The deck
This is my first stab at an Arjun & Spike list. The deck’s goal is straightforward: to tempo out beefy characters and effectively double their stats and/or abilities with Arjun & Spike’s hero ability.
Harvest (C) is the card that makes this deck work. It spots you two hero ability activations that you’re able to use immediately.
I was happiest to spend my rare slots on premium 3-drops and effects that put cards into your reserve.
Since Arjun & Spike’s hero ability puts you at a card disadvantage, I’ve included as much symmetrical card draw as possible.
Uniques
Cernunnos: 6/7
This Cernunnos boasts an absurd rate to anchor another character. It blows Parvati (R) out of the water, since she most often anchors a character that costs 3 or less anyway. Bonus points for being very aesthetically pleasing.
Kodama: 4/7
Arjun & Spike is happy to have another Cernunnos (R). Though usually worse than a 3-mana 4/4/4 from reserve, it’s not rare for you to prefer the delayed stats if you’re already winning or losing by a lot.
Loki: 6/7
The best Lokis I’ve seen abuse the fact that discarding a card from reserve or, to a lesser extent, putting a card from hand into reserve is not actually a cost to trigger Loki’s signature ability. The problem with Loki (R/F) is its cost-to-stat ratio, which this unique solves. This counteracts your symmetrical card draw effects, and the ultra-sabotage demolishes Fen and Haven decks.
The rate on the sleep from reserve is ridiculous and can help land a finishing blow.
The games
Round 1 (W): Treyst & Rossum reserve
I started with an excellent opening hand that included a Quetzalcóatl (F) and Harvest (C). T1 Quetzalcóatl let me trade, then T2 Harvest let me use Arjun’s ability to discard the Harvest from reserve to anchor the Quetzalcóatl when I replayed it.
A T3 Esmeralda (F) from hand let me resupply into a card to pitch in order to anchor a Cernunnos (F) for an overwhelming stat advantage that day. My opponent had cycled two Ada Lovelace (R)s into reserve to build up Treyst counters, but my Quetzalcóatls made the card draw very awkward.
I managed to draw into my second Quetzalcóatl just as my opponent’s hero ability had come online. I led with it on T4, then paired it with a Daughter of Yggdrasil (R) from hand for extra value. One of my resupplies had given me access to a Muna Caregiver (C) support ability, so both of my 3-drops that turn stuck around.
My opponent got their Haven, Bravos Bastion (F) online in the mid-game, but by then I had already built up a pretty heavy expedition lead. While my overstatted 3-drops made expeditions hard to contest, it was the anchored Quetzalcóatl that locked them out of the game. They didn’t have an immediate answer or a large enough threat, so they had to use their hero ability to draw, which made their situation worse by giving me more 1/1/1s wherever I wanted.
Round 2 (W): Teija & Nauraa plants anchor and boost
Being the second player was a huge advantage in this matchup since I expect my characters to outclass Teija’s on the turn they’re played. My opponent seemed to have an awkward opening hand, as they had to lead with a 3-cost Hydracaena (U) that boosted all characters at noon. I was able to go 1-0 by playing a Daughter of Yggdrasil (R) to that side.
I drew into a Harvest (C), which let me wait for my opponent’s play, then anchor a Daughter to beat the anchored Dracaena (U).
A T3 Muna Caregiver (C) “after you” as the second player gave me a window to anchor an Aloe Vera (C) without giving up expedition progress. At one point in the mid-game, my reserve had 4 cards, two of them Muna Caregivers, which let me reanchor the Aloe Vera and another 3-drop to keep it around for a third turn after the Arjun anchor fell off.
Going into T5 with two anchored 3-drops - one of them a Quetzalcóatl - and just two regions from victory, I kept a slightly bold hand of exactly two cards.
My opponent led with a character to join two small/medium previously anchored characters while I played out a Daughter of Yggdrasil (R) for an extra Ordis Recruit in my weaker expedition. They followed up with a Muna Druid (R) to boost a plant in the other expedition.
On one side, I had two large characters with a massive lead while we were both progressing on the other with my one large character and two Ordis Recruits against their two boosted characters.
I played out my Beauty Sleep (C) from hand on one of their characters in the contested expedition. With 1 mana left, they played their own Beauty Sleep (C) on my large character in that expedition, but I was able to recast Beauty Sleep on their only other character there, leaving my 2 Ordis Recruits alone on that side to double-progress for the victory.
