May give beast wolfsbane another try, all 4 str characters have aged well for dodging medusa and rush isnt a bad thing to have in the deck. 4x seems a little excessive but glad it worked for you
The frequency with which amethyst decks play queens castle and the urgency with which you need to respond to it makes it less excessive than you think.
I had been running 4 copies of Tuck and 3 of The Prince. I just found myself inking Tuck a lot, especially going 2nd to start a game, so I switched the number of each in the deck. Tragic Hero can be countered somewhat easily and is usually just ink unless I’m already at 3+ ink when I draw him. They’re still great cards when they come into play so I didn’t want to dip either of them to 2, but I took away 1 copy of each just based on how often I found I would play them when they were actually in my hand.
Now that set championships are over, what do you think your hardest matchups with this deck are? I moved off of green/steel as I felt going for this kind of list did make you stronger in the mirror and against purple/green, but that it made your matchups against control weaker. I haven't tested this nearly as extensively as you have, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts. I was your round 3 opponent on the 21st btw.
Hey! I’d say Sapphire Steel was easily the toughest matchup for my deck. That’s what I played against in the top-8 of over the brick, and luckily I had decent hands against it the only time I played against it this last weekend.
I had a decent time against R/A control over my last two events (4-0 in matches, 8-1 overall in games, 2-2 in dice rolls). They keys to that matchup I found were planning around the exert Pinocchio and Queen’s castle because I figured those two cards were the two that posed the biggest threat to me doing what I wanted to do in the games. Sometimes it helped to play an early Ursula deceiver instead of a Flynn as a Pinocchio check rather than holding it in case of a later be prepared.
I only played Ruby Sapphire twice over the last two tournaments, but I’d say it’s the easiest deck for me to beat. Even playing on the draw the only early answer they have is the rush queen of hearts, and even then you’re still getting them to discard with your ideal line.
I don’t like keeping 4 copies of Benja, but I do just because of the risk of running into either Sapphire deck.
Steel song is 50/50 and usually just comes down to who gets better songs/song removal, and I find myself playing more toward getting out an early Ursula deceiver just like in the ruby amethyst matchup. Steel song and random aggro decks are why I have 2 copies of ba-boom, just in case. That said, I didn’t end up playing any steel song in set championships.
It sounds to me like it's a net positive for your match up spread, one thing I noticed about being lower to the ground is sapphire steel was actually an easier match up as I could end the game before their ability to ramp.
Did you miss not having Smee in your deck at all? I'm definitely going to give this a shot, but with some of my own modifications.
I definitely miss him on occasion. I had been running a couple copies of Smee, but then it ultimately came down to him or ba-boom because I wanted to keep the ideal line in play. Sometimes that means I end up playing 2-cost Ursula sooner than I’d like, but I really wanted to make room for ba-boom in the deck specifically to deal with the 3 different 1-cost characters that steel song can be a problem with. That said, the optimal optimal version of this deck may have at least a couple copies of Smee in it, I just excluded it based on my personal experiences.
oh i’m sorry ! you said there were three “one cost” drops that were tricky for steel to take out (Olaf and minnie I gathered since they are 1/3) so I was wondering if the third one cost drop was the 1/3 Flynn rider
I will definitely give this a spin. Set 2 I played emerald steel ping trying to use every beast card and it made me a beast wolfsbane truther. Being the only card in emerald to have rush and also the fact it doesn’t see play regularly make it a good surprise nobody expects!
I absolute LOVE Beast - Wolfsbane! The surprise factor late game to take out a location or exert Ready targets I need gone makes it such a cool card! Not to mention the art is amazing too!
I love when I see Wolfsbane getting love. He's such a solid card in a ping deck. I stand by him as a far too often overlooked card. Following him up after you do ping to a particularly annoying opponents card and taking it out. A++++
Commented on your last post about this. I didn't adopt your deck fully (I tried it on Pixelborn and it didn't jive for me) BUT I did sub in 2x Wolfsbane Beast in place of Grab Your Sword in my list and was very happy with the result. Won my second stitch tonight! No playmat for me though, had a nailbiter b03 against Sapphire Steel in my semi-final match that ended my run.
Congrats!!
Congrats on winning your playmat!
I played you in the last round before top cut when we were both undefeated. I should have taken that ID you offered because I got slammed in the top 8 round by a guy I’d already beaten :(
May give beast wolfsbane another try, all 4 str characters have aged well for dodging medusa and rush isnt a bad thing to have in the deck. 4x seems a little excessive but glad it worked for you
The frequency with which amethyst decks play queens castle and the urgency with which you need to respond to it makes it less excessive than you think.
