Voodoo bravery [FG][Arena][Fast][Focused]

[eaglgenes101]

(From http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,39948.0.html )

Once, Shakar's Revenge was a solid deck with a 30% winrate and a reputation for being fast. Then the false gods figured it out, it got a 20% winrate, and Instosis took its reputation for being fast. But now, it has regained it power and speed, and hopefully, it will regain its reputation.

The key card here is Shard of Bravery, a powerful little card introduced in 1.30 that draws 2 cards for both players. Against FG's, the backfire is minimized, and in this deck, it can even help in some cases.

This deck is extremely customizable. Possible mods include more voodoo dolls and gravity forces, precogs or sundials instead of SoBes, Antimatter, Lobotomizer, Mirror shield, and a number of other possibilities.

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6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6ve 6ve 6ve 6ve 6ve 74d 74d 77l 77l 77l 77l 77l 77l 7ee 7ee 7ee 7ee 7ee 7ee 7tg 7tg 80b 80b 80b 80b 8pu

Nova verison by Zso_Zso:

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4vj 4vj 4vj 4vj 4vj 4vj 74d 74d 74d 77l 77l 77l 77l 77l 77l 7ee 7ee 7ee 7ee 7ee 7tg 7tg 7tg 808 808 808 808 80b 80b 80b 8po

Strategy:
Speed draw with Shard of Bravery, but be careful not to use up SoBes uselessly or to accidentally summon singularities. When you manage to draw the combo of Voodoo doll + a few Basilisk Blood + Gravity Force, you can play the voodoo doll with gravity pull and stick enough basilisk bloods to allow the doll to survive with the gravity force on its back. Don't stick them all on yet, as you may want to stop a creature or weapon for 6 turns. Now wait until you can use one or more twin universes to multiply the inflicted damage to 200 HP, then do so.

Advanced tricks:

• If you run across a problematic creature like a momentum'd creature, you can put BB on it to stall it for 6 turns.
• This is an extension of the previous trick. If you really need more quanta, you can fire off SN's multiple times and BB the singularities if you need to. Be very careful, as the sings may become problems very quickly.
• Also an extension of the first trick. BBing a doll will delay a present FG weapon. This doesn't work for empty slots.
• If your doll can't survive another turn but you can, TU it so there's a copy you can put GF and BB's on later.
• Unless there's a threat damage bypassing your doll and killing you, you can afford to play the doll at the last second, as it'll direct all the non-momentum physical damage from you.
• This is an inverse of the previous trick. If there's a threat of damage getting around your doll, leave plenty of HP so you don't die.
• Extra dolls are useful to absorb CC and/or clear out the FG's hand.
• Giant creature going fry your voodoo doll quickly? You can TU it, and depending on the situation, use a spare GF on it to kill it or use the copy to finish off the FG.
• Some FG's have GF's of their own. If you can't dig up a GF from your deck, try putting out a doll with BB's and see if the FG will put GF on it.
• Keep in mind what the FG can and can't do. There's no reason to panic if you or your doll can't be killed the following turn. If there's damage bypass, try to estimate how much it could possibly be next turn. Et Cetera.

For individual gods:

Spoiler for Hidden:

