beyond-the-gates

Changes The last time I played this deck An awkwardness I noticed with the previous iteration of the deck was that it was extremely 3-drop heavy, which made for some inefficient curves. This isn’t trivial to fix, since the deck’s premium common (Ordis Gatekeeper (C)), card draw (Baba Yaga (R)), and removal spells (Teamwork Training (R)/Sticky Note Seals (C)/Kelon Burst (F)) are all fighting for the same slot in the curve. What’s also deceptive is the fact that Ratatoskr (F) is a 3-drop from reserve. ...

The deck The last time I played Nevenka & Blotch, I tried a midrange approach, but the deck was sorely lacking in ways to interact with my opponent’s gameplan. This deck maintains the midrange gameplan but includes more disruption in the form of sabotage and giving fleeting. I’ve cut nearly all of the expensive characters and focused on lower-cost characters supported by several sources of card advantage. As a result, the deck is still aggressive enough to trade early but can plan to out-resource the opponent and stack several low-cost plays for stronger turns in the late-game. ...

The draft For P1p1, I considered A Cappella Training (C) and Teamwork Training (R) but landed on Inari (F) for its efficient stats. I snap-picked Flamel (R) as the strongest card in P1p2 since its tempo-neutral resource advantage has impressed me in previous drafts. A P1p3 Amelia Earheart (R) had me leaning towards Axiom while a Kraken’s Wrath (R) pushed me into Yzmir due to how much better it gets against Sigismar and Kojo. ...

Gulrang & Tocsin’s hero ability offers what I’d argue is the strongest upside among the core set heroes, but it comes with a major drawback. The puzzle they ask you to solve is how to navigate the first five turns when the best cards in your deck prevent you from getting any closer to winning the game. When I started playing the hero, I thought that my task for the early-game was to ignore my own expedition progress and block at all costs. I now believe this approach to be dead-wrong. ...

The deck While Bravos might be playing too fair of a game compared to the other factions, what Basira & Kaizaimon have going for them are mana ramp, Haven, Bravos Bastion (R), and a robust set of commons. This deck tries to double-down on the explosive openings when you can ramp into a position to get maximum value out of your Havens. Bravos Bladedancer (C), Red (C), Ratatoskr (C), and Chiron (C) are staples that make filling out the 21 common slots unusually easy. ...

Today I opened my Kickstarter display from the Gamers Guild event last weekend. There weren’t any standout uniques in terms of power level, but a foil, alt-art Shenlong is always a treat. As always, I’ll give my first impressions of them below. My rating system Kitsune: 2/7 While it’s cute that this card meets all the conditions for its trigger when played from reserve with a Haven, Bravos Bastion on board, this will usually be on par with a textless 2-mana 0/4/1 in practice, which is acceptable. 4 mountain on a 2-drop does mean that this can sometimes perform well if lined up correctly. ...

This weekend, I got to be part of a four-player draft. I expected slightly less synergy than in a pod of eight due to seeing fewer cards overall. With fewer drafters, finding an open faction would have an even greater payoff. The draft P1p1 was a tough choice between Kojo & Booda and a Brassbug Hive (R). Kojo & Booda is probably the stronger pick, but I thought the Brassbug Hive (R) would be a more fun card to build around, and it can absolutely win the game on its own if it’s not answered. ...

The deck While Subhash & Marmo don’t have the late-game inevitability of Treyst & Rossum, the 2/2/2 each turn can put on consistent early-game pressure. Once your Haven, Bravos Bastion (F) is online, you can close out the game with boosted characters before you run out of steam. This deck prioritizes cards that are better from reserve to incentivize you to use Subhash & Marmo’s hero ability as often as possible. Card advantage from Ouroboros Inkcaster (F) and Ada Lovelace (R) help recoup the loss of resources from doing so. ...

The deck By offering passive card draw to a go-big deck, Atsadi & Surge allow you to liberally play characters and spells that ramp you but put you at a card disadvantage. Where Mana Channeling (C) can leave other heroes out of steam if their large characters are dealt with, Atsadi & Surge can continue deploying threat after threat once they accumulate enough mana. Since Atsadi’s characters are expensive and his hero ability will draw him into plenty of them, he can afford to shore up his ramp-heavy starts with high-tempo but low-value plays. I’ve included full playset of Bravos Tracer (C) for a boost of fleeting stats and Issun-bōshi (C) to make your first gigantic character an even stronger play. ...

I was very impressed when I took Arjun & Spike for a spin in constructed. Being aware of their key synergies made me more receptive to the idea of pivoting into a 3-drop-centric deck when I saw them late in P1. The end result far surpassed my expectations and has me wondering if they’re a stronger hero than Sigismar & Wingspan, albeit less generically powerful. The draft A P1p1 The Sandman (F) made it very easy to start in Ordis, and a P1p2 Baba Yaga (F) did nothing to change my course. I took a P1p3 Anubis (C) despite it not being the strongest card in the pack because I wanted to cut Ordis and build towards Sigismar & Wingspan. There wasn’t a compelling Ordis pick for P1p4, so I followed the rares with a Thoth (F) and continued into Yzmir with a Kadigiran Alchemist (C). Kuwat, the Dissenter (R) looked nice if I did end up in an Yzmir Sigismar, and another Thoth (C) had me considering whether I could go bureaucrats. ...