Basic Stall Theory & Deckbuilding
Stall decks are a cornerstone of the PvP metagame, and in this guide, we will be detailing what constitutes of a good stall, and what their general idea/purpose is to have the upper hand on their opponent.
The Theory Behind a StallThe whole gameplan for most stalls in the game is to focus on one of three things, in the short term. These things are:
- Removing sources of damage (found in stalls that have Elements with heavy amounts of CC such as Fire, Water, or Air)
- Outhealing the enemy's sources of damage (found in stalls that have Elements with large amounts of healing such as Light, and Life)
- Avoiding the damage entirely (found in stalls that have Elements that can negate damage (found in stalls that have Elements that feature damage reduction/avoidance, such as Earth, and Aether)
However, looking at things in the short term will not suffice, as Stalls still need a way to win the game, which we will detail in the next section.
How Does a Stall Win?All decks in the game have a win-con, or a condition by which they aim to win. For rushes, this is pure damage and dropping their opponents HP to 0. For stalls, these wincons may vary. A few different types of ways for a stall to win are as follows:
- OTK (One Turn Kill). This is an act by which the stall accrues quanta/the appropriate cards for them to unleash a certain amount of damage, to be able to defeat their opponent before they can react to it, due to the damage being dealt in one turn. This tactic is most prominently known in a deck dubbed "Firestall", a Fire/Light (with occasional Time for Sundials) stall deck with mass amounts of CC from Fire, heavy healing from Light, and the ability to OTK with Fire Bolt/Lance once enough Fire quanta has been gathered.
- Deckout. This is the process of forcing your opponent to burn through all their cards, to the point at which they cannot draw any further, and will immediately lose the game once they attempt to draw a card with 0 cards left. This strategy, while not as common as the OTK strategy as detailed before, can prove lethal to decks not prepared. Typically, when a Stall chooses to opt for this strategy, it will contain a way to stall its card draw, generally using the combination of Eternity, and a 0/1 cost creature, such as Deja Vu, or Photon, in order to not deck out before their opponent, in the event of a larger stall.
- Steady damage. Decks that opt for this type of a win-con will include a form of damage that is not easily dealt with, such as Poison in a stall that includes Death, or damage that cannot be removed, like Immortal creatures or weapons such as a flown Titan, a Morning Star, or a Fahrenheit. These decks attempt to steadily burn down their opponent with consistent damage, while staying healthy through healing, damage mitigation, or CC.
What Should a Stall Look Like?In general, a stall will have 40+ cards contained in them, to include their wide variety of healing, cards related to their wincon, and enough quanta to source the aforementioned items. We will be looking at a deck of my own, a Firestall that was built for the 10th Trials of Light finals. It was my only deck that actually managed to win a game.
Firestall
Hover over cards for details, click for permalink
5f5 5f5 5f7 5f7 5f7 5lg 5lg 5mq 5mq 5mq 5mq 5mq 5mq 5mq 5mq 5mq 5mq 7dk 7dk 7dk 7dk 7dk 7dk 7dr 7dr 7dr 7k2 7k2 7k2 7k2 7k6 7k6 7k6 7k6 7k6 7k6 7q9 7q9 7q9 7q9 7q9 7q9 8poThis deck includes:
- A wincon (Fire Lances)
- Ample stalling tools (Sanctuary, Sundial, Miracle, Rage Elixir, Fire Shield)
- 40+ cards to fit all the tools needed
- A loving homage to RootRanger
- Quanta to fuel the cards for the win
These are all the things necessary for this deck to perform well in a PvP setting. I hope those who read learned something valuable, whether it's that I'm insane, or they learned how to properly enact/build a stall for PvP. Thank you for reading!
