Deck Combo inside: Sacrifice rituel, tyrande, wondervolt

Le plus connu de tous mais celui ci jouait la combo en side et fini top 8 des worlds...



Casey Ehlert of the UDE WoW TCG site (http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/wow/en/) for this week talks about the Winter Wondervolt experience. Let's take a look at what he has to say:

The lead-up to the 2007 World of Warcraft TCG World Championship was filled with speculation and perspiration. The moment PX-238 Winter Wondervolt was previewed, the community was buzzing about the infinite combo that had been unleashed upon the world. Vociferous cries of “How could they do this?” and “This is a serious mistake!” were expressed when the announcement was made that the set would indeed be made legal in time for Worlds.

After a lot of testing, most of the bigger teams and players in the game were coming to the consensus that the combo deck was far from broken—in any form. And to top it all off, people would probably be packing main-deck hate for it anyway. We all know about the aftermath: the deck wasn’t bad by any means, but it definitely didn’t storm Worlds like many said it would. It did, however, have a very solid showing in an innovative take on both control and combo. The deck was piloted by Matt Markoff, who finished in the Top 8.

Matt Markoff
2007 WoW TCG World Championship, Top 8

Hero: Mazar



Allies
1 Chen Stormstout
4 “Chipper” Ironbane
4 Hukkath
2 King Magni Bronzebeard
4 Kulvo Jadefist
1 Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker
1 Medoc Spiritwarden
3 Parvink
2 The Abominable Greench

Abilities
4 Eye of Kilrogg
3 Hardpacked Snowball
4 Life Tap
3 Shadowburn
4 Shadowfury
2 Shred Soul
3 Steal Essence

Equipment
2 Ancient Cornerstone Grimoire
2 Nemesis Skullcap

Quests
4 Chasing A-Me 01
2 Corki’s Ransom
2 Gahz’ridian
4 The Missing Diplomat

Side Deck
2 High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind
4 PX-238 Winter Wondervolt
4 Ritual Sacrifice

Markoff’s deck is extremely innovative in its use of the side deck to support an entirely different strategy. Granted, there wasn’t much going on in the form of competitive infinite combos before this, but it is still noteworthy for being the first, and probably not the last, use of the side deck to completely change the deck.



When Matt’s opponents sat down across from him on Day 1 and saw Mazar flop on the table, they probably thought what any educated player would think: I’m playing against a combo deck. What surprises were in store for them! Not only would they not see any combo pieces in the first game, but they would also most assuredly side out any main-deck hate they had for abilities, and probably choose not to side any in as well. This gave Matt a tremendous advantage: even an opponent who was prepared for the much-hyped combo deck would be helpless to defeat it in game 2.

If Matt won game 1, he’d probably also win game 2, and all those Dispel Magics would lay dormant and useless in the side deck, waiting for another chance to shine. If a match ended up going to game 3, Matt could play switcheroo again, if need be, changing back to the control deck like Superman in a phone booth. He could also throw his opponent off and pretend to side out a bunch of cards, only to put them back in. Any way you look at it, Matt’s transforming deck gave him a huge advantage over his opponents, who probably ended up more confused than prepared.



As a control deck, there are some extremely interesting elements present here. The first thing that jumps out is the inclusion of four Hukkaths. Matt chose to forego the usual route of Sarmoth as the Pet du jour in favor of a turn 4 monster. After all, with both Kulvo Jadefist and Parvink clogging up the 3 spot, why not upgrade? His value as a 3 ATK / 5 health beast on a turn when no other allies are going to trade 1 for 1 with him is not to be underestimated. Think One-Thousand-Battles without a drawback, and with a useful power to boot. The usefulness doesn’t stop there. Is your opponent trying to Aimed Shot you out of the game? Pay 1 resource and put an end to that nonsense. Desperately in need of a Vanquish but don’t have a Pet in your graveyard to use Mazar’s flip? No problem: pay 1, sacaroo, and voila, you have your Vanquish.

Another interesting aspect of the list is the lack of early-game ally drops. The deck went without any 1-drop allies in favor of more abilities and more utility players later in the game. Who needs Korthas Greybeard to trade with a 1-drop when you’re just going to drop a Shadowfury and erase your opponent’s board later on anyway? It’s not hard to come back from the early loss of health when you’re packing Nemesis Skullcap and Steal Essence. At the 2-drop slot, the tournament all-star “Chipper” Ironbane comes to play. If you feel like you need a 3 ATK / 1 health early on to apply some pressure or make a trade, he’s your man. Otherwise, just hold onto him until he has a chance to do what he does best: Burn Away or Shattering Blow—what’s your flavor?



