Trying to make a Competitive Serena Deck

This is my first post on the boards. I've been playing the game for about 2 weeks - did a few offers for Crystals, bought a few copies of the Elementalis deck and sold the entire thing....just to make a Serena deck. So, tell me what you think.


Serena Thoughtripper 39 Cards + Hero

x4 Nightshade
x3 Agent Rex
x3 Aldon the Brave
x3 Night Owl
x3 Lily Rosecult
(16 Allies)

x3 Assassination
x3 Stop, Thief!
x4 Treasured Heirloom
(10 Abilities)

x3 Ill-Gotten Gains
x3 Anklebreaker
x4 Black Garb
x3 Fan of Blades
(13 Items)
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Update - 09/12/2013

So, I've been playing around with the Serena Deck a bit, and I've gotten up to a 180-ish ranking, but stagnating there. Here is the current decklist:

Serena Thoughtripper 41 Cards + Hero

x3 Nightshade
x2 Champion of Irum
x3 Aldon the Brave
x2 Night Owl
x2 Layarian Seductress
x2 Lily Rosecult
x2 Raven Wildheart
x2 Aeon Stormcaller
(18 Allies)

x3 Assassination
x4 Stop, Thief!
x2 Lay Line Nexus
(9 Abilities)

x3 Ill-Gotten Gains
x4 Anklebreaker
x3 Black Garb
x2 Fan of Blades
x2 Spelleater Bands
(14 Items)

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Here's the most recent version. Posting an update to the OP because I've managed a 264 rating with this deck. Please check out some of my recent matches to see how it works.

Serena Thoughtripper 39 + Hero

x4 Nightshade
x2 Jasmine Rosecult
x2 Aldon the Brave
x2 Night Owl
x2 Lily Rosecult
x2 Armored Sandworm
x2 Aeon Stormcaller
(16 Allies)

x4 Retreat
x4 Stop Thief!
x2 Treasured Heirloom
(10 Abilities)

x3 Ill-Gotten Gains
x3 Black Garb
x4 Anklebreaker
x3 Fan of Blades
(13 Items)

IGN: CombatMinister

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CombatPastor

This is my first post on the boards. I've been playing the game for about 2 weeks - did a few offers for Crystals, bought a few copies of the Elementalis deck and sold the entire thing....just to make a Serena deck. So, tell me what you think.


Serena Thoughtripper 39 Cards + Hero

x4 Nightshade
x3 Agent Rex
x3 Aldon the Brave
x3 Night Owl
x3 Lily Rosecult
(16 Allies)

x3 Assassination
x3 Stop, Thief!
x4 Treasured Heirloom
(10 Abilities)

x3 Ill-Gotten Gains
x3 Anklebreaker
x4 Black Garb
x3 Fan of Blades
(13 Items)

IGN: CombatPastor

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Id drop 1 Rex, Lilly, FoB and BG. Add another Anklebreaker, 2 Spelleater Bands and either assassination or another Nightshade. Guessing you might not have much money to pour into it but i dont see having mostly stealth alles fair that well anymore.

Okay. I don't have the Spelleater Bands yet, but I should be able to farm the AI for the gold soon. I already have the extra copy of Anklebreaker. For Nightshade, I already have 4, so don't think I can add more there. Maybe the additional Assassination?

Honestly, I'd run another Stop, Thief! before a fourth Assassination. One of the best item destruction cards in the game. I always run it x4.

Procured and Restored may serve you better than Lily, but ymmv. You might also find some room for Aeon--he's typically the only fatty I run with Serena. (Edit: Probably -2 TH for +2 Aeon. 6 draw is usually enough, and IGG will provide you with quite a bit. I'd also consider changing some stuff for other 3cc--BG helps with poor 3cc ally choices, but LS can also help, especially if you're behind.)

I'd recommend removing the Night Owls for Priest of the Light or Layarian Seductress. I run Priest in my Serena, and he's pretty awesome, but LS is just really awesome for early game control. Beyond that, I agree with what everyone else said (although I'd keep the Lilys over PaR. Lily gives you some field control along with the item grab).

