As many have heard, HEX is releasing a SIEGE mode very soon. The SIEGE mode defense will immediately incorporate full, unrestricted deck-building with all PvE cards and equipment to be piloted by the HEX AI against any players that choose to attack your defense for War Spoils. Attacking players will initially only be allowed to play Constructed Standard Legal decks currently, with mention and hints of more expansive deck building options as balance and features for the mode expand in the future.

Rally of Kings (Get Hyped for Siege!):

This news has awakened many players interested in the unique aspects HEX PvE offers, with this new mode and ability to, essentially, create PvE dungeons for friends. If anyone was taking a break from the game or was losing interest due to the lack of PvE content, it is a great time to reinstall. The creative juices can now flow freely again, as we build a gauntlet to defend our gold or plat against friends and foes alike.

Join the Community to hunt for ideas and improve defense and attack decks:

https://forums.hextcg.com/index.php?board-list/

https://forums.hextcg.com/index.php?thread/2178-wardens-of-entrath-open-to-public/

Wardens Discord / Compendium:

https://discord.gg/56BwpbF

http://wardens.hexcompendium.com/

Eternal Guardian (What Defense do we build?):

In anticipation of what we might see come our way, it is important to look at Standard Legal Constructed to see what is performing well against other players.

After a quick search on https://hexpvptools.net/constructed/ladder/meta?, we can see that Candlekin, Constants, Blood Control, and Ramp are big threats.

We also know from the Frost Ring Arena and campaign AI experiences, that Sapphire Interrupts (or Blood Control), Ruby Aggression, and Mill/Bury will be popular to take advantage of the AI piloted Defender decks.

Based on the above, we would prefer to have each deck tuned to counter 2 unique archetypes of the 6 archetypes we mentioned above.

This might look like:

Terror Mill Bury: To counter Blood Control/Interrupts, and Ramp.

Anti-mill Mid-Range: To counter Mill and Constants

And Aggressive Healers: To counter Candlekin and Ruby Aggression

Reactor Bot (Optimizing our AI Defender Decks):

Using our knowledge from the Campaign and the Frost Ring Arena, there are strategies we may want to avoid in building decks for the HEX AI to play for us. Ultimately, we want to avoid allowing the HEX AI to make important decisions that offer choices. We want the AI to play cards on curve correctly, that work towards our win condition.

Some ideas around what we may want to avoid putting in the AI’s deck:

Interrupts: The AI will not know what the real threats are from their human opponents

Combat Tricks: The wrong target could be made. Defensively hard removal is much better than soft removal.

Cards that could target any troop or any champion: Some examples would be Chronic Madness, Crackling Rot, and Shackling Strands. These may self-target incorrectly. There could also be the opposite effect with a card like Blood Aura targeting opponents troop incorrectly.

Quick Troops: These will likely be played at the wrong times

Cards that sit in play with activators: Often when an activation can be made by the AI, it will be made, and it often is not the right time or play.

Avoid playing Fateweave, and mitigate the sting of Verdict being played against us through deckbuilding answers.

Crushing Blow (How should we go about building attacker decks?):

With the Defenders at a huge advantage, how could players hope to break through? Constructed Standard Legal has a pretty nice range of decks to play. Let us review 3 archetypes mentioned above, and why they may be the decks to crush our friends’ Castles with.

Why is Candlekin Constructed great against Defenders?:

Candlekin can ramp up to an overwhelmingly large troop heavy board state for a very low resource commitment, and pack utility removal that blank troops/artifacts/constants alike for an extremely low cost. This may be the aggressive deck of choice due to it’s cheap price point for high quality results.

Why is Verdict Constructed great against Defenders?:

Verdict takes advantage of a computer opponent by forcing them to make decisions. Many times, through playing the AI currently, the Verdict decision made is poor. By using a deck that can fire multiple verdicts off in a turn, the AI can quickly be overwhelmed despite their best efforts to play the defender deck to an optimal win. Verdict gives a player a lot of utility based on the games current board state, with very little commitment to having utility cards that answer 1 specific card type the AI may play.

Why is Blood Control great against Defenders?:

Blood Control packs more troop removal than any other deck, and can use the AI Defenders deck against them, by stealing their troops with Bride of the Damned. It’s a relatively safe bet, because troop heavy aggro is one the AI plays fairly well, if they can keep those troops in play. Defenders may opt for troop heavy aggro decks to circumvent preconceived challenges the AI may be faced with trying to navigate towards other win conditions.

