A1-Otto7's official Baduravager

[A1 Otto7]

So after 3 seasons of hitting #3, #1, #2 spot at world ranks i think it is high time i shared my deck with the community. Most competitive players have already reverse engineered most of it but imo the Baduravager is mostly how you play it and less the list itself.
We in A1 have as a constant pursue not only to continuously challenge and change the meta, but also share our top-decks with the community when circumstances are appropriate
So here comes a complete list copy-pasted from the hidden depths of A1-vaults ( 😄 ) along with the official play-guide containing all the updates (at least the ones that were in the official post. Some were at later posts but were only comments and not actual card-list)
Any feedback is always welcome!! I hope u guys like it!



"Like promised here is my Baduruu Ravager deck. I waited to reach 330 with it and proudly present it after more than 70-80 games on its back to test and tune

Baduruu+40

4 Spitfire Hound
4 Ravager Zealot
4 Cleric of the Asyn
4 Murderous Hulk
3 Thriss Demolitionist

4 Hunter's Gambit
3 Thriss Almanac
3 Obelisk of Echoes

2 Snare Trap
2 The Perfect Shot

4 Grundler's Double
3 Soul Seeker



A few words on the cards:

-Obelisk: this is an ideal T1 play in almost all cases. If opp is a rush mage (and only then) u may gamble and choose to avoid playing it, again if u dont pack a starting hand's Bow or Gambit and u r afraid u may run out of cards). This little card wins alone games vs all warriors and most opp Hunters. Hint: if u killed an opp ally with Ravager and used Obelisk's last dura to destroy smth, then if u cast a new Obelisk then it is charged again for a second destruction at the same turn, charged by a single opp ally kill!!

-Spitfire hound: this is NOT a T2 play unless u go first and face Krys. It is actually a T3 play (if u played Gambit at T2) or a T4 play along with Gambit. Actually this is meant to trigger gambit and in desperate cases pump up Cleric

-Snare trap: this is an ideal T2 drop. I try to find room to max it out. Creates perfect way for Cleric to enter on a good board situation!

-Hunter's Gambit: this is an ideal T2 play!! Yes it is! With Bow comming and Zealot/Spitfire your Gambit will be destroyed be sure of that. With a T1 Obelisk u will see many opps hesitating to cast 3HP allies cause they know that a Zealot destroying both Gambit and ally will result in a lost item/ability too!! Cast those Gambits whenever and just leave them there. They will crop sooner or later!!

-Zealot: this is NOT an ideal T3 play unless u go first vs bad opp start and u already have Gambit in hand to deal with opp T3 drop. Ideally would be if u holded an Almanac too so at T4 u can kill any T3 drop. Zealot is there to clean up an opp ally while destroying Gambit simultaneously. He is also there for the times u habe 1 more dura in the weapon but already 4SE and another bow in hand.
Let your allies atk with newly casted Almanac at T6 and then cast Zealot (or Spitfire) and destroy your own Almanac (since u spared no resources it would be destroyed anyway) in order to dmg all opps for 2 and also get the haste. Again , if u have other items plus Almanac, he can be casted for a hasted 5dmg as a good finisher!

-Thriss almanac: this is NOT an ideal T3 play. Play at T3 only if u had bad hand and u r getting swarmed by a massive rush deck. Why? Cause it is sustain 1cc, so if u finish with all resources used it ends up destroyed. This is why u try to never play it before allies but after them. Since it is a good T4 drop u can only combo it with a T5 Hulk and NOT a Demolitionist, unless u want to see it destroyed. So count your cards and resource curve wisely. You will often find yourself aiming to send a Demolitionist on a clear field and regreting u didnt keep that hulk in hand previous turn cause now u need to sack one more card and reach 6 res in order to see Demolitionist and Almanac both survive after the end of your turn. A great board changer vs rush mages who give u space while they set up before the nova!! Also a great massive wipe vs Wulven MS. It eats Shaman armies and along with gambit, Hulk and Grundler, it makes games vs MS an easy ride!!

Cleric: this is an ideal T3 Play. Heavy survivor. Great synergy with T4 plays that i already described and even if u only pack a Hulk in hand then again u will strengthen your early play

-Hulk: Massive board presence. Along with Thriss he pulls a humongus antinova wall to survive vs all mages. With a T5 almanac he can pump 4abity and 4atk plus Bow atk for a massive board wipe (not to mention item destruction if u already played T1 Obelisk)

-Demolitionist: once u start throwing them on the board, opp starts feeling the push. Nova proof and the best item AND ability destructors in the game. Dont plan on using them with Almanacs cause it is very rare to have so many resources as to afford both

-Soul Seeker: antimage. Simple. In all other cases prefer Grundler's Double. Hint: vs Loest keep both Grundler and SS and use ability on Grundler. Once Loest destroys it, pay the price and play the SS from hand just to see him lose all his extra rush strategy

-Grundler's Double: the deck's core!! With only gambit for draw u must learn how to use it. There come cases in which u will have a Zealot in hand or a Spitfire and u will choose not to play it if u have a solid presence in board (Cleric, Hulk, Demol) just so u will continue drawing cards!!

