Preface
I started playing Deception last weekend as a current meta counter to Slayer War and Control Death. Currently, there are many complaints about the Sanctum and how aggro is too strong. Although I agree that Sanctum is pretty unbalanced at the moment, part of the problem is that players aren't creating or playing decks that counter the current meta. This guide was created in hopes that more people play Deception in order to keep decks like Slayer War in check.
About The Deck
Control deception is a deck focused on surviving the early game and stealing key cards from your opponent's hand. Finishing at 4th last weekend, I have a 80%+ win-rate with this deception archetype, at 48W-11 or 17W-3L with the current iteration of the deck. I feel that this deck is a really good answer to Slayer War and Control Death, so I'd really like to see players using this to diversify the meta.
Decklist
| Mana | Name | # Of Cards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Makeshift Shiv | 2 |
| 1 | Switch Duelist | 2 |
| 2 | Mugging | 2 |
| 2 | Pyramid Warden | 2 |
| 2 | Sleep Dart | 2 |
| 2 | Skeleton Heavy | 2 |
| 2 | Umber Arrow | 2 |
| 2 | Lightfoot Informant | 2 |
| 2 | Hunting Trap | 1 |
| 4 | Veteran Archer | 1 |
| 4 | Avatar of Deception | 1 |
| 5 | Cutthroat Insight | 2 |
| 5 | Exorcise | 1 |
| 5 | Slip Blade | 1 |
| 6 | Rapture Dance | 2 |
| 7 | Demogorgon | 2 |
| 8 | Charm | 1 |
| 8 | Anti-Magic Expert | 2 |
General Mulligan
Ideally, you'll be looking for Switch Duelist, Makeshift Shiv, Pyramid Warden. I’ll go more in-depth in the match-ups section.
Mana 1-4
Survive. You won't really be putting down many threats in the early game, as the deck is more geared towards removal.
Mana 5 onwards
Your main win condition is to survive aggro, or stall long enough in control match ups to steal key cards/threats from your opponent's hand. If you're versus control, you need to know when to Cutthroat, lest you whiff on hitting their key cards. There's quite a lot to talk about when it comes to stealing cards, so I'll expand on it in the match-ups section.
God Powers: Memory Charm or Thievery
I usually use Memory Charm in aggro match-ups or against decks that can't go wide on the board. E.g. Slayer War or Control Death. Thievery works really well against Light and Magic as their God powers are pretty powerful. E.g. Copying Heaven's Light or Heal would really help nullifying their early damage or even pop ward on their creatures.
Match-ups
- Light
Good match-up. Mulligan for Makeshift Shiv, Sleep Dart and Umber Arrow. If you copy their God power with Thievery, you nullify a lot of their early-mid game damage. If their board can't deal a lot of damage to you at turn 5-6, that's a good time to Cutthroat. Usually I'm able to steal away their larger threats and eventually win by out-valuing them.
- Nature
50-50 match-up. Good mulligans are Makeshift Shiv, Switch Duelist, Sleep Dart, Hunting Trap. Basically same game-plan as vs light, but you take Memory Charm instead as they have many high-stat creatures. Switch Duelist actually counters Underbrush Boar, as it changes its strength before Boar attacks, so don't be afraid to play it. Don't use removal on Marsh Walker as there are bigger threats to deal with. Slip Blade helps you deal with their mid-game creatures. Cutthroat when they don't have too much damage on the board. Survive until you out-value them.
- Magic
Good match-up. Good mulligans are Makeshift Shiv, Switch Duelist and Pyramid Warden. Thievery is great against them as Blastwave gives you removal. If you're vs aggro Magic that wins you the game single-handedly. Vs Burst Magic, you want to take away their key cards such as Leyhoard Hatchling or Ocular Fiend/Runestorm. You should Cutthroat when they have more cards in hand, so there's a higher chance you hit the key cards. You should remove any creatures they have on the board ASAP, so you receive as little face damage as possible.
- Control Death.
Good match-up. Good mulligans are Makeshift Shiv, Switch Duelist, Skeleton Heavy, Avatar of Deception. Use Memory Charm. This is what the deck was built for, wrecking those Control Death players. Their early game is nothing to worry about. The best time to Cutthroat is just before they reach 8 mana. Stealing Echophon would be the best case scenario, but other strong cards like Death Unborn, End Times, Apoc Now and Raise Dead are good too. Even if they are able to play a large threat, you have Charm and Anti-Magic Expert to counter them.
- Death zoo
50-50 match-up. Good mulligans are Makeshift Shiv, Switch Duelist, Pyramid Warden, Umber Arrow and Sleep Dart. Cheat might be better than Memory Charm here but I'm not too sure. They can overwhelm you on the board pretty early, not giving you enough time to Rapture Dance. But if you are able to draw all your early game removal it should be an ez win. Comes down to the draw really.
- Onslaught War
50-50 match-up. Good mulligans are Makeshift Shiv, Switch Duelist, Skeleton Heavy and Pyramid Warden. Use Memory Charm. The key in this match-up is surviving their mid-game threats, so you want to save Sleep Dart, Hunting Trap, AoD, Slip Blade for those threats. Cutthroat whenever they don't have much damage on the board.
- Slayer War
Good match-up. Good mulligans are Makeshift Shiv, Switch Duelist, Pyramid Warden, Sleep Dart, Umber Arrow and Hunting Trap. Hunting Trap can be really clutch if your opponent buffs Pyramid Warden with Out Of Its Misery, Deadly Arsenal, etc. You can even use Memory Charm to increase Hunting Trap's damage. Survive early, and you win.
Problems with the deck
The deck's mid-game ability at 5 and 6 mana is pretty bad due to the lack of hard removal and threats. If you're playing against Onslaught War and they are able to push out large threats at every turn from 4 mana, you'd probably struggle against them. For now, Slip Blade helps clear large mid-game threats so it might ease the pressure until you get to Demogorgon. The current meta consists mainly of aggro or control, so it's not a big problem anyway.
Central Cards and Card replacements
If I were to be really pedantic, almost every card would be interchangeable except Cutthroat Insight. However, these cards build a really good foundation for the deck:
| Mana | Name | # Of Cards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Makeshift Shiv | 2 |
| 1 | Switch Duelist | 2 |
| 2 | Sleep Dart | 2 |
| 2 | Umber Arrow | 2 |
| 2 | Hunting Trap | 1 |
| 5 | Cutthroat Insight | 2 |
| 7 | Demogorgon | 2 |
| 8 | Charm | 1 |
| 8 | Anti-Magic Expert | 2 |
Deception has many tools and your card choices should be dependent on the meta. E.g. If it's a control meta, add in one more Charm. If it's an aggro meta, add in more removal. Here are some card choices:
- Athenian Archer
- Rampart or The Portable Fortress
- Wicked Fae or Ranger Firstbow
- Vault Vagabond - Better in a control-meta
- Jason, Medea's Muse
- Spiral Golem
- Labrynth Minotaur
- Helian Elite
- Echophon, Atlantean Hydra
There's probably a lot more replacements but this is just a general guide.
Closing
Thanks for reading! If you have any tips/criticisms, please comment down below so I can add it to the guide!
Nice work