DeathKnyte's Dark Platinum Decks

[DeathKnyte]

Hiya,

This will be the repository for my deck attempts in the Platinum arena.

For a background history on my deck concepts, see here: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/gold-league-decks/deathknyte%27s-dark-gold-decks/

I feel like I'm getting a better idea on constructing arena decks as I gain experience, and I still very much enjoy playing against them.

[DeathKnyte]

Level 62 Health Points 192/200 Max Upgraded 20 Oracle Upgraded 3 Mark Multiplier 2X Card(s) per Turn 2X Deck Size 2X

Win:Loss 18:3 Electrum Earned 312 Rank 126 Rating 37 Age (days) 3 Thumbs Up? 8 Thumbs Down? 10

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809 809 809 61p 61p 5i4 5i4 5j2 5j2 5jm 5jm 5oc 5oc 5pu 5v2 5v2 5v2 5v2 7hi 7hi 7mt 7mt 7mt 7mt 7mt 7mu 7mu 7mu 7mu 7mu 7nq 7nq 7nq 7nq 7t9 8pt

Since I still refuse to make anything aether with dimensional shields, immortals, phase dragons, etc., I had to think hard on how I could make the spark card somehow effective.

I figured that maybe if it were augmented by a shard of patience, it would surprise some people. I didn't like how my normal dark creatures were being augmented though, while testing it, so decided to forgo devourers and vampires entirely (black dragons are a waste with SoP, in my opinion).

I did some testing for the community with mono air not long ago, so since those creatures were upped, I threw them in, instead. That was working better, and with shards of freedom, well that made the offense very effective.

I wanted to keep the deck small and tight, since there was a combo of several cards involved, therefore - just enough room for a little defense.  Cloaks are great for that, because they protect my permanents, as well as my deployed creatures, as long as no AoE cards are played (and I don't know many people grinding platinum with those types). I put in one steal, just to keep everyone encountering my deck honest, of course. 

Not bad, all in all, for it's performance. On day 2, it had broken the top 50, but with a 3rd loss shortly after, it couldn't stay there, nor have hope of increasing rank.

[DeathKnyte]

Level 63 Health Points 198/200 Max Upgraded 30 Oracle Upgraded 4 Mark Multiplier 1X Card(s) per Turn 2X Deck Size 2X

Win:Loss 6:3 Electrum Earned 96 Rank 395 Rating -72 Age (days) 1 Thumbs Up? 2 Thumbs Down? 4

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74a 74a 74a 74a 55q 568 5uu 5uu 5uu 5uu 5v0 5v0 5v0 5v0 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t8 7t8 7t9 7t9 7t9 7t9 7ta 7ta 7ta 7tb 7tb 7tc 7te 7tg 7um 7um 7um 7um 8pl

Well, I didn't want to go the SoFo / black hole route, so had to figure something that went with darkness.
I know that the AI would use momentum on devourers, and I didn't want that, of course - so they were out.
Then it came to me that we don't see any voodoo dolls in platinum.

The idea was to not do too much damage, to foil against poisondials decks, but at the same time be big enough so that an otyugh couldn't eat my creatures, to foil swallow decks. Throw in a little liquid shadow to heal me too, and voila!, my master piece.
The amber nymph was put in, as I found I had a lot of left over gravity quanta in the testing phase.

I'm somewhat disappointed that people voted it down. What does it take to get positive votes for something as creative as this?
I suppose that, those who lost were not pleased that it was to little voodoo dolls, in platinum arena (?).

Any ways, I'll try something else, as three losses means it won't have a chance to increase in rank...

[DeathKnyte]

Level 63 Health Points 198/200 Max Upgraded 20 Oracle Upgraded 3 Mark Multiplier 2X Card(s) per Turn 2X Deck Size 2X

Win:Loss 0:3 Electrum Earned 0 Rank 597 Rating -120 Age (days) 1 Thumbs Up? 0 Thumbs Down? 0

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7ai 7ai 7ai 5c2 5c2 5bt 5c4 5c6 5c6 5c6 5c6 5um 5um 5um 5um 5um 5um 5up 5up 5uq 5uq 606 606 606 7tb 7td 7td 7td 7td 7td 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 8pn

Surprisingly to me, this flopped horribly (?!).
In testing it was a beast. I figured with all the creatures plus the empathic bonds, coupled with healing, this was invincible.
I have no idea how it failed so badly.
I should have left the voodoo dolls (post above) another day, I suppose - lol

