Card Draw Deception with Much Sleep. $15 Deck After Many Hours of Testing
I encountered Control Nature so many times in the last time! For Hidden Rush Deception, there is a little chance to beat it. So long games! Half an hour of torture with boredom and despair... The last set has brought to Nature even more ways to beat aggro Deception... Just no chance... Add to this Heal Light... And you'll know what I felt.
That's why I started thinking about playing something else, probably, some control deck, when I saw Resurgent Sirens and fell in love with it. 😀
Better I didn't do that - a lot of expense for control cards followed. But... I was so excited about new card-draw and sleep opportunities that I decided: I am playing for pleasure, first of all, so let's have fun even it means splurging some crypto and deranking to Midnight Shadow due to experiments with the deck.
That deck is the result of hours of playing:
God power:
Deck code: GU_1_2_IAnIAnCFLCFLBFXBFXCCWCCWNBpNBpBBJBBJKDSKDSCEQCEQNBnNBnIAkIAkNCbNCbCCgCCgGBEGBECCNCCNLAGLAG
The win rate of this deck (with slight changes) is around 60% in Midnight Shadow (where I re-ranked to due to testing). I hope to reach Auric with it.
It's a very fresh experience, I am still learning, still searching ideas (share your thoughts in the comment section!).
How to Play
THE MOST BASIC IDEA: survive until you have few cards in the deck, and then hit with Resurgent Sirens.
Why "few cards"? That's why: if your opponent's hand is full, Resurgent Sirens makes 9 damage (if Cobra Scepter equipped).
You usually need to return and summon Resurgent Sirens again or even twice, and you really have to do that on the same turn if you don't want to lose Resurgent Sirens... But how to do that? It's more complicated when you can think. Because when you play Resurgent Sirens, your own hand is shuffled too so you can't collect returning cards in advance. To solve that, you need more returning cards in the deck and you need as few cards left in the deck as possible.
Returning cards
Nightcap is a key returning card. Only 1 mana. The disadvantage is, to be able to return a friendly creature, you have to put asleep an enemy creature. If no enemy creatures on the board or they are hidden, you can't return a friendly creature.
Restless Bellkeeper can return Resurgent Sirens too. 3-mana is enough little to play Resurgent Sirens and return it with Restless Bellkeeper on the same turn.
Other cards able to return Resurgent Sirens are A Toast to Peace and Forge New Bond. If you want to play 4-mana Resurgent Sirens and return it with 5-mana Forge New Bond or A Toast to Peace, you should make some magic in advance.
I mentioned THE MOST BASIC IDEA above... Add too it another point: decrease mana-cost of one of your Resurgent Sirens with Forge New Bond during the survival period.
Forge New Bond works this way: it can return your or enemy creature to hand. At the same time, it swaps mana-cost of cards. Ideally, choose 1-mana enemy creature to return to the opponent's hand and, meanwhile, make your Resurgent Sirens cost 1-mana.
When time comes to hit with Resurgent Sirens, you'll be able to summon 1-mana Resurgent Sirens and, then, return it with A Toast to Peace or another Forge New Bond.
This is the basic idea of the deck. Now let me tell about cards.
Cards
The deck is heavily dependent on Cobra Scepter so take care of it. I often set this relic as early as possible. At some point, it can be removed with a relic remover but no problem... And I keep the second one for the final Resurgent Sirens operation.
Preventing relic removers: the deck has a lot of sleep and Surprise Delivery so the aggro opponent often doesn't have space on the board to play a relic remover. As for relic removing spells, they are not that often.
Cutthroat Insight is for the same reason here: pull away a relic remover or Dearly Departed which can steal one of the Resurgent Sirens.
Dark Precarion, besides the obvious, you can return it and repeat casting sleep.
Spellbound, only 1 mana and two creatures fall asleep.
Hypnos Puzzle Box is a way to max-out hand of the opponent at the very last moment, unexpectedly for the opponent. I also often cast it right before Resurgent Sirens to full the hand and max-out the damage dealt by Resurgent Sirens + Cobra Scepter. Hypnos Puzzle Box is also a 1-mana sleep spell which is amazing.
