First of all, big congrats to Tommy for his well deserved WC victory. Following his example of posting his deck lists, I thought I'd share mine.
Deck Selection Strategy: I had a really hard time choosing decks, and I settled on my lineup less than 24 hours before the deadline. Special shoutout to BT Sigismund, BT Meth, SK Trinolcour, and TJ Scout for helping me choose my decks.
Aldreides Gravebone: I got 3rd in PT Finals and 2nd in the America Regionals with this deck, and so I was really confident about piloting it and playing it well. I felt that this deck goes second very comfortably as it can consistently pull off a T4 Aldreides on the field, which is really OP, so I brought this deck with the intention of bringing it going second.
Gwen: I needed an aggressive deck to bring going first, and I settled on Gwen because I knew items like Aural Battery, Wizent's Staff, and Heavy Ballista would be very common. For that reason, I figured that Weevil would be a great counter to these common decks. The one issue with Gwen is that Gwen struggles a lot against fatties like Aldreides the Aged. I opted to tech in Rolling Boulders (thanks to SK Trinolcour for this suggestion) because it can return Aldreides to the hand even if it is summoned from the grave via Gravebone.
Turbo Skervox: I really enjoy the playstyle and figured the non-targeting hero ability could help deal with Aldreides and any ally-based strategy.
Zhanna (Day 2 only deck): Tidal wave could deal with Aldreides as it doesn't target, and Zhanna has pretty even MU's vs everything.
Logan (considered but didn't bring): I heavily tested Logan because I thought he could be a real underdog in a fatty-heavy meta. Unfortunately, I found that Logan wasn't even that great against some of the more prominent fatties such as Aldreides and Barrabus due their SE drain abilities.
Bloodfang (considered but didn't bring): I love Bloodfang, but ultimately couldn't justify bringing it because it has similar weaknesses to Gravebone who I was already bringing, and I wanted more diversity in my lineup.
Zaladar (considered but didn't bring): The version I was considering used the Crypt Golem Infinity Core combo, but I found that it was a little too inconsistent and slow.
Hero: Gravebone (49 cards)
Ally (20):
2x Aldmor Interceptor
4x Darklight Apprentice
4x Brimstone Devourer
4x Aldmor Artisan
2x Aldmor Chieftan
4x Aldreides the Aged
Ability (10):
2x Shadow Font
4x Shadowbolt
4x Supernova
Item (15):
2x Crypt Golem
4x Mending Golem
4x Amulet of Conjuring
1x Aldmor Accelerator
1x Disruptor Field
2x Rejuvenation Pod
1x Shadow Cannon
Location (3):
3x The Wilds: Trading Port
Deck Code: 1174276B
Note: I get a lot of comments regarding The Wilds: Trading Port. I view it as an anti-location tech (locations are naturally anti-location ) that is still useable against anything in the right situation.
Hero: Skervox (50 cards)
Ally (32):
4x Fire Snake
4x Deathbone
4x Twisted Familiar
2x Krugal Braggart
2x Death Mage Thaddeus
4x Rampant Krygon
4x Brimstone Devourer
4x Belladonna
4x Falseblood Cultist
Ability (12):
4x Bad Santa
4x Anmor's Call
4x Overwhelm
Item (5):
2x Augmenting Golem
3x Wrath of the Forest
Deck Code: 583913B
Hero: Gwenneth Truesight (40 cards)
Ally (23):
4x Ascetic of Aldmor
2x Dirk Saber
3x Midnight Sentinel
4x Aldon the Brave
4x Layarian Seductress
4x Snowland Spotter
2x Viska, The Scarlet Blade
Ability (7):
3x Bad Santa
4x Hunter's Gambit
Item (9):
2x Rolling Boulders
4x Weevil-tipped Crossbow
3x Soul Seeker
Deck Code: 482947B
Hero: Zhanna Mist (45 cards)
Ally (25):
4x Twilight Opportunist
4x Devoted Knight
3x Tainted Oracle
4x Knight of the Crimson Dusk
3x Viska, The Scarlet Blade
1x Nathanias, People's Champion
2x Aldreides the Aged
2x Adlard the Just
2x Kion the Magnificent
Ability (11):
1x Healing Touch
4x Focused Prayer
1x Resurrection
4x Tidal Wave
1x Mass Purification
Item (8):
2x Book of Curses
4x Wizent's Staff
2x The King's Pride
Deck Code: 1153717B
Take aways: The WC meta turned out to be heavily unfavored for Gravebone, and I was constantly running into bad MUs. It felt like every deck had contingency plans for Aldreides, and so I really struggled with this deck. On top of that, the bug-fix/nerf to Aldreides that makes him not drain 1 SE when summoned via Gravebone really hurt as well. Gwen turned out to be pretty decent, although I unfortunately never really used Rolling Boulders. I was able to win a few crucial games with Zhanna, but overall I was pretty sloppy when throwing together my list and I think my inexperience with priests shows there. Skervox was the MVP for me. It had access to non-targeting board clears through its ability and Overwhelm. It also could hold its own against anything that dealt ability damage with Twisted Familiar. Definitely the best deck out of the 4 I brought.
Video of the finals from my perspective: https://youtu.be/tVZIEqtpVVw
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