Michael Lum
10/9/2009

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Over the last two weeks I've talked two of the decks I tested for Drums Block Constructed. Now, hopefully, this article is out in time for you to take a quick look at before Worlds happens this week.

Introduction

It's no secret that many are preparing their tech (as in, “secret tech”) for Worlds in Texas this year. From playing in Block Constructed locally, I've discovered a few things myself which I thought I'd share with only a few days left before the big event.

Basic Observations

I've observed these basic things in the meta over the last few weeks.

1) Targeted removal (Owned! is the choice card that can be run by anyone, and Hesriana, Cowering Shout, Meltdown, Celestial Shard, Starshot, etc. are going to be found in specific decks).

2) Decks avoiding targeted removal, as this seems to be a counter to #1. Therefore, expect Will of the Forsaken, Escape Artist, and to a lesser extent, Shadowmeld. And of course, Alliance will field Adam Eternum.

3) Decks fielding Area of Effect (AoE) spells to counter #2, and to avoid the pitfalls of #1. Typical abilities consist of Engulfing Blaze, Dominate, Carnage, Penance, Utopia, and to a lesser extent Collateral Damage. Note that priests do not really have this choice, and can really only Fall Back on targeted and non-targeted removal (Mist of Corrosion, A Taste of Divinity, Searing Light, Horrify).

4) You still won't see many death knights or hunters being played.

5) Each race is typified in general as there are less options to choose from; meaning that you can expect Dethvir if you're playing against Emek or Bonewall, you can expect Spelunker if they're playing a Dwarf, and so on. Factions also will have typical allies, and classes will have typical abilities/pets.

Extrapolation

The deck that will be able to win the Worlds will most likely be able to avoid or dance around targeted removal, most likely have a way of mitigating AoE damage, and pay attention to the basics of ally, ability, and equipment removal.

My Theory in a Deck

After playing the rogue and warlock deck and getting more experience with the format, I sat down and tried to think of what I should build to make a stronger deck.

I came up with this:

Hero: Emek the Equalizer (Horde Undead Holy Priest)
Emek was the only hero I could use that would allow me to access Searing Light as well as being an undead. I had originally wanted to go with paladin and Blessing of Kings, but as there are no undead paladins to access Dethvir, I ditched the idea.

Abilities:
Fortifying Shout x2: I was uncertain about this ability, but after looking around, I figured it was one of the easiest ways to mitigate AoE damage and cause favorable trades with allies if I were to face a mirror match or simply be outclassed by other allies.

Horrify x3: Another card I was uncertain with due to Adam and Weldon being to avoid it, but I figured it would kill Dimzer possibly; and serve as a possible Heal in the early game.

Mist of Corrosion x4: Would serve as my spot ability and equipment removal. I mention that it's “spot” because against a solo deck, I would look for the rare ally instead to destroy, as I wouldn't often hit abilities/equipment when they had a hand of cards – of course, that's where it's useful to have discard.

The Omens of Terror x4: Originally I had put four Lose Control cards in the deck; I figured a first turn play of discarding a card was good. But then I remembered my rogue deck and how losing one card for one random card would be good some of the time, and bad at others – and that was only near the beginning when they would have cards to lose. Omens would never be a dead draw; as an instant it could ditch a card from their hand during the draw step, and as an added bonus it could hit an ally.

Searing Light x4: This could serve as a secondary victory condition, was immune to effects like Cromarius as it could blow itself up, and turned all of my abilities (which could be useless given the situation) into a 2 cost card (that cannot be interrupted) to deal 3 unpreventable holy damage.

A Taste of Divinity x3: I wasn't sure if I wanted four, but with Searing Light and so many other kill cards, I thought I'd be safer with just 3. This card serves mostly to answer cards like Weldon, and I'd rather keep it in my hand otherwise, simply to put everything to one or two less than dead.

Vampiric Tendrils x2: I liked Mental Anguish in the last block, but the cost of four resources was a little steep, despite the bonus of healing. Still, this card is a potential 2 for 1, and with Searing Light it wouldn't be a wasted draw, like so many discard cards are.

Allies:
Dark Archon Farrum x4: As a Will of the Forsaken deck, Farrum seemed key in getting out the early hits; and with the hero protecting him he would be able to dance around early allies as well.

Dethvir the Malignant x4: The ability to stack all of the AoE damage onto Dethvir was amazing; as well as his ability to be a pseudo protector for my hero as well as my allies; while being a cost-efficient ally at 4 cost for a 4/5.

Munkin Blackfist x2: No equipment in my deck meant I could easily get Munkin's effect off, and he served as another protector as well.

Nathaniel Voran x4: Although not overly strong, he was the 2 drop ally in the deck with Will of the Forsaken. He could take out Mikael while still taking the 2 points from the popular Alliance ally.

Samuel Harrison x2: I was a little scared of having absolutely no protectors, so I stuck Samuel in over Charkov (which I felt was of limited use with cards like Weldon in the mix) or Johnny Rotten.

