SF Zahanna PLAGUE

[Spirits]

<tear>.. this was my first ever strategy in shadow era back when I first downloaded the game..

I used to stash 4 retreat, 4 raven and 4 tidal. t6 tidal, t7 retreat their post tidal ally and push raven. then plaguesss... btw it used to remove 4 resources!! it's was brutal and devestating!!!

glad to see plague come alive... although I doubt it'll be more than just another brilliant idea. not a top tier deck

[DNAlx]

<tear>.. this was my first ever strategy in shadow era back when I first downloaded the game..

I used to stash 4 retreat, 4 raven and 4 tidal. t6 tidal, t7 retreat their post tidal ally and push raven. then plaguesss... btw it used to remove 4 resources!! it's was brutal and devestating!!!

glad to see plague come alive... although I doubt it'll be more than just another brilliant idea. not a top tier deck

I know! I was very reminiscent making this deck. It's a very satisfying deck to play. I think with slightly better ally choices this deck can be as competitive as other Zahanna decks. Even if it never gets me much above 250, I still have a blast playing it. When I switch to another deck I CRAVE playing Plague and come back to this one.

There was one "A ha!" moment pairing Devoted Knight with Plague - I'm waiting for someone to come up with the second "A ha!" moment that will put this deck over the top.

[Hrinkell]

Well... the second 'A-ha' is conceptual. I think there is a general misconception regarding Plague. IMHO, Plague doesn't fit a control style deck, since the longer the game is, the fewer the impact Plague has.
The best scenary for playing Plague is you having 2-3 creatures on the board and your opponent has none. Then you Plague, buy 2-3 turns of additional damage and seal the game.
So, for me, Plague fits into a more aggro (rush) oriented deck with 2cc-3cc-4cc creatures and Plague for delaying Tidal Wave, Lightning Strike, Supernova or big ugly bodies that stop your winnies from finishing the job.

[DNAlx]

Unfortunately the priest card pool doesn't work well for rush decks. We have cards that specifically help protect against rush (Ice Storm, Healing Touch, Tidal Wave) and win late game/control style. You'd have to forgo some priest cards (why run tidal wave when your goal is to have many allies out on the board?) then you might as well play as a hero with a more beneficial ability for a rush deck.

I think a Plague rush deck would be cool, but I'm not sure if it could work with a priest hero ability/card pool.

Also, it's difficult to play plague on turn 4 - if you went first, your opponent only has 3 resources on your turn 4, so it's not worth it then. If you went second, you'll only be up by one resource, so it's not worth it again. As always for priests, it's best to wait for late game and then punish, I think.

[sardonyx47]

Threbin Plague deck looks awesome! I find myself sacrificing Champion of Irum over any other card, so replacing them with something more useful is great. I think Sindarok Apprentice is perfect for the threbin deck to get that extra draw - it's just too bad it competes with Devoted Knight for 3CC.

At the risk of crowding the 3CC space, I think Fleetfooted Messenger is a good replacement for COI, so that you can swap some cards to increase your chance of Tidal Wave or Plague if you need it. You might leave Threbin open to more damage without a 2CC meat shield though.



Glad the deck is working out for you.

I'm really trying to get a Jericho Plague deck rolling, but the technical cards he uses best (Atonement, Embers, Lingering Essence) are hard to wedge into this deck and leave room for allies and draw power. Not giving up though!

EDIT: See original post for Jeri! There's some really great synergy between Mystic of the Vale and Zail's Hymn that I think all Priest decks try out.

My two cents:

-1 Liz, four of unique cards is usually too many

Wiz Staff vs. Glass Chalice of Knowing: IMO, Chalice allows for you to more easily search for the cards you need. Drawing a card each turn is great with staff but it is also more easily destroyed.

No Kings Pride in a priest deck! A must-have of at least two.

Someone else suggested more 2cc and 3cc allies, and I think this is better synergy with plague. You have lots of high cc allies, and I see that with plague you likely have resource advantage. But if your late game allies all have high cc, then you aren't able to play more than one per turn, negating your resource advantage. Being able to drop two allies and abilities in the same turn when your opponent cant is the real benefit to plague late game.

The turn two meat shied problem can be solved by additional Zail's Hymn or Retreat. With the priest being a better late game hero, slowing down the opponent early game is critical and both these cards accomplish that.

Plague has always been a favorite of mine too. Making a deck to work with it has been a challenge.