#faction primer

[vandergusdrafting]

Faction Primer: Oratek (Alloyin/Tempys)

Core Cards: Ionic Warcharger, Kadrasian Stoneback, Nargath Bruiser, Blizzard Shaman, Skyknight Glider, Razortooth Stalker, Ironbound Reinforcements, Vault Intruder, Shatterbolt

Archetype: Aggro-Control

Lead Heroics: Borean Windweaver, Emberwind Evoker, H.E.R.M.E.S

Key Cards: Pummel Pack, Arc Wurm, Torrent Acolyte, Blood Boil, Aethertap Shaman, Burnout

Description: AT has the fewest answers to big pumped up creatures so it has to play a very proactive game. Mobility helps cover the board, making it harder for your opponent to play creatures in "safe" lanes while they wait a turn to do their thing (e.g. Razortooth Stalker, Shardplate Delver, Necroslime). Torrent Acolyte and Ironbound Reinforcements can provide power boosts to either take down big threats or push a bunch of damage. Pummel Pack is very valuable in this deck since it is one of the only ways for Oratek to create a big, resilient threat. Creatures with mobility get really hard to deal with when suited up and if you can stick one on a Razortooth Stalker, well that's just filthy. If you make it to rank 3 with the life totals still close, you're in good shape. Look for opportunities to push large chunks of damage that can tilt the race in your favor. It's ok to trade evenly as long as you're doing 10-15 damage first.

And that's all I got. I don't think AT control is very good. Oratek's cards are much better on offense so try to keep it there. Disagree? Let me know in the comments!

[vandergusdrafting]

Faction Primer: Onyxium (Alloyin/Nekrium)

Core Cards: Skyknight Glider, Ionic Warcharger, Ironbound Reinforcements, Scourge Hydra, Dirge Banshee, Corpulent Shambler, Seal of Tarsus

Deck Archetype: Visage Aggro

Lead Heroics: Necromoeba, Xrath, Dreadknight of Varna, Zombie Dreadknight, Darkheart Conjurer

Key Cards: Infernal Visage, Zombie Titan, Onyxium Marauder, Spiritsteel Infiltrator, Barrier Soldier, Torrent Acolyte, Darksteel Sentinel

Description: Not quite as many mobility creatures as the Byzerak version but the ones you do get are high quality. In general, you can create more resilient, harder to kill threats than NT but your lines of play will be less flexible. Barrier Soldier can play an interesting role letting you ignore mid-lane creatures to play Visages and Zombie Titans without taking a ton of damage. In addition to pumping creatures with Visage, you have a lot of efficient ways to pump power in Alloyin. Creatures like Onyxium Marauder, Spiritsteel Sentinel and Necromoeba get a lot harder to deal with when backed up by Ironbound Reinforcements or Power Torrent.

Deck Archetype: Late Game

Lead Heroics: Portal Shade, Fleshreaver, Ebonskull Knight, Shadowsmith, Necromoeba

Key Cards: Onyxium Marauder, Necroslime, Vault Intruder, Nether Decay, Forge Guardian Beta, Battletech Inventor

Description: There are a lot of quality cards available to late game Onyxium decks but they are missing a few key pieces that would make them much more effective. The level 3 bombs are available (Forge Guardian Beta, Necroslime, Onyxium Marauder) as well as removal (Nether Decay, Seal of Tarsus) and defensive creatures (Vault Intruder, Dirge Banshee, Corpulent Shambler). But good leveling cards and cross lane effects are hard to find. Tech Explorer is too slow in the current format and Metatransfer is only so-so. The lack of good defensive, cross lane effects makes it hard to come back from a slow start without taking a bunch of damage in the process. The AU deck has Torrent Soldier, Roaming Warclaw, Poisoncoil, and Ether Hounds to fill this role but AN doesn't have anything similar. Rot Wanderer and Battletech Inventor are available but I don't think they are of the same quality. Even with the weaknesses, you can still put together a decent deck that looks to win on overall card quality. Be careful not to fall too far behind in rank 1 and keep your life total high with a lot of defensive blocking.

[vandergusdrafting]

Faction Primer: Dysian (Nekrium/Uterra)

Core Cards: Scourge Hydra, Corpulent Shambler, Dirge Banshee, Roaming Warclaw, Blood Boon, Twinstrength, Seal of Tarsus

Deck Archetype: Midrange

Lead Heroics: Weirwood Patriarch, Necromoeba, Portal Shade, Verdant Charge, Soothsayer Hermit

Key Cards: Torrent Soldier, Necroslime, Nether Decay, Ravenous Hydra, Hungering Strike, Toorgmai Mender

Description: A generic good stuff deck. It can lean more towards control if you pick up multiple Dendrifies and debuff spells. Seal of Tarsus is important not just for defense but also as a way to get your big creatures through when things start to stalemate in the later ranks. The deck doesn't have as many ways to push damage as its AU counterpart so you have to resort to alternate means. Even Cavern Serpent can be a big help in some matchups. If you can't push big chunks of damage, you'll be using big late game creatures (Necroslime) and incremental advantage (Torrent Soldier) to eventually build an overwhelming board advantage and win.

