Articles

Scott Landis

As I begin to evaluate Core for Darkmoon Faire Jacksonville, I was thinking of the cards you needed to handle in the format. Then I realized, however, that there is really only one aspect of the metagame that may actually matter for Jacksonville: Grglmrgl aggro and anti-Grglmrgl aggro builds. With the exception of the World Championship in 2009 that was the Drums of War Block Constructed format, I cannot remember a tournament that was dominated by one build as the Core portion of the World Championship was this year. Of the 298 registered Core decks, 110 were Monster Hunters, which is 37% of that portion of the tournament, compared to Contemporary where Jaral of Gilneas was 96 of 307 (32%). A small portion of these were probably more controlling builds; I saw a few on the day and one below will show a different card selection compared to the standard aggro builds. So even though I covered this deck in the past, it remains the top of the metagame heap and no discussion of Core can really begin without continuing the discussion on this defining deck.

As the weeks leading up to Jacksonville continue, I will touch on other builds, most of which would fall into the "anti-Grglmrgl" category so there is plenty of time to look at the other decks in the metagame.

"Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty."
-Ronald Reagan

This powerful deck went through some changes from Darkmoon Faire Shanghai to the World Championship, so I decided to do a similar look at the deck in relation to the World Championship builds. You need to know where to focus your testing, so I hope this exercise will help you come up with that one master list to test with or against. Let's start with the 11 builds that either went undefeated in the Core portion of the tournament (the first eight decklists) or were used by the Top 16 players presumably to at least a winning record in the Core portion (the final three lists):

Note: Deck 2 is the completely different build, closer to a Viewless Wings with VanCleef clan build more similar to the mid-range aspect of the Contemporary Jaral of Gilneas builds.

There are several cards you no longer see in builds that were featured in the Top 16 in Shanghai. From the ally perspective there were no builds that ran Faceless Sapper, Thall the World-Shaman, Kress, Herald of the Hunt, Goldrinn, and Gilblin Plunderer as decks did in Shanghai. Faceless Sapper is really the only one up for consideration, the others were barely represented to begin with and are not viable metgame calls. On the ability front, Monstrous Mark has completely fallen out of favor, which is interesting because it was such a good card in the former Block Constructed version of these decks. All resource cards that are not Wake of Destruction, If You're Not Against Us…, or Shadowfang Keep are also completely out of favor.

"If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles."
–Sun Tzu

So let's look at the cards you should look to play:

(Green is near universal adoption, Blue is mixed, Red is a "one deck" card, not always the same deck)

There are two general points I need to make first. Obviously one list decided to go the Beast Mastery spec instead of Marksmanship, but in general I would lean heavily towards the Marksmanship route for both the free wins and easy flips (thus more free wins) that Concussive Barrage can provide. One could argue to not include this deck here at all, since again it is so different from the other builds, but it is here because of many of the cards in common. Second, there is clearly a bias of local metagaming and regional style coming into play here. Many of the players from Asia chose to play a more controlling route, utilizing late game allies such as Azgalor the Pit Lord and Commander Ulthok.

I want to look the universal cards first. Starting at the top, Shadowfang Keep has garnered near universal adoption. I think the combination of Pygmy Pyramid and SFK, combined with Monstrous Upheaval is simply too powerful to ignore. There may be turns you cannot find a way to profitably destroy your Pygmy Pyramid "for value" so you want another way to destroy it to gain the three pygmies. This of course leads you vulnerable to opposing AOE, but an easy 8 damage from an Upheaval frequently just ends games. From the quest perspective, only one of the "regular" aggro builds chose not to play Wake of Destruction (playing more "action cards" instead, specifically Obliterating Trap). While there is nothing you can really "prepare for" here, it shows you that this is not a typical aggro deck that is all-in with no ability to draw out of it. Early game, If You're Not Against Us… will set up later turns with a full hand of cards, and Wake helps as well. Most builds are running seven to eleven resource cards, with at least seven that are integral to the overall theme of the deck. Does this mean it is time for Signed in Blood to come back into vogue for opposing decks? Maybe, but as we will discuss later, it cannot be your primary turn 1 play.