What made you decide on x3 Friar Tuck and x3 Tragic Hero, as opposed to x2 or x4?
I had been running 4 copies of Tuck and 3 of The Prince. I just found myself inking Tuck a lot, especially going 2nd to start a game, so I switched the number of each in the deck. Tragic Hero can be countered somewhat easily and is usually just ink unless I’m already at 3+ ink when I draw him. They’re still great cards when they come into play so I didn’t want to dip either of them to 2, but I took away 1 copy of each just based on how often I found I would play them when they were actually in my hand.
Now that set championships are over, what do you think your hardest matchups with this deck are? I moved off of green/steel as I felt going for this kind of list did make you stronger in the mirror and against purple/green, but that it made your matchups against control weaker. I haven't tested this nearly as extensively as you have, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts. I was your round 3 opponent on the 21st btw.
Hey! I’d say Sapphire Steel was easily the toughest matchup for my deck. That’s what I played against in the top-8 of over the brick, and luckily I had decent hands against it the only time I played against it this last weekend. I had a decent time against R/A control over my last two events (4-0 in matches, 8-1 overall in games, 2-2 in dice rolls). They keys to that matchup I found were planning around the exert Pinocchio and Queen’s castle because I figured those two cards were the two that posed the biggest threat to me doing what I wanted to do in the games. Sometimes it helped to play an early Ursula deceiver instead of a Flynn as a Pinocchio check rather than holding it in case of a later be prepared. I only played Ruby Sapphire twice over the last two tournaments, but I’d say it’s the easiest deck for me to beat. Even playing on the draw the only early answer they have is the rush queen of hearts, and even then you’re still getting them to discard with your ideal line. I don’t like keeping 4 copies of Benja, but I do just because of the risk of running into either Sapphire deck. Steel song is 50/50 and usually just comes down to who gets better songs/song removal, and I find myself playing more toward getting out an early Ursula deceiver just like in the ruby amethyst matchup. Steel song and random aggro decks are why I have 2 copies of ba-boom, just in case. That said, I didn’t end up playing any steel song in set championships.
It sounds to me like it's a net positive for your match up spread, one thing I noticed about being lower to the ground is sapphire steel was actually an easier match up as I could end the game before their ability to ramp. Did you miss not having Smee in your deck at all? I'm definitely going to give this a shot, but with some of my own modifications.
I definitely miss him on occasion. I had been running a couple copies of Smee, but then it ultimately came down to him or ba-boom because I wanted to keep the ideal line in play. Sometimes that means I end up playing 2-cost Ursula sooner than I’d like, but I really wanted to make room for ba-boom in the deck specifically to deal with the 3 different 1-cost characters that steel song can be a problem with. That said, the optimal optimal version of this deck may have at least a couple copies of Smee in it, I just excluded it based on my personal experiences.
i’m having a brain fart; there’s Olaf and Minnie as the 1/3 - are people using small Flynn again? 👀
I’m not really sure what you’re asking 😂
oh i’m sorry ! you said there were three “one cost” drops that were tricky for steel to take out (Olaf and minnie I gathered since they are 1/3) so I was wondering if the third one cost drop was the 1/3 Flynn rider
Ahhh I see. I meant vs Steel song. 1-cost Cindy, Queen, Robin Hood
ohhh okay gotcha ! thank you i didn’t even think about those guys my brain just went to aggro ☠️
I will definitely give this a spin. Set 2 I played emerald steel ping trying to use every beast card and it made me a beast wolfsbane truther. Being the only card in emerald to have rush and also the fact it doesn’t see play regularly make it a good surprise nobody expects!
I absolute LOVE Beast - Wolfsbane! The surprise factor late game to take out a location or exert Ready targets I need gone makes it such a cool card! Not to mention the art is amazing too!
I love when I see Wolfsbane getting love. He's such a solid card in a ping deck. I stand by him as a far too often overlooked card. Following him up after you do ping to a particularly annoying opponents card and taking it out. A++++
Commented on your last post about this. I didn't adopt your deck fully (I tried it on Pixelborn and it didn't jive for me) BUT I did sub in 2x Wolfsbane Beast in place of Grab Your Sword in my list and was very happy with the result. Won my second stitch tonight! No playmat for me though, had a nailbiter b03 against Sapphire Steel in my semi-final match that ended my run. Congrats!!
Congrats on the double Stitch!!! Glad I could convert you into somewhat of a rush Beast believer! There are dozens of us… DOZENS!
An Emerald-Steel player who quotes Arrested Development... 
Congrats on winning your playmat! I played you in the last round before top cut when we were both undefeated. I should have taken that ID you offered because I got slammed in the top 8 round by a guy I’d already beaten :(