Toadfish Series [Unupgraded][PvP1][few-rares]

[UndeadSpider1990]

Hail unto thee, ye mightye creature!
Who art so mightye
So graceful
So... weirdly happy-looking
So...

Discontinued?!?
D:

Ohhhhh... We wept long and such bitter tears at the parting of our dearest friend. There were nights I sat alone, in the darkness, praying to God. What was God's name again? Oh right, Zanz. I prayed and prayed but Zanz would not grant me the miracle I wanted. How I long to see my sweet Toadfish just one more time. I would donate a hundred times. I'd even give up my special Chimera - who means nothing compared to... It's just too hard to speak of!

How sweet and happy you once were, in your youth and innocence. Before the cruelty of underuse turned your smile wicked and... hey - kind of badass!

And then I thought hey, maybe I could live with this after all

~~~~~~~~~ On Topic ~~~~~~~~~

In honour of the old picture of the Toadfish, which to me was still only yesterday, I once built a deck. I thought to myself how do you make use of his slow but enormous reserves of CC without dying in the process, and I ended up with a deck that milks a whole bunch of possible combos - possibly too many at once. Here is how the Toadfish Series began...

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

5i7 5i7 5i7 5i7 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5og 5og 5on 5on 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5up 5ur 5ur 5v0 5v0 606 606 606 606 606 8pp

I won't say much about this, you can see the original post here. Freeze and Inflate work well, Inflate and Voodoo Doll can be nice too; Freeze and Shockwave can take out any creature, and the Doll-Freeze-Shockwave combo can even take out a Protected weapon. Meanwhile Fog Shield and Vampire Stiletto keep your health well enough - and with any luck you can play them both on the 2nd turn.

When it turned out this unlikely trio was actually quite competative, I got the idea to switch out the 3rd leg (that's ) and see what else we could do.

So without further ado, I give you...

The Toadie Brothers!!

Please comment and enjoy
All decks are , , plus a healthy dose of the following.

About the Core Deck

Spoiler for Comments on the deck's base:

When I built the below decks I started out with a simple model: 5 Toadfish, 2 Ice Bolts; 2 Fog Shields, 2 Shockwaves, and 7 Air Pendulums with a Mark of Water. As you'll be able to see I chopped and changed that quite a bit, but that's the ideological heart of this series.

Ice Bolts are often preferable to Freeze because as a deck there's no PC. With Ice Bolt there's a chance to Freeze the opponent's weapon, and with Shockwave you can even destroy it. Fog Shields are just so awesome for their cost that I've put 2 in almost every deck.

Most of the following builds share the same weaknesses. Because they are based on Toadfish, they can be vulnerable to decks packing a lot of CC spells. Creature-based CC, like Maxwell's Demon or another Toadfish, aren't such a problem as you're usually packing an Ice Bolt to take them out, or Freeze to hold them off until you put some poison on them*. It also struggles to rack up the damage when opponents play a strong defence. Some solutions to this are offered in Life, Fire, and Aether especially.
*Toadfish are also venemous if devoured (unless they're running Sushi Chef Otys!).

All of these decks have been trialled and tested against AI3 but so far not in PvP1. They are all capable AI3 grinders, though naturally some are stronger than others.

Thanks for taking an interest. Please feel free to try them out!

Spoiler for Entropy:

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

4vc 4vc 4vc 4vg 4vg 4vl 4vl 50u 50u 50u 50u 50u 50u 5i7 5i7 5i7 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5og 5og 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 8pp

Spoiler for Comments:

After trying a few builds using Maxwell's Demons, I decided he's just too expensive and too weak to make the cut. With total 4 shields and a decent amount of CC, the Entropy build has good lasting power against a rush deck, but it has the theme's inherant weakness to decks packing lots of CC.

Spoiler for Death:

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

52j 52j 52j 52q 52q 542 542 542 542 542 542 5i8 5i8 5i8 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5oo 5oo 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 8pp

Spoiler for Comments:

The Death build packs slightly more of a punch than the base form because it has +1 Toadfish, 3 Spiders and 2 Arsenics. You'll feel the trade-off in defence, as the cheap Fog Shield has been replaced with a pair of Wings to compliment the combo with the Spiders. With only 3 spiders this can be hard to pull off, but whatever CC the opponent has is usually pointed at the Toadfish.

Spoiler for Gravity:

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

