Hey, everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve made a deck guide. I’ve been on a long hiatus from Duelyst, but I’m back with some crazy deck ideas!
For this guide, I’m gonna talk about Zoo Songhai, an archetype I’ve been trying to make work since Duelyst Beta. With the addition of some new cards, I think the deck’s potential has been realized.
Why Should I Trust You?
Well, you really have no reason to trust what I say! I have, however, been playing Duelyst for a long time. My favorite faction is Songhai, and I piloted this deck to Rank S.
I hope that that is sufficient to say that I’m not just making this stuff up! 
The Deck
Only 10 spells!? 28 Minions!? What insanity is this? Well, I did call it a Zoo for a reason. Minions are your bread and butter in this deck, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be casting spells. On the contrary, you’ll be casting a LOT of spells.
The Strategy
The deck’s strategy is really simple. You play cards on Curve! You usually wanna spend as much mana as possible every turn. All the while, you are using cards to push damage onto the opponent. Contrary to what you may think, a lot of Duelyst decks are slower than they’d have you believe. Applying pressure onto them can easily win you the game.
It is very important to note that this deck packs a lot of reach. Phoenix Fires, Flamebloods, Saberspine Seals all come together to let you kill people with a ton of out-of-hand damage. Sure, it may seem unskillful, but careful management of your resources becomes key!
The Cards
Reva is the perfect general for our strategy. We need a BBS that is independently good from the board state. Summoning a 1/1 is way better than teleporting a unit in this regard. Aside from this, Reva’s 1/1’s serve as a good way of pushing more damage or controlling the board. An important thing to note is that the BBS can combo really well with Heaven’s Eclipse, giving you a minion that you can Inner Focus and buff for some game-ending damage.
Just remember that you will hardly play your BBS. You’ll usually want to play minions from your hand.
Inner Focus is used for 1 thing: to push damage. That being said, not everything should be Inner Focused. You should try to use it on your Foxes as much as possible because that converts 1 Inner Focus into around 5 damage (2 from Fox and 3 from the Phoenix Fire if creates). As a special note, against Cassyva’s or slow decks you wanna hold onto your Inner Focuses so that you can end-game burst people with Scarlet Viper.
These guys are secret champions. They fill out your curve well and their Opening Gambits not only allow you to push damage, they also feed your Araki’s! A strong card, but you should probably replace it if you already have 1. Keeping too many of this guy can make you run out of cards fast.
An underrated card. Prophet works wonders in this deck. He can protect valuable units like Lantern Fox and Araki from getting removed, allowing them to push more damage through attacks of Phoenix Fire generation. Much like Bloodtear, you don’t really wanna hang onto a lot of this guy. Play him when you can play Fox/Araki. Otherwise, replace him.
More. Damage. That’s really all this is for. You pull it out using Heaven’s Eclipse in the late game then use it to end the game. You can also use it to clear 5 HP units. You only run 2 because you prefer getting Phoenix Fires from your Heaven’s Eclipses.
These guys are dangerous. Sure, they often get removed, but if your opponent is slowing down just so that they can kill it, it’s a win for you. Besides with so many Opening Gambits in the deck, he can go out of control. On the other hand, if the opponent CAN’T remove him (because of a White Palm play), then they’re looking at around 7+ damage to face. Not pretty. This is arguably your best Turn 1 Player 1 play. Always try to mull for him, especially with other Opening Gambit cards in your hand.
Something to feed your Araki’s and a way to get past those pesky Provokes. You run this instead of Repulsor Beast becaue you wanna dispel stuff like the Abyssian Sister as well. Not really a good early keep. Replace it unless you’re against Magmar or Abyss.
This essentially reads “extra Phoenix Fires.” Never play this proactively when it doesn’t mean pushing for lethal. You wanna hide him as much as possible. It’s important to note that the one exception to this is if you’ll float mana otherwise. In that case, play him.
The deck’s bread and butter. You’ll actually end up casting a lot more than 3 each game, given the Lantern Foxes. This is the deck’s win condition. By 6 mana, you should be able to cast 3 of these and kill the enemy general. As simple as that.
You can easily set-up 2 turn lethal with a combination of Phoenix Fires, your minions, and general attacks. Remember to always set your opponent’s life to a multiple of 3!
A flexible card that you don’t really play unless you have something to buff. It’s good for buffing your Tusk Boars so that they can trade into bigger stuff, or push more face damage. Not to mention it also buffs your Araki’s.
