For those of you who have read Jeremy's column, Head of the Class, you know that he's a member of one of the top competitive teams in the WoW TCG: Team Alternate Win Condition. The TAWC crew can often be found playing exciting new decks at any event they can afford a plane ticket to, and Darkmoon Faire Austin marked their first step onto the WoW TCG stage. While most of his team piloted an innovative Cruelty-based Warrior deck to great success, Jeremy played a something else... Phadalus the Enlightened rush. The Kingpin played Blue Men before it was cool. The power of Rescue the Survivors and efficient Alliance allies would lay the foundation for a large part of the metagame for the remainder of 2007. Later incarnations of the deck won Brad Watson his first championship title at the Dream Machine Championship in Chicago, and was one of the decks to beat going into U.S. National Championships. Check out Jeremy's insight behind creating the deck prior to Austin, and see how Blue Men were released on the World (of Warcraft). -Ryan

Head of the Class: Darkmoon Faire-y Tales
Originally Published: May 7, 2007

In the final hour, Demons had been summoned to protect their Warlock masters, Warriors were brandishing sharp weapons, Druids in Cat Form were trying to Claw their way into the finals, and I sat calmly flipping down my cards. It had already been an outstanding weekend and a really great day. I saw some of my best friends find tournament success, landed some amazing swag, and had a fair shot at making the Top 8. 
 

The weekend kicked off with long drives and flights into Texas. Our hotel room was sweet and had plenty of room for the collective membership of Team Alternate Win Condition (TAWC). My team is something special. Win or lose, we typically walk away from tournament play satisfied and sporting hundreds of classic stories. When we get together, we have a blast!

 

Tim Batow earned a berth in the Gadgetzen finals on Friday night, and I celebrated by knocking down a couple hundred Trolls in the Darkmoon Faire side events. Tired and starving, we finally made our way into the depths of the parking garage and back to our hotel. At 3 a.m. you might have found us working on the final touches of our decklists. We had come up with some pretty interesting ideas!

 

The Saturday sunrise came too quickly. Fueled by little more than Waffle House and the wanton desire for a little world domination, we packed up our deck boxes and trekked across the Austin city limits into the heart of the city. Entry fees and decklists gave way to high-level tournament action as we battled our way through seven rounds of play. The morning was a blur. The field seemed like it was mostly comprised of Hunter, Shaman, and Warlock builds, but strong solo decks comprised nearly half of the top tables.

 

Tim Batow¡¯s Horde Warrior / Cruelty deck placed three of my teammates into the Top 8, while an Alliance Shaman deck that Mike Barnes and I tweaked landed me there along with them. Most of us sported a single loss that came at the hands of fellow team members, and all of us were pumped up for the opportunity to play on Sunday.

 

Flashback

 

In the last edition of Head of the Class, I offered the readership a sneak preview of my deck and some insight into our tournament preparation. (I had excluded the Cruelty decklist from the tournament report for security reasons.) In today¡¯s article, I would like to review some of the decisions that shaped the deck and talk through its evolution. I would like to note, however, that the best new metagame deck is likely the Warrior build. That deck is fun to play and offers players a chance to march their solo heroes into tournament action. If you have not tried it out, then I would suggest snatching up those copies of Cruelty and building the metagame masterpiece.

 

As for last week¡¯s article, it seems fortunate that I was able to start documenting the deck before it actually placed in the finals. Retrospect is always amazing, but few people are good at Fortune Telling. There is no doubt that luck played a major role, so rather than lean on my clairvoyance, we should focus on the deckbuilding decisions and sweet card evolution.

 

The Initial Build

 

Hero: Phadalus the Enlightened

 

Allies

4 Apprentice Merry

4 Korthas Greybeard

4 Jeleane Nightbreeze

3 Warden Ravella

4 Parvink

3 Medoc Spiritwarden

2 Raul ¡°Fingers¡± Maldren

1 Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker

1 Lady Jaina Proudmoore

1 King Magni Bronzebeard

 

Abilities

4 Earth Elemental Totem

4 Searing Totem

4 Frost Shock

3 Vanquish

 

Quests

4 Rescue the Survivors!

3 The Missing Diplomat

4 The Defias Brotherhood

4 Chasing A-Me 01

3 The Princess Trapped

 

 

When we left off, I was in a different place than I ended up. The Shaman deck was built for the mid- to late-game. The ¡°Trinity¡± (three Alliance epics) supported an endgame fueled by recursion from Medoc Spiritwarden. I really liked the draw power of the deck and fell in love with the solid untargetable characters. Still, I was having occasional problems with rush builds, and I lost too many solo matchups. The rush builds were hitting very hard and ending the game before I could make my late-turn drops. Eventually, the deck aimed for a faster win and abandoned the epic inclusions. Without the epics, the need for The Missing Diplomat diminished and gave way to cheaper quests. Basically, the deck wanted to play more quests that cost 2 resources so I could bluff an Earth Elemental Totem or Frost Shock. If I did not need to use those cards, then I could just complete The Princess Trapped or Kibler¡¯s Exotic Pets for a shot at card acquisition.