Akebono- 4 Momentums. 4 Chimeras. 2 Titans. Beware of the possibility of momentum, but it shouldn't be too bad if you start the combo early and reserve BB's to stop momentum. Medium.
Chaos Lord- You might be able to win by copying mutants, but keeping the doll on the field is a tall order with all the mutations and druids. Skip.
Dark Matter- There are too many chargers to stop, and too many BH's to get around. Skip.
Decay- Surprisingly, it's entirely possible to win against Decay, though I haven't done it yet. Apparently, the trick if squeezing the doll combo in before lockdown stops you. You'll have to wait to win, so I usually skip it. Hard.
Destiny- Too many rewinds and thus too high a chance to be screwed. Skip.
Divine Glory- Keep an eye on her light quanta and your doll's HP. Make good use of weapon delaying. Easy.
Dream Catcher- Some denial, but she can't screw your doll if it's already out and combo'd. Keep your eyes open. Medium.
Elidnis- Healing, but it's not too much. PU, but it's only occasionally a threat if you're playing it fast enough. Easy.
Eternal Phoenix- There's fractal, but thankfully SoBe disrupts that. Still, keep an eye out for possible damage bursts and bolts. Medium.
Ferox- Healing is ridiculous, and creature damage is unpredictable, but there's no control or defense breaking. Use BB's on dragons to buy some turns. Medium.
Fire Queen- Damage is fairly easily predicted, but mind fire bolts and weapons, both in the slot and flown. Medium.
Gemini- Momentum and PU. Keep an eye on the aether quanta to ensure a PU blitz doesn't kill you. Medium.
Graviton- Plenty of momentum, but nothing that can wipe your doll away, and little burst damage. Hard.
Hecate- Her highest damage cards usually do single-digits damage, though plenty of damage damages you directly. You can copy her doll to do the combo in a pinch, or copy a vampirific doll to heal. Medium.
Hermes- No real threats besides bolts and fast damage. Go as fast as possible to handle them. Easy.
Incarnate- Send out all your dolls to collect retrovirus poison. Some burst potential and healing, but both can be estimated. Your worst nightmare will be Eclipse. Easy.
Jezebel- Only real problem is what nymphs come, and that can be helped with speed and getting Jezebel to steal your towers. Easy.
Lionheart- Race quickly to get your doll out before Lionheart can get his Eternity. If it does come out, do your best to delay it. Quit if your doll is rewound. Hard.
Miracle- Copy the dragons. Go for a doll at the last minute, but Miracle has incredible burst power. Medium.
Morte- Try to go as fast as possible before poison damage kills you. You can't really stop poison with a doll, so leave around 50 HP to survive poison. Easy.
Neptune- Incredibly, Neptune doesn't know to freeze+shockwave a doll, so it's easier than you think. Easy.
Obliterator- Plenty of momentum, but if you get through that, Obby's control goes nowhere. Hard.
Octane- UG's. Tons of them. Almost impossible, but if you can get Octane to send out EE's, it's possible. Hard.
Osiris- Four risks. To handle the momentum, leave around 60 HP to survive. To handle catapult and RT, go really, really quickly. To handle the scarab's devouring, watch the HP of your doll. Hard.
Paradox- No real control (Theoretically, Paradox could KO you with a PU blitz on a doll, but it never happens), but plenty of burst potential through Deja Vu and PU. Medium.
Rainbow- You can predict most of the burst damage. Tons of control, but a doll doesn't need to worry about it. Easy.
Scorpio- Tons of poison damage. Try to round up all the non-poison damage and deposit it onto a surviving doll. Hard.
Seism- Serious amounts of RT's. Skip.
Serket- Round up any damage you can, since any damage that can pass through the doll can seriously hurt you over time. Burst damage comes later. Hard.

Stats:

deck	Voodoo Bravery (5 SN)
player	CuCN
version	1.321
games	162
win-loss-(EM)	76-86-(3)
time (h:m:s)	03:44:35
min/game	01:23
win-rate	46.91%
normalized	46.48%
FGei[c]*	8493
FGei[cn]*	8417

    Statmasta™3000     *assumed card-spin /win: 35%           

Spoiler for god by god:

	wins	losses	skips	EM/Wins
Akebono Chaos Lord Dark Matter Decay Destiny Divine Glory Dream Catcher Elidnis Eternal Phoenix Ferox Fire Queen Gemini Graviton Hecate Hermes Incarnate Jezebel Lionheart Miracle Morte Neptune Obliterator Octane Osiris Paradox Rainbow Scorpio Seism Serket	3 2 4 3 7 2 1 2 2 4 2 2 6 2 4 7 1 5 1 2 2 5 3 4	4 5 3 2 2 3 2 1 3 6 1 1 2 2 1 3 3 1 4 4 4 5 2 3	8 3 8	1 1 1

      

[Chapuz]

Remember that Shak'Ars stopped being that effective when FGs learned to rewind and mutate BB and GP dolls. The problem wasn't the deck's speed, it was the amount of unwinnable FGs.

[eaglgenes101]

Remember that Shak'Ars stopped being that effective when FGs learned to rewind and mutate BB and GP dolls. The problem wasn't the deck's speed, it was the amount of unwinnable FGs.

SoBe's speed lets there be plenty of room for anti countering (Think: leaving plenty of HP to prevent poison from killing you), so really, the only things that really screw over this deck are intense denial, intense defense bypass, and RT.

[Chapuz]

Remember that Shak'Ars stopped being that effective when FGs learned to rewind and mutate BB and GP dolls. The problem wasn't the deck's speed, it was the amount of unwinnable FGs.

SoBe's speed lets there be plenty of room for anti countering (Think: leaving plenty of HP to prevent poison from killing you), so really, the only things that really screw over this deck are intense denial, intense defense bypass, and RT.

