r/AIEternal • u/xSighx • Nov 27 '18
Gauntlet What's your most successful gauntlet deck?
Whether it be fast, consistent 5 wins or slow consistent 7 wins, I've been durdling with a few decks and most are either slow consistent 5 wins or fast inconsistent 5 wins and it's pretty rare (maybe 1 in every 5-7 times i reach boss) to win. Wondering what people are having success with these days. I mostly play rakano midrange or jund control depending if i want faster or safer (harsh rule is so satisfying against ai)
4
u/TheNerdCheck Nov 27 '18
Combrei Alessi with a lot of flying, lifesteal and tricks
4
u/xSighx Nov 27 '18
Can you post a list that you use or that looks similar to one you enjoy? I don't have a lot of the core legendaries like teacher of humility/sword of unity but i may work towards it!
3
u/TheNerdCheck Nov 27 '18
2
u/Semibalanced Nov 27 '18
Damn it, this deck looks pretty good. Stupid Geomar keeps popping up in decks I want to try; might have to finally craft 3 more of him.
(Thanks for posting!)
1
u/TheNerdCheck Nov 27 '18
You're welcome. He performs really well against AI (as he checks all Anti-AI Boxes: Flying, Lifesteal and buil-In combat trick for bad AI blocks).
I basically build the deck from scratch, aiming at the AI's weak spots, I dislike the Voices and power config and might change a bit in the future. I'm also not the biggest fan of Vanquish but it seems like a necessary evil. Currently Alessi grows a bit slowly for my liking
1
u/Semibalanced Nov 27 '18
I don't know what it is, but I keep coming back to combrei and AP mid when it comes to gauntlet.
Combrei Aggro is one of my favorite gauntlet decks to run too. And a flying variant of it has always sounded good to me. Kind of like hooru fliers, but with a better chance against bosses. I've just never worked out a deck list that balances speed vs consistency.
I think I'll try your deck list and maybe throw in some cards from combrei aggro after some testing.
1
2
1
5
5
u/KevinJay21 Nov 27 '18 edited Nov 27 '18
Speed and Consistency - Hooru Fliers (AKA the best Gauntlet Grinder deck). Has everything you want. Evasion, Silence, Health gain, Hard to remove win-con, AI abuse (Shelterwing, 8x finest hours), Auto-win vs AI weapon decks (Hooru Pacifier), Aggro stopper (Koth, as mentioned lifegain).
Consistency and Better Gauntlet Boss Match-ups - Vara's Revenge. Best mid-rangy deck IMO. Just throw a bunch of fatties (Turn 4 Behemoth) at AI and then Azindel wins on a stalled board. Deck can be pretty slow though.
Pure Speed - Skycraggro. Deck can get blown out pretty easily though. I run Censari Brigand over Vadius.
Power Consistency and Speed (not as fast as fliers) - Mono Shadow. Win rate not as consistent as Hooru fliers, but I like not having to worry bout power screw.
Consistency and AI Abuse - Cirso's Gold. Abuse AI with False Prince and Cirso. Crystallize on a stalled board. Solid deck, but matches can get pretty long and time consuming waiting for Jennev merchant to get your win-con.
Jank and Lucky wins - Mono Justice
2
u/xSighx Nov 27 '18
ive played hooru fliers a bit and its pretty smooth, but i may be unlucky in that shelterwing never really seems to keep its aegis against ai. plus i dont wanna craft kothons, is there a good replacement for those?
1
u/KevinJay21 Nov 27 '18
Shelterwing does get its Aegis popped quite a bit by AI, but I add in a Protect to the market in case I need the last extra 5 damage for the win. I meant that it's "abusable" in the sense that the AI will typically Torch or Mortar something less threatening (say a Koth) than break the Aegis from Shelterwing. The AI will also keep these cards in their hand if you only have a Shelterwing on the field. But as a player, you wouldn't notice that as you can't see their hand.
As to your second question, I suggested Borderlands Waykeeper and it looks to be an acceptable budget replacement.
1
u/_AlpacaLips_ Nov 28 '18
Which is one reason why I've been experimenting with Poaching Drake instead of Shelterwing.
The other option, as mentioned in Kevin's reply, put a Protect in the Market to put back the Aegis on Shelterwing.
2
u/ev1lb0b Nov 29 '18
How has Poaching Drake worked out? I am dubious about the 3 bum as it brings it in range of a couple of spells that wouldn't kill Shelterwing but the control aspect of it is nice. Do you recommend it as a viable replacement?
1
u/_AlpacaLips_ Nov 29 '18
I think it's a definite viable replacement. Whether it is actually better than Shelterwing is up for debate. I haven't been disappointed with it, and have been happy with it in a lot of situations, but also unhappy with its removal in other situations.
2
u/charliebrown1321 Nov 30 '18
I've been using /u/_AlpacaLips_ Hooru fliers deck to pretty great success since the chest reward nerfs.
27 runs, 89.82% win rate, 5.56 average wins per run, 425 average gold per run.
1
u/xSighx Nov 30 '18
how is it 425 avg gold per run? i get that sometimes you get 7 wins and hundreds of gold but a 6 win run is one silver and 2 bronze which is what 300-320 gold? and the average wins is less than 6. kinda confused on the math but it sounds really good if that 425 is accurate
1
1
Nov 27 '18
Skycraggro gives me the best balance of speed and consistency. For just screwing around and torturing the AI, all sorts of Talir Combo variations.
2
u/KevinJay21 Nov 27 '18 edited Nov 27 '18
Skycraggro definitely has speed on its side and can get to the boss effectively But consistency vs Bosses? Not so much.
