The Devonian Way

[johannhowitzer]

The Arctic Way in action:



Poor guy, he didn't realize he had the win in hand.  Mindgate can counter this deck by drawing Sundials and chaining a couple just before the Arctic deck decks out.  But he didn't play those Sundials at all, so I won.

[Malignant]

Well, your Arctic Dragon OTK is better than my here (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,29537.0.html), except mine sacrifice the healing from LS for more damage. Nice work .

[johannhowitzer]

((8+(6x2)+1)x2)x3=126 for your deck, and
((13+5+1)x2)x3=114 for mine.

Your deck has two advantages: it can OTK someone who has used one SoD, and the dragons are resilient enough to last more than one turn.  My deck was able to produce EM because Arctic Dragon's +5 attack allowed me to cut one card from my 100-damage combo... you need a second Rage Elixir to duplicate it with Massives.

The only dragons that will allow the inclusion of LS in the seven-card combo and still grant 100+ damage in one turn are those with at least 11 attack and 5 health, or at least 10 attack and 6 health.  Ivory, Jade, Golden, Sky, Obsidian, and Basalt Dragons can also pull it off, though Ivory runs closer to the 100-damage minimum, and the rest cost an extra quantum.  Light Dragon cannot be fueled on Supernovas alone, and Amethyst Dragon clashes with Supernovas, though the mark may solve that over a slightly long game.

Jade Dragon is actually a VERY viable alternative if you don't mind the extra quantum of cost, which would in some situations prevent you getting out the combo in time to kill a fast opponent - that is, before your final Supernova.  It has excellent stats, and allows the use of Rage Elixir - you can get the same attack and end up with three dragons with 4 HP instead of only 1 HP.  That means you can get a 2TK if needed, or even produce the combo early in order to salvage a losing game.

Thinking out loud here, and I think I've convinced myself.  Switching to Jade Dragon!

[johannhowitzer]

I've become really good at playing the upped version against Fire decks, as 80% of the opponents I've faced have run some sort of immorush.  It's not hopeless, but if you're up against someone smart it's probably 50/50 and you better hope you draw that Dragon so you can get part of your combo out.  Most of the time you want to neglect the Rage Elixir, and if you only get one TU or don't draw your Unstoppable it's fine.  Just need one TU, the Dragon, and the LS.  It's enough to bury them, and at 9 HP (8 after poison) most immorushes can't take down a couple Jade Dragons.

One guy in particular named Fireballer has been in my hair a bit, it's hit or miss against him.  He plays smart, but if I get a good draw, there's not much he can do.  Sundials pass through my hand quicker than enemy Explosions, so even if I have to double up a turn to be sure he doesn't get through, I can still stall him some.  One game he slowed his setup down a lot and tried to wait me out in exchange for keeping the creatures he would normally Cremate.  Bad idea.

[TribalTrouble]

I played the unupped version of this deck in PvP1 just now and had the most hilarious game ever. My opponent was using fireflies and said "I HOPE you have a creature that can get past a 20 damage shield(FFQ deck)" I responded with "I HOPE you can get your shield up to 15 or so, otherwise you die"
"Maybe, or maybe You'll run out of cards first" "Or you'll lose all your life first"
Me: "Have fun trying to defend against 3 dragons with over 30 attack"
Him: "My Hope will still block it all"
Me:"Just need 2 more cards"
Him:"Have Fun losing"
Me: "TOO LATE GG!!!"-> plays combo-> Opponent says "Lol? I still have 100 hp... o ****" -> I complete the combo at the last second with 1 sundile in hand and 6 cards in deck. Hope is at 10. GG. I love this already lol :3

edit: I just lost 2 games after this because I faced immo rushes where I didn't have enough quantum to play my cards and 1 deflag slowed it down a lot too. What do you do if your pendulums end up at the bottom? Cry?  ???

[johannhowitzer]

Yep, you cry.  But I haven't found a way around it.  The unupped runs very tight on quanta, relying on the fact that your combo will happen near your last turn.

[EowynRoh13]

Very interesting and well-crafted upped deck! I am still really enjoying playing the Devonian Way. So I want to work on a way to upgrade it close to the way it is right now. Maybe that will mean not upgrading some cards. And that's ok. One thing this deck definitely has for it, it's so much fun!

[johannhowitzer]

Here's the upped deck with minimum upgrades - you can leave the unupped cards here alone without damaging the stability of the deck:

by johannhowitzer

Hover over cards for details, click for permalink

Deck import code : [Select]

4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 4sa 55q 5fb 5op 5rp 5rp 5rp 5rp 5rp 5rp 5uu 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 7ad 7qb 7qb 7qb 7qb 7qb 7qb 80b 80b 8pj

That's only 15 upgrades.  Novas are great cards to upgrade, as Supernovas fit into a TON of deck concepts; in fact for a starting player that's the first card I'd upgrade.  Sundials are kept unupped because the deck DOES produce at least 12 , and while Precogs will probably be played at the start, Sundials are generally played later.  Also, unupped Sundials may not be playable on turn one, but the mulligan will increase your chances of getting opening Quantum Pillars, and even if you have to discard, you can easily lose a Precog without much pain.  The Dragon and TUs are important upgrades, as that cuts Aether usage by 2, and the Dragon upgrade accounts for 12 damage.  You only lose 6 damage by leaving the Rage Potion unupped, and you get 1 extra Dragon HP after the combo as a trade-off - meaning the Dragons will be able to survive a Firestorm the turn after they're played.  Momentum, LS, and Sky Blitz are not important to upgrade, you get no additional damage and they sit well under the 12-quantum threshold of the Supernovas.

Beyond this, the next upgrades would be the Quantum Pillars followed by the Sundials, then maybe Sky Blitz as it's the highest-cost of the remaining cards.

A note about moving from the Devonian Way to the Way of Jade directly: the only cards that change are the pendulums, the dragon element, and one Momentum is swapped for LS.  So first make sure you have five Quantum Pillars and a LS, then your first step should be to upgrade the Supernovas (replenish your Nova count as you go) or get a Jade Dragon.  Then work on the Precogs and finally the TUs.

[TribalTrouble]

Ever since PvP1 was fixed I decided to test out whether this still works. (My way of having fun, testing old PvP decks to see if they still work!) This just destroyed a Wyrm/Damselfly/SoFre/CP rush but if I had gotten more than my 1 break in between chained Sundials I would've been dead.

 My Modification to the fully upped version is -1 LS +1 SoBravery for more drawing since LS doesn't heal anymore. This shard greatly improved the speed of it. The quanta cost was nothing to worry about since it usually just took away excess quanta and/or gave back the quanta it took through QT or SN drawn. I'm considering making it 31 cards by adding another SoB.

Oh, and I also tested the unupped version out in PvP1 but it was there where I faced NoobsAndProsAlikeWithSoFos D: and I got destroyed.

Note: Upped version can make for a fun Ai3 farmer. :3

[TribalTrouble]

This is still working with the new update! It is a fun way when upgraded to beat SoI rushes, I just beat a few and won a few shards in the process