Continuing to look at the non-allies, Bottled Spite has near universal adoption, frequently as a three or four-of. It is excellent in the mirror, allowing you to catch up in games you may have stumbled on early. It is excellent against various token strategies, including those powered by the popular Nasala Silvertree. Leaving it in play allows the deck to sometimes do that one point of damage needed to flip on certain turns. As a normally hyper aggro deck, use of Bottled Spite continues to allow the deck to play a control/mid-range role in the mid-game turns, giving it a massive amount of versatility, and thus popularity.

Next we have full universal adoption of the most important card out of War of the Ancients, Legacy of the Legion. At this point the power level of the card is well established, whether your hero is flipped or not. Interestingly, all the players who made the Top 16 played a full playset of the powerful ability, and I believe going forward this is the right call. Sure, you can draw hands with more than one early, but all that means is that you may have an early resource. If you can survive to the late game, it is absolutely devastating to deal with back to back (and even again!) Legacy of the Legions. I expect all lists going forward to have a full playset of this format defining epic.

I still believe that Marksmanship continues to be the correct spec, even though Beast Mastery is a powerful option. I do not know what you are offered by going Beast Mastery as a spec, and the flexibility of Concussive Barrage both in enabling your flip and protecting your important allies is of paramount importance. The cost is the best part of the card, making it extremely easy to protect your utility allies like Hemet Nessingwary. I simply cannot see the reason to be Beast Mastery in today's Core, unless there is a huge shift towards control, which I do not see being adopted by the masses. I thought the switch to Beast Mastery in Contemporary was a good and interesting move, but not in Core.

Finally we get to the most important part of the deck, the allies. You should expect to see full playsets of Jadefire Scout, Gilblin Deathscrounger, Child of Agamaggan, Pygmy Firebreather, and Pygmy Pyramid in all builds. You also now find Furious George in every single build; the quantity is just in question. Clearly this ally set from turns 1-4 is one of the best available in Core, and unsurprisingly at its best in this deck. While some are harder to deal with than others, the card advantage generated by the Deathscrounger, Firebreather, and Pyramid are too hard to pass up. It is interesting to note that all of these are vulnerable to passive direct damage, with Bottled Spite and Flame Lance being especially strong against this green force.

The rest of the ally set is where you really begin to see variance in the lists and where the decision points lie. I found the use of both Neferset Shadowlancer and Jadefire Satyr interesting, especially in a mirror match. The ability to use the Shadowlancer with either a Yertle token or a Bottled Spite sitting in play should allow an easy hero flip, and does not take away that much from playing a turn 1 Jadefire Scout, plus he trades quite nicely with the Scout, and his ability to affect the board and not simply attack the hero may be relevant. His downside is his one health, thus being vulnerable to the front half of a Bottled Spite instead of a full activation. If Distraction Technique starts to see more play, he is also vulnerable to one activation, not something you want out of this deck. Overall I think his use is "cute" and if you literally expected mirror matches all day he may be the right call, but he seems to be a bit too unwieldy for the long haul. Jadefire Satyr is also interesting because he should certainly get larger, so you are getting a 4 ATK two drop in the mid/late game pretty easily. I like the fact that he survives the "2 damage barrier" that seems to be a problem for the other two drops you normally play. However, I think his innate 2 ATK compared to 4 makes him a tough two drop to depend on to flip your hero, but an interesting late game option. I think he bears testing in the mirror matches.

So the rest of your decisions fall on the mid and late game allies. Let's start with what I consider to be a must run ally: Hemet Nessingwary. To me, he puts the deck on an all new level, allowing you do to some really powerful things in the mid turns, propelling you to the late game as early on turn 4. I do not understand the lists that contain a lot of late game allies, and do NOT include the Hunter champion. I feel that a Hemet on turn 3 sets you up for amazing things to do for the rest of the game and is a must play. I like the Ooga Booga use of Unstoppable Abyssal, specifically to next level metagame against both General Husam and especially Protectors carrying around a Winter Veil Disguise Kit. I am not 100% sure it is needed for those reasons, since you could simply up the number of direct ally removal you are playing (such as a full set of Monstrous Upheaval or even testing Arrowstorm), but he is an interesting option. Harpy Matriarch is the another ally many players ran. As I have said in the past, playing this ally seems to be "playing scared" as a 2/2 for three is never really part of your plan. Sure, if you run up against some control deck sporting multiple ongoing abilities you may turn a loss into a win, destroying a Glacial Tomb or Infinite Brilliance for example, but again, I do not see this pushing the purpose of this aggro deck forward. I feel this deck is powerful enough to ignore utility allies like the Harpy, so stick to the deck's main plan.