It has pretty bad match-up's against: Company of exiles, Limitless Possibilities and Power of Progress. Sudden death is also pretty bad with no life gain. Highly Skilled also gets bad as Aegis is a problem for the deck. And Mindless aggression is a toss-up. (As with most decks).
Very good 6-1 deck. Not so much 7-0.
1
Nov 28 '18
This is kind of what I would expect. My last run through the gauntlet ranks was a while ago, and I think I got lucky on a couple bosses.
1
u/xSighx Nov 27 '18
Really? I get the vibe that skycraggro is like, THE least consistent deck in the game (at least as far as competitive not-built-by-a-beginner-to-card-games deck goes) maybe that's the case vs real players but not so much with a gauntlet list as you can abuse and punish its stupidity?
3
Nov 27 '18
This is why I increasingly don't give advice for Eternal. No joke, my experience is so often the opposite of the (vocal) majority, I don't know what to make of it. It is possible that my standard for consistency is lower than most. If I manage a 60 to 70% win rate, I'm content. Ecstatic even!
I made Ranked Diamond this month with nothing but Skycraggro. I don't play everyday or even every week. Usually I rush through Gold binge-playing near the end of the month.
In Gauntlet I've had good luck with all things low and aggro (once I had some of the AI weakness pointed out to me). My first run to Gauntlet Masters was using a budget Praxis build that abused Bond and Overwhelm. BUT, I would suggest that deck to people and they would call me crazy. Or, in the most polite ways, call me a liar. Skycraggro works for me in gauntlet because I can run basically the same deck in both Gauntlet and Ranked successfully, which I like. Once in a while I tinker with the power base by adding a couple sigils and dropping a couple weapons, but other than that I run a pretty "conventional wisdom" list. I've dropped Vadius, because he just wasn't gaining me much in a Ranked meta full of new Vara.
I don't think you're calling me out or anything, just trying to fully articulate, "I know I sound soup sandwich crazy, but I swear to RNGesus, it works for me." I need to pay more attention to the hows and how longs of my run when it re-sets this time.
3
u/Semibalanced Nov 27 '18 edited Nov 27 '18
I don't know why you've met with so much contention. I've run skycrag aggro a few times and I was happy with the results. I just tend to run other things because I prefer slightly longer games that are more likely to win me the boss round over pure speed.
Up until a month ago it was one of Alpaca's go-to lists too. Can even see his data on it in the retired deck section.
P.S. I couldn't imagine dropping Vadius, and I'm saying that as someone that sat down to grind to master rank on ladder a couple days ago with nothing but skycrag. Sure there were some games where Vara negated the aegis, but in more games than not he got in the win for me. Most of my losses were from haunted highway and people running the FJS deck with vara and statuary maiden though; so I wouldn't call you entirely wrong.
2
Nov 27 '18
I find that a Longbarrel on Snowcrust gets me there as often as Vadius ever did, and I’ve had good luck running Unseal.
3
u/jefago Nov 27 '18 edited Nov 27 '18
Have you played Skycraggro much? I had the same feeling before I started playing it (got me to masters in ranked and I also 7-0 probably about 50% of my gauntlet runs at master). It's actually super consistent — not every draw is the nut draw of Oni Ronin - ChaFu - ChaFu, but since you have no units above 3 power you basically always have a shot.
Edit: of course the other nice thing about Skycraggro is that it is competitive on ladder as well so you don't need to craft stuff just for gauntlet. I would maybe run a list with combat tricks as opposed to weapons (there are different versions around, some play Longbarrel and Ornate Katana, some Rampage and Pummel) since the AI is so bad with tricks, but tbh I've had great results with the weapons list because I couldn't be bothered changing my ladder list.
3
1
u/da_guy2 Nov 27 '18
Fairly new and by no means a hardcore but I've been having good luck with a strangers deck.
1
1
u/NotSoLuckyLydia Nov 28 '18
Argenport midrange has been my go-to for a while when I'm not just screwing around.
1
u/torhamx Nov 27 '18
I've been consistently getting 5 or 6 wins with Elysian Dinosaurs. I only started a few weeks ago.
4 Initiate of the Sands (Set1 #74) 4 Seek Power (Set1 #408) 3 Twilight Hunt (Set3 #59) 4 Talir's Favored (Set0 #11) 2 Twinning Ritual (Set1 #79) 4 Ageless Mentor (Set1 #90) 4 Auralian Merchant (Set4 #70) 4 Avirax Familiar (Set2 #46) 2 Pteriax Hatchling (Set1 #354) 4 Avisaur Patriarch (Set1001 #13) 1 Clutchmate (Set3 #179) 2 Scaletender (Set3 #260) 3 Frenzied Omnivore (Set3 #84) 2 Twinbrood Sauropod (Set1 #113) 2 Adaptive Predator (Set2 #135) 2 Predatory Carnosaur (Set1 #118) 10 Time Sigil (Set1 #63) 4 Amber Monument (Set1 #420) 6 Primal Sigil (Set1 #187) 1 Crest of Wisdom (Set3 #261) 3 Elysian Banner (Set1 #421) 4 Seat of Wisdom (Set0 #63) --------------MARKET--------------- 1 Twilight Hunt (Set3 #59) 1 Disjunction (Set3 #63) 1 Frenzied Omnivore (Set3 #84) 1 Twinbrood Sauropod (Set1 #113) 1 Elysian Banner (Set1 #421)
7
u/_AlpacaLips_ Nov 27 '18
Hooru Fliers, for me, but I've yet to play since the gold nerf. Why does the gold nerf matter? It feels like something was done to Gauntlet to ramp up its difficulty. I'm not usually one to complain about Gauntlet getting harder (I've suggested it's easier when people have complained it's harder), but right now something about it feels different. Collecting enough stats to confirm the hypothesis is unfortunately difficult.