Ponzu
Omen of the Ten is out and just like my previous post for Brigade of the Sky, I wanted to write a compilation of viable budget decks in the current Rotation meta!
My criteria for budget decks is the same as always: bronzes, silvers, and golds are all fair game. Shadowverse is one of the most generous free-to-play digital card games out there and it is not hard to collect rupees and vials. There can only be a maximum of 3 copies of one legendary, and the legendary used must be a meta or class defining one. This is to ensure that the vial investment will be worth it, because at least if the deck falls out of favor in the future, the legendary could still be used in other decks for that class. There has been a general rarity creep in Shadowverse over time and some classes just cannot function without legendaries. Omen of the Ten has actually dialed back on this a bit though, as this is the first set in a very long time to contain a high quantity of strong bronzes and silvers. So that made this budget post easier to write than usual.
Forestcraft
Aggro Forest
Aggro Forest has been a consistently strong deck ever since Rotation was introduced in the game. Unfortunately Forest has taken a huge hit from the rotation of Wonderland Dreams, losing key cards like Wood of Brambles and Fairy Driver. It is probably the weakest class in the current meta right now, but luckily Aggro Forest is still a serviceable deck. One of the main draws of playing this deck is in its favorable matchup against the current boogeyman of the meta, Darkfeast Bat Blood.
The gameplan of this deck is to go wide on board very fast and make efficient tempo plays to stay ahead on board the whole time. Since Aggro Forest no longer has a good Storm damage finisher, the deck is now completely reliant on grabbing and keeping the board. Elf Song is used to buff your board of small fairies to push more damage, and the Enhance effect on Leafman is another board buff that provides a very important bonus of spell immunity. Rayne and Metera are insane cards to use during evo turns to swing the board in your favor and get guaranteed 2-for-1s. One new addition is Luxglaive Bayle, a 7pp 4/4 Ward with a Corridor Creeper like effect. Although it only procs off your own followers dying, this deck has so many ways of generating 1pp fairy tokens that he still gets his cost reduced to 0 very quickly.
Insect Lord is the only legendary in this deck, and crafting it is worth it since it is used in every single Forest deck in Rotation. The most direct way of upgrading this deck is to craft Tia, Crystalian Noble from this expansion. She has excellent synergy with this deck, being a singular card who provides 2 bodies. Since this deck has so many different ways of generating cheap tokens, it is trivial to proc her first effect. Later in the game, it becomes very easy to proc her 2nd effect to get a 1 cost Crystalia Eve too.
Swordcraft
Aggro Sword
The gameplan of this deck is pretty typical for an aggro deck: curve out, go wide and send everything face unless there is something stopping you from doing so. With a super low curve consisting of 9 different one drops, you are guaranteed to get a good start every game. Due to losing Kunoichi Master from WD rotating, the deck has actually changed quite a bit compared to its BotS incarnation. This meta also has more AOE damage, so a lot of the 1 health Ambush followers have been dropped in favor of more sturdy units. One new addition is Aloadae, a slightly understatted 4 drop who can give you 2 different spells. As this is an aggro deck, you are pretty much going to pick Flarewing Spear 100% of the time. It is basically a charged up Piercing Rune. This deck also runs a light Usurpation package due to the Disciple being an Ambush follower.
Celia is the only legendary in this deck, and she is an auto-include in every Sword deck in Rotation right now. She is also played a lot in Unlimited, so you should definitely craft her if you are interested in Sword. If you want to upgrade this deck, I would honestly say the best option is to drop Aggro Sword and switch over to Midrange Sword. Mid Sword is much more expensive but is also one of the strongest decks in Rotation, a clear Tier 1 contender. However if you do not have the vials or want to stick with Aggro Sword, the first priority craft would be Latham, Honorable Knight. Latham is amazing in this deck because he is essentially an extra copy of Oathless Knight, making your early game even more consistent. But if the game goes on too long, he can be played as a hugely threatening 8 drop who greatly increases your reach.
Runecraft
Spellboost Rune
I would say that Runecraft is by far the best class to play for budget players in Rotation, as they have the cheapest decks due to so many of the key cards being Basic. You can also see here that the class has many different budget decks that are somewhat viable.
