A Deck List:"Poof, and the Rearguard is Gone!"

Shadow Paladin Witches, Build 1.04

Outlaws, enemies of the state of the United Sanctuary, come together, to practice and experiment with powers other Magi fear to even speak about. It's time to join the Coven.

Hi there! Now, I'll preface this by saying that the build is still highly experimental, so far I've had good results with it, but it still needs a little time to cook. Either way, I'm get straight into the build, and pick out certain cards for extra detail/anecdotes.

Grade 0: 18

Promising Knight, David x2

Witch of Black Cats, Milcra [HEAL] x4

Lizard Witch, Eine [DRAW] x3

Howl Owl [DRAW, Go to Soul, +3k] x2

Witch of Black Doves, Goewin [CRIT] x4

Black Crow Witch, Eine [CRIT] x3

4 Heal / 5 Draw / 7 Crit

Grade 1: 13

Little Skull Witch, Nemain [PG] x4

Witch of Precious Stones, Dana x4

Witch of Nostrum, Arianrhod x2

Cherishing Knight, Branwen x2

Witch's Familiar, Kuroma x1

Grade 2: 10

Witch of Secret Books, Adra x2

Inspection Witch, Deirdre x4

Witch of Reality, Femme x4

Grade 3: 9

Mesmerizing Witch, Fianna x4

Cultus Witch, Rias x3

Sharp Fang Witch, Fodla x2

Grade 4: 8

Dark Knight, Grim Recruiter x2

Dark Dragon, Phantom Blaster "Diablo" x4

Supremacy Black Dragon, Aurageyser Dragon x2

"Hey guys! So, how can I help? Why- Why're you all looking at me like that-ARGH"

Grade Zeros - Summary

David is your main fodder for Diablo/Aurageyser. He makes it so that we can abuse the stride effects too, and so that we can plus/make back our deposit when we have to retire. I run two as Sharp Fang Witch, Fodla, makes him searchable, and because this way I have the option to REALLY cut loose on the strides- gives an alternative if the Hexing Game isn't working out. 

He's definitely replaced poor Lir, who was good, but required too many variables and had the capacity to be dead space.

As for triggers, I'm still toying with the number of Draw, and which Draws to run- the Witch draw is retire fodder for units like Rias and Kuroma, while Howl Owl fuels the soul for desperate Deirdre/Dana plays.

Goewin at max, ALWAYS. There's no reason not to, in my opinion, she makes it easier to try the deck without Securna. She's also searchable by Sharp Fang Witch, Fodla, which can make a CB1 = -10k to the opponent's Vanguard, with no loss in trigger count.

I don't miss the stand. While the Stand WAS a nice card, stands were only really dangerous on the Rias turn, and this witch deck doesn't focus quite so much on that anymore. The countercharge is nice, but the card was a case of "once called, you've lost a 10k shield". The soulcharge can be achieved by Howl Owl/ Re-Legion / Adra.

Literally powered by the PUREST of evils.

Grade Ones - Summaroo

Little Nemain and Dana are fairly staple at 4 each, not much to say there. The Countercharging PGG may also be a nice idea, but you won't be short of things to do if you choose Nemain instead. Dana is Grade 1 spot removal that punishes your opponent for guarding with a G0. Always monitor the drop zone, though, as they get to choose. The mindgame is always strong, though, you'll notice they'll be paying a LOT of attention, since you threaten near constant soft retires.

The last 5 are tech choices- Arianrhod for early game card-cycling, Branwen for Stride-Fodder, and Kuroma for draw. As it stands, Arianrhod is on thin ice, as I barely use her effect, while Kuroma and Branwen offer a little more utility.

Also, consider the fact that our Dark Knight, Grim Recruiter stride can toolbox your G1's AND your G0's - draw with Kuroma, spot remove with Dana, call a David as fodder for later, or even a Goewin if you want to play some kind of crazy mindgame- watch how fast they rid themselves of the G0's you gave them then.

