Thought I’d get the Abyssian discussion going by sharing a Shadow Nova list I’ve been working on.
The picture might look a little weird due to formatting, click on it to display the list properly.
Text Format:
1 Cassyva Soulreaper
3 Bloodtear Alchemist
3 Grasp of Agony
3 Daemonic Lure
3 Healing Mystic
3 Primus Fist
3 Spectral Blade
3 Alcuin Loremaster
3 Sojourner
3 Dioltas
3 Shadow Sister Kelaino
3 Sunset Paragon
3 Shadow Nova
3 Spectral Revenant
###Intro
This particular list is a variant of the common Shadow Nova list that aims to stop the momentum of the aggressive decks and then deal enough damage so that any aggressive deck will not be able to win before you do. At the same time, the deck contains just enough removal and minions to comfortably combat slower decks, and then finish them off with damage from your 7-cost cards.
Consistency is key in this list, which is a major reason why there are 3 copies of every card. There are cards which serve crucial roles in some matchups which you must draw or replace into during the game.
###Gameplan
The goal of the deck is a rather simple one, stay ahead of your opponent on the board, deal damage, and finish with Shadow Nova and Spectral Revenant. To break it down a little more:
-
Mulligan for 1 and 2-cost minions
-
Attempt to spend all you mana in playing out your cards; keep your minions close to the mana Springs if your opponent is on the other side of the board and move your minions onto the mana Springs if your opponent is near them.
-
Use Daemonic Lure, Grasp of Agony, and Sunset Paragon to control enemy minions by keeping them toward the center of the board. Allowing a minion with a powerful effect to stay on a tile you cannot reach is one of the main two ways you can lose.
-
Keep your minions in play as long as you can. Minions are the best way to combat your opponent’s cards, since with help from the aforementioned spells they are are able to trade with multiple cards. You may attack the enemy general with them if they survive, but always leave several minions alive to be able to reach as large of a section of the board as possible.
-
If your opponent plays something threatening you have no chance of answering, start attacking their general. Get as much damage in as possible and hope that you can delay the game long enough for your finishers to do their work.
-
About 2 turns before you reach 7 mana, begin keeping your 7-cost cards in hand. If you have one of them to play on your 7 mana turn, your chances of winning the game go up significantly. If you are playing a slow deck, you can keep these cards on even earlier turns.
-
On your 7 mana turn, your hope is to draw and play one of these 7 mana cards. If you’re behind at this point, you may use them as removal, however if your opponent is low on health, it may be better to deal damage to their general in an attempt to end the game within a turn or two.
-
Replace every turn to try to reach your 7-cost finishers. A second one usually seals the game in your favor, but you might need to survive a few turns first. Here is where you often start running out of cards too, so position your board very carefully and avoid having your minions die without at least taking another minion down with them.
###Mulligans and Initial Plays
####Going First:
Look for any 1 or 2-cost minion.
Toss away all 7-cost cards first, then toss away Sunset Paragon and Alcuin Loremaster. These are cards you could use to great effect later in the game but are near worthless.
Keep Grasp of Agony when facing a known aggressive deck.
Spectral Blade and Daemonic Lure are alright to keep as long as you have several low-cost minions in hand; they provide you with varied options depending on what your opponent plays.
Going first, always move your general two spaces to the right. Even if you don’t have a minion to play, this puts you in a position to walk to a Mana Spring and play a minion on top of it. If you have a 1 or 2-cost minion in hand, always play it diagonally right to place it in position to move onto a Mana Spring.
Which minion to play? (items mentioned first are stronger plays)
-
If you happen to have two Bloodtear Alchemists in your opening hand, play one diagonally right down and one diagonally right up after moving your general two spaces to the right.
-
Play Healing Mystic diagonally as mentioned.
-
Play Primus Fist diagonally as mentioned.
-
Play Bloodtear Alchemist diagonally as mentioned, dealing 1 to the enemy general.
-
Equip Spectral Blade.
-
Replace a card you cannot play and pass your turn after walking two steps right.
