Top Tier Decks!
An article by Jeff Rosado - Guest Author and Competitive Game Player
Introduction
Hello and welcome everyone. This is the beginning of a series of articles that I intend to post for everyone's knowledge, research, and overall entertainment.
Today's article is about Sorcery’s current top tier decks.
First off what makes a deck tier? I believe a tier deck is discovered through countless trials as well as consistent performance. I personally believe we still do not have enough data in the competitive scene to truly understand which decks are at the very top of competitive play. However, thanks to you, I was able to record the amount of data that I have regarding this topic. Throughout the leagues, we have seen decks widely popular throughout the community. We have also seen decks perform really well in the vast amount of tournaments and events held throughout the year. That being said, just because a deck is popular doesn't necessarily make it a tier deck. However, if a deck is played consistently throughout competitive play and performs well enough, it can certainly stand out and develop over time as a tier deck.
One of the amazing things about sorcery is the amount of diversity that the game provides for its players. I believe that this is a wonderful thing. However, in terms of scaling tier decks, it certainly provides a fair share of inconsistencies. For example, you can have one tournament where everyone plays a different deck, and just because one deck is declared the winner doesn't mean that one deck is "the best deck". Although that does sound like a fun event to take part in, one tournament shouldn't determine "the best deck". The same could be said if there is a tournament where everyone plays the same deck with a few different card choices. If one of those decks wins the tournament it doesn't necessarily mean that it is better than its other counterparts let alone better than all the other decks it never had a chance to play against. A tier deck can be identified if it does consistently well in numerous tournaments against numerous matchups.
With all of this in mind, the tier decks that I have provided in this article will be in alphabetical order and they may have slightly different card choices than what you are familiar with. Remember to play cards that you enjoy! I believe all these decks have proven to be marked as tier decks. These decks have not only shown consistency in performing in competitive gameplay but have also proven to compete with all the other decks on this tier list. Let’s begin!s.
Air
Air Midrange
Sorcery has four elements each reigning in their own unique way of playstyle. Air Midrange, is a deck known for its flexibility and mana acceleration. Often played with Avatar of Air, and Sparkmage this deck aims to utilize its airborne minions to position itself throughout the board to allow cards like Rolling Boulder as well as Angel’s Egg and Devil's Egg to effectively control the direction of the game. This deck contains a fair amount of excellent minions in the form of Grim Reaper, Phase Assassin, Skirmishers of Mu, and Daperyll Vampire. It also includes some of the most versatile spells in the game in the form of Lightning Bolt, Grapple Shot, and Chaos Twister. These spells not only guarantee further damage towards your opponent but cards like Grapple Shot and Chaos Twister also add a level of complexity making this deck excellent for closing out games as well as prolonging games in its favor. Cloud City, Towers, and Updraft Ridge all fit in perfectly to allow units to position themselves as well as accelerate in mana to race out other powerful minions. Proper positioning is key for this deck’s success but it has everything it needs to blow the competition away!
Battlemage
Voidwalk Battlemage
Battlemage… This deck has proven to be a top contender countless times. Battlemage is the only avatar with three power and it possesses a strong ability that allows it to draw spells after it attacks and kills a minion. With powerful weapons such as Screaming Skull, Poisonous Dagger, Flaming Sword, and Seven-League Boots this mighty Avatar can gain an absurd advantage by simply attacking and killing your opponent’s minions. If that wasn’t impressive enough, an early Grapple Shot can place your Battlemage on the same location as your opponent’s avatar dealing a free strike. This can put Battlemage ahead simply because your opponent has to deal with the three power avatar while being very careful with the placement of their minions. What’s more absurd is that Battlemage exists in play at the start of the game… This consistent playstyle has made Battlemage the strongest avatar and certainly has the highest potential in terms of competitive play. There are other ways to build Battlemage but as long as you have the important weapons and Grapple Shot the rest of the deck can be anything that helps the Battlemage claim victory! One of the most popular strategies with Battlemage are voidwalk minions as well as spells that increase a unit’s power or deal damage. Phase Assassin, Lightning Bolt, Overpower, and Gigantism all support this consistent archetype very well!