Sivandra Darklust x4: A bigger Parvink that attacks with destruction immunity sounded great. At worst, she would destroy Skumm Bag'go or possibly Munkin, but that would be okay.

Skumm Bag'go x4: As this deck tends to want to win with allies relatively quickly, Skumm was a choice to deny their Eye of the Storm, but also to deny their draw to make my discard have more of an impact.

Locations:
Auchindoun Spirit Towers x4: Originally my list had two of these locations, but I changed it to four once I realized what my quest base would be.

Quests:
The Last Barov x4: With so many duplicate allies, I figured that I would try this quest. At worst it would be three resources for one card – but it could trigger off of Weldon Barov's tokens easily enough.
Rise & Be Recognized x3: Although I'm not a huge fan of this quest, I decided against A Question of Gluttony as I would have several early plays, and Legendary Heroes would sometimes work against me as well. This card served as a guaranteed draw of 2 cards for 4 resources.
Towers and Bunkers x4: This quest would normally be three resources for one card, but given the right situation it could become a three resource investment for two cards instead – it would simply require a little setting up, similar to the Totem of Coo/Garruk quest combo of long ago.

Side Deck:
Battle Mage's Baton x1: Although costly I figured it might be useful against long-term solo decks.

Disperse Magic x2: To rid myself of the pesky Blizzard card so I could attack, as well as other strange threats.

Munkin Blackfist x1: To rid myself of early weapons; I would need more than just two Munkins in the main deck.

Owned! x2: A simple targeted removal card if I found I needed it. This was for Weldon and other random allies I didn't want to see.

Talisman of the Horde x3: The only ability that I have that stays in play is Searing Light (which can be destroyed); so this works wonderfully well if I need some more board control.

Treebole x1: Treebole works well with Will of the Forsaken, but with so much hate for allies already in the deck, I didn't think I'd need more. Then again, Treebole was my only answer to mass allies.

The Testing

I decided to build the deck and try it out for our Sunday Block Constructed.

Round 1 – Nyko Coffey – Loraala the Frigid

Nyko's deck was based on stall, using cards like Blizzard, Brittilize, his hero flip, and Everlasting Cold to stack up the damage while using Elder Achilla to increase the damage. Mikael the Blunt added insult to the injury with Eye of the Storm, and Mana Ruby served as his major draw power.

Game 1: This game was Searing Light's turn to shine. It was back and forth for awhile until he dropped Blizzard on turn 5 and I proceeded to let it hurt my allies and eventually kill them while drawing up a storm with Searing Light in play. Omens of Terror destroyed Blizzard while discarding a card, and then Sivandra went in to put Loraala at 12. Then, Searing Light kicked in for a whopping 18 points of damage (5 cards discarded and Searing Light popped itself); and it was over.
I ended up siding out Munkin Blackfist for Owned! (x2), and took out two Dark Archons for two Disperse Magic.

Game 2: Similar to the first game although Nyko was able to damage me more; I was able to land Disperse Magic on turn 1 and he played out Elder Achilla, Brittilize, and Blizzard on turn 6. I let it go for awhile (as I had no allies as he had used Taste of Arcana on Nathaniel on my turn 2) and again made him discard. Fortifying Shout dropped and made my guys just a little tougher to kill (which is important when you have Brittilize and a Dark Archon). Sivandra and Nathaniel were able to come out and start swinging; and although damage was ticking up on my hero due to Frigid Winds combined with Everlasting Cold, I was finally able to end it with an ally presence.

Dethvir is amazing against Blizzard, it occurred to me later, although the two never saw play at the same time.

Round 2 – Paul Zemanek – Katianna the Shrouded

Paul and I had helped him with this deck earlier in the week and it was based upon a strange concept with Orlund discarding cards from an opponent's hand to do some massive damage. Backed with Weldon, Elder Achilla, and some serious draw power (Arathi Basin location, Call to Arms: Alterac Valley, Call to Arms: Arathi Basin, and Rise & Be Recognized), his deck was quite strong against mine; and I knew it wouldn't be easy.

Game 1: Although I manage to discard his entire hand down, he has quests and I don't – and he's able to complete them despite Auchindoun flipping one down and Skumm hitting another. Around turn 5 I tell Paul that he most likely will win as I can't Pin him down with discard, and my allies aren't doing so hot due to his Taste of Divinity. Call to Arms: Arathi Basin draws him three cards (twice; as he had two) and I simply can't catch up as he plops down Weldon for the second time.
I side out Munkin Blackfist for Owned! and put in Treebole for Horrify.

Game 2: Dark Archon Farrum drops on turn 1 and stays for nearly the entire game; doing small amounts of damage over time. He's joined by Nathaniel and Sivandra, but they're wiped quickly enough with Taste of Divinity plus Orlund. Eventually, my Dark Archon dies and I'm left with no choice but to play Owned! to remove his two Orlunds; and with Paul at 25 damage I'm stuck in top deck mode for awhile until three turns later I draw an Omens of Terror (well, it was that or Searing Light). Almost anticlimactic.