Phar-bow [Arena][Platinum]

[umgrego2]

Deck Helper comment: 
This deck was posted before the 1.32 game update and as a result may work very differently now.  Use at your own risk.
I've posted previously about my love for the pharaoh/SoR combo, mostly because it is amazingly fast. I posted a duo deck at: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,41953.0.html. Calindu posted a deck of his that was similar, but which included SoF x2 and SoP x2. I didn't like the SoP but like the SoF and threw a couple into my deck, too. In all the discussion about how OP the SoF is, though, it twigged me to the idea of speeding up this Pharaoh Rush with Novas, which transformed it into the Phar-bow:

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4vj 4vj 4vj 4vj 4vj 752 752 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7qb 7qb 7qc 7qc 7qc 7qc 7qc 7qu 7qu 7qu 7qu 7qu 7qu 8pl

It's really fast, and plays well enough that I'm running it in Platinum.

Stats to follow.

EDIT: 20 Platinum games - started strong, finished weak.

Spoiler for Hidden:

1      10   Nightmare/GotP
   1      Fire rush
1      12   VD/Accel
1      7   Fire rush
1      10   Flying Stilettos
   1      Cloaked Ninja
1         Hecate
1      10   Scarabs and shriekers
1      10   Mono Gravity
   1      first turn neurotoxin - no pharaoh in 15 cards
   1      mono water
1      8   pillarless fire
1      10   fire rush
   1      poison rush
1      10   mono dark
1      10   Dark/earth
   1      Mono Dark
   1      aether
   1      rainbow rush
   1      rainbow rush
11      9.7   
0.55         

55% win rate, 9.7 TTW

EDIT₂: After 40 games, 57% win ratio in platinum

[Lluis83]

Very nice deck. Thanks for sharing:)

[redeyesly]

This deck was fun. I just went 7-7 in plat, with 0 spins, as all 7 losses came after a win. Some sort of defense other than mass cc would seem to be in order, but adding cards will only make the combo harder to get, so idunno. Bad draws, major quanta denial, SoSac and SoW spam are all auto-quit, but those are preyty much true for any deck,

[Chapuz]

Isn't "bow" an acronym for rainbow?

[eaglgenes101]

Isn't "bow" an acronym for rainbow?

Nova.

[furballdn]

Bow usually refers to decks using a rainbow, at least more than five elements. This doesn't really qualify as a bow since it only uses novas to provide quanta for shards, and it is technically a duo, while it plays more like a mono.

[umgrego2]

Bow usually refers to decks using a rainbow, at least more than five elements. This doesn't really qualify as a bow since it only uses novas to provide quanta for shards, and it is technically a duo, while it plays more like a mono.

Still new at this, obviously. Any suggestions for a different name? Is this deck even worth worrying about the name? How about Pharova?

Also, was wondering if other people think this deck runs better -1 nova +1 Precog?

[redeyesly]

I dont like the precogs in this deck, it helps on the "no pharaoh" bad draws, but it does more harm than good on the "no quanta" bad draws. Sometimes I leave them in anyway, or sometimes I go -2 precog +1 nova +1 purify. A turtle shield was a huge help, but it usually doesn't last long, and if it gets stolen then that sucks double. Sosac is this decks biggest weakness, so maybe SoP would be better than purify, but I never seem to have one when I need it.

[redeyesly]

I do like your deck alot, by the way, and I've been calling it pharaobow.

[sinyor]

I tried ur verison in plat and well.. it sucked xD Dunno if I was just unlucky ^^ The Pharaoh/SoR im using works awesome in pvp.. nearly wins all matches dunno if it works on Plat..

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6rq 6rq 6rq 6rq 6rq 6rq 6s2 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q0 7q3 7qc 7qc 7qc 7qc 7qc 7qc 8pl

[redeyesly]

The main difference is the novas instead of more towers. I like the nova because it pays for the shards. Lobotomize will ruin your day, so I think you need at least 2-3 SoF, which are basically free after a nova. Also I like to replace a couple of the towers with pendulums, 1 gravity per turn isn't really enough, then if you can eat everything you don't need the shield. I've been doing pretty well in plat arena with this, once I learned to recognize the auto-quits and not waste my time.

[umgrego2]

I dont like the precogs in this deck, it helps on the "no pharaoh" bad draws, but it does more harm than good on the "no quanta" bad draws. Sometimes I leave them in anyway, or sometimes I go -2 precog +1 nova +1 purify. A turtle shield was a huge help, but it usually doesn't last long, and if it gets stolen then that sucks double. Sosac is this decks biggest weakness, so maybe SoP would be better than purify, but I never seem to have one when I need it.

- precogs get you to your quanta producing cards quicker - this deck is rarely in need of quanta. Having said that, purify might be a good replacement since most of the losses are against poison and/or SoSa decks.
- Turtle is a waste: it would be the only non-pillar permanent so it's first to get explosed or (as you say), worse yet, stolen. This deck is about speed, defensive cards only slow it down

I do like your deck alot, by the way, and I've been calling it pharaobow.

Thanks!

I tried ur verison in plat and well.. it sucked xD Dunno if I was just unlucky ^^ --snip--

Not sure how you can claim it 'sucked' without posting stats. I just ran another 20 game test and it won 55% with 3 special spins and 2 ems (9.5 TTW). Looking through the forum, that seems like a pretty durn good win ratio in plat.

--snip-- Also I like to replace a couple of the towers with pendulums, 1 gravity per turn isn't really enough, then if you can eat everything you don't need the shield. --snip--

Interesting... The only time i've been short on gravity is when I'm hit with black holes. In those games, if I need to nom-nom I hit a scarab with a SoR.