons.

    Actual Game:
    I started with Rotling *2, Spark, Flare, Bloodlust, Shard of Power

    T1

    (AI)
    Sac

    (me)
    Draws Shard of Power
    Sacs Shard of Power
    Plays Spark

    T2

    (AI)
    Sac
    Plays Dirk Saber

    (me)
    Draws Flare
    Sacs Rotling
    Plays Flare *2
    Attacks for 1

    T3

    (AI)
    Sac
    Plays Into the Forest (adds another turn to the game)
    Plays Reinforced Armor
    Attacks for 2

    (me)
    Draws Shard of Power
    Sacs Shard of Power
    Plays Shard of Power
    Kills Dirk Saber

    T4

    (AI)
    Sac
    Plays Wrath of the Forest

    (me)
    Draws Bloodlust
    Plays Bloodlust
    Attacks for 14
    Uses Ability for 3 more damage

    T5

    (AI)
    Sac
    Plays Gravedigger's Cloak
    Uses GC to steal Bloodlust from my graveyard

    (me)
    Draws Spark
    Sacs Rotling
    Casts Bloodlust and Spark
    Attacks with Spark and Flare for 10 damage (with the ability to do 5 more points of damage), I only took 2 points damage.





    Going second V.S. Nishaven

    Concerns: Basically the same as Eldawen except for being less likely to use hero's ability and more likely to use Supernova.

    Actual Game:
    I started with Bloodlust *3, Hellsteed, Shard of Power and Rotling

    T1 (AI)
    Sac

    T1 (me)
    Draws Hellsteed
    Sacs Bloodlust
    Plays Rotling

    T2 (AI)
    Sac

    T2 (me)
    Draws Shard of Power
    Sacs Shard of Power
    Plays Hellsteed *2
    Attacks for 3

    T3 (AI)
    Sac
    Casts fireball on my hero (4 dmg)

    T3 (me)
    Draws Hellsteed
    Sacs Bloodlust
    Plays Shard of Power
    Attacks for 9

    T4 (AI)
    Sac
    Plays Freezing Grip on Rotling

    T4 (me)
    Draws Rotling
    Sacs Rotling
    Plays Hellsteed and Bloodlust
    Attacks for 11
    Uses ability to do 3 more damage killing Nishaven (with 3 points I could have used on an ally), I only took 4 damage.





    Going second V.S. Zhanna

    Concerns: Quite a few; Ice Storm. Book of Curses and Focused Prayer (to destroy my Shard) limiting the amount of damage I can do. Using heals and Holy Shield to survive long enough to pull out something nasty like Tidal Wave, Wrath of Summer, Voice of Winter.

    Actual Game:
    I started with Bad Santa *2, Shard of Power, Bloodlust, Spark, Hellsteed

    T1

    (AI)
    Sac

    (me)
    Draws Flare
    Sac Bad Santa
    Plays Spark

    T2

    (AI)
    Sac
    Plays Blake Windrunner

    (me)
    Draws Rotling
    Sacs Rotling
    Plays Flare and Hellsteed
    Attacks for 2

    T3

    (AI)
    Sac
    Plays Book of Curses
    Attacks for 3

    (me)
    Draws hellsteed
    Sacs Bloodlust (I have to keep the final Bad Santa just in Case)
    Plays Shard of Power
    Attacks for 7

    T4

    (AI)
    Sac
    Heals for 3
    Casts Extra Sharp
    Casts Campfire Stories
    Attacks for 5

    (me)
    Draws Spark
    Sac Hellsteed
    Casts Bad Santa
    Draws Hellsteed, Flare and Bloodlust
    Casts Spark and Hellsteed
    Uses ability to kill Blake and do 3 damage to Zhanna
    Attacks for 9

    T5

    (AI)
    Sac
    Casts Erika Shadowhunter

    (me)
    Draws Bloodlust
    Casts Bloodlust and Flare
    Attacks with the 2 Hellsteeds for 8 killing Zhanna (with the potential to do 15 more points of damage), I took 3 damage.

  4. #4
    Senior Member highmystica's Avatar
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    Updated: Basically, I argued prior to DP, that draw was useless in a deck like this, I have reconsidered (because of playing things other than priests) ... too many times has old Gwen pulled out three Into the Forest in a row ... I'm actually starting to think the A.I. has five or six copies of it. And while my original argument is more or less true, you can sneak in an extra draw against anyone and still win in the same amount of draws, you just hit harder in the turn after. Beyond that, I have found that one does not need four copies of Bloodlust or Shard of Power.

    Heroes (1):
    Zaladar
    Hero whose ability can hurt both the hero as well as kill an ally making food for a Rotling.

    Allies (17):
    Fire Snake *1
    Your "Chuck Norris", you only get ONE, notice you don't need to buff him.
    Boosts allies and will be able to attack (eventually).
    Ally that boosts the other elemental allies in this deck.
    Ally that *might* be boosted.
    Ally that will boost itself with other elemental allies. *Might* have it's C.C. lowered.

    Abilities (9):
    Bloodlust *3
    Boosts all allies.
    Recovery and something to do if they stall.
    Boosts all allies and gives Ambush.

    Artifacts (3):
    Shard of Power *3
    Boosts allies attack.

    Total Cards: 29+1
    Total Cost: 4800g

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