USED: MistahBoweh vs SamuelJ

Last time, I talked about the latest competitive series to hit Shadow Era, USED. Now, I'm proud to report the results of the first ever USED match with myself against SamuelJ.

To start off, the decks:

I played Haste Zhanna. If you don't know what that is, it's Zhanna, but instead of big fat fatties, you use dudes like Fleet-Footed messenger that can take advantage of Aldon and The King's Pride, sort of like how Rothem works in Shattered Fates. The reason why I chose the deck is threefold: One, I never played it in public before, so it's not likely I'll be predicted. Two, this is a sideboard event, and Zhanna has a crazy amount of hate she can pack. Three, it's a play style I'm comfortable with. As mentioned before, I play a lot of Rothem on the test server, and Haste Zhanna is the Dark Prophecies equivalent of that deck.

Rothem Ragemaker

No, this isn't another combo deck, though the outcome is similar (Rothem wins). The deck itself isn't technically finished, but I've taken a little time to explain my choices anyways. Regardless, enjoy a gameplay video taken on the new 2.8.0 test server.

Back in the Shadow Again

Hello, Shadow Erans! It's been a while. I've been completely off grid for close to a year now, but I'm back amongst the living now and that includes Shadow Erans. And alongside my return, I bring twenty minutes of in-game commentary, in which I show off why not to leave the game for eight months and then expect to win events. What can I say, I learn things the hard way.

Dark Prophecies: Infinite Control

With the full set spoiled yesterday, the forums and everywhere else have been abuzz with activity. Everyone seems desperate to break the new cards when the test server goes online, and I'm no different.

Today, I'll share with you all one of the lists I'm tooling around with. It's nothing too original, but contains plenty of cards from the new set. Feel free to try it out yourself, or adapt it to fit your own style of play.

I bring you Zaladar's Infinite Control.

2012 Americas Regionals Tournament Report

---FAIR WARNING---

The following article is a complete report of each round of the event, written out as they happen over the last couple months. Because of this, it is extremely lengthy. Continue at your own peril.

What a long, hard road it's been. This is truly the last large event of the year, and it's been a privilege taking part. The 2012 Regionals each offer coveted invites to the 2013 World Championships. 64 players a piece are duking it out to prove their worth in a slugfest that could give way to the next world champion.

I'll start out with my list for the event, then move on to the games themselves. Shall we?

Eladerp

Previous lists I've posted on this site have been fairly advanced, and also fairly original.

It's time to start filling out the decklist lineup, and simply put, some heroes have had all avenues explored. There's not a whole lot of room for innovation.

After all, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Eladwen burn has been around as long as the game itself in one form or another. It's a staple of the game, and today, I'm going to share my own version of the classic archetype.

Shadow Era: Worlds 2012 Overview

As many reading this will know, worlds was a thing. This past weekend, the 32 best in the world competed for their claim to the title of World Champion. We saw a lot of decks, a lot of upsets, and a hero that nobody thought would take the whole thing.

I had the honor of hosting live coverage of the event on Shadow Era TV alongside tournament organizer and design team member GondorianDotCom, another designer Mojumbo, lead tester Soothslyr and the occasional voice of Kyle Poole himself, lead designer and CEO of Wulven Studios.

In today's post, I'll recap some of the games, decks, and players that showed up over the weekend, the expected and the unexpected, and some insight on how the results may affect the quickmatch meta.

Shadow Era: Building Baduuru

Ladies and gents, it's that time again. I haven't posted much in a while, so I decided to do something a little special.

A while back on the Shadow Era forums, I posted an article accompanied by an mp3 recording of myself going through it, with a few additional side notes here and there. It was well received and the community asked for more, but outside of livestreams I haven't made any true multimedia content since.

The times, they are a changin'.

Shadow Era: Zhannax 3.0

As many reading this know, I happen to be the originator of a Ghostmaker control deck, ZhannaX, dubbed after the pill of the same phonetic. The deck had a fairly large following, praise varying from both from a unique play experience to a powerful, versatile list, but the game has changed in such a way since then that the original ZhannaX is rather obsolete. I've changed the list to change with the times not once but twice, and today I give you ZhannaX 3.0

Shadow Era: Achilles' Lance

Lance Shadowstalker, the Human Rogue. Lately, he's been a popular choice in quick matches, and I'll admit readily to hopping on that bandwagon from day one. Of course, that's not without reason.

Suck it, Altair. Black is back.

The power of this deck lies entirely within Lance's tempo plays. Between Jasmine, Raven, and Anklebreaker, the deck has ten cards, a full quarter of the deck, that come down, disable an ally, and then stay in play after establishing board control.

Now, why is T5 so significant?

Ignore that all the best cards in the game, Plasma Behemoth, Soul Seeker, Dagger of Unmaking, Mind Control, Earthen Protector, Tidal Wave, all of them are T5 plays.

Ill-Gotten Gains costs 4.

Achilles' Lance is optimized to take advantage of the only unilateral draw engine in the game that doesn't have ANY penalty, tempo, life, or otherwise. The game revolves around pivotal T5 plays, not T4. Lance is one of the few decks with a strong play for the fourth turn, AND has a wide variety of five-drop solutions to take back that board after your opponent gets a turn or two of free reign, making it quite possibly the most consistently powerful deck in the game.

Mind you, other than IGG the deck doesn't have much in the way of draw... but you don't really need it. Your cards are just so much more valuable than your opponent's. Anklebreaker, Raven, Jasmine, Aeon, all of these cards are designed to keep multiple enemy allies in check at once. Very few decks can trade cards with you on a one for one basis.

Without further ado, I give you Achilles' Lance.