This is the last Assassin's Strike legal version of my King Xod deck. It won me the Aldershot Tournament held at Esdevium by Gerry Crowe. I'm very happy with it, it suits my play style very well. The write up at the bottom assumes that the reader will be using the deck; this is becaue this is an amended version of an article I sent to AEG for their review. If you have any comments or questions on the deck, feel free to mail me matb@fuzzyduck.org!
I have archived the version of the deck I used at Gencon UK; compared to this version it is awful! Xod Rules. I don't recommend you use it, but you might find the transition useful for reference.
Xod Rules II
Warlord: King Xod Rare
Starters:
2 Guardian
2 Axe
1 Hammer
Characters:
1 Axe
2 Hammer
3 Loner
1 Avalanche
2 Claw
1 Guardian
3 Prince Alaric
3 Sky
3 Stalwart
2 Duncan Kinslayer
1 Kohn Peacehand
2 Rac Ironbone
30 Total (including 6 starters)
Items:
3 Riding Horse
3 War Horse
3 Bruntor's Helm
3 Havat-Iahn Stance
2 Heavy Crossbow
1 Scale Mail
2 Bracers of Ogre Power
2 Breastplate of Power
1 The King's Lady
1 Tome of Champions
1 Thunderhammer
20 Total
Actions:
2 Put to the Test
2 Charge
2 Bar Fight
2 Loyalty's Reward
10 Total
60 Total, including starters.
This deck is designed to use Xod's ability to fish for items to make the
characters in the army better. Unlike many Xod decks, it does not rely on the
man himself to win (although he usually does his fare share of the job). It
has gone through many incarnations, the first of which took me to the
quarter-finals at Gencon UK; this is the most recent.
Ideally, the first turn should see you making your initial attacks, and then
fishing out a Heavy Crossbow for Guardian. This gives you some added punch,
and is particularly useful against Rathe decks that start the annoying
Artheon. You should expect to meet an Elf deck or three in the upper reaches
of most tournaments in the current environment, but the Crossbow is good
against all decks.
There are 13 cards that Xod can fish for; each of these you fish out
increases the chances of drawing more characters in subsequent turns. Most of
the characters will be enhanced by the items; don't worry about the level
ones, they are really there to hold the ranks for you until the 2nd and 3rd
rankers come out to play. Ideally, a Guardian in the first rank should be
given an early Havat Lahn to back up the second ranker with the crossbow (at
least one will probably fall forward to fill a gap in the first few turns. If
you get an Alaric early (always nice) kit him up with a stance and a helm;
Scale Mail is there against decks that use lots of Ranged Attacks.
Xod's ability means you can get it if you need it,and simply attach it
if you draw it anyway.
Another combo to look out for is the Riding Horse/Warhorse trick. If you have one in your hand, search for the other, and charge forward on your steed. At Aldershot I managed to get Rac from rank 4 to rank 1 in one turn and still attack at one point; my opponent said it was a huge waste of cards, but it got Rac where I wanted him.
You should be able to handle most other fighter based decks; you are faster
than other more combo reliant Xod decks and Deveranians fall over to you. The
fighter deck that might give you trouble is a Robert Speed deck that sees the
man break your ranks with a few lucky hits on the first turn. The odds are
against him achieving this, but you might get unlucky. Nothrog blitz can be a
problem, but the low AC of the Throgs should see you deal with them
relatively easily. They'll stall against the meat wall that is Guardian under
most circumstances; eliminate Timmuk if you see him.
Wizard decks tend to fall over; you have enough speed to break their ranks
early, and Sky eliminates Brine Fiends easily. Cleric decks shouldn't worry you too much;
the exception to this is Gnarrow Yaw decks, which might go toe-to-toe and win, IF they get
an early Mass Blessing. If not, again the punch of the crossbow, alongside
Bar Fights from rear rankers, should see you through.
The only real problem you have is against Rogue decks in general, and Tooth
Fairy decks in particular. Rathe Speed knocked me out at Gencon, and I'm
still not better than a 50% hit rate against it. Still, these were some of
the best decks, and players, in Europe, so I shouldn't be too bothered. Hit
them fast, and destroy their rank structure before they get the Tooth, then
let Rac in to finish them off. If they break you rank structure too early,
you might be in trouble, but again you have Guardian to prevent this; don't
be afraid to send Xod forward if Rathe hasn't got a Tooth; break him before
he breaks you.
The only card in the deck that has an unnecessary duplicate is Rac. He's good
enough that you want him in the early game; get him and Xod forward, and you
should do ok. The rest of the boys are good enough to do it without either of
them though.
Your main strengths are those of the good, solid Dwarves, you have tough
characters that work best as a team; Xod's ability to attach lvl 5 items to
your second rank characters should not be underestimated. Your weakness is
those pesky Elves, but they break easily; hit them with a Hammer, and follow
through with an Axe, they should go away quicklyJ
A quick note on deck size. The deck intentionally has 60 cards in it. There
is an ongoing debate as to which size deck is best, and under which
circumstances. In my view, a heavy combo reliant 'tricks' deck, especially
Tooth Fairy and Uber Sorscha, need to be as tight as possible; they rely on
drawing certain key cards, and need to draw them as early as possible. This
is not a trick combo deck, it is a deck designed so that each card works well
with all the others. A larger number of cards, with half of them being
characters, gives you a slightly better chance of drawing more characters
than other cards in a five card hand than in a 50 card deck. As you fish for
items from your deck, these odds increase. As the characters in your deck are
the main strength of it, this is a good thing. Also, if it does devolve into
a slugging match, the additional cards should give you an advantage.
Above all, remember; the strength of the Dwarven army is teamwork; rely on
your army, not individual men. This is a game about armies led by Warlords, not Warlords using mooks as cannon fodder. Personal preference that; but it's also why I went for a bigger deck. Every turn, I play more characters, they get better thanks to Xod, and my deck is thinned, increasing the odds of me drawing the end game cards.
Mat Bowles
Student layabout
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