55m 55m 55m 561 561 576 576 576 576 576 576 576 576 576 5i7 5i7 5i7 5ib 5ib 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 8pp

Spoiler for Comments:

Gravity was one of the most interesting and challenging to make. In the end, I removed the Fog Shields because of the asynergy they had with Armagio. Armagio serves two functions: the first being obviously to take hits, and the second to show the fish what flight looks like via catapult. You probably won't launch more than one in a game, so it'll be probably be the end soon after - win or lose. The good thing is that with Freeze you can increase his catapult damage by 20%, and if you have the time you can even chuck a bit of poison on him too. Squids were added for extra freeze-stall, but their heavy QI means there's no room for a sixth Toadfish - so a lot of your damage is riding on that Armagio.

Spoiler for Earth:

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

58t 58t 596 596 596 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5aa 5i8 5i8 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5og 5og 5on 5on 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 8pp

Spoiler for Comments:

Contrary to QI, the amount of Earth Quanta in this build is actually good. Nobody likes using CC spells on an annoying little Guardian, so he gets to use his ability many times. Thanks to Plate Armor your Toadies' survivability graduates to the level of FFQ, which in a deck with only 6 hitters is 100% worthwhile. The downside, then, is just that. You have CC and stall gallore but you're going to struggle awfully if the opponent's deck is more permanent based. Firestall will put. you. down.

Spoiler for Life:

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

5c1 5c1 5c1 5c5 5c5 5de 5de 5de 5de 5de 5de 5de 5i7 5i7 5i7 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5og 5og 5on 5on 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 8pp

Spoiler for Comments:

This deck is close to home for me, as I first made an upped Puffer-Life deck ages ago. When you're able to grow your Spirits they add a lot of very helpful offense, and Life also offers the healing powers of its Druidic Staff. Freeze/Ice Bolt could be interchangeable, but I went for freeze because in the early stages you may only have 1 or two water quanta available - and you want to give it to your Spirits as soon as possible. This is one of the stronger builds.

Spoiler for Fire:

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

5f6 5f6 5f6 5gi 5gi 5gi 5gi 5gi 5gi 5gi 5i7 5i7 5i7 5i7 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ii 5ii 5og 5og 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 8pp

Spoiler for Comments:

Steam Machines and 3 Deflagrations make offensive worries a thing of the past. With the right starting hand, you could even have your opponent thinking you're playing a steam machine deck! That would not be the right hand though, as you want Fog out as soon as possible. Definitely one of the stronger builds.

Spoiler for Water:

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

5i8 5i8 5i8 5i8 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ig 5ig 5jm 5jm 5jm 5jm 5jm 5jm 5jm 5jm 5og 5og 5on 5on 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 8pp

Spoiler for Comments:

Do you like flashy lights and things that look pretty but don't do anything? Then this is the build for you! The 'Water' build takes the initial soup and pours in the hot water. Fish too spongey and not enough heat? Have a Nymph! Now make more Nymphs! Feel free to turn your Air Pendulums into 6/5 ladies, just don't use their abilities. Just sit them there looking pretty, and watch them shine! (Seriously though, "Water and Wind" - does it sound like a fire starting to you?)

Spoiler for Light:

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

5i7 5i7 5i7 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5lf 5lf 5lf 5lh 5mq 5mq 5mq 5mq 5mq 5mq 5mq 5mq 5mq 5og 5og 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 8pp

Spoiler for Comments:

Light is remarkably a great element for solving many of the weaknesses of the core deck - and for creating new ones. The problem with this deck is it's so padded out with Light cards (in order to increase the chance of a 2nd turn blessing, so your Toads aren't zapped straight away) it loses a lot of stall power. Previously I ran Miracle instead of the Morning Star, but it's just too expensive unupgraded - the game is often over before you're able to play it. The advtanges Light creates is a much needed buff to offence and, more importantly, creature survivability. I've honestly never been so happy to put Blessings in a deck!

Spoiler for Air:

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

5id 5id 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5og 5og 5ol 5ol 5on 5on 5on 5on 5on 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 8pp