Deck Archetype: Regen Pump

Lead Heroics: Zombie Dreadknight, Necromoeba, Xrath, Dreadknight of Varna, Verdant Charge

Key Cards: Infernal Visage, Zombie Titan, Torrent Witch, Catacomb Spider, Ravenous Hydra, Toxic Boon, Cavern Hydra, Deepbranch Prowler, Toorgmai Mender

Description: Similar to the pump deck at the start of set 6 but it's focus is a little different. Losing Ursine Strength and gaining Infernal Visage means there's less single target pump and more multi-lane pump. It's also easier to build around Zombie Dreadknight, another multi-lane effect, because the number of good-on-their-own regen creatures increased. The deck is less about making one unkillable monster and more about gaining board advantage then pushing that advantage with timely pump spells. The key to being successful is determining when you have to answer your opponent's threats and when you can create your own.

Deck Archetype: Darkforged

Lead Heroics: Shroudthorn Splicer, Grimgaunt Betrayer

Key Cards: Dusk Hammer, Shadeclaw Zombie, Darkroot Shambler, Darkshard Witch, Toorgmai Mender, Vigorwisp

Description: The second strongest faction pair for darkforged, in my opinion. You get the two best rares of the cycle (Dusk Hammer and Shadeclaw Zombie) and they're very abuse-able with Dysian's supporting cards. The deck can even win by simply spamming Darkshard Witches if you get enough of them. It doesn't happen very often but I've been run over by decks that play six Darkshard Witches in rank 1. The chain of life drain triggers is too much to keep up with.

Deck Archetype: Life gain

Lead Heroics: Runebark Guardian

Key Cards: Tuskin Grovekeeper, Darkshard Witch, Spiritbloom Dryad, Vyric's Embrace, Toorgmai Mender, Stag of Lys

Description: Another fringe archetype. Kind of gimmicky but Runebark Guardian can actually be really strong in ranks 2 and 3 with just a single life gain trigger. Tuskin Grovekeeper gives you redundancy but, unfortunately, isn't enough to carry the deck on its own. In rank 1, focus on leveling Grovekeepers and Guardian. Don't go out of your way for triggers. Save your Spiritblooms and Vyric's Embrace for underleveled plays in ranks 2 and 3 where the they get you a lot more value. Don't try this unless you can first pick a Guardian. And don't try this at all in the Expert queue ;)

Leave your own Dysian decks in the comments.

[vandergusdrafting]

Faction Primer: Byzerak (Nekrium/Tempys)

Core Cards: Scourge Hydra, Corpulent Shambler, Kadrasian Stoneback, Nargath Bruiser, Aethertap Shaman, Blizzard Shaman, Dirge Banshee, Seal of Tarsus, Blood Boil

Archetype: Aggro-control

Lead Heroics: Borean Windweaver, Byzerak Frostmaiden, Zarox, the Raging, Ebonskull Knight, Portal Shade

Key Cards: Byzerak Drake, Necroslime, Umbruk Glider, Everflame Aura, Nether Decay, Blood Bindings, Windcaller Shaman, Conflagrate, Ashurian Brawler.

Description: A deck that uses mobility and removal to control the board and push damage. Lane placement is very important. You want to place mobility creatures to achieve maximum coverage, ideally, being able to do damage in any of the five lanes at during your next turn. That will make it difficult for your opponent to set up their plays while also giving you opportunities to deal damage in open lanes. If you find yourself with a lot of mobility tricks (Blizzard Shaman, Windcaller Shaman, Zephyr Mage) you can start taking Ashurian Brawlers earlier in the packs, leaning more towards an aggresive rush deck. Be aware that that sort of deck is not as flexible and can struggle if it falls behind.

Deck Archetype: Visage Aggro (a.k.a. Infernal Turtle)

Lead Heroics: Necromoeba, Xrath, Dreadknight of Varna, Zombie Dreadknight, Darkheart Conjurer, Borean Windweaver

Key Cards: Infernal Visage, Byzerak Drake, Zombie Titan, Razortooth Stalker, Arc Wurm, Ashurian Brawler, Burnout

Description: An aggro deck that uses mobility creatures to simultaneously control the board and setup plays with Infernal Visage. Many of these creatures are just downright annoying to deal with when buffed, hence my alternative pet name for the deck. Be aware that if you do play that Visage in rank 1, you should be prepared to further commit to the side lanes for the rest of the game. You don't want to have to pass that Visage 2 because your board isn't set up for it. In addition to the mobility creatures, the faction pair has a huge amount of removal to pick from, making the late game damage push very dangerous. If you can get your opponent down in the 20-30 life range going into rank 3, you're in good shape.

