Here is a list of decks that have, in my opinion, had a big impact on the game of Ashes, over the years. This can be used for players to see where the meta has been, and to read about decks and their strategies that are considered great decks, at least in their time.

I'll provide links from the original creators, where possible. The descriptions in the links of some of these decks are pretty informative about how to construct and play a great deck.

All of the below decks have existed is slight variations, so I'll just try to post as close to possible to the original decklist, as I can.

BDR: Ashes Weekend Winner Credit: Erik Rodriguez

Bear and Hammer Knight has been a strong and aggressive game opener since this deck first appeared, and it has spawned many copycats. BDR stands for Big Damage Rin, and this deck could put out some great ground damage.

https://play.plaidhatgames.com/ashes/deck/bdr

Rin Northfell

2 Illusion

4 Ceremonial

4 Nature

3x Frostback Bear

1x Enchanted Violinist

3x Hammer Knight

3x Stormwind Sniper

3x Crimson bomber

3x Rin's Fury

3x HIdden Power

3x Molten Gold

3x Out of the Mist

3x Blood Chains

1x Choke

1x Ice Trap

Brennen 4 A New Hope: Consistent strong showing at many tournaments Credit: Kian Jones

There are many, many versions of this deck. The idea is to stick as much direct Phoenixborn damage in Brennen as you can, and rush burn. Brennen decks of this fashion can very often do enough direct player damage to win in Round 3 of the game. This burn style is good to keep in mind, as well, when constructing for tournaments.

https://play.plaidhatgames.com/ashes/deck/brennen-4-new-hope

Brennen Blackcloud

2 Ceremonial

3 Charm

5 Nature

3x Chant of Revenge

3x Summon Butterfly Monk

2x Gilder

3x Enchanted Violinist

1x Open Memories

3x Molten Gold

3x Choke

3x Ice Trap

3x Final Cry

3x Sympathy Pain

3x Redirect

The Southern Dandy: Gencon 2016 winner Credit: Matt Bauers

This deck championed a major tournament has inspired basically every Leo and Owl deck since Leo's release.

https://play.plaidhatgames.com/ashes/deck/southern-dandy

Leo Sunshadow

5 Ceremonial

5 Charm

3x Summon Three-Eyed Owl

3x Summon Orchid Dove

1x Summon Dread Wraith

3x Summon Blood Puppet

2x Fire Archer

1x Open Memories

3x Sympathy Pain

3x Final Cry

3x Redirect

3x Blood Chains

3x Regress

2x Poison

Luck 14: Gencon 2016 3rd place Credit: Elliot Kramer

A competitive Coal list. Some variation of this is what I think of, when I think of how Coal can win.

https://play.plaidhatgames.com/ashes/deck/luck-14-0

Coal Roarkwin

2 Ceremonial

4 Illusion

4 Nature

3x Chant of Protection

3x Chant of Revenge

3x Summon Butterfly Monk

1x Summon Frostback Bear

3x Summon Shadow Spirit

2x Anchornaut

2x Hammer Knight

2x Blood Chains

3x Hidden Power

3x Mist Typhoon

1x Molten Gold

3x One Hundred Blades

1x Choke

Fear the Bear: A top tier deck for years Credit: Nick Conley and Daf

Jessa is one of the more aggressive Phoenixborn, dealing with Fear and big units has proven to be a lot to deal with in Round 1.

(I was unsure of who to credit here, as so many versions of this deck have existed. While Nick had the oldest version that I could find, Daf's version is more after the Enchanted Violinist nerf.)

https://play.plaidhatgames.com/ashes/deck/so-long-theres-blood-vol2

Jessa Na Ni

3 Illusion

3 Ceremonial

4 Nature

1x Summon Frostback Bear

3x Summon Butterfly Monk

3x Chant of Revenge

1x Fire Archer

2x Hammer Knight

2x Stormwind Sniper

3x Blood Chains

3x Fear

2x Hidden Power

2x Molten Gold

1x Choke

3x Final Cry

3x Ice Trap

1x Regress

Vicky Meteor: Ashes International League 1st place (season 1) and Gencon 2017 Top 8 Credit: Matt Bauers and Christian Pratt

Since the deck doesn't have much description in the link, I'll speak to this, a bit. The deck currently exists in MANY variations, but I think that this version, with Butterfly Monks was when it was at its peek. Using Illusionary Cycle and Abundance, Vicky takes all of your dice, then plays a crippling Meteor near the end of a round, then she summons her own units and attacks, trying to finish the game by attacking on her first turn of the next round.