Truthfully, the deck is full of draw. :cool: Between Ill-Gotten Gains, Treasured Heirloom, Night Owl, and Fan of Blades - I shouldn't hurt for any draw power.

So, the cards I'm looking to fit into the deck are Aeon Stormcaller (I was kinda enjoying the zerg rush, but I suppose x2 Aeons can't hurt), Spelleater Bands (gotta stop the direct damage, so x2 of those), and an additional Stop, Thief. Thoughts on how many of each and what to remove for them?

to add the cards you want,
+2 Aeon
+2 Spelleaters
+1 Stop thief
-1 Agent Rex
-4 Garb (or other cards, maybe 2 garb, a lily, and a fan of blades would work too)
Also, imo, a good idea would be +1 anklebreaker -1 fan

you should run 4 x AB and 4 x ST , everything else is adjustable.

getting cluttered here with all the armor. I'd rather have garb than spelleaters especially if using fan. don't want more than 4 armor total.

I'd drop Rex to make room for something more useful. maybe just have him in as a one-of. he's cool but you don't need him with ST and too many 2 hp allies already. direct damage, DMT, and especially Furrion Terror will destroy you.

you have NO , IGG, and TH. don't need that many draw cards.

for example:

-3 rex
-1 garb
-2 heirloom
-1 FoB

+1 AB
+1 ST
+2 Aeon
+3 PotL, Jas, or Seductress

with these adjustments you pretty much end up with a classic tried and true Serena build. you can take her in more exotic directions but it probably won't be as consistent / competetive

In retrospect, Jets's modifications are better than mine :P use his instead ;)

Those....make sense. lol

I have to work on getting the cards, but I'll update the build once I've done so. I was kinda reluctant to add in the high drops like Aeon, but I'll give it a shot. Next update win't be for a little while - playing for free, so gotta grind for the gold. I need to work hard for the money.

Working on getting the gold for those changes now. I'll shoot for the PotL, so that I can have a little recovery against Mages. Think I can use Armored Sandworms instead of Aeon for the time being? I can afford two of those right now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CombatPastor

Working on getting the gold for those changes now. I'll shoot for the PotL, so that I can have a little recovery against Mages. Think I can use Armored Sandworms instead of Aeon for the time being? I can afford two of those right now.

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Sandworm is a viable alternative to aeon.

I suggest you create a zaladar farming deck if you want to earn gold fast without spending real money.

http://www.shadowera.com/showthread....Deck-Building*

goodluck

I created a new Screenname...starting over so that I can create the farming deck first, then build back up to my Serena deck.

The new SN is CombatMinister, so once I start using the deck in Quick Matches, you'll be able to see how it runs.

Finally got the deck together. For sake of time and gold, I went with Armored Sandworms - so here's the current set. Thoughts on how to make it more competitive?

Serena Thoughtripper 39 Cards + Hero

x4 Nightshade
x3 Priest of the Light
x3 Aldon the Brave
x3 Night Owl
x3 Lily Rosecult
x2 Armored Sandworm
(18 Allies)

x3 Assassination
x4 Stop, Thief!
x2 Treasured Heirloom
(9 Abilities)

x3 Ill-Gotten Gains
x4 Anklebreaker
x3 Black Garb
x2 Fan of Blades
(12 Items)

I'm a little concerned about the draw power - thinking of adding in another Ill-Gotten Gains. Also testing to see how long I'll keep using Armored Sandworms... or will I Use both Armored Sandworm and Aeon Stormcaller? So many decisions. lol

Updated the OP with the new deck. Still need help making this deck better. Ideas?

-Ally-wise, I don't see too much of a problem other than the abundance of 2x's. Just seems like it'll make ally draws too random.
-I'm not sure why you have Ley Line Nexus in a Rogue deck, Stop Thief is usually more than enough.
-Dunno why IGG n' Anklebreaker, two of the most important Rogue cards, are only 3x.

