In reading through your thought process for card selection, have you considered Barricade (2-cost 1/4 Wall) or Barbed Portcullis (3-cost 2/4 Wall) instead of Shield Maiden and/or Hunt Warden? Much of what you describe sounds like a control deck, and extra sources of Frontline seems to fit into the strategy you've described.
Also, in having more Frontline creatures, your blocking will be more reliable and less vulnerable to Confused. Nature creatures, specifically, can get a free "lock-on" to your Frontline creatures if there aren't more than one. Spiked Tea (AoE Confuse) might even be worth increasing to two copies, at that point.
I'm curious to hear what you think of these suggestions.
Welcome to the community, and congrats on making it to Gold! :D
Hello :)
I'll be honest, I havent even thought about using them before 😅 I always thought not being able to attack means theyre not very useful. But your comment got me thinking about their viability, and they do seem to be a good fit to my deck. I'm definitely switching out Shield Maiden for Barricade, though I'm a bit sceptical about Barbed Portcullis for Hunt Warden, since I use Hunt Warden sometimes to trade and/or to go face. I only have one copy of the cards I really want to defend with frontline (Jinxblade Duelist, Ludia's Dedicant etc) so I'm not able to draw them reliably most times. I'll try adding them and see how it goes!
Btw I played a few games earlier and there were a few games where the opponent surrendered on turn 1?? Why would they do that I am very confused lol. I suspect its because of the weekend event but is it really worth for them to give up their rank like that D:
Because you're using Orfeo's Deception (1 DMG), you can often "trade" the Wall with anything that attacks it unless the attacker has Regen or they heal it. So, while your Hunt Warden might be better to hang onto until you have dupes of the Deception creatures you'd like to emphasize, switching to walls for more Frontline shielding is worth considering.
You could start by running one of each (Wall and Warden) to see which one you use more, then commit to whatever fits your playstyle better.
Regarding the turn 1 surrender, a few things could be happening: Wrong deck (seriously, I've done this when trying to squeeze in wins for Running the Gauntlet before the deadline), garbage hand even after mulligans (more common in lower MMR where players are still figuring our their mana curve), or actual deranking.
Deranking for Weekend Ranked is a widespread issue that will eventually need to be addressed, but for now it's just something that's inadvertently encouraged by the way rewards are tabulated. With an X out of 25 metric for measurement, dropping to a rank you can get more wins in a row at means more rewards.
Hey there, sorry for the inactivity, was kinda busy the past few days 😅
I'll try running one of each (wall and warden) as well as only walls no warden and see how it goes! I have some $GODS now so I am also considering buying some cards from the marketplace, will probably buy some of the dupes that i need in the future.
Thank you so much for the tips!! Greatly appreciate it :D
No need to apologize, and any time!
Good luck with your test, and let us know what you end up deciding when you get the chance :)