I have started to make Shadowverse deck overview videos on Youtube! They have been uploaded on a separate Youtube account since I want to keep my main account GG focused. Decided to use the same name as the Huniepop channel that I made a while back. I am still kind of upset that my old Huniepop channel got taken down, because I put a great deal of effort in making those videos. But in the end, it is my fault for not figuring out how to uncensor the CGs for Youtube.
Midrange Shadowcraft
This deck has changed quite a bit since the beginning of Shadowverse. It used to be a standard Midrange deck with strong followers at most PPs, including Rabbit Necromancer at 3, Playful Necromancer at 4, and topping out with Mordecai on 8. But the new Midrange Shadow uses all of the new Last Words followers that the class received in Rise of Bahamut. Lurching Corpse and Attendant of the Night can only attack face and warded followers, so we also run a bunch of Last Words activators like Soul Conversion, Urd, and Necroassassin. Since Lurching Corpse and Necroassassin serve as hard removal, we no longer need cards like Deathbrand and instead go back to Undying Resentment. Gourmet Emperor Khaiza is also run to ensure that we always have a Soul Conversion/Necroassassin target. And finally, the deck tops out with the classic Cerberus/Phantom Howl combo to close out games.
I think this deck is decently strong in the current metagame. It is definitely not as strong as the old Midrange Shadow in its prime(back in vanilla SV), but I find it a lot more fun. The direction they took Shadow with in this expansion is super cool, because it really feels like you are playing as a necromancer now.
Combo Silver Bolt Forestcraft
Combo Forest with Silver Bolt finisher has existed ever since the beginning of Shadowverse, but it was always outclassed by Path to Purgatory Forest and later on Tempo Forest in DE. The original Silver Bolt Forest ran most of the familiar Forest staples along with Dungeoncrawl Fairy and Blessed Fairy Dancer to help push damage in the early and mid game. The goal was to bring the opponent to 9 life by Turn 9, so that the Silver Bolt could close out the game.
In Rise of Bahamut, the deck has changed quite a bit because of the new legendary White Wolf of Eldwood. He has a really awesome effect where after he dies, he draws the highest costing card from your deck, changes its cost to 0, and puts it in your hand at the start of your next turn. So the damage potential of this deck skyrockets. The standard combo is to play Wolf on 8 and suicide him, and then on Turn 9 play the 0 cost Silver Bolt followed by a 9 cost Silver Bolt that you have already drawn for 18 damage. Sometimes you can even get a full 20 damage OTK if you have a big roach combo on Turn 9.
The decklist that I have settled upon is different than the one in the video. The one in the video is a very defensive deck that tries to stall until Turn 9. The deck that I play now is a hybrid of Silver Bolt and Roach Combo Forest, where Rhinoceroach is the only 2 drop and cards like Fortunehunter Feena are run to tutor it. Maahes is also run for the 2 AoE damage, which also conveniently puts the opponent into the Silver Bolt Combo range.
Earth Rite Runecraft
One of my favorite decks, I have even written about it once on this blog before. It is a very slow, grindy control deck where the main win condition is to starve your opponent out of resources. The key cards are Ancient Alchemist and Juno’s Secret Laboratory. These are both extremely high value cards that often make your opponent spend multiple cards just to deal with them.
Earth Rune has always kind of been outclassed by other Rune decks, and that has not really changed in this expansion. However, it is in a decent spot in the current metagame because its tools are quite strong against all of the Tier 1 decks. Not to mention that DShift Rune(it’s worst matchup) is a lot less popular nowadays. The archetype got some great support in Rise of Bahamut with Dwarf Alchemist, which is almost strictly better than Crafty Warlock. Professor of Taboos is also an amazing card that can serve as hard removal. He is kind of like the Earth Rite version of Witchcrafter Magisa.
As usual, Earth Rune’s biggest weakness is consistency. The deck has answers to pretty much everything(except DShift), but the main issue is that it has to draw the answers at the right time. Dwarf Alchemist certainly helps make the deck more consistent, but it’s not enough. In the video, I run 2 copies of Uriel to help tutor more Earth Sigil generators. I found her to be underwhelming after a few games, but I have not settled upon a good replacement. I have tried Veteran Alchemist, Timeless Witch, and Demonflame Mage, and they all have their pros and cons. Most people seem to prefer Veteran Alchemist because the healing is so important in the current metagame. Surprisingly, some people are even starting to cut Remi and Rami, which was considered to be a 3x staple during DE.
Dimension Shift Runecraft
My main deck, it has not really changed too much in Rise of Bahamut. I have found that DShift Rune is quite a bit weaker in this meta. All of the Tier 1 decks are aggro or zoo-style tempo decks, which DShift struggles against. So DShift Rune ends up being an anti-anti meta pick. Heavy control decks counter the Tier 1 decks, and DShift counters the heavy control.
I have not really settled upon a decklist that I am happy with in the RoB meta. The decklist in the video is pretty much the same as the one I used in DE, except that the Witchette Emmylous are swapped out for Oglers. In the end, I found Oglers to be underperforming. I also ended up taking out the Trail of Lights. Those were a meta call during DE because they helped cycle through your deck faster, not to mention how good they were in the mirror match. But in the current meta they are far too greedy. It is really important to have more removal and defensive cards nowadays, but it is hard to decide on what exactly to run. So I am always trying out cards like Summon Iceform, Piercing Rune, and even Spectral Wizard.
Elana Seraph Havencraft
One of the strongest decks from the DE meta, I find that it is still quite strong in RoB. It also matches up quite favorably against most of the current Tier 1 decks because of all the healing, board clears, and defensive cards. In fact, I have found more success playing this deck than my main deck(DShift). The matchup against Roach Forest can be kind of tough though. This deck does not run any wards and as the game goes on, the roach damage potential skyrockets. Getting OTKed for 20 from Turn 7 onwards is not uncommon at all against this deck. So I have found that the main way to win is to get an early Elana’s on the board, and then keep healing each turn. By doing this, we force the Forest player to use evolves to keep the board clean, which reduces the amount of damage that can be done with the roach combo.
Haven got some decent cards in Rise of Bahamut, but nothing on the level of support they got from DE. The two best cards that fit into this archetype are Ancient Lion Spirit and Tribunal of Good and Evil. The Lion Spirit is an amazing card against aggro and zoo style decks since it provides another source of AoE damage. Tribunal is a great card against control, since it is essentially 2 hard removals in one card. I have found that this deck already does decently against control decks because of Seraph, so I have went with Lion Spirit as the new addition to my deck.
Lovers Arcana Yamada Lvl99 