A working mutation deck

[Cruke]

Hi, I've been playing pretty much since the beginning and I've always loved entropy (god knows why).
I think I managed to build a working mutation deck. The reason it's rainbow is because of all the fun mutant abilities of course!
Anyway, here it is...

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6ts 6ts 6ts 6ts 6ts 6ts 6ts 6ts 6ts 6ts 6ts 6ts 6tu 6tu 6tu 6u2 6u2 6u2 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u6 6u6 6u6 6u6 6u6 6u6 77f 7dm 7dm 7q3 8pn

Pretty straight forward.  I really love this deck and from what I've experienced it does great. Well, except for FGs, but I wasn't setting out with that goal in mind.
Most importantly though, it's really fun.
Comments, suggestions, etc are welcome.

[rainingblood]

Hey, we just played against each other. So I can say that the deck does work. I would make a few suggestions though: 1) bring it down to 30 cards (to make it more efficient and consistent), 2) reduce the pillar count - I'd recommend 7-8 depending on the mark (the pillars use up too many useful card slots and the deck doesn't use all that much quanta anyway), 3) I'd drop the pulverizer and turtle shield (I look at it this way: every deck has at least some permanent control - if you only have one or two they'll be disposed of pretty quick + they can be used against you if your opponent has steals, 4) there aren't enough cheap creatures for the mutation ability - I use leaf dragon and deja vu. The leaf dragon is underestimated, especially in this type of deck. In my current mutation deck, I can usually get out a supernova, druid, and leaf dragon on the 2nd turn - giving me 5 life quanta for mutations - which is plenty to get something good on the table. Once you've used up their ability they're ready for mutation. No comment on the deja vu, they're vital imo.

Here's the current version of my speed mutation deck (updated from a previous post):



Mark is Entropy

[Cruke]

Hi, thanks for the comment, it's easier to discuss things here.
I'll address 1+2 together, cause... I find that with any less pillars it takes too long to get a druid out. The problem with a druid is that it's expensive but has very little hp, so if I have to wait, the opponent can get out an oty, an ulitharid, hell, if I can get it out before they have a chance to play firebolt/ RoF, then next turn I create a mutant that will hopefully survive the onslaught. What i'm saying is from experience I found that 12 pillars works. Maybe 11, I'm not that fixed on the number. This leads into the other point, changing the mark. That might actually be a good idea, and leaf dragons are cheap fodder as well as useful. The problem for me would be : 1)you still gotta make sure they survive 1 turn to use the ability. 2) You're losing light quanta, which are useful for daje vu-ing golden dragons, and I like to keep my options open for the occasional devour/ablaze etc. I find life mark+supernovas to be enough for life quanta.
3) I kinda have to agree here. While a pulv on first/second turn has won me quite a few games, most of the time it's just supplementary. The turtle shield though I find very useful most of the time. Other than crippling most decks, it's good to slow down fed otys so you can get out a druid and mutate them, and basically slow down all kinds of nasty things. I never play it without an explosion on hand though. Someone stealing them would only be rainbow (in which case you're f***ed most of the time, this being the least of your worries) or darkness, both of which, by the way, become easy with a 1st/2nd turn pulv.
4) The druids themselves become fodder once there are more than 2 on the table. With more fodder, you're more likely to get that in your starting hand than druids, which are the essential card. Also, having 1 druid out and lots of fodder (which would happen) isn't very useful, because you can only mutate once a turn.

To wrap it all up, I will try the version without pulv and turtleshield, a bit less pillars and maybe one more microab.
What I'm also thinking is either using werewolves as fodder/attacker (6/6 is not bad) or replacing explosions with steals.
Thanks for the input, and perhaps we should duel sometime to see which deck works better.

[rainingblood]

I find that with any less pillars it takes too long to get a druid out. The problem with a druid is that it's expensive but has very little hp, so if I have to wait, the opponent can get out an oty, an ulitharid, hell, if I can get it out before they have a chance to play firebolt/ RoF, then next turn I create a mutant that will hopefully survive the onslaught.

That makes sense. Though I think that every deck has a weak point. Having more pillars for druids might give you a bit of an edge against a heavy creature control deck. But you'll be more likely to get bad draws against most other decks. Also, you might not be able to draw multiple druids in order to take advantage of the additional pillars - pillars which could have been replaced with more creatures - giving you faster damage output. The deja vu's are a nice example - even if I can't mutate them they can rack up some damage faster than you might expect. With that said, my own deck is weak against creature control, but strong in other areas. I figured it was a fair trade off. I also experimented with improved mutations - the spell - which could be one way of bypassing otyugh's and the like. But here again, I'd have to drop some druids or creatures to make it happen, which could make the deck unstable + they can be highly unpredictable. I'm beginning to think some thunderbolts or congeals could be a nice complement instead.

leaf dragons are cheap fodder as well as useful. The problem for me would be : 1)you still gotta make sure they survive 1 turn to use the ability. 2) You're losing light quanta, which are useful for daje vu-ing golden dragons, and I like to keep my options open for the occasional devour/ablaze etc.

Any player worth their salt wouldn't waste creature removal on the leaf dragons. I've had this happen only once in the past 100 games or so (in pvp). They're just not a likely target. If anything, the druids are going to take the blows. Even so, it's not like they're that essential anyway. The possibility of deja-vu'ing a golden dragon is incredibly unlikely. Either way, I've never been short on light quanta. If you get more than 1 supernova you don't have to drain all of the light quanta on the leaf dragon. I find just using it once to get 4 life quanta is enough of an edge to fuel the druids.

The turtle shield though I find very useful most of the time. Other than crippling most decks, it's good to slow down fed otys so you can get out a druid and mutate them, and basically slow down all kinds of nasty things. I never play it without an explosion on hand though. Someone stealing them would only be rainbow (in which case you're f***ed most of the time, this being the least of your worries) or darkness, both of which, by the way, become easy with a 1st/2nd turn pulv.

See, now that's interesting - I actually have a pretty high win rate against rainbow decks. Since they tend to be slow I can manage to get a nice army out before they're even ready to fight. Then it's just a matter of using the explosions at a few critical points. The only exception is when the rainbow deck uses heavy creature control. It's a cakewalk otherwise. As for the turtle shield I can see how it might help. But then you wouldn't be able to use deja vu's. Besides, having only 1 in the deck makes it unreliable.

The druids themselves become fodder once there are more than 2 on the table. With more fodder, you're more likely to get that in your starting hand than druids, which are the essential card. Also, having 1 druid out and lots of fodder (which would happen) isn't very useful, because you can only mutate once a turn.

Agreed. I also mutate druids quite a bit. About your other point: both our decks use 6 druids - so no matter how much fodder is in the deck it doesn't change the probability of drawing them. The difference as I see it is that I can draw a druid + fodder very consistently - whereas if I had less fodder I might only have the druid with nothing to mutate or be forced to mutate an additional druid. The next point is that having a lot of fodder on the table isn't a problem really. For one thing, as I mentioned above, the fodder itself can rack up some nice damage on its own. I tend to mutate everything that I draw, as long as I have a druid or two out. The life quanta isn't an obstacle. The fact that you can only use the ability once per turn isn't really a limitation either since you'll be mutating at the same rate no matter how little or how much fodder you have - both decks have 6 druids. It's a question of which support cards give you more of edge. I just think you get more utility out of the fodder than you would otherwise.

Thanks for the input, and perhaps we should duel sometime to see which deck works better.

Sounds good. I'll look for you online.