 

At the end of the last article, I had mentioned the desire for a weapon. I initially thought about Annihilator and liked the idea of unpreventable damage. On the other hand, Mass of McGowan was cheaper to swing and offered a nice bonus against protectors and troublesome personalities like Sarmoth. The Annihilator finally found a place in the side deck as a supplemental weapon in certain matches. Mass was great against ally builds, while Annihilator was key against decks with lots of armor or cards that prevent damage.

 

Playtesting led to the inclusion of more low-drop characters and the synergistic inclusion of Kryton Barleybeard. One of the deck¡¯s slicker tricks involves the recursion of the Earth Elemental Totem when Kryton is about to die or is targeted with a removal effect. His effect only costs two resources and fits into the whole Frost Shock, Earth Elemental Totem, 2-cost quest synergy. The Earth Elemental Totem plays a complementary role against a low-cost rush deck, offers a chance to outplay your opponent, and protects key personalities in the later part of the game. Occasionally, it adds to your ally count and helps initiate The Defias Brotherhood. In a pinch, you can even use it like an instant ally and attack for 2! That Elemental is an all-around winner.

 

After working with some of my teammates, I added in four copies of Leeroy Jenkins for big beats and Donna Calister for a little late-game insurance. Donna seems like a strange inclusion, but she offers a wall protecting the untargetable characters on your side of the board. If you take away the ability to target and attack a character, you have generated some serious problems for your opponent. If the opponent spends two attacks to kill Donna, then he or she has given your untargetables two or more attacks into the opposing hero. Overall, the deck traded the late game for a mid-game rush that draws a ton of cards and keeps the damage rolling.

 

To make room for key personalities, we had to rearrange the lineup and try to run an optimal curve. Chain Lightning proved to be essential in the metagame against the untargetable characters and replaced the classic Frost Shock. With the Chain and the Earth Elemental, Frost Shock was not necessary. (It may find its way back into the build at some point, though.) There were a number of cards that did not make the cut, including other Totems, more protectors, and Master Mathias Shaw. The deck was able to win games with speed and removal backed up by timing and card draw. Many people suggested Kal¡¯ai the Uplifting, but he did not test well. I rarely got a chance to benefit from his bonus, he did not protect my untargetable early game, and he was typically the target of removal. Eventually, he lost his place to Donna.

 

Testing showed that the deck had a near auto-win against other rush decks, with the Totems, protectors, and Chain Lightning cramping the rush style. Further, it had a fair late game that could explode in a rain of Leeroy Jenkins. At times, I had to do over 50 damage in a game but was still able to walk away on top. Here is the updated list for your review:

 

Hero: Phadalus the Enlightened

 

Allies

4 Apprentice Merry

2 Donna Calister

4 Jeleane Nightbreeze

4 Kryton Barleybeard

2 Latro Abiectus

4 Leeroy Jenkins

4 Parvink

2 Raul "Fingers" Maldren

 

Abilities

3 Chain Lightning

4 Earth Elemental Totem

4 Searing Totem

3 Vanquish

 

Equipment

3 Mass of McGowan

 

Quests

4 Chasing A-Me 01

4 Kibler's Exotic Pets

4 Rescue the Survivors!

4 The Defias Brotherhood

1 The Princess Trapped

 

Side Deck

3 Annihilator

3 "Chipper" Ironbane

3 Moira Darkheart

1 Vanquish

 

 

20/20 Hindsight

 

People may have mixed emotions about some of the card choices. My favorite aspect of the deck is the ability to spend cards, regain cards, spend them again, and keep drawing. In multiple matches, players commented on the card draw. The deck really rips off the top! Rescue the Survivors! is my favorite card from the deck. It usually gives you two cards for 3 resources, interacts well with The Defias Brotherhood, and is thematically pretty amazing.

 

I may have been crazy to banish ¡°Chipper¡± Ironbane to the side deck; however, it was impossible to predict how well the solo decks would do in the environment. Moira and Chipper typically accompanied the Annihilator into the deck when I faced a Warrior or solo build. I played the Warrior / solo match five times and won three of those. I took my only two losses to Tim Batow, and that guy would be hard to beat with any 59 cards and a gum wrapper!

 

Future revisions may need to include more weapon hate to balance out the bad Warrior matchup. The deck really owns the rush and typically is 50/50 against the Warlock builds. If you can abuse Leeroy Jenkins and removal, then the Warlocks have a tough time dealing with the mass damage. If you do not hit your early game untargetables and land some blows, then you are looking at a long day when they pop a Cannibalize or tip the Nemesis Skullcap repeatedly.

 

I think there are a couple of really strong cards that may make the deck better. The equipment hate can make its way into the deck, but it is best accompanied by Face Smash. You can use the tokens, Donna Calister, and even your Totems for what becomes an instant-speed Vanquish. In certain matches, you would really pull ahead with a timely Face Smash. I would save mine for Infernal.

 

Raul ¡°Fingers¡± Maldren may also take a seat to better options depending on your metagame. Still, he is a force that puts a lot of pressure on your opponents. If they do not find an answer, he can end a game in a hurry.

 

I hope watching this deck evolve into a tournament contender was fun. It is a great build and offers the player a chance to play ¡°the beatdown¡± when going first or flex one¡¯s skills on the draw. The deck can be strong in the early game but also offers some later game options. It is a slick metagame choice due to this diversity and uses cards that most people can get their hands on. I look forward to seeing where other people take the build; there are at least ten other cards that may be viable in the deck.