Just wanted to do a quick write up on my decks and strategy going into WC this year to hopefully help someone new to the game get a look at top decks and the idea behind some of the stuff I thought about when making choices.

The TJ team (as well as pretty much everyone else I assume) found that the 2 best decks were Merc Baduruu and Outlaw Aramia. I felt it would be a mistake not to bring those 2 since they had been outperforming everything else leading up to the tournament. The lists are pretty normal with a few small distinctions from what I would consider “standard.”


Hero: Aramia (43 cards)

Ally (17):
4x Caravan Smuggler
4x Masked Bandit
4x Dalton, Outlaw Mastermind
2x Delaval, Crossroads Baron
3x Warner, Throneless King

Ability (6):
2x Treasured Heirloom
4x Shadowbolt

Item (15):
2x Tome of Knowledge
1x Obsidian Pendant
2x Platinum Chainmail
1x Stun Turret
2x Unstable Gateway
1x Distortion Harness
2x Pathfinder's Machete
4x Outlaws' Hideout

Location (4):
4x Arthyle's Pass: Dead Man's Breach

Deck Code: 6863907B

3-0

For the Aramia the notable choices are Chainmail and Heirloom. Chainmail was added as a seekable aldon mostly, allowing the 2cc Outlaw allies to kill a Karash most importantly. It also helped in the Praxix matchup as it saved some life if they got a strong start and also helped clear the board easier. The heirlooms were originally Bad Santas, but I wanted to have an out vs Covert Operatives. They won me a game vs Lance early on in the tournament. The deck was good but people banned it in most rounds.



Hero: Baduruu (42 cards)

Ally (14):
4x Ironhide Karash
4x Southroad Mercenary
4x Snowland Spotter
2x Brutal Minotaur

Ability (7):
3x Here Be Monsters
4x Hunter's Gambit

Item (20):
1x Obsidian Pendant
4x Snare Trap
2x Camouflaged Foe
2x Stun Turret
3x Cobraskin Wraps
2x Soul Seeker
3x Grundler's Double
3x Emore Crossbow

Deck Code: 2104056B

Record 3-3

For the Baduruu I wanted to have Karash as a hedge vs the Outlaw decks since I was pretty likely to see them each round. This meant that I couldn’t really fit in Trappers or Elixir though, which hurt the explosiveness of the deck. I also wasn't happy with Gorlack as my top end ally as I found myself too low on resources to play it often. I tested Brakkong, and he was surprisingly easy to cast at 4 or 5 resources, but in the end I settled on Minotaur since I could rely on it being a heavy hitter for the cost. This deck felt a bit underwhelming, the draws can be awkward if you don’t get the right early plays for the matchup you are facing. It really costed me in the top 4 round where I was eliminated, losing both games convincingly.



Hero: Gravebone (41 cards)

Ally (18):
4x Ironhide Karash
2x Frostflame Harpy
4x Infernal Gargoyle
2x Tempest Runebearer
3x Phoenix Urigon
3x Isadora Stormrage

Ability (17):
2x Sacrificial Lamb
4x Bad Santa
4x Fireball
4x Lightning Strike
3x Supernova

Item (5):
4x Tome of Knowledge
1x Obsidian Pendant

Deck Code: 642980B

Record 6-1

I also wanted to try to find a way to bring at least one burn mage, since they are strong vs the outlaw decks and I have played them a lot over the last few years. I have had a lot of success with my Sticky Isadora Gravebone, but it loses to Baduruu no matter the tech. So I made the decision that I would ban Baduruu each round if my opponent had him and made the Gravebone as good against Outlaws as I could. This meant cutting all the Eternal Trolls since they would never stick. It also meant I had to cut Sac Lambs and add more Tomes. This deck was great for me the whole tournament, the only game it dropped I had my opponent down 1 hp with Isadora in play but 3 allies and no abilities in my hand to trigger her. If you wanted to try it in rated, you could try adding some rust weevils to help the Baduruu match up, but I found that they don’t help all that much.


Hero: Elementalis (40 cards)

Ally (31):
4x Ironhide Karash
4x Rapacious Vermin
3x Stardust Transfuser
4x Infernal Gargoyle
4x Rampant Krygon
4x Stardust Extractor
4x Towering Brute
4x Stardust Ampliflyer

Ability (5):
1x Relentless Savagery
4x Mind Control

Item (3):
3x Gold-Laced Shield

Deck Code: 663159B

Record 2-2

The Elementalis deck was my least confident pick. I wanted an aggro deck but I felt that people would be ready for the Thufull decks. I considered bringing a rush Loest, but in testing it felt underwhelming. I ended up bringing this deck because I expected there to be more burn mages in the meta trying to counter the the Outlaw decks. Turns out most people decided to ban Aramia and focus on other things like Baduruu. The deck really hurt me in my winners bracket match vs Sigismund. If i were to do it over again I would probably bring the rush Loest in this spot.

Congrats to Sigismund on his 2nd WC title! This was a great WC overall for both me and TJ, converting more players to the top 8 than any other guild. We will be back next year to take another shot at the title!