Just wanted to share my deck with others. I would encourage everyone to build one and tell me your feedback/tweaks. It's a fun deck and IMO, the only way to play
Zaladar
competitively in 1.26.
I try to write everything in long hand so that beginners can understand as well.
This deck is also written for me to discuss other aspects of the game. (Card Advantage, Recovery from going second, Card draw mechanics, hero selection, etc) (More on that later).
1 x Zaladar
4 x Keldor
3 x Infernal Gargoyle
4 x Plasma Behemoths
3 x Chimera
3 x Medusil
4 x Mind Control
4 x Shriek
4 x Dimension Ripper
Total: 30.
First things first, build the deck and try it out - it's devilishly effective.
Every card in deck can inflict damage except for Shriek.
I will explain why certain cards are selected and why other cards are omitted. (Where is
Armor of Ages ?!) (No card draw spells like
Bad Santa or
Bazaar?) (No
Life Infusion?! and No Eternal renewal?!)
Strategy
Board control - 2 words. When playing for this deck, you will want to control all aspects of the game as much as possible. You'll want to kill off all of your opponents' allies, while having a few on your side to deal damage.
Shrieks are used on crucial items such as cards that allow your opponent to draw more cards. (
Research, Wizient Staff, on some occasions,
Bazaar). In the late game, Shrieks can also be used on opponents' weapons and armor. (Amour of Ages,
Snow Sapphire)
The deck has no card draw engines or spells hence you will need to restrict the number of cards your opponent can draw.
The deck has a feature that I always put in my decks. The ability to deal damage in multiple ways. For example, Mages (human and shadow) can deal damage through burn spells and allies. Hunters/Warriors can deal damage through weapons and allies.
My
Zaladar "Mega-rush" can deal damage through 3 ways. Weapon (Ripper), Allies (lots of those!), and direct damage (Plasma Behemoths and
Zaladar ability). I have defeated my opponents using all of the 3.
Key Strategy: Patience and Board presence.
When faced with a choice of eliminating opponents allies/removing threats or dealing damage, always (ok, almost always...) destroy the threats first.
For this reason, the deck has Plasma Behemoths,
Keldor (who can kill of 4 Life enemy allies) and Chimera (who can deal a nasty 5 damage when pumped up) (5 damage can kill of enemy Plasmas and Gargoyles). And of cos,
Zaladar's hero ability.
Turn 3! Mega-headache!?
At turn 3, there are many allies to summon. Which is the right choice? The advanced players should have no problems. For the new players, as a general guideline:
Vs
Majiya: Gargoyle
Vs Any opponent who already has a 4 life ally in play:
Keldor (
Keldor's pump-up can kill them off in turn 4.)
Going to cast a
Chimera in turn 4? Resource
Keldor and cast Gargoyle or
Medusil
Hence, knowing which ally or card to resource in turn 1 and 2 is somewhat important - but all it takes is just some games to figure it out and learn. You will be sacrificing allies in turn 1 and 2 - it's very likely.
Mega-interrupt!
NEVER EVER sacrifice the Shrieks! (unless you have 3 in your opening hand) They are only 4 in the deck and you'll need them later. Hold them in your hand to be used later.
Dimension Ripper? You will probably use only 2 or 1 or even none in the entire game. So you can decide to resource it early in the game. But they in the deck for a good reason. (More reasons below)
Card selections (Why these cards make the deck and others don't)
Multiple Choices at Turn 3 creates a lot of flexibility.
Where are the Fire Snake/Brutalis and Sparks?!
IMO, too weak and virtually useless at mid-game and late game. I only want to draw effective cards in the mid to late game.
4 Dimension Rippers?!
Yup, they are the surprise cards. I only use them if I have to. The ability to 'instantly' inflict 2 damage on my turn can turn tables and change the tide of the game.
Do not underestimate this function.
It throws the opponents off-guard and sometimes creates new momentum for me. (A extra card from my opponents' deck can become a resource or I can use the card later.)
4 Plasmas?! Where is Life Infusion?!
Yes, they are the darlings of the deck. But I chose not to put in the Life Infusions, why? Main reason: Life Infusions do not deal damage on their own.
Life Infusion falls prey to Retreat,
Mind Control,
Tidal Wave,
Assassination, etc, etc.
That said, for new players interested in this deck and only has limited budget - replace the Rippers with 4 Life Infusions. The Life Infusions are good with Gargoyles (2/9 Super-hard Stone) and Chimera (5 Damage Monster) - Not recommended with all my heart - 4 Rippers far better.
Where is Soul Reaper?!
Mulling over this. I may remove 1 or 2 Rippers in favor of
Soul Reaper. Lost a couple of very close games which may have turned out different had I used this.
Basically, when building this deck, I wanted to put in cards that are productive (deals damage) and not re-active (
Armor of Ages,
Eternal Renewal,
Life Infusion)
OK, Enough input from me. More later!
Ask me questions, build and play with it. I want to hear from you!
PS: I am playing this deck on my play-test account. I have 2 play-test accounts. If you see my in-game names as below, I am playing with the respective deck and not this deck.
Originally Posted by CHLBRK
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