There is nothing I enjoy more than taking a supposedly known paradigm, dissecting it into its elements, asking unpopular questions, and coming up with a new approach that works despite the preconceived notions that others have propagated. After extensive testing I have unfortunately confirmed what the establishment claims. My Aramia large deck approach, while it slices through the lower levels like butter, tops out at about 236. Once matched up with the higher ranked decks, they are too fast for it to ever get control.
This is the same fate that my pre-fates Elementalis deck faced once all the new haste units arrived. Its a sad moment when a dream dies. But it is what it is. I will put aside Aramia for good at this point, since the only thing that made her interesting to me was the potential for the large deck that she represented. Majiya was much more fun to play overall, but I fear that Majiya as well could have a similar (thought higher) limitation as a large deck Hero. The highest rating I achieved with her was 248, then she began to fall as well.
It is possible - even perhaps likely that the large deck concept is not workable for any hero. If this turns out to be the case, I will be very sad. The game is so deep with all the different units and abilities. Combos are so versatile, and yet, once you get above a certain rating, the decks all seem to be very, very similar. The new season starts Monday, and while I will work on my large deck formula with a couple of other heroes between now and then, I will most likely be forced into the prefab box of 39+hero to make a run at the highest ratings.
Its very similar to the phenomenon that occurred in real world warfare, when offensive technology outpaced defensive technology to the point that the great dreadnaughts and battleships of the past faded into history, replaced with small, fast ships that fired missiles, or largely unarmored ships that carried planes to protect them. With SE, the strategy of killing with the first 20 cards in your deck has become almost an exclusive strategy at the higher levels of competition. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of variation available, but there was a certain charm in the pre-fates days when you could build a Nishaven or Elementalis deck that would mill out an opponent regularly. Those days seem to be gone (with the possible exception of Praxis and Moonstalker).
At any rate, this is the first sign of my impeding admission of defeat in this endeavor. Ive got another day or so, but it is not looking good.
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