Eternal’s first non-promo expansion came out last week, and there are a lot of interesting new cards to play with. I’ve got a couple new brews that have been doing well for me, plus an update to an old favorite and a hilarious new deck you may have seen on Reddit. Enough talking; let’s jump right in!

Feln Midrange

2 Permafrost (Set1 #193)

4 Seek Power (Set1 #408)

2 Suffocate (Set1 #251)

1 Annihilate (Set1 #269)

4 Argenport Instigator (Set1 #268)

2 Backlash (Set1 #200)

3 Feln Stranger (Set1 #409)

3 Vara’s Favor (Set0 #35)

2 Cabal Countess (Set1 #506)

4 Feln Bloodcaster (Set1 #386)

1 Midnight Gale (Set1 #378)

4 Wisdom of the Elders (Set1 #218)

4 Deathstrike (Set1 #290)

4 Steward of the Past (Set1 #287)

4 Champion of Cunning (Set1 #371)

2 Umbren Reaper (Set1 #299)

2 Black-Sky Harbinger (Set1 #385)

2 Shadowlands Feaster (Set1001 #10)

9 Primal Sigil (Set1 #187)

8 Shadow Sigil (Set1 #249)

4 Feln Banner (Set1 #417)

4 Seat of Cunning (Set0 #62)

People have been jamming a lot of Champion of Cunning into their Feln Control decks recently, and Shadowlands Feaster gives the Shadow/Primal combination enough hard-hitting threats to build an aggressive midrange deck. Between the Champions, Feasters, Umbren Reapers, Argenport Instigators, and Stewards of the Past, Feln has a lot of hard-hitting and efficient units to beat down with. A few Feln Strangers help hit Champion of Cunning’s demanding influence requirements.

When playing this deck, search for Primal Sigils once you have 2 Shadow influence, as getting flying and aegis on your Champions is much more important than the team strength buff. Backlash is also a scarcely used card right now, so you can often surprise an opponent by countering a Harsh Rule or Smuggler’s Stash. Shadowlands Feaster and Cabal Countess are also great when you have a threatening board, as you can hold them in hand to immediately re-establish a clock if your units get cleared.

I did well with this deck against midrange and control decks and did very poorly against Rakano Warcry.

Nictotraxian Control

4 Permafrost (Set1 #193)

4 Seek Power (Set1 #408)

4 Desert Marshal (Set1 #332)

4 Find the Way (Set1 #513)

4 Lightning Storm (Set1 #206)

4 Second Sight (Set1 #207)

1 Vanquish (Set1 #143)

4 Combrei Healer (Set1 #333)

1 Eye of Winter (Set1 #210)

1 Knight-Chancellor Siraf (Set1 #335)

4 Wisdom of the Elders (Set1 #218)

2 Auric Runehammer (Set1 #166)

1 Rise to the Challenge (Set1 #320)

1 Elysian Pathfinder (Set1 #108)

4 Harsh Rule (Set1 #172)

1 Celestial Omen (Set1 #241)

1 Azindel’s Gift (Set1 #306)

4 Nictotraxian (Set1001 #16)

1 Sword of the Sky King (Set1 #186)

1 Fire Sigil (Set1 #1)

4 Justice Sigil (Set1 #126)

4 Primal Sigil (Set1 #187)

1 Shadow Sigil (Set1 #249)

3 Time Sigil (Set1 #63)

4 Seat of Order (Set0 #51)

4 Seat of Progress (Set0 #58)

4 Seat of Wisdom (Set0 #63)

I think everyone saw this one coming. Nictotraxian is a great card for grindy games, as even the worst random draw is usually enough to get a 2-for-1 when you consider the 8/8 flying body. Second Sight is the easiest way to abuse Nicto, as it basically reads “draw a card from your deck and a random card” for 2 power if you have a Nictotraxian in hand. Other cards like Nesting Aviasaur are a little too cute.

My take on 5-faction control uses the TJP base and splices in a few choice cards. Azindel’s Gift is the control mirror-breaker; it is pretty hard to lose after you make your opponent discard all of their removal spells and you play an 8/8 flyer. Rise to the Challenge can fetch a nice toolbox of cards, including Siraf, Sword of the Sky King, and Nictotraxian herself. Elysian Pathfinder is for the ultimate late-game card advantage play of putting Nictotraxian on top of your deck with Second Sight then giving her echo. On your next turn you will draw FOUR cards with the echo-ed Nictotraxians.

I’ve had a lot of crazy moments with this deck, like Nictotraxian giving me a Smuggler’s Stash to get back two more Nictotraxian (roughly a million-for-one) and Nictotraxian giving me another Nictotraxian that gave me an Augmented Form (22 strength and health from one card). I later won the second game with a 6/7 Cliffside Porter from another Nicto. Definitely give this one a go if you like every game to be different!