Made Mark - you need it to crowd the hand of the opponent as well as to draw more cards for yourself. Very useful. Additional use: you can use it to swap mana cost of Resurgent Sirens from 4 to 1 by means of Forge New Bond.
Restless Bellkeeper cost only 3 mana and can return Restless Bellkeeper. But it also has a decent 3/4 body to deal extra damage. If you play A Toast To Peace soon, you'll have her back to use its returning power again later.
Surprise Delivery makes extra damage (additional to final damage made by Resurgent Sirens). But it also helps a lot to overcrowd the opponent's hand and prevent playing relic removers. Surprise Delivery synergizes with A Toast To Peace either.
A Toast To Peace - a key card. Slow down the opponent, max-out their hand, and remove creatures by returning them to full hand.
Elixir of the Panther and Exorcise offer a lot of sleep, and that's what we need.
Encumbered Looter, we know it well. A good way to get extra card at the early stage (along with Made Mark).
Alternatives
Dearly Departed is good card to include. You can steal a relic remover with it or other dangerous creature, and after that return in to your hand. But spending returning cards for the secondary goal - I think, not good. But I keep this card in mind.
Kaya is an interesting option considering that reaching mana 8 and even 9 is often for this deck.
Fighting Fair, I thought about. But it doesn't synergize with the rest of the cards.
The same about Stoneskin Poison.
There are no removers in the deck. Instead, you remove creatures by returning them to maxed-out hand of the opponent. And that synergizes with the rest cards and the whole card draw concept.
Rapture Dance can work well here (I played it within this deck) but I can say the same about it - it doesn't belong to the archetype. It removes cards from the board - that's not good for the card draw.
Ember Oni recharges your god, great, but it kills creatures that isn't good for the card draw archetype and it can't protect your against aggro War (probably, the worst matchup for this deck).
The list of alternatives can be long... I played Puppeteer
and these ones
But they weren't enough well. I think it's because you can't win the game with one or two stolen creatures - the opponent's hand is full and they can find a remover for the stolen or copied creature.
Summary
You should survive until you have few cards in the deck, and then hit with Resurgent Sirens. On the way, decrease mana-cost of one of your Resurgent Sirens with Forge New Bond. All the game, try to keep the opponent's hand maxed-out to make him lose cards. Return enemy creatures into maxed-out hand to remove them.
Mulligan: I often choose Cobra Scepter, Surprise Delivery, and Resurgent Sirens (to have it when I draw Forge New Bond); Made Mark and Looter are usually good choices too. But mulliganing is a thing to master for a long while - I am on the way of that.
Love playing the deck and trying to enhance it! If you have ideas, please share in the comment section below!
I like these kinds of decks but they are often difficult to play and don't work as often as I wish they would do. It's still fun to play and you learn a lot about mechanics.
I will probably test your deck later this evening. Looks like fun.
Good luck with your weekend grind.
Thank you! Yes, much fun. And not more difficult to play than hidden rush Deception. How strong this deck is, it's a question. But the fact I started winning with it in Ranked is a good sign.
This archetype is supported by the last set, and it means something. My deck is an attempt to find out how to play Dread Awakening Deception. Even there is no correct card combination at all to reach Mythic with, it might appear after the set will be balanced.
!DHEDGE ! ALIVE
Okay, I've reached Auric with this deck (a slightly modified one):
🤠
Walk the Plank is fantastic for this deck, it returns a creature twice (manasurge 6) and that's how you kill enemy creatures considering that opponent's hand is almost always full. Or you can use Walk the Plank to return your own ones, like Resurgent Sirens 😀
Looks interesting... Let me try this. Just finished my post about hiking and our day in Greifswald.
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I tried Resurgent Sirens once in my new Dread Nature deck, but it seems not to fit. It is good to know that it found its place in a deception deck.
Yes, it has found the place. But would be good to make my deck stronger against aggro. The last version reflecting this intention:
Unfortunately, I can find no traces what other people have found out about Card Draw Deception. Would be good to learn from others.
Same here, I haven't seen anyone using card draw deception.