Now, before you criticize me for running too many allies because everyone else runs less than half of what I do in their Amber Rain decks, this deck is doing VERY well right now, and not only with me, but with a couple other players who have recently adopted the build.
The biggest card with Amber Rain is of course Jeweler's Dream. That being said, to me there is no better way of taking advantage of this free resource ability than to drop a bunch of allies, especially considering that warrior spells are not particularly threatening. Crippling Blow and Retreat are all you need for board support. A turn 4 Jeweler's + 2cc ally, followed up by a turn 5 double ally drop is just incredible.
Regarding deck size. Yes the general consensus is that running the minimum requirement of 30 cards generates the best consistency. But with this deck, I don't know how to put it in proper words, but running 30 is just bad. There are too many cards you really NEED to run in this deck so you can't afford to choose one over the other. But you also can't just drop 1 copy of everything to keep it at 30 because the consistency of that is worse than running 4x of something at a higher deck size (granted it is BELOW 40 cards so it is more than 1 card for every 7-9 cards you draw). Keep it under 40 and you'll be fine. Maximum 38. If you don't believe me, test the 2 sizes out yourself.
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Because of the recent interest in this build, I figured I'd write some about the deck and card selections.
Explanations and notes:
Puwen/Blake: Most of the time people think Puwen or/vs Blake. This isn't the case most of the time. ESPECIALLY not in this deck. As will be explained later in Jeweler's Dream, you do not choose one over the other because the ideal turn 4 is 99.9% Jeweler's Dream, attack, and drop a 2cc ally (Puwen/Blake). That being said, if you don't run 4x of each (ideally 6), I personally prefer 4x Blake and 2x Puwen. Here's why. Turn 2 Blake, turn 3 Aldon, now attack and kill ANYTHING in the game (except Gargoyle) with your 4 power Blake. Yes you can argue "What happens if your opponent plays a Snake before you?", that's just a scenario you deal with. Believe it or not, if that happens, I may actually Crippling Blow it depending on what I hold in my hand. But if you realistically play by the numbers, those scenarios rarely happen. If I could run 6x Blake I would, the only reason Puwens are in the deck is because I can't run more than 4x of a card. But 4x isn't enough to keep the 2 drops consistent on turn 2 and turn 4 after I play a JD, so Puwen must be in the deck. 6x-7x seems to be the right number. Hell go for 8 if you want.
Aldon: As explained above, if you're playing with the Blakes, run 4 Aldon or don't at all. You really want that 4 powered Blake as often as possible. As good as Blake is in this deck, he gets 2x better with Aldons. I don't even care if I draw multiples, because Aldons are always the main target anyway.
Jasmine: Jasmine is pretty self explanatory, she's just awesome. She also has a 2 resource ability that goes well with the Jeweler's Dream.
Aeon: Aeon at first when I put this deck together was more of a throw-in card to me just because he's cool. After tinkering with the deck more and more, I've found that Aeon is just boss. In the past, I've seen opposing Aeons as merely a bump in the road, but he is another animal in this deck. Most of the time I play him mid game, he basically results in ~14 damage dealt for his 6 resource cost. Remember that you're playing 4x Blake in this deck, Aeon compliments Blakes very well, protecting them and yielding as much damage as your Blakes can.
Other Allies: When I first started, I tried Erika, and she was beast. She completely screws Gwen over, and not that this deck even has a tough matchup against Gwen anyway. But the only reason I dropped Erika was because I wanted to keep the deck consistent and to keep the 2 drop cards as high as possible.
Jeweler's Dream: This is your star of the deck, besides Amber herself. I built this deck to revolve around this card specifically. If you haven't played this deck before, you may wonder "How much advantage is the 2 resource anyway?". Well, let me tell you it is a TON. Being able to turn 4 JD attack and drop a Blake/Puwen is so good it's almost game changing. This game is built around establishing board control, whoever has control will win 9/10 times. This card alone commands that you run a ton of 2 resource cards to compliment the weapon. Not only does it allow you to keep the pressure on to establish board control, it can completely turn the tables and allow you to gain control if you lost it to your opponent early game. Imagine you're staring down at a Puwen and a Blake on your opponent's side and you've got nothing. Drop a JD, attack Blake, drop a Retreat/Crippling Blow. Next turn you've got 6 resources to work with to regain control easily. Can't say enough about this card, just run 4, play it, and you'll know.
