Key Cards & Key Decks: Stormbreak Expedition Open

It was absolutely thrilling to watch TheBoxer qualify for the 2021 Eternal World Championship, but how can you join him? At the Stormbreak $5k Expedition Open, April 16-18 of course! If you haven’t dabbled much in this expedition format yet, this quick guide will give you a rundown of the key cards and key decks in the format.

Key Card #1: Genetor Dovid I

Genetor Dovid is a very powerful card, capable of giving Soldier decks a fast beatdown clock with his 4/4 body, as well as some staying power with his card drawing ability.What does a Dovid deck look like? Here’s a Hooru Soldier deck that packs a serious punch, but can also play a longer game with its versatile Amplify cards.

 

Countering Dovid

If you’re going to succeed in Expedition, you’ve got to have a plan to handle him. Luckily, there are some good tools available if you’re looking to deal with the Genetor. You can kill him outright with cards like Opum’s Technique and Pyrotech Explosion, or play some blockers that are good at keeping him at bay like Kerendon Merchant and Arach, Razorshaper. And once you do deal with him, he gives you some Soldiers to help slow down the additional card he drew.

Key Card #2: Vine Grafter

Vine Grafter may look unassuming, but it’s the ultimate difficult-to-attack-through 2 drop; stopping opposing 2-health units in their tracks with its powerful Regen ability. Then, if it sticks around, its ultimate ability can create another difficult to handle Regen unit while also grabbing the perfect market card for the job. In a lot of ways, Vine Grafter has the opposite effect of Genetor Dovid, slowing the game down and providing long-term value rather than an immediate impact with a downside when removed. The Vine Grafter player looks to play a more drawn out game and try to exhaust their opponent’s resources rather than just beat them down. What does a Vine Grafter deck look like? Here’s a Mandrake deck that looks to take advantage of the Merriest Mandrake alongside a whole swath of powerful Ultimate abilities like Vine Grafter’s.

Beating Vine Grafter

Of course, there are some tools that work very well against the Grafter as well. You can fly over it with Valkyrie attackers like Deheen Blitz, stun it with effects like Permafrost, or just kill it with Suffocate and move on.

Key Card #3: The Speaking Circle

The Speaking Circle represents nearly infinite possibilities and extreme versatility. Whatever problems you need to solve, the solution could present themselves in the nine total cards that you’ll be shown over the course of creating its Agenda. What kinds of decks are interested in the Speaking Circle? Anyone interested in playing a long game who can defend it, like this Menace deck.

Stopping the Speaking Circle

The best way to fight back against the Speaking Circle is of course to have a lot of units ready to attack it by the time it comes down, but there are a few other ways to handle it as well, such as Laser Blast, Dichro’s Technique, or the newly minted Devastation.

Ok, so that’s the pillars of the format, but what about someone who wants something a little more off the beaten path? Here’s a deck that tries to use Overloader with Diabolic Machinations to generate a ton of power, which you can then sink into a huge Pyrotech Explosion, courtesy of 2020 World Championship competitor Sunyveil.

But what if you would prefer to beat down in the air? Here’s a Rakano Valkyrie deck so you can fly in style.

 

 

Of course, these decks are just scratching the surface of the deep and diverse Expedition format. For more inspiration, check out our friends over at Eternalwarcry who have a large repository of Expedition decklists here or join the community on Discord.

We’re so excited to bring you our first Expedition Open of the 2021 Season! Who will be joining LightsOutAce and TheBoxer on the Worlds stage? Be sure to tune in to the Direwolf Twitch on April 18th, 11 AM MDT to find out