The story of my current favorite Splinterlands decks has it's roots back in when I used to play Magic the Gathering semi-professionally. There were a lot of decks I played over the years but none that stole my heart as much as Legacy Maverick. Now, decades later and in a vary different game, I've found a deck that scratches a lot of the same itches and wanted to take some time to shine a spotlight on it.
But first, what even is a Splinterlands "deck"? I've seen this term used to describe everything from the battle line you are currently running, all of your cards in a specific strategy, or even your entire collection. There seems to be a lot of confusion about this as Splinterlands is one of the first wildly popular games using the 'battle-line' ruleset first made popular by games like Tyrant Unleashed.
For clarity, when I say deck I mean a group of 6-15 cards that IMHO all play really well together in specific configurations.
When playing a tabletop wargame like Warhammer 40,000 you'll show up to the table with your toolboxes full of miniatures, find your enemy, agree on something like a mana cap, roll your unique rule-set for the game, and then deploy whatever troops you decide would best help you meet that goal in the best positional available to you. This is very very different than sitting down, shuffling, and playing Magic the Gathering and I think strategically Splinterlands shares more with wargames than traditional TCGs.
I mention this because, in wargames, you are more often able to field a unique strategy able to deal with the issues you expect to face. While this exists in MTG in side-boarding for game two and three in the Splinterlands it has a lot more to do with studying the meta for the League you are playing in and predicting what your enemy might play.
That is really really hard
So, we go back to Maverick. What do you play when you know you are going to be facing something really dangerous but you aren't sure yet how it's going to try and kill you? Maverick uses a strategy of general disruption to destabilize any opponent it faces while using creatures that have very specific strengths needed to keep your opponent on the back foot while you beat them to a pulp.
The thing that really made me fall in love with Maverick is it's ability to adapt on the fly. Because of some of the crazy synergies between the cards you can nearly always use one card to pull out wins that would never seem possible to someone learning the deck. After hundreds of games can do all kinds of crazy stuff like casting your offensive spells on your own creatures to gain life while copying your opponents land to kill them with their own win conditions. I loved it and so, I played it for years.
The Splinterlands version is a killer Earth Splinter build designed with the same goals in mine and to the same end: Win all the games you can while still being able to beat Blue. |
I hate you Alric.
Here is a stripped down version of the deck in action.
All and all the full decklist is:
Mylor Crowling
Stone Golem
Wood Nymph
Khymer Princess
Dwarven Wizard
Halfling Alchemist
Magi of the Forest
Creeping Ooze
Brownie
Furious Chicken
At only 10 cards this deck is CLEAN. Every single card in the deck works on it's own and the synergy they can create together is incredible. This deck can have two creatures casting stun, two creatures healing, two creatures providing speed buffs, and a tank with armor for 16 mana.
Your move, attack how you see fit
That's really all I should have to say here. How do you think you are going to kill this lineup (OTHER than Alric burst damage)? Even against that most supremely annoying the double stun with speed boosts can steal wins right from under that old assholes beard.
GOD I HATE ALRIC.
The rest of the cards in this deck are fairly self explanatory. Halfling Alchemist is another fantastic card for nerfing your enemies offensive potential that earns it's place here. This deck is primarily a defensive one so, when you need that damage boost, it can be very hard to beat the 3 magic damage for 4 mana Magi provides. And chicken because ... chicken, duh!
To close out this article let's take a look at SHOW ME ROCK! Taking down a fairly standard (and potent) Earth Splinter build.
My opponent here plays some of the best cards in the Earth splinter but, unfortunately, my deck just counters theirs. I have all the power I need to take them down while my Stone Golem holds their Flesh golem in line. They didn't do anything wrong, I like their deck, mine just counters it and that's why I play it. Good game opponent!
I really hope this article is helpful for you to understand the wonderful game of Splinterlands in a deeper way. Maybe you can try this deck and let me know what you think? If you have any questions please let me know! Thanks for reading!
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The games we are currently focusing on are:
Rising Star
Splinterlands
RollerCoin
UpLand
Neon District
Alien Worlds
Lost Relics
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