MirrorMaster Combo

1 Dark Return (Set1 #250)

4 Seek Power (Set1 #408)

2 Annihilate (Set1 #269)

1 Eilyn’s Favor (Set0 #24)

4 Lightning Storm (Set1 #206)

3 Vara’s Favor (Set0 #35)

4 Feln Bloodcaster (Set1 #386)

3 Mirror Image (Set1 #217)

4 Wisdom of the Elders (Set1 #218)

3 Cabal Spymaster (Set1001 #14)

3 Deathstrike (Set1 #290)

4 Steward of the Past (Set1 #287)

2 Calderan Gunsmith (Set1 #46)

3 West-Wind Herald (Set1 #231)

2 Withering Witch (Set1 #368)

3 Black-Sky Harbinger (Set1 #385)

1 Celestial Omen (Set1 #241)

3 Scouting Party (Set1 #488)

1 Fire Sigil (Set1 #1)

5 Primal Sigil (Set1 #187)

5 Shadow Sigil (Set1 #249)

2 Feln Banner (Set1 #417)

4 Seat of Chaos (Set0 #60)

4 Seat of Cunning (Set0 #62)

4 Seat of Fury (Set0 #53)

This is a spicy brew that LuminousInverse was working on on his stream. The deck contains an infinite damage combo if you manage to get Cabal Spymaster, West-Wind Herald, and Calderan Gunsmith in play at the same time with a Mirror Image in your hand or void. The Mirror Image copies Gunsmith, triggering Herald’s infiltrate, which plays Mirror Image to copy Gunsmith again, and you repeat until the opponent is dead.

The base of the deck is a Feln control deck with Lightning Storm, Feln Bloodcaster, and Steward of the Past. The combo gives it a powerful proactive element. All of the pieces besides Gunsmith are fine on their own. West-Wind Herald and Mirror Image in particular form a powerful engine that gets you a 2/2 flying aegis unit every turn if the Herald can connect for damage. Spymaster is a 4/4 for 4, which isn’t the worst, and he sometimes lets you draw some extra cards from Scouting Party yetis your opponent thinks are no longer threatening. You only end up pulling off the combo every few games, but the deck can function and win with pure synergy and power.

Armory

2 Charchain Flail (Set1 #3)

4 Inspire (Set1 #129)

4 Seek Power (Set1 #408)

4 Torch (Set1 #8)

4 Quarry (Set1001 #15)

4 Rakano Artisan (Set1 #312)

2 Vanquish (Set1 #143)

2 Copperhall Bailiff (Set1001 #5)

4 Sword of Icaria (Set1 #315)

1 Valkyrie Enforcer (Set1 #151)

3 Armorsmith (Set1 #163)

3 Auric Runehammer (Set1 #166)

1 Furnace Mage (Set1 #40)

2 Rise to the Challenge (Set1 #320)

4 Harsh Rule (Set1 #172)

2 Smuggler’s Stash (Set1 #396)

2 Throne Warden (Set1 #514)

1 Starsteel Daisho (Set1 #328)

1 Icaria, the Liberator (Set1 #329)

5 Fire Sigil (Set1 #1)

4 Justice Sigil (Set1 #126)

1 Shadow Sigil (Set1 #249)

1 Argenport Banner (Set0 #64)

1 Rakano Banner (Set1 #427)

4 Seat of Chaos (Set0 #60)

4 Seat of Glory (Set0 #56)

4 Seat of Vengeance (Set0 #55)

1 Stonescar Banner (Set1 #419)

Armory is the existing deck that gained the most from Jekk’s Bounty. Quarry is absolutely insane in the deck, allowing it more consistent access to its best cards, and Copperhall Bailiff helps with Armory’s traditionally poor go-wide matchups like Queen Jito.

I tried out Jekk himself in this deck, but he just didn’t do enough and I never wanted to Rise for the Challenge for him over another weapon. You want a certain threshold of weapons to go with your armor gain and Rakano Artisan, and Jekk is better as another Starsteel Daisho or Stonescar Maul. Quarry allows you to cut some weapons and a Smuggler’s Stash while still finding them often enough, and it also lets you play Icaria since you can either discount her or dig for the power to play her. It even lets you trim down to 25 power, as you can use Quarry on turn 2 as a Favor-like spell if you need to.

There have always been a lot of varying opinions on what to play in armory besides the core units and weapons. I like having 4 Inspire, as the free “warcry” helps get your Auric Runehammers to the key 5 or 6 strength to take out popular midrange units. I’m a big fan of Throne Warden and Armorsmith, as getting extra swings with your weapons equates to basically a full card from the opponent every time. I’ve left in 1 Furnace Mage and 1 Valkyrie Enforcer so that you can access silence or relic destruction, and you can find them fairly consistently between Quarry and Rise to the Challenge. Have I mentioned how insane Quarry is in Armory yet? It’s ridiculous.

I only run 2 Rise to the Challenge because it is very slow. Taking turn 4 off to tutor up a weapon in the face of Champion of Chaos or Impending Doom doesn’t work out well, so I like to run a ton of answers. Sword of the Sky King is a bit too expensive for this 29 power source deck. Charchain Flail gets cut from Armory a lot, but I don’t want to go below 10 relic weapons and Flail is really good against turn 2 Crownwatch Paladins. A 4th Auric Runehammer could easily replace one. Stonescar Maul is powerful, but expensive and rarely gets two attacks by the time you play it. If you are playing a more aggressive Armory variant with 2-drop units like Crownwatch Paladin or Champion of Glory I like it, but Maul wasn’t great for me in this version.

Conclusion

Jekk’s Bounty has provided a wealth of things to try for decks both new and old. It only added 16 cards to the game, yet a high percentage of them are worth experimenting with. I’m sure we haven’t figured out everything yet, so I’m looking forward to seeing what the community comes up with in the next few weeks!

Until next time, may you find what’s fun for you.

LightsOutAce

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