Deathspeaker
4 Elemetn Deathspeaker
There are various avatars to command throughout the realm. But only one commands the army of the dead. With Deathspeaker, death is your dominion! This avatar has the ability to summon a dead minion once per turn from either cemetery, as long as you pay that minion’s cost. Sure, the minion does get banished when it is summoned but that doesn’t stop this avatar in the slightest. This unique ability is what makes Deathspeaker highly versatile. Combined with all four elements, Deathspeaker can really shine and resurrect any minion of any element. This archetype plays minions with the genesis ability to utilize Deathspeaker’s ability. Highland Princess, Land Surveyor, Vile Imp, and Wizards allow this deck to gain value, and by resurrecting them, you can gain further value throughout the game. You can even play Fey Changeling to return your minions back to your hand so that you can recast them and reactivate their genesis abilities. By playing Common Sense you can thin your deck and search for ordinaries to further facilitate your strategy. This decklist also plays powerful cards such as Atlantean Fate, Earthquake, and Wraetannis Titan to clear multiple targets. The best part: even if those cards clear your minions you can resurrect them with Deathspeaker to regain value. Deathspeaker is the name, and value is the game!
Deathspeaker
Deathspeaker Aggro
Sorry guys but we’re not done with Deathspeaker! There’s more than one way to skin a cat, or in this case: summon a minion! This Deathspeaker list is quite different than the four-element list. It only plays two elements but overall, its objective is to still gain value. However, this decklist is more centered around finishing the game fast rather than keeping a steady pace. With cards like Thunderstorm, Sacred Scarabs, Nimbus Djinn, and Major Explosion you can apply constant pressure on your opponent and finish the game with damage and value. Highland Falconer allows you to play Sacred Scarabs directly into play which makes Deathspeaker’s ability very useful because even though the Highland Falconer will be banished, the Sacred Scarabs will take it’s place. The two copies of Summoning Sphere can be extremely useful and can also combo with Nimbus Djinn, allowing the Nimbus Djinn to be summoned to your opponent’s avatar’s site and use its ability to deal a lot of damage. Play your cards right and this combo can shift the direction of the game and in the best case win you the game out of nowhere! This version of Deathspeaker is certainly powerful. By playing fewer elements, this deck can be highly consistent in applying its aggressive strategy.
Deathspeaker
Deathspeaker Reanimator
Just when you thought we were done with Deathspeaker, it presents itself again in the form of a “Reanimator” playstyle. This just goes to show that Deathspeaker lists can find a home in various strategies. I invented this list to use Seasoned Sellsword, and Aramos Mercenaries to discard powerful minions to the cemetary. By doing so, Deathspeaker and Raise Dead can resurrect dead minions to close out the game. With Highland Princess, you can search Kythera Mechanism to control all random outcomes. This means you can choose which cards to discard with Aramos Mercenaries, choose which cards to summon with Raise Dead, and ultimately determine which targets your Lightning Bolt will hit. On top of that, you can even determine your opponent’s random outcomes. This makes Kythera Mechanism an important strategy piece and a powerful one at that. Ideally, you want to assemble as many voidwalk minions in your cemetery as possible so that you can bring them all back with Ultimate Horror to finish the game. If all else fails this deck plays powerful genesis minions in the form of Highland Princess, Vile Imp, Wizards, Courtesan Thais, and the mighty Death Dealer. While these minions are all excellent choices for Deathspeaker, none can compare to Courtesan Thais. This minion can combo brilliantly with Seasoned Sellsword. By gaining control of our opponent you can effectively move their avatar close to the Seasoned Sellsword (or attack it to deal four damage to your opponent) and force them to activate the Seasoned Sellsword’s ability multiple times. This combo will result in your opponent discarding their ENTIRE HAND! This decklist even plays The Immortal Throne as an alternate win condition. By casting spells and summoning back dead minions with Deathspeaker, you can ascend the counters on The Immortal Throne to draw numerous cards to help facilitate your strategy to victory. In some cases (if certain conditions are met) this decklist can even exceed the eighth counter on The Immortal Throne with Lord of the Void to help gain even further advantage if needed. All of this on top of powerful voidwalk minions, versatile genesis abilities, and extremely useful reanimator abilities makes this deck one to really watch out for. Deathspeaker will grow it’s potential as Sorcery releases new sets. If it’s value you seek, Deathspeaker will grant it to you.
Earth
Earth Midrange
Earth decks are very popular and with good reason. With good cards such as Root Spider, Pudge Butcher, and Earthquake you can punish your opponents if they aren’t careful with their placement. This midrange deck can dominate with either Geomancer or Avatar of Earth. By only playing the earth element this deck can use Crusade to help bolster your minion’s capabilities. Earth decks vary in card choices but some of the best versions play Roots of Yggdrasil. Combined with Bedrock and Sinkhole, Roots of Yggdrasil can dramatically reset the realm in your favor. Bedrock can not be destroyed or modified, making it the perfect card to survive the reset from Roots of Yggdrasil. By playing Land Surveyor and Autumn Unicorn you can effectively draw more sites as well as apply pressure on your opponent. Earth decks are strong, sturdy, and have the ability to warp the realm in its favor. This archetype can also be played as an aggro deck or control deck. This deck’s versatility has earned it a spot on this tier list.