Deck Archetype: Defender Control

Lead Heroics: None

Key Cards: Sparkstone Elemental, Steam Sentinel, Avalanche Guardian, Cinder Colossus, Windcaller Shaman, Nether Decay

Description: I'm really not sure if this is a deck or not but I think there's something to it. AT has been the traditional home for defender decks but since the only enabler (Sparkstone Elemental) is in Tempys, there's no reason it has to be limited to that pairing anymore. And, currently, I think Nekrium has better tools for stalling and making it to the late game, which is where defender decks want to be. You can pick up a couple Steam Sentinels or Avalanche Guardians as generically useful cards in any deck, but I wouldn’t start picking Cinder Colossuses or going heavy into defenders until you have at least one Sparkstone. Windcaller Shaman is a nice trick to get more value out of defenders that have already blocked and Nether Decay and Seal of Tarsus help answer big mobile monsters that your walls can't handle. Unlike Flamerift Instigator, it's not a bad idea to level up your Sparkstones early so they can hang around longer later in the game when your giant rocks are smashing face.

Let me know what NT decks you’ve been playing in the comments.

[vandergusdrafting]

Faction Primer: Esperian (Alloyin/Uterra)

Core Cards: Skyknight Glider, Ionic Warcharger, Ironbound Reinforcements, Blood Boon, Twinstrength, Vault Intruder

Deck Archetype: Pump

Lead Heroics: Shardplate Graft, Warmonger Mod

Key Cards: Pummel Pack, Spiritsteel Infiltrator, Esperian Wartusk, Dusk Hammer, Ravenous Hydra, Toorgmai Mender, Torrent Acolyte, Deepbranch Prowler

Description: For this deck to work you have to make sure you pick up good targets for the pump. All of the key creatures listed have either mobility or breakthrough, meaning that your big beefy monsters can't simply be chumped and whittled down. Your opponent will be taking damage while they try to manage your threat without falling too far behind on board. Being ahead on life will in turn make it easier to setup big all-in plays later in the game. As always, be mindful of what your opponent could have for efficient removal. If they level a Tangle early, you may have to abandon your Spiritsteel + Pummel Pack plan and move into more of a midrange stance, using pump to turn trades and push opportunistic damage. Since most of the creatures are solid on their own, you won't be giving up too much.

Deck Archetype: Midrange

Lead Heroics: Weirwood Patriarch, Soothsayer Hermit, Esperian Scarab

Key Cards: Torrent Soldier, Esperian Wartusk, Roaming Warclaw, Forge Guardian Beta, Dendrify, Barrier Soldier

Description: It's all about the value. Torrent Soldier is an incredible card for attrition matches and is tough to beat with just big vanilla creatures. You'll want to mix in a couple late game win conditions and some ways to answer big threats from your opponent, since you won't necessarily be putting on a ton of pressure yourself. In rank 1 you want to level 2-3 win conditions, 3-4 value/goodstuff cards, and 1-2 answers or tricks. The rest is board management and constantly evaluating when you should be defending and when you should push your advantage. Typical Solforge. 

Deck Archetype: Darkforged

Lead Heroics: Shroudthorn Splicer, Shadowsmith

Key Cards: Dusk Hammer, Shadowmist Angel, Darkroot Shambler, Darksteel Enforcer, Pummel Pack, Toormgai Mender

Description: Technically, you could put this archetype in all the faction pairs but AU is the best place for it so you'll be more open to drafting it. Even without a first pick heroic, you may still find a good opportunity for a darkforged deck. I tend not to go into it unless I see one of the rares (Dusk Hammer or Shadowmist Angel) early in the draft. A Dusk Hammer backed up by Darkroot Shamblers is much stronger than the Shamblers on their own. Other than that the strategy is pretty straightforward. See darkforged, pick darkforged. Draw darkforged, play darkforged.

Deck Archetype: Dino-bots

Lead Heroics: Uterradon Rex

Key Cards: Mosstodon, Batterbot, Pummel Pack, Shardplate Delver, Roaming Warclaw, Featherfang, Flowsteel Carrier

Description: Definitely a fringe archetype but sometimes it works. You probably won't go into this intentionally because first picking a Uterradon Rex should lead you into Umbruk where the deck is much stronger. But if you're already in Esperian and see an early Mosstodon, you can still make good use of it. Batterbot into Pummel Pack can be a pain especially if you follow it up with Mosstodon to make it even tougher. Other than that, pick dinos and try to be aggressive.

Add your own archetypes in the comments!