One of the few non-aggro decks on this page, the primary gameplan of Spellboost Rune is to get Giant Chimera into your hand as soon as possible and then cycle through your deck efficiently with spells. Almost 3/4s of the deck consists of spells, and many of these spells either draw cards or replace themselves in some way. It is extremely important to learn proper sequencing when playing this deck due to the Spellboost mechanic. You should generally always draw first to ensure that the maximum amount of cards get the Spellboost benefit. Against slower decks, the main win condition will be to one-shot them with Giant Chimera. Against faster decks, going for Giant Chimera is usually too slow so you actually want to mulligan for Flame Destroyer instead. You will be aiming to get a big swing turn where you remove your opponent’s board and play low cost(or even 0 cost) Flame Destroyers simultaneously. One of the new additions is Truth’s Adjudication, an extremely clunky 6 cost spell who provides a bunch of beneficial effects, like face burn, ward, and self healing. However the way the effects are distributed is random, so it is an extremely frustrating card to play with and against. I hate this card, but the effects are really strong so it has to be run in this deck.
Giant Chimera is the only legendary in this deck, and it will actually be rotating out when the next expansion releases due to originally being from Starforged Legends. One thing about this deck is that you cannot truly upgrade it. You can however sidegrade it to make the deck better in certain matchups. Adding in Runie, Destiny’s Bard improves the matchup against slower decks like the mirror match and Haven. However Runie is considered to be too slow against most of the top decks due to being an extremely understatted 4 drop. On the other hand adding in Vesper, Witch Hunter along with Grand Spire gives the deck more proactive plays and more ways of dealing with 1 health tokens in the early game. But it increases the chances of getting blown out by Vira in the DFB matchup, and Vesper is a card who gets extremely awkward to use in the later stages of the game.
Mysteria Rune
The Mysteria archetype was a complete joke for the longest time since its introduction in Chronogenesis. It has been getting slow and steady support in every expansion since then, and in Omen it has finally become a real deck. The best way to describe Mysteria would be as a very slow burn deck. The deck revolves around the titular Mysteria, Magic Founder who gives you the leader effect of adding +1 to all spell damage. Most Mysteria followers are understatted, so the deck is often playing from behind. Once Mysteria is active, then the deck can start to catch up as its normally weak spells become devastating aided by the spell damage boost. Using the Enhance on Mysterian Wyrmist and turning him into Blackwyrm makes the burn damage potential of this deck skyrocket.
One of the key new additions to this deck from Omen of the Ten is Anne, Mysterian Prodigy. She adds some much needed consistency to this deck, as she can generate a huge burn spell that scales based on the number of Mysterian cards played. One of the biggest issues with this archetype in the past was that it was complete garbage if you never drew Mysteria, Magic Founder. Anne now gives you an alternate win condition in games where you never find Mysteria.
Mysteria, Magic Founder is the only legendary in this deck. The deck is considered to be weaker than Spellboost in the current meta, but it is very fun and offers a very different gameplay experience. Just like Spellboost, there are no true upgrades to this deck, but you can sidegrade it to make it better against certain matchups. One popular approach is to add in a light Earth Rune package with Vesper, Witchhunter and Grand Spire to provide a little bit of extra burn and early game.
Spellboost Mysteria Rune
A very unusual deck, this was popularized by the Japanese streamer Washinki. I hesitate to call this a Mysteria deck, because it does not actually run Mysteria, Magic Founder! In any case, it runs all of the other Mysteria cards, and then adds in the core Spellboost package for hyper efficient removal and card draw. One of the best things about this deck is the cost: at around 8.4k vials, it is by far the cheapest deck on this page!
The gameplan of this deck is to play Mysteria cards whenever you can to power up Anne’s Sorcery. The spellboost cards allow you to cycle through your deck very quickly, along with giving you single target removal that is far stronger than the ones typically seen in a regular Mysteria deck. The win condition is to slowly burn down the opponent using Truth’s Adjudication and Anne’s Sorcery. Because this can only happen on Turn 10 at the earliest, this deck is extremely weak against decks that have big win conditions before that, like Spellboost Rune and Darkfeast Bat Blood. I honestly think that this deck is inferior to regular Mysteria, but it is super cheap and is a great budget option for dailies while you are working towards getting the legendaries.