Elementalist
Elementalist Throne
We all knew this was coming, so it’s no surprise that “Elemental Throne” made this tier list. This was the first deck I invented with a clear strategy: “Dominate the opposition”. Although not “the best deck”, this deck has beaten every deck on this tier list and has won numerous competitive tournaments. Through consistent performance this list has proven itself time and again as a top contender. This deck aims to unlock the full potential of Elementalist by utilizing its threshold-producing capabilities to cast powerful spells, summon powerful minions, and produce multiple forms of win conditions to fascilitate a path to victory. This list has numerous strategies and combos to work with. From card advantage with Philosopher’s Stone, Wizards, The Immortal Throne, Pact with the Devil, The Geistwood, and Vaults of Zul. To powerful strikes served with Grim Reaper, Ruler of Thul, Daperyll Vampire, Ancient Dragon, and Great Old One. Even to add complexity to your strategies in the form of Selfsame Simulacrum, Courtesan Thais, Sinkhole, Grapple Shot and Chaos Twister. In very rare cases, this deck can earn it's rightful place on the throne and win in ONE TURN with The Immortal Throne! This deck relies on its card advantage, sharp decisions, and overall adaptability of its user. It can be a fun fair deck or a highly competitive one, the choice is yours.
Enchantress
Enchantress
Enchantress is a deck widely known throughout the Sorcery community. With its complex unique playstyle, this avatar can animate auras into minions just by casting spells. These animated auras can sometimes become large units. This is due to the fact that auras can be placed at the intersection of four squares. This alone adds a high level of complexity to Enchantress’ ability. With aggressive auras such as Thunderstorm and Wildfire this deck can deal damage with their effects and animate them to deal even more damage. These auras do dispel themselves eventually however, if you combo these animated auras with Fey Changling, you can effectively “reset” their dispel stipulation by returning them to the hand. Atlantean Fate, and Stormy Seas can submerge powerful minions and valuable artifacts. Poison Nova can also helps clear multiple minions. Enchantress really shines here because its effect is optional. This allows you to control the realm without putting your auras in the line of fire. Abundance accelerates your mana, Silence makes minions lose their abilities, Wizards draw spells, and Ruler of Thul and Great Old One continue to close out games. This is everything a player wants in a control deck. Powerful board warping-removal spells, tactical advantage, and an efficient way to close out the game. This deck is the hardest to learn but it is very powerful indeed.
Fire
Burn
Most fire decks are played with Avatar of Fire, Flamecaller, and Sorcerer. Fire decks commonly share a similar strategy and are pretty straightforward. These decks aim to deal damage every turn until they claim victory. In this burn decklist, almost every card has the word “damage” written in its textbox. This allows this archtype to be highly consistent in it’s strategy. With Avatar of Fire, you can even turn the fire sites in your hand into Fireballs. This deck plays excellent minions such as Vile Imp, Quarrelsome Kobolds, and Sacred Scarabs to not only deal effect damage but to also attack and deal more damage. This wonderful union of effect damage and attacks combined with Jihad, Mix Ignis, and other “burn” spells make this deck too easy to use. A perfect archetype for fast players. This simple, effective strategy has earned it a spot on the tier list and I have a feeling it’ll be here for a very long time.
Fire/Earth
Fury Road
Getting to the more popular archetypes, we have Fury Road. This a deck that has made a name for itself in competitive play and it shows. By combining the earth and fire elements, this deck aims to win at any cost! Slumbering Giantess shines in this list as the heavy attacker in the deck. Combo this card with Vile Imp, Quarrelsome Kobolds, Colicky Dragonettes, or Firebolts and your opponent will be in for a rude awakening… Common sense, can also help with your strategy by searching ordinaries to help close the game. You never know when you’ll need a Dispel or a Bosk Troll. Blaze also comes in handy when trying to take out a few minions. Cards like Earthquake can be backbreaking but Flame Wave can be just as powerful and in some cases end the game. Imperial Road is also very useful in excellerating mana as well as manipulating site placement if you combo with Rift Valley. Overall, this fun deck has a solid strategy and a well balanced choice of cards to play on a competative level.
