Hello and welcome to this very special edition of Silver Lining. While we usually build a deck with only three weeks worth of daily rewards and the in the cards starting collection, today we are going to throw something new into the mix. We are going to take the newly released Nethershriek Negation precon deck, and use our usual 94000 silver budget (three weeks of daily rewards) to improve it.

The Deck

Assuming you’ve purchased one copy of the Nethershriek Negation deck, let’s take a look at what you got and how it works:

2 Razortooth Stalker

2 Riftlasher

2 Thundergale Invoker

2 Warbringer Uranti

2 Wind Primordial

2 Windcaller Shaman

2 Xithian Rotfiend

2 Yeti Warcaller

1 Byzerak Frostmaiden

1 Emberwind Evoker

1 Firefist Uranti

1 Storm Bringer

1 Uranti Warstoker

1 Windborn Hellion

2 Spiritleash

1 Aerial Surge

1 Conflagrate

1 Frostshatter Strike

1 Group Meal

1 Nethershriek

1 Tremorcharge

This deck has two main themes; it has some cards that support a high Mobility theme, and other cards that support a yetis theme. Today we are going to expand on the Mobility theme, and turn this into a more streamlined deck. Our new and improved deck will center on Emberwind Evoker and Windborn Hellion; two cards that encourage playing mobile creatures. Both of the powerful legends included in the precon deck fit nicely into this theme.

The Cards

Emberwind Evoker: The star of the deck. Buffing your creatures while they move enables you to push through extra damage or create favorable trades that leave your creatures alive to strike again another day.

Byzerak Drake / Wind Primordial: Additional mobile threats with solid stats at all levels.

Windborn Hellion: With all of your creatures moving around, this creature can get very big very quickly. The deck also includes some ways to move him around, letting him buff himself.

Umbruk Glider / Xithian Rotfiend: Every deck needs some high attack cards that can be played as underdrops, and these guys fit that role nicely. You don’t need to level them early, and they will still be able to make clean trades at later player levels. Glider has the added bonus of having mobility, so Evokers can buff him.

Razortooth Stalker: Your most powerful threat. This guy can grow out of control at later levels with just a few hits and some help from Emberwind Evokers. Play in an empty lane as often as possible, preferably with space to move beside him.

Grimgaunt Predator: Using your copy from the starter deck, GGP provides a strong late game, especially when paired with removal.

Thundergale Invoker: While he doesn’t have Mobility himself, Thundergale can move your other creatures in ways your opponent might not expect, leading to favorable trades. They can also enable extra Evoker and Windborn triggers, buffing your team. Their bodies are fairly small, but can be used as chump blockers, or paired with removal to take down larger creatures.

Storm Bringer: Although it’s a little unpredictable, Storm Bringer is an absolute pain for your opponent to deal with, and can push through lots of damage over the course of the game.

Byzerak Frostmaiden: One of the brand new cards featured in the precon deck, Frostmaiden can terrorize a board, moving around and eating creature after creature.

Nethershriek: Another brand new card, Shriek acts like removal but leaves a body behind leading to card advantage. When paired with Thundergale, you can get move it in front of additional creatures and get even more free kills out of it.

Group Meal: Use this spell when your opponent has set up even trades to turn them into favorable trades and devastate your opponent’s board. Ideally you will end up with several high attack creatures that they still need to answer.

Flame Lance / Frostshatter Strike: Every deck needs some amount of removal because even the most powerful plans don’t always work exactly as intended all the time. Removal lets you counter your opponent’s threats while you piece you plan back together. Both of these particular spells pair removal with the ability to push through some extra damage, so they are a good choice for our aggressive deck.

The List

3 Byzerak Drake

3 Emberwind Evoker

3 Razortooth Stalker

2 Umbruk Glider

3 Wind Primordial

3 Windborn Hellion

2 Thundergale Invoker

2 Xithian Rotfiend

1 Byzerak Frostmaiden

1 Grimgaunt Predator

1 Storm Bringer

2 Flame Lance

2 Group Meal

1 Nethershriek

1 Frostshatter Strike

The Plan

How you should play this deck doesn’t change much throughout the game. At each level, play your mobile threats in either open lanes or lanes where they can trade favorably. Prioritize Emberwind Evokers over other cards because they will make the rest of your cards better. It’s usually better to play creatures to block and trade than to play removal. Leveling creatures over removal will pay off in later levels, since removal has limited targets but you can always play a creature.

While the deck is fairly straightforward in its leveling priorities, it’s very important to place your creatures optimally. This can be tricky sometimes. The key is to place immobile creatures in lanes 1 and 5, leaving the middle of the board open so your mobile creatures can move around. Play mobile creatures in lanes that give them the most options to move the next turn. This is especially important with Razortooth since it needs to hit your opponent to be effective.

As tempting as it may be, try to avoid playing Thundergale in lane 3, especially in Player Level 1 (PL1). Putting a creature you can’t move in lane 3 effectively splits the board in half and will severely restrict the movement of your Mobility 1 creatures. In PL2 and PL3 it’s less of an issue since more of your creatures will have Mobility 2 and can jump over the middle lane.

It’s a good habit to plan out all of your actions for a turn before executing them, so you can ensure you can move as many creatures as possible to take advantage of an Evoker or Hellion you have out.

If you find yourself falling behind, try to make favorable blocks with your mobile creatures. The next turn you can move them in front of another creature to trade, getting a 2- for-1 and catching back up with your opponent.

The Next Level

Here are some cards you can keep an eye out for to add extra punch to your deck:

Storm Bringer / Grimgaunt Predator / Byzerak Frostmaiden: More copies of the same card makes for a more consistent deck, especially with such powerful threats.

Doomwing, Dire Drake: Mobility? Check. Destroys guys for free? Check. Aggressive body? Check. Need I say more?

Frostshatter Strike: With all of the Mobility in this deck, your creatures are likely each hitting your opponent multiple times, which makes me favor the attack buff on Strike over the direct damage on Lance. Switch additional Strikes out for lances as you collect more of them.

Hopefully this article was helpful. If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to PM me, MyrMaster, in the SolForgeGame.com forums or leave a comment below. Also, feel free to challenge me online or to submit a budget deck idea for a future column. See you next time.