The end game for the control deck side of things is about as straightforward as it gets. King Magni Bronzebeard and the new kid on the block, The Abominable Greench, accomplish basically the same goal but in two different ways. If you’re facing down an aggressive deck, dropping the King on turn 9 will usually finish off things with a mountain of his Dwarven buddies, provided your opponent doesn’t have an answer. If you’re facing down a control deck, there’s no better way to win a war of attrition than completely denying your opponent the ability to draw cards. In this deck, there’s the added benefit of seeing what’s in store for your late-game bros via Eye of Kilrogg. If the coast is clear, time to say it’s over with a single 9-drop gesture. If something goes wrong, there’s always the full suite of Chasing A-Me 01s to bring them back.

When it comes to abilities, nobody does it better than Warlock. They may be a bit short-handed when it comes to equipment or ability destruction (Chipper makes up for this just fine), but when it comes to dealing with allies, nobody can touch these guys. If hand disruption is your thing, then give Eye of Kilrogg a try; it doesn’t get any more efficient or effective. If having an answer to a single beefy ally is your thing, then Shred Soul should do the job nicely. No need to worry about those pesky Finkle Einhorn, At Your Service!s either, because Steelsmith Joseph Carroll is gone for good. Feel like drawing some cards? Life Tap away, my good man. Then there’s Shadowfury, a rush deck’s worst nightmare. Targeting is not an issue with this card, so say goodbye to your army of Jeleane Nightbreezes and Apprentice Merrys. If someone manages to survive the fury, they’ll be exhausted for a turn anyway, which is plenty of time to take care of them via other means.



All of this goes toward making a solid foundation for something truly wrong to mix things up. Enter the PX-238 Winter Wondervolt combo. When combined with an on-board High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind, Ritual Sacrifice, and another ally, it provides an infinite damage loop via the Priestess’s power and the Wondervolt set to “Night Elf.” Suddenly, every time you destroy a Wisp, you get a Wisp! Infinite damage!

With four Life Taps, four The Missing Diplomats, and three Parvinks leading the way, it’s not hard to gather the pieces necessary to set off the combo. The deck is already set up to stall until the later turns, so dropping all three pieces onto the board in one turn is not out of the question. Against certain decks that you know won’t threaten your on-board abilities (such as Nathadan), you can drop them out starting as early as turn 2 with Ritual Sacrifice and set up a turn 5 kill without much trouble, provided you have the pieces by then.

The combo is at its best when facing down some of the trouble matchups for control Warlock, such as Nathadan and Graccus. Whereas before you would be at the mercy of their somewhat superior card drawing, you can now take advantage of their slow early game and win the game long before Tewa Wildmane can rear her ugly head. If they do manage a combo-stopping Devotion Aura in game 3, there’s always the utilitarian Chipper to chew it up. Move along, Paladin, nothing to see here—except your demise!

Matt should be applauded for his revolutionary and unique take on side-deck use in this game. While he was eventually taken down by the Warlock’s true nemesis, Rotun Daggerhand, in the Top 8, I can’t help but think it was due in no small part to his opponent knowing his exact decklist beforehand. In the Swiss rounds, the surprise effect of the combo post–game 1 was probably enough to get the job done. A transformational side deck is nowhere near as effective when your opponent knows exactly what’s coming.

Many were scared when the Wondervolt combo was first unveiled. And while time has proven the combo to be good, it is, after all is said and done, just another addition to the game. Its use as a side-deck option is probably the best way to go about things in the face of a mountain of ability hate and prepared players. Nothing proves it more than this list and the single showing in the Top 8 of Worlds. What the future holds in store for Wondervolt combo is yet to be seen. If people stop preparing for it, then it may rise again. Any way you slice it, it’s a powerful addition to the diverse metagame that is the World of Warcraft TCG.

<This article was originally posted at the UDE WoW TCG Site: http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/wow/ … fault.aspx>

ptit paul y peut peut être faire un syde pareil....

j'ai une tyrande a lui préter si il veut faire ça

Il ce pourrait que je joue bientot paladin bon aura de devotion gere la combo.Mais aura de vindicte si le demo a moins de points de vie que toi cela marche encore mieux non ?
Enfin de toute maniere avec mauvaise oeil dure de sortir la combo et quand il la sort il te dit qu'il te 100 degas et il est mourut.

relisons le texte de la carte "Aura de Vindicte"


tu as du zapper "de combat"
j'me trompe?

a c'est nul alors

Et puis d'abort je m'en fout moi,je joue mauvaise oeil de Jin'do (loué soit l'éternel vaudou) moi monsieur alors ça combo a deux francs il peut... enfin bref