And mutation, and sometimes the fact that AI doesn't cast any creature until it can kill a GPd doll (like fractalling phoenixes, spamming scarabs and fireflies, playing and buffing any creature in general)

[DigitalHero07]

I always loved the Voodoo + Basilisk + Pull combo, but it wasn't working very well with me t-t
I recognized that when you put some sundials the deck works better, but when you put SoBe its amazing!
I have just 2 SoBe and my deck is this right now:

Spoiler for Hidden:

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I am having lots of fun against the halfbloods xD

[eaglgenes101]

Remember that Shak'Ars stopped being that effective when FGs learned to rewind and mutate BB and GP dolls. The problem wasn't the deck's speed, it was the amount of unwinnable FGs.

SoBe's speed lets there be plenty of room for anti countering (Think: leaving plenty of HP to prevent poison from killing you), so really, the only things that really screw over this deck are intense denial, intense defense bypass, and RT.

And mutation, and sometimes the fact that AI doesn't cast any creature until it can kill a GPd doll (like fractalling phoenixes, spamming scarabs and fireflies, playing and buffing any creature in general)

Mutation, leave plenty of HP to absorb, and bait the AI. I haven't seen the AI hold back creatures like you describe. SoBe disrupts fractal and encourages the AI to play something.

[Mathematistic]

SoB means more draw consistency to dolls, which is very important. But... look at the downsides.

1. FG gets more cards. That means damage is more uncontrollable and while you are gathering stuff for the combo, the FG probably has hurt you quite a bit.
2. SoB is not that useful. When you hand gets clogged and you can't get the combo, SoB will make your hand remain cloggy.
3. 6SN is meh now. This makes the win spectrum more narrow, as generally, SN decks are more weak to quanta denial now.

This just even out with precog with its benefits of more cards and as well giving FGs a headstart to bolt you down. Good idea though.
(SoB draw engine... personally never agreed with it)

[umgrego2]

OK, so I've only just begun playing around with this (dont have six SoBes or enough electrum for BB),

Spoiler for Hidden:

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,
and I've got two questions:
1. Is there a block on playing multiple SoBes on the same turn?
2. Do momentum'd creatures bypass the VD?

[Chapuz]

and I've got two questions:
1. Is there a block on playing multiple SoBes on the same turn?
2. Do momentum'd creatures bypass the VD?

1. Both players draw the same amount of cards. If the oponent has 7 cards, then you won't draw any card with a SoB.
2. Yes, momentum bypasses gravity pull.

[umgrego2]

and I've got two questions:
1. Is there a block on playing multiple SoBes on the same turn?
2. Do momentum'd creatures bypass the VD?

1. Both players draw the same amount of cards. If the oponent has 7 cards, then you won't draw any card with a SoB.
2. Yes, momentum bypasses gravity pull.

1. Right; silly me. That makes sense.
2. Interesting. Always thought that the text for that card said "ignores shields" but now I see it "ignores shield effects".

Always learning. Thanks, Chapuz

EDIT: Ok, but here's another question; Gravity Pull says that it "absorbs ALL the damage". How is it determined which card trumps the other? Also, why doesn't Gravity Pull take the damage from a weapon? I have to say that this deck is looking less and less appealing.

EDIT₂: Wait, sanctuary also blocks SoBravery? even less appealing

[Chapuz]

grav pull absorbs all the phisical damage. No spell damage (Psion, SoW) and momentumed.

Sanctuary protects your hand: -Silence, Nightmare and SoB- and your quanta pool.

[Mathematistic]

OK, so I've only just begun playing around with this (dont have six SoBes or enough electrum for BB),

Spoiler for Hidden:

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595 595 595 595 595 595 6s3 6s3 6s3 6s3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6ve 6ve 6ve 6ve 6ve 74d 74d 7q9 7q9 7tg 7tg 80b 80b 80b 8pu

,
and I've got two questions:
1. Is there a block on playing multiple SoBes on the same turn?
2. Do momentum'd creatures bypass the VD?

Wrong upgrade sequence here... BBs are the most important cards to up! Especially when SoBs are around! Doesn't matter though, grind for the rest of them.

Concerning your questions:
Think of it this way; GPull makes your creature a "meat-shield". which is also a shield that blocks damage for you. Momentum bypasses shields, including meat-shields.
You cannot alter your opponent's hand during your opponents turn if sanctuary is in effect. Including forcing them to draw. But... which FG has sanctuary anyways? (Voodoo is not really good vs arena as is instosis, both are nice FG grinders though)

grav pull absorbs all the phisical damage. No spell damage (Psion, SoW) and momentumed.

Sanctuary protects your hand: -Silence, Nightmare and SoB- and your quanta pool.

*Takes out ninja-cide spray*