Feed the Void Deck (needs help)

[gnodab]

Hi all! This is my first time posting on the forums. I have been lurking for a while but I feel bad just “stealing deck” (Thanks Blanket and Caitlyn!), so I decided to try to build my first original deck.
The thing is, as it turns out, I am really bad at it. So I could use some feedback. My main Idea was to build around Io Void Leviathan (and by idea I mean, I pulled a foil and it was shiny ), so I wanted my Core Cardsto be focused an Shadow Energy usage. Then I put in Protective Buffs and the Draw/Control Cards of my Zaladar Deck.

4x Io Void Leviathan
4x Contaminated Water
4x Aldmor Conduit
4x Dark Revelations
4x Mind Control
4x Eternal Renewal
4x Feedback
4x Bad Santa
4x Shadow Font
4x Sparks
4x Super Focus
4x Assume Command
4x Morphic Armor / Mocking Armor

So as you can see I already have far too many cards and the deck which oftentimes makes the Deck so slow that I often die before Io is in play. I added Sparks which sometimes helps but bloates the Deck even further. I also miss Shriek of Vengance, Severe Ties and Energy Discharge for destruction and Infinity Core and Soul Reaper for the heal.
Has anybody tried a similar Deck? Or could give me some insight on how to make the Deck more competitive, without making it the standard Zaladar Feedbomb?

Oh and I really wanted to run this one with Elementalis as a hero, because I always use Zaladar and to let Io reach ridiculous HP, but it just seems hopeless...

[XanteseZerylliom]

Ele might well be a better choice if you want to build around IVL. His ability can give Io an extra boost or boost Io and another ally you already have on board.

As far as cards go, you can't only build around one major ally (for the most part) because then you aren't controlling the board with allies and abilities to get to your late game, and there is plenty of ally removal waiting for him to hit the field.

You'll want sturdy allies like Ironhide Karash and Infernal Gargoyle so you give your opponent serious trouble, especially coupled with Ele's ability. I wouldn't bother with Sparks, Feedback, Assumed Command, Dark Revelations, Eternal Renewal, or Super Focus in this setup, though. Perhaps Dark Revelations will see some use, but Aldmor/Contaminated Water/Shadow Font + ability should pump him up pretty quickly.

I might play around with ideas if I have time later. Sorry I can't be of more help!

[gnodab]

Thanks for the feedback! I played around some more on the world map and managed to get Io to 14 attack against a Boris . Those early creatures really help out with board control. Also Mindless Ferocity works on Io without disabling his ability, i guess because it is a passive. But I am not sure about Assumed Command, it would be really painful to lose all the buffs to a simple Retreat and I already have nightmares about Crippling Blow and Assassination...
I run some more tests tomorrow and try to get the Deck running a bit more consistent.

[XanteseZerylliom]

Thanks for the feedback! I played around some more on the world map and managed to get Io to 14 attack against a Boris . Those early creatures really help out with board control. Also Mindless Ferocity works on Io without disabling his ability, i guess because it is a passive. But I am not sure about Assumed Command, it would be really painful to lose all the buffs to a simple Retreat and I already have nightmares about Crippling Blow and Assassination...
I run some more tests tomorrow and try to get the Deck running a bit more consistent.

You may have a point with Assumed Command. If it works for you, then great. I probably wouldn't use x4, though, as it is situational.

[gnodab]

I played around some more with an updated version:
4x Io Void Leviathan
4x Infernal Gargoyle
4x Ironhide Karash
4x Contaminated Water
4x Aldmor Conduit
4x Mind Control
4x Bad Santa
4x Shadow Font
2x Mindless Ferocity
2x Assume Command
1x Morphic Armor
1x Mocking Armor (I only have one each )

It works way better but is still very inconsistent. Last game I started with 3MC, 1 Mocking Armor, 1 Io and i think CW against a Gwenn...
I will play around with maybe some Shriek and more Draw and post another update.
But thanks again for the feedback!

[fzian]

Just for curiosity, have you considered Shadowvein? It would totally help you actually get the requisite Shadow energy easier to pay for those abilities.

I do like the concept of the deck myself and would probably try it sometime -- I don't actually have the playset of IVL yet -- though probably in a Gravebone shell for the sun-blighted one backup (that way, we can swap Dark Revelations with Scrying Eyes if we need another SE outlet.

[gnodab]

I tried out Shadowvein in a couple of games but it never entered play. it seems the deck runs either really great and i end up spending all the resources on buffing IVL (which means i win in 2-3 turns) or it runs horrible and i spend all the resources digging through my deck or end up sacking it. But that could just be me being bad at the game...
Interference can also be really nice in this deck because it forces your opponent to choose between using up his own shadow energy (and pumping IVL) or being denied the use of his ability and feeding you SE (and pumping IVL).
But the problem remains a lack of Destruction spells (Shriek, LL), the relative frailty of IVL (retreat, assasination, mind control) and a pretty slow start. So i dunno if you could tweack the deck to be more competitive, but i think it is still really fun if you get your 12/19 IVL to yust swallow your opponent whole.
Especially late game when you have three of them on the field it can snowball ridiculously.

And the Gravebone Variant sounds really interesting! Although I'm not sure if you could keep IVL running without MC with all those Jasmins and Ravens... Maybe you can post it once you tried it out, I always wanted to try Gravebone myself.

[fzian]

I won't give up on Shadowvein yet; after all, it never actually had a chance to fail you

I am planning to try out a fun IVL Gravebone deck (I don't expect it to be competitive either but why not?)/ At the moment, I am finishing a few other decks first so this may have to wait temporarily. I won't worry too much about running IVL with Jasmine and Ravens running around given that mages have access to Fireball and Lightning Strike (Contaminated Water would come in real handy )

For my reference (when I get around to building it), I think I might start with a conventional Gravebone shell and tweak it around to accomodate: -

1 Gravebone
3 Sun-Blighted One
4 Infernal Gargoyle
2 Kairos Doombringer
3 Io Void Leviathan
3 Furrion Terror

4 Fireball
3 Lightning Strike
4 Contaminated Water
4 Consuming Fear
2 Acid Jet
2 Shadow Font

3 Aldmor Conduit
2 Sacrificial Lamb

[Skelatron73]

You should look at using Wrath of Summer & Scrying Eye (Mage Only) and Aldmore Conduit & Dark Revelations (Both Neutral as you have to spend se to use so would benefit Lo Void alot

[fzian]

You should look at using Wrath of Summer & Scrying Eye (Mage Only) and Aldmore Conduit & Dark Revelations (Both Neutral as you have to spend se to use so would benefit Lo Void alot

That is true except that I feel that those cards have less synergy with the rest of the deck than the other outlets. On the one hand, I want to abuse Io Void's ability. On the other hand, I don't want to over-rely on Io Void. I mean, it is perfectly possible that I fail to draw Io Void or draw it too late into the game. Even if I do pull off a fat Io Void, it does not actually guarantee that I win -- as the OP has pointed out, Crippling Blows and Retreats are fairly common.

More importantly, I can't think of any cards that I would want to take out for Wrath of Summer (it helps that I didn't actually buy Wrath of Summers yet ). Between the 4 Consuming Fear, 4 Fireball, 3 Lightning Strikes and a partridge on the pear tree, I don't see how Wrath of Summer would pull its own weight. At the very least, Aldmor Conduit and Contaminated Water are good on its own (contaminated water synergising quite well with Furrion Terror and the various burns while the Conduit being a fair substitute to the commonly run Tome of Knowledge with the bonus of being slightly better on the tempo).

On an unrelated note, I should probably open a new thread somewhere so as not to hijack this thread