[vandergusdrafting]

Faction Primer: Umbruk (Uterra/Tempys)

Core Cards: Razortooth Stalker, Kadrasian Stoneback, Aethertap Shaman, Ravenous Hydra, Blizzard Shaman, Nargath Bruiser, Blood Boon, Twinstrength

Deck Archetype: Tricks Aggro

Lead Heroics: Borean Windweaver, Gemhide Ravager, Soothsayer Hermit, Emberwind Evoker

Key Cards: Umbruk Glider, Arc Wurm, Toorgmai Mender, Windcaller Shaman, Toxic Boon, Blood Boil

Description: There aren’t really any must have key cards for this archetype. It simply makes use of the best cards available in the faction pairing. The deck plays creatures that scale well through all levels and relies on abilities like mobility and breakthrough to push damage. Combat tricks play an important role in gaining board advantage and providing impactful, underleveled plays later in the game. The deck should constantly be trying to present must answer threats, preventing the opponent from setting up their own game plan. Games usually end in the early part of rank 3 but you can play into the later ranks if necessary.

Deck Archetype: Dinos

Lead Heroics: Uterradon Rex, Thunderstomp, Tremorsaur, Gemhide Ravager

Key Cards: Mosstodon, Umbruk Glider, Featherfang, Shardplate Delver, Roaming Warclaw

Description: The deck takes advantage of tribal synergies between Uterradon Rex, Thunderstomp, Mosstodon and the large number of high quality dinosaurs available in Umbruk. Mosstodon is the most critical creature to this deck and should be picked over almost anything else, including heroics. The deck can be very aggressive but also has the ability to win battles of attrition with Thunderstomp and Mosstodon for easy card advantage. Remember that, at times, you may need to open lane dinosaurs rather than block in order to set up potential tribal draws on the next turn. A very powerful deck when it comes together.

Deck Archetype: Big Dumb Animals (BDA) Aggro

Lead Heroics: Borean Windweaver, Verdant Charge, Tremorsaur

Key Cards: Ashurian Brawler, Storm Caller, Spiritbloom Dryad, Deepbranch Prowler, Rimehorn Charger, Shatterbolt, Everflame Aura

Description: BDA relies on the shear size of their creatures to win combat rather than mobility or tricks. After a wave of 7-toughness creatures in rank 1, you should have a strong board presence and be pushing damage in multiple lanes going into rank 2. Since most of your creatures don't scale to level 3 very well, you want to end the game by early rank 3 and avoid long slogs. A couple game ending tricks or mobility creatures are still very valuable in BDA but the focus should be on lot’s of over sized level 1 bodies. 

[vandergusdrafting]

An introduction to my faction primers

Players are always trying to figure out the best faction pairs as well as the best strategies within a given faction pair. We love archetype analyses because they can save us a lot of time and losses playing with sub-par decks. I would love to be able to give detailed breakdowns of all the faction pairs but I feel like it takes a huge number of drafts to be able to say anything definitive. As one man drafting, the format has usually changed before I can write something meaningful. But I'd like to put something out there even if isn't complete.

So here's how I'm going to approach it.

Core Cards: These are the cards that most decks in a faction pair will contain. They are high quality commons (not rares) that are almost never bad. You'll be picking a lot of them because they are plentiful and generically good. The archetypes within a faction pair should be able to make use of these core cards in their strategy.

Archetype: Most faction primers I see tend to focus on one type of deck in each pair. I think, however, that there are at least a couple different types of decks with cards that you may want in one type but not in the other. It's important to distinguish between them.

Lead Heroics: These are first pick heroics that might give you a reason to draft a particular archetype. Some archetypes are highly dependent on getting the right first pick, others, not so much.

Key cards: Cards that are necessary for pulling off a particular strategy in the archetype. Think Mosstodon for Dinos or Infernal Visage for, well, Visage decks. They're usually rare cards that you won’t always see in a draft. Cards in this category may be fantastic in one archetype but mediocre in another. A lot of the core cards could double as key cards in that they are important to a strategy (Skyknight Glider in AN Visage) but I'm not going to list them twice.

Description: Some comments on what the deck is trying to do. Playing early game vs late game, etc.

I will list 2-4 archetypes for each faction pairing in rough order of best/most common to least. I will probably include some fringe archetypes at the bottom even though they may not be as good as the main ones. They can be fun but you may want to keep them in the casual queue. Just sayin'. 

I would also love for this to become a collaborative project. If you recognize one of the archetypes I list, go ahead and suggest other cards that you like to play in it. If you have a completely new archetype, make a short write up using the above format and leave it in the comments. I wanna see what you’re playing! Like I said before, it’s hard for just one person to completely define the current draft environment in a reasonable amount of time. Getting more people involved will help everyone out in the end.

What I'm hoping is that this sort of analysis will give players more direction during deck building. Instead of simply picking the highest ranked cards off of a tier list, you can have a larger vision of what you're trying to do. If you see a particular rare early on, it may lead you into one of these archetypes. Let’s kick things off with the primer for Umbruk.