The Über Wisp - Attachment Priest Deck

[Cosmic]

Hey other forum goers! I'm a long time player of Shadow Era and a long time lurker of the forums. I thought I'd finally get round to sharing this fairly unique deck I created (as in I've never seen another attachment priest on the forums and only once in quick match). Alas it's not particularity competitive and more of a gimmick, however I have managed to get rating 270 while playing a bit of Twilight Ythan on the side.

Sorry for basically writing an essay about it. I like writing essays for some reason. As long as they're not work related

The Deck
***HERO***
Zhanna Mist

***Allies (13)***
2x Fleet-footed Messenger
3x Radiant Wisp
3x Zailen Crusader
3x Zealous Mystic
2x Fortified Wisp

***Abilities (21)***
1x Inner Strength
2x Retreat!
2x Sacred Fire Walker
4x Divine Connection
1x Blessed Protection
1x A Legend Rises
1x For Unaxio!
2x Wizent's Shimmercloak
2x Zail's Hymn
3x Strength of Conviction
2x Confluence of Fate

***Items (6)***
2x Tome of Blessings
4x Glass Chalice of Knowing

TOTAL: 40 cards + Hero

The Cards
Basically the most important card is Divine Connection (although I'm sure you already use that) as it allows you to start spamming attachments. Combined with Zailen and you cast any 3cc attachment for free! The best part though is being able to get a 3/5 Radiant Wisp out on turn 3. If that sticks and doesn't get insta-killed by some Rogue or Wulven nonsense then you're free to turn it into an Über-Wisp (as I like to call it) with Wizent's Shimmercloak. In theory it should be possible to get one up to 20 attack + (2 ability damage) in this deck, although either you, the Wisp or your opponent should probably be dead before that point.

Recently my favourite card though has been Zealous Mystic who has turned out to be incredibly useful. Not only can he be a 2 cost 3/3 with haste (much more zealous than even a Ravager Zealot!) if you put a free Strength of Conviction on him, but he's also great for taking crippling blows off other higher attack allies if you can't draw A Legend Rises.

Fleet-footed Messenger is also in here for haste, but he also has the added benefit of having high health and therefore staying around long enough to get attachments on him. His ability can also be crucial for engineering your own luck when combined with Glass Chalice of Knowing to get you that game winning card, while your frustrated and surpised opponent calls you a lucky bastard.

Fortified Wisp is mainly in here as a last resort for when you can't get anything else to stick on the board or for dealing with effect damage from mages and Skervox. If you can also get a Blessed Protection on it and a Tome of Blessings down, it becomes essentially invulnerable to ordinary attacks.

All the attachments that are in the deck are in there because they are cheap and useful, which is straightforward. The only questionable choice I feel is Inner Strength, as Sacred Fire Walker is straight up better in most circumstances. Inner Strength is mainly for variety so that Wizent's Shimmercloak and Radiant Wisp can be buffed higher, but it is also for attacking armored allies where Sacred Fire Walker isn't very useful.

Other Cards
There are several other cards that seem like they might work in this deck which I haven't included for certain reasons.
For example, most cards which are 4cc and above take away from precious resources and tempo which you could be spending on attachments.

Irina, Guardian of the Swan was in this deck for a while since she can technically a become Radiant Wisp that can split it's attack between targets, however I found her to be more of a win-more card, since she doesn't last long on a board you don't fully control, as opponents will generally focus all their efforts on taking her out.

Knight of the Golden Dawn used to be in very early versions of the deck, but he doesn't get a health buff from attachments so he dies pretty quickly and he's too expensive. It's a shame he's not a Templar either.

I also used to run Holy Shield, and in the past it's won me a good few games, however it doesn't stop everything (e.g retreat, Severed Ties) and your opponent can play around the fact it only lasts one turn. Unless you're fortunate enough to manage to draw it again next turn of course.

Incense of Atonement has been in and out of this deck. The multiple one damage pings on the enemy hero can really add up over time, but there's generally many more useful 2cc items that I need to be playing. Also Agent Rex can really screw you over if he steals this one from you.

Probably one of the biggest weakness this deck has at the moment though, is that there isn't a Focused Prayer for item/support ability destruction in it. Just couldn't find the space. *cough cough*, I mean I'm totally running oodles of item destruction.. so err... go ahead and resource all of your King's Prides and Ankle Breakers please! You won't need them!

Another weakness is the lack of steadfast. I know assumed Assumed Command solve this issue, but it's just too expensive for what it does and too situational.

Match-Ups
The good match-ups for this deck are against heroes that don't have many instant kill cards available to them. So, warriors for example are great because they mainly rely on crippling blow to stop you, which often ends up just buffing Radiant Wisp.

Worst possible match-up is Zaladar, as he's almost impossible to get early board control against with his ability, and when you finally do, he loves to mind control your Über wisp right back into you face, sealing your fate.

Serena is also pretty tough as Anklebreaker will take out anything that isn't a Fortified Wisp, unless you were lucky enough to get a Tome of Blessings up and not have it Stop Thief!'d immediately. Also make sure watch out of Coercion. If that's used on your Radiant wisp or something with a Wizent's Shimmercloak it will even get a buff when betraying you!

Also any mage that runs Transmogrification Curse will make you very unhappy. It's probably the one removal card in the game that has no proper counter (except for maybe Stoneskin (Man, I'd give an arm and a leg for Stoneskin for priests) and Enchanted Oak, but your opponent can play round these easily). Also due to some unintuitive quirk in the rules, Divine Connection doesn't activate when the ally is Transmogged and all your hard earned attachments go to the graveyard instead of your deck. I'm guessing this is something to do with your ally becoming an item and no longer qualifying for the effect, but I feel like this should happen later down the line.

