Rise of the Forgebuilding: Stasis Warden Patch 2.1

Each person is a 6/2. Art makes sense.

It's been a while since I have updated my ongoing Stasis Warden Decklist, and with the addition of Patch 2.1 and the ability for me to buy cards I've finally done enough testing where I feel comfortable giving out a decklist for Stasis Warden.

There are definitely variations of A/T decks that use Stasis Warden well, but this is the most pure list. There are certain powerful cards that require different builds to accommodate, but this deck uses the 30 cards I think are the most powerful when playing a complete stall game. However, I'm gonna start by talking about what cards aren't making the cut first.

If you just want a decklist just skip ahead.

Unused Creatures:

Apocrymancer: This guy, when he gets value, is incredibly powerful. However, there just aren't enough deck slots. Static Shock, Glacial Crush, and Uranti Bolt are all Tempys and don't set him off. The remaining slots are shared by Alloyin Spells and Creatures. There is a minimum number of creatures (also, Metasight) that you need to guarantee you don't have a non-play level 1, and once you get those in there aren't enough Alloyin slots left to really utilize Apocrymancer.

 Flame Speaker: This gentleman is a pretty weak card overall, though we do play a ton of spells. He was mainly used to race decks that did direct damage, particularly against N/T. However, with the nerf to Phoenix there is a lot less incidental damage coming in. Flame Speaker is a card that is appreciated against things like Crypt Conjurer, and in a different meta may well be a 1-of, but for now is sitting on my bench.

 Drix-  Drix is a really cool guy who works well both as an early game play and as a late game finisher. However, he fills 3 creature spots, which means a leveling creature is fighting for the spot. Also, you only have 9 Metaminds, which makes for some awkward situations. This is something I want to test more, but playing Drix seems to work best with playing Metasight, which I do not like.

 Kas- Not an efficient way to end games. Just isn't enough space to give him mobility, attack boost, and still have absolute control of the board. He's also really hard to jam down at an appropriate time. Hella fun though, and I want to try him with Everflame Mystic.

Master of Elements- It's not that Master of Elements is bad, but that he is overshadowed by Aetherforge Oracle. The vast majority of our deck's spell is most powerful at level 2 or beyond, so we prefer leveling a spell and getting a free version of it rather than getting a free version of his level 1. We do miss his sexy body though. While I haven't had chance to play with Delpha I believe she would have same issue.

Any other somewhat reasonable creature not mentioned here or in the deck I believe I have already discussed.

Unused Spells 

Flame Lance- Definitely the best burn spell we can use, but the poor scaling hurts. Particularly the cards that we have problems with typically have big butts. Flame Lance would be better if we wanted to be playing more Tempys and just kill everything with damage, but Energy Prison is better in a meta where the majority of cards you see don't have an activation at level 1 (Level 2 we hopefully have Uranti Bolts leveled)

Metasculpt- This is always been my favorite 1-of for a long time. The only thing I ever really want it for currently is for Zimus, but Metatransfer Level 3 generally is enough to neuter Zimus. It's nice to have when you need to answer things like Leafkin or Phoenix, but we have other cards that also can deal with them.

Metasight- It's overkill. If you get a timely Glaceus you are already well ahead, and if you don't then playing Metasight can really be punished. In a deck where every card has to be playable the majority of the time Metasight has less upside than the 30 cards that are in the deck.

Deck List-
 
3 Stasis Warden
3 Static Shock
3 Glacial Crush
3 Glaceus, Tundra Tyrant
3 Uranti Bolt
3 Energy Surge
3 Metatransfer
3 Ghox
2 Aetherforge Oracle
2 Cypien Augmentation
2 Energy Prison

Here you go. I can't imagine having less than 3 of any of the cards that I have 3 of, and the 2 of has felt comfortable for the other cards.

Discussion-

Stasis Warden- Always level. Quite rarely you can Metatransfer the 3rd Stasis, but is only a solid play if your other Stasis will die if you don't. Good to try to get the underleveled Stasis Warden's leveled.

Static Shock- Still a free spell. Still level all day erry day.

Glacial Crush- Our removal, free spell, finsiher, godsend. Because the level 1 is still really good it's generally appears that Energy Surge is a better thing to level with Oracle or Metatransfer, unless against something like Crypt Conjurer.

Glaceus- This guy is an absolute monster that makes decks that use to have a chance purely because Stasis could have a bad draw lose. He kills all tempo. He's particularly great against WWP, and is the main out against Yetis. Generally playing 1.3 Glaceus is a good play, because every deck except zombies only have a few outs to kill a 3/7 when we have a lot of combat tricks.

Uranti Bolt- The toolbox spell. Level aggressively when you don't want to see something get an activation, otherwise is absolutely fine not actively leveled. Be aware of Bolt-Crush combos, particularly to kill things like Leafkin Progenitor or Arboris 3.

Energy Surge- There is a very strong correlation between chances of winning and how many Energy Surges you have leveled. Any hand with Free Energy Surge is a good one, and it is the 2nd most important card to level after Stasis.

Metatransfer- What seems to be the most played card in this deck. There really isn't a creature we don't want to play this on. Our favorite PL1 turns involve playing a Stasis Warden, Static Shock, Metatransfer to level a Energy Surge. Is a very strong play on cards that can't immediately be dealt with, most notably Zimus 3.

Ghox- The reason you are a lucker dog. I have had many a game where I have Energy Prisoned a level 1 Ghox in the corner and he has locked the game down by making all draws adequate. Late game a leveled Ghox makes sure that you have the superior late game by basically guaranteeing that you have at least 2 spells. An early Ghox isn't bad, getting to see 23 cards in PL1 helps a lot.

 Aetherforge Oracle- Some times we just wanna chump. Playing Oracle out naked is pretty poor since it dies to a gust of wind, but is a great blocker that helps shore out PL2 and beyond. Don't feel pressured to play just because it's been leveled before though. I've found that it's not an awful play first turn, because opponents always seem to want to Epidemic for value, which is absolutely fine with us.

Cypien Augmentation- Augmentation has two main uses: It is a free spell that is pretty much playable whenever, and it helps protect high priority targets from Cull and Xrath's Will. Against decks spamming Epidemic as their removal your midlaner will often grow faster than they can ungrow it, meaning you have at least 1 Stasis Warden or other key piece at all times. Always play first creature in mid lane.

Energy Prison- The backup plan. When you don't draw Stasis Wardens and well timed Glaceus you still need to stop your life from going below 0. Energy Prison on level is the best card at achieving that. It has a big weaknesses since it is both level gated and doesn't deal with activations, but when opponent plays Zimus 3 having Energy Prison saves you from having to play an extra spell each turn.


If you have any comments or questions they are always appreciated. My IGN is pwndnoob, I'm probably playing draft, or playing one of the decks mentioned here. Have a nice day!