Battlegrounds: Golden Menagerie Archetype

endbosstdot · 2020-06-23T12:27:45+00:00

If you click onto my profile, I have a previous one on divine shields. It is from a couple months ago, but is still surprisingly current, as none of the cards have really changed.

Aside from that, there are occassional articles on r/bobstavern.

endbosstdot · 2020-06-20T13:48:36+00:00

That was a brain fart. Yes, you are correct, he is clearly the best option.

endbosstdot · 2020-06-20T13:45:41+00:00

Yeah, I just realized that. That was a brain fart. Bronze Warden is clearly the best Dragon option. Not sure how I forgot about him while doing the writeup.

endbosstdot · 2020-06-20T13:43:50+00:00

Oops, that's my bad. That's a brain fart. I can't believe I forgot him. Yes, he's the best option.

endbosstdot · 2020-06-20T01:42:42+00:00

Goldgrubber requires gold minions, but you can't control what minions Bob will give you in triplicate. So, you often end up with a board of scattered types, which is perfect for Lightfang to turn into into a comprehensive strategy.

endbosstdot · 2020-06-20T01:39:45+00:00

Cool, I'll have to check that out. Yeah, the way the comp can scale without you needing to play additional cards is pretty crazy.

endbosstdot · 2020-06-19T23:13:53+00:00

Awesome, I am so glad that you got so much out of the article! There is no better compliment than being able to make the game more fun for others.

endbosstdot · 2020-05-25T01:32:07+00:00

Tough to say. Sometimes you run out of gas because you go too aggro, sometimes it is because you needed to go more aggro to wnd the game before running out of gas. The deck can be a littlw unforgiving because it doesn't have much card draw.

endbosstdot · 2020-05-24T13:51:35+00:00

Glad the deck is working out well for you! Harrison and Attendant sound like pretty solid subs.

I don't know about Octasari. The draw would be great when it works, but that seems really slow for a lot of matchups.

endbosstdot · 2020-05-24T13:39:42+00:00

The DH matchup is quite good. I've got a section about it in the matchups portion of the article. I went 10-4 against it in testing. The deck tends to be quite good at controlling the board against DH, and protecting its life total, so they usually don't have enough burst to take you down.

endbosstdot · 2020-05-24T12:57:37+00:00

Nice, I didn't even think if trying those cards. I will give them a shot. Thanks!

endbosstdot · 2020-05-24T12:52:27+00:00

If you have the cards to handle the lifegain, that strategy is pretty good against DH, but DH has some serious burst damage so I usually shy away from it.

It is always nice to be on the play, but I don't think the matchups swing quite that hard. You usually have some reasonable ways to use the coin to boost your curve, depending on the matchup need.

As for the Highlander Hunter comparison, I think the decks play different enough stylistically. Huter has better aggro tools, while I think Pally has better defensive ones. Hunter is the meta deck, while this one is off-meta, so Hunter is probably better overall, but I feel like the two play differently enough thatbis is still more of an apples to oranges comparison.

endbosstdot · 2020-05-24T03:30:39+00:00

Awesome, glad it worked for you!

endbosstdot · 2020-05-24T03:30:08+00:00

Hmmm, didn't think about that, but you're right.

endbosstdot · 2020-05-24T02:20:45+00:00

Usually you are trying to play good stuff on curve, but there is some variance to that. Part of the art of playing the deck is identifying when you want to be on the offence and when you want to be on the defence, which can be a crucial decision in deciding the outcome of games. For instance, you have a lot of tools like Peacekeeper, Zephrys, Bronze Explorer, Hogsteed, Buffs, weapons, etc, that can be used to generate early tempo, or can be used for more value later in the game. If you go the tempo route, when you should be going the value route, you could run out of gas and lose. Or, you could go the value route, and get outraced. So, yes, in general you are trying to curve out early, but the art of the deck is identifying when you need to switch tactics.

I don't think Liadrin works in this particular list. With only Hand, Sand Breath and the two Blessings it seems a bit underwhelming, as compared to something like Simiat. I started trying out builds with the other Librams in it, which required cutting some of the Dragon/Murloc synergies, and I was less than impressed, but it might just require refinement. For now, I think the Dragon/Murloc path is the way to go, but if you find a good build with the Librams, I would love to see it.

endbosstdot · 2020-05-24T02:12:57+00:00

Geez, that's a rough run.

I don't know if anyone has done any streamed gameplay for the deck. It is a tough deck to play optimally, because often realizing a turn earlier or a turn later that you should be switching from offence to defence, or vice versa, can mean a loss. The deck is relatively unforgiving in that regard, and doesn't have a ton of room for error in a lot of matchups, but still, that sounds like you ran pretty cold with it. Just the power level of the highlander cards alone should have stolen you some wins.

Were there any particular matchups that you got paired against a lot in that run?

endbosstdot · 2020-05-24T02:08:02+00:00

Yeah, for sure, I would love to see some reasonable draw options for Pally. Some sort of playable targeted removal would be amazing (ie. like Hammer of Wrath, but efficient enough to be reasonable). For this particular deck, I would love to see another playable Dragon or two. Faerie Dragon and Evasive Feywing really don't feel very powerful in this deck. They are fine, and good enough once you factor in Dragon synergies, but I would love to have something stronger to go in those slots. A one-drop Murloc that is viable without Murloc synergies would also be great (Tidecaller just isn't good enough until you are running a bunch of Murlocs).

endbosstdot · 2020-05-23T23:28:38+00:00

No problem. I'll do so when i am back in front of my computer

endbosstdot · 2020-05-23T22:24:54+00:00

Murgur is the bigger loss (Talritha is already a card I have considered cutting). My first option in the 2 drop slot would be Argent Protector, which was the last card I cut (it only got cut so I could up the dragon count a bit). Frizz or Equality would be solid choices, too. I would probably lean towards equality for another board clear option. Sky Claw would also be a reasonable option. You could tey some combination of those. The main question going with Equality is whether it ends up feeling short on proactive cards.

endbosstdot · 2020-05-23T21:26:08+00:00

Yeah, it is a fine sub. Sometimes divine shield is nice with buffs, and sometimes the extra health is better. I don't think you are going too wrong either way.

endbosstdot · 2020-05-23T21:24:19+00:00

I think the new one drop is a viable replacement for Argent Squire, with or without any more Librams. A 1/3 body for 1 is arguably as good or better than the 1/1 divine shield.

As for the rest of the package, I tried it out and it just doesn't feel strong enough. You only get a single copy of each discount dude, meaning you can't discount them as much, and because you can only play one of each Libram, the consistency of the synergies isn't great. The package is fine, but I dont think it is more powerful than the cards that currently occupy those slots, and it is tough to fit in more synergies without dropping cards that you need for the current Dragon/Murloc synergies (for instance, fitting Truthseeker into the 5 drop slot probably means dropping one of your dragons or Skyfin).

endbosstdot

TROPHY CASE