I've hit on the strategy of building two or three decent silver level decks out of all my 'odds and ends' cards that aren't yielding me very much in terms of rentals.
My aim is to build small but playable silver level decks out of the more in-demand cards, focussing on Legendaries Epics as much as possible, and supplementing with the better rare and common cards.
I'm also going to prioritise Betas and Promo cards, budget allowing, and then Untamed and Dice but only buy the very best Reward cards as these have a much lower collection power than the others.
I'm after a range of melee, ranged, magic and even no attack monsters.
My reason for focussing on silver levelled cards is that I've noticed that these get some of the best rental returns (in general, there are exceptions depending on how the cards level up exactly), and I'm anticipating there being sustained demand for this level of play going forwards both in terms of rentals and purchases as this is where a lot of people are going to end up, probably for ever, given that not everyone is a crypto-millionaire with $100K to spend to stand a chance of competing in Champions III.
But there are many more people who would be prepared to stretch their assets to a few thousand pounds worth of purchases and rentals.
And I can always level cards UP from silver, if I aimed for gold or champions level cards I wouldn't be able to un-do them!
I'm starting off by considering what the best cards are for a DEATH deck - for two main reasons: I like the death splinter, it's fun to play with its focus on hexing and Mimosa is one of the cheaper legendary summoners people can rent out, which makes this Splinter more playable for the average player.
I'm looking at my deck selection from combination of a rentals-return perspective and a player's perspective, and I'm factoring in neutrals too.
Some cards are just essential as they have huge utility - such as Shadowy Presence, for example, and the Darkest Mage with affliction, others I can overlook because there are better budge neutrals - Haunted Spirit is a great tank, but I may as well just use the Onyx Sentinel for example.
NB I'm being careful to take into account which cards get their buffs at the max level for silver, very few epics get their second buff at L3, which is the max for silver, and I'll be focussing on ALL of these (budget allowing) but probably ignoring those that pick up that buff at L4, as it will be no use to me!
I have also factored in win and usage rate for Silver. There's little point buying something that people don't use or that never wins!
I've also got a fairly tight budget - so Lord of Darkness and Corrupted Pegasus, sorry, I'd love to welcome you to the deck, but you're just too pricey!
The max summoner level for sliver is four for a rare summoner which gives you max cards of 2/3/4/5
Legendary cards....
- Harklaw to L2 - this is a decent tank for money with shield and phase at Level 2, around $54 and a 100% return on rental.
- Ancient Lich to L2, 90% rental return, $120
- Fallen Spectre L2 - 100% rental return for $225 dollars
Epic cards....
- Gorloddon up to L3 - reach and true strike, $150
- Phantom Soldier up to L3 where he picks up silence and three magic damage, $230 (ouch, but a 66% win rate)
- Soulstorm - L1 is sufficient - $24
- Darkest Mage up to L3 - affliction and 2 magic damage, $80
- Screaming Banshee up to L3 - blast - $175
- Shadowy Presence up to L3 where he picks up strengthen, $100, 77% win rate!
Rare cards...
- Contessa Summoner - $200 for a level 4 silver death summoner!
- Octopider - to level 3 where he picks up demoralise - $20
- Boogeyman L1 is sufficient - $4
- DARK Astronomer - to level 4 where he picks up shatter $40
- Twisted Jester L3 - $70
- Death Elemental - to level 4 where he picks up silence
- Undead archer - Level 4 for 2 damage $80 (L1 he starts with affliction for $7.60)
- Undead Priest L3 - 1 magic damage $50
Common cards...
- Undead Badger to L5 for $70 (sneak option)
- Maggots to l6 for $70 (opportunity option) NB you wouldn't be able to use L6 in silver, so I'm thinking rentals here!
- Slimeball L1 for $0.45
Total Cost = $1800
OK so it's not exactly cheap, and it's only one deck, but that's what I think you'll need for a decent Silver level death deck.
From a Game Play Perspective I'll have the following options
I've included the buffs below, as this game is all about the buffs!
OH OF COURSE... I'll have neutrals too for most matches, so these are't ALL the cards I'll have a choice of for battling with.....
Summoners
- Contessa - really the only choice on a budget.
- Having said that you can pick up a L2 Mimosa for $600, one of the cheaper Legendary summoners
Tanks/ Melee attacks/ Reach
- Harklaw - Shield
- Gorlodden - Reach/ true strike
No attacks/ fluff
- Shadowy Presence - Strengthen
- Cursed Slimeball - N/A
Magic attacks
- Phantom Soldier - Silence
- Ancient Lich - Weaken
- Boogeyman - NA
- Darkest Mage - Affliction
- Death Elemental - Silence/ Snipe
- Screaming Banshee - Blast
- Undead Priest - N/A
- Haunted Spectre - Demoralise/ fly
Ranged attacks
- Octopider - demoralise
- Soulstorm - NA
- Dark Astronomer - shatter
- Twisted Jester - snipe
- Undead Archer - affliction
Sneak and Opportunity not already mentioned
- Maggots - opportunity
- Undead badger - sneak
Final Thoughts
OK, ok so $1800 isn't cheap for a Silver level deck, and you could cut some corners, but I think with these cards you'd be off to a pretty good start!
And if you don't have the money now, you can always rent temporarily, these are some of the better cards to look out for in Silver league for sure.