Oh boy, I love this one... I'm not a fan of Swordthief, but I guess you added him to retake a lost board, right?
Oh boy, I love this one... I'm not a fan of Swordthief, but I guess you added him to retake a lost board, right?
"Be polite; write diplomatically;
even in a declaration of war one observes the
rules of politeness."Otto von Bismarck
You could always try Seductress instead. Sword Thief has a few uses that make him potentially strong with Serena:
1) since you have Thoughtripper Cutlass, you may want T6 to attack a fatty with cutlass without worrying about retaliation damage - either with your hero or with your allies. Sword thief in this situation is a poor woman's Anklebreaker. Serving a similar role, but limited.
2) Sword thief can help slow down or stop a rush. Going first, it can tie up a Puwen, then T4, it can take out Aldon with a backstab. So that's 3 damage prevented from Puwen and one card removed. The stall can be even more valuable vs an Aramia rush deck.
3) If there's only one ally on board, Sword Thief can help retake it.
As far as choosing it vs Layarian Seductress, there are a few advantages
1) you don't have to slow down your resource growth when going first, which means you can still get that Cutlass out T5, potentially stealing their key T5 cards before they can play them.
2) Your Stop Thief, IGG and Cutlass steals will put you ahead on resources in many games, which makes Sword thief have utility throughout the game, whereas Seductress may lose her utility.
3) Sword Thief does not disable, so Dakrath is not immune - this isn't really an issue in the current meta, but it could be useful.
IGN: ETC BobRoss
"BobRoss puts the 'bRo' in Boss" - Gondorian
Proud Member of ETC - Errors Terrors & Carers
Europe/Africa Regional Champion 2014 (also top 8 in World Championship)
See some videos with commentary of some of my Serena Games on Shadowera.net
I also do a video show with TJ SamuelJ - Bob and Sam Trollin it Up!
Pretty much everything Bob said is why i use Sword Thief. The biggest thing is that i dont have to slow down my play to accomodate it.
Extra Tough Claws - Proud Member of ETC
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How do you feel about elicit information instead of ill gotten gains?
There are only a few reasons to take Elicit information, even in Serena decks, IMO.
1) You are in an item removal heavy meta / you are running a lot of Anarchic Destructions
2) You take 1-2 copies as secondary draw in addition to IGG - It's hard to find a time to play this, but if you don't get your IGG at the beginning, you may still get Elicit info, making it worthwhile. Alternately, it can serve as a win-more card in the late game.
3) Solo decks are very prevalent in the meta (not gonna happen - if it does, I'm sure the devs will nerf).
4) You do not kill allies because you are playing a very specific type of stall deck (or maybe a deck featuring a lot of retreats, RLT, Pay Day and aldmor conduit), which I imagine would be very gimmicky and easily countered.
The reasons it's not as good as IGG are simple:
1) IGG has good synergy with the rogue-control playstyle. You can't really afford to ignore opponent allies with Serena, Since you'll be killing enemy allies regularly, you can expect to have more draw from IGG than you can get from Elicit info.
2) IGG also has synergy with items. While certain types of item destruction (anarchic looting, widespread decay, rapacious vermin, and Soreror of Endia) will punish you for having a lot of items, those types of destruction are relatively uncommon. More common are targetted item destruction. Having a lot of items in deck is the best defense. It is possible with Serena to overwhelm Ter Adun's item destruction power, because you have black garbs / IGG / weapons. All of those are providing a lot of benefit, and so Ter can't get rid of all of them, and even though you lose one, the others can compensate and keep you in the game.
3) IGG has synergy with Stop, Thief! This is such a signature card for rogues, why wouldn't you want to have it also draw you a card?
4) IGG works when you don't have any weapons out. Not having weapons out or in hand as Serena is a very bad position, and it is the time that I need to be drawing the most. IGG helps me in this situation, Elicit information does not (unless my opponent is playing Glimmer of Hope, or some-such).
Last edited by bobrossw; 10-22-2014 at 02:10 AM.
IGN: ETC BobRoss
"BobRoss puts the 'bRo' in Boss" - Gondorian
Proud Member of ETC - Errors Terrors & Carers
Europe/Africa Regional Champion 2014 (also top 8 in World Championship)
See some videos with commentary of some of my Serena Games on Shadowera.net
I also do a video show with TJ SamuelJ - Bob and Sam Trollin it Up!
Extra Tough Claws - Proud Member of ETC
Articles | Decklist | Fan Fiction
Shadow Era Art Thread | PB @ DeviantArt
PFG Member | I've been interviewed!
She's a very stealthy girl, the kind that always makes you discard
She will keep opposing allies down, once you hit five resources, ow girl
She puts the cards in your hand, Ill Gotten Gains and TR's Cutlass
Want to make a change to this deck, but I'm too poor
Hope we don't get DC'd
Don't run Kristofer Wyld now, Serena Superthief
The kind of girl you read about, on forums for SE
This deck looks pretty nifty, Serena Superthief
Thanks for sharing, Preybird, hope we never meet
Cuz you'd win, cuz you'd win
Tala just can't compete, yeah
She's a superthief, superthief
She's superthiefy
IGN: ETC BobRoss
"BobRoss puts the 'bRo' in Boss" - Gondorian
Proud Member of ETC - Errors Terrors & Carers
Europe/Africa Regional Champion 2014 (also top 8 in World Championship)
See some videos with commentary of some of my Serena Games on Shadowera.net
I also do a video show with TJ SamuelJ - Bob and Sam Trollin it Up!
I agree that IGG is superior overall, but I asked because discard is so popular right now in the mata..
I see Mages and Elementals a lot and all of them discard quite frequently, one way or another.
I look at Elicit Information is supplemental draw like Confluence of Faith is to Vess. BF is superior and more consistent but CoF shines at right situation, and together they offer insane draw.
Retired Card Game Designer
“Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments.
The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine”
― Nikola Tesla
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