When against a foe who floods the board, your best bet in dealing with them is Black Garb + Anklebreaker. Each one usually makes the opponent think about if it's worth it to attack or not. Of course, against Mages you can't have Garb and Spelleater Bands at the same time, so it depends on the situation. I'd say: if they have a lot of creatures out, use Garb; if they have a lot of cards in hand, use Bands; if both... good luck.

Another option could be Smoke Screen. As long as you have a few allies of your own, and possibly a weapon as well, you can disable their horde and cause a lot of damage while they're incapacitated.

Hope this helps.

Sorry about that. Anklebreaker is at x4. I added Ley Line Nexus because I ran into a few decks where the 4 copies of Stop Thief weren't enough - aside from that Ley Line gives 1-for-1 exchange due to secondary 1-card draw. I could drop the two LLN add x2 Smoke Screen. Think I should up to x4 IGG and drop the Champion of Irums?

Seeing as IGG is your only mostly-permanent draw engine, and the extra draw from Owl, Fan, n' Nexus/Screen can only get you so far, I'd bump it up to 4x without hesitation. Even if you can tear down your opponent's hand, it doesn't mean crap if you don't have a hand of your own. What you drop for the extra copy is up to you.

Time for an update - this is the recent version of the deck that I'm running. I've currently at a 211 rating, so we're getting there. I want to see just how far I can take Serena. Here's the current deck:

Serena Thoughtripper 41 + Hero

x4 Nightshade
x2 Jasmine Rosecult
x3 Aldon the Brave
x2 Layarian Seductress
x2 Lily Rosecult
x2 Raven Wildheart
x2 Aeon Stormcaller
(17 Allies)

x2 Assassination
x2 Retreat
x4 Stop Thief!
x2 Treasured Heirloom
(10 Abilities)

x3 Ill-Gotten Gains
x3 Black Garb
x2 Spelleater Bands
x4 Anklebreaker
x2 Fan of Blades
(14 Items)

So far the deck has run well. I've been enjoying comboing Retreat into Serena's ability to force a opponent to discard the heavy they had on the field. Thoughts?

Well, you'd know better than I would how your deck runs, but, I'd probably swap the 2 retreats for 2 more assassinations and change the 2 fan of blades for two dagger of unmakings.

Might swap out the spelleater Bands for Night Prowler as well.

Like I said, you probably know better though. I really haven't played Rogue yet. (working on my first deck)

The cards you suggested are all awesome in their own right, but I'm not sure about their synergy with the deck. Night Prowler, having only one durability, would probably only net me one card - aside from that Spelleater Bands are in there as tech against Mage/direct damage decks. Dagger of Unmaking is also another awesome card, but it doesn't quite fit with this deck. I'll check the cards out anyway, though. Thanks for the thoughts!

Posting this deck because, as of right now, I'm at a 264 rating with this build. That's the highest I've ever taken a Serena deck - but I want to see if I can make it even better. I'll update the OP soon.

Serena Thoughtripper 39 + Hero

x4 Nightshade
x2 Jasmine Rosecult
x2 Aldon the Brave
x2 Night Owl
x2 Lily Rosecult
x2 Armored Sandworm
x2 Aeon Stormcaller
(16 Allies)

x4 Retreat
x4 Stop Thief!
x2 Treasured Heirloom
(10 Abilities)

x3 Ill-Gotten Gains
x3 Black Garb
x4 Anklebreaker
x3 Fan of Blades
(13 Items)

Took out Assassination and Spelleater Bands because they often came up as dead draws for me. Retreat helps me a bit better with taking over the pacing of a match. For monster destruction, I often use Fan of Blades + Black Garb combo. Tell me what you think. :)

Here's the deck I run:

4 x Nightshade
4 x Night Owl
3 x Aldon
3 x Lily Rosecult
2 x Braxnorian Soldier

4 x Ill Gotten Gains
4 x Anklebreaker
3 x Fan of Blades
4 x Black Garb
2 x Night Prowler

2 x Assassination
4 x Stop Thief

Last season I was around 310.

Edit: Oops, didn't realize this was an old thread.

it's cool. nice deck. I'll try it out.