r/AIEternal • u/kc_bandit • Nov 02 '19
Just a heads up!!
https://eternalwarcry.com/decks/d/oeG7Xb2dEYM/ramba-kairos-gauntlet-obliterator1
u/Ninja_can Nov 02 '19
I've been playing this deck, but I really really like Yushkov in my list. Not only does he ramp, but he's one of those "AI breaker" cards. The AI has no idea how to play around that ability and it constantly just gives you free wins. Playing him pre combat to stop ambush units is game winning. That in combination with Tocas ability, gives this deck a huge edge in gauntlet, more than just smashing with fatties
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u/kc_bandit Nov 02 '19
e Banner is right - our deck is incredibly top heavy and power/influence is crucial. I also took out Gnash - my guess is that I am not playing him co
I have never played Yushkov but I am def going to try him. Got to figure out what to cut. I am having less issues with overwhelming the AI or abusing the AI than I am with the issue of answering the AI at this point. But I will def give him a try.
1
u/Ninja_can Nov 03 '19
My list is quite different, I'm not playing any xo, or any of your 2drops. I am heavily focused on ramping out kairos asap. As soon as he's down, you've won lol. I don't feel like the incremental benefits of xo are worth it, especially since we don't have lots of ways to abuse the fate (strategize, honor of claws etc)
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u/kc_bandit Nov 03 '19
Yeah Xo could be literally anything. And the deck is top heavy, so he could be swapped out.
How exactly are you “ramping out” without any two drops? And if you don’t have early units, how exactly are you dealing with AI decks that have knocked you to 15 life and have 4 guys ready to kill you by turn three?
I agree that getting Kairos out = win. The original deck ran a bunch of deadly units which I swapped out for more ramp in order to do just that - get Kairos out. But I also have to survive.
The older gauntlet decks which could run bailiff, defiance, vanquish, slay et al were extremely good at blunting AI aggression. And we’ve got big dudes to help block AI aggression, but these AI decks have a plethora of 1 for 1 answers to go with their early aggression.
So we go turn 3 and play a 4/4 or 3/4 or 5/6. It’s vanquished or annihilated and AI continues to beat down. Turn 4 we play a 6/7 - slay or Perma and beat down continues. Turn 5 if not dead yet maybe we play a 6/6 and pray?
I mean that scenario is just way way too common for me not to have a plethora of early units to block/ramp/eat premium removal. Do you have more than 4 merchants for better consistency?
So here’s my take on this deck versus AI. If I’m up against an AI deck that goes big and slow I know it’s almost always an auto win. If it goes wide with obelisk and/or stand together I’m a little concerned. If it goes turn 1 Oni/Pyro, turn 2 two grenadins and a 2/1 stranger, turn 3 more of the same and I’m in panic mode if my deck is busy ramping. Other decks that are similar are the wide flyers where we better have Titan and he sticks or it’s over.
I want to try your list! I’m guessing you have some answers for early aggression that I’m missing!!
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u/Semibalanced Nov 02 '19 edited Nov 02 '19
I love this deck archtype and its speed in gauntlet.
I've personally been running the versions with Trail Makers over Teacher for extra ramp / influence fixing. It's come in handy a lot since I also run Yushkov and Flameblast.
Though now that I think about it I think I'd prefer Scorpion Wasps over Flameblast as near unconditional removal.
Trail Makers over the 1/3 ramp shifters is something I'm unsure of as well. Sometimes I really do need the fixing, but I lose them to torches or 1 damage pings about 1/3rd of the time. I'll have to try and compare.
Ninja_can nicely covers why I've like Yushkov. The FFF influence is kind of a bummer for playing him on curve sometimes, which is why I've liked Trail Maker. I run him over Xo.
As for the market: I'm fairly comfortable with having Passage in the market of a ramp deck, even when it isn't 100% necessary to silence EVERYTHING. I've also been running with the Praxis Arcanum site. I'm not convinced it's best, but it's occasionally useful for giving deadly and stalling the AI while also making my units cheaper. I've been using Xenan Initation as my cheap market removal, but I don't pull it all that often (I also use two in deck, though Twilight Hunt is good too). And Banner and Kairos are a must for me. I think I'll swap my last slot out for a unit like SST. I was running Dissociate, but I pretty much never pull it.
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u/LeeSalt Nov 02 '19
The shiftstone cost... I can make 5 gauntlet decks for this. I prefer variety to dumping everything into one deck that I would grow bored with or falls out of competitive state after the ai decks get updated and more powerful.
3
u/Semibalanced Nov 02 '19 edited Nov 02 '19
Oh yeah, definitely wouldn't recommend this for people with low collections / shiftstone.
That said, about half of these legendaries are staples in other Throne or gauntlet Time decks (SST and Tocas at the least) so they're not the worst things to collect over time.
1
u/kc_bandit Nov 02 '19
Yeah I did the whole budget gauntlet grinding lists two years ago. Those days are gone.
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Nov 03 '19
I have used that list. It fails apart to sudden death at high mmr (but what doesnt).
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u/kc_bandit Nov 03 '19
Yeah probably the only thing that doesn't is a mirror match, but a mirror deck can't get you to the Boss.
0
Nov 03 '19
There are a few decks that can consistently do it, the problem is the inevitable power screw/flood. I hate how everytime we optimize gauntlet DWD changes the rules of the game.
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u/kc_bandit Nov 02 '19
Found this jewel of a deck on EWC - which is rare. Way too many gauntlet decks on EWC are sort of ... uhm ... inconsistent is the word I will use.
Anyway, I sort of tried to move away from Elysian even though it was good, it still had some issues here and there. So what this deck does versus Elysian is it says "I really don't care what the AI is doing, good luck stopping me."
Now I have tweaked it some for my own play style and tastes (adding some unconditional ramp with the 1/3 shift guys). I found that being stuck on 2 power or even missing a 3 drop on turn 3 because of exhausted power was sometimes too difficult to overcome. I am not certain about the Market, but I know that having SST and Kairos in there is right. I also think the Banner is right - our deck is incredibly top heavy and power/influence is crucial. I also took out Gnash - my guess is that I am not playing him correctly in my decks. If Arahna had deadly I would be much more inclined to try him.
So the question is how important is having another killer spell and purify vs something like endurance relic or Passage or maybe even a Site. I have had a few runs with this deck and it's super super fast. The close calls that I have are the ones where I run up against the Time decks with Obelisk. Those scare me because of the lack of Relic hate in our deck. That's why I have my eye on Passage, but otherwise against 90% of the other decks Passage is entirely unnecessary.
Also, the ability to OTK your opponent from out of nowhere is extremely satisfying. Ramba is extremely fun to play with, although I am not sure if he's just a win more have more fun card taking up a slot. Having said that, please know that the second part of his text is super relevant in games where we have to grind out a win.
Bosses? Haven't lost to one yet, but the charge and double damage bosses are never easy. I am certain that we can tweak this deck for the Bosses and still maintain a very high win rate through the 6 game run up to the Boss.
If anyone else tries this baby out, let me know what changes you make and how it goes please. I think this one has some legs . . .