Onyxium got quite a boost from the last draft pool refresh including several high quality cards in Graveborn Glutton, Death Current, Forge Oracle and Palladium Wave. Additional rebalance changes like buffs to Tech Explorer and an additional 20 health should help improve the viability of late game control decks. Let's see how we can get the most out of this revitalized faction pair.

(Mouse over section headings for definitions.)

Core Cards



Graveborn Glutton Graveborn Glutton

Barrier Soldier Barrier Soldier

Ionic Warcharger Ionic Warcharger

Skyknight Glider Skyknight Glider

Corpulent Shambler Corpulent Shambler

Scourge Hydra Scourge Hydra

Bitterfrost Totem Bitterfrost Totem

Metatransfer Metatransfer

Vault Intruder Vault Intruder

Archetype: Late Game Stall

Lead Heroics



Onyxium Phantasm Onyxium Phantasm

Forge Oracle Forge Oracle

Necromoeba Necromoeba

Portal Shade Portal Shade

Ebonskull Knight Ebonskull Knight

H.E.R.M.E.S H.E.R.M.E.S

Fleshreaver Fleshreaver

Key Cards



Death Current Death Current

Onyxium Marauder Onyxium Marauder

Palladium Wave Palladium Wave

Necroslime Necroslime

Battletech Inventor Battletech Inventor

Tech Explorer Tech Explorer

Blood Bindings Blood Bindings

Description

I have to admit that AN is not one of my favorite faction pairings in this format, despite its larger popularity in the current draft environment. It feels very passive to me. For the first 2/3rds of the game, there's not a lot of things that you do that your opponent will actually care about, and I much prefer being proactive rather than reactive in Solforge. However, there are a couple of cards that do require a response from your opponent, and they are very valuable to the archetype as a result.

Onyxium Phantasm is an amazing defensive threat. While it doesn't kill them very quickly, it demands an answer. Your opponent has to deal with it if they hope to build any sort of board advantage. It's really the only first pick that makes me want to play Onyxium. Another solid defensive threat in AN is Barrier Soldier, perhaps the most misunderstood card in Alloyin. It is not simply life gain. It is continuous lifegain. While it doesn't threaten to decimate your opponent's board like Phantasm, aggressive decks still can't ignore it. It slows down their clock so much that they have to first deal with it before focusing their resources on your life total.

In general, the game plan for AN is to level up your win conditions in rank 1, survive rank 2, and take over the game in rank 3. The tricky part is figuring out what your win condition should be for a particular opponent and what tools you're going to need to make it throuhg rank 2. Against aggressive decks, your primary objectve is survival. Leveling priorities are more reactive creatures like Skyknight Glider, Ionic Warcharger, and defensive creatures like Barrier Soldier. Big vanilla bodies that sacrifice early tempo (Technognome and Tech Explorer) are especially risky against aggro since they can easily be ignored later in the game if you are too far behind. Versus midrange decks, leveling up your late game trump cards like Forge Oracle becomes more important. Midrange decks have a hard time applying pressure so it's easier to get them leveled in rank 1 and you're going to need a way to grind them out in rank 3 and above. Against other late game decks, you want your trump cards but also a way to push damage past big blockers. Death Current is very good for this and can even build board advantage. If you see your opponent countering Death Current with cards like Roaming Warclaw, Corpulent Shambler, or Necromoeba, use Graveborn Gluttons as incremental damage instead.

The biggest weakness of AN is falling too far behind early in the game. Most of Onyxium's best cards are single lane threats, so it's very hard to quickly turn the board around once you are behind. You may win a trade with that level 2 Forge Oracle but still be taking damage in three other lanes. It's a slow process of winning one trade at a time until your creature quality and and leveling advantage take over. If you are too far behind, your life total will run out before you stabilize. Cross-lane effects like Palladium Wave, Battletech Inventor and Barrier Soldier (there he is again!) can be very valuable for keeping you alive while you gain control of the game.