-The Perfect Shot: Auto explanatory. Usable vs tanked allies. Also in cases in which u have Grundler+survivor ally and u wish to avoid pumping the board out of fear for nova/tidal etc and in order to keep on drawing with GD. Always choose to leave one ally on board if u are already winning. Vs opps with board wipes u r gonna need all the draw u can, and u will have to know how to play the deck effectively

A short description of the deck:

This is a slow deck on the beginning. Without gambit or snare u must prefer to cast Obelisk or even nothing at T2. Same goes about T3 if u go second and habe no cleric. A gambit/snare is a better T3 play if u played nothing earlier turns! On T4 and onwards u turn the board round with weapon+ Hulk/gambit-Spitfire!!
Vs rush make sure u have SS to heal in time
Vs Rogues make sure u keep the spitfires to kill opp shades and always an extra weapon if necessary
The deck is a blast for this meta. It steps on mage, warrior, shad.hunter throats. It is vulnerable vs control Zhanna (u have to make sure u keep all the hasty ally killers to combine with Obelisk and get rid of KP) and Rogues. Vs Rogues u need all your Gambits cause u know u will not see a full use of Grundler. Try to swarm them and exploit fattie usage. The deck's worse MU is Serena cause it kills Grundler (from which u draw) and takes cards from your hand. In the end it kills all your resource sources. Make sure u keep cards in hand and NEVER let a zealot or a spitfire out unless totally necessary. U dont want to give fodder for the Cutlass! Prefer to hold back and keep a full hand. Once she puts allies out finish with spitfires+gambits and let Obelisks kill her toys Exploit fattie use

Like always i gave the most thorough explanation i could. Feel free to leave your comments and ideas



EDIT 3/12/14:
I havent encountered Worms and Dakraths that much so i removed TPS. Probably costed my 2 loses vs karenkarenka twilight Aramia (which is one of the worse MUs tbh) but i havent regreted it. -2TPS
I noticed that snares only remove allies that my bows would anyway kill and they leave nothing for my allies to kill. They are out! -2ST

+1 Demolitionist. Cause 4 is better than 3!
+3 Net Trap!!!!! Dont laugh before u think Net traps leave the allies hanging for my 3cc allies to finish of and activate Obelisk! I often found out that a snare vs Zaladar's early ally would only mean that his Antimatter kept on going without any actual ally being cast so as to destroy it. Now it cant. That bloody Harbringer/Karash is gonna sit in there like a duck until i want to kill it and get rid of AM!!. Also NetTraps let allies live so i can heal out vs rush allies using my Soul seeker. No more krygons suiciding on uour allies so that abilities or weapons can finish them of

24-6 so far (all above 280 rate) and currently sitting at 333 with a latest 10-1 record

Edit 10/1/15:
No more net traps. It is decoy once and for all. It lets your T3 Cleric or T4 Hulk survive which is far better than a net trap. And it is also a viable play at any turn of the game. Effective vs NYM, vs Boris (oh yeah!!), and also a viable target for Spit and Zealot (while net trap or snare actually are not). Also good vs Zaladar. Makes horrible MUs like vs Zhanna (tidal) or vs Serena (Cutlass effects) an easy ride again!!

No more TPS either. Though the meta is shifting towards control imo. Hunters eat mages alive anyway so imo we need to tech vs control more than before. And here is the surprise... Vision of Endia!!! Yes i know nobody uses it but believe me it rocks. I habe tested it and i am kicking @ss already!! Same result with TPS but:
-removes opp the ability to heal ally
-it is a viable T3 play (which is a weak play as already mentioned)
-it doesnt take all your resources. The 1 res diference is very important cause it is playable at T5 along with spit or gambit. Also vs a Worm u can atk with Bow and then cast VoE in order to finish it with cleric and trigger Obelisk. Reember that TPS leaves Worms and wisps only vulnerable to Bow/gambit/Thriss. Now u habe many more viable options.
So current list is the exact initial only with -2 smare, +2 decoy. -2 TPS, +2 VoE"

[Pat Jay]

Nice work otto
Beautiful deck
I think this will still be strong in 2.90
Very versatile with few bad matchups

The only bad match up I can think of is versus tala with wisps and worms.. And even that is not auto lose...

Congratulations

[BlackAngel]

Why wasn't this posted in the Strategy section? Not that it can't be a "game discussion" however it would get more views there I would think since those looking for decks will look for it there.

[Gondorian]

The name is Ravaguruu.

[Scout]

I hate this deck. I rarely win vs. you. Thanks for sharing.

[Shadows R Us]

Great writeup. Thanks for sharing it.

