It’s quite some while ago that I published my last deck article so here is a fresh one. In this one I want to cover the main (tier1) archetypes that are viable in the set 5.2 metagame. There are definitely many other great decks around which can beat the proposed decks, but I wanted to break it down to the very best and kind of wrap up the set 5 meta, since I don’t think there will be another mini-set for set 5. The proposed decks are mostly variants from the Solforge World Championship 2015 top 8. As always I will add this decks to my main decklist article and keep it up to date.

One more mention should go to the 5 strongest cards in the current meta. You can comment if you think this list is accurate and I would be happy if you would list the top 5-10 in the comments.

Malice Hermit acts as board wipe and huge threat – probably the best creature around even without any poison synergy. He is a great comeback/stall card for AU and even has some neat Yeti synergy in UT.

Dendrify – Probably the best removal in the game right now. It’s a great underleveled play, while leveling well (since the lvl3 version is free) and synergizes well with Oreian Justicar and Herald of Destruction.

Herald of Destruction – This card counters a whole archetype while preseting a huge threat for all other archetypes, since it can deal tons of damage out of nowhere. It has also finally made UT a viable archetype and has to be played by AT to be able to keep up with Spiritstone Sentry.

Spiritstone Sentry – Spiritstone Sentry is one of the best cards, because there are actually quite a few board wipes in the game (Malice Hermit, Brimstone Tyrant, Ambriel’s Edict) and this can make you immune against them along with a great synergy in UN decks.

Shardplate Behemoth – Best underdrop in the game while usually still presenting a threat when left unblocked. I guess I don’t have to say more about him.

NU Broodstone

3 Dysian Broodqueen

3 Malice Hermit

3 Shardplate Behemoth

3 Spiritstone Sentry

3 Weirwood Patriarch

2 Aetherphage

2 Thundersaur

1 Varna, Immortal King

3 Dendrify

2 Dysian Siphon

2 Lysian Shard

2 Scythe of Chiron

1 Howl of Xith

This archetype was already strong in set 5.1 and got the nice little addition of Varna, Immortal King in set 5.2. You could probably play 2 copies of him, but with so many Oreian Justicar and Herald of Destruction in the current meta – having him as a one of seems to be alright. This version of the deck is very close to Stillhadalldeez deck, who made the top 4 in the 2015 Solforge World Championship. I added Aetherphage instead of Soothsayer Hermit – he is definitely a much needed meta call and is one of the reasons why he lost the semi-finals against an AU leveling deck. I know that Suruzal can do amazing things in this deck, but as mentioned above – there exist many hate cards against revival effects and therefore I added a Dendrify and a Howl of Xith in that slots.

Must Level: Malice Hermit; Dysian Broodqueen

Good Match-up: AT Goodstuff

Bad Match-up: UT Herald Bomb

Date Added: 10.06.2015

AU Next Level

3 Esperian Sage

3 Ironmind Acolyte

3 Malice Hermit

3 Oreian Justicar

2 Shardplate Behemoth

2 Aetherphage

1 Oros, Deepwoods Chosen

1 Nova, Grove Queen

1 Killion, Infinity Warden

3 Ambriel’s Edict

3 Dendrify

3 Energy Surge

2 Lucid Echoes

This archetype evolved out of the Malicious Gnomes deck and is way more competitive and very good in the current metagame. It’s a quite greedy AU deck and therefore hard to pilot, but once you have mastered it the deck can be a beast and many decks have already adapted and are using Aetherphage to be able to disturb this deck. This version is a mix of Captain78 and Kyle Duncans version from the recent WC. Captain78’s version even made it into the finals! Your must levels are Malice Hermit and the Energy Surges. Once you got them leveled (and hopefully also have an active Lucid Echoes) this deck is usually able to stall the game until you can play your Nova, Grove Queen lvl4 and win the game this way. Captain78’s version used 2 Glowstride Stag instead of the Aetherphage, but I think currently Aetherphage is a great meta call and let’s you stand a chance against Shockfinity (another control deck that can get it’s combo usually before PL4). Btw. isn’t it great this deck plays 3 Forgeborns and each as a 1 of?

Also be aware that Oreian Justicar is a must level agianst the UN Broodstone decks! Otherwise that deck will overwhelm you pretty fast.

Must Level: Energy Surge; Malice Hermit

Good Match-up: UN Broodstone

Bad Match-up: AT Aggro, AN Soulshatter

Date Added: 10.06.2015

UT Herald Bomb

Preconstructed Core:

3 Herald of Destruction

3 Malice Hermit

2 Windspark Elemental

2 Lysian Shard

New Cards:

3 Phytobomb

2 Weirwood Patriarch

3 Uranti Warlord

(3 Shardplate Behemoth / Swampmoss Ancient)

2 Shardbound Invoker

2 Aetherphage

3 Dendrify

(2 Botanimate / Metamorphosis)

This deck is one of most explosive archetypes of the current metagame and made it’s way into the recent WC finals. What is really nice about this archetype that you can get the most important legendaries for this deck in the preconstructed deck Blistering Chaos. Apart from that deck you only need Shardplate Behemoth as legendary which has a nice budget replacement in the form of Swampmoss Ancient.

The game plan is to level every Herald of Destruction that you can get, while keeping the board clear. If you have a Herald of Destruction and play Phytobomb, the Herald of Destruction deals damage equal to its attack for every token it generates for your opponent. E.g. a Herald of Destruction 3 deals 36 damage to your opponent when you play Phytobomb and your opponent has three open lanes. If you also have a Windspark Elemental the damage even gets doubled.

Dendrify/Botanimate is in the deck to deal with huge threats (e.g. Thundersaur), while Malice Hermit acts as your board wipe. I should also note that Dendrify can deal damage to your opponent (while killing the token) if you have a Herald of Destruction on the board.

Must-level: Herald of Destruction; Malice Hermit

Good Match-up: NU Broodstone, Slow Decks

Bad Match-up: AT Goodstuff

Date Added: 16.04.2015

AT Goodstuff

3 Nexus Aeronaut

3 Oratek Explosives

3 Relic Hunter

3 Borean Windweaver

3 Brimstone Tyrant

3 Frostmane Dragon

2 Oratek Battlebrand

3 Rage of Kadras

Flex Slots:

3 Herald of Destruction

2 Windspark Elemental

2 Korok, Khan of Kadras

It might be debateable if AT Goodstuff should still be among the best decks, but in the constructed queue you can find UT Herald Bomb often enough for AT earning it’s spot here. Right now AT is all about choosing the right flex slots. Most AT version loose to the UN Broodstone deck and while that matchup is still challenging there is a good chance you can win that matchup with my proposed list.

Right now I run 3 copies of Herald of Destruction and 2 Windspark Elemental. Because the Alloyin count is quite low in this version Burnout might even be better than Oratek Battlebrand – I’m just so used to Battlebrand that I don’t want to miss it (although you will likely miss an allied trigger once in a while). Herald helps you against UN and Windspark Elemental just gives you a great finisher potential with Brimstone Tyrant, Rage and Explosives.

Must-level: Frostmane Dragon, Nexus Aeronaut

Good Match-up: UT Herald Bomb

Bad Match-up: UN Broodstone

Date Added: 10.06.2015