Famine (Zhanna Mist)

[sweetgab]

Here's my version:

4 Jasmine
3 Aeon
4 Healing Touch
4 Tidal Wave
4 Destroy Arms
1 Resurrection
3 Holy Shield
4 Plague
3 Curse
4 Bazaar
4 Bad Santa
2 Cobraskin Wraps
3 Wizent's Staff

43 cards total

First of all, I cut down on the number of cards, since in both of the games I lost, I didn't draw a Tidal Wave in time. If you can get to a point where your opponent is out of card and resources, it doesn't matter if you're running out too - so long as you can stick an Aeon and a Jasmine in there.

I also cut most of the allies, since with such a game plan early board control is less important. A late game Puwen is almost a dead draw - Jasmine is unique in that she is just as good drawn late as early.

Aeon is awesome in this deck. I just played an Eladwen who cast Retreat on my Aeon four times: doesn't matter, against many heroes he'll stick eventually. As for Lily Rosecult, I've seen her in action, I know she's awesome, but she never seems to work out for me. Always no item in the graveyard, and/or 3/4 body is irrevalent. She is like Belladonna - not exactly my kind of card.

Tidal Wave is an all-star in this deck. It is to this deck as Mind Control is to, pretty much every Elemental deck.

I started with 4 Holy Shields too, but I'm starting to cut these. Unlike Tidal Wave or Plague, the Shield doesn't reduce any damage, it simply delays it. Even against Eladwen, I find myself resourcing it away.

4 Cobraskin seemed a bit clunky to me - this deck really wants to do T5 Tidal Wave. I might cut the last two also, I'm not sure yet. 4 Bazaar and 4 Bad Santa are of course, necessary against Warriors.

So far I've enjoyed playing this deck. I'll write more after I test some more.

@He-Man: I tried Jericho too. The great thing about Zhanna (over Jericho) is, she has late game inevitability against Eladwen, where Jericho has to destroy every Bazaar in hope of winning through card advantage before getting burned out. Where Zhanna could just sit back and heal and Tidal Wave, and from time to time cast a Destroy Arms rather leisurely. This is important because against Eladwen, 8 of your cards are totally dead (Bazaar and Bad Santa), so you're already at a disadvantage to begin with.

[Keaven]

Here's my version...

Whilst a similar build based around Plague, yours is more of a control deck than a mil deck. You get your deck draw in my mil deck from Cobraskin Wraps and Lily's (Wizents Staff can help mid game if you draw it after casting 1 or 2 plagues already). The allies I summon early are almost exclusively to tank damage away from Zhanna or kill the opponents allies when able, they are meant to die and be resurrected later. You should never be resourcing Cobraskins early match as these are how you gain draw advantage as well as Plague. The most important asset in this deck is Zhanna's HP don't be afraid to lose it early when you are preventing losing it later when it really matters.

ie if you draw a Plague and a Cobraskin before turn 4 you first cast the Cobraskin to get the extra card over your opponent, the next turn you cast Plague. This means they may get out an extra 3 cost ally, but they are seriously short drawing their hand to do so and you are not allowing them to reach 5 resources where the serious pain begins. If you were able to get Curse out before Cobraskin the 3 allies they could potentially have on the board will not do much damage by the time you get back to 4 resources. Then you can rinse and repeat, or if they were not able to generate any draw you can extend to 5 resources, Tidal Wave and dominate the board. By saving Zhanna's SE you can sometimes cast allies instead on the way back up from 0/1 resources and take down their allies without having to Tidal Wave.

The deck needs all the Cobraskins it can get because sometimes Lily is returning a Cobraskin that was destroyed by casting a second one, ie:

T4 - Cobraskin (back to 3 resources + card draw)
T5 - Cobraskin (back to 3 resources + card draw)
T6 - Lily (draw cobra skin)
T7 - Tidal Wave if they were dumping allies the previous turns, or Plague if not

If Tidal Waves are a star in your deck it means you are letting your opponent get to 5 Resources too often for the original strategy. My mil deck really wants to hold back the Tidal Waves for as long as possible so they have nothing to come back with after.

You will probably find for your style you can replace a few more cards to help like Resurrection, Cobraskin, and a couple of Healing Touch.

If Blood Frenzy is your single largest thread, is it worth it to try using Jericho instead?

Two reasons: Jericho cannot withstand the damage this deck allows, as mentioned above this deck uses Zhanna's HPs like any other statistic and the goal is to only prevent loosing the last HP rather than any like most races in the current Meta. The second is that there are only 2 Heroes that cause a real threat with BR; Amber, and Logan. Bazaar nullifies BR when you are resource destroying and you both end up playing with 7 cards each turn with the only difference that they are bleeding every turn. It's still a tough match though, particularly if they are stocking more than 45 cards or so.

[iStyLeD]

Having trouble with Ter Adun....he takes out Bazaar and you get raped, essentially.