[A1 Otto7]

@ Pat: Yes the many Talas and Garths make my life difficult. This is why i changed Hero after 3 seasons. At least for rate reasons. Tbh i mostly pilot my alt atm due to the meta shift that lead my main to 4-5 early losses

@ Black Angel: i may have posted it on the weong place. I am not somfamiliar with SE forums cause i mostly spend my time at A1 ones. Any mod please make the transfer to wherever is best

@ Gondorian: I claim to be the inventor of the deck, so please allow me to baptise it. The only reason some people call it Ravaguruu is cause i havent posted smth earlier to clarify it 😄😄

[Xander Spitfire]

More reason to nerf Obelisk

Vision of Endia is a fantastic card. Mostly underated and a great card for your build indeed. Well done

[BlanketEffect]

As someone who has been piloting this archetype since Slugfest, allow me to sing the praises of its ingenuity and functional design. It's the only Ravager deck I've seen or played that wins consistently, especially at 300+.

That said, my version is slightly different, with the main theme still present, but a few of my ideal turn plays are tweaked, not better, just different. I'll defer and say Otto's is better, just because he has won more with his, but maybe he's just a better player than I

Allies:
2x Spitfire Hound
4x Cleric of the Asyn
4x Ravager Zealot
4x Murderous Hulk
2x Thriss Demolitionist

Abilities:
4x Hunter's Gambit
2x Vision of Endia
2x Anmor's Call

Items:
3x Decoy Trap
2x Thriss Almanac
3x Obelisk of Echoes
3x Soul Seeker
4x Grundler's Double

Total = 39+1

The primary differences in Otto's and my decks are ally count and direction of non-ally and utility cards.

For Otto's build, he runs a very high ally count (to me) for this type of deck. His runs 19, which is on the upper end of average for most ally-based decks (17-19 being the norm, I think). This seems very heavy to me because the deck admittedly does not have a designed turn 2 ally drop, and unless you draw 1 of only 4 Cleric of the Asyns, you won't have an ideal ally drop for turn 3, as Zealot is almost never that.

I opted to go with only 16 allies, keeping my concentration in the middle, and shaving off 2x Spitfire Hound and 1x Thriss Demolitionist, down to a final 2x each. The allies which I opted to retain 4x were those who come midgame, being Cleric, Zealot, and Hulk.

Cleric is your ideal turn 3 play, in most circumstances, ESPECIALLY if you're playing first. Ideally, he is played following a turn 2 Decoy Trap. Assuming he lives to turn 4 (and he almost certainly will, thanks to Decoy Trap) on turn 4 you can then play either a Zealot, targeting the Decoy Trap if it was not yet triggered, buffing Cleric to 4 attack and giving Zealot haste to swing for 3. In the event that your Decoy Trap was already sprung to keep the Cleric alive, you can either play a Thriss Almanac now, on turn 4, after which it can survive the sustain cost. Finally, you might play Anmor's Call here, described in more detail below. Hulk is always an strong turn 4 play, unless you already have a Cleric in play and are going to warp in a Grundler's Double with Baduruu's ability that turn, in which case the Hulk would make you lose your draw from Grundler's.

Anmor's Call is there as an alternative to a less than ideal opening. The problem with this deck's turn 3, as has been shown, is its lack of good turn 3 ally consistency; only Cleric makes sense. So, if you do not have a pressing reason to play a non-hastened Zealot or Spitfire on turn 3, Anmor's Call fills in as a nice turn 3 play. If you DO have a Cleric to play on turn 3, AND a source of draw (Gambit or Grundler's) already in hand, then it's okay to sacrifice Anmor's Call early, maybe never using it all game. However, if you don't have a Cleric for turn 3, and ESPECIALLY if you don't have some draw lined up for next turn, Anmor's Call works nicely here. Next turn, you will have to sac one more time, to get to 4 resources. At this point, you'll have drawn 10-11 cards from your deck, so hopefully will have a Cleric or Hulk to play on turn 4. I find that in games where I play Anmor's Call in the above scenario, I don't have to sacrifice past 4-5 resources of my own, but because all my dead allies become resources (except Demolitionist) I usually end up with 8-10 by the end of game without having to spend cards getting there, so in this way, it adds another element of card advantage to the deck. It isn't draw, in the sense that it doesn't give you twice the options every turn, the way true extra draw does. But, this deck needs around 7-8 resources to operate at peak performance because of ally costs, activation costs, and Almanac's sustain cost. Anmor's Call lets you get to that resource level without having to sacrifice your hand during those grinding middle turns of the game. PLUS, later on, you can blow it up with Spitfire or Zealot!

That's it, just my take on the deck. It feels very similar to Otto's version (for obvious reasons) but plays a little differently in the ways described above.

Congrats to Otto for winning Season 24 with a 350 rating by exclusively playing this completely original deck archetype all season!

[A1 Otto7]

Nice analysis too buddy
I had promised i would try it but failed, mostly cause my main was doing well with Badurru and therefor i was bored to play Baduruu again on my alt too 😄 . But i think time has come to try it now that the meta has less mages

Since u do have a lot of resources, and obviously end up having more cards in hand (and apparently more allies on board), would you consider including some Emores indtead of some Grundlers?