Bat-print Bloomers, Agent Provocateur, $49.99

Grade Two - Samurai

Not much to mention in this section, 12k Attacker Femme is staple at 3/4, and Grade 2 "Dana" clone Deirdre is staple at 4. Femme gets extra points for being sackable with Fianna to draw 2, but in most scenarios, unless you have no Branwens in hand/don't care to Stride next turn, Sacking Fianna is the better option, if only to have Femme's intercept. 12k is also supremely handy when attacking weakened vanguards, shockingly enough. Deirdre needs no explanation, she may not be vaguely searchable like Dana is, but she's no weaker. 8 on-call spot removers are still 8 on-call spot removers. Not to be sniffed at.

Now, Adra, we can pull up a few seats, pour some tea and really have a chat about. Yes, we need Adora, but she's not out in English, so let's just not talk about her. Adra, however, offers us something we desperately need- on hit countercharging. She works well with the synergy of the deck in several ways- first, she reaches 11k, so, along with Femme, becomes a strong rearguard that can handle being boosted by something far weaker, like Kuroma or Securna, and STILL hit the standard 16k, making those backrow cards with low power still viable.

Secondly, her effect means there's a window of time in which she's active, but it creates so many variables and sets off so many mindgames that I love her for it. Firstly, she's active when the opponent controls 2 or more G0, which essentially means you've either used Fianna or some combination of Dana/Deirdre, so that's PRECISELY the time when you're going to want to mitigate those resources, so you can do it allllll again. 

However, your opponent will not want this, meaning they will pay the minimum 10k guard (if Adra is boosted) to block her, which is great, since that 10k could be a G0, and that's more toys for Dana and Deirdre to play with. On the next turn, they'll feel pressure to get rid of those Grade 0's you've given them- they already do, but knowing that those Grade 0's do the following things:

1. Make terrible columns

2. Run the risk of severe punishment from Goewin, Rias or Securna

3. Allow the Witch Player to draw extra cards to hand using Fianna and Kuroma

4. Keep Adra active as an 11k attacker with the on-hit effect of keeping Fianna, Aurageyser and Diablo live

Meaning they'll most likely target Adra (which is nice, keeps pressure off your vanguard for a while, you can use your judgement to decide whether or not it's worth losing Adra right now) and they may well call over their G0's, which is a great outcome, as it's a straight up minus and feeds Dana/Deirdre. Also makes subsequent Diablo turns super punishing.

So, yeah, Adra fits in. When Adora is released, we'll have fun working out ratios then, but for now, the deck is fine. Comet Witch, Serva also makes a nice Ride if your locals has a lot of rush decks.

Instant Dragon Food, just add a Counterblast

Grade Three: Summer-Eye

Fianna at 4 is crazy important- you ideally want to ride her first. Rias makes a nice backup finisher/softener for OTHER finishers, but CB2 to hex one unit is very expensive, only use it if you know it will spell "GG". Fodla is the unit that has a lot more utility- in my old build she would call the Stand Trigger, and then I'd unflip a total of 1 damage, soulcharge 2, and Diablo would eat them all. Cute, but not wonderful.

Now, though, with the new support, she can be CB1 = -10k to the vanguard. Or CB1 = -5k to the Vanguard, and call a David to retire for Aurageyser/Diablo. She really does feed those dragons quite handily, and she's also the Goewin whisperer. I like her at 2 but I'm beginning to wonder about trying her at 1, and making Adra a 3 copy situation. Testing will show me what works best, but for now, Fodla is handy. Just never ride her.

Grade Four: Some Mary

Fairly standard spread, Aurageyser for draw, and turning that starter David into 5 cards in hand, including drive check, which should definitely hit a few combo pieces. Diablo may work in a 2-of capacity, but in Witches he punishes the opponent for over exerting, and his very existence threatens any player who knows about Shadow Paladin to play at least 2 rearguards, which handily stamps on the mentality of "you can't hex me if I don't call Rearguards" which always ends so well, right?

Dark Knight, Grim Recruiter works as an on-hit tutoring stride, but generally he will be situational, if you don't have the field presence/cards in drop to Legion yet, but have a surplus of stride fodder.

So, that's my current Witch Build, and it's very fun to play, but far from complete. Hope this helped you with your own build in some way, or maybe I've convinced you to join us?

mawile   x