[Keaven]

Having trouble with Ter Adun....he takes out Bazaar and you get raped, essentially.

Tough part with Ter Adun with BR is being able to make sure you either keep a spare Bazaar, or that your Lily can Resurrect one. Needs to be played a bit different but still isn't as strong as other warriors in the long run.

[Keaven]

So I have updated the deck again. Still struggling against good Amber's exclusively. The timing of Jeweler's Dream coming out whether playing first or second is always bad, it's tough to chose the next card to play as Destroying it can mean it just comes back stronger with Dual Wield Vs saving item destruction for later and the player having the guts to use the extra resources to mass low cost allies.

Current Version:

1 x Zhanna Mist

3 x Jasmine Rosecult
4 x Lily Rosecult
4 x Puwen Bloodhelm
3 x Aldon the Brave
2 x Sandworm
(16 Allies)

4 x Healing Touch
4 x Tidal Wave
4 x Destroy Arms
2 x Resurrection
(14 Abilities)

4 x Plague
4 x Curse
4 x Bazaar
4 x Cobraskin Wraps
4 x Wizent's Staff
1 x Voice of Winter
(21 items)

I have added a Voice of Winter which although only one can help Vs Warriors.

[jonmaciel]

Against warriors...I'd take out the VoW since its also hurts this deck. I'd also remove Sandworm bc they are more of an annoyance than a threat to most. Try 3x Sentinel for those warriors. even with CB (crippling blow), they can still use their ability. You can also try Aeon since he needs to be killed or retreat before they can anything to your other allies. they can CB him but who cares - hes there to protect and absorb damage. if you're looking for damage reduction per value, sentinel is your best bet since you're taking away 3-4 damage per 1 SE that isn't negated by a CB.

ghostmaker or mournblade would also work very well with your strategy..VoW just seems like the worst option for available cards. with GM, allies only come back with 1hp but its time spent killing those allies yet again rather than zhanna.

[Keaven]

Against warriors...I'd take out the VoW since its also hurts this deck. I'd also remove Sandworms bc they are more of an annoyance than a threat to most. Try 3x Sentinel for those warriors. even with CB (crippling blow), they can still use their ability. You can also try Aeons since he needs to be killed or retreat before they can anything to your other allies. they can CB him but who cares - hes there to protect and absorb damage. if you're looking for damage reduction per value, sentinel is your best bet since you're taking away 3-4 damage per 1 SE that isn't negated by a CB.

ghostmaker or mournblade would also work very well with your strategy..VoW just seems like the worst option for available cards. with GM, allies only come back with 1hp but its time spent killing those allies yet again rather than zhanna.

Thanks Starval, but you seem to be missing the strategy for the most part, and I hazard a guess that you only read the first post.

Voice of Winter does not hurt this deck at all because most of the allies summoned are killed if not the next turn the turn after anyway and are only a threat when resurrected. It's most effective cast after a Tidal Wave as well.

Sandworm is meant to be an annoyance and not a threat, although they become a serious threat to Mages once summoned before Plague.

Marshland Sentinel cannot work for the same reason VoW can. It dies before you can ever use his ability. You cannot get early board control with this deck, in fact you are not supposed to at all except for the rare turn 1 initial draw that allows the Puwen, Aldon, Plague combo and this depends on the hero you are facing as well. Sentinel is also counter productive to reducing DPT as if you have played Curse and Cobraskin Wraps his damage reduction can be 0-1 making the SE cost redundant given you can heal the same for equal cost.

Aeon does not work at all. Even when draw is bad you should only rarely be getting to 6 resources except when you have already won by resource lead and a 6 cost ally is not needed by then.

Ghostmaker is not as clear cut, but for the most part it would take some practise using the deck to know that it would only be effective mid-late game and in this case, would not usually be needed.

[jonmaciel]

The issue with Sandworm in a priest deck is - unless you have King's Pride out - it isn't a threat. Mages are where its most useful but most mages concentrate their damage on the hero and allies are ignored as much as possible. I'd have to use this deck more than I did - it was just frustrating waiting for cobraskins to come out. even with 4 in the deck...there's 52 cards in the deck. do you have some recent matches where you use this deck?

[Keaven]

The issue with Sandworm in a priest deck is - unless you have King's Pride out - it isn't a threat. Mages are where its most useful but most mages concentrate their damage on the hero and allies are ignored as much as possible. I'd have to use this deck more than I did - it was just frustrating waiting for cobraskins to come out. even with 4 in the deck...there's 52 cards in the deck. do you have some recent matches where you use this deck?

Human Mages are this decks easiest match up and are played a specific style. I have been playing my Garbage Disposal deck recently so not many games I just swapped it over and won a Darkclaw match 27 minutes ago from now Vs Reroiro (208). I'll play a match or too on my way home with it as well.

[MrChappy]

I'm pretty new, I don't even know what happens when a deck runs out?