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The World Championship is approaching quickly. It's less than three weeks away! By now, you are probably already familiar with a couple of the “big hitters” in New Core. [Grand Crusader] is going to be a big deal. Hunter is still a powerhouse, and in general acceleration-based strategies that seek to play an early [Mazu'kon] have also been popular. I've seen variations of the [Breathstone-Infused Longbow] Hunter deck I posted a while ago on Magic Workstation, and have also begun to see strategies focused on [Devout Aurastone Hammer] which seek to do very similar things.
Then there's this [Plainswatcher Taro] character. Have you heard of him? Of course you haven't. He went by unnoticed from Fields of Honor, and was one of the more mocked reprints in the newest Class Starters. Surely he's no [Burly Berta], right?
Wrong. More on the big Tauren a little later. He ties into the class that is probably getting the least buzz, as it is getting overshadowed by both Hunter and Paladin. The Druid offers some of the most explosive draws of the format, and yet it has been a fairly quiet subject on the forums.
Today, I wanted to showcase two version of the deck. One is Alliance. The other is Horde. One may or may not have [Plainswatcher Taro]. I'll let you guess at which of the two decks has him. (hint: it's probably not the Alliance deck)
Hero: [Leisha of Darnassus]
Allies: 20
4 [Magni, the Mountain King]
4 [Laetho Moonbranch]
4 [Windspeaker Nuvu]
4 [Stevrona Forgemender]
4 [Faenis the Tranquil]
Abilities: 25
4 [Avatar of the Wild]
4 [Gift of the Earthmother]
4 [Favor of Nature]
3 [Mark of the Untamed]
4 [Verdant Boon]
2 [Boundless Wild]
4 [Surge of Power]
Equipment: 7
4 [Bottled Life]
3 [Corrupted Egg Shell]
Quests: 4
4 [Mystery Goo]
4 [Seeds of their Demise]
This list has gone through a couple of modifications. The one that took the longest was the removal of [Deathwing the Destroyer]. Ultimately, while his effect seemed pretty good, it was deemed that there were just far too many cards that are good against it. [Corrupted Egg Shell], [Mazu'kon], and a few others just to name a few. [Bolvar, Highlord of Fordragon Hold] also wasn't an option since none of the damned Treants were Alliance.
Then I recalled [Faenis the Tranquil]. She's not bad at all in this deck, and while the chances of her healing your board often are low, her stats are good enough to make her very difficult to kill before you ready up with [Gift of the Earthmother] resources. She does do a great job of keeping your hero alive though, and also happens to work nicely with big [Avatar of the Wild] tokens. The more and more I play with Alliance cards, the more I am falling in love with this ally.
[Mark of the Untamed], a Block Constructed staple for Druids, has not lost its importance. Dealing with [Mazu'kon] is one of the big challenges, and this helps a bit in letting your allies swing into theirs. It's still sweet with [Windspeaker Nuvu], and serves the same purpose it did in Block: it lets you handle some of the Hunter deck's best allies.
[Surge of Power] is putting in some serious work with this deck. It's sweetest value is on a curve where you play this on turn 3 (naturally after making some tokens in the first two turns), and then you play [Avatar of the Wild] on turn 4 for a ferocious 5/5 tiger. Also, as one of the possible starts for this deck is a Stashed turn 1 [Magni, the Mountain King] and [Bottled Life] followed by a turn 2 [Verdant Boon], it shouldn't be surprising that this is a four-of. It may not be a [Grand Crusader], but it still does a necessary job.
[Stevrona Forgemender] also does some serious overtime. She is a lot better than [Tol'zin], and is the reason to even consider Alliance over Horde in my mind. Threatening kills out of nowhere with a [Gift of the Earthmother] enhanced token is too hard to pass up. Also, there's [Corrupted Egg Shell], which not only muddles up combat for the opponent, but lets you threaten a Stevrona-fueled kill if they take their eyes off of your eggs.
While this deck has some real “oomph” behind it, the concept is not flawless. Multiple sweepers can be rough despite your ability to rebuild, and the lack of protectors can be really rough in the more aggressive matchups. While room for ability and equipment destruction could be me (via [Koeus] and [Terina Calin]), it is difficult to justify as finding the space for those cards and leave you lacking in the threat department. I personally think it is better to just go all-in on the token strategy.
The Horde take on Druid's token strategy trades this problem for a couple of meaty protectors, and may even be more worthwhile in the long run. Who would have thought 5/5 Protectors for free were good?
Hero: [Fama'sin the Lifeseer]
Allies: 24
4 [Alethia Brightsong]
4 [Lordann the Bloodreaver]
4 [Plainswatcher Taro]
4 [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen]
4 [Sava'gin the Reckless]
4 [Babagahnoosh the Grumpy]
Abilities: 21
4 [Favor of Nature]
4 [Avatar of the Wild]
4 [Verdant Boon]
4 [Fungal Growth]
3 [Surge of Power]
2 [Boundless Wild]
Equipment: 8
4 [Bottled Life]
4 [Bottled Rage]
Locations: 3
3 [Throne of the Tides]
Quests: 4
4 [Seeds of their Demise]
The Alliance deck runs [Gift of the Earthmother] due to [Stevrona Forgemender]. This version trades that for [Plainswatcher Taro], who can come online as early as turn 2. All it takes is one living Treant token (don't pop your [Bottled Life] until turn two if you have [Verdant Boon] in hand). It can basically end the game as early as turn 3 with the aid of a [Bottled Rage]. Hint: Stashing Cairne produces a Warrior ally. [Lordann the Bloodreaver] also triggers your bottle.
While the Alliance version omits locations for [Mystery Goo], in a need to dig for [Gift of the Earthmother], this version has more consistency issues and its draws need some work with filtering power. Also, it is easier for this version to run out of cards, so every live draw counts. Dead draws are unacceptable, and the location can help a ton for setting up your later turns (and also helps make sure your next draws won't suck if you are going to lose your location to a Babagahnoosh).
Speaking of [Babagahnoosh the Grumpy], he adds to the explosiveness of your draws. Originally serving as [Deathwing the Destroyer], the 0 cost gnomish grump was recommended to me by Jan Palys after getting thoroughly schooled by him a few times on Magic Workstation. Sometimes you just dump your hand early, and he adds just enough damage to let your win. Think of him as a backup plan to [Bottled Rage]. One way or another, if you go off with Taros, you're going to want to press your advantage quickly before decks with allies like [Mazu'kon] can stabilize.
Now while this version has a much faster kill than the Alliance version of Druid tokens with the right draws, its opening hands can also be flat-out awkward. Mulligan aggressively for an early Taro or explosive start, but be ready to accept that this deck is going to have some very clunky draws. Plan accordingly, and don't waste your cards. The lack of card draw in this deck can be very punishing to anyone who gets two-for-one'd by opponents.
That's all for today. Stay tuned this week for some Thrones draft footage, along with a little more cube action!
-Mike
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