[DeathKnyte]

Level 63 Health Points 181/185 Max Upgraded 30 Oracle Upgraded 4 Mark Multiplier 2X Card(s) per Turn 2X Deck Size 2X

Win:Loss 7:3 Electrum Earned 108 Rank 418 Rating -66 Age (days) 2 Thumbs Up? 2 Thumbs Down? 5

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7ah 7ah 7ah 7ah 5c1 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 560 5de 5fu 5i4 5rk 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6u2 6u2 712 77j 7dm 7gq 7gq 7k6 7nq 7nq 7nq 7t4 7t8 7t9 7t9 7tb 7ti 7ti 7ti 80k 8pt

Another new card that I'm not that familiar with. However I have often seen forest spirits in rainbow decks, so I tried my hand at creating my first dark bow.

While constructing it, I added some of this, then some of that, and next thing I knew I was at 60 cards and had not used any quanta sources yet!  lol

Okay, back to the drawing board, and reduced things quite a bit. But I did try to include something from each element. Originally the air element had shock wave, but in testing the deck, it stole one of my SoFree's and I saw that forest spirits were effected by it. Surprise, surprise, you learn something new each day.

The deck lost its first game, won the next 7, and then lost 2, at which point I retired it.

[DeathKnyte]

Level 64 Health Points 182/190 Max Upgraded 30 Oracle Upgraded 4 Mark Multiplier 2X Card(s) per Turn 2X Deck Size 2X

Win:Loss 14:3 Electrum Earned 216 Rank 299 Rating -12 Age (days) 3 Thumbs Up? 4 Thumbs Down? 10

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7gn 7gn 7gn 7gn 5i7 5ia 5ia 5up 5up 7gp 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t6 7t6 7t6 7t6 7t6 7t6 7ta 7tb 7td 7td 7td 7td 7td 7td 7ti 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 8pp

A different type (and I thought more effective form) of creature control compared to Drain/Siphon Life.

It performed okay, and I would have left it in longer, but I'm going to try a new card from the Oracle...

[DeathKnyte]

Level 64 Health Points 126/190 Max Upgraded 30 Oracle Upgraded 4 Mark Multiplier 2X Card(s) per Turn 2X Deck Size 2X

Win:Loss 17:6 Electrum Earned 300 Rank 406 Rating -80 Age (days) 6 Thumbs Up? 8 Thumbs Down? 9

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7gu 7gu 7gu 7gu 5ie 5i4 5i5 5i5 5if 5ih 5jm 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 7gp 7gq 7gq 7gr 7gr 7h1 7hi 7hi 7t9 7tb 7tc 7ti 7ti 7ti 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 80k 8pp

Another adequate deck concerning win/loss ratios, but I suppose I didn't get the correct mix of cards for a top contender.

Silence was the "surprise" card, and perhaps cloak and inundation also caught some people unawares, as well.

The deck stayed an extra day than I had anticipated, as I was unable to log into the game for the yesterday.

[DeathKnyte]

Level 64 Health Points 126/190 Max Upgraded 30 Oracle Upgraded 4 Mark Multiplier 2X Card(s) per Turn 2X Deck Size 2X

Win:Loss 33:5 Electrum Earned 576 Rank 20 Rating 135 Age (days) 6 Thumbs Up? 15 Thumbs Down? 18

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7t6 7t6 7t6 7t6 5um 5vi 5vi 5vi 5vi 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t6 7t8 7t9 7t9 7t9 7tb 7tc 7tc 7tc 7td 7td 7td 7td 7th 7ti 7ti 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 8pt

Received a good card (devourer) from the oracle, and attempted to insert some shards of void into a mono dark deck.

I thought this deck may have a good chance in reaching the top ranks, as playing against it was very difficult, no matter which deck I used against it.

I was excited after the first day, as it went 11-0, but on the second day it received just one play bringing it to 12-0. The third day it ended as 16-0 and I saw it in 24th place on the rankings. The fourth day it ended at 19-2, dropping in rank somewhat, but I decided to let it ride as other decks weren't pulling ahead of mine significantly. Yesterday, the fifth day, it was at 25-4, but the oracle card was atrocious, so it had to tough it out.  Today, the sixth day it's holding at 33-5, but with health now dwindling, I'm going to pull it.

I find it challenging, in trying to fit SoV's into a deck that can succeed...

