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4 Giant Rat
2 Living Claw
4 Lunatic Hare
4 Trap Spider
3 Tokebi
4 Deathquito

3 Abyssal Tome
3 Ring of the Succubus
3 Spectre's Robe

2 Chariot
3 Crusher
1 Find
2 Gift
4 Haste
2 Paralyzer
2 Refuge
1 Relief
3 Wind of Hope

After creating the Scrooged series of decks and using many of them in competitive play, I noticed that my opponents started bringing their own deprivation decks to counter mine. After a few very fun (but completely brutal) deprivation wars, I decided it was time to counter the counters... gotta love the metagame in Culdcept. I felt like Tightwad's ultra-low-G card list would be a good starting point, but I also felt like its 40G card cost cap wasn't quite high enough. So, I went up another 10G and came up with NailBiter. While I wouldn't say it's elite in terms of sheer effectiveness and versatility, it's one of my very favorite decks to play.

Why is it called NailBiter, you ask? Because your opponents will constantly be biting their nails, trying to figure out what you're up to. It worries them via three key elements. First, it's essentially a Silver Idol deck without the idol via about a dozen very hard-to-deal-with Attacks First combos. Second, absolutely nothing on the map is safe, ever, thanks to all the paralysis action, card crushing and two different Lunatic Hare instant-kill combos. Finally, every time you snatch away a high-level land, you'll probably be able to convert it to G very quickly with Tokebi... meaning they'll have a ridiculously hard time with what you're doing.

One part of Tightwad that I've always had a lot of fun with is the double Attack Bonus combos that Trap Spider + Ring of the Succubus and Abyssal Tome provide. It made me wonder what other double Attack Bonus combos I could fit into NailBiter. Answer: I found four more that are all more or less mix-and-match:

Living Claw + Ring of the Succubus - Essentially the same as the Trap Spider combo, but nobody ever seems to remember that Item Creatures can use Tools... until they're paralyzed and helplessly waiting for the rabbit of doom to pay them a visit.

Living Claw + Abyssal Tome - Paralyze them and turn them into a Statue at the same time... again, evil bunny comes hopping over soon after.

Deathquito + Ring of the Succubus - Smash a card and zero their ST. This sets them up for additional card crushing or... yep, Hare.

Deathquito + Abyssal Tome - Smash a card, petrify them and petrify yourself. This handy combo sets them up for a Hare assault, of course, but it also makes Deathquito into a high-MHP land holder.

The three main strategies to successfully counter any deprivation deck with NailBiter are to 1) keep more G in hand higher than you normally would, 2) negate movement control by holding Haste and overwrite whatever they slap on you, and 3) always be on the lookout for Land Transfer opportunities. The deck's very low G cost means you'll start fast and finish faster, and they'll have an extremely hard time holding you down. You'll also be very surprised by how well Giant Rat and Deathquito hold land, with the assortment of combos that exploit their Attacks First abilities.

Here are some possible revisions that could enhance this deck:

Borgess - His +20HP boost and 50G cost are a perfect fit in this Neutral-heavy deck. I just found that I didn't need him most of the time.

More movement - In Saga Bowl IV, Smack Dave ran around Colosseum II with Holy Word 8 and Haste to take the title... it couldn't hurt here.

Land Drain - It adds a nice combination of deprivation and G production in one cheap card.

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Last Updated on Monday, 22 May 2017 09:11