I just returned to SE a short while ago. After struggling to play against any meta decks and generally losing the board very early in most of my attempts at running the classic style ally overrun Elementalis, I decided to go back to an old discard-style deck in an attempt to figure out a way to bypass how "ally-defensive" basically every deck is... at least in the pre-300 rating stages.
This deck also has a few methods to help supplement the disturbing lack of draw for most elemental hero decks without giving too much away to your opponent as well.
I've played this deck comfortably in the 270-290 rating range, but admittedly there is a bit more reliance on luck sometimes with this setup. Either way, at least I can sometimes beat the meta Baduruu and Praxix decks with this set and that becomes important at that range.
Elementalis
Harbinger of the Lost or any cost 2 ally of your choice X 4
Infernal Gargoyle X 3
Brimstone Devourer X 4
Reactorary X 3
Falseblood Cultist X 4
Armored Packbeast or Voracious Arachnid X 3
Stardust Amplifier or Shadow Knight X 2
Crystal Shards X 2 or another draw/utility type card
Energy Discharge X 2
Mind Control X 4
Antimatter X 3
Clockwork Soldier X 3
Soul Reaper X 2 or flex any other 2 cards of your preference into the deck
Remove 2 cards of your liking to put in Exaltation if you want as well, it's a good card but I feel it doesn't synergize with this deck as well as it does with some other Elementalis setups.
First off, I'm aware it's very weak getting weenie allies out quickly, and that's mostly because I've never had that much success with that. It seems like so many players either play Heroes that easily dispatch weenie cards or stack their deck in a way that makes short work of those cards without having to actually get into combat with them, which essentially nullifies the benefit of Elementalis being so good at making weenies strong. So my idea was to bypass this and make a deck where you can get more "free plays" of allies after building a few resources.
Essentially you want to get your Antimatter out early and/or a good 2 cost ally, but you're building for turn 4 (I save my Elementalis buff for this round unless doing it in the 3rd round ensures clearing the board of their allies). Here you want to play Falseblood Cultist and discard Reactorary (if the their side is clear of dangerous allies) or Brimstone Devourer if they have an ally out. If you do not have this setup, getting Clockwork Soldier out quickly is imperative (use 1 shadow energy to put him in play and the remaining 3 to buff the ally you need to with Elementalis).
You want to save your Stardust Amplifier (your only real heavy hitter aside from Mind Control) for a round when you can use your shadow ability to buff him and all active allies. Shadow Knight works here, too, to get back cards you've discarded but typically I've found that if I really NEED back a discarded card, I'm already in too much trouble to win the match, so I usually run with Stardust instead, but I think both can work.
From here it's all situational, but if you lose board control, Clockwork Soldier + Energy Discharge is your only reset button, but it's a good one.
It's a pretty solid deck. I don't think it holds up consistently enough at high level but at least it has a chance to beat any deck with a little luck, whereas I've found a lot of basic Elementalis decks to be doomed after the first 3-4 turns if there isn't immediate board control. This one, there is still a chance.
Anyway, it's a fun deck to play once you get the feel for it and after all, that's what it's all about. So long as you can still win matches, that is, and this one can and does, and with a little luck, it can beat any deck.
Would love to hear any ways to tweak this and make it even better.
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