Welcome to my weekly blog!
I am primarily a death player, and see myself as somewhat of a cliff dweller. Usually starting the weekend in Mythic, but then proceeding to plummet off the face of the earth after a couple of games. The week is then used to grind back up the cliff face towards the light that is Mythic. I know there are many more of you out there, that are intimately familiar with this cycle.
I started playing Gods Unchained around Jan/Feb 2022 and have been hooked ever since that first game. War was actually my first love, and I had some success with aggro Vikings, even reaching Mythic as free to play, but unfortunately after the core set refresh it all went downhill. I was despondent because I had spent all my hard earned gods and eth on building up something useful which was then swiftly relegated in the metal leagues.
But then came the Divine Judgement, and along with it, the heirloom archetype for Death. I was immediately intrigued as it looked to be a cheap option to get back into the higher leagues. And so I finally took a dip and spent some fiat, acquired the bare essentials, and rocketed straight back into Mythic! It felt too good to be true, with Priestess of Takhat and Raving Necromancer sitting safely behind the unsung hero Wretched Vanguard who initially had frontline, dealing free damage.
But this didn't last long and nerfs ensued. The only heirloom decks that were viable contained some of the more expensive Genesis cards like Untold Greed and Ragnarok. Death actually has a really wide range of archetypes which includes the classic, but expensive Board Wipe Death, and all the variations thereof now that heirloom has been introduced, the new OTK with Over The Line, not to mention the classic Zombie/Nether builds.
This range of archetypes, and the absence of whale funds, led me to the decision of keeping my collection lean, focusing on Death. I believe you can always be competitive with the range of archetypes available to you, but keep in mind that when I say competitive, I only mean getting into Mythic. Doing well is dependent on the current meta, skill, and of course lots of luck! I proceeded to sell everything other than my cards in the Neutral and Death domains (a small lie because I kept a couple of Genesis War cards), and with the funds generated, bought the key cards to keep the heirloom archetype performing at a higher level.
This series will act as documentation to track progress but hopefully we can also take a look at some interesting statistics. A secondary goal is to start getting my hands on some of the key cards used in the more control orientated Death decks when the opportunities present themselves.
Let me know in the comments if there is anything in terms of data or potential insights, that you would like to see going forward.
Cheers!