The last month, I've been posting my weekend ranked results with a very similar nature deck. I've also been blogging my thought process around trades in this deck.
- Swapping Black Jags for Skeleton Heavies
- Swapping Pyramid Wardens for Rabid Bears
- Add in one more anti-relic tech
Here's the deck I ran this weekend:
Deck Code:
GU_1_5_GAwIDNIDNCAuCAuCCOCCOCAvCAvIASCBhCBhBCCBCCIDKIDKCBxCBxIALIALCAsGAbIDMIDMICHICHGAnIDFIDFCDf
After some very fruitful discussion with Aftermath (one of the top Nature players I know of), I'm making one more adjustment:
Nefarious Briar -> Bronze Servant
Pilot's Guide
What makes this deck work? There are several things going on here. After playing flavors of this deck for a month, I feel qualified to speak to them.
4 HP Breakpoint
A strong focus on early creatures with 4 HP is one of the ways this deck succeeds.
Consider facing a mage opponent. Every mage player will have the following two spells equipped:
If you are running Black Jags and Marsh Walkers, they have the perfect answer. By instead running 7 (!) early creatures with 4 HP, you make tracking bolts extremely awkward for them. This goes for other gods, as well. There are a lot fewer answers for 4 HP creatures. Your opponent will exhaust their answers long before you run out of problems.
What else does this mean? When your big beasts finally hit the scene, there is so much less removal to worry about. I love seeing a Wyrmbreath used on a Rabid Bear just to drop a Moose next turn.
3 HP Card discussion
Given the importance of 4 HP, a creature with 3 HP must generate extreme value to compensate. The following three meet that criteria.
If the Finnian nerf goes live (becomes a 2/2), the deck will definitely feel it. Naturally, I'd much rather have seen a 1/3 proposal, but that may have left him too strong (hard to say).
This deck also has several ways of buffing 3 HP up into the critical 4 range.
Pings and Board Control
Another reason for this deck's success is its ability to ping creatures for control.
Always keep a Faeflame if it shows up during the mulligan. Combined with your early creatures and extra sources is ping damage, you can clear just about anything with it. Taking face damage early to establish board control (especially when starting second) is worth it.
Special nod to Selena vs Light. Light isn't too prevalent, but Selena is his worst nightmare. I haven't lost a game in a month against Light with her in play.
Limited Confused
We've only got 3 creatures (6 cards) with confused. (Rabid bears can have it if you want but don't have to.)
For a nature deck, this is a very limited amount of confusion. Not only that, but we look for Selena to remove it from our Moose and Pangolin. Most importantly, though, a little bit of confusion is easy to play around. Your other, non-confused creatures can trade where you want allowing the Pangonlin or Boar to come in guaranteeing to hit what you've left alive.
It's very rare that I have to pray to RNGeesus with this deck.
Hard Removal
This deck has plenty of options in the removal department.
Boars and Pangolins are creatures, but most often act like removal spells (leaving a creature behind is a big bonus). All of these removals have randomness in common, but combined with your pinging ability and board control, more often than not you can clear out other targets and then guarantee to hit what you want.
Relic Removal
Chiron is an auto-include card, so you'll always have at least a prayer of drawing relic removal when you need it. Bronze Servant is the next logical choice. At only 3 mana, she hits the critical 4 HP threshold and removes 2 durability from enemy relics.
I was running Nefarious Briar, but you don't get much for the extra 1 mana. Same HP. A wild tag that is meaningless in this deck. 4 durability removal, but most of the meta relics don't need that much removal. 1 extra strength and regen are the only benefits, but being able to play a servant a turn earlier (as in right after they equip the necroscepter) is worth the trade.
Finishers/Beef
We're looking to get to 5-6 mana, so when we get there, we need things to play. Luckily, this deck has 6 cards at that price point. Odds are good you've got 1 when the time comes. The early game demands so much of your opponent to keep up that most are gassed by the time these big guys start dropping.
God Power
Same as always.
Animal Bond if
- Nature
- Magic
- Death
Selena's Mark if
- Light
- War
- Deception
Why the odd curve?
Selena is the only 4-mana creature. I started off with 2x Overgrown Rhinos, but I don't miss them. Our early cards are beefy, and our god power is useful. There is almost always a good play to carry you through to your first 5-mana creature.
You could consider swapping out 2x Rabid Bear or 2x Stags for 2x Overgrown Rhinos.
Conclusion
We've had a long period of stable meta for me to fine-tune this deck to the point where it's as optimized as I can make it. The win rate is nice, but more important is the feel when playing the deck. Going first, I feel in control from the start and rarely ever lose it. Going second, I usually feel confident in my ability to take control from behind. Most often, I'm winning decisively with this deck. It's well suited to the current meta.