So, straight down to business! How many decks from the Top 8 of Darkmoon Lyon did you take a shining to heading into Darkmoon Faire Seattle (which I will be attending if I can find $1000 under a stone over the next few days) this weekend? Maybe you recognized a few from your own gauntlet, or maybe they were so badly constructed that you’ve scrapped them completely as they fall to the mighty hammers of the Brochadin? Ah yes, the infamous Paladin was a remarkable absence from the Top 8, something I personally feel is down to the current European format which ended with Lyon as we now embrace the more streamlined American Dream Machine style. Either way, I’m going to focus on the most important factor of the Top 8 and indeed the metagame breakdown itself. There was one card present in all the Alliance Top 8 decks as a playset, and it is one that a lot of players have bemoaned the printing of. I have once again taken the opportunity to give such archetypes a name, and lo and behold the first example of the Shooting Star Press!

Bernd Reinartz, Winner of Darkmoon Faire Lyon

Mythen of the Fang’s Shooting Star Press
Hero: Mythen of the Fang

Allies
2 Xavar the Resourceful
4 Zandar Shadesprocket
1 Unen Rataan
4 Marksman Glous
4 Vindicator Kaldel
4 Myriam Starcaller
2 Leeroy Jenkins

Abilities
4 Cyclone
3 Tainted Earth
4 The Natural Order
3 Wrath
4 Form of the Serpent

Equipment
4 Twig of the World Tree
2 Cobrascale Hood

Quests
4 One Draenei’s Junk . . .
4 Marks of Kil’jaeden
3 Kodo Roundup
2 Corki’s Ransom
2 Orders from Lady Vashj

Side Deck
4 Antikron the Unyielding
3 Moonfire
2 Angelista
1 Wrath

The name Shooting Star Press probably applies to any Druid build of the archetype a lot more than most, but Bernd’s deck is important to analyze for a variety of reasons. First, it went 8-0 in Constructed, the only deck in the tournament with a pilot able to claim such a feat. Secondly, it is the evolution and perhaps final form in this meta of both the Yanna Dai’Shalan builds piloted by associates Andreas Both and Max Siebel to the Top 8 of Darkmoon Faire Stuttgart, and the Desecrator Stormclaw decks that ran rampant over both sets of Realm Championships. Whilst it mainly borrowed from Desecrator’s “Twig you, ping the counters onto Xanata” antics, the core ally base is familiar to all those clued up on Alliance decks this meta.

4 copies of Myriam Starcaller, Vindicator Kaldel and Zanadar Shadesprocket establish the ally foundation most of the more aggressive builds have relied upon. Zanadar is incredible because he does not die to Vexmaster Nar’jo, so you cannot lose momentum from dropping him on the draw. Myriam, as we all know, is immune to removal abilities and as such is very hard to trade into, and in a deck running Twig of the World Tree and Form of the Serpent might not always be the threat you need to answer most pressingly in order to claw back tempo for yourself. Kaldel is the bread to Myriam’s cheese (I’ve always wanted to use that expression): if your opponent does not answer Myriam the turn she enters play and you have Kaldel in hand, you will probably push through for the kill immediately. I am not saying that that is a default situation against every deck or every player, but draws do not always behave themselves and by that stage of the game that could be the final 15 damage that wins out. The two copies of Leeroy Jenkins act as a kill spell, and being able to pay 4 for 6 damage is pretty awesome.

The abilities are typical to any Traitor Druid build: Wrath, Form of the Serpent and Cyclone are mainstays of a deck that can use all three. The Natural Order is perhaps the strongest removal card printed in Servants of the Betrayer, and is playable in nearly every match-up the deck could have right now. The combination of Tainted Earth with Cobrascale Hood will be familiar to a lot of players as a means to disrupt control decks or force them to take damage if they cannot naturally draw into answers (or indeed to absorb a Tatulla blow). At the least, it forces an opponent to play around the cards, which is always to your favor. The double entendre of my name for the deck comes from the side decked Moonfires, a card I would have almost certainly main-decked myself in an environment still likely to be flooded with Runetusk and Paladin, especially when it is almost impossible to remove.

