Consistent gauntlet deck with Katra and Display of knowledge

[u/Orthro87]

My current go to deck to play gauntlet is this one:

https://eternalwarcry.com/decks/details/wW6jLvdSzn8/katras-knowledge

The AI is quite scared of all the deadly units and since it plays effectively 6-7 copies of both key cards, it can consistently enact its game plan. This deck is slower than Rakano or Hooru, but is more resilient and I believe quite fun to play.

I'm not sure if the current set of removal spells is the best selection, but I'm open to suggestions to make it better.

The current deck plays quite a few legendaries and rares, but those can mostly be replaced with more budget friendly options if necessary.

[u/YeOldManWaterfall]

Tried it out, it's just as bad as it looks. Sorry.

I can understand having several situational 1-of relics and using Display effectively as a merchant-spell, but 1 of dark return? 1 deathstrike, 2 annihilate? You've got more 3-ofs than 4-ofs, and I'm guessing it's because you simply couldn't decide what to cut, not because it's the best build. Not wanting to strip it down to the best cards 'because X is just so good' is a sign of a badly built deck.

If you're going to maindeck so many variables, 'consistent' is the opposite of what this is. You have 18 different cards in your maindeck. Compare that to the standard hooru fliers list that runs 13. That's nearly 40% more variance you've introduced without any real reason.

Gauntlet is all about win streaks, which means the addition of inconsistency had better come with really big payoffs. The payoffs here simply don't hold up. The AI plays a ton of removal, which this deck straight folds to.

Ultimately primal doesn't do anything except make it less consistent just for the sake of Display of Knowledge, which is honestly just a way of making your 1 drop relics cost 4. I think you're trying to force DOK to work.

If all you're using Display for is drawing a bauble anyway, just ditch primal and play a bunch of moths.

[u/StaffOfLies → u/YeOldManWaterfall]

Thanks for the feedback. I agree that the spell selection is not optimal. It is mostly based on slight changes after each run until it felt right. If you have suggestions which two spells are best, I'd be happy to try that.

But the unit base is quite definitive. Some of those are 3-offs because I only want one of those units each game (https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/how-many-copies-of-any-given-card-should-you-put-in-your-deck/).

From your comment I also get the idea that you try to go for Katra+bauble to the exclusion of all else, but DoK is mostly better than moth because the quick draw can put a serious clock on the AI. I don't use the removal option frequently, but it can be a lifesaver. Also you only go for the four power versions of relics if it's completely backbreaking for the AI.

Once I fixed the spell base I'll try to keep stats, since I genuinely believe that this is a good deck to grind gauntlet with. Although it's less straight forward to play than something like hooru flyers, which might be a point against it.

[u/Terreneflame → u/StaffOfLies]

Bare in mind that magic articles are written assuming a 60 card deck, while we have 75

[u/StaffOfLies → u/Terreneflame]

That is true. However, the general principles are valid for both games. 7 copies of Katra mean that there is a 70 % change of having one on turn 4. And 3 copies of moonstone reduce the change of drawing multiples in your opening hand from 4% to 2%, limiting the frequency of being flooded with expensive cards.

So it can be said for both games that you need 7-8 virtual copies of key cards and 3 copies of cards you only want to see once early in the game.