Hello everyone! Today I want to talk about all the new deck ideas that I have with the release of Fall of Argenport. I originally planned to put some of my ideas into writing a bit earlier but real life got the better of me and so I’m here writing this two days later than I wanted. When the new set got released, I felt quite overwhelmed as there were so many new deck ideas I had in mind that it would take some time to test them all. This article aims to show you what decks I have found to be rather successful so far, and will then move towards more experimental ideas that require some more testing. For starters, I present the first deck I built after taking a look at all the new cards.
Combrei Aggro
Combrei Aggro
Combrei Aggro received some really good tools in this set. Before Fall of Argenport, Combrei didn’t have enough to offer to warrant not going into Primal too. However, this changed as Combrei now gets to play with really powerful cards such as Sword of Unity and Vanquisher’s Blade alongside Teacher of Humility. The deck aims to go wide with all the power dorks and gets to casting Sword of Unity as soon as possible, making racing the deck or chump blocking nigh impossible. Additionally, going tall with big units gets foiled by Vanquisher’s Blade. This is my most successful new brew so far and I think Combrei is back and it’s here to stay, so expect to see it on ladder. I tested a lot of different cards for this one and feel like the Copperhall Elites are a necessary evil. If you want to try a few different cards then this is the spot I would cut first. For example, I tried playing Carnosaur to combat Time midrange and Sheriff Marley over Elite. The former ended up dead in my hand quite often, whilst the latter had the advantage of two key abilities in Overwhelm and Aegis. I value the key abilities more than Marley’s extra ability so went with the Elites. I also tried to play Finest Hour but felt out-valued in lower to the ground midrange mirrors so cut them.
Scrunch Time
Scrunch Time
Next, I want to show you my other favorite deck so far. I have already enjoyed the various Haunting Scream variants that have been around. However, I always felt like they were lacking consistency. Behold, the answer that has arrived in the form of Kerendon Merchant! You can now play a single copy of all the combo pieces in you Market and fetch them whenever needed. You are looking to cycle through your deck using Gorgon Fanatic or Crunch, the Hoarder while using your powerful spells to remove your opponent’s units. I’m certain that some version of FPS Scream is going to stay in the meta and this is how I imagine it looking, though it still requires more testing. I decided against including cards like Rindra, the Duskblade, which you will find in other versions, because reaching the necessary influence requirements ends up quite difficult without any Seek Powers. The exclusion of the Stonescar charge units is due to a similar reason and the fact that this version is aiming to play a bit of a slower game.
Stonescar Aggro
Stonescar Aggro
Stonescar has shown time and time again that it is still a force to be reckoned with. I was already a fan of Stonescar Aggro before Fall of Argenport and now we received a couple of new tools. As always, the deck is looking to curve out early and overwhelm the opponent with its pressure. The Market adds consistency to Stonescar as it helps fetch powerful silver bullets such as Factory Quota versus control decks or just curves into Bandit Queen in exchange for excess power. Additionally, the Cabal Standards allow you to run more power to get to the crucial 4 power without flooding your hand later on. Mindfire makes the merchant a more powerful, but also more expensive version of Cinder Yeti. I ended up cutting Champion of Chaos as I found the card to be too slow for the current state of Eternal. When I add threats to an aggressive deck, I’m looking for top end that has immediate value, such as a powerful summon ability or charge, which isn’t the case for Champion. I also excluded Argenport Instigator because we can’t cast it consistently in a deck leaning this much on the fire side of Stonescar.
Mono Shadow Stompy
Mono Shadow Stompy
As soon as I saw Marionette Cross, I thought about a mono shadow deck trying to play over-statted units beginning turn one. The deck features a consistent curve with a lot of early pressure and is very well positioned against all the big Time decks with four Annihilates. I think in the long run this will turn out to be weaker than most two-faction decks, but I still wanted to show this. I also think that Sewer Sludge will find a home in an aggressive deck. I was really impressed by that card as it regularly grew to a 3/4. One of the cards I have yet to test is Blackhall Warleader, but I’m not sure if its better than any of the other two drop actions. However, if you’re looking to play Territorial Elf with Rapid Shot, and deal 14 damage to your opponent on turn three, I recommend taking this list for a spin and it happens to be rather cheap too.
TJP Midrange
tJP Midrange
Next we are taking a look at more established decks that got some upgrades. We all know last meta’s boogeyman, TJP Midrange didn’t gain a lot of new tools, but I think it will gladly incorporate Winchest Merchant. While a 2/2 flier for three is below curve, the extra flexibility and added consistency of getting Stand Together is key, while never drawing more than one, unles you choose to. I included Sword of Unity in the market, even though it gets hosed by Hooru Pacifier, since you can always choose to fetch it when you can play it and it is quite likely to run away with the game at that point.
TJP Chalice
TJP Chalice
Taking the spot of everyone’s favorite deck, who didn’t play against Copperhall prison decks in closed beta, TJP Chalice has a reason to rejoice. The addition of Auralian Merchants is exactly what Chalice has been waiting for. You can now run virtually seven copies of the namesake Crystalline Chalice and additional silver bullets to help cover your weaknesses. With answers to relics and fliers in Disjunction and Sandstorm Scarf the deck got a big boost in viability and should line up very well against all the big time decks that are currently running rampant on ladder.
Removal Pile
Removal Pile
What would a new list of decks be without Camat0’s fresh take on Removal Pile? Once again, Ixtun Merchant adds a lot of flexibility, letting you access powerful threats such as Flamestoker or Icaria, the Liberator while also being able to fetch answers to attachments with Bore or recursion units with Statuary Maiden. Furthermore, the deck gets to run Cull the Deck, which is a powerful card selection tool, making sure you find the right answers on time, and of course the long-awaited Crest of Glory. This version is well suited to beat a more control oriented meta. For the current meta, world champion Camat0 recommends the next list.
FJS Midrange
FJS Midrange
Running a very similar core of cards as Removal Pile, this deck is tuned to beat up time midrange decks. Instead of running Harsh Rule and less Rise to the Challenge, this list is looking to play the best units FJS has to offer together with all the great removal options. Main decking three copies of Statuary Maiden and running one in the market is a declaration of war against Time midrange. If you are looking for a home for our new Valkyrie Rizahn, Greatbow Master then this is the place to go.
Rainbow Ramp
Rainbow Ramp
As a last treat, I present you a highly experimental decklist. I opened a premium End of Days as my ranked reward today and tried to make it work in a deck. What started out as an updated Owl Ramp list quickly got out of hand. Even though this particular version didn’t turn out to be very good, I think there is some ramp deck we have yet to discover. I urge you all to try it and if you find something working, let me know. Learned Herbalist has been quite impressive in a couple of my games and I wouldn’t be surprised seeing it played on ladder. I also want to note that I don’t really know what to run in the market, which is the reason I left it incomplete. You can be sure to see me trying to find a ramp list on ladder and maybe I will do a ramp deck tech as my next project.
There were quite a lot of ideas here and I have only reached the tip of the iceberg. Trying out every single idea I have requires some more time and I’m still not sure what we can expect from the upcoming meta. I will keep you updated regarding my findings and in turn, if you have any interesting brews, let me know as I’m always open for some talk between brewers. I hope you have as much fun with the Fall of Argenport as I have. See you next time!
