This deck is a throw back to one of my favorite decks in good ol' MTG. Efficient early threats, a little removal, and burn to the head to finish the job. So far I'm in early testing by I'm seeing incredible results against Priest and Mage and better then average against the field. With only 35 play test games and a couple revisions it's a least good enough to post it for criticism.
General play is to drop the 1-2 cost creatures and summoning the dagger to get early damage in while trying to keep the board clear with Backstab and Shiv. Those are the cards you want to see in your opening hands. Try to keep minions going to the head rather then using them to clear enemy minions if you can help it. Also refrain from using Eviscerates for removal as these have more power as kill cards, but sometimes that can't be helped. 6 Mana is the Commander phase. If the coast is clear go to the dome, or clear out an enemy threat. Around 7-8 mana you can usually go for the kill by dropping a +Spell Dmg minion then casting Eviscerates and SS to the head dealing 9-13 damage. Having a Blade already summoned prior to the kill turn can increase that number. That's not including any minions that are free to attack, but it's hardly necessary if you executed a successful early game plan.
Here's a couple quick notes on the card choices:
Faerie Dragon - Best 2 drop in a field of control decks, they are forced to fight minion with minion or having to wait till turn 4 to use a board sweeper. Until weapon classes start dominating the field I can't see playing Acidic Swamp Ooze over this or at all.
Loot Hoarder - Card draw is necessary to get to the later game cards you need to finish off your opponent. The 2 damage is necessary to get early damage in and since I've never seen them silenced it's better then Novice Engineer as a card draw minion in the 2 slot.
Leper Gnome / Defias Ringleader - Leper is almost always a guaranteed 2 damage, and between the Coin, Backstab, SS, and Leper you should be able to Combo any of those with the Ringleader within the first 3 turns. A great card for early damage.
Ogre Magi / Azure Drake - These fuel our kill turn. Again you normally don't want to drop these until you can confirm the kill. You can drop them sooner as a threat to draw out removal (thus using up their mana) as long as you still have one in hand. The 4 damage also means these are great anti Priest cards so you can usually drop them ahead of time without too much worry against them.
Argent Commander - This is a form of removal that acts as a threat afterwards. You can also just go to the face if you can kill the opponent the next turn.
Defender of Argus - This is a recent addition to shore up a problem with other decks with Weapons, a rush strategy, or the OTK Hunter decks (though you can kill out of nowhere which throws off their timings). Without Ooze or other Taunt creatures Warrior in particular become a really tough match up. The taunt it provides, the extra 2 damage, and a 3 damage threat in itself fits well into the early game plan while saving your face.
Shiv / Backstab / Assassinate - These are your removal suite. Use these first before dipping into Eviscerate for removal. Combine with your dagger to get the job done. Side note about only 1x Assassinate, even though it's amazing removal it's also 5 mana. The second one is just too much mana usage to stay on your gameplan. I'd rather be equipping an Assassian's Blade with that mana to prepare for the kill.
Assassin's Blade / Blade Flurry - This combination at it's surface is a fairly obvious board sweeper. However this combo can also be a part of your kill turn. Blade Flurry is a spell and as such is boosted by +Spell Damage. Not only that but Blade Flurry also hits your opponent as well. Attacking your opponent with the Blade, dropping a Drake, and then casting a Blade Flurry will deal 7 damage total to your opponent and 4 to their minions. Combine any left over mana with SS and Evis and you can see the damage add up. The blade itself is also a threat so you don't have to wait for the combo. Also remember you can use the +Spell Damage trick with your Dagger as well as an early sweep against other Rush decks.
Sinister Strike / Eviscerate - Combined with +Spell Damage these are your kill cards. SS is also a good card to use if you need a cast to get Combo with Defias Ringleader.
Sprint - Sometimes you are just missing that last couple points of damage, this will make sure you have enough on the next turn. Don't be afraid to take a little damage in order to gas up your hand for the kill.
That's about it. I'm still playing around with numbers and Bloodmage Thalnos definitely deserves a place in this deck to set up the alpha strike even earlier. However I don't have one yet and as such don't want to put it into my list. Right now I'm thinking one of the Defenders comes out to make room for it. I'm looking to shore up against Paladins and Warriors. I'm not sure if it's how I'm approaching the match up or some small tweak I need to make so any suggestions in playstyle or deck makeup to help with that match up is welcomed.
