So here is a Chaos deck I’ve been having some success with against the dwarves, based around corrupting their units and not killing them so that they cannot Reclaiming the Fallen. Forces the Dwarves to kill themselves via Master Rune of Spite and Grudge Thrower if they want to Reclaiming the Fallen.

Units
Fledgling Chaos Spawn 3
Festering Nurglings 3
Savage Mauraders 3
Scheming Cultists 3
Chaos Knights 3
Winged Fury 3
Melekh the Changer 2
Bule, Lore of Pus 2

Support
Warpstone Excavation 3
Contested Village 3
Effulgent Boils 3
Daemond Sword 3
Warpstone Meteor 2

Tactics
Innovation 3
Seduced by Darkness 3
Bolt of Change 3
Chillwind 3
Cloying Quagmire 3
Tzeentch's Firestorm 3

Quest
Extending the Waste 3

Total Cards 57

Here are some concepts of the Deck.

Opening Play: You have a couple of great opening plays in this deck. Fledgling Chaos Spawn plus Daemon Sword with a Bolt of Change is great (nets 8 power on turn 2). A Warpstone Excavation into the quest zone adds a cherry on top.

Another option for an opening bid is Festering Nurgling to Kingdom with a Bolt of Change (nets 6 power on turn 2). Again a Warpstone Excavation to quest is nice.

If you get an Innovation you can sub/add a Contested Village for/to the Warpstone Excavation and still have the 1 resource you need for Bolt of Change.

Also you can always Savage Marauders into the Kingdom. An Innovation and Bolt of Change adds the cherry to this option.

Turn Two: If turn 1 is about resources, turn 2 is about card draw. You have a lot of ways to corrupt in this deck but you need to get the cards in your hand. You want to dump a Chaos Knight or Bule if you have them into the quest zone on turn 2 and you should be able to get the resources to drop one of these heavies. Bule has 3 loyalty but between Fledgling Chaos Spawns and Extending the Waste you shouldn’t have a loyalty issue. You also want to get your quests going early to build up quest resources. I often find the Fledgling Chaos Spawns useful for this. They are Spite proof (no power) so unless a Dwarf Ranger snipes it, the Spawn should be good for the game building up the quest.

Strategies: Against dwarves it’s corrupt, corrupt, corrupt. I tend to leave the dwarves corrupted except for the Dwarf Ranger and Slayers of Karak Kadrin who get killed on sight with Cloying Quagmire, Tzeentch's Firestorm or the Scheming Cultists action (Dwarf Rangers technically don’t have to be killed on sight but if there is a change of a Reclaiming the Fallen coming up, kill them. This makes the dwarves choose between Reclaiming the Fallen into the battlefield and attacking or into the quest zone where the rangers will snipe at the end of turn as they sacrifice all the non-ranger units first. If in the battlefield corrupt the hell out of the high power dwarves and try to survive. If the Reclaiming goes to the quest zone, use your damage tactics and actions noted above to take out the Dwarf Rangers before the end of the turn when the sacrifices begin.)

I tend to Effulgent Boils the Longbeards when they come out if I can. If the Daemon Sword wasn’t used in an opening gambit I am a fan of combining its play with Chillwind to make it immediately available for use. Using the quest resources as an extra means of corrupting is not to be overlooked, allowing you to save your key corruption tactics till they are really needed. I have been able to corrupt a significant number of dwarves brought back to the battlefield by a Reclaiming the Fallen (or at least the Long Beards) to keep the damage down using corruption tactics and the quests.

Use Melekh the Changer and Winged Furry to dole out the damage. With all the corruption they should be able to stroll into any zone they want for 4+ damage a turn. Use Bule and Festering Nurglings to corrupt on your turn. Use the your corruption tactics and quests as necessary to keep your opponentcorrupted and maximize your damage output. Use Cloying Quagmire, Tzeentch's Firestorm or the Scheming Cultists to take out worry some units (as noted above.)

Weakness: No support destruction. Tried Embers to Inferno but it’s too little, too late and Burn It Down has no synergy. No easy way to lay out developments making it vulnerable to an Empire “Verena/ Manaan /Will/Long Winter” decks. Could use a little thinning but you do want to draw a lot of cards with this deck (at least 3 to 5 a turn) so a little over 50 isn’t killer. Debating losing an Innovation and a Tzeentch's Firestorm.

All right… tear it up!

I like your use of Bolt of Change. The supports suck so much for Chaos. Hopefully they get something soon. The deck looks like a lot of fun.

Note that if they Reclaim to Quest, they have to sacrifice Dwarves to a Thrower to have Reclaimed Rangers actually do damage. When they are all sacrificed at end of turn, they all go to the discard at the same time and thus any Rangers on their way out won't ping.

I tend to find that because of that they Reclaim to Battlefield and just burn a zone (plus usually scout you for a couple).

While that is the way I'd like Reclaiming to the quest to work... how are you getting there? I've be playing it as per the Simultaneous Effect ruling in the FAQ. Is there something else I should be looking at.