These guys have lost a lot of their luster, but are still serviceable. You can use the for reach, removal, and lethal. Very flexible. You can usually use them to steal mana springs, which can be crucial. However, they’re not as high-impact as they used to be, relegating them to a 2-of.
A great card. Sure it might mean that it kills your 1/1’s, but you rarely play your BBS in this deck. This not only clears the board, it also pushes damage! As a special interaction, it’s a great way of ensuring your Lantern Fox gives you a Phoenix Fire as Skorn ends up hurting it!
This is a weird card, but it makes sense. In match-ups where enemy generals LOVE to run away from you, it can work wonders for pushing towards lethal. That’s pretty much it. It’s for extending your reach and dealing with slow decks that hide behind provokes.
The star of the show. These guys end up becoming around 8 damage each, considering that it’s your goal to have each Fox produce 2 Phoenix Fires. They can really push for lethal and make your damage way more than it seems. Proper Fox management is key to this deck. They need to produce cards or else you’ll run out of hand really fast.
These are also the reason why we don’t need that much card draw in the deck. Who needs to draw when we can just make Phoenix Fires?
A card I often made fun of is now a X3 in my deck. Regardless, Spelljammer is the other reason we don’t need card draw. This girl will keep you topped up for ages! Plus, you can use her to push damage. She will always draw you at least 1 card, so don’t be afraid to run her into the enemy general’s face. That 2 damage can matter!
This deck’s finisher. You usually Heaven’s Eclipse on 5 mana then kill the enemy general the following turn by casting some combination of Inner Focuses, Saberspine Seals, and Phoenix Fires. This is the reason I don’t run other spells in the deck. You need to ensure that your HE’s draw into damage. This deck better win by 7 mana. Any point past that is a lost cause. You can’t afford your HE’s drawing into cards that don’t deal damage. It can and will cost you the game.
This girl is the way you beat Cassyva and her silly creep. You can play this + 3 Inner Focuses, which were tutored via HE for an easy 18 damage to the enemy general. Your deck is usually consistent enough that it doesn’t need this. However, for opponents taking the game slow (like Cassyva), you may wanna hold onto your Inner Focuses for a quick OTK at the end.
Starting Mulligan
The deck REALLY needs that you have a good first turn play. As Player 1, this usually means summoning a 2 drop, preferably Araki Headhunter. As Player 2, you have more options. Two 2 drops are a good option, but Lantern Fox into a 1 drop is great as well! 
Just remember to always keep early plays, and replace situational cards and HE’s.
Match-Ups
Magmar
Vaath and Starhorn aren’t really problems. Vaath, specifically, is all about whether or not he draws into his Earth Spheres at the right time. Make sure to remove his units and push face damage. As simple as that.
Vetruvian
Both Vetruvians are easy with this deck. You actually have a lot of removal (with minions) and face damage that they usually can’t keep up. Make it a mission to remove Obelysks and you should be fine.
Lyonar
The same story with everything else. They’re kinda slow. You’ll win before they do anything. However, Ironcliffes are a problem. Do keep Ephemeral Shrouds to keep pushing damage. Make sure to generate a lot of Phoenix Fires to burst them through Provoke.
Vanar
Aggro Faeie has a hard time dealing with the deck because it’s faster than they are. Keep your Skorns to counter her possible wall set-ups. Otherwise, just push damage. The same applies for Kara. Kara’s only really good if she ends up summoning her big buffed minions. She’ll be dead by then.
Songhai
This is the coin-flip. Other Songhai are as good at pushing damage as you are. Spell Songhai is problematic since they can easily clear the board. However, it’s still a toss-up of who draws into the damage at the right time. Try to pressure them before they get their combos off. You can’t compete when they get it.
Abyssian
Lilithe is easy. You just pack your Skorns to clear her 1/1’s and it’s pretty much game because she has no time to build the board for silly Deathwatch plays. She’ll be dead by then.
Cassyva is the REAL problem. She’ll delay the game with so much heals and removal that it’ll be psuedo impossible to kill her. Try to Shroud the Abyssian Sister while pushing for damage. It’s that simple, but it’s hard to execute. If all else fails, Scarlet Viper OTK’s can bail you out.
Summary
I probably wasted a lot of time on a deck that’s about to become invalidated with the new Shim’Zar expansion, but I feel like it’s a solid deck and one that a lot of people aren’t using. Hopefully, this experimentation was not for naught. Maybe the new expansion only makes it better? Who knows!
I do hope you guys enjoyed my guide. I’m still a bit rusty at Duelyst, since my hiatus, but I hope this was informative for you guys/gals who wanted to play a Songhai that was more minion-focused.