Some card ideas to add in for more success with attacks?:

Diamonds’ Favor (Great vs. big bodies and constants)

Disruptor Drone (Decent in an aggro deck, providing utility constant removal at quick speed)

Dreamcall (Since the mode shares PvE cards, this may have access to a greater spectrum)

Evaporate (Cheap and clutch)

Runebind (Always a great way to delay the opponents master plan.)

Hap’ie, the High Hero (Anti-mill)

Jacked Colossus (Amazing vs. Troop heavy board-states)

Reginald’s Riposte (Great utility interrupt for an aggro deck)

Robogoyle (Anti-mill)

Egg Hunt (Card and Equipment to collect):

The cards listed below is my personal list of top picks to play with for premium Defender deck gauntlet builds. Listed in alphabetical order and where they can be obtained.

PvP / PVP Chests:

Adamanthian Scrivener (and equipment)

Angel of Foresight (and equipment)

Arena Regular (and equipment)

Baroness Floriana

Bride of the Damned (and equipment)

Carnasaurus (and equipment)

Chained Peak Yeti (and equipment)

Chlorophyllia

Choir of Lumos (and equipment)

Clash of Steel

Consult the Talon

Crocosaur

Darkspire Enforcer / Priestess / Punisher / Tyrant

Dread Technomancer

Emberspire Witch

Empress of Ice

Extinction

Fever Bloom (and equipment)

Freak of Nature (and equipment)

Graven Geist

Herofall

Jacked Colossus (and equipment)

Jank Bot

Kindlekit (and equipment)

Mama Yeti (and equipment)

Pack Raptor (and equipment)

Protectorate Defender (and equipment)

Quenchinator

Reactor Bot (and equipment)

Reginald Lancashire

Replipopper 4000 (and equipment)

Robogoyle

Rot Sniper (and equipment)

Savage Lord (and equipment)

Sunlit Sentence

Sunsoul Phoenix

Succumb to Madness (and equipment)

Tomb Swap

Tribunal Magistrate

Twilight Eclipse (and equipment)

Umbral Guard (and equipment)

Voice of the Ashwood (and equipment)

War Machinist

Wax Dawn (and equipment)

Wings of Wax (and equipment)

Wrathwood Master Moss (and equipment)

Zeddek’s Judgement (and equipment)

Campaign:

Ardent Recruiter (and equipment)

Aryndel Warden (and equipment)

Baby Yeti (and equipment)

Burn

Cerebral Jack-hat (and equipment)

Chaotic Murmurs (and equipment)

Conquest of Romor (and equipment)

Contract Killing (and equipment)

Darkspire Acolyte (and equipment)

Deployment Orders (and equipment)

Dream Eagle (and equipment)

Equipment for Chlorophyllia

Equipment for Herofall

Equipment for Reginald Lancashire

Ethereal Healer (and equipment)

Flamethought Seeker (and equipment)

Fuel for the Fire (and equipment)

Heroic Echo (and equipment)

Hired Horn Cutthroat (and equipment)

Hunger of the Mountain God (and equipment)

Juurdin (and equipment)

Mad Aradam Cultist (and equipment)

Morphology (and equipment)

Nazhk Lookout (and equipment)

Phenteo’s Gift (and equipment)

Skittering Skarn

Sneakblade of the Milky Eye (and equipment)

Spirit of Retribution (and equipment)

Stormsprite (and equipment)

Underworld Recruiter (and equipment)

Uzume’s Handmaiden (and equipment)

Frost Ring Arena:

Bramble Creeper (and equipment)

Brutal Commander (and equipment)

Dream Stag (and equipment)

Equipment for Burn

Equipment for Chlorophyllia

Equipment for Darkspire Enforcer / Priestess / Punisher / Tyrant

Equipment for Protectorate Defender

Equipment for War Machinist

Fertile Engorger (and equipment)

Spiraling End (and equipment)

Stampeding Wyledboar (and equipment)

Xocoy, High Cleric (and equipment)

Event Cards:

Freaky Fungus (and equipment)

Poppy Jasper (and equipment)

Stingy Jack (and equipment)

Tricky Tykes (and equipment)

Kismet Reserves:

Enthralling Gaze (and equipment)

Mindsnatch Raven (and equipment)

Oni Assassin (and equipment)

Swiftpaw Trickster (and equipment)

Enjoy and I’ll see you in battle!