Wicked Clever: This Title is Like a Hidden Character

The title of this week’s article demonstrates the power of not being seen. If you can’t read it, you’ll understand a bit of what it will feel like to face this deck. This week’s deck is an Underworld creation that takes full advantage of concealed characters to make sure it gets to attack each turn, no matter who has the initiative.

Not Being Seen

4 Orb

4 Zodiak

4 Werewolf by Night

3 Skinner

4 Suicide

2 Blackout

4 Reaper

2 Dracula, Vlad Dracula

4 Mephisto, Soulstealer

3 Blackheart

1 Dracula, Lord of the Damned

2 Varnae

1 Dracula’s Castle

4 Evil Awakens

4 Gravesite

4 Mist Form

2 Strength of the Grave

2 Sucker Punch

4 Wake the Dead

2 Weapon of Choice

Most of these characters have concealed, so you’ll suffer through a good many direct attacks. However, the power of Gravesite and Dracula’s Castle should be enough to keep you in the game until you can end it. When playing this deck, you want the even initiative.

Orb is almost worth mulliganing to. His utility in this deck is awesome. Attack pumps are nice, but hand quality improvement in this deck is even better, especially when it fills the KO’d pile with nice, juicy characters. While there are a few ways to get to the characters you need, Weapon of Choice and Wake the Dead won’t be able to do so all the time, nor can they get you to your other plot twists.

On turn 2, if you managed to get the even initiative, Werewolf by Night is a pretty big monster at 3 ATK/3 DEF. Zodiak makes for an aggressive defender on turn 2 if you don’t have the initiative. His boost is not something the deck is set up to take advantage of, as you don’t build up much of a hand, but it is there just in case.

One of the reasons your hand gets depleted is Suicide. His good stats make it very tempting to keep bringing him back from the dead over and over. It’s not the end of the world to discard necessary characters, as you can get them back with Evil Awakens. Suicide will likely be your only visible character during the middle turns of the game, so he’ll be getting KO’d left and right and will put constant pressure on your hand. The other 3-drop in the deck, Skinner, also hopes that you’ll send a few cards his way, so every card in your hand really starts to count on turn 3. The fact that you’ve got one or two Gravesites out by now means that your hand quality just keeps getting better and better. Fortunately, the deck has a few ways to regain some cards, like Mist Form and Evil Awakens.

On turn 4, it’s time to start the beatdown. Reaper is huge and his drawback is manageable, as chances are good that you still have a few hidden characters hanging around for him to eat. They’re hard to get to, so your board position is usually quite good throughout the game. Blackout is the better choice if your board position hasn’t developed enough. Don’t bother moving him to the visible area unless your opponent is running a total weenie deck. His DEF is on the low side, so he just doesn’t save you enough endurance.

Turn 5 is where this deck shines the most brightly. Mephisto, Soulstealer is a finisher card, though rarely on turn 5. Whether you have the initiative or not, his ATK can get up there, usually climbing to between 10 and 12. There’s competition for your KO’d pile, as Strength of the Grave works quite well on turn 5 if you recruit Dracula, Vlad Dracula instead. You want to deal as much breakthrough as possible so that your opponent’s payment of 5 endurance to keep his or her stunned character is as painful as possible. The 5-drops don’t have great DEF, but since you are attacking second this turn, you can catch all of your opponent’s characters exhausted and go to town with Sucker Punch. This card was just tailor-made for a hidden deck’s off-initiative attacks.

Since you get to decide the pace of the game by how often you counterattack on your opponent’s turn, chances are good that your opponent will have a 4-drop around on turn 6 for Blackheart to munch on. If your opponent has a 6-drop that you simply must deal with, recruit Dracula, Lord of the Damned and make your final attack with Dracula and Mist Form. Either way you go, you should be able to come away from turn 6 with far fewer stunned characters than your opponent.

Turn 7 is when you can put the finishing touches on the game. Your opponent will become quite depressed attacking into Varnae, and then you can counterattack with the rest of the gang and seal the deal. Since Varnae is likely your only visible character, there’s just no getting past him. A boosted 6-drop Dracula doesn’t quite have the same effect, but he’s there in a pinch.

The nickel and dime endurance gain of Gravesite may not seem significant, but over several turns, it adds up. Couple that with the sifting power to get to more Gravesites, and this deck can fill your KO’d pile quite nicely and last long enough to take advantage of that.

Questions or comments may be sent to mhyra@metagame.com.