I have visited my relatives, had good time there but went back depressed, I don't know why. I played GU on WR at late night to feel happier and didn't make a great result (in Mythic, descending to Ethereal): 11/25. This is 4 MJ packs, not so bad but I prefer having 25 MJ cards as a WR reward so I kept playing to get a "What a mortal!" pack for 30 wins.

Then, I recollected that they give $GODS on weekends so I kept playing... until I got 67 wins 😄

UPD: They give $GODS only for wins within 25 games of WR which is stated here.

And - ta-dah! - I am back to Mythic, back to good prizes 😀

Upgraded Deck and Skills. 83% win rate against Magic!

I was trying many cards. The goal was to improve the win rate against Magic which was awful. Meanwhile, the win rate against other domains was decent.

So this is the upgraded deck that has given me a pass back to Mythic:

Deck code: GU_1_2_CCmCCmCDDCDDIAlIAlKCaKCaBFqBFqIClIClCCqCFTCFTICtICyKCZKCZKCbKCbGBnGBnBEoBEoICHKCsKCsCAJCAJ

These are my last games on my way back to Mythic:

5 wins out of 6. Of course, this is a too small sample and this is an issue of luck as well but the progress is obvious.

Some details are below with the emphasis on how to beat Magic.

Bound by Her Will

Priestess of Takhat of MJ Deception 😀 (from the point of importance).

Stealing adorable Pyreshell Beetle. Broccolis are other easy goals for Bound by Her Will

Combos of Bound by Her Will with strength-stealers are one of the core things. Probably, you know how it works:

• make enemy creature's strength = 1 (or 0)
• steal that creature with Bound by Her Will

However, Bound by Her Will is good against Magic too. I keep it to steal Choralis Rune Moth, All-Seeing Spire, Schoolteacher, Oni Spellsword, Stormtress. Once, I stole Poly. 🙂

Early Strike by Low-Mana Creatures Against Magic

For non-Magic domains, I prefer mulligan 1 Bound by Her Will, 1 strength-stealer and a hitter like Armor Lurker or Switch Duelist. Because my purpose is to get control of the board. But in case of Magic, I prefer hitting hard by low mana-creatures as early as possible without trying to save these creatures.

I don't mind getting the following set in mulligan: Whisper Baron, Armor Lurker, and Switch Duelist.

I prefer hitting on turn 4 (or 5) when Mages have limited means of killing hidden creatures. Sometimes, they kill all the mob before the strike, sometimes they can't kill it even after the creatures are open.

The general idea is to make around 10 damage with low-mana creatures before the Mage can do much. It can be a hidden creature buffed with Dark Knives as well. But better to save Dark Knives for the late game.

Frumentarii

Slightly humble stats, I tried excluding it from the deck but nothing is more powerful than drawing extra cards.

Getting it as early as possible is important. Having it at the moment when you play strength-stealers is important.

Counterfeit

A must-include. Almost every Mage has a couple of Lightning Talisman that are very bad for low-health hidden creatures. I would prefer Iron-Tooth Goblin (Guild!) but I don't have it.

Heroic Brawler

I am an official fan of that creature. A while ago, I was so much impressed with it so I bought several extra cards and this is what I have in my inventory as the result 😀:

The cost was around 0.00004 ETH for one, it was before the Shiny Fusing announcement.

When I play Heroic Brawler against Magic, I use hit-face-and-hide scheme - a well-known tactics that is usually implemented to Guild Enforcers.

Heroic Brawler, when it's alone, buffs itself so it has 6/6 at the end of the turn you summon it. So you can hide it with god power every turn without its health melting and with its strength growing.

Waiting until 7 mana is open isn't usually smart so I can't hide Heroic Brawler on the turn it is summoned. This is risky.

In the same manner, I use Guild Enforcers. 2 Heroic Brawlers and 1 or 2 Guild Enforcers - some of them reach the opponent's god. Dark Knives are super useful in that situation. Stoneskin Poison is often needed to clear the way of frontlines.

Ideally, at the moment of Heroic Brawler assault, the opponent's god is already seriously damaged by the early attack I described above. So you need to hit 3-4 times with Heroic Brawler to achieve victory.

Reflection Elementalist

I am a lucky one who bought 2 Reflection Elementalists in winter 2021-2022 "just to try" and never sold them. Now they cost 0.01 ETH each, these are my most expensive cards.

Reflection Elementalist needs a creature to turn it into its reflection, the second Reflection Elementalist. MJ Deception has many small ones for that goal - echoes, for instance. For example, when I have 6 mana open, I sometimes play 1-mana Shadowstep Backstabber and, then, turn it into the second Reflection Elementalist. You get 14 stats for 6 mana in that case (3+3/4+4) + 2 wards.

Reflection Elementalist is great against every domain. I believe, it is going to especially be in demand in the MJ era because of all these echoes and abundance of spells.

Worth mentioning that Reflection Elementalist makes a great combo with Lady Marcella. You can turn Lady Marcella into the second Reflection Elementalist so your opponent won't have her deadly Rogue Skulkers.

Reflection Elementalists' ward keeps them safe from sleep which is crucial while playing against Witherfingers and Demogorgons.

Lightfoot Informant

I had this many times: Patient Pickpocket copies a Magic creature when you urgently need any destructive spell, anything.

One copied spell can change the game - Metamorphosis, for example, or a powerful direct damage spell. A copied creature? Most probably, it will be killed by the Mage before it can change anything. 😀 I don't mention that Patient Pickpocket dies too often (when playing against Magic) without hidden spelled by god power.

I have played Cutthroat Insight as well. This is an amazing card but the mana cost is very high.

Ludian Thespian Potentially (I Don't Have It)

A great temptation... I still hope I'll get it in reward packs.

Cons:

• not beefy at all
• it doesn't belong to Guild
• paying 4 mana for +2 strength? Assassin Aim gives +3 strength and hidden but I don't have space for it in my deck. Do I have space for Ludian Thespian? I don't know. I must try it for sure.

Lethal Prowler Potentially

I've learnt this from a Deception person who played against me. Lethal Prowler works as godblitz: for example, you summon Lethal Prowler, then you hit the face with Heroic Prawler, and Lethal Prowler attacks the god as well on the same turn it was summoned. Awesome!

If You Have Advice How To Beat Magic With Deception

Please share it. Mages "steal" WR legendary packs from me. 😀 I would like to improve my deck and skills as much as possible.