April 9, 2010

Editor's note: Until we launch the new WoWTCG.com, we'll be posting articles from our weekly columns in the blog. Enjoy and don't forget to comment!

Hello World of Warcraft denizens! My name is Phillip Martin and I'll be your guide each week as we explore the metagame for both Core and Classic. It seems like just yesterday we were uprooted from our oh so comfortable settings and thrown into the wind, searching for a new home. Luckily the guys at CZE came through in a big way and I'm excited to get back to business as usual.

As PSulli eluded to in an earlier blog post, recently Realm Championships fired across the U.S., giving us our first real look at the Core constructed format and metagame. Initially, I predicted the format would be overwhelmed by super aggressive decks, looking to pack the most consistent maindeck possible in light of the single game format. I was only half right, as there proved to be a strong showing of midrange-control decks across the field.

Once team Las Vegas returned from Darkmoon Faire Houston, we got to work on cracking the Core format. In the beginning we had close to a dozen different decks we tossed around without any clear favorite. As we got closer to Realm Champs, we narrowed down our deck selection to the following:

Death Wish Solo-Warrior
Ritual of Summoning Warlock
Vor'na the Wretched Control
Ringleader Kuma aggro
Jonas the Red Control

Our testing left us all over the map in a pseudo rock-paper-scissor gambit. There wasn't a particular deck that separated itself form the field and everyone eventually settled on selecting their deck based on which archetype best suited their play style. Without having a particular affinity toward any one archetype in particular, I decided to go to battle with the Ritual of Summoning deck.

As the name sake would suggest, the Ritual deck abuses the Core format rules on what constitutes your collection, using the ability to bring into play some serious, game-ending beef. Combined with Marlowe's hero flip, the deck can end the game immediately with Azaloth, giving their hero -50 health. If that wasn't an option, we typically brought into play King Varian Wrynn— who it turns out is probably the most powerful ally ever printed. We ended up including way more Ritual targets in our collection then we could possible need, bringing multiples for every situation imaginable. That ended up being a minor problem as we found that the more people wanted to play the deck, the fewer cards we would have to spread out to each players collection.

All in all, it worked out, as the deck preformed admirably across the weekend. After a split with Timm Trepanier in the finals of the Tanaris Realm Open, I walked away with a win and a pocket full of loot. Interestingly, we ran through several different versions of the Warlock before landing on our polished build.

Version 1 (from our team forums)

Hero: Marlowe the Felsworn

Allies: 21
2 "Bladehands" Spigotgulp
4 Dreadsteed
3 Hesriana
3 Jek'kresh
4 Mikael the Blunt
2 "Scrapper" Ironbane
3 Weldon Barov

Abilites: 18
3 Banish to the Nether
4 Drain Will
2 Ritual of Summoning
2 Terrifying Visage
4 Tuskarr Kite
3 Victimize

Equipment: 7
2 Abyss Walker's Boots
3 Extract of Necromantic Power
2 Seer's Signet

Location: 3
3 Eye of the Storm

Quest: 11
4 A Question of Gluttony
3 Dreadsteed of Xoroth
2 The Overseer's Shadow
2 Unfit for Death

Jim Fleckenstein and Mike Stigall from our online team forums had been working on this build for quite a while and were leaning toward running it just a week out from the tournament. It looks a lot closer to the version Stuart Wright Top 8’d DMF Houston with— albiet in Core we lost many staples such as Eye of Killrogg.

A couple of days before the tournament, friend and fellow card flopper Ryan Wilt (of DMF Seattle fame) contacted me with a secret project their team happened to be working on. It turns out we weren't the only group who had been testing the Ritual of Summoning deck. Ryan's version took the concept to a whole new level.

(Version 2 Ryan Wilt)
Hero: Marlowe the Felsworn

Master Hero: 1
1 Illidan Stormrage

Allies: 23
4 Dreadsteed
3 Justicar Broxio Frostnuggle
4 Hesriana
3 Priestess of Dementia
3 Ryno the Short
4 Weldon Barov
4 Xanata the Lightsworn

Abilites: 20
3 Doom Blossom
4 Drain Will
4 Promises of Darkness
2 Ritual of Summoning
4 Tuskarr Kite
3 Victimize

Quest: 14
4 A Question of Gluttony
3 Dreadsteed of Xoroth
4 Forces of Jadenar
3 Unfit for Death

Ryno the Short? Priestess of Dementia? What the...

It turns out Ryan was right on the money with some of his unique inclusions. Most notably, Ryno worked amazingly well with all the demons in the deck and really gives its controller a solid way to protect its Ritual or lock others out of the game when an advantage has been created. Priestess is also an all star, especially once Weldon gets into play. You'll find great utility with the peasant tokens— especially against any solo based deck. Generally, adding more demons to the deck increases the effectiveness of Dreadsteed of Xoroth. As an added bonus, against a Jonas player you always have a way to get rid of their armor set once you've drawn both the quest and the Priestess.

After testing, we began to notice that with the loss of Eye of Killrogg, the discard suite wasn't particularly effective— they hit the chopping block. As for Unfit for Death, it seemed pretty good on paper, but in reality it is too expensive to complete and doesn't do enough when compared to a cheaper quest that will still draw a card. Eye of the Storm is in my opinion, the best location in the Core format because of how many decks rely on attacking. If I'm running the Eye and am Alliance, I'm always going to play Adam Eternum.

After some shimming around and last minute substitutions, we finally arrived at our tuned, tournament ready list.

Hero: Marlowe the Felsworn

Master Hero: 1
1 Illidan Stormrage

Allies: 28
4 Adam Eternum
4 Dreadsteed
3 Justicar Broxio Frostnuggle
4 Hesriana
2 Priestess of Dementia
3 Ryno the Short
4 Weldon Barov
4 Xanata the Lightsworn

Abilites: 13
3 Banish to the Nether
4 Doom Blossom
2 Ritual of Summoning
4 Tuskarr Kite

Equipment: 3
3 Extract of Necromantic Power

Location: 4
4 Eye of the Storm

Quest: 11
4 A Question of Gluttony
3 Dreadsteed of Xoroth
4 Tabards of the Illidari

Voila! Our final version is heavily tuned to beat rush, Jonas control and Death Wish (or any solo deck). As for a weak point, our Warlock has problems against Mage control. Without having the discard we can't easily break Blizzard and have no way to keep them from out controlling us. Based on your expected metagame, you can remove cards like Frostnuggle or Xanata and bring in others to help out in that matchup.

I'm pleased with the Core format and am greatly looking forward to Continental Championships just a couple of months away. Leading up to the tournament, I'll be back with a weekly sample of the Core format as we explore winning Realm Championship decks and new archetypes alike.

Until then, thanks for reading, see you in the forums!

-Phillip Martin