Yertle seems to be the other popular option. The decision here seems to be the number of late game allies you are running and if you need to ramp into them. The powerful turtle seems to be a decision between it and Hemet, since playing Hemet should vault you ahead of a four drop. So if you run the normal curve and need a secondary four drop without Hemet, you should look to run Yertle, but since I am such a Hemet fan, I will not be running the turtle.

Your five drop is another debate, whether you run General Husam, Commander Ulthok, both, or neither. It seems like each deck ran one or the other, and some ran both. General Husam is amazing in this deck, and when you are flipped he is a serious win condition with damage equal to a Legacy of the Legion when flipped, even without other allies in play. He is also amazing in the mirror, allowing you to both attack and defend and grow to giant proportions, especially with the Shadowfang Keep + Pygmy Pyramid combination. I would test against versions using Husam, as he is a very powerful win condition. Commander Ulthok is very good in the mirror, again with Hemet ramping you into him. You should always call either Mazu'kon against Horde controlling lists or Legacy of the Legion in the mirror, pushing you as the only player with a powerful late game. Games may end right there and then once you resolve Ulthok, and obviously once you are flipped he gives you a late game ferocious push.

Lastly you have the absolute late game, and I would not look to run more than one of these options: Azgalor the Pit Lord, Neltharion the Earth-Warder, or Gnash (who you can run as a two-of). I really do not understand Ozumat other that if you are stuck in a position where you cannot flip for some reason and do not simply want to pay the eight resources, you are at least committing a huge ally to the field on the same turn and you should get to flip. Again, though, that seems to be playing scared. Neltharion is my favorite option here, since you can play him in the same turn as another threat and get such a cheap 8/8 on the board. It is very conceivable you will play a Legacy of the Legion and a Neltharion in the same turn and just end a game out of nowhere. His downside of destroying five cards is really not an issue, since any game he will not auto-win you, you will probably lose anyway. I like playing the immature Deathwing as a one-of in this list.

Lastly on the non-ally front you have options in your ally removal/damage dealing. There seems to be a split on the use of Monstrous Strike and Monstrous Upheaval, but the latter is the direction I would be looking. Monstrous Upheaval can end games, especially with Pygmy Pyramid. Breaking up the Pyramid will give you eight damage for three resources, an auto flip or huge burst of damage. Monstrous Strike seems to be in an awkward position, since you never really want to be playing it on turn two and it is hard to find the two resources later in the game in a deck that always wants to use all its resources each turn. I understand it helps you flip and is powerful board control, but I am just not sure where it fits into your primary plan of committing allies to the board. I see Monstrous Strike falling out of favor going forward, especially if your option is this or Upheaval.

Is there room to improve this list? Of course! Like every other deck, as deckbuilders we are anxiously awaiting to try the nine cards from the Feast of Winter Veil Collector's Set. There is still room to grow this list in a defined metagame, especially in a mirror dominated metagame. With that knowledge going into Jacksonville (and your local Core events) you may be able to adjust your lists accordingly. I am curious to see the innovations that others make leading up to Jacksonville, as I am sure this will be the most popular deck.

"The best weapon against an enemy is another enemy."
-Friedrich Nietzsche

Yes, this the second time I have dived deeply into this popular list, but you must know how to play it and beat it if you are looking to succeed in Core. As my look at Core continues over the next few weeks, I will try and exploit this matchup and explain how other decks seem to interact with it. You have to start with Rock in the Rock-Paper-Scissors metagame, and Grglmrgl aggro is most certainly the rock that players should start with.

-Scott

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