[DeathKnyte]

Level 66 Health Points 72/200 Max Upgraded 30 Oracle Upgraded 4 Mark Multiplier 2X Card(s) per Turn 2X Deck Size 2X

Win:Loss 34:5 Electrum Earned 672 Rank 18 Rating 146 Age (days) 7 Thumbs Up? 22 Thumbs Down? 12

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6u1 6u1 6u1 6u1 4vh 4vo 5up 5up 5up 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t4 7t6 7t6 7t6 7t6 7t6 7t6 7t8 7tb 7tc 7tc 7tc 7tc 7ti 7ti 7ti 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 8pj

This was a strong deck, I was able to defeat it just once, with a specific counter deck I created, in testing.

Got to rank 6 on the 3rd day and held it to yesterday, where a couple of losses dropped it to 18th. I now see that the reason it did not go higher, was due to a lack of plays compared to the higher ranked decks.

On the opening screen, people would see the lycanthrope with the entropy mark, so would likely expect some kind of entropy centered deck. However, the game would develop very differently, as the lycanthropes are actually the damage dealers in a classic darkness deck.

The surprise card here, was butterfly effect, which the computer liked casting on devourers. 

[DeathKnyte]

Level 67 Health Points 198/200 Max Upgraded 30 Oracle Upgraded 4 Mark Multiplier 2X Card(s) per Turn 2X Deck Size 2X

Win:Loss 3:4 Electrum Earned 48 Rank 756 Rating -132 Age (days) 1 Thumbs Up? 1 Thumbs Down? 2

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7n8 7n8 7n8 7n8 5oo 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 52p 592 592 592 592 592 594 594 5c2 5c2 5c2 5ia 5ia 5ia 5ia 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 77f 77f 77j 7dm 7dm 7dm 7k2 7k6 7km 7km 7km 7t9 7t9 7u2 7u2 7u2 7u2 7u2 7u2 80k 8pt

Another attempt at trying to get the shard of void to do something - a quick and obvious fail here.

I should have tinkered more with it, as I defeated it with rush decks while testing, but somehow hopped plays against it would be with pdials sosac...

[DeathKnyte]

Level 67 Health Points 198/200 Max Upgraded 30 Oracle Upgraded 4 Mark Multiplier 2X Card(s) per Turn 2X Deck Size 2X

Win:Loss 2:3 Electrum Earned 24 Rank 553 Rating -106 Age (days) 1 Thumbs Up? 0 Thumbs Down? 2

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7h2 7h2 7h2 7h2 5ii 4sa 4sa 4vj 4vj 4vj 4vj 4vj 5c2 5i4 5i4 5i4 5i4 5ih 5jm 5jm 5uk 5v1 5v1 5v1 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6u2 6u2 719 74f 77j 7gp 7gq 7gq 7gq 7hi 7k6 7n6 7qu 7qu 7t4 7t9 7tb 7ti 7ti 80k 8po

Yeah, I know from experience that steam machines aren't the best, but with my recent failures, I have to go with what the Oracle thinks is good.


Any who, another recent failed deck attempt (this is starting to make me feel apprehensive).

[DeathKnyte]

Level 67 Health Points 184/200 Max Upgraded 30 Oracle Upgraded 4 Mark Multiplier 2X Card(s) per Turn 2X Deck Size 2X

Win:Loss 15:7 Electrum Earned 264 Rank 750 Rating -126 Age (days) 4 Thumbs Up? 7 Thumbs Down? 8

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80h 80h 80h 80h 621 62m 62m 62m 62m 7t6 7t6 7t6 7t6 7t6 7t6 7t8 7t9 7ta 7tb 7tc 7tc 7ti 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 7um 80h 816 816 8pu

You know I loathe aether, but I needed to make a new arena deck, and the Oracle's card was not dimensional shields, psion, immortal, or phase dragon. So in accordance with my philosophy, it was acceptable to use this card. Now then, was how to make it work within a dark framework.

After a little thought, I remember how I used the butterfly effect card, in a previous deck on devourers, so thought that maybe I could make a surprise type of deck with quintessence here.

And man, was this deck ever a riot to play against! I laughed so much every time I tested it, and subsequently played against. Other players must have been shocked when the pests were quinted, and then the SoW would come out. If the eclipse card would come later, the pests would have 6 attack. 

If anything, I'm disappointed in the amount of plays it received...