This deck is a throw back to one of my favorite decks in good ol' MTG. Efficient early threats, a little removal, and burn to the head to finish the job. So far I'm in early testing by I'm seeing incredible results against Priest and Mage and better then average against the field. With only 35 play test games and a couple revisions it's a least good enough to post it for criticism.
General play is to drop the 1-2 cost creatures and summoning the dagger to get early damage in while trying to keep the board clear with Backstab and Shiv. Those are the cards you want to see in your opening hands. Try to keep minions going to the head rather then using them to clear enemy minions if you can help it. Also refrain from using Eviscerates for removal as these have more power as kill cards, but sometimes that can't be helped. 6 Mana is the Commander phase. If the coast is clear go to the dome, or clear out an enemy threat. Around 7-8 mana you can usually go for the kill by dropping a +Spell Dmg minion then casting Eviscerates and SS to the head dealing 9-13 damage. Having a Blade already summoned prior to the kill turn can increase that number. That's not including any minions that are free to attack, but it's hardly necessary if you executed a successful early game plan.
Here's a couple quick notes on the card choices:
Faerie Dragon - Best 2 drop in a field of control decks, they are forced to fight minion with minion or having to wait till turn 4 to use a board sweeper. Until weapon classes start dominating the field I can't see playing Acidic Swamp Ooze over this or at all.
Loot Hoarder - Card draw is necessary to get to the later game cards you need to finish off your opponent. The 2 damage is necessary to get early damage in and since I've never seen them silenced it's better then Novice Engineer as a card draw minion in the 2 slot.
Leper Gnome / Defias Ringleader - Leper is almost always a guaranteed 2 damage, and between the Coin, Backstab, SS, and Leper you should be able to Combo any of those with the Ringleader within the first 3 turns. A great card for early damage.
Ogre Magi / Azure Drake - These fuel our kill turn. Again you normally don't want to drop these until you can confirm the kill. You can drop them sooner as a threat to draw out removal (thus using up their mana) as long as you still have one in hand. The 4 damage also means these are great anti Priest cards so you can usually drop them ahead of time without too much worry against them.
Argent Commander - This is a form of removal that acts as a threat afterwards. You can also just go to the face if you can kill the opponent the next turn.
Defender of Argus - This is a recent addition to shore up a problem with other decks with Weapons, a rush strategy, or the OTK Hunter decks (though you can kill out of nowhere which throws off their timings). Without Ooze or other Taunt creatures Warrior in particular become a really tough match up. The taunt it provides, the extra 2 damage, and a 3 damage threat in itself fits well into the early game plan while saving your face.
Shiv / Backstab / Assassinate - These are your removal suite. Use these first before dipping into Eviscerate for removal. Combine with your dagger to get the job done. Side note about only 1x Assassinate, even though it's amazing removal it's also 5 mana. The second one is just too much mana usage to stay on your gameplan. I'd rather be equipping an Assassian's Blade with that mana to prepare for the kill.
Assassin's Blade / Blade Flurry - This combination at it's surface is a fairly obvious board sweeper. However this combo can also be a part of your kill turn. Blade Flurry is a spell and as such is boosted by +Spell Damage. Not only that but Blade Flurry also hits your opponent as well. Attacking your opponent with the Blade, dropping a Drake, and then casting a Blade Flurry will deal 7 damage total to your opponent and 4 to their minions. Combine any left over mana with SS and Evis and you can see the damage add up. The blade itself is also a threat so you don't have to wait for the combo. Also remember you can use the +Spell Damage trick with your Dagger as well as an early sweep against other Rush decks.
Sinister Strike / Eviscerate - Combined with +Spell Damage these are your kill cards. SS is also a good card to use if you need a cast to get Combo with Defias Ringleader.
Sprint - Sometimes you are just missing that last couple points of damage, this will make sure you have enough on the next turn. Don't be afraid to take a little damage in order to gas up your hand for the kill.
That's about it. I'm still playing around with numbers and Bloodmage Thalnos definitely deserves a place in this deck to set up the alpha strike even earlier. However I don't have one yet and as such don't want to put it into my list. Right now I'm thinking one of the Defenders comes out to make room for it. I'm looking to shore up against Paladins and Warriors. I'm not sure if it's how I'm approaching the match up or some small tweak I need to make so any suggestions in playstyle or deck makeup to help with that match up is welcomed.