[SF v2.851] Lance: Team Big Motherf***er

[blueblurr]

Hi all, your bad mannered pal blueblurr here. After many people mailed me in game for the deck list, I decided to share it here. It's the complete opposite style of the more popular attachment Lance, and it has some interesting tech cards that catch your opponent by surprise. This is purely a control deck, more so than any other deck in the game in my opinion.

THE DECK:

3x Aldon the Brave
1x Assassinate
2x Garth's Concoction
3x Jasmine Rosecult
4x Night Owl
1x A Legend Rises
4x Ill Gotten Gains
2x Spirit Shuriken
4x Stop, Thief!
3x Anklebreaker
3x Braxonian Soldier
2x Aeon Stormcaller
2x Eris Fateweaver
2x Spelleater's Bands
2x Viska, the Scarlet Blade
2x Nathaniel, People's Champion

40 cards + hero


CARD CHOICES:

Yep, no two drops. This deck is in no hurry and two drops clog up your draws middle and late game. I feel Lance is the best hero to make use of fatties because of his ability, and two drops just don't fit with that theme. Plus, you ideally want to drop a Night Owl on T3, and if you play two drops you could potentially interfere with his stealth. I tried Twilight Opportunists for a while with a few more assassinations, but it was gimmicky and clearly bad. Trust me, after hours and hours of playtime with this deck, you don't need two drops.

Spirit Shuriken is a surprise card for your opponent. If they start rushing your face early on, this can stop them dead in their tracks. I've even seen opponents pass their turn after this is in play and they have two allies on the field. It's a stop sign that works better than garb for Lance. Following this up with a Brax soldier on T5 can really make a rush deck sad.

Spelleater's is there to give you a fighting chance in your toughest matchups: rush mage and Zaladar (his mind control is ouch). It stops you from being burned to death after you take control of the board.

A Legend Rises and Eris are your anti-attachment cards, mainly for warrior. An Eris can straight up win vs some warrior decks. Just remember to be careful to play around Yari Marksman to keep her alive. A cool trick is to un cripple something smaller like a Night Owl, smash it into their big guy (draw a card when he dies), finish their big guy with Eris, then summon a new ally so you only have two on the field. Smart!

Garth's Concoction, Assassinate, and to some degree Spirit Shuriken and Jasmine are your anti-stealth cards. They provide you additional ways to kill or stall enemies without attacking, sometimes invaluable against Moonstalker. This also means you aren't a sitting duck against a Tala's protected Eleanor or Fortified Wisp. More options = more win conditions.

Aeon and Nathaniel are your main late game fatties in Team Big Motherf***er. I saw someone describe Viska as a sword and Aeon as a shield. I think this comment is spot on. Play Viska when your ability is down and you need to kill something and claim the board. Play Aeon once you have the board to protect your other guys or on an empty board to start establishing a wall. Nathaniel should almost always be used with Lance's ability and if you draw something big to play for free (like Aeon), you win - the game's over. Nathaniel is so strong in a pure control deck that tries to survive long enough to play him. He gets insane value with haste, even if you don't draw an ally.

Lastly, Ill Gotten Gains along with cantripping Night Owls are your draw engines. In slower matchups, it's good to play on turn 4, but against faster matchups, a turn 4 IGG can seal your coffin. Experience and a feel for tempo helps in deciding this.


MATCHUPS:

Hardest matchups are Zaladar and Moonstalker, but both are winnable. Versus Zaladar, try to make him use his ability before T6 and try for a T6 double Jasmine or Jasmine+Aldon. Eris and Nathaniel are auto sacs, Aeon and Viska are good though. Never sac Spelleater's, never, no matter what, ever. You are a big underdog in this matchup, but hopefully you can stabilize by blowing up his anti-matters and stopping krygons with Braxonian Soldier. I think the upcoming nerfs to Living Armor and Brimstone Devourer will make this a much better matchup. If you are seeing mostly Zaladar, consider playing a different deck.

Versus Moonstalker keep anything that goes through stealth - Concoction, Assassinate, Shuriken. Punish him for using his ability by killing his allies with these. It is Also good to hold onto a Jasmine and haste her with her ability (even though she can't attack). Aeon is great because he has no way to deal with him (CB sucks cause he still has protector). This matchup is much easier than Zaladar.

Versus rush decks that try to burn you out, make use of stealthed Night Owl and Shuriken. Braxonian Soldier and Anklebreaker also slow them down. You'll get very low, but there is a tipping point when they run out of steam. If you can survive, you're golden.

Versus Zhanna and other priest decks, it's going to be painfully slow. Play around Tidal Waves, trying to have a Night Owl or two on board if you think they will. Always save a Stop, Thief for T7 King's Pride. And Braxonian Soldier is great versus their Fleet-Footed Messengers. Just try to control their card draw and don't flood the board. Be smart!

FINAL THOUGHTS:

The deck has something for everything - a really solid toolbox. Sometimes you just need to be smart and a little lucky with the cards. Always try to anticipate what your opponent is going to do when you are deciding on cards to sac early on. Sometimes that means passing a turn because you need to either wait for your ability or for them to play something for you to react to. The deck is not easy to play and takes a lot of practice. But I really think it's very strong. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

[Shadows R Us]

Nice deck and writeup.

[Gondorian]

Thanks for sharing. Great write-up!

[bobrossw]

Lastly, Ill Gotten Gains along with cantripping Night Owls are your draw engines. In slower matchups, it's good to play on turn 4, but against faster matchups, a turn 4 IGG can seal your coffin. Experience and a feel for tempo helps in deciding this.

I find this as well playing Serena. Sometimes you just need to hold onto IGG until turn 6 or 7. The way I see it, it does you no good if you can't kill anything because you gave up board presence on T4.

[igornvidal]

I find this as well playing Serena. Sometimes you just need to hold onto IGG until turn 6 or 7. The way I see it, it does you no good if you can't kill anything because you gave up board presence on T4.

Analogous to wrath of the forest and pretty much all 4cc draw engines.

[blueblurr]

Shameless bump. Was kind of hoping for more feedback

[Scout]

Thanks for sharing. Nice deck.

[Scout]

only one assassination?

[blueblurr]

Only one. It is a very situational card, and to be honest not a very good one in my opinion. It works much better in decks that run Nightshade.

[Gondorian]

Shameless bump. Was kind of hoping for more feedback

Oh. I thought you were posting by popular demand, more as a generous offering back to the community as opposed to seeking feedback.

What type of feedback do you want?