Daughter of Yggdrasil (R) is a key card for the deck, and seeing all three in this matchup put me at a huge advantage.
Round 3 (W): Fen & Crowbar disruption tempo
I started this game with an awkward hand of all 3-drops and a Beauty Sleep (C). I debated but ultimately kept the Beauty Sleep (C) as a counter to anchored and the only way I could cheaply generate cards in my reserve. It felt bad having to mana several rares, but the Quetzalcóatl among them was a snap-keep in this matchup.
Leading with a Daughter of Yggdrasil (R) as the first player felt safe, since my opponent couldn’t 1-0 me with the Cernunnos (F) they ended up playing.
They committed their T2 to an anchored Aloe Vera (F). I was thrilled to be able to Beauty Sleep (C) it then discard it to anchor my own Aloe Vera (C), going 1-0 that day.
In the mid-game, I saw both of my Quetzalcóatls, which I made sure to only anchor after my opponent tapped out of Cloth Cocoon (C) mana. These generated me a huge tempo advantage, but my opponent waged war on my resources with two A Cappella Training (C)s, so I couldn’t replay most of my 3-drops or get many characters into my reserve. With a resupplied Tinker Bell (F) face-up, I had to use Kelon Elemental (F) to put The Spindle, Muna Bastion (R) as my second card in reserve to be sabotaged just to ensure that I would have a card in reserve to use Arjun’s ability.
At one point I was empty-handed and nearly out of gas, but a top-decked Kitsune (C) provided me with enough fuel to keep on going. Giving my opponent another card didn’t feel like much of a downside, since they had 5+ cards in hand but not enough mana to play them all.
Low on resources but only one region away from victory, I had to concede one day to build up resources for another push.
On the last day, I played to one side while my opponent had to protect both. They were beating me with a mega-boosted Anansi (C) and a self-boosted Coniferal Coneman (U) played from reserve. With my 3 remaining mana, I used my final card, a Cloth Cocoon (F), to take out their fleeting unique and secure me the last progression I needed to win.
Takeaways
For Arjun & Spike, the most important consideration in both deck-building and your opening hand is finding a balance of overstatted 3-drops and cards that fill your reserve.
Harvest (C) felt like the best card in the deck. Harvest into an anchored 3-drop is your best T2 play.
Symmetrical card draw always felt like it benefitted me more than my opponent. Arjun & Spike will always go low on resources, and cards for your opponent matter less since you’re tempoing them out with 5/5/3s.
Though I only drew it in the games I played for fun, my Loki (U) felt strong enough that I might even consider running the rare or another unique. You’re always close to empty-handed, and your opponent’s hand and reserve are usually full of the cards you’ve been gifting them.
Overperformers
- Harvest (C): For the reasons in the deck description.
- Quetzalcóatl (R): It surprised me that this, not Daughter of Yggdrasil (R), felt like the deck’s premier anchor target. There are several archetypes that Quetzalcóatl absolutely hoses. You’ve got to do more work than Waru to have this stick around, but Muna’s symmetrical draw effects squeeze extra value out of the card.
- Daughter of Yggdrasil (R): The rare does everything the deck needs. It’s the 3-drop with the best base stats that also lets you recover from your hero ability’s card disadvantage.
- Muna Caregiver (C): This one really impressed me. I was worried the support ability might be redundant, but the play pattern is to anchor a 3-drop the turn the Arjun anchor falls off. The “after you” effect pairs well with 3-drops that can trump your opponent’s characters.
- Esmeralda (F): I was very happy when I played this on T3 and used the resupply to anchor a 3-drop. Its low stats from reserve don’t matter, since you’re usually just discarding her to anchor another 3-drop on the following turn.
Underperformers
- The Spindle, Muna Bastion (R): I never played this card, always preferring to play to the board, even against Fen. That said, I didn’t play the Yzmir matchup where it’s most important. The boost ability seems less relevant here than it does for Teija.
- Kelon Elemental (F): Every other way to get cards into reserve felt better, and the slightly above-rate stats matter less when you’re already anchoring 4/4/4s and 5/5/3s.
- Mana Reaping (C): I never cast this. In theory, it’s nice to have an emergency button without spending a rare slot, but fleeting removal really isn’t on plan for this deck.
- Nurture (C): I could still see this being very good, but I never kept it in any of the games. It always felt like my characters’ base stats were enough; getting them out, not boosting them, was the deck’s bottleneck.