After beating my way trough all those pesky Vetruvians, the players choice of most hated card in the game, Jax Truesight, and raging at an endless amount of Time Maelstroms this new version of the deck pushed me to rank 0 yet again with 10+ winstreaks all over the place.

Disclaimer: Do not play this deck if you are

A) Suicidal

B) Unable to count cards

C) Unable to plan ahead a couple of turns

D) Dislike being at the mercy of RNG carddraws at times (%&$! RNG)

Do play this deck if you are

A) A fan of an ACTUAL control deck (not those wanabe control decks which merely defend, you actually control)

B) Bored of decks that focus on the best play per turn due to the nature of the current draw system (aka 80%of existing decks)

C) Interested in challenging yourself with a subpar deck (faction cards are unreasonably more valuable in almost any situation currently)

D) Interested in highly flexible extensions (more below)

The deck, like every of my decks, can be cut in 3 parts

~The Core~

-If you play the deck without those cards, do not play the deck-

3x Sundrop Elixier (120Spirit)

3x True Strike

3x Alcuin Loremaster (1050spirit)

3x Owlbeast Sage (300spirit)

spirit req. for the core in total: 1470 spirit

~The Engine~

-Cards which work hand in hand with the core of the deck, heavily recommended to not change this too much.

2x Sun Bloom (80spirit)

3x Manaforger (300spirit)

2x Martyrdom

3x Sun Seer (120spirit)

3x Holy Immolation (1050spirit)

2x Circle of Life (700spirit)

spirit req. for the engine in total: 2250 spirit

~The Extension~

-Chosen due to personal preference and experience in matchups, trying to cover up as many weaknesses as possible. This section is heavily customizable but you need to consider the following criteria:

A) The card does in no way hinder your gameplan.

B) The card is as flexible as posible in its usage.

C) The card does NOT require any other card to fulfill its purpose.

2x Eclipse (1800spirit) (Hey, he is the theme of my deck :) )

2x Aethermaster (700spirit)

2x Aegis Barrier (1800spirit)

2x Divine Bond

2x Lightbender (200spirit)

2x The High Hand (80spirit)

spirit req. for the extension in total: 4580 spirit

Deck in total: 8300 spirit

The deck uses your general to get rid of early threats and even hit into monsters with stats like 10/2 because you will heal yourself back up with Sundrop/Circle of Life + Alcuin Loremaster.

It is not labeled control for fun, you will spend your time nullifying the effect of any cards your opponent plays while slowly getting your game to start. The late, late, lategame is your game. If you enter that stage in a fairly healthy state you pretty much won the game, trust me.

You will want to use the Owlbeast Sage in conjunction with other Arcanysts to gain an overwhelming board in terms of sustainability in 1-2turns once you collected the cards needed. That is why the engine exists, it helps you set it up. If all else fails the extensions can play on their own for a while.

Sundrop Elixier and True Strike are chosen for a reason, you will rely on your general and as few spells as possible to keep any threat at bay, Manaforger therefore became a great engine card due to reducing the cost of your spells resulting in possible 7core Owlbeast Sage - Sundrop/True Strike - Alcuin Loremaster - Sundrop/True Strike dreamplays which speak for themselves as well as allowing a 5core Holy Immolation combo. Holy Immolation is THE boardclear in this deck, heavy general harrassment and lifesaver. Almost made it to the core.

A card many may deem as bad is Martyrdom (wtf, that card heals my opponent!). Yes, but you could care less. You will use it to get rid of threats before you can start setting up your board (remember, Arcanysts are weak as hell). Make sure to use it on as valuable minions as possible but don't take unnecessary damage! During the later stages the removal and heal may become too painful but there also is the option to sacrifice your, say 1/8 manaforger, for health. Think outside the box, this deck requires knowledge and not faceroll to win!

