Style Points – Gront’s Gift

Hello everyone! Dino here.

Welcome to the latest installment of “Style Points,” an article for the creative deck builder. Here we like to shuffle past the usual and resurrect cards you don’t see as often. Last time we showed you how to ward off death with Talisman of Vitae. Today I’d like to show you how to make a real thriller deck with Gront’s Gift.

So without further ado, let’s look at your collection differently.

The great thing about HEX is that it’s truly a “choose your own adventure” experience. Each game, whether you are playing constructed or limited, is bound only by the connections between cards and your own imagination. Will you lay waste to your opponents with fire and burn them to the ground? Do you bury them under the weight of a thousand Spiderling Eggs? Perhaps you prefer that classic Jurassic action and want to om nom nom your enemies with Crocosaur? The choice is yours! And each new set gives us more and more exciting stories to share! So gather around and listen close as I tell the tale of decks that truly rise to the occasion.

As far back as Shards of Fate, HEX has teased the possibility of Crypt-play. Blessing the Fallen and Resurrection only benefit when stuff has already died, but traditionally Crypt-play cards like these have been few and far between. Yet each new set has, little by little, allowed this archetype to claw its way free of the grave. Shattered Destiny gave us Rutherford Banks, a powerhouse champion who featured prominently at HEX’s first 100K Invitational. Armies of Myth introduced even more ways for the dead to return with Madame Anana and Carrac the Scavenger. And it looks like Primal Dawn is going to be no exception – reveals like Truffle Head and Rotten Rancor show that Crypt-play is here to stay! Imagine using Rotten Rancor on a Truffle Head. You get a 6/6 body that can also take out an opponent’s troop! Combos like these are just scratching the surface of what’s coming with Set 4, so let’s brush that Crypt Dust off our shoulders and learn how to accept Gront’s Gift of never-ending life.

It goes a little something like this:

Four resources gives you a constant source of zombie creation! Once Gront’s Gift is on the table, you can transform any non-zombie troop into a 2/2 Zombie and put them directly into play. Not only can you do this at quick speed for the surprise block, but Gront’s Gift lets you give your rot even more reach with a Major Socket. Your Zombies become veritable combat tricks that can do… pretty much everything. Want to quickly buff up your attackers and blockers? Use the Major Wild Orb of Empowerment! Want to take a page from Wiktor in the Devonshire Keeps and burn them, burn them all? Consider the Major Ruby of Destruction. Just thinking about all the possibilities gets me animated!

But taming an undead throng isn’t always easy. To get the most out of Gront’s Gift, we need to consider the following. First, to use this card effectively we need fuel. Without troops in the crypt, Gront’s Gift is a dead draw. Second, because Gront’s Gift explicitly specifies that it must target a “non-Zombie troop,” our fuel is necessarily limited. We can’t keep bringing the same troop back over and over again. We need fresh meat. Third, Gront’s Gift is a transform effect. Crucially, it does not revert or void like other Crypt-play effects. This means that there are two avenues of play for this card:

Option A: Use Gront’s Gift in combination with revert effects to keep major threats on the table. With champions like Knightsbane Ovo, a Gift can ensure that each of your Vampire Kings is a major drain on your opponent’s removal. This has an added bonus of circumventing the “non-Zombie troop” clause, so you can get enters play effects from Gront’s Gift’s socket multiple times.

Option B: Use permanent card modifications to supercharge your zombies. Because Gront’s Gift only transforms, all buffs on our zombified troops remain. A Major Ruby of Destruction is okay when you’re bringing back a 2/2. It is fantastic when you are bringing back a 5/5 because you used Abominate earlier.

Let’s take a look at a deck that uses option B to really get into the spirit of HEX Crypt-play (start at 14:30):

Keep 3.18 – “Calling All Zombies”

Champion: Madame Anana

Esotericist did manage to take us down and become the 18th 4Keeps champion, but “Calling All Zombies” still rose to the occasion as a showcase of Gront’s Gift’s potential. The main goal of this deck is to flood the board with Phantoms by abusing Madame Anana’s champion power in combination with reanimation effects. With that goal in mind, our key cards are: Ethereal Caller, Spiritbound Spy, and Angel of Judgement.

If our goal is to flood the board with as many phantoms as possible, we need look no further than Spiritbound Spy. This troop is special because he has a Crypt-play effect already baked in. Instead of staying dead like most stiffs, this guy returns with even more fighting spirit than before. Returning as a Phantom is a big deal, especially when you buff him up with Madame Anana’s champion power. He doesn’t revert, so a single buffed Spy can net you two additional troops. Every Phantom is not only a threat with flight, but also a potential Zombie later down the line.

And speaking of Zombies, Ethereal Caller is a key enabler for the continued use of Gront’s Gift. Remember, the “non-Zombie troop” clause that limits how often we can bring zombies back? Ethereal Caller lets us circumvent that problem by transforming Zombies into Phantoms. This is especially relevant when you stack Madame Anana’s champion power on something as the buff is persistent. It doesn’t take a Ouija board to see that this gives us a massive supply of troops for Gront’s Gift.

Finally, I give a shoutout to Angel of Judgment here because he lets us hoard the board. Specifically, he helps us convert our Phantom swarms into true card advantage. Because each troop gives us several back—either because of Gront’s Gift or our champion power—we can force our opponent to sacrifice nearly everything they play. This is especially true when combined with sacrifice outlets of our own like Hideous Conversion or Grim Harvester. With an Angel of Judgement down, you can be pretty sure your opponents won’t Rise Again anytime soon.

But wait, the best is yet to come! Primal Dawn is going to offer even more ways to lift your spirits. Cards like Airvolution, Grim Martyr, and Danse Macabre are going to breathe new life into this archetype. Imagine a Phantom/Zombie with Grim Martyr’s ability shifted over onto it? I can already hear my opponents going, “Grrrr! Argh!”

Hopefully I’ve been able to spark a few reanimator deck ideas with this article. I can’t wait to hear you shout, “It’s alive!” So how do you plan to get a rise out of your opponents? Share your brains with us here in the forums!

Dream big, everybody!

Dino out~

Dino is a regular HEX streamer and the creator of the 4Keeps competition. If you enjoy building wacky decks, playing for sweet prizes, and watching hexcellent shenanigans, you can check him out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on twitch.

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