This is great for Chaos as they can better handle Reclaiming in the battlefield by corrupting the big hitters and defending against or living with the damage of the 1 power hitters.

Thanks,

Wraith428

Wraith,

I am going to give your list a try. My original Chaos deck is not fast enough nor deadly enough unless I draw enough corrupting cards/units. This deck of yours might do the trick.

Thanks for posting.

Where's Esli'an and Wolves of the North? Not feeling it?

Lordpappanqui,

Let me know what you discover. Glad to hear someone else try it. Seems fairly even with Dwarves in my play throughs when played smart (think like a dwarf). Weak against Emipre Judgment as noted. Crushes Orc Hulks. Has to work quick against Indirect High Elves.

Qwertyuiop,

I can see the synergy of Esli'an and Wolves of the North but I’m just not feeling it. Bule seems a better choice for the Quest Zone. He can corrupt any unit at the start of your turn without needing to attack and draws you a lot of cards which gets you the corrupts you need. Melekh is meant for the battlefield in this deck as he’s your main damage dealer along with Winged Fury.

So while Esli’an isn’t bad in this deck he doesn’t quite feel like he belongs. You could move Bule over to the Kingdom Zone duty, and put Esli’an in the Quest Zone but he only gets to use his ability when he attacks meaning he needs Wolves of the North which is a combo you can’t count on or wait for. If you put Esli’an in the battlefield you then lose the opportunity to put out Melekh unless you find a way to kill Esli’an off… which you can in this deck.

Side Note – Killing Your Own Units: I have played a couple of games against Empire where they Wilhelm and Force March you in to the Quest Zone while Judgementing everything else… trying to deck you. I’ve also run into close games where you might end up decking yourself (as you want a decent card draw in this deck). In these cases you can always corrupt your own guy and either killed them directly (if it’s a Cloying Quagmire and they have 2 or less health) or use the Scheming Cultists to damage the corrupted unit to death. Not necessarily the best use of resources but sometimes invaluable.

Anyways… that’s my thinking of Esli’an. Let me know if you find a better way to use him. He fits thematically but I just don’t feel the love right now?

Later,

Wraith428

I cut Melekh in order to keep Bule in the Quest and Esli'an in the Battlefield.

f7eleven said:

How do you feel that affects damage output? I generally haven't run into trouble being able to corrupt enough units so I've found Melekh more useful as he can 3 to 5 damage a turn on the enemy. Combine that with a Winged Fury and you're probably burning a zone. On the flip side a Master Rune of Spite destory's these guys dead when they are powered up.

I supposed having Esli'an corrupt on the attack allows you to save corruption tactics for defense which might be a really viable option? I find it annoying that without a corruption tactic in hand (or a ton of resources on Extending the Wastes) those **** Longbeards are going to uncorrupt on my opponent's turn and get in my face again. I might have to give Esli'an a test drive?

Wraith428

Esli'an provides exactly what you mentioned. He allows you to save corrupting tactics for defense... which I was really needing when faced against the High Elf dragon and 4+ (almost always a plus) indirect damage when he's declared as an attacker.

I also am not running any quests. And I cut Bolt of Change for more supports. I had too many starting hands short of supports to play.

Yeah the way I play it, its not designed to play supports in the starting hand... I note some openning plays in the first post. I find that relying on openning support against Dwarves tends to get me slowed down. I can't tell you how many times I've played against dwarves only to have them Demolition/Burn It Down my first two to three rounds of supports. With Ancestral Tomb and Innovation they can still put out a pretty decent array of their own support/units (or at least get the Slayers of Karak Kadrin to ward off attacks) while blowing up my supports.

Units take Dwarves a little longer to blow up as they need some loyalty and a Master Rune of Smite, but that can also be deadly as a number of the opening plays end up with power equal to or greater than their hit points.

If going against Indirect High Elf I can see how the quests might not be all that useful as you'll never get the resources in time to deal with the Descendent of Indraugnir but against most other decks I find they are great ways to corrupt low cost 1 and 2 units and since its an action it can be used at any time.

Wraith428

I've made a very similar deck to this. I love Bule in the quest zone, preferably on Wolves of the North. Malekh in the Kingdom as a resource engine, and Esli'an in the battlefield alongside a Winged Fury who is the real power of this deck. Esli'an's ability is far too powerful to not have in a corruption deck.

First off, very cool deck - mine is similar but I don't think it's anywhere as good as this seems. Thanks for posting and explaining things, Wraith.

Secondly, I do find myself agreeing with Doc9 about Esli'an's usefulness.

Chaos is getting there and I can't wait until it sees its own "rise to power" in this game's gameplay environment.

wraith,

I just put together a deck with your exact specifications that you have listed above. Am taking this deck and 2 other to game with tomorrow night. Will post the outcome.

Lordpappanqui said:

Awesome,

FYI - I'm in the process of trying Esli'an in this deck. Haven't come to any conclusions. Currently have taken out 1 Scheming Cultist and 1 Tzeench's Firestorm to add him. Something to keep on the side if you want to try another option.