Sun Bloom was added for other obvious reasons, you need dispels. Spells benefit you greatly and an AoE dispel is great as well. It was an easy pick for me, leaving it at 2 was never a bad idea and you will learn to love this card if you use it properly, same as Circle of Life. As you can imagine, this deck is focused a lot on self-sustain and recycling your healing spells via Alcuin Loremaster (special situations may require you to Loremaster different spells, of course) and this card is just so freaking good. I doubt that an explanation is needed, however NEVER use your spells if you are not getting the full heal out of them, it is wasteful. Except in a special situation.. again. PS: This card got nerfed unreasonably hard by being unable to damage your own minions to heal yourself. R.I.P Arcanyst synergy further nerfing an inconsistent decktype. No, running 2Arcanysts in your elsewise normal faction deck does not make it an Arcanyst deck. Stop calling it that way, it's like calling a ygo deck with 4plants in them XX Plants. It's not, end of discussion.

Now the exciting cards, your extension!

I chose mine for the following reasons.

Aethermaster -> I wanted additional 2drops so I can play something in turn 1 except Manaforger, having two of those also helps shuffling away early hands in hopes of drawing cards you may want to play, like your Owlbeast Sage or Sun Seer.

Aegis Barrier -> Split opinion on this card, sometimes useless sometimes very good. Considering that Vetruvian is a plague again and Abyssian exists, running those on cards of your choosings results in tears of pain and laughter of enjoyment.

Divine Bond -> A win more card which I would DEFINITELY not play if it wasn't for Eclipse.

Eclipse -> Arcanyst, buff him with Aegis Barrier if you want to make him even more obnoxious, usually comes out when most of the enemy removal is used, if not he comes out early. His effect is winning games in the lategame and people trying to turtle behind their strong wall of minions will suddenly find themselves in an unpleasant situation. Bonus Style points for casting Divine Bonds on enemy minions to crash your Doge into them for massive damage.

Lightbender -> NOOB WARNING: He dispels your Owlbeast Sage's +HP buffs! Use with care, his dispel is SUPER GOOD if used properly and I will NEVER get rid of this card again. Being an Arcanyst makes him a possible sacrifice for heals later on as well as giving you a body you need on the board. Vetruvians cry when you play this card, trust me.

The High Hand -> Pimp in disguise. This guy will slap your lazy enemies to hell and back and back to hell and back (^_^). This card was great, just so great! There are games where people have bad starts or try to take it slow against your deck, depending on your start you can get him out on turn 2 already. People usually end up with 5-6cards in their hand at that stage because they cling to their precious combos and BAM!, a massive mofo stands infront of them and gives them hell. Play him with at least 4cards in the enemies hand so he is a 6/7 and worth of costing 5cores. Have you ever faced Songhai's who collect cards in the first few turns thinking nothing can go wrong just to slap that sweet 8/9 in their face and buff him with Aegis Barrier? It feels good. Really good. It feels so good that they concede out of submissiveness because you put them in their place.

So here it is, a bad deck which starts to shine once you learn what factions and their decks can do and plan accordingly. You may have a tough time in the beginning but it is worth the time, you will definitely improve in Duelyst overall as this deck requires understanding of the game to succeed, just never panic. Do you think that healing from 2hp to 25hp in one turn is impossible? This deck not only disagrees but can do it more than once per duel, given the circumstances.

FAQ from the future:

Why no Moebius? - The card is complete garbage and only works in the right circumstances which require even more circumstances. Do you want your entire deck to be one long combo? If you miss a piece it all breaks down, it is not worth it. Tho the card looks cool and has a fun effect.

Is Mindwarper a good idea because of more spells? - Yes it is, I actually used it before I switched in The High Hand, the pimp, but sometimes it gives you nothing and even when it does it simply lacks the impact I want a single card to have given it is not part of my tricks.

Can't I use Pandora over Eclipse? - You can, if you like using bad cards. Seriously this card is so overhyped it is starting to become a joke. Didn't play at 3/10, sure as hell won't play at 3/8. Had 2 of them, disenchanted them.