This is meant to serve as an introductory to intermediate level guide to building effective decks for grinding gauntlet, which we define as generating the maximum amount of gold per hour. I will provide a general overview of the decks you will face and how to create a deck that will consistently do well against the field. I do believe that there are many ways to go about beating gauntlet, and hope that this guide will help some of you to come up with your own decks! Even if you prefer to just netdeck, it is my hope that you will gain a better understanding of these decks.

But first, if you have time please take this poll as it will help me create better content. One of the poll options regards strategy articles. That is a general topic, but if it is something you are interested in, please leave a comment here or in the Reddit thread giving specific areas you would like to read about or if there is an aspect of gauntlet that you may struggle with.

https://www.strawpoll.me/15943239

The decks you will face in gauntlet are very diverse, ranging from go wide aggro decks resembling Praxis Tokens from ladder and Skycrag Yetis to more controlling decks like Big Combrei, Armory, or Argenport Control.

One key difference in the AI decks from ladder decks (besides a generally lower strength and running more power cards) is a strategy that involves contesting a board with more units and often running less hard removal as a result, with few exceptions. Many AI decks favor cards with evasion, (often flying, or sometimes unblockable) and many also utilize lots of silence and stun effects. There are also notably fewer decks running Harsh Rule.

So, where do we start? First, it is important to realize that in order to maximize gold per hour it is advisable to play aggro decks or aggressively slanted midrange decks. However, with gauntlet rewards now heavily weighted towards getting seven wins, midrange decks will generally be the way to go unless the aggro deck is significantly faster. As such, the aggro decks I talk about in this article are all very fast and generate a comparable gold income to midrange decks. I personally prefer playing midrange decks because of the thrill of opening three silver chests at once (more chances to upgrade!) Control decks, while very likely having the highest chance to get seven wins are simply too slow at winning, and will not be optimal grinding decks but you can definitely play them for enjoyment.

Designing an Aggro Deck:

First, our goal is to hit five or more wins average as quickly as possible. This is a general baseline and slightly less can be fine for the absolute fastest aggro decks. This means that we generally want to design our aggro deck to be more resilient and be able to play a long game if necessary. For this reason, a deck like Rally Queen, though undoubtedly capable of winning very quickly will not be ideal because a bad draw or strong opposing draw can end our run early (getting Bronze or Silver Chests is a lot better than Wooden ones which cannot upgrade). We need to design a deck that can race the AI’s aggro decks and also exert enough pressure to close out a game against the late game oriented strategies.

I have found the most success with decks that run a strong mix of evasive threats, lifesteal, silence, spot removal and combat tricks. Of all these attributes, Justice is clearly a very strong base faction to be in. Here are a few cards that I run in the vast majority of Justice based aggro:

Vanquish – always three minimum, often four copies. This is the most efficient removal Justice has, simple as that.

Finest Hour – two to four copies. +3/+3 can help close out the last few points of damage and since the AI does not understand how to play around a combat trick, you can often set up a nice two for one. Sometimes the AI will attack with a 5/5 and you block with a 3/3 and finest hour, and it acts as a removal spell. Very flexible spell for gauntlet.

Protect – This was once the most efficient way in the game to “Protect” a key unit, and usually run as two copies in both Hooru and Rakano decks. Now that it costs two you do NOT want to run any copies in your aggro decks. I wanted to talk about the card for several reasons, as the nerf affected deck design in a significant way. In fact, I had originally started this article just a few days before the nerf hit, and then had to go back and re work a lot of Justice decks (and then Dead Reckoning released a couple weeks later). With The Fall of Argenport on the horizon, this seemed like the perfect time to publish this article. The most significant change was for Hooru, which was a terrific deck utilizing Shelterwing Rider and also weapons like Hammer of Might and Cloudsnake Saddle. The AI has a lot of ping effects in various decks and without Protect, which is too inefficient now it doesn’t perform quite as well. The Hooru Fliers list that I posted actually runs Windshaper at four and Hooru Pacifier which moved Hooru away from running weapons.

