Last time, I said I was going to be writing about [Summoning Portal] Warlock control, and when I said that I had a deck in mind ready to go. Recently, I’ve been teaching two friends of mine from college to play the game; all the while using them as test dummies for my creations. So after about four weeks of testing and about 120 games with this deck versus seven or eight decks in the field I think I finally have this deck where I like it.

If you know me, I’m a huge fan of consistency in my decks. I’ll play a deck that is less powerful than another one, if it gives me the ability to consistently draw the best cards in my deck. What that does is lead me to play cards like [Fel Trade] and [Ancestral Awakening], but with both of those cards missing from the block format, I guess I’ll have to settle for the Mage card gone Warlock [Summoning Portal]. If you haven’t already played with [Summoning Portal] then you’re missing out. Allies are the cards that do the dirty work in killing your opponent, and finding the best one each turn to torment your opponent is very thrilling. Therefore, I decided to try a version each of Horde and Alliance Warlock.

The Horde version didn’t work out too well probably because I didn’t put enough effort into it and I enjoyed playing the Alliance version too much. With the Horde version on the sidelines, I fiddled with the Alliance version over the past month, and my deck currently looks like this:


Hero: [Victor Baltus]
[Victor Baltus back]

Allies: 35
4 [Sardok]
3 [Bronze Drake]
4 [Varandas Silverleaf]
4 [Emerald Soldier]
4 [Jhuunash]
4 [Obsidian Drudge]
1 [Maazhum]
2 [Obsidian Drakonid]
1 [Shadowseer Calista]
1 [Tidus the Relentless]
1 [Obsidian Enforcer]
1 [Obsidian Skyterror]
1 [Gerana Sparkfist]
1 [Obsidian Pyrewing]
1 [Sinestra]
1 [Al’Akir the Windlord]
1 [Malfurion Stormrage]

Abilities: 8
4 [Summoning Portal]
4 [Life Tap]

Locations: 4
4 [Twilight Citadel]

Quests: 13
4 [Challenge to the Black Flight]
3 [The Crucible of Carnage: The Twilight Terror]
4 [Twilight Extermination]
2 [The Torch of Retribution]

As with most decks with a toolbox element, it looks all over the place. There’s one-of cards everywhere, and it makes it look like the person who constructed the deck didn’t have the money to obtain all the cards he/she wanted to finish the deck. I promise you however this deck is really sweet, and does some really awesome things. Note, most my block ideas come from decks I or my teammates have drafted before because that is where you can see interactions between most of the commons. In draft, you should be drafting for a deck, and in that deck you want cards that combo well together, and in a deck with [Summoning Portal] that is very important as well.

I started this deck with the objective of beating the Paladin/Death Knight/Warrior versions of the [Twilight Citadel] + [Etched Dragonbone Girdle] decks. The original list featured many more ways to punish those decks such as [Brimi Tinkerblade] but I found her unnecessary overall. What I did find necessary in the deck was keeping high power allies in the early game that could swing the tempo in my favor. The deck struggles coming back from large deficits, but when the game is close or the deck is slightly behind on the board, it performs very well.

When considering the need for early allies in block constructed decks I start out by looking at what is effective in draft decks. The most annoying one drop in the format to face on the play or draw is [Sardok]. The pet just does so much, and his Physical Resistance is nothing to ignore when some of the best finishers are weapons like [Wild Hammer] and [Akirus the Worm-Breaker]. [Sardok] is the card that the deck wants to open on the most, but four one drops in a format that is very aggressive is not enough, so I also have some [Bronze Drake]s to slow the opponent down. Currently, every one of my non-aggro decks has at least two [Bronze Drake]s and almost everyone of them has four. He is not so powerful that he is format warping; most aggressive starts are immediately stifled by this one card, and I expect more decks to include him. Even in the late game [Bronze Drake] is basically an [Arcane Shot] to an opposing ally helping [Varandas Silverleaf] finish off some late game allies.

Speaking of [Varandas Silverleaf], he’s the real deal. In draft you should not be passing him too often, and in block he’s the Alliance [Timriv the Enforcer]. [Varandas Silverleaf] is the reason this deck has only one stash card, and the reason I’m playing 17 resources (about 7 more than I usually play). Varandas is a card that crushes the aggressive decks that don’t have aberration allies, all the while decimating the control decks relying on [Sinestra] to end the game. [Varandis Silverleaf] alone is a reason to play Alliance while [Timriv the Enforcer] is a reason to be Horde, and I could not imagine playing less than four of him. The other two-drop is [Emerald Soldier], and while it is not as powerful, it could be just as important. Healing is a huge flaw for this deck as the best healing ally is probably [Neptulon the Tidehunter] but it is so late in the game I’d rather play an ally that can destroy my opponent’s hero. I play [Emerald Soldier] in many of my aggressive decks, but it is much better in a deck like this that wants to trade it off for an opposing early drop while also late in the game healing the hero with all the extra quests. Also because of cards like [Life Tap] which cause a self-inflicted suicide, [Emerald Soldier] helps to stem the bleeding from my desire to draw more cards.

While the three drops feature the deck’s best ally, it usually is not played as early as turn three. [Jhuunash] is normally a five or six drop in the deck because you want to make sure [Victor Baltus] is flipped to give the Demon an additional +1/+1. [Jhuunash] is the finisher of the deck, and is searched up about a third of the time just to be a huge monster. There’s not much in block that deals with him, and in a deck with nearly limitless copies of the ally it’s hard to beat it. [Obsidian Drudge] is the real consolation to the [Twilight Citadel] + [Etched Dragonbone Girdle] decks. I will admit I really dislike this ally as a four of, and he would be the first thing I cut to three, but if the format going into DMF Philadelphia is still talking about those decks, then four of Drudge is a must. I dislike playing him just to trade, if that is the best play you can make then most of the time I’d make it, but this deck has so much to do with all of its resources each turn, that I wouldn’t normally be trading off [Obsidian Drudge] for the likes or [Loriam Argos].