I’m a huge fan of the quest base. It is very likely that you can complete Marks of Kil’Jaeden with 10 inspire allies in the deck, and paying 1 to draw 1 just feels dirty. Some players would argue that you need 4 Corki’s Ransom, but as Bernd has said elsewhere, with a Twig of the World Tree it can sometimes be too much. Still, if you’re able to use the Twig you’re probably in control and it doesn’t matter about the card draw. I would still have included a third copy to satisfy my own lust for wanting to see it every game (I think 4 is overkill). Kodo Roundup is obviously a meta answer to turn two Vexmasters, and in a deck that doesn’t run a high ally percentage you cannot make the argument that Kibler’s Exotic Pets is the superior choice.

Perhaps the biggest choice I have yet to comment on is Marksman Glous. From the first preview for Servants of the Betrayer, I knew she would be something special. If you still don’t have a playset, clean house for them now because she’s nigh essential to any successful rush deck (unless you’re a big demon dude). She removes the greatest weakness rush decks have: running out of gas. Let her inspire resolve once and things are tricky. Twice, you’re probably in a really tight spot as it isn’t nice to look across at a rush deck on turn three and see five or six cards in their hand with 3 allies on the field.

This brings me to a slightly more unusual build that perhaps has a lot more in common with the old school Elendril builds from yester year. As the original innovator of this deck said after this run with it in his realm Championships, the deck is better than he is. Mark, I’m going to have to agree with you.

Philip Smith, 12th place Darkmoon Faire Lyon (4-1 Constructed), 9th UK Realm Championship (5-2, lost to Andy Morgan and myself)

Chaigon’s Shooting Star Press
Hero: Chaigon Steelsight

Allies
4x Xavar the Resourceful
4x Zandar Shadesprocket
4x Apprentice Merry
4x Marksman Glous
3x Vindicator Kaldel
2x Chipper Ironbane
4x Waldo the Decoy
3x Jubilee Arcspark
4x Myriam Starcaller
3x Fury

Abilities
2x Bloody Weclome
3x Feign Death

Equipment
2x Annihilator
2x Glaive of the Pit

Quests
4x Kilbler's Exotic Pets
4x Marks of Kil'jaeden
3x One Draenei's Junk...
2x Chasing A-Me 01
2x The Defias Brotherhood
2x Dr. Boom

Side Deck
1x Chipper Iron Bane
1x Bloody Welcome
2x Burn Away
3x Thrill of the Hunt
1x Annihilator
2x Silent Fang

Why am I featuring a deck that has failed to Top 8 a major event? Because sometimes players just get very unlucky. In a field of 74, this deck came 9th on tiebreakers. Having helped refine Mark Slack’s original design through in-house playtesting, I can attest to this deck’s brutal nature, even if I do not necessarily agree with every choice in it. Phil is my teammate, so I’ve been against this deck with pretty much everything in our gauntlet. It struggles against a more control angled Desecrator deck, and I’d almost certainly drop a Merry and a Waldo to bump Chipper to 4 main-deck. I’ve decided to include this deck in the break-down of Lyon because it demonstrates two interesting philosophies: quests are good and lots of untargetable allies can pose unanswerable questions.
The deck has 17 quests and no Corki’s Ransoms. I would certainly drop The Defias Brotherhood for two copies, and I did try to convince Phil of this prior to both tournaments but he has never been happy with the card. The deck has 35 allies, but trying to keep 4 on the board is pretty impossible nowadays. The key aspects of the ally line-up are Xavar the Resourceful and Marksman Glous in terms of establishing a very big card advantage. A turn 1 Xavar with Mark of Kil’jaden is insane, especially when followed up by a Glous and a One Dreanei’s Junk as it not only lets you complete the quest but also flip to deny Vexmaster of any shenanigans. Waldo the Decoy plays a similar roll but at 4 is a tad too many, I find a 3/4 Waldo to Jubilee ratio to be far more effective. Even amongst teammates there is place for disagreement, and that’s healthy as you don’t want to play against clone decks every round.

Feign Death was a card often touted as being game-breaking when first previewed. It can end a turn which is strong, makes up ground against bad players, and it forces good players to play around it. It was main decked for Desecrator, Ressa, and Mythen, but again I would probably side deck it for the last copies of Annihilator and Bloody Welcome. Alongside Fury and Chaigon’s flip, they warrant playing this archetype as a Hunter. Being able to immediately answer Xanata the Lightsworn, Vexmaster Nar’jo, Korthas Greybeard, or Antirkon the Unyielding is huge. Throw in a few copies of Glaive of the Pit as a turn 8 finisher, and that’s game over. I’m also a huge fan of Jubilee Lightspark as a means of dropping threats and discovering them via the 9 quests capable of revealing her in the deck.