Wraith428

I tend to keep Bule in the Kingdom and let Melekh and Esli'an get in where they fit in. Either one does just fine on Wolves. I'm trying a slightly varied version of my old corruption deck. If it's operable, I'll post it.

Lordpappanqui,

How'd the deck run for you?

I've been trying a variant with 2 Esli'an and 2 Melekh, -1 Schedming Cultist and -1 Tzeentch's Firestorm. Feels like Esli'an slows down the attack for me... but I can see how he's useful in certain situations. Not sure he's worth it for me though.

Wraith428

Why no Srine to Nurgle?

It would ad another corruption source, and also discourageing blocking your attacks.

Multiple copies also give easy developments, when not playing against Help-Destroyers

I've found Shrine of Nurgle to be a fairly sub optimal card.

First its only combat damage that corrupts (as per FAQ) so it means you either need an opponent's unit defending against your attack or you need to defend against an opponent's attack.

Second with the way that combat damage is distributed you will probably lose a defending unit as your opponent must deal damage to destory your unit in order to then damage you capital. You on the other hand want to spread the damage around to maximize corruption which generally means you aren't destroying units.

Third this deck already has a lot of corruption. I rarely run into a situation where I don't have the means or opportunity to corrupt a unit I need to corrupt and I almost never attack a zone I'll be opposed in. Add that to the ability to deal direct damage to units and take out the most dangerous ones and I don't find the deck as is to need the Shine.

However if you want to try it out you could probably take out Warp Stone Meteor and try the Shrines. Taking out the quests would be another option but I find them really useful. If you find it effective or a effective combo let us know. I'm always willing to try new ideas. I have a feeling the next battle pack with affect this deck significantly anyways.

Wraith428

Another question that coms to me is: How to deal with your own corrupted units?

The warpstone Meteor is probably the most constant source of corruption, but tends to either burn down your capital over time, or, when controlling two or more, piles up corruption on you side, Chillwind just doesn't seem aeough rstoring power.

I like the Idea of playing some contested strongholds, a card i generally like, to swallow up the damage of the Meteor.

on the other hand: what should leave for that?

I have to admit I could almost pull the Warpstone Meteor from the deck. I don't end up playing that much as there are generally better options. However occassionally its really useful such as when you're up against a deck that can eliminate creatures easily. The little damage it does to me is rarely and issue as if you're corrupting your opponent's units and attacking with Melehk or Winged Fury who put out some hurt with this deck.

Generally I don't worry about my corrupt units unless they are the aforementioned beaters in the battlefield. With the corruption you can sling down generally your opponent shouldn't get to attack with many units so you can afford to let him plink your kingdom and quest for a couple points each round as you should be doing more damage with Melehk and Winged Fury. You'll take some damage but you'll win the race.

I would think twice about Contested Stronghold. Its an easy target for Support killers like Demolition, Roderik's Raiders and Pillage to name a few. For the 4 cost of the Stronghold you could have put out two lower cost supports, units or mix there off which should be a gain of two power and spreads the wealth so it costs your enemy more to take both out.

That's my thoughts,

Wraith428

Chaos has much work ahead if it intends to be competitive.

I have played 3 times in the last 3+ weeks, and I have been owned. Out of 6 players, I am the only one who games Chaos, and I have yet to win a matchup versus either Dwarfs, Orcs/Undead, Empire, Empire/Lizards or High Elves. [HIGH ELVES for goodness sakes!]

While I do admit that out of a total of 15-18? games, I have had continually bad luck in my beginning draws, I just cant seem to get Chaos up and running..... I have tried disease decks, I have tried the deck format suggested on this thread, as well as a deck that my gaming friends put together. All failed.

I will continue to game, but I will not take this race into a competitive environment. No sir.

Am very disappointed with my lack of progress.

My apologies for not having posted earlier.

First of all, nice deck.

Have you ever thought about "Tainted Well"? In my opionion it would perfectly fit into your total corruption deck to deal even damage through corruption.

Best regards,

O.

After Tainted Well came out I added it in but I'm beginning to wonder if I really want it. Here is why.

Warpstone Excavation - This card tends to get playing in the quest zone (75% of time) or Kingdom and corrupts any unit entering there. One Tainted Well means Savage Marauders of Fledgling Chaos Spawn can never be played in a Zone with WE. Two Tainted Wells means no Cultists, or Nurglings, etc. Tainted Well can hurt you as much as the other guy.

Bule - Forced effect requires you to corrupt a unit at the top of your turn. If your opponent has no units that means you have to corrupt on of your units (Bule himself if no one else is available) and will take damage.

Now this isn't to say that Tainted Well is an awesome card and right now its in my Total Corruption deck but... not sure its going to stay cause its screwed me over a couple times... like the f#$%ing Empire deck that kept moving my units into a Warpstone zone when I had two Tainted Wells out grumble grumble grumble...

Wraith428

hehe I thought that too, but its an action not a forced effect. So you don't have to trigger it.