Seer
Ragnarok
Another popular deck is Ragnarök. While very similar to Fury Road, this deck uses Seer to manipulate its draws as well as Land surveyor to help assemble the Roots of Yggdrasil combo. This deck also plays Scorched Earth to help destroy Roots of Yggdrasil and in some cases destroy multiple targets in a pinch. If all else fails, this deck has multiple minions to help close out the game. Autumn Unicorn, Amazon Warriors, and Atlas Wanderers are all wonderful for doing just that. Vile Imp, and Quarrelsome Kobolds are great at killing other small minions while Root Spider is great at disabling stronger minions that the Vile Imp, and Quarrelsome Kobolds can’t kill. Even Earthquake and Bury play a big role in clearing minions to ensure a safe attack. They can also burrow artifacts which gives it some flexability as well. This deck has some fun tactics implemented with an aggressive strategy.
Pathfinder
Warpath
Warpath is another fun popular deck piloting Pathfinder as its avatar of choice. While similar to Fury Road, this deck aims to close out the game fast. It also plays Root Spider as an efficient minion to disable minions. This can also combo with Slumbering Giantess. By summoning the Slumbering Giantess on the Root Spider you can disable it’s ability and effectively summon it “awake”. A very clever strategy. Infiltrate combined with Petrosian Cavalry and Gigantism can also improve the deck’s strategy. By gaining control of your opponent’s minions with Infiltrate you can possibly prevent your opponent from intercepting or defending against an attack. On top of that, you can use your opponent’s minion to attack them. Jihad combined with Vile Imp and Quarrelsome Kobolds also apply pressure as well as kill smaller minions and wake up Slumbering Giantess. Earthquake and Bury add flexibility as well by getting rid of minions and artifacts. This well-crafted union gives this deck a slight edge over it’s former counterparts.
Pathfinder
Steady Path
Steady Path is a deck that has a lot going on but is certainly a well-crafted toolbox. By playing spellcasters as its main source of minions, this deck can take advantage of positioning spellcasters throughout the realm to control the outcome of Firebolts, Immolation, Disenchant, Poison Nova, and Major Explosion. By using Common Sense, Browse, Highland Princess, Wizards, Pact with the Devil, and Dream Quest you can produce card advantage and thin your deck to help search or draw powerful spells. With Pathfinder you gain an interesting advantage the more you move throughout the realm. Positioning your spellcasters as well as leaving some of your sites open for an attack. By doing so, Mordric Druids can provide both an offensive and defensive strategy. Offensive because if your opponent attacks an undefended site nearby they lose that much life. Defensive because your opponent can potentially hesitate to attack. Mordric Druids are also spellcasters which provide more synergy to this archetype. They even combo with Seasoned Sellsword and Courtesan Thais. You can take your opponent’s turn, have them cast their cards to put them at a disadvantage or deal damage to them (cards like Lightning Bolt), attack Seasoned Sellsword with their avatar (they take four damage), use their minions to attack your sites and have them lose life from the Mordric Druids (hopefully putting them on death’s door first), and then you can have your opponent discard their hand by activating the Seasoned Sellsword’s ability multiple times. Finally, Ruler of Thul, Amazon Warriors and King of the Realm help close out the game as fast as possible. King of the Realm is excellent to gain back control of Seasoned Sellsword, and increase your minion’s power to deal further damage. This is an exciting competitive deck with a lot of interesting strategies.
Water
Water Control
Last, but certainly not least, we have Water Control. You have plenty of options for avatars however this list is commonly played with Avatar of Water and Waveshaper. This deck gains a lot of value from playing one element. With Philosopher’s Stone, Aquamarine Core, and Mix Aqua you can excelerate into powerful water cards more efficiently. Tufted Turtles, Plague of Frogs, and Tadpole Pool combined with Pnakotic Manuscript can help you draw more cards thus increasing your advantage. Rivers are extremely useful in helping control draws as well as working really well with Deep-Sea Mermaids. This deck can even cast your opponent’s spells with Sea Raiders and Captain Baldassare. Those cards work well with Shink and Pollimorph, ensuring your minions can kill other minions effectively without dying in the process. Atlantean Fate and Stormy Seas also help with submerging minions and artifacts. Tide Naiads and Floodplain successfully help flood the realm to ensure targets are submerged. Lord of Unland, Ruler of Thul, Selfsame Simulacrum, Anui Undine, Diluvian Kraken and Great Old One gives this deck a powerful endgame. Highly competitive and very adaptable to any situation, making this deck one to watch out for.
Conclusion
Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this article. A lot of hard work and a few sleepless nights made this happen and I’m glad to be able to share this with you. I also hope that I have provided some decent insight on the diverse competitive playstyles in the format. Again, some card choices may have been slightly different to what you are familiar with. Ultimately this served as a guide to help simplify the archtypes and the main cards they play. This should also serve as a good way to notice “staples” within the format as some decklists share common card choices. I hope you all enjoyed, stay tuned for more content!
Thank you Jeff Rosado!
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