If It Ain't Broke... [Fun] [HB] [mostly upped]

[brian_james]

Hello,

I've been playing Elements for quite a while and developed a few deck ideas that I have worked on, but never really gotten involved in the "community" per se, but lately I've been more interested in deck building & deck design so I thought I would pop in and get your input on the deck that I've been using lately. 

It has a fairly good win ratio and lots of good card synergy.  I've been using it to farm HBs for electrum, and I almost never lose those battles, but it also fares well in the arena.  At worst, games will run a little long and you can get a few frustrating draws, but it has the ability to completely lock down the opponent.  It hinges on speedy quanta generation of Supernova, fast card generation with Shard of Serendipity and permanent/creature control by way of creature abilities, compliments of the Druids.

It's also extremely fun because of the element of uncertainty, but it operates on the sheer quantity of randomness to create good results.

I haven't seen a deck like this here, but again, I'm fairly new so I haven't really been looking too hard.  Apologies if I'm stepping on any toes.

The title comes from a phrase I constantly repeat to myself when contemplating whether to "improve" a creature I have already "improved."

"If It Ain't Broke..."

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Deck import code : [Select]

5bv 5bv 5bv 5de 5de 5de 5de 5de 5ia 5oj 5up 5up 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u6 6u6 6u6 6u7 6u7 6uq 6uq 6uq 6uq 715 77f 7ak 7q5 80h 80h 8pj

General strategy:  You want to get your Druids out and put Quintessence on them, get lots of Green quanta from your Rustlers, use your Shards for creatures/cc/pc based on what you get out of them, use shields & antimatter to buy yourself time, and ultimately overwhelm the opponent with an enormous army.  In a way, the shards give you access to the full catalogue of entropy spells, and most of them work very well with this deck.

Card Synergies

Supernova / Druid:  You will want to use these pretty early on if you can, obviously, to start casting your shield, pulvy, etc.  Important to note that if you use two of these and create a singularity, you can use the singularity as mutation fodder for your druids, effectively using the supernova nerf to your advantage.

Quintessence / Antimatter / Druid:  Between the Shards and the two in the deck, you will usually have at least one Antimatter per game.  Occasionally you will be using "improve" offensively, and while this can be risky, the risk is mitigated considerably if you can follow it up with an Antimatter, as well as a Quintessence.  Turning a Gargoyle into a 14/10 Light dragon with momentum is a bummer, but a -14/10 immaterial light dragon can be your best bud.  This however uses a lot of cards so it's generally not suggested.

Firefly Queen / Rustler / Druid:  The holy trinity of this deck.  If you get these guys out all at once it can be a lot of fun.  Consider using a second Quintessence on your Firefly Queen if you can.

Rustler / Jade Shield / Supernova:  You can usually play your Jade Shield rather quickly, because Rustler means you theoretically get 4 green quanta per Supernova.  It's a great shield in this deck because it can't be destroyed, buys you a lot of time, and most importantly it can do wonders against those pesky Aether zapping guys (forget what they're called).

Shard of Serendipity / Supernova:  Shards will normally give you either cheap creatures, cheap CC/PC, or very large creatures that you might never get a chance to use.  Thankfully you will always get one upped Entropy card, and they all work very well with this deck.  Butterfly Effect can be used either as PC or as a somewhat expensive Lobotomy.  Pandemonium is a blast for CC and will usually give you a few extra copies of your enemies' cards for your Druids to play with.  Dissipation Field takes a lot of the edge off while you build your army, and if you play it after you have enough guys to kill the enemy in a few turns, there's no stopping you.

In general, the longer the game goes on, the more likely you are to win. 

Weaknesses

Untargetable creatures:  Skull Shield played somewhat early will give you a chance if you're lucky, but in general these present a problem.

Fire Shield / Thorn Carapace:  This is why we have two Steals in the deck.  You can also luck out with a Butterfly Effect or Pulvy rather early to take care of it, but try to keep them away from your Druids.

Feedback and suggestions would be most appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

[Chapuz]

Welcome to the forums!
As for the general idea, I don't think many people grind HB for electrum if they have many upgraded cards because FGs give 100% upgraded cards.

I like the deck, seems fun to play it as every SoSe based deck. Jade shield seems useless there though, Mirror shield may do the same effect and it's extremely cheaper. So, you can remove all those  pillars, change the shield and maybe include a Miracle.

[brian_james]

Welcome to the forums!
As for the general idea, I don't think many people grind HB for electrum if they have many upgraded cards because FGs give 100% upgraded cards.

I like the deck, seems fun to play it as every SoSe based deck. Jade shield seems useless there though, Mirror shield may do the same effect and it's extremely cheaper. So, you can remove all those  pillars, change the shield and maybe include a Miracle.

Thank you for the reply!  I've found grinding HBs a lot less frustrating & less complicated because you don't have to be choosy about who you fight, but that might just be my own inexperience showing. 

I have tried using Mirror Shield, actually, but found that between the Queen and Druids I still need more green quanta than my towers & supernovas can generate.  I may try your suggestion though and swap out the pendulums for a combination of Entropy pillars & other cards.  But the way I have it now is the culmination of a lot of experimenting and so far it's the most effective build I could come up with.

I just wish I could get rid of the Steals because they don't really fit the overall flavour of the deck.

[mwaetht]

Looks fun, but which arena level are you using this at? It feels like you'll get slaughtered at anything above Bronze, honestly, because of the low amounts of stall.

I agree with the idea of taking out the Jade Shield. I'm not sure you need a Mirror Shield either, however; the deck has low chance against Monoaether anyways and it doesn't help much against anything else. Also, awkward PC-prone Skull Buckler.

Have you tried Shard of Focus over Pulverizer? It's much cheaper and having Pulvy stolen can really ruin your fun.

Have you considered Shard of Patience? It's a cheap win condition if your draws give no Druids, since SoSe (as you note) gives lots of cheap creatures.