My latest Elementalis build

Hey guys. I've been playing around with a lot of decks I see posted here, but I wasn't getting great results. So I decided to build a deck off of Elementalis pumping ability, combined with Shadow Font. Here it is:

ALLY
4 x
Spark
4 x
Carniboar
3 x
Death Mage Thaddeus
4 x
Dark Flayer
4 x
Hellsteed
3 x
Belladonna
3 x
Fire Snake
4 x
Brutalis
3 x
Infernal Gargoyle
ABILITY
4 x
Shadow Font
2 x
Bloodlust
3 x
Mind Control
3 x
Soul Reaper

http://shadowera.gondorian.com/deck/....2se141.4se149

Pretty simple. Let's explain the reason for everything:

Spark: good one-drop and gets pumped when his brothers come into play. Loses out to Kristopher on T1, but what can you do.


Hellsteed: an underrated card that gets serious play in this deck. It's a perfect one-drop -- T1, drop a Hellsteed, T2, drop a Carniboar or a Flayer: your guys are now in range to kill anything with 3 health (Carni getting to 3/3 in the process; not bad).

And the bonus is stackable. Meaning having two Hellsteeds in play puts some serious pressure on your opponent. Sometimes that extra 1 damage changes everything, imagine 2.

Carniboar: this is the star of the deck. Syngetic with the Hellsteed to kill pretty much anything your opponent could cast by turn 3, also gets pumped by Elementalis and becomes a SERIOUS threat. This is the type of stuff you'll be seeing:

http://i.imgur.com/CoWH9.jpg
(I was too lazy to take a screenshot and save it. Taking a picture with the iPhone is faster)

Yes, it's pretty vulnerable to things like Mind Control. But it's faster than that. And it won't be the only big guy on your board.

Death Mage Thaddeus: this is your sniper. Comes in dealing 1 damage on anything, which helps Carniboar get some kills out of the big threats. Slinging 2 damage every turn is really problematic for your opponent.

Dark Flayer: Decent but not a major player. The fact that it deals damage first when defending makes him an interesting target for Elementalis' ability -- how do you take out a 4/3 that will deal you 4 damage before your guy gets his damage done?

Belladonna: Draw engine. I ALWAYS wait to cast her after Elementalis is fully charge. A 4/2 Belladonna usually dies immediately after coming into play thanks to its puny 2 health. A 5/5 Belladonna, on the other hand (possibly aided by a Hellsteed or two) is a fearful presence.

Brutalis: A nice T2 meatshield. Aided by Hellsteed to deal some extra damage, can be pumped by Elementalis to become more threatening and can resist most direct-damage spell (common place in any Eladwen deck) right out of the box.

Infernal Gargoyle: No-brainer. Phenomenal by itself, becomes a monster if pumped by Elementalis, and deals a little extra damage thanks to Hellsteed.

Shadow Font: This right here is the heart of the deck. Shadow Font allows you to use Elementalis to pump two of your guys in consecutive turns. That makes your allies really dificult to deal with.

Bloodlust: Helps the damage tally in the late game (I've won quite a few games by casting a late-game BL and just running for their Hero), or can be used early by Carniboar to take out a big dude early in the game. Versatile, but easy sac fodder.

Mind Control: This twofer takes out a big threat AND lashes some damage at the enemy Hero. Great bang for your 5 resources.

Soul Reaper: This is your "Break in case of emergency" card.

I made this build this morning. 45 cards. Played 12 matches, won 10. Not a bad deck.

I've been debating using Pleasure From Pain, but I'm not sure yet. I'm definitely taking out a Soul Reaper, by the way. 3 is a little excessive.

Tried a few games with Pleasure From Pain and doesn't seem a great card. I'll keep experimenting.

Oh, and I also removed one Soul Reaper.

I have a similiar deck build and IMO i find Pleasure from pain pretty useful and i also had fun toying around with carniboar on NPC i made it so strong that it stopped showing numbers just got a white box;)

The problem with Pleasure From Pain is that 1) it's not a stackable bonus, your guys get +1 attack and that's it, 2) it's conditional, so the opponent can play around that and 3) I'd say 80% of the time, damage dealt to an ally is going to kill it.

Point for point, it seems to me that the bonus given by Hellsteed is way better. Not to mention Hellsteed is a body on the board and can deal damage with Bloodlust, and can be pumped by Elementalis.

So I decided to use something else.

Regarding Carniboar, I can get it to become a 4/6 swinging for 5 damage by turn 4:

(Assuming I play first):

T1, Hellsteed.
T2, Carniboar.
T3, Death Mage Thaddeus, Gargoyle, another Hellsteed, it doesn't matter a whole lot at this point. No matter what guy your opponent casts on his turn, your Carniboar is now swinging for 3 damage (or 4 if there's a second Hellsteed in play).

And there you have it: all the likely T3 suspects (Dirk Saber, Puwen Bloodhelm), are Carnifodder at this point; the first kill will make it a 3/3 that swings for 4 (or even a ridiculous 5) thanks to the presence of the Hellsteed(s).

Even an Aldon the Brave or a Jasmine Rosecult aren't safe -- whether you put down a Death Mage, a Gargoyle or Flayer, Carniboar will take them down. Bottom line, by turn 3 you have everything on the table -- provided you got a decent draw, of course -- to make your opponent's life dificult.

T4: Activate Elementalis, now Carniboar is a 4/6 who swings for 5 (or 6 if you got that second Hellsteed out -- I use 4 now). He's well outside the range of any direct-damage spells right now.

You're still vulnerable to disabling spells, sure -- but then again, any ally is. And a 4/6 that swings for 5 on turn 4 is pretty hard to deal with (especially considering you might have a Death Mage Thaddeus providing support and helping Carniboar kill things). Carniboar + Deathmage or Carniboar + Hellsteeds make even a T5 Plasma Behemoth (your usual gamechanger) dead in the water.

It's really hard for the opponent to regain board control after this point; he'll be going through all his damage spells just trying to disrupt your setup.

The trick is simply to cast down allies quick, and keep the pressure on. Against some decks you might not wanna race: a few of my games were lost due to overextending and being hit with a Supernova right after. MIND YOU, by the time your opponent reaches Supernova range, your Carniboar should have 6 life already.

So far I've had pretty good success rate with this deck. Here's the updated version:

ALLY
4 x
Carniboar
3 x
Death Mage Thaddeus
3 x
Dark Flayer
4 x
Hellsteed
2 x
Bad Wolf
3 x
Belladonna
3 x
Fire Snake
2 x
Plasma Behemoth
3 x
Brutalis
3 x
Infernal Gargoyle
ABILITY
2 x
Bloodlust
4 x
Mind Control
2 x
Soul Reaper
4 x
Shadow Font
2 x
Bazaar

(45 cards)

http://shadowera.gondorian.com/deck/....4se126.2se141

I would have preferred 40, but seeing how the deck is working pretty well...

This combination is downright EVIL. I played a guy last night that also focused on Carniboar and this hero; I was slaughtered lol. I dont run many allies in my deck (Gwen) but halfway through the game I had to have somthing on the field to stall. I hated to feed the little buggers and in the end was my undoing.