About The Deck
Slayer War is a fast-paced, aggro archetype deck focused on closing out games early. As of writing, I have a 75% win-rate in Mythic with this slayer war, 71W-22L across two same-ish decks.
Card List
| Mana | Name | # Of Cards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Athenian Archer | 2 |
| 1 | Deadly Arsenal | 2 |
| 1 | Dryder Sailweaver | 2 |
| 1 | Expectant Chicken | 2 |
| 1 | Out Of Its Misery | 2 |
| 1 | Shieldbearer | 2 |
| 1 | Whetstone | 2 |
| 1 | Bonded Warrior | 1 |
| 1 | Master Tactician | 2 |
| 1 | Pyramid Warden | 2 |
| 1 | Sharpen | 2 |
| 1 | Skeleton Heavy | 2 |
| 1 | Trojan Golem | 2 |
| 1 | Wind-Up Roller | 2 |
| 1 | Scythes Of The Harvest | 1 |
| 1 | Redfume Serum | 2 |
General Mulligan
Going first: Ideally, you'll be looking for a Skeleton Heavy or Pyramid Warden, along with a buff card like deadly arsenal or shieldbearer. Or if you have an Expectant Chicken, try to mulligan for Out Of Its Misery. Always throw weapons or weapon enhancements.
Going second: If you're vs a board-centric opponent, try to look for Athenian Archer and Skeleton Heavy. Your main goal is to win board-control first. If you're vs a control opponent, mulligan like you're going first. Always throw weapons or weapon enhancements.
Turns 1-4
This is where you value trade with your opponents, e.g. trading a 1/1 with a 3/1. Once you have more board control, you hit face. The key is to understand when to trade and when to go face. A general rule of thumb would be if your opponent needs to unfavourably trade creatures with you, you should go face. Use your god power to trade against enemy creatures as well. A good opening would be to play a 2-drop on your first turn and buff it the next turn.
Turns 5-6
This is where most of your opponents removal are coming e.g. Rapture Dance or Astric Implosion. Play your creatures more conservatively, so you have something to put down after they use their board clear. Use your weapon/god power and weapon enhancements to hit their face if you have the leftover mana.
Turn 7 onwards
You should be finishing the game at this point. If you still have creatures on the board, refrain from trading and focus on their face, especially if they are control. Of course, if you are vs aggro which doesn't have any late game cards, make value trades in order to strangle them to death.
God Power: Slayer
Use your God Power to trade with opponent creatures in the early game.
If you have Scythes of Harvest equipped, you should usually be going face instead of trading.
Out Of Its Misery
)I feel like I have to give this card it's own section as so many people misplay with it. DON'T PUT A CREATURE DOWN, KILL IT WITH OUT OF ITS MISERY, AND THEN PLAY NOTHING AFTER. For example, I see people putting down Tartessian Improviser turn 1, Bag Of Tricks next and then kill it with Out Of Its Misery. You just lost tempo and potentially lost your board forever. When you use this card, you need to make sure you can play the drawn card immediately i.e. have at least 3 mana, so if you draw a 2 drop you can play it. Or if you're sure you have board control and killing a 1/1 doesn't really matter. The best case scenario would be to use it on an egg spawned by Expectant Chicken.
Central Cards and Card replacements
The center of the deck is built around theses cards:
| Mana | Name | # Of Cards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deadly Arsenal | 2 |
| 1 | Out Of Its Misery | 2 |
| 1 | Whetstone | 2 |
| 2 | Pyramid Warden | 2 |
| 2 | Sharpen | 2 |
| 2 | Skeleton Heavy | 2 |
| 4 | Scythes Of The Harvest | 1 |
Expectant Chicken and Master Tactician aren't absolutely necessary, but they definitely do improve the win-rate of the deck. I don't have Tartessian Improviser, but I'd definitely put it in if you have it.
You can swap the rest of the cards with these cards according to your availability or liking
- Trial Spirit
- Cardshark
- Tavern Brawler
- Swash Buckler
- Wicked Fae
- Dread Pirate
- Ranger Firstbow
- Blade Of Styx
The key is to experiment with what works for you, and change it accordingly. There's probably more cards that could work, and you could comment below if there's any! I wouldn't recommend adding any creatures above 2 mana though as that could mess up playing Out Of Its Misery.
Match-ups
Light
Pretty hard match-up. The main thing to look out for is Light's Levy, if you want to put down a Skeleton Heavy or Pyramid Warden, make sure you can buff it before they can Light's Levy it. Other than that, if you flood the board, you usually win, as they have no hard removal.Nature
The next hard match-up. Main thing to look out for is Underbrush Boar. Don't play Pyramid Warden without other stuff on the board, as Underbrush Boar clears PW pretty well. If they have Amazons on the board, clear them unless you're very close to lethal. If they play Black Rhino, use your weapon + enhancements to clear it out. If they get lucky with lots of heal from forage, there's nothing you can do about it.Deception
50-50 match-up. Aim for a wide board before turn 6. Mulligan away Trojan Golem as you have to look out for Umber Arrow. Trade or damage their Switch Duelist if they have it on board. If they don't have early removal it's usually your win.Magic
Good match-up. Pyramid Warden + buffs is especially good in this match-up as they don't have removal for that early. Flood the board before turn 6 and you should win. If they get lucky and draw their removal and taunts early, it will be hard. Aim to close out games early and avoid trading with their creatures.Death zoo
Ez match-up. If vs , clear high attack creatures and go face whenever possible. Going face prevents them from using cards like Dangerous Ritual or Ragnarok. Look out for Daemonic Sacrifice at turn 3, and decide whether trading is more worth it to prevent him from using it. Usually your win.Control death.
Ez match-up. Use your god power more often to hit face, as you'll want to watch out for Dust to Dust. Having 2-3 creatures on board with buffed stats will be good. If their god power is blood ritual, remember to trade creatures so they can't heal. Usually your win.Onslaught War
50-50 match-up. Pretty much just go face. Watch out for Carnage Sweep, so don't overextend your board.Slayer War
Usually your win as you've read my guide :) jk. Mulligan for taunts. If you have Expectant Chicken + Out Of Its Misery combo, usually it's your win.
Closing
If you have any tips, let me know and I'll add it to the guide! I'm considering a Magic, Death Zoo and Control Death guide, so let me know if there's demand :) Thanks for reading!
Niiiiiiiiiiiicccceeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!
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