Deep Dive – Taking a Chants

G’day Hexers! Kismet has been messing with our drafts for over a week now, so most of you have probably already done your fair share of Kismet Drafts. I know I have! Over the next several weeks, I’m going to dive into some of the archetypes and builds that are possible in this iteration, starting with a build that utilizes a card that I’ve had a lot of fun and success with—Death Chant.

The ability to revive troops is an extremely powerful effect, and when Death Chant is built around correctly you’ll be hoping that your opponents picked up ALL the removal. You’ll be more than happy to make trades you’d normally think twice about as you laugh all the way to value town.

The key to a successful Death Chant build is to have a lot of low drop troops to trade with early aggression (you can also be the aggressor, bonus!). This is because as long as you can drag the game out and you’re able to deal with any pesky evasive threats then you have inevitability on your side as your chants continually bring those troops back.

The other important factor is your secondary shard—a mono-Blood version will never be as strong as a dual-shard version, as I mentioned in my previous article. You sacrifice a small amount of consistency for more power! I’ll cover my secondary shard recommendation a bit later, but for now let’s look at what Blood has to offer.

Blood has a lot of troops that work really well with this strategy; a prime example is the Darkspires.

Their unsavory methods might not be officially sanctioned by the Ardent alliance, but it is due to their effectiveness that the alliance turns a blind eye. They are a powerhouse to be reckoned with on the field of battle, and even in death they make their opponents suffer.

Since they are commons, it’s not too hard to get a decent amount of these guys, provided you’re not competing for them too heavily, but even just 2 Darkspire Priestesses are perfectly fine (prioritize her). There are actually quite a few cards in Blood that are fantastic even if you ain’t running Death Chant. But, the following cards get even dirtier due to Deathcry and Deploy triggers when combined with Death Chant dirtiness.

Let’s take a look at the some other common and uncommon highlights here:



A lot of great value is on offer here, and one of them has a pretty sweet interaction in this build. Can you see which one? If you thought Dusksteed, then you’re correct! On death this spirit beast summons a Nightfall, and what type of card is Nightfall? A Constant! Due to this, it will immediately return to your hand if you have Death Chant in play and there are no other troops in your crypt when it dies.

I mentioned earlier that an important factor is your secondary shard. While there are viable options in every shard, none of them are as good as what Diamond has to offer if you’re going for a Death Chant build.

The reason for this is two-fold: Diamond offers both the most synergistic cards and the most synergistic champion for this strategy. Not only does Papa Goot and his excellent 3-cost charge power summon a Daybreak (which procs Death Chant), but Diamond also has access to several very good cards that fit extremely well in the deck. Be warned though, Mr. Goot only starts with 17 health. This is the main reason it is important to make sure you have a lot of early game troops/interaction.

Let’s look at the common and uncommon highlights that Diamond brings to the table, plus also a couple of prismatic Blood/Diamond cards:

Much like the standout cards I mentioned from Blood, Diamond also offers up some serious synergy with Daybreak Diviner and Light of Day. These cards are directly comparable to Dusksteed and Dark of Night in their incredible value.

Also of note for both Blood and Diamond, any Verdict cards have the potential of giving you more constants. In the Halls of Twilight is a dream card for this reason. Not only is it a constant itself, but the amount of value it generally generates is insane! It’s one of the best limited cards in my opinion.

Looking at all of that, you should be able to get a good idea of how ridiculous things can get. If not, well, you’re in luck as I’ve got a few snaps and a video to share with you!

Here are 2 different Blood / Diamond Kismet Drafts that I managed to 3-0 with:

They were a lot of fun! Here is a video showing off the first deck in action:

Now that we’ve seen what Blood & Diamond has to offer for a Death Chant deck, let me just say that, while it is possible to pair Blood with any shard when doing a Death Chant build, I recommend sticking with Diamond or Wild for best results.

Wild is the next best pairing for a Death Chant deck as we can maximize value thanks again to troops with Deploy and Deathcry effects. Sadly, we lose access to Papa Goot, but that does mean more starting health.

Here are some (not all) of the common & uncommon cards that work well in a Blood/Wild Death Chant build:

I hope you enjoyed this quick look at Death Chant Kismet Drafting and wish you the best of luck in your drafts, unless you’re in the same draft as me, then you can *redacted*.

Tell me know what you’d like to see me cover (Kismet Draft related) in my next article by leaving a comment in the forums. Thanks & Happy Hexing!

Havoc | Twitch | Twitter | YouTube

Havoc has been playing HEX since the beginning, and there aren’t many days in a year where he doesn’t jump into a game. We can’t seem to get rid of this crazy aussie. He even managed to get himself and his dog Bella onto a card. He also has numerous achievements over the years, including 1st & 3rd in FiveShards Cup of Fate tournaments, 1st in a Pro Player tournament, and Several Bash & Clash Top 8’s.

Got any questions? Want to chat with other players? Then discuss this article in our Forums! You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, our YouTube channel, or enjoy regular streams on our official Twitch channel.