Irina, Guardian of the Swan

[Areliae]

EDIT: I changed my mind. After doing very well in 300+ I have decided that this deck is bloody amazing. It has answers to everything, and huge potential for quick damage. I got a turn 5 win earlier, and in another game I dealt 18 damage when, at the start of the turn, I only had Aldon and Anklebreaker out. This. Deck. Is. Awesome.

The simple idea of this deck is to use Irina, Guardian of the Swan as the central card, using Backstab, Zailen Crusader, and A Legend Rises as synergies.

Somehow, this deck has gone 20-2 so far. I have lost twice, once when I had a really crappy draw versus Serena, and another time against mill Praxix, when I not only had a sub-par draw, but I made several game losing mistakes.

Hero:

Lance Shadowstalker

Allies:

3x Zealous Mystic
2x Aldon the Brave
2x Night Owl
4x Zailen Crusader
4x Irina, Guardian of the Swan
2x Viska, the Scarlet Blade
2x Oliver Fagin

Abilities:

2x Silent Strike
4x Backstab
4x Stop, Thief!
2x A Legend Rises

Items:

4x Hit List
4x Ill Gotten Gains
2x Spirit Shuriken
2x Anklebreaker

The main combo is a little weird, and it's really designed to work at all stages of the game, but I imagine a perfect start going second would go something like this.

t1: -
t2: Hit List
t3: Zailen Crusader (with Silent Strike if the opponent has 4+ dmg)
t4: Irina + Ability + Backstab

If you're dropping the combo at or after turn 6, you can throw out a Zealous Mystic to make even better use of backstab. He also makes up for the lack of Sorcerer of Endia's, which are only not in here because I couldn't fit them with the gimmick.

I made this deck only because Irina is my favorite card in the game. She has the best artwork in my opinion, and has a cool ability with some neat synergies (but it's mostly about that wonderful artwork).

Since this deck has been surprisingly successful, even more so considering I was on a massive losing streaks with top-tier decks right before trying this, I think it's time I start fine-tuning this thing, within the lines of the gimmick of course. If anyone has any ideas be sure to comment!

[Areliae]

UPDATE: This is what I'm currently working with

Hero:

Lance Shadowstalker

Allies:

3x Black Garb
2x Aldon the Brave
2x Night Owl
2x Zailen Crusader
4x Irina, Guardian of the Swan
2x Braxnorian Soldier
2x Viska, the Scarlet Blade
2x Oliver Fagin

Abilities:

4x Backstab
4x Stop, Thief!
2x A Legend Rises
3x Sinkhole

Items:

4x Hit List
4x Ill Gotten Gains
2x Spirit Shuriken
2x Anklebreaker

I didn't have ANY response to early rush. If they dropped a t2 and t3 ally going first I pretty much just lost. Due to this I added sinkhole and black garb. I also added Braxnorian Soldier for a t5 play.

These changes make the deck it far more consistent, while still being decently focused on the central theme.

[Veles]

Here is my deck:


Hero: Lance Shadowstalker

Allies (23):
2x Layarian Diplomat
3x Skilled Ironmonger
1x Aldon the Brave
4x Night Owl
4x Zailen Crusader
4x Irina, Guardian of the Swan
2x Growing Bog-dweller
3x General of Unaxio

Abilities (15):
2x Silent Strike
4x Backstab
2x Treasured Heirloom
2x Smoke Screen
1x A Legend Rises
2x Coercion
2x Anarchic Looting

Items (2):
2x Anklebreaker

= 41 cards ~ 12630g

Idea is to make it more aggro and tempo driven. Tempo is made trough cantrip draw so no tempo sink cards like IGG.

4x Zailen crusader for some power plays like going turn 2 Ironmonger into t3 Zailen + Backstab. Or t3 Night Owl and t4 Zailen + Backstab/Heirloom.

Deck can be made much more consistent but I wanted to add some more underplayed cards:

Since there is no IGG, Stop Thief isnt as powerful, so I opted for Anarching Looting for item destruction + card draw.

Growing Bog Dweler takes care of crippled Nigh Owls for example, but it comboes extremely well with Coercion. Take control of enemy ally to kill their other ally or damage hero/ally and then sack it to GBD. One of my favorite interactions in the game.