As per usual, for any hero that isn't a mage or a hunter, Moonstalker will always give you a hard time.

Conclusion
There we go! I'm pretty sure I covered everything in gratuitous detail, but feel free ask me any questions or point out any typos and grammar mistakes! Overall though, before these kinds of decks become truly competitive, we'll have to wait till set 4. What I'd like to see most is a replacement for Assumed Command that doesn't cost an excessive 3cc and isn't a dead draw most of the time. Also some cheaper allies other than Radiant Wisp and Knight of the Golden Dawn that benefit from attachments would be great. Possibly more Templars. Also give Stoneskin to priests. Please. And Exaltation while you're at it. Pretty please

[maxi1230]

First welcome to the Forum!
I have a few questions about your deck.
First of all you only run 13 allies. Does it happen often that you only have attachments in your hand and no allies to attach them to?

Also if going second and your oppenent plays a t2 and a t3 ally, How do you retake the board?
I have tried a priest attachment deck a few times but always had those problems.
Nice write up anyways!

[ragosonos]

I won't play a deck like this without adding 4 KOU

[liathis]

Yo Cosmic, I've actually been speccing you for a while and been trying to figure out how the deck was composed ). And when I saw that other thread I immediately thought of you lol. Oh well just funny to actually see the deck I've been trying to copy for a while, even thought about sending you an in-game message.

[Cosmic]

First welcome to the Forum!
I have a few questions about your deck.
First of all you only run 13 allies. Does it happen often that you only have attachments in your hand and no allies to attach them to?

Also if going second and your oppenent plays a t2 and a t3 ally, How do you retake the board?
I have tried a priest attachment deck a few times but always had those problems.
Nice write up anyways!

Thanks! I'm glad you like it!

Occasionally I do find that I don't have allies in my hand, however this is why I feel Glass Chalice of Knowing is such a good draw engine for this kind of deck, because it almost always gives me the choice of drawing an ally. Unfortunately it's just the nature of the deck that it has to have a lot of attachments rather than allies to work, but at the same time I'm aiming put allies down that stick on the board for longer than usual. If I fail completely in drawing allies I'll usually play some removal on turn 3 or Divine Connection and then Confluence of Fate for 1cc in order to draw 2. I think once though, I ended up with a hand full of attachments I couldn't play completely locking my hand down until I sacced enough of them -_-

As for your second question, that's where this deck runs into problems. I feel like I'm going perpetually second for some reason and since you have to spend turn 2 setting up your abilities and items opponents who play two allies in this time are hard to beat. Zealous Mystic has really helped me a great deal with this (Priests of the Light go down easy ), however I still struggle against 4 health allies at the beginning of the game. Usually I'll have to rely on Fortified Wisp or Tome of Blessings to get allies to stick after a start like that though.

[Cosmic]

I won't play a deck like this without adding 4 KOU

Yeah, Knight of Unaxio is pretty powerful, but at the same time I don't like discarding attachments and prefer to just sac the ones I don't want. I might try him out at some point though.

[Cosmic]

Yo Cosmic, I've actually been speccing you for a while and been trying to figure out how the deck was composed ). And when I saw that other thread I immediately thought of you lol. Oh well just funny to actually see the deck I've been trying to copy for a while, even thought about sending you an in-game message.

Thanks! It's cool to know that I've had a secret admirer!
It was actually that other thread that prompted me to post this decklist. I was originally going to do it as a reply, but then when the write up ballooned out of proportion I decided it belonged in it's own thread!
Just because I've posted a decklist doesn't mean you should netdeck it though, it's by no means perfect, and I'm sure someone else out there could do a better job .

[planarbox]

I'm curious about your thoughts on tidal wave and focused prayer. Two priest staples you seem to do well without.

[Cosmic]

The main reason I don't play these staples is because of space really. For them to be really useful I'd need at least two Tidal Waves and/or two focused prayers, which would eat into attachment space, making it harder to buff all my low attack allies. Of course there are times when I'd love to wipe out the enemy board, but usually I'll have a really sticky ally down at the same time that I don't want to kill. Also sometimes I want to spend most of the game at 4 resources just because attachment spam costs very little. I think I'll just rely on the psychological benefit of playing a priest. Or maybe I'll decide to run tidal wave after all. You just don't know!

As for focused prayer I don't tend to have much trouble with weapons (except that bloody cutlass!), as I can wear them down with armored allies. As for armors, well, I managed to attack through an Armor of Ages killing the hero which was incredibly satisfying I don't know, maybe I should put some in to deal with The King's Pride if I see it often enough.

I guess I could always go over 40 cards and add them in, but that'll make awesome combos like a turn 3 5/5 hasted Zealous Mystic less likely to happen. When Wizent's Shimmercloak losing unique next update I'm tempted to just make a deck based around that.

Overall though I think I'm just biased against tidal wave and focused prayer back from the Call of the Crystals days when I used to play allied Gwen! :P

[Arcanes]

Hi Cosmic, first congratz for share a different deck =) and welcome to the community!
I think you are too worried for stay your deck in 40 cards size. In my personal opinion, Priest decks can break this cap without lose the rate of draw, but you need more draw power.

I think that is really important for hit the 300+ rank, have board cleaners (Tidal wave, Focused Prayer)
If you dont have place for this, just brake the limit of 40 to 50-56 cards, in priest isn't a problem if u add too more draw power, like Elizabeth, Wizent's Staff or Tained Oracle. This cards with Glass Chalice of Knowing will give u a powerfull card advantege in rotation and draw.

And for last, maybe you wanna try a Knight of the Golden Dawn again, not thinking in the big healt, however, thinking in the sinergy with Zhanna skill... i think this guy can be powerfull with ur deck build if u use him different.

Greetings!!