Dragoncraft
Aggro Disdain Dragon
Aggro Dragon is one of the strongest decks in both the Rotation and Unlimited formats, and this is a nice budget version of that deck. The gameplan of this deck is to go wide on the board quickly, get in some chip damage, and then finish off the opponent with a mixture of efficient Storm followers and burn. The Disdain package from Omen of the Ten adds a new dimension to the deck, where damaging your own followers unlocks a bunch of very strong effects. An example is Disdainful Rending, a 1pp deal 3 dmg which requires you to first deal 1 damage to one of your own followers. Craving’s Splendor is a flexible card that can be used as a 3pp deal 4 dmg removal spell, or as a way to push damage by buffing up Apostle of Disdain to 7 attack.
The only legendary used in this deck is Galmieux, Omen of Disdain. She is probably one of the most pushed cards ever, and is played in most Dragon decks in both formats right now. If you want to upgrade this deck, the priority crafts would be a playset of Filene and Azi Dahaka. Filene is one of the most broken cards in the game and is pretty much an auto-include in every Dragon deck. Azi Dahaka is a big Storm finisher who has extra synergy in this deck due to his cost reduction effect triggering off of Galmieux Enhance.
Shadowcraft
Unlike the previous two expansion metas, Shadow is actually one of the best classes in Rotation right now! Unfortunately one thing has not changed, which is the cost of playing the class. It is pretty much impossible to play a halfway decent budget Shadow deck because most of the power cards are locked behind legendaries. Most Shadow decks in Rotation use a combination of Arcus, Gremory, Cerberus, and Gilnelise. And all of these cards are pretty much indispensable.
Bloodcraft
Aggro Bat Blood
Right now Blood is currently the strongest class in Rotation, carried by the power of Darkfeast Bat. But the classic Aggro Bats still works! This deck was taken from AXL | Zero, who was able to reach Grandmaster in the middle of the month with it. Gameplan of this deck is fairly straightforward: curve out and grab the board fast to get in some chip damage, play Oldblood King on 5, and then do insane amount of damage with the various Forest Bat generators in the deck. Forest Bats are flexible in this deck as they allow you to take the board early on and snowball a lead. And then the Bats turn into Storm damage once Oldblood King is set up.
Vira, Knight Fanatic is the only legendary used in this deck. She is a great investment if you are interested in the class because she is currently an auto-include in every Blood deck in both formats. There are no real ways to upgrade this deck, as this is pretty much the optimal version.
Havencraft
Holy Lion Haven
This is an archetype that first got supported in Dawnbreak Nightedge. The curve of this deck is crazy: it looks like an aggro deck due to not running any cards that cost more than 3. The gameplan of this deck is to efficiently use your pp every turn to upgrade your Lions as fast as possible. Lions start as 2/2s, eventually upgrade to 4/4s, and finally become 4/4 Storms. This gameplan is greatly aided by drawing Temple of the Holy Lion early, as it gives a 1 playpoint refund every time you play a Lion crystal. Even when not upgraded, this essentially means that you are playing 1pp 2/2s, so the value adds up very quickly. The Enhance(5) effect of Holy Lion Crystal allows you to go infinite, so it is important to conserve your crystals if you notice that you are running low on them in your hand. Father Punishment is a card that looks like a meme, but he is actually amazing here. Due to the low curve of this deck and the pp refunds from Temple, it is not hard to squeeze in 1pp during your Lion turns to play him for his evolve effect.
One of the best parts about this deck is the cost: at only 10k vials and no legendaries, it is one of the cheapest decks on this page! If you want to upgrade this deck, most competitive variants of Holy Lion Haven run a few copies of Legendary Fighter. He looks like a meme, but he is very strong in this particular deck due to how the amount of cheap amulets and spells that are run. It is not hard to turn him into a 2pp Dragoon Scyther in the later stages of the game.
