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Gen Con 2011 is over and I am finally back home. On the way home we had a slight delay due to weather, and when I say slight I mean three hours stuck on the tarmac. This delay caused us to miss our connecting flight in Chicago. With a group of nine people, trying to fly standby was a nightmare. Luckily all of us were able to make it home. For some of us we were lucky and got home three hours after we were supposed to land, for others it was a twenty two hour travel day which should have only taken six.
I am getting ahead of myself. To start off Gen Con I wanted to play in the Core iTournament Event. Not wanting to play the same old deck, I started looking at the new set. Mike Rosenberg gave me some good inspiration on how to build a new [Death Wish] deck. Today I wanted to talk about this deck so that all those players attending Poznan can consider this hot new creation.
Hero: [Lord Benjamin Tremendouson]
Master Hero: 2
2 [Deathwing the Destroyer]
Allies: 9
3 [Obsidian Drudge]
3 [Obsidian Drakonid]
3 [Sinestra]
Abilities: 15
4 [Heroic Throw]
4 [Death Wish]
3 [Reconstruct]
4 [Keys to the Armory]
Equipment: 22
4 [Guardian's Plate Bracers]
4 [Etched Dragonbone Girdle]
3 [Greaves of Ancient Evil]
1 [Shuriken of Negation]
2 [Shalug'doom, the Axe of Unmaking]
1 [Akirus the Worm-breaker]
1 [Amani Mask of Death]
1 [Hailstorm]
1 [Cloak of the Shadowed Sun]
1 [Jin'rohk, the Great Apocalypse]
1 [Fleshwerk Throwing Glaive]
1 [Edge of Oblivion]
1 [Lava Spine]
Quests/Locations
4 [Twilight Citadel]
4 [A Question of Gluttony]
4 [Concerted Efforts]
As you can tell this is not a normal [Death Wish] deck. The disadvantages of playing [Death Wish] in Core before Twilight of the Dragons was it’s inability to deal with ongoing abilities and its lack of good card draw, especially compared to [Tuskarr Kite]. This version of the deck is well suited to be able to deal with everything, plus the card draw engine in the deck ensures that you have 5 or more cards in hand every turn.
I wanted to review the deck and my choices for adding cards to the deck.
2 [Deathwing the Destroyer]
I wanted to test how good [Deathwing the Destroyer] really is. Deathwing combos well with some of the other cards in the deck, I’m looking directly at you [Sinestra], plus his effect is so powerful that some decks just scoop to him. Two seemed like the right number, because I do not want him early and I don’t want him in every matchup.
3 [Obsidian Drudge]
3 [Obsidian Drakonid]
3 [Sinestra]
The number on these allies seems straightforward. I could not bog down my deck with more allies than I included. The loss of [Vindicator’s Brand] made the deck weak to multiple cards and these Black Dragonkin gave the deck universal answers to everything.
[Sinestra] was probably the best card added to the deck. She answers some of the worst cards possible for you ([Sardok]), she allows you to create a huge army with all your equipment, and she enables you to play [Deathwing the Destroyer]. This should have been a 4 of. I was never unhappy when I drew this card. I suggest picking this card up now before she jumps up in price.
4 [Heroic Throw]
4 [Death Wish]
3 [Reconstruct]
4 [Keys to the Armory]
This is a pretty typical ability package. Some players like three [Keys to the Armory], but I knew I wanted four in this version because it grabs the [Etched Dragonbone Girdle]. These numbers seem perfect.
4 [Guardian's Plate Bracers]
3 [Greaves of Ancient Evil]
This is the armor package that should be included in any [Death Wish] deck. These numbers were perfect. You have to play 4 [Guardian's Plate Bracers] to increase your chances of drawing one on turn one. 3 [Greaves of Ancient Evil] is a good number because you are never uphappy to draw at least one copy, plus there is some value in drawing multiples because each one can be used to ready your hero to attack again.
4 [Etched Dragonbone Girdle]
This is the card draw engine in the deck. Cashing in any of your Black Dragonkin for two cards plus killing an opposing card is a great deal.
1 [Shuriken of Negation]
This is a tutor target. I do not want it in every matchup, but the matchups I want it in, its a powerhouse. I typically search for this card in the Warlock matchup.
