"The Fixer"
Banebow
4x Ironhide Karash
3x Infernal Gargoyle
3x Death Mage, Thaddeus
4x Morbid Acolyte
3x Kairos Doombringer
3x The Perfect Shot
4x Poison Arrow
3x Sacrificial Lamb
4x Shriek of Vengeance
3x Feathered Longbow
3x Soul Seeker
4x Wrath of the Forest
Total: 41 cards+hero
Commentary and analysis to follow.
Okay, so in this iteration of my original 1.26-1.27 Banebow deck, I've taken advantage of some of the new DP cards to overcome the few shortcomings that Banebow suffered in previous versions - the toughest of those being the ability to deal with large, tough to kill allies in an efficient manner.
Generally speaking, the deck just seeks to keep playing threat after threat, while cheaply and efficiently dealing with your opponent's threats. This deck typically generates a good deal of card advantage, and your opponent is often hard pressed to keep up with the everflowing barrage of threats in the form of allies and weapons you are able to drop, turn after turn.
I hope you enjoy the deck; with proper practice and skill with its combo and timing elements, it should serve you very well.
Ironhide Karash I chose over Brutalis as my (2) drop, becuase as a turn 2 drop, it can help me to kill allies later in the game with its attack value of 2, and is still "immune" to many staple allies' base attack value, not to mention his general resistance to almost all weapon-based attacks that don't have some sort of bonus applied to them (notably Anklebreaker and Soul Seeker), making him great for wearing down an opposing hero's weapons.
Infernal Gargoyle is and will likely for long to come be a staple Shadow ally. It's just tough to kill, quick to get out, and can go head to head with any other ally of its cost. It lives through Nishaven's Lightning Storm, as well as Eladwen's Frost Bolt, setting up a Lamb Slam for you. The only single use cards that can be used to kill it off are Supernova and Mind Control.
Death Mage, Thaddeus is a great compliment to the deck because of the immediate damage he brings with him upon summoning. This goes very nicely alongside any number of abilities in the deck, including Banbow's Fire Arrows, Poison Arrows, and The Perfect Shot. His ability damage also bypasses armor and attack deterence, such as Stealth.
Morbid Acolyte was a natural inclusion with all the new allies that came in with the new set. There are so many passive abilites now, that the ability to turn those off can make the difference in losing the board and swinging it back in your favor. Also, his health of 5 makes him nearly as hardy of a (3) ally as Infernal Gargoyle. In most cases when playing first, I will opt for him as my turn 3 drop over Gargoyle, simply so I have his ability ready to use against my opponent's (3) ally (especially against Shadow, as this set up allows me to shut off Gargoyle's stoneskin and kill it on my turn 4 with Banebow's Fire Arrows + Acolyte's attack)
Kairos Doombringer is included as a heavy hitter for the deck. The fact that he has steadfast means he cannot be Retreat!ed, and therefore requires your opponent to completely deal with him, rather than simply forcing me to have wasted a turn replaying him. He has a wonderful synergy with Wrath of the Forest, because he lives through most attacks made directly against him, allowing him to counter attack, and leaving your WotF intact, which forces your opponent to decide if it's more prudent to work on wearing down your WotF, and thus allowing their allies to be pounded in response by Kairos, or to attack your allies, leaving your draw engine intact.
The Perfect Shot is the answer to Banebow's age-old problem: How to deal with huge allies. Allies like Aeon Stormcaller, Armored Sandworm, and anything reasonably large that has been augmented by Lance's Shadowveil ability have always been a thorn in Banebow's side. The Perfect Shot allows you to bring down that huge threat in one fell swoop and finish it off with any number of devices the deck packs, including Thaddeus, Poison Arrow, or Banebow's Fire Arrows.
