FakeMews Flux Wheel Pilots Guide in depth summary part two:
We are going to delve into each of FakeMews 6 lists used during the flux wheel challenge into detail and discuss proper ways to pilot each deck and the reasoning behind certain decisions. Please note that minor revisions were made from the 22-win and the 23-win weekend this week for the purposes of this article the deck lists being discussed will be for the 23 win weekend. This will be a 6 part series as I realized how time consuming it is.
Mulligan tier system:
In an effort to save time I am designing a pretty basic mulligan tier system that I will assign to each card on a 1-5 scale 1 being the most desirable cards to keep while 5 being the least desirable.
Tier one mulligan: These are the premium cards you want to keep in your opening hand during the mulligan phase. Your dream is to end up with 3 cards of this tier by the end of the Mulligan.
Tier two mulligan: Solid card you don’t feel bad ending up with this in your opening hand It’s a keep over any tier 3, 4 or 5 card in the mulligan phase I also suggest keeping these if you are on your last charge in the mulligan (at this point you’re more likely to get a worse opening hand card than improving. However if this is your worst mulligan card in your hand with 2+ charges left you ditch these.
Tier three mulligan: These are not the worst cards to end up with at the end of the mulligan however I always recommend mulligan aggressively on these even with one charge left. This is your mid-tier type of card while not a disaster to end up with in your opening mulligan to have a good starting hand you will not want multiple cards of this tier/worse in your opening hand.
Tier four mulligan: You will feel bad if you end up with any of these cards in your opening hand. Maybe there is a rare niche case you can consider keeping one of these however in reality you will always feel bad if one of these ends up in your opening hand.
Tier five mulligan: These are the worst possible cards you can get in your starting hand for your deck list. Typically characterized by your most expensive cards ideally these are cards you might be wanting to top deck when you have 9 mana crystals however you do not want to have early.
Flux deck Profile 2: Hidden rush deception
Deck Code: GU_1_2_CCmCCmCCQIAoIAoGCEGCEIAlIAlCDDCDDIClIClCEPCEPCCMCCMBEXBEXCBhCBhIDAICyICqICqBGeBDuBDuGBIIAm
God Power: Always Orfeo’s Distraction
Deck Description:
In my opinion out of the 6 decks I played on the flux wheel this is the list that’s the most fun and also at the same time probably the most difficult to pilot. While the general idea with this deck is the usually race your opponent you can also obtain insane value with combos like the Hollow/Patient Pickpocket and Hierophant Silenus/Shadow of Lethenon. Ludia’s Dedicant can generate additional value. When in doubt toss an assassins aim and a dark knives on a “fatty” and go face this is typically a fun strategy. From a meta play I like this deck in just about all meta matchups except for nature. With that being said well built nature decks will destroy this list long term it’s a very cringe matchup and its not great having a weak spot that is so popular in the meta right now (probably why I don’t main this more). In the most recent “Infinite Mana Discord Appreciation tournament” this was one of my two locked deck selections. While a risky play due to potential matchup issues with nature I was able to navigate avoiding the bad matchup in all but one match and in that matchup I was able to win vs nature despite the bad matchup. The 5-0 tournament performance from this list played a major role in notching my first tournament win of the year.
Card by card analysis:
Dark Knives: Mulligan Priority: 3 (most situations) If you have a Shadow of Lethenon in hand and you’re not facing nature mulligan priority skyrockets to 1.
Amazing burst card however not good for fighting for early board control this acts as a finisher. One under-utilized trick is you can use your godpower to hide your minion then play this to give it flank- it’s a trick around multiple frontlines for final last few points for lethal. Usually, you don’t want this in the opening hand but if you can get a shadow cat and you’re not facing nature a lot of times this combo just wins.
Makeshift Shiv: Mulligan Priority 1
Only a 1 of inclusion in the list but it’s your decks only relic. Its excellent for early game board control and gaining lots of favor. Running 2 is a consideration for some however the 5 durability often makes the 2nd copy insignificant so this list runs only 1 to prevent the awkward situation of drawing 2.
Patient Pickpocket: Mulligan priority 1
This is a high-value card early game. Unless your opponent has removal to immediately kill it you will get to copy a card in their hand which means this one drop replaces itself immediately and you get a 1/3 body for 1 mana. This is the stand-alone value but the high-roll value is if you have the hollow and can give this order every turn you not only get the guild minion from the hollow you also get a card from your opponents hand. Information and value all at the cost of 1 mana I love this card.
Shadow of Lethenon: Mulligan Priority vs non-nature 1. Mulligan priority if opponent is playing nature and Selena’s mark godpower: 4
This is the most annoying card deception has from trials and can win the game if you give this a knife and your opponent doesn’t answer. Also synergizes with Hierophant Silenus but more on that later. Even stand alone early game value = 2 pts a turn (1 if they have a frontline) you can get enough favor out of this usually to replace itself. Against nature if your opponent plays selena’s mark this card is worthless often just trading for the godpower
Stoneskin Poison: Mulligan Priority 2 vs aggro 4 vs control
This card can serve in a couple of different functions. The first is the obvious its removal order +3 and burn +2 will remove any minion with 2 or less health (keep in mind with ward 2.0 both order and burn are ignored by ward so you can play this to remove a Dryder Sailweaver). Later in the game this can be used as a way to get around frontlines for two turns (ex. Play this + godpower and you can ignore 2 frontlines this can lead to surprise lethal assuming you’ve gotten your opponent low.