Reinvigorate – zero to two copies. Remember how I said the AI decks use so many stun effects? Well, giving a unit permanent endurance counters that effect. With it readying as well, you can use this spell to surprise block an attacker. I’ve had so many situations where the AI has permafrosted my flier and held another unit with Ice Sprite. They go to attack, and I Reinvigorate, breaking permafrost, block the Ice Sprite and freeing up my other guy. Value town. The tradeoff is that two is a high cost for a combat trick and this can slow your deck down somewhat.

Unseen Commando – always four. This card is absolutely insane in gauntlet! Lifesteal and evasion in one card is great, and the ability gets better in multiples. Try to include other units with two or more battle skills, or build with cards that will add battle skills.

Copperhall Bailiff- generally three to four copies. One of KcBandit’s many innovations, this card greatly increases your win rate against the go wide decks. If you aren’t including it, make sure that your deck has a plan for winning against these go wide decks.

Spirit Guide – generally three to four copies. This card helps you race aggro, and can also be that second skill needed to get an Unseen Commando boost. This card and Bailiff fill a similar role.

Valkyrie Enforcer – three copies minimum, usually four. Just generally one of the best cards in Justice. I say three minimum because there aren’t as many critical silence targets in Gauntlet compared to Ranked. If you are Hooru Fliers, ALWAYS run four to keep the air clear.

Hooru Pacifier- always four copies in Hooru Fliers. The card is incredible and probably even better in Gauntlet than in Ranked (and it is extremely good in Ranked).

These are general rules of course, and decks like Rakano Gunslingers may not want any copies of the above three drops to allow for maximum synergy.

Shelterwing Rider – still a very good card, but requires some setup. An Unseen deck with Darkveil Agent can get the Aegis back easily. Splashing for Stand Together can work, but your powerbase won’t be quite as consistent. For these reasons, and with the number of ping effects in AI decks, the card isn’t as optimal in Hooru Fliers decks and I prefer Windshaper with Whispering Wind as a tutor effect.

Hammer of Might – once a mainstay in Justice aggro and still can be run as two to four copies, depending on space in Rakano decks. A very efficient weapon, with easy influence requirements. This is no longer run in Hooru Decks because Hooru Pacifier while incredible, also makes running weapons awkward.

Deepforged Plate -an option for Rakano decks, and a good idea if you aren’t running Reinvigorate to smash through Permafrost and stun effects. Be sure to run more than twenty-five power in these builds.

At this point it is clear that Rakano or Hooru are strong aggro deck options. Rakano has great synergy with Unseen Commando, and the snowball effect of warcry. Hooru has strong evasive units. Combrei has additional silence, evasion, and the ability to buff a wide board with Stand Together and Xenan Obelisk. I do not talk about it here, but I believe Combrei has a lot of potential with the new set, in no small part because a Crest will allow for greater consistency. Amilli + Obelisk is a great combination against AI decks that are usually light on removal.

With a strong Justice core, you should be able to build consistent and powerful aggro decks for gauntlet.

Stonescar Royal Burn is another very strong approach and though it does not have much lifesteal, it is able to race aggro through brute force aggression, and close out games against control with Reach.

Some of the key cards in KcBandit’s Royal Burn are:

Grenadin Drone – four copies. The AI plays a ton of X/1 units which this contests, and this card also makes a wide board for Bandit Queen.

Oni Ronin – four copies. a 2/1 for one with the snowballing effect of Warcry.

Pyroknight – four copies. a 2/1 overwhelm for one that scales into the late game. Of note, the AI does not understand that this can ultimate, and may give you lethal on the crackback.

Argenport Instigator – four copies. a 3/3 for two with an ability that taxes life totals. It is still good post nerf, but a little less consistent as a two drop. Playing Instigator on three with a one drop like Grenadin Drone still works nicely to set up Bandit Queen.

Rakano Outlaw – four copies. a 2/2 Quickdraw Warcry can do work early, and we run efficient removal to make attacking more than once common. Warcry can snowball a game hard.

Champion of Chaos – four copies. a 5/3 deadly overwhelm is able to push so much damage.

Bandit Queen – four copies. Against unit light decks this card can just end the game when it’s played, against other decks it is able to push enough damage to get them within Burn range.