Poison Arrow is great for regaining the board, both early and late in the game. When your opponent makes a powerplay, and thinks he has retaken the board, or played an ally that you cannot deal with, due to its size versus the relative size of your allies, Poison Arrow's disabling ability can turn everything around. Your opponent's ally may be large and able to kill off anything that attacks it this round with its counterattack(s), but if it's disabled, it will only be taking damage. Keep in mind, Poison Arrow is going to do 2 damage before the affected ally is ever able to take action, so don't waste additional damage killing it unless you've first taken that into account.
Sacrifical Lamb is a great card in its own right, due to its ability to steal card advantage from your opponent in a big way (for example, your opponent uses Eladwen's Frost Bolt, which nearly kills your Gargoyle, and leaves it at 1 health - it's basically a dead card already. Throw him away with Sacrifical Lamb and gain 3 cards - likewise with an incapaciating card, like Crippling Blow - your opponent spent a card to neutralize one of yours, now you spend Sacrifical Lamb to draw 3 - that's a 3:1 card advantage!) ALSO Lamb Slamming (3) allies yields you FOUR cards when you have Wrath of the Forst in play!
Shriek of Vengeance... I used to run 2x Shriek and 2x Acid Jet, but the only thing this deck seems to really struggle with is Dark Claw, so to offset that threat, going up to 4x Shrieks was a necessity. Most other expensive armors and weapons are easily dispatched with your constant board presence of allies and weapons.
Feathered Longbow is your way of retaking the board when going second. Let's say you miss your turn 2 Karash drop, and on your opponent's turn 3, they play an Aldon or Jasmine, both of which put them in control of the board, even assuming you can come out with a turn 3 ally of your own. Playing Feathered Longbow on your turn 3 allows you to use Banebow's Fire Arrows alongside a weapon attack to kill their ally, and also give you a weapon with 2 remaining durability and an attack value of 2. Later on in the game, being able to drop a cheap weapon that can swing for 2 damage, and still leave you the reasources that turn to play another ally, is a valuable tool, indeed!
Soul Seeker almost goes without saying. It is a game changer and lifesaver in many instances, and against Mages, it's invaluable. I only dropped down from 4x to 3x due to the fact that the deck now includes the 3x Feathered Longbow.
Wrath of the Forest is the deck's heart and soul, as it keeps the threats flowing, one after the other. With the right assortment of allies, which this deck attempts to employ, your opponent will be constantly playing catchup, using their cards and resources to keep the board under control, all the while allowing you to continually replace the cards they eliminate, netting you huge card advantages over the life of the armor. And, if they decide to attack your hero in an attempt wear down WotF's durability, they'll be forsaking control of the board. Other than Artful Squire (not seeing a LOT of play so far) Acid Jet, and Shriek of Vengeance, only niche' item destruction is a direct threat to it.
Finally, a new deck by BE! :)
*typo on the Feathered Longbow btw. :)
Cool now i'll see this deck every other game in the next few days :D
*Working in a counter deck* :3
Zhanna could work? I thinkQuote:
Originally Posted by Colosal
Seems like a solid deck. Those kairos will be a booger to put down
Commentary added above, and Longbox typo fixed :)
I haven`t played it yet, but it seems pretty good :)
I can`t wait to play your deck, BE !
Thank you for sharing !!
Interesting BB. So, why do u run 4x SoV instead of the traditional 2 plus 2x LLN? How do u keep up with Zhanna's and Boris' hasted rush through KP?
I just wonder, have you considering to run Wulven Savage? With him, you turns the Lance matchup to your favour which is normally a bad one and it does reasonable against warriors, which is his bad matchup too.
Edit: Also good against Darkclaw!
I run the 4x SoV because I find Dark Claw to be especially bothersome, and there is an absolute plethora of items of (4) an below which SoV destroys, versus only a very small handful of (5+) items that the deck cannot easily dispatch via other methods (simply wearing down durability with its own allies and weapons).
The King's Pride is, of course, a threat, but not worth the inclusion of 2 additional slots, nor at the expense of the versatility of SoV, IMO. Also, were I to opt for a 2x and 2x setup, I would go with Acid Jet, not LLN, as I find it more versatile (not to mention cheaper to play).
YMMV