Now we have the awesome cards; the cards that when you draw them, the opponent won’t know to play around them, but at any time you can go find one with the help of [Summoning Portal]. It is very important in a deck like this to have a variety of answers while also using diversified threats because certain cards are better in certain matchups. I decided to keep most pets from the deck because there’s already eight with the [Sardok]s and [Jhuunash]s, so only one [Maazhum] is in the deck. [Maazhum] is a very powerful card, and like [Emerald Soldier] helps the deck deal with aggressive starts and the damage you take from your own [Life Tap]s. I seldom search up [Maazhum] because [Tidus the Relentless] is a better finisher (possibly the best of the four allies I consider finishers) but if I need to gain a few life [Maazhum] comes to the rescue and gives a nice sized threat to boot.

With the inclusion of [Twilight Citadel] nearly every black/twilight dragon is in the deck. I omitted a few because they are either too difficult to set up, or they are better in multiples (like [Twilight Drake]). [Obsidian Drakonid] is to deal with cards like [Aspect of the Wild] and [Flame Orb] which are real threats in this format with little ability removal. The rest of the dragons are to deal with specific situations rather than cards. The [Obsidian Enforcer] and the [Obsidian Skyterror] are both to fight decks with faction based allies and dragons. The [Obsidian Pyrewing] is my favorite ally in the deck, it doesn’t win the game, but many times it can do so much damage to the opponent’s resources that it essentially wins the game. I actually play [Summoning Portal] for this ally quite a lot, and I wouldn’t mind my opponent’s getting strong draws with their location in play so I can destroy it!

The finishers in the deck are actually the hardest part in this format. There’s no [King Varian Wrynn] to play as an “I Win Button,” instead you need to work for your victories. The easiest inclusions are [Sinestra] and [Tidus the Relentless], which are both huge nukes that can kill the opponent very quickly because of ferocity. I prefer [Sinestra] over [Tidus the Relentless], but you still need both because many times you don’t have the cards to sacrifice to [Sinestra]. After that is choosing the best two allies based on power level and I think the two best are [Al’Akir the Windlord] and [Malfurion Stormrage]. If you didn’t read my tournmanet report for NACC, shame on you, but you also missed out on how powerful [Al’Akir the Windlord] is. Many of my rounds I plopped him down on the board and the opponents just died. In block, it’s not to much different, [Sinestra] keeps Al’Akir in check somewhat, but cards like [Ruby Enforcer] aren’t enough to deal with the power of the wind. Last up is [Malfurion Stormrage] who I absolutely love because he resurrects all your fallen champions. Your opponent killed your [Sinestra], well guess who gets to attack the opponent again? Need to heal some damage, get back an [Emerald Soldier] or [Mazzhum]. [Malfurion Stormrage] is exactly what you want out of a late game bomb, and with the help of [The Torch of Retribution], the deck effectively never runs out of fuel.

The resources in this deck are quite plentiful and yet somewhat standard but I want to talk about [Twilight Extermination] and [The Torch of Retribution] because they are somewhat odd choices. [Twilight Extermination] is in the running for top three quests in the block because of the black and twilight dragons. With the help of [Twilight Citadel] you can make a token, and play any of the black or twilight dragons in the set and sacrifice the token instantly to trigger its ability. In a pinch the quest also allows you to trigger the effect on a dragon you play instantly for two resources. Paying five to [Obsidian Drudge] + [Twilight Extermination] to destroy an equipment is a great play to keep the opponent from getting to far ahead in a game. [The Torch of Retribution] was a recent inclusion into the deck, and was designed as a way to resurrect [Malfurion Stormrage]. I found that to be a little to greedy even for me, but I actually liked it to shuffle back in my [Summoning Portal]s. Against aggro decks many of your [Summoning Portal]s are burned to stay alive grabbing allies like [Varandas Silverleaf] and [Jhuunash] while resourcing the big bomb allies on the early turns when quest drops are missed. Therefore, using Torch to shuffle back in those powerful allies and more importantly, [Summoning Portal]s, was an awesome inclusion that I can thank one of my friends who is learning to play for.


Other cards to consider in this deck are: [Rufus Claybourne], [Jessa the Lifebound], [Prince Anduin Wrynn], and [Thrall, Guardian of the Elements]. I left each of these out of the deck because I feel they don’t do enough to actually win the game. Jessa is just a weaker version of [Jhuunash], and the deck didn’t need a third of the monstrous Demon. Thrall is a card I’m still looking to find a home for, but I just can’t see him fitting into this version of the deck, he’s just not as awesome as all the other allies you can be playing. [Prince Anduin Wrynn] is actually the next ally I wanted to include in the deck because he basically ends the game with the help of any Human ally, however, with a lack of Human allies in the deck, [Sinestra] earned the slot. Lastly, [Rufus Claybourne] is a great ally but I have a couple of problems with him in this deck. First of all, he’s not a card you want to search up with [Summoning Portal] because it lets your opponent know to play around him the best they can. Second of all, he’s not powerful enough that I want to be playing three or four copies because there’s not a lot of damage based removal in the block format. Therefore, for both of these reasons I left Rufus in the extras that were on the borderline of making the deck.

I really enjoy playing this deck, it rewards knowing the format, and what your opponent is doing. If you have any questions or comments on the deck please post them in the forums as I’d love to talk more, but I’m running a bit long here. Give this deck a try before State Championships because as of now it looks like the deck to beat from my testing!