I had just finished Eerem Palace, and looked up the boss fights that lead to getting Scorching Scimitars. Those two creatures are the Void Elemental and Zuliman Mongu (Fire). I looked up Void Elemental's boost and resist schools and noticed something interesting. A Shadow school creature, the Void Elemental casts Ice, Death, and has a natural attack of Shadow. He resists every player school, and also Sun school (only damage I could find that a player can do is from a few may-cast wands). But not Shadow! I decided I would try out my Shadow Magic deck on him.
The gear I used that was helpful for the deck
- Robes of Malistaire's Ire (Shadow Trap item card, 2% shadow pip chance)
- Dragoon's Leather Boots* (Dragonblade item card, 16 universal damage, 2% shadow pip chance)
- Edge of the Raging Daystar (16 universal damage)
- Jewel of the Apiary (Balanceblade item card)
- Imperial Walrusk Deck (triangle jewel socket, for Shiny Pip Hematite 3% shadow pip chance)
The deck setup itself
1 x Potent Trap
2 x Feint
1 x Dark Nova
1 x Dark Shepherd
1 x Shadow Shrike
1 x Reshuffle
1 x Empowerment
5 x Pixie
Sideboard
1 x TC Feint
1 x TC Shatter
* I'm not a fan of advocating crown gear use. I do have some crown gear because I like getting the gauntlets to share with friends, and why let the gear you get along with it go to waste. But on an intellectual level, I dislike the "pay to win" element that can exist in the game. I decided to be honest with what I was wearing. It's a bit sloppy anyways, and you can decide to throw in a TC Dragonblade, or any other universal blade/trap as a substitute. There are definitely better gear choices, but you can see that the item cards help for the big hit.
What makes the combo work is the same thing that makes nearly every combo work in the game - stacked Feints. The bonus of the Feints is that they feed the shadow creature if you've already cast him. There really aren't many blades and traps that power this up. With just one Feint, both blades, and the Shadow Trap, I was doing 11,000 damage with Dark Nova. The Empowerment is for the Pixies, and the heals helped me immensely for keeping my head above water while waiting for the pair of shadow pips. It's important to try and get all but two of your blades and traps stacked before casting your shadow creature if you're going for the one hit kill.
I had initially wanted a deck with more shadow creatures in it, so I could keep launching Dark Shepherd attacks, sort of like a Necromancer frequently casting Scarecrow or Call of Khrulhu. That deck setup really won't work unless you're a Sorceror. Blades are vital for attacking crowds.
Alright. So what was the verdict. How did the deck do against the Void Elemental? Actually, not bad. And that accounts for the glaring mistake I made. I forgot to actually put the Shatter into my sideboard. Let it be known, the Void Elemental very much likes to cast Abominable Weaver. There's not much defense against a shadow creature deck - especially Dark Nova with multiple Feints stacked. The main defenses against a shadow creature deck would be large negative charms, like Bad Juju, or big Tower Shields. Exactly like the one the Abominable Weaver leaves behind. You can probably tell, I needed the Reshuffle.
When I faced off against Zuliman Mongu, I didn't have to worry about such a shield, and he doesn't cast Efreet, so I didn't have to worry about any defensive cards like Cleanse or Shatter. I made the addition of multiple Fire Shields to my deck, and he went down easily while I maintained high health.
All in all, the Shadow Creature deck is gimmicky. You can do the same things with prisms and Shrike and other piercing spells and gear. If you are generally getting shadow pips fast, it might be a viable deck alternative for doing quick damage with Dark Nova. If you're super lucky, you could get a 4 turn kill, as long as you get a shadow pip on your first and second turn. That's a really nice trick for a solo wizard, but a near impossible feat against bosses with minions (which are most bosses). Having to throw in a ton of shields and heals and then waiting on pips feels like the wrong way to play.
Comments on different ways to play shadow creatures appreciated :)
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