Even without GBD, Coercion can do some funky stuff. Since there are a lot of aggro decks with Arachnid and Hulks you can steal them and kill two other allies or deal massive damage to their hero. After they come back to their control they are exhausted. Also dont forget that Coercion is an attachment and gets cheaper with Crusaders on the board. (Side note Coecrion/Zailen is amazing with Vozitian Orders, you can put their ally in your hand that way, but thats another deck)

Smoke Screen is ok to stall a bit to set up Irina/Backstab if hero power isnt ready. But it is mostly used for end game to ignore opponents board and just go for the hero.

[Kylt]

T5 kill recipes

Hero: Tala
T1 kris 1
T2 yari blade dancer 1
T3 Aldon 5
T4 Irina protector 8
T5 anything 19
1+1+5+8+19=34

T1 Brigitte 0
T2 Elenor 0
T3 Aldon 5
T4 Irina protector 8
T5 Extra sharp 21
5+8+21=34

T1 kris 1
T2 yari blade dancer 1
T3 war banner 5
T4 Irina protector 5
T5 extra sharp 21
1+1+5+5+21=33

T1 the last harvest 0
T2 blade dancer 0
T3 Aldon 3
T4 Irina protector 6
T5 +1 all 22
3+6+22=31

Only what Irina can do.

Since there are alternative plays in each turn except t4 Irina. Also t5 can be 3cc +1 buff & 2cc Extra Sharp on Irina which can compensate any lost damage during early fight. You can buff other ally by Tala to protect Irina. So the deck can be surprisingly consistent, except that t4 has to be Irina. Hope you like this.

Extra sharp OP

[Areliae]

Here is my deck:
Idea is to make it more aggro and tempo driven. Tempo is made trough cantrip draw so no tempo sink cards like IGG.

4x Zailen crusader for some power plays like going turn 2 Ironmonger into t3 Zailen + Backstab. Or t3 Night Owl and t4 Zailen + Backstab/Heirloom.

Deck can be made much more consistent but I wanted to add some more underplayed cards:

Since there is no IGG, Stop Thief isnt as powerful, so I opted for Anarching Looting for item destruction + card draw.

Growing Bog Dweler takes care of crippled Nigh Owls for example, but it comboes extremely well with Coercion. Take control of enemy ally to kill their other ally or damage hero/ally and then sack it to GBD. One of my favorite interactions in the game.

Even without GBD, Coercion can do some funky stuff. Since there are a lot of aggro decks with Arachnid and Hulks you can steal them and kill two other allies or deal massive damage to their hero. After they come back to their control they are exhausted. Also dont forget that Coercion is an attachment and gets cheaper with Crusaders on the board. (Side note Coecrion/Zailen is amazing with Vozitian Orders, you can put their ally in your hand that way, but thats another deck)

Smoke Screen is ok to stall a bit to set up Irina/Backstab if hero power isnt ready. But it is mostly used for end game to ignore opponents board and just go for the hero.

Some very good points that I didn't really think about.

DUH! Zailen and backstab scream a t2 ally. I don't think it should be Zealous Mystic like I originally had, but I'll think about how I want to add some in the future.

I'm not sure if I want to commit to this deck being total aggro. I like the fact that I can use my combos at any stage of the game, and use Irina for surprise board control. I liked her with lance specifically because she could take out two allies the turn she was summoned, which is something I don't think any other human ally could do. I'm not saying aggro is worse, it might very well be better, but I like using Irina in a mid-range deck partially because she's actually a huge swing at any point in the game, as long as you have some synergies, and I wanted to show off as much of her abilities as possible.

You talked about Coercion, which is funny considering I build a VERY early and VERY non-serious version of this deck way back when SF released. It included both Coercion and Final Flourish. I do have some reservations with putting too much gimmicky stuff that's non-Irina related in the deck, as I want to make Irina the best she can be, while still being in the limelight. That being said, I've definitely got to think about it, as I love combos like that :P.

In fact, now that I think about it, I might have to make a Coercion Vozitian Orders deck now! I'm not sure how well it works when going all in on Irina though, I'm thinking I'll keep them separate for now, maybe make this deck even more focused on Irina .

All in all, you're right. This deck can be way more off the beaten path than I've made it so far. I've got to think about how I'm gonna do it though, I'll have to post some more refined ideas later.