Switch Duelist: Mulligan Priority 1
Great early game deception minion it’s a 3/1 on your turn and switches to a 1/3 on your opponents turn. Often trades up for 2 drops (ex black jaguar). Hidden on the turn it comes to play which often lets you to ensure value. Early game solid 3 damage/turn if you want to go face vs control also.
Pyramid Warden: Mulligan Priority 1
Ideal early-game minion in all matchups these become liabilities late game. Pyramid Wardens are the perfect targets for assassins aims and Dark Knives buffing a PW along with orfeo’s distraction to hide is a legit win-condition and is something you must consider if you are facing this list.
Skeleton Heavy: Mulligan Priority 1
In this list it can play similar to the PW just mentioned above. Not as amazing but still a good snowball for the knives/assassins aim in certain situations. Good early game minion.
Armor Lurker: Mulligan Priority 1
Deceptions strongest minion 2 mana for a 3/1 armor 2 hidden minion (effectively a 3/3) this often eats a wild hog or similar stated minion getting 2 for 1 value all the time. Can also eat half of a PW and survive. Only thing of note to be careful of is if you face death blood ritual can destroy this minion after its first attack (so if you go face for instance you leave it naked then they just eat it with GP).
Assassin’s Aim: Mulligan Priority: 4
Burst/finish I don’t like this in the opening hand because its useless if you have nothing on the board and offers little early game value. Can generate memes (like my infamous turn 5 KO of Rachmanon in the semi-finals of the 8M Discord Appreciation tournament). Can also be a dead card early. Around turn 4/5 it’s a great starting card when you announce to your opponent “lets race”.
Hunting Trap: Mulligan priority 4 in most matchups. 2 vs Nature
This is strong tech vs Nature with lots of large-stated minions that die vs this. Hunting Trap often struggles to find value in other matchups though.
The Hollow: Mulligan Priority 1
This card is so much fun. Its an infinite value-generator for 2 mana. Its also a round-about way to hide minions you don’t want to die (like Lady Marcella or PW in certain situations). This combos with Patient Pickpocket for even more value (get to copy a card every turn) Also works well with lantern-bound Fae making LBF a budget Neferu.
Lady Marcella: Mulligan Priority: 3 (Situational 2 vs light/war sometimes)
The general idea behind this card is your decklist can handle 1/1 deadlies very easily while maybe your opponent cant. Orfeo’s distraction can pick off your opponents 1/1’s makeshift shiv, armor lurkers play hungry hungry hippos as well. War/Light don’t deal with the 1/1 deadlies as smoothly. Nature can deal with it with some RNG on their side but they need RNG for Selena’s mark to actually hit the tokens. This card is weaker vs Magic (Magebolt) Death (Blood Ritual) and other Deception lists (Orfeo’s Distraction).
Ludia’s Dedicant: Mulligan Priority: 4
Despite its mana cost being 3 its rarely a card you want to play on 3. A potential value generation card. One thing of note is you copy cards from your opponents deck (Generally better than a random card from your opponents class)
Avatar of Deception: Mulligan Priority 4
Fun minion solid body also perma-hidden works well with assassins aim/dark knives also slows opponents down by giving a random minion sleep + confused. Can act as a finisher in certain situations even without buffs.
Shade Walker: Mulligan Priority 4
Not really a card you want in your opening hand but it is a great win condition. Perfect target for your assassins aims or dark knives a great “all-in” card when you decide to face race.
Hierophant Silenus: Mulligan priority 5 except when shadow of lethenon is in hand in the correct matchup this can make it a 1 in the mulligan phase SITUATIONALLY Never keep vs nature.
My favorite card from trial of the gods this is just such a fun card. The infinite value from the shadow of lethenon combo is great (shadow cats generate 2 cards from your opponents deck per turn 1st from the ping at the start of the turn 2nd from the attack. The value generation is insane of course this card is worthless without board. Even playing this on a 2-3 wide board without the shadow can generate lots of value. Not many top players play this card with exception to myself but I love it. This is a pet card and there are probably plenty of trolls in chat that will call me crazy for playing it.
Lantern-Bound Fae: Mulligan Priority 5
Fun fact: This card can go face! Burst damage or board control can get infinite value if you have the hollow generation on board as well. This is a niche inclusion but I generally think its gets enough value its solid removal and generally a 2 or 3 for 1 card advantage. It can be considered “slow” but can produce surprise lethal at the same time.
Want to see this deck in action or any of the other flux wheel decks that have been profiled or about to be? Check out my unedited 23 win weekend ranked run playing the flux wheel challenge!
Deception is probably my weakest god. Definitely will try this build and the mulligan guide is very helpful. I hope a lot of deck guides include this information.
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Very Nice! Waiting for the magic deck pilot guide, since I run a similar deck on WR.
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I've been using this deck for a week after watching your tournament and I have fun with it, except like you said it's can be annoying when matched up with a nature deck.