Spoiler for Comments:

With almost excessive abundance of damaging CC, the Air build is quite unique to the others. Rather than Freezing a victim to let the poison do it's work, Inflate is often sidekick to the bigger damages. If you can't get'em with one Shock, the poison will finish them off. It's also a lot rushier than other builds, thanks to being a duo. Using Air Pendulums 100% also helps for reliable draws. It's a nice deck but with one very old-fashioned flaw - Mono Aether will put you down laughing.

Spoiler for Time:

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

5i7 5i7 5i7 5id 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5of 5og 5og 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5rr 5rr 5rr 5rr 5t2 5t2 5t2 5t2 5t2 8pp

Spoiler for Comments:

Certainly the most difficult to build. Not the best, but not awful. After trying innumerable different approaches (well, about 3 or 4, including a 40-card variant) I decided it was best to use purely Precognition as a way of accelerating the game. Acceleration in this sense is very different to the other decks, which try to slow it down so the poison can be more effective. Unfortunately, this does not achieve that as well as some of the other builds.

Spoiler for Dark:

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

5i7 5i7 5i7 5i7 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5og 5og 5on 5on 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5up 5ur 5ur 5v0 5v0 606 606 606 606 606 8pp

Spoiler for Comments:

Variants could include Ice Dragons or Voodoo Dolls, both of which could constitute greater attack force. You could also change Freeze for Ice Bolts. With Ice Bolt you can do damage to the opponent if you use it to freeze your dolls, but the advantage of Dolls is that, if you want to, you can guarantee to freeze their weapon.

Spoiler for Aether:

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

5i8 5i8 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5if 5if 5og 5og 5on 5on 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 5pu 622 622 63a 63a 63a 63a 63a 63a 63a 63a 8pp

Spoiler for Comments:

Maybe the Aether build is the scariest, and it earns cool points with me because it's the one where you get to see Toadie the most. Half the deck is Pendulums. Hold off your enemy until you've gotten enough Aether, by which time you should have an abundance of Water. Mind Flayer is also useful as he'll make your opponent's creatures behave while you put the hurt on them. Alternative forms could include -1 Toad, +many Freezes, + Lightning.

Spoiler for Rainbow:

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 5c1 5f6 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i8 5i8 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5if 5lf 5og 5og 5on 5on 5ur 8pr

Spoiler for Comments:

Combining the best of the above, the Rainbow build is the only one to take the Mark of Air. The quanta usually works out nicely, but as you're partially relying on Quantum Pillars to provide water it can occasionally keep you waiting. Otherwise this 'Frankenstein' is one of the strongest.

[whatifidogetcaught?]

I always thought that art was atrocious... A toadfish with legs?

Anywho, those are some nice decks, inspired by an obsession with that card. I like it! I feel some decks seem a little of out place, like the Earth (where is the Trident?), and the Time (though there aren't any real combos anyway). Regardless, I find each deck to be a good and viable combo. Good work!

[Reach229]

Interesting ideas, though a few are a bit random. Clearly this has been a labour of love and not an intent to win games 
I once created this deck for silver league in the arena, and for some reason I still cannot figure out it hit number one. I called it Nemesis, because I couldn't figure it out!

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

5i4 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i8 5i8 5i8 5id 5id 5id 5id 5id 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5ie 5jm 5jm 5jm 5jm 5jm 5on 5on 5on 8pr

It is a lot less complicated than your versions, just a nice balance between spells and creatures with a lot of quanta to get it out fast, no shields wasting space on defense (but then I did have 195 life at the time...) I get most of my wind quanta from the mark, which I think is important since I need less of that, so it would otherwise be unreliable. And I have an equal amount of icebolts to shocks, important if you want to blow up that pesky vamp blade.

I still enjoy playing this deck, and I might play around with a few of yours too, they look amusing enough.

I tried the earth version, not too shabby, I swapped the plate armor for tridents and they were fairly effective, though I'd have to add more earth quanta if I really wanted it to come good. But all in all really good!