2 [Shalug'doom, the Axe of Unmaking]
Another card that combos with Sinestra. At worst it is a [Scarlet Kris] when used with [Twilight Citadel] but when used at its full potential it can outright kill your opponent in two swings. The 0 cost is also perfect since it lets you create two tokens with Sinestra for basically no cost.
1 [Akirus the Worm-breaker]
I thought this card would be cool when combo’d with [Etched Dragonbone Girdle]. The situation never came up and as a tutor target it was rather weak. I would cut this card having played the deck now.
1 [Amani Mask of Death]
One of my favorite cards. It is the perfect answer to [Feral Spirit] and it also can single handedly win the Zombies match-up. I never wanted more than one of these, but cutting this card would be a huge mistake.
1 [Hailstorm]
This card is there to kill [Sardok]. I was surprisingly happy with this card after I realized how well it worked with [Deathwing the Destroyer] when I destroyed resources to fill up my graveyard. It was perfect as a one of.
1 [Cloak of the Shadowed Sun]
I’m unsure how I feel about this card. It was there as an answer to [Weldon Barov] but he is nowhere to be seen. I kept it in as it works well against [Ancestral Awakening], but the value of this card seems to be going down.
1 [Jin'rohk, the Great Apocalypse]
Even with the deck changing you still want to be able to hit with a [Jin'rohk, the Great Apocalypse] out of nowhere with a [Reconstruct]. Perfect as a 1 of.
1 [Fleshwerk Throwing Glaive]
I wanted additional answers to early ally rush. After playing the deck, I wish I had two of these but room is so tight, I don’t know if I could fit it.
1 [Edge of Oblivion]
With [Dethvir the Malignant] in the format, I wanted a card that could come down and kill him in one shot.
1 [Lava Spine]
I thought this would be a good answer for opposing [Death Wish] type decks that I could tutor for, but it too was never needed. I think a fourth [Obsidian Drudge] would have been better.
4 [Twilight Citadel]
Works too well with all my the Black Dragonkin and it is the other card for the main card draw engine in the deck.
4 [A Question of Gluttony]
4 [Concerted Efforts]
The best quests possible for the deck. You always have a lot of cards if you have the girdle, and [Concerted Efforts] hits too many important cards not to play.
I ended up doing well in the tournament. I finished 5-2 after going 5-0. My two losses were to Tim Batow’s Nature deck and to another Death Wish deck. In both of the match-ups I had draws without Twilight Citadel and no dragons. The loss to Tim was fine. I think it’s a slightly favorable match-up for him since he can get an endless stream of [Squall Totems]. The loss to the [Death Wish] player was a little harder to swallow. This match-up should be strongly in my favor as I can out draw him and create a great board position where I can push through damage and not be dealt any because of my armor.
After the tournament I would play the following deck:
Hero: [Lord Benjamin Tremendouson]
Allies: 9
3 [Obsidian Drudge]
3 [Obsidian Drakonid]
3 [Obsidian Enforcer]
3 [Sinestra]
Abilities: 15
4 [Heroic Throw]
4 [Death Wish]
3 [Reconstruct]
4 [Keys to the Armory]
Equipment: 22
4 [Guardian's Plate Bracers]
4 [Etched Dragonbone Girdle]
3 [Greaves of Ancient Evil]
1 [Shuriken of Negation]
2 [Shalug'doom, the Axe of Unmaking]
1 [Shadowmourne]
1 [Amani Mask of Death]
1 [Hailstorm]
1 [Cloak of the Shadowed Sun]
1 [Jin'rohk, the Great Apocalypse]
1 [Fleshwerk Throwing Glaive]
1 [Edge of Oblivion]
Quests/Locations
4 [Twilight Citadel]
4 [A Question of Gluttony]
4 [Concerted Efforts]
(Edit: I meant to cut the two Deathwing the Destroyers out of the final list. They have now been removed. - Tim)
I wanted more answers to allies that my opponent threw at me, plus more dragons to enable the girdle. I have not tested this version at all but I think it presents major improvements.
The rest of the weekend was a blur. In the team tournament we had one of the weakest pools I have seen. We tested for the event and I feel that we were prepared.
In my next article I will talk more about the Darkmoon Faire and evaluate my pool.
Thanks for reading and please feel free to discuss this article in the forums. I will check them and throw in my two cents whenever applicable.
-Tim Rivera
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