Vicious Highwayman – four copies. there are so many X/1s in gauntlet that this is very frequently a 4/2 lifesteal quickdraw charge which is so good! It provides a little bit of lifesteal and a ton of damage output.

Obliterate – up to two copies. Six damage for five power is a solid rate, this card can help close out the game.

Soulfire Drake – zero to one copy. This can be a strong card, but there are numerous fliers to block it, and it is very slow now at six cost. The difference between five and six power is HUGE for an aggro deck. Personally I would run zero.

Torch – always four copies. one power for three damage is incredibly strong.

Suffocate – two to four copies. Cheap removal that hits a lot of blockers that would otherwise stifle our early aggression.

Rapid Shot – three to four copies. For two power this card functions as removal or burst damage.

Annihilate – zero to two copies. Additional removal but not as flexible as Rapid Shot.

Stonescar Royal Burn with its fast pace of play is a very strong contender for best aggressive deck.

Designing a Midrange Deck:

Midrange decks are going to be slower than aggro decks, and will need higher winrates to compensate. Generally your average winrate should approach six wins. This is really critical because winning Silver Chests is what adds a lot of value to your slower paced run. When you make it to the Gauntlet Boss you want to have a significantly higher win percentage than aggro decks as well. The difference between six and seven wins is two silver chests (minus two Bronze) so you want decks that do consistently well against the bosses.

The two decks I look at are the ones I have had the most success with recently. With the Fall of Argenport I will certainly build other factions, but currently I feel that Feln and Elysian are the top midrange decks by a fairly large margin.

Midrange decks have a little more flexibility in deck design than aggro decks, which tend to have pretty clear cut decisions when it comes to units (Unseen Commando or Champion of Chaos at three for example). Therefore I will highlight a few high performing cards but mostly just describe the principles of the deck design.

Elysian Midrange is a deck about brute force units. It runs Dawnwalkers and wants to keep the big threats going.

Cirso, the Great Glutton is an excellent five drop and always a four of. The AI understands that each unit becomes a 2/2 pig when blocking, but it will sometimes make a mistake like using a Finest Hour or an Augmented Form first, then blocking and losing the effect as it transforms back to a 2/2 pig. It is a tough Unit to Block and great card all around, and pairs well with Killer.

Sandstorm Titan is another four of that brings back Dawnwalker, fights Fliers and aggro, and can’t be stunned. The card is pretty good.

Equivocate is a four of in my list. It is basically a two cost deathstrike in a lot of situations. Another one of those strong Ranked cards that is amazing in Gauntlet because the AI loves to block with multiple units which you can blow out, and often times just generating tempo is all you need to close out a game.

Hailstorm is a four of in my list. In testing I found that the deck was very weak against aggro. I had Storm Lynx at one point but Hailstorm just does so much work, shoring up our weakness against go wide decks and aggro in general.

Feln Lifesteal/Midrange is a deck that took a while to tune to my optimized version, but was built on simple principles. Run Lifesteal threats to beat aggro, a couple Devastating Setback to punish go wide aggro decks, lots of Removal to beat the midrange decks, and a pair of Thunderstrike Dragons to grind out control.

Shadowlands Tyrant is huge for this deck, and an easy four of. It mops up X/1 units when backed up by removal, then X/2 or X/3 units with a Black-Sky Harbinger follow up (a three of to make room for the Thunderstrike Dragons, and a mandatory include as well).

Rindra, the Dusk Blade is another easy four of, as is Midnight Gale. Just very efficient Lifesteal threats.

Strategize is an easy four of. Need to hit a power drop? This can help. Flooded with six drops and not enough power? This is effectively draw two cards for two power. Consistency is key and this card is great for that without sacrificing too much tempo.

When The Fall of Argenport releases, I will look to redesign these decks with Merchants to add a toolbox and improve the consistency even more. https://eternalgauntlet.wordpress.com/2018/06/08/theory-crafting-with-merchants/

I hope this post will help some of you in your approach to gauntlet deck building!

Here is the list of my current recommended decks:

https://eternalgauntlet.wordpress.com/2018/06/09/my-recommended-decks/

Thank you for reading,

MagicTurtle