Tenko Haven
At 25k vials, this is definitely the most expensive deck on this page. This is also one of the few true control decks in Shadowverse. Tenko Haven is an archetype that revolves around the titular Tenko’s Shrine. The Shrine is a 5pp amulet with a Support Cannon like effect, dealing 2 damage to a random enemy follower whenever you heal yourself. As you can probably guess, this deck runs a ton of healing. So the playstyle of this deck is a very passive one, where you play Tenko Shrine as soon as possible, and then continuously heal yourself to clear off the opponent’s board. When you have exhausted the opponent of resources and he no longer has any followers, then the Shrine pings start to hit face. De La Fille and Whitefang Temple are two of the most important cards in the deck, as they both provide a continuous source of healing that persists even in the turns after you have played them. They give you a lot of breathing room to play other things once you have your Tenko Shrine set up.
De La Fille, Gem Princess is the only legendary run in this deck. She is one of the most pushed Haven cards ever, and will probably be an auto-include in most Haven decks until she rotates. If you want to upgrade this deck, the optimal version of Tenko Haven is actually quite the wallet deck, running a ton of legendaries including Heavenly Knight, Alexiel, and Ceryneian Hind. Between all of these, I would prioritize Hind the most, as it gets played in a lot of different Haven decks. It also has great synergy with this deck due to the amount of amulets being run, and the Light Hind form providing another source of healing to proc Tenko Shrine.
Portalcraft
Artifact Portal
Artifacts has consistently been one of the best budget decks to play ever since its introduction in Chronogenesis, and the Omen of the Ten meta is no different. It is also one of the easiest decks to build for paying customers, because the Set 4 Portal prebuilt gives you almost all of the high rarity cards needed in this deck. It is hard to describe the general gameplan of Artifact Portal as this is one of the most complicated decks to play in the game. It is a mixture of a combo and control deck, and the majority of matches will be spent controlling the board using Artifacts, which are generated and shuffled into your deck by many followers. Acceleratium is one of the most important cards, as it gives all Artifacts rush as well as a 1pp refund, allowing you to save evo points. The deck has several ways of generating artifacts and drawing them directly, and at some point Deus Ex Machina should be played, which allows you to cycle through the deck very quickly. If the game goes on too long, then an Enhance Safira can be used to close out the game. Using Biofabrication to copy Radiant Artifacts or using Mechanization and L’Ange Miriam to create more Radiant Artifacts can be done as an alternate win condition, in games where the Safira gameplan is not feasible. One card that weaves in and out of Artifact lists is Nilpotent Entity. This card is extremely key in this current meta since there are so many decks that run a huge burst damage finisher.
Deus Ex Machina is the only legendary used in this deck, and she will most likely be an auto-include in all Artifact based lists until she rotates. There is no real way to upgrade this deck, as this is pretty much the optimal version of it. However there are certain cards you can add in to improve certain matchups. Some people like to add in Lishenna to give this deck an alternate win condition in matches where you do not draw Deus. Magna Legacy is a card that sometimes sees play, depending on how popular Sword is in the meta.
Lishenna Portal
A completely new archetype introduced in Omen of the Ten based around the titular Lishenna, Omen of Destruction. One of the other sole Control decks in the meta other than Tenko Haven. Lishenna is a slightly understatted 4 drop who evolves to give you a Destruction in White, a 10pp indestructible amulet that heals you at the beginning of your turn. The amulet also has a cost reduction effect that procs whenever one of your own followers dies. When Destruction in White gets played, it adds a Destruction in Black to your hand, which is another 10pp indestructible amulet with an insane effect: dealing 5 damage to all enemies to the start of your turn, or dealing 10 damage instead if both amulets are present on the field. Black also has the same cost reduction effect, so the most efficient way of making the amulets cheap is to run puppets. Thus the gameplan of this deck is to play and evolve Lishenna as early and possible, and then control the board using puppets to get both of the amulets down as fast as possible. Once Destruction in Black can be plopped down safely, then all you have to do is survive for 2 more turns while the opponent dies to the statues.
Unfortunately this particular budget deck is kind of one dimensional because it goes all in on Lishenna. If you fail to draw Lishenna or you are unable to save an evo point for her, then there is literally no way to win. The actual competitive versions of the deck run a ton of legendaries including Lococo, Orchis, and sometimes Gilnelise and Silva. If you want to upgrade to the competitive variant, I would prioritize crafting Orchis because of what she adds to this deck: an alternate win condition(using Storm puppets from her Vengeful form) and a way of healing yourself while simultaneously protecting your face using the Lloyd from her Resolute form.
Lovers Arcana Yamada Lvl99 