"Vicky Meteor" is a generic term for any deck that wants to win with this style. If you plan in playing in any major tournament, you have to keep this deck in mind.

https://play.plaidhatgames.com/ashes/deck/doomsday-vicky-2

Victoria Glassfire

3 Divine

3 Nature

4 Illusion

3x Summon Butterfly Monk

3x Abundance

2x Shifting Mist

3x Summon Shadow Spirit

1x Summon Emperor Lion

1x Holy Knight

1x Molten Gold

3x Hidden Power

3x Illusionary Cycle

1x Steady Gaze

3x Heal

3x Meteor

2x Particle Shield

1x Ice Trap

Duck and Cover: The first of a prominent strategy Credit: Adam Tarr

There have been a lot of decks, since the release, that have relied on Elephants. They are largely used for their immunities. This is one of the first of many decks that focused on using the Elephants' immunities to counter the drawbacks of your own cards, in Kneel and Meteor. Both of those cards being run next to Elephants has been a common siting. Both Elephants and Turtles have spent a lot of time on top, and these high life units are good enough to plan strategies around.

https://ashes.live/decks/view/970/

Victoria Glassfire

5 Illusion

3 Divine

2 Charm

3× Abundance

3× Magic Purity

3× Summon Shadow Spirit

1× Summon Turtle Guard

3× Elephant Rider

1× Polarity Mage

3× Hand Tricks

3× Hidden Power

3× Illusionary Cycle

3× Kneel

3× Meteor

1× Call To Action

Astrea: Ashes International League 1st place (season 2) Credit: Jason Pere

This deck shows off the power of Astrea and Hypnotize at the same time. Astrea's Beguile works really well with Orchid Doves (and watch out for the upcoming Admonishers!) and her Mark of the Goddess does not have any strong counters. Outside of that, Elephants and Holy Knights are both very strong units, when combined with Hypnotize. Both units are next to invulnerable, in the right situations, so getting those big hits through is very big, and has been a reason for the recent increase of Redirect in the current meta. Both pieces of this deck (Astrea's kit and Hypnotize/Elephants) work separately, and this deck does a great job of showcasing both.

https://ashes.live/decks/view/1382/

Astrea

1 Ceremonial

4 Charm

5 Divine

1× Hypnotize

1× Summon Emperor Lion

3× Summon Orchid Dove

1× Summon Three-Eyed Owl

1× Summon Winged Lioness

1× Elephant Rider

1× Holy Knight

1× Imperial Ninja

1× Polarity Mage

3× Blood Chains

2× Heal

3× Kneel

3× Redirect

3× Devotion

3× Mark Of The Goddess

2× Power Through

Magnitude 11: Ashes International League Top 8 and Slam Jam winner Credit: Carl

This is another aggressive deck. It puts out a mess of aggressive units in Round 1 to try and gain an advantage, then keeps the pressure on.

Orrick Gilstream

1 Sympathy

1 Ceremonial

2 Illusion

3 Nature

3 Divine

1× Cut The Strings

3× Frost Bite

1× Gravity Training

2× Law Of Assurance

1× Summon Frostback Bear

1× Summon Winged Lioness

3× Hammer Knight

1× Holy Knight

1× Sleeping Bear

3× Sonic Swordsman

3× Blood Chains

2× Enlightenment

3× Hidden Power

1× Molten Gold

3× Crescendo

1× Ice Trap

I hope that the above is helpful to many of you new and existing players! Feel free to discuss and ask questions below. I will attempt to update this list as the game continues to grow.

It is important to note that not all of these decks are in their current best form, due to meta shifting and new cards.

Not all of the links seem to be working right. You can just copy and paste the whole link, and that should work. There is useful information in many of those links.