Late Bloomers in a [Semi]-Unexplored Format
As a whole, the player base failed the test—but not entirely! (Here's a potion for your wounds.)
Some of you experiment with new decks on a weekly basis, but others have stuck with the same deck they've been playing all Season long. Technically, there's no right or wrong answer, so don't feel too bad if you're the latter. But even as we were having a private conversation with one of our distributors about this exact topic, we received an e-mail from a player who expressed that, in her opinion, she [feels Converging Chasms is unexplored, which is sad] and that she's planning on building some new decks soon.
It's what we ourselves have been saying all Season—how we have over 20 new decks built that we have not seen being played in the community, ones that are frankly, undiscovered. As for the reason why you haven't seen us playing them is more of an issue of time, but also us secretly hoping that players will pick up on them without our input. Nevertheless, you'll likely get access to the lists at the end of the season one way or another. So, that's the good news.
The other good news is that some players have indeed been experimenting (and quite successfully, might we add). These are the same players that pave the way for the future of deck popularity, the likes of which gave birth to decks like Mush Rush, Abyssal Ridge Awakens, Angel Floodgate, a [spiced-up] Hollow's Reveal, Dimensional Phoenix, All-Symmetry, and yes, even ABD (Angel Beatdown) at one point.
Don't get us wrong, there are plenty of obviously powerful cards from the latest expansion set: Mistrai Driftwood, Cascil the Unvanishing Paladin, Grandiose Infector, Tanglewood Snag, Vastion the World's Hollow, and pretty much all of the Secret Rares to name a few. These are some of the creatures that decks are often built around, and there are plenty of useful symmetries to back them up. But what about the lesser knowns? Here's a sample deck list using some interesting cards—whether the strategy is all new to you or something you just don't see often, in what ways would you recommend tweaking this list to improve it?
If someone presented this deck to you & asked for recommendations to improve it, what would you suggest cutting or adding?
[DECK TECH] — Starbringer Bounce
x2 Starbringer
x2 Ephemra the Star Shield
x2 Heavenly Host
x1 Everbloom Celestial
x1 Harmonious Angel, the Forthcoming
x1 Angelic Apparition
x1 Shardveil Courier
x1 Unsummon
x2 Reversion
x1 Reevaluate
x2 Vortex
x2 Glimpse of the Sanctuary
x2 Invoke
x20 Energy
Main Deck: 20 cards
Energy Deck: 20 cards
Before anyone goes shredding through the list, allow us to explain the deck's natural playstyle, its strengths and a couple of its weaknesses. Starbringer is a new Angel and the deck's main weapon it uses to—get this—bounce opposing energy rather than gain it! Bouncing energy back to your opponent's hand lets you follow up nicely with Vortex. Opportunists will get the most out of this play by vortexing that energy away along with their opponent's next starting hand. Currently, there's not much your opponent can do during your turn with a hand full of energy, so the strategy is sound if executed correctly.
Starbringer is a somewhat difficult deck to pilot, however, as it requires the player to use cards like Invoke to get additional piles out there. Glimpse of the Sanctuary sets up your field while providing extra card draw. Ensuring you have a correct amount of piles of energy in play at all times is paramount when it comes to dropping Uncommon Angels into play en masse. Finally, Shardveil Courier is in the list to give your Angels that final push for the win.
Keep in mind that staple symmetry cards like Reversion can be of dual-usage to you, and further help clear a path to victory.
Its strengths include being able to protect your Life Points with a decent spread of creatures as well as Starbringer being able to target itself for its own Ability. It's good at setting your opponent back on energy using unexpected methods (unlike something like Leech). Weaknesses include having no alternate win condition other than attacking, and having very few counters against your opponent's moves.
There is a lot more this deck can do than meets the eye, such as going plus off your opening hand with x2 Ephemra the Star Shield (and minimum deck size). But if it were up to you—and a new player was asking you for advice, how would you edit this deck to improve its win ratio in all matchups?
CLICK HERE to vote and/or head over to our Discord channel to discuss other changes you would make and your reasons why.
Another thing we've been testing out this Season is if players want to see actual competitive deck lists posted throughout the Season instead of just after major events. The verdict seems to be 50/50 on this, so we will likely poll again after Worlds. "Net Decking" is an issue for some, while it isn't for others. Regardless, we reserve the right to share deck lists online with or without permission. That being said, for this season at least, we have no intention of doing so without permission from the player when it comes to regular locals. We know some of you are aiming to surprise the competition & take your deck all the way to Worlds, so for that you definitely have our respect. Top deck lists WILL be posted after Qualifiers later this month because we want you to be as prepared as possible for Worlds!
Next time, we'll look at multiple deck lists that were voluntarily shared and discuss how the Treeforge Guild (finally) stole the lead in Guild Wars! In the meantime, get as much practice in as possible for your nearest Exodus TCG Qualifier and get ready to secure your exclusive invitation to the World Championship!
Ranking News
Congratulations to our current Top 10 players:
To our great surprise, the point spread among Top 10 closed rapidly over the course of the past 2 weeks rather than growing apart. Interestingly enough, 1st and 10th Place did not move at all this past weekend, but all players in between moved up the ladder & shifted accordingly. Keep up the great work and be sure to catch us in the next column!
— Exodus TCG Organized Play Team
Existence Games