Berserker's Edge: This is a big finisher mid/late game. Self explanatory card. Make sure you keep an eye on how many more hits it can make/take. Sometimes you may want to actually choose NOT to attack just so the opponent will hit you and raise the power of your BE. It's all about maximizing the amount of damage you deal with this card. It's another reason why Aeon is a beast in this deck. He'll protect your BE and let you hit again and again.
Retreat: Must run card. Plain and simple. The point of the deck is to maintain pressure and momentum. Retreat helps you achieve this. Bouncing their turn 3 Jasmine is literally like taking an extra turn. Sure you probably played nothing else that turn too, but the beauty of it is that this deck's goal is to get to 4 resource and play Jeweler's Dream, that's the turn you're aiming to get to without losing control of the board. Once you're there, it's game on. So whatever you need to do to help you achieve this, you do it. Remember how Aeon is boss in this deck? Well, don't be afraid to bounce him back to your hand before he is about to die and replay him. Jeweler's Dream makes this move much more viable than in other decks because they'll either need 8 resources at once or spend 2 turns doing this and usually that's not a good idea. With JD, you can do this with just 6 resources and in one turn.
Crippling Blow: This isn't the best card in the world, but it does it's job at 2 resource, and that's key.
Blood Frenzy: Just run 4. You shouldn't need an explanation. Jeweler's Dream demands that you draw a ton of cards to take advantage of its resource gaining ability. So draw tons of cards. Run 4.
Enrage: I have mixed feelings about this card. But a single card that can't be 'destroyed' that gives you 10 life is pretty useful one way or another. Most of the time I either don't need it at all and drop it for resource or I'll desperately need it to save myself and turn the game around. Run 2 at most, you don't need redundant copies and you don't need them early game.
Cards that didn't make the cut
Dual Wield: This is perhaps the most debated card when I discuss this deck with people. I've yet to have another person see eye to eye with me on the exclusion of this card. At 5 resource, this is a very hefty price to pay for 1 extra damage (with JD). Yes, that jump from 3 to 4 is huge because of the 4 defense allies much like my reason to run 4x Blake and 4x Aldon. But there are reasons not to run this card. For one, against Jericho, this is useless. And depending on what your rank is at, this may completely change the decision on Dual Wield. I'm currently at around 260 rank, and I see a ton of Jericho. Crippling Blow and Blood Frenzy are already dead cards against Jericho, but at least they are 2 cost. I don't need more dead cards in my hand. Other than this, Dual Wield merely pushes the win when you're probably already winning. I don't doubt that it has its uses, but this list is tight. I just don't see making any room for this card. If you're not at a very high rank and really like the card, don't run more than 2 at most.
Shield Bash: Awful, costs 3 which steers away from the theme, and only damages allies. No good.
Smashing Blow: I can't argue that you won't have use for this card, because you probably will most of the time. But the way I see it is that because this deck takes the offensive 99% of the time, defensive cards don't help your cause when you really want to continue churning out threat after threat. The only weapon/armor I really want to destroy is Snow Sapphire. But if you're dropping out ally after ally turn after turn, you really don't have a problem with the card. More allies or Smashing Blow sort of accomplishes the same thing. And again, 3 cost = bad. **EDIT** Hmm...this card isn't bad to be honest, if I had more space, I'd probably run 2-3. It's kind of up in the air for me.
Snow Sapphire: I love this card. Absolutely love using it and absolutely hate facing it. But at 6 costing same as Aeon, I really rather play an Aeon. As I've said before, this deck goes on the offensive 99% of the time, defensive cards usually have no place when you're trying to keep the pressure up so your opponent can never go from defense to offense. That being said, the card is still awesome. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to play with it just for its cool factor =)
Bloodheim
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