From here, your next turn depends greatly on which cards you have in hand and what your opponent plays. Some of the possible plays include:
-
Walk your minion (played on turn 1) onto a Mana Spring, play either two 2-drops or a 4-drop.
-
Walk your minion onto Mana Spring, walk your general diagonally to the other spring, play a 3-cost minion on top of it, then play a 2-drop.
-
Walk your minion onto Mana Spring, use Spectral Blade or Daemonic Lure to help kill an opposing minion, play a 2-drop diagonally to prevent your opponent from taking the other spring.
-
Play Grasp of Agony on one of the opponent’s minions to destroy them all and then play a 2-drop.
Keep the gameplan in mind, and continue to build your advantage on the board if you have it.
####Going Second:
Look for a combination of a 1 and 3 cost card or two 2-cost cards with one being a minion.
Toss away all 7-cost cards first, then toss away Sunset Paragon.
Keep Grasp of Agony when facing a known aggressive deck.
Keep Daemonic Lure and Spectral Blade if you have another 2 or 1-cost minion already in hand.
If you have no other 1 or 2-cost minions in hand, keep Alcuin Loremaster.
Just like when going first, you must walk 2 tiles left toward the center of the board. From here, attempt to play a minion in the center of the board by first playing one on the nearby mana tile. This puts your second minion in a good position to take either of the remaining Springs and there are few cards that hurt you for playing your first turn in this way.
-
You’ll need two minions for this. Play the one that is most easily destroyed on the spring and the one that is more difficult to kill in the center.
-
If you are not able to play two minions, play one on the nearby mana tile. The only time you should play a minion next to the Mana Spring without taking it is when your opponent had no minion to play on their first turn.
-
If your opponent has played a minion with 3 health, you could Daemonic Lure it to your general’s location and destroy it, denying your opponent the easy Mana Spring. Do so after walking two steps left and playing a minion on the Mana Spring if possible.
-
Follow a minion dropped onto a Spring with equipping Spectral Blade to prevent your opponent from playing minions too close to the center.
-
If you don’t have any cards to play, try to replace into something you can play next turn.
The second turn for player 2 depends a lot on any cards played by player one. Follow the gameplan and maintain the board.
###Tips and Suggestions
-
Play Grasp of Agony on the turn you can use its effect, just because you have the mana to play the card doesn’t mean it should be played.
-
Daemonic Lure isn’t just for swinging Minions into Shadow Creep. Use it early game to throw a valuable enemy minion into the fray or to toss a large enemy minion into the corner to not deal with it.
-
Remember to attack with your general last if you have a spectral blade equipped.
-
Bloodborne Spells are spells, and can be recovered by Alcuin Loremaster. Yours is one of the strongest and is often worth recovering even if you can’t use it the same turn.
-
Keep the card history bar open to see which spell was played last. You do not want to get a Bloodborne spell by accident if you don’t need it.
-
You don’t need the effects of your minions to activate to play them. Sometimes it’s important to just have a minion on the board.
-
Sojourner draws only when dealing damage, not taking it.
-
Play Shadow Sister far away from enemy units, just like you would Shadowdancer, a stray Zen’rui Opening Gambit on her will usually lose you the game.
-
Remember that Sunset Paragon damages your minions too.
-
Playing Sunset Paragon next to Sojourner causes it to deal damage to itself and draw you a card.
-
If possible, do not leave a tile between the Shadow Creep made by Shadow Nova and the edges of the board. This allows your opponent to stand near the wall and make your next Shadow Nova less effective.
###Possible Substitutions:
Primus Shieldmaster can work in place of Dioltas when facing a lot more dispel, since it’s more likely to stay on the board.
Reaper of the Nine Moons can be added to better combat decks with large minions such as Lyonar’s Ironcliffe Guardian or Magmar’s Silithar Elder. The minion is good on its own in many situations as well.
More card draw can be added to the deck through Rite of the Undervault, though a bit on the expensive side. Symmetrical card draw can be used to great effect when facing slower decks, but actively hurts you when facing aggressive decks.
Comments, suggestions, and questions are always welcome!