Whilst this deck is not perfect, it is a good example of how the Myriam archetype can fit into any class with mixed levels of success. Hunter variants have access to good spot removal, incredible draw power, and a ferocious kitty with a glaive to push through the kill. This deck absolutely destroys Runetusk, who is starting to leave the metagame, but there was always the chance it would be popular. It also beat the reigning World Champion to hand Guillaume Matignon his only Constructed defeat. Speaking of which...

Non non non non non!

Guillaume Matignon, World and French National Champion 2007, 4-1 Darkmoon Faire Lyon

Hero: Varanis Bitterstar

Allies
4 Xanata the Lightsworn
4 Vexmaster Nar’jo
1 Shadala
1 Jon Reaver
4 Niyore of the Watch
1 Lor’themar Theron

Abilities
4 Metalmorph
4 Fizzle
4 Mana Agate
4 Portal
1 Counterspell
4 Nether Fracture
4 Mana Jade

Equipment
4 The Bringer of Death

Quests
4 One Draenei’s Junk . . .
4 Solanian’s Belongings
4 Forge Camp Annihilated
4 Finkle Einhorn, At Your Service!

Side Deck
2 Voidfire Wand
2 Counterspell
3 Spellsteal
2 Terokk’s Shadowstaff
1 Doshura Risestrider

Again, I’ve ignored featuring a Top 8 deck, but I’ve also decided to explore the ‘other stories’ clause of my article title. Why? Well, Guillaume is an awesome guy. You will never find a nice chap to play cards against, even if his deck frustrates you to the point of letting an exasperating sigh and throwing your deck across the table. The original deck idea was conceived by Guillaume Wafo-Tapa, and when I featured it during the coverage when he played against Frankfurt champion Pierre Malherbaud, I was shocked at just how much the deck draws in a control mirror. It just outdraws anything else completely and utterly. Then it hits interrupts in the form of Fizzle and Nether Fracture, leaving very few plays that are likely to run along unanswered.

It utilizes the rock-solid base of Vexmaster Nar’jo and Xanata the Lightsworn in the 2 drop anti-aggro slot. Both cards are also pretty good at winning game three end of match procedures. I’m not too keen on Niyore of the Watch, but he acts a bit like Sarmoth. On the assault, he effectively has 7 attack and will trade with pretty much everything. Being able to force damage off of your hero whilst dealing a portion of it back to the source makes him very good against aggressive decks, and from that perspective I can understand his inclusion over Ras’fari Bloodfrenzy. Without having tested both options out, further comment is just theorycraft, but I really do like decks that include off-radar cards as answers to bothersome situations. It is also rather refreshing not to look at a Horde deck and see 4 copies of Doshura, Tatulla, Vexmaster and Ras’fari staring back at you.

Portal is a really interesting card. Aron Stein used it effectively to Top 8 Orlando, and I’ve always liked tool-box cards. In a Blood Elf deck which is not under pressure from the opponent, you can use Solanian’s Belongings to bring it back and find another answer. The Mana Agate and Jade provide a ridiculous amount of draw power that is immune to removal, which makes keeping up with the deck in a control mirror even harder. There is a sense of inevitability as soon as Lor’themer Theron sticks, although I would still find space for an Ishanah ally thievery ploys. With The Bringer of Death and Nether Fracture capable of wiping out any threats before a lockout is achieved, once the resources start to reach the 14 mark it’s pretty hard for Varanis to lose, making the deck an effective if at times dull machine that removes any hope that a top-deck will suffice for a win.

What interests me the most though, and what drove me to include the deck, was how it reflects the evolution of the control meta. A lot of players were aware of Lionar the Blood Cursed’s destructive power in the beginning of the Servants metagame. Smash, Puncture, Sudden Death, Tatulla, Doshura: it was unlikely that anything you played would be able to stay on the table. Removal valley. Then you have Pagorek’s Runetusk, where anything in your hand is wiped out. Discard heaven. Now, we have the deck that counters everything. All we need now is a card that can smoke an opponent until they croak, and Mages might be making a comeback...

Join me next week, where I’ll be having a look at results from Seattle! Good luck to everyone going, and make the most of any opportunity to get some draft practice!