I have heard so much about orc rush it makes me nauseous and I have heard about Sniping/direct damage decks, Empire/forcedmarch/verena, but my question is what are the major decktypes right now. I imagine there cannot be too many because the card database is not very big at the moment. But are discard decks a viable option at this point or do they need more cards in this respect. And how is a matchup with the healing units of high elves and healing capital of dwarfs play, seems like this theme would go together. Any milldecks floating around? Seems like a good idea with forced march moving big 'uns into their quest zone. Currently I only have the core set but have ordered three of everything and its on its way. I am looking forward to playing with the current decktypes and then improving them. I was a MTG player for a long time and this new format is much gentler on my wallet.

DE/Skaven has seen its day here. Using hit point modifiers and har ganeth. I have a legitimate Empire rush. That and orcs are the only consistent winners around here.

Hi!

Actually, the number of archetypes you can build is incredible

The list contains all deck I really saw in action and did pretty well (we run a national league and each tournament seems to be different from the other). I play and used to play lots of card games and I've never seen such a big environment with such a small card pool (maybe in Agot).

Anyway, let's do this )

1- Empire/Verena

Now it's pretty aggressive with cheap stuff and nice boost options. Absolutely competitive.

2- Dwarves Aggro-Control

There are different builds: some are pretty aggressive, others are basic Dwarf Control deck. You can even build an hybrid deck where, focusing on sacrifice/recursion abilities you can really close the deal in a moment.

Pretty solid.

3- Unitless Thrower Decks

We started testing here when it was just a little more than a joke...

Based on the High Elf "Repeater Bolt Thrower" or the Dark Elf "Reaper Bolt Thrower", the deck focuses on dealin' huge amounts of indirect damage. These decks are Unitless (sometimes they run 3-6 Units) and tend to create big amounts of resources and draw lots of cards using accelerations to draw the Thrower and win.

One of the most effective deck in the format.

4- Orc Blitz

Possibly the strongest deck, not just because of its "monsters", but because it has a lot of sinergy and tend to be solid and fast. There's a flaw in design here, IMHO. The deck is pretty simple to build. And it works.

It's a viable options for beginners who love the straight "attack-boom!"

5- Skaven Decks

3 Versions, Orcs, DE and Caos. Each one has different options. As said above, DE is pretty effective 'cause gives you lot of control. It's the best options against the other Skaven builds.

Caos Build is controll-ish, in the same way, but tends to rely more on Skaven cards.

Orc Build doesn't really need skaven and when it does, usually we see just a bunch of rats flooding the boards, helpin' the quick orc monsters.

Pretty dangerous decks. Not unbeatable.

6- Caos Control Decks

They're coming back. Use big Stuff to lock the match in the mid-late game, opening with insane KZ growth and some "shoots" to kill enemy's Units. When the big monsters will come, you'll need a couple of turns.

7- Orcs Aggro-Control

I'm one of the promoters of this archetype. Started playn' it for a joke, it did pretty well. Boar Boyz, Squig Herders and usual stuff combined with small Units removals like "Foot of Gork" and "Easy Pickins" (great against Empire, Empire-Dwarf, Dark Elf), all the Troll Vomits you have and, in my version, Grimgor.

Not that quick, not that slow. Pretty flexible and solid.

8- Empire-Dwarves Aggro-Control

This is a pretty common build here, replacing the old pure control E/D deck (that's still playable). The aggro-ish version tend to be more focused on Units obviously and uses Volley Guns, Book of Grudges, Troll Slayers, Pistoliers, Gold Wizard Acolytes...It works well with 5-6 resources, droppin' out 2-3 cards per turn.

It's strong.

The Control version is strong too, using the Empire side for Verenas and some cheap help for the more solid and resilient Dwarves (demolitions, Master rune of Valaya, Mountain Brigade).

And for the milldeck...

We're testing a mill deck that's Caos/Dark Elf based on the Plague Monk and Spells (each time you play a spell card, the monk basically allows you to discard the top 2 cards of a player's deck).

Use CAOS capital to avoid loyalty issues: put in each spell (Flames of Tzeentch, Tzeentch's Firestorm, Call the Blood, Chillwind, etc.), 3x Monks obviously, the quest "Infiltrate!" for more straight milling...

The deck seems weak, but with the proper resource base, you can mill lots of cards and close the deal in a couple of turns. Just spend a lot of time on testing and tuning.

I guess it's enough to start.

I repeat: these are all decks I've tried/played with...They're really effective and some issues about Orcs and/or Skaven are going to end...

Cheers

DB

DB.Cooper said:

This.

I only have a few games under my belt, so I can't say 100%, but I really want to call this game "Go Second. Play Orcs."

Thank you for such a detailed post. I really like the idea of hand destruction decks but I just don't think there are enough cards yet to fill a deck of this type. For order and destruction there are, I believe, 6 scouts each, but destruction has the chaos quest that lets you discard opponents hand as well as a spell that lets both players discard there hand and draw 3 cards. Maybe that could work well with Plague Monk and you get to manipulate their draw.

ivory_tower said:

Journey to the Gate and Infiltration! are two quests you need to have. One kills the hand, Infiltration mills the deck for X (X= the amount of counters on the quest..no sacrifice involved) A deck like this might not have enough to support pure hand/deck destruction, but corruption is another mechanic worth looking into for this style of play. (maybe developments, too..since you may be a bit unit light.)

Here is my first draft for a hand destruction / mill deck / sniping deck using some of the cards mentioned

Units

Greyseer Thanquol x 3

P.W. Globadiers x 3

Gutter Runners x3 (for the scout ability)

Shades x 3 (another scout)

Plague Monk x 3 (for the mill)

Deathmaster Snitch x 2 (obvious choice since I have skaven)

Vile Sorceress x 3 (for those pesky weenies)

Tactics

Spells to fuel the Plague Monk and Ancient Waystone

Chillwind x 2

Call the Blood x 3 (use with globadiers or ancient waystone to finish of a unit)

Grasping Darkness x 3

Dark Visions x 3 (it's a spell and gives card advantage)

Invoke Khaine's Wrath x 2 (not sure about this one yet but I have not tested this against orcs yet)

Hate x 3 (to slow an enemy first turn or boost one of your own turns)

Support

Word of Pain x 2 (to help slow the unit rush)

Altar of Khaine x 3 (for resources and help save your important units)

Ancient Waystone x 3 (seemed like a good choice since I have so many spells)

Contested Village x 3

Warpstone Excavation x 3

Quest

Infiltrate x 3 (more milling)

So it does seem that DE and Skaven work well together. Use Chillwind to allow you to kill two enemy units with Deathmaster Snitch.