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It seems like it's been quite awhile since I last wrote my last Deck Clinic article, as I had a few in storage for the last past weeks. As I sit to write this, I'm still trying to decide on a deck for States. I've gotten a lot of great emails from the many readers of Daily MetaGame (I'm serious, I'm getting like 5+ decks a day to look at, which is great but don't be too offended if I don't pick your deck or test it out fully as I've only got so much time). I opened my email one morning a week or so ago to find this email:
Hi Sean!
I have been trying to get a Vorix burn deck to work more efficiently. I figured you were a great way to submit to help:
Hero: [Vorix Zorbuzz]
[Vorix Zorbuzz back]
Equipment: 7
4 [Perdition's Blade]
3 [Abomination Knuckles]
Abilities: 39
4 [Seal Fate]
4 [Gouge]
4 [Slay the Feeble]
4 [Sap]
3 [Tormenting Gouge]
4 [Steal Steel] (stealing [Etched Dragonbone Girdle]s)
4 [Aggressive Exploitation]
4 [Sinister Strike]
4 [Fan of Knives]
4 [Carnage]
Locations: 4
4 [Twilight Citadel]
Quests: 10
4 [Corrosion Prevention]
4 [Mystery Goo]
2 [Cleansing Witch Hill]
I figured about half the field would be plate so figured [Steal Steel] would be optimum with [Twilight Citadel]. So any help smoothing out the draws would be appreciated!
-Timm Trepanier,
Top 8 Finalist, DMF Las Vegas 2011
**Timm doesn't actually use that as a footnote on his emails, but he should!**
So I responded to Timm's email, breaking the unfortunate news that [Slay the Feeble] was out of Block, which was a big loss. Not to count a deck out without trying it, I put it together on MWS and proceeded to test it against one of the best decks in the format, Nature Hunter. Here's the email I sent back to Timm:
Timm,
I was testing the deck out last night. I usually start my Block testing against Nature Hunter, as it's a solid deck and arguably the most popular deck for this format.
The deck could win, but the wins where far and few between, stemming quite a bit from going first in the game. The issues I found with the list that you sent really came down to the draw. Vorix of old won because you had incredible, free draw with [Surge of Adrenaline] and without it, the deck suffers from what a lot of Block decks suffer from; no real way to create card advantage. Your removal is mostly 1-for-1 (save for [Fan of Knives] and [Carnage]—which are both awesome and swing temp back your way) and damage output depends solely on having a huge amount of cards.
One card that I felt was noticeably absent from your list and I really think should be added is [Prey on the Weak].
So, thinking of way to be able to draw a huge amount of cards, I went back to the drawing board and reexamined the cards available to Rogue and stumbled upon [Adrenaline Rush] from the Class starters. It's basically the card that I was looking for in that it allows you to completely refill and try to kill your opponent with your full grip. Here's a list that I was testing:
Hero: [Frizlix of Kezan]
Equipment: 7
3 [Abomination Knuckles]
4 [Balanced Heartseeker]
Abilities: 39
4 [Carnage]
3 [Agonizing Poison]
4 [Fan of Knives]
3 [Aggressive Exploitation]
3 [Steal Steel]
2 [Tormenting Gouge]
4 [Sap]
3 [Adrenaline Rush]
2 [Vicious Strike]
3 [Gouge]
4 [Prey on the Weak]
4 [Sinister Strike]
Locations: 4
4 [Twilight Citadel]
Quests: 10
2 [Cleansing Witch Hill]
4 [Mystery Goo]
4 [The Crucible of Carnage: The Twilight Terror]
I, for a time, toyed with running [Balanced Heartseeker] and [Venerable Mass of McGowan], but I decided to just cut back to the [Balanced Heartseeker]. [Sinister Strike]s are getting a bit better if you can pump the [Balanced Heartseeker] and play [Sinister Strike] mid-combat.
I was able to win more games with this build but the game goes incredibly long. You bide your time and wait until you can burst them out with [Adrenaline Rush]. You lose [Seal Fate], obviously, which hurts your early game but at the expense of being able to long. I'll keep testing it and let you know.
-Sean
I was happier with the version that I sent him back. It was important to note that I was actually winning more games than I was losing against Nature Hunter. Switching the hero to [Frizlix of Kezan] proved to play incredible. In more than one game, I was able to leave two resources open to exhaust the freshly peeled [Avatar of the Wild] token or [Tesla], often giving me the time I needed to play [Adrenaline Rush].
This version of the deck requires that you, as a control player, deal with each threat that your more aggressive opponent puts down. It's certainly possible to delay things via [Tormenting Gouge], [Gouge], [Sap], and [Prey on the Weak], building to a [Fan of Knives] or [Carnage] to wipe the board.
