The Eternal Abyssian Covenant Thread

[thezj]

So, I’ve dabbled a bit with Arcabyssian after the launch of the new expansion, and I have to say: Hats off to Counterplay. This is a deck that does not build itself at all. There are so many options to play this archetype, I hardly knew where to start. So, mimicking the other faction threads that are around, I thought, how about starting a perpetual discussion about our favorite goth edgelord faction that some people love to hate.

I think I’ve managed to identify two distinct sub-archetypes of arcabyssian (arcyssian?):

• All-in on the Death knell/Nightshroud interaction. This deck tries to combine several cards like Nether Summoning, Consuming Rebirth and Blood Echoes with the Bond Ability of Nightshroud and the eventual finisher of Death Knell. I’m not sure how good this actually is, because I have been reluctant to actually go all-in on this. Nightshroud seems really underwhelming when played on a underdeveloped board, so I’m not sure how this deck is actually supposed to deal with pressure.

• Arcanyst swarm:

This deck’s fundamentals actually rest on pre-expansion cards: Owlbeast Sage and Prismatic Illusionist, and with the advent of Nocturne, it actually lends itself rather well to both abyssian generals. Cassy seems to be a bit more on the control side, with a heavier focus on removing enemy threats efficiently, while Lilithe has an easier time building up a sizeable army on her own. The deck seems relatively consistent in terms of draw in practice matches so far, although I haven’t tested it on the ladder too much (my ISP is dying right now). The game plan is relatively simple: Try to get some arcanysts to stick and buff’em with your owlbeast sages while controlling the game via cheap spells. There’s relatively little draw because Trinity Wing can actually work to keep your hand size topped up.

In addition to arcanyst archetypes, I’ve tried out Hybrid Cassyva a bit.

Although, to be fair, this deck isn’t so much a hybrid deck in and of itself. Rather, it tries to get away with creating as much creep as quickly as possible, by playing cards that are normally tempo-negative in conjunction with nocturne. I’m not sure whether this deck should actually play Wraithling Swarm instead of shadow nova, however I do believe the higher reliability justifies the more cumbersome 4-mana spell. This current deck is only my first spin on this archetype, and I believe it to be far from optimal. It’s actually fairly hard to make room for hybrid cards on a typical cassyva list.

What are your thoughts on arcanyst abyssian? Have you tried hybrid builds yet? And how do the traditional builds fare in the new (Magmar-dominated?) ladder meta? Come and discuss!

[alplod]

I had a swarm abyssian deck prepatch, presented here: Swarm Arcanyst Lilithe. And I’m really reluctant to make changes to it, since it worked just fine for a gimicky deck (myone and only breach to diamond was made by it).

As about Nightshroud deck I’m trying it at the moment and not quite sure which direction is the best. If I remove some necro-synergy in favor of more arcanyst pressure, then nightshroud helps with occasional face damage, and occasional death knell finisher, but nothing more. All-in attempt at nightshroud seems to be the same as it is called - all-in. No consistency whatsoever. I’m still wandering in the dark)

[oranos]

ive been trying an arcayn lilithe list similar to yours, but with loreweaver instead of owlbeast and have run into the same problems as a normal swarm deck. i dont have nocturne yet, would you say its good or can it be easily swapped out for something else?

[thezj]

i dont have nocturne yet, would you say its good or can it be easily swapped out for something else?

Honestly… Nocturne is weird. It’s stats are awful, but it does have the arcanyst tag. So, you could just swap it out for Aethermasters for instance. It’s mostly there to have an arcanyst 2-drop for the early game that can actually be buffed.

I’ve tried using Loreweaver as well, but I found that card to be VERY frustrating. It’s statline is utterly awful: You don’t need that much HP if you can raise their HP via owlbeast, you’d rather have offensively statted minions like Nightshroud. I’ve thought about using loreweaver as a pseudo-draw engine, however you never know when you’ll get a spell with it, and it does not work on replace. I found that to be very frustrating so far. Instead, I opted to use trinity wing. Those three spells are just good stuff, and a 4/4 buffable flying body isn’t something to sneer at either.

I’ve thought about including Soulshatter to create more early pressure, or maybe even shadow reflection or void steal, but you only have that much mana to work with at a given time.

[oranos]

well i sorta liked loreweaver since i didnt include owlbeast, and therefore wont buff its health. plus it makes your 1x or 2x spells maybe get more use since you have more of them. its inconsitent, but the health makes it sticky enough to get some shots in before going down hopefully lasting long enough to get a few cards off it. im gonna try a version of your list and see how it goes

[thezj]

Be careful out there. The ladder consists of flash-juggernauts and lavaslashers.

[alplod]

That’s what that lightbender is for

[thezj]

There’s still that 5/8 in your face though.

[maelrawn]

If you want an early minion just for being an arcanyst, Manaforger is your best bet, especially for Abyss. Casting things like Grasp and Sphere for free is very strong, and more importantly allows you to play arcanysts on-curve while simultaneously generating spell procs.

[whyb0t]

Undefeated in Diamond, feels very strong. The only game I’ve lost was a friendly against Jogda’s Bangle deck, which feels like a pretty hard counter. Artifacts are difficult to deal with but otherwise Death Knell can end the game in one turn.

[thezj]

What’s the gameplan? General swarm shenanigans and then just Death Knell as the bonus finisher? When do you play nightshroud?

[bickel]

I read it as, “play Nightshroud on curve, let it die, use its bond when you bring it back with Death Knell and a swarm of Illusions”

[phoinexflame]

But Death Knell can’t revive illusions because they are tokens.

[thezj]

Playing Nightshroud on curve sounds like a really, really bad idea.

[bickel]

Huh. Bagoum says no tokens, but I could have sworn I’d seen a version that didn’t…

ah, the card text here:

Ancient Bonds - Abyssian Death Knell • r/duelyst

Can’t log in right now to check, I trust the reddit version is old and the Bagoum version reflects what’s live?

[thezj]

Yes, it does not pull tokens. If you’re not playign a very long game, death knells can be really unimpressive.

[bickel]

I maintain that Night Shrouds are worth more to you in the graveyard than on the field though.

If you’ve 3 dead Night Shrouds and no other Arcanysts at all and play Death Knell you get healed for 12 / damage the enemy general for 12, right?

And if they’re all killed and you play a 2nd Death Knell you’ll resummon 6 Night Shrouds and a Death Knell for… 48 damage / healing.

[thezj]

I’m not sure that’s how they work. Additionally, 12 points of healing may sound nice, but a developed board can deal more than that in a single turn in damage.

[bickel]

Oh, it’s each OTHER Arcanyst. So, 9 point swing the first time, 42 point swing the second.

[whyb0t]

Nocturn/Crawler and cheap spells early, into T2/3 Prismatic Illusionist. Swarm kill or play Nightshroud literally whenever (the ping doesn’t matter, it’s all about setting up Death Knell, but if you have a lot of Illusions it’s a big health swing). Play Trinity Wing to refill, remove stuff, play L’kian to refill, play Death Knell to win the game. If your opponent puts too much pressure on you to have a chance to waste 4 mana, odds are you either have DFC lethal or enough Illusions for a big health swing.

This deck doesn’t NEED a gameplan, because it actually turns out that it’s a little different every time. Get an Illusionist to stick? Blow them out with DFC or Nightshroud. Don’t? Play a Nightshroud and more swarm to stall, draw some cards, play some threats and win anyways with Death Knell.

Death Knell can’t bring back the Illusions, but that’s actually a good thing, because you don’t wanna miss the Nightshroud revival. Between Nocturn and Illusionist (or even Trinity Wing) you usually bring back a full 6/7 spaces.