I'm a big fan of Timm's plan to use [Steal Steel] to screw over the Plate wearers. While I disagree with his estimate that over half the field will be Plate decks (thinking a lot less as the Plate classes don't impress me as much as they first did), it's certainly a nice feeling to play a [Steal Steel] on turn 3 or 4 and get the [Etched Dragonbone Girdle] right out of your opponent's deck. The one lesson I did learn is that if you steal one Girdle, don't stop there. In my early games testing the list, I'd row the additional copies of [Steal Steel] before it occurred to me that the more copies of [Etched Dragonbone Girdle] you take out of your opponent's deck, the lower the chance he'll draw one. Simple idea, really, but sometimes I can't seem to see the forest for the trees.
[Twilight Citadel] seemed underused in Timm's deck but I realized that it's one of the biggest threat's your deck has. After turn 5, your answers to opposing cards are so cheap that this allows you to make a Twilight Dragonkin token each turn. 1/1s aren't very impressive but once you have 5 of them, they suddenly aren't as laughable. This deck requires you to slowly chip away opposing health where you can. A stab of a [Balanced Heartseeker] here, a [Sinister Strike] there lets you finish the game with [Adrenaline Rush]. I even tried [Skinned Whelp Shoulders] but there just wasn't enough room and they often did nothing if I happened to never hit [Twilight Citadel] and I felt I had enough cards that didn't do anything on their own for one deck.
A card that I had never included in Timm's email but that I added after the fact is [Agonizing Poison]. It seems like a pretty bad card, as it requires you to first deal combat damage to an opposing hero, have the card in hand and play it, and then it requires your opponent to have 4 or less cards in hand to deal damage. What I found out, however, was that this deck is all about grinding out damage. In later turns, when you've stolen the Girdles away from your opponent, it's rare that they'll be able to keep a hand of five cards and keep a presence on the board. [Agonizing Poison] takes full advantage of the poor draw on the quests in the Block.
The deck worked, but I still felt I could do better. I filed the deck list away until this week. I had the chance to speak to Ian Johnson (2nd Place, Worlds 2010, while I'm dropping names of good players). Though I don't know Ian that well, he shared a wealth of knowledge about the format. I felt I knew a lot about Block in all my testing, but I'm afraid that Mr. Johnson knows more. So Ian was discussing his Rogue idea and I took that knowledge and combined it with Timm's ability suite to make this list:
Hero: [Vorix Zorbuzz]
[Vorix Zorbuzz back]
Allies: 16
3 [Gispax the Mixologist]
4 [Obsidian Drakonid]
3 [Obsidian Drudge]
3 [Timriv the Enforcer]
1 [Al'Akir the Windlord]
2 [Malfurion Stormrage]
Equipment: 7
4 [Perdition's Blade]
3 [Abomination Knuckles]
Abilities: 24
4 [Aggressive Exploitation]
4 [Steal Steel]
4 [Carnage]
4 [Prey on the Weak]
4 [Sap]
4 [Fan of Knives]
Locations: 4
4 [Twilight Citadel]
Quests: 10
4 [Challenge to the Black Flight]
4 [The Crucible of Carnage: The Twilight Terror]
2 [A Matter of Time]
So this list is a pretty far cry from Timm's original build. I tried to combine the best aspect, while adding a little more beef (in the form of allies) so that I don't have to wait until turn 10 to win. [Gispax the Mixologist] allows you to search out your win condition, which is [Al'Akir the Windlord] with [Malfurion Stormrage] to recur things as needed.
I switched the hero back to [Vorix Zorbuzz] because he's able to pump not only his damage from [Perdition's Blade] but also the [Aggressive Exploitation]. Paying 2 to deal 5damage to an exhausted hero is certainly enough to put away some games.
This version of the deck functions similar to the first deck. You need to control the early game but you can apply a bit more pressure in the mid-game. You can start off with [Gispax the Mixologist] and build into a big ally for the win. It sounds simple but it's rarely so. The deck requires a lot of cards to function and may actually require a bit more draw. [Bronze Guardian]s were in the deck but they were just a bit too small for their cost.
So I've got a couple of decks for you faithful readers to chew on. I really do think Rogue is one of the best classes for Block. It's got board wipes (the fact that it has two wipes while some classes don't even get one is amazing), solid weapons, and the ability to use an opponent's cards against them ([Steal Steel]).
I'd like to know what everyone else thinks. If you've got an idea that I might have missed or a deck that you'd like me to look at, shoot it on over to aquestionofgluttony@gmail.com. Until then, enjoy the State Championships and keep on brewing for Darkmoon Faire: Philly.
-Sean
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