Flying Sutraps...a basic approach

[Deleted]

Q here. I stumbled upon this in the General thread. One of the members had asked if anyone had any ideas for a Flying Sutraps deck, and your very own trusty R&D Director Tirus came to the rescue. I believe Tirus is a fan of this decktype, and while he might not reveal all of his secrets, he teaches us on a basic approach or start to this efficient decktype and gives a pretty solid build IMO.

I have copy/pasted this from that board and brought it there...(btw, thanks Tirus...hope you don't mind!

"For one, any undead that Sutraps can control are a must. Decrepit Fighter, Cackling leech, Bone mage, Worker Zombie, Worker Skeleton and Jojo come to mind. There may be more, but these are what I use.

Decrepid Fighter x 4
Cackling Leech x 4
Bone mage x 4
Worker Zombie x 3
Worker Skeleton x 3

Now anything that can give you extra actions is absolutely needed.
`
So ring of temporal and Devil's contract are in.

Ring of temporal x 2
Devil's Contract x 2

So that's about 22 or so cards right there.

I'd also through in Sword of quickness. it's useful.

Sword of quickness x 2

24

And 8 of your undeads are wizards, so wizard recruit is a nice add. And also worker Zombie and Skeleton are builders so you could add build recruiter too.

Wizard Recruiter x 2
Builder Recruiter x 2

28

Ok some spells. I think Spontaneous combustion works good. And of course Magical wings.

Spontanious Combustion x 4
Magical Wings x 4

36

Now of course to play Magical wings you need Sacrificial Lamb And Light Zaubergoblin.

Sacrificial Lamb x 4
Light Zaubergoblin x 3

43

Now I think Cranial Leech and Sneaky Snyder are of course a nice addition

Snyder x3
Cranial Leech x 3

49

Alright. I think that's a pretty basic sutraps deck. Now mine is like.. 50% different. But I think that shows the variaty this deck can have.

The final deck list.

Sutraps

Decrepid Fighter x 4
Cackling Leech x 4
Bone mage x 4
Worker Zombie x 3
Worker Skeleton x 3
Ring of temporal x 2
Devil's Contract x 2
Sword of quickness x 2
Wizard Recruiter x 2
Builder Recruiter x 2
Spontanious Combustion x 4
Magical Wings x 4
Sacrificial Lamb x 4
Light Zaubergoblin x 3
Snyder x3
Cranial Leech x 3

Here ya go.

Any comments?"

[tirus]

Theif! Theif! j/k

Ya could of asked ya know. But it's cool.

[Deleted]

Lol. Well I didn't submit this as mine but as yours...I even quoted your precise words. Hey, if you wrote it for General, it was already public. Good looking out, Tirus!

[samwise7]

Doesn't the worker zombie and worker skeleton take the place of a builder already in play? What builder are they replacing?

[tirus]

samwise7 said:

Doesn't the worker zombie and worker skeleton take the place of a builder already in play? What builder are they replacing?

That's the beauty of sutraps. He places the undead into play, he doesn't HIRE them (hiring is using an action of your character to place a creature into play, but sutraps says "without using an action" so it's not hiring).. So you can ignore the "when hring" text.

^^

[kevmo]

I actually think there might be a discrepency here. I think it might be like Elfwood Bow in the sense that even though you are not removing a token it is still considered the act of archery. Because Sutraps says "without using an action" It is still referring to the act of hiring. So the workers shouldnt work the way you think. Read the definition of Hire " The act of placing a Creature into Play by the use of a Character's Action" But Sutraps gives this ability without using an action but refers to it in a way that describes it as hiring.

[samwise7]

You are Tricksey... yes very tricksey... my precious.

[Deleted]

kevmo said:

I actually think there might be a discrepency here. I think it might be like Elfwood Bow in the sense that even though you are not removing a token it is still considered the act of archery. Because Sutraps says "without using an action" It is still referring to the act of hiring. So the workers shouldnt work the way you think. Read the definition of Hire " The act of placing a Creature into Play by the use of a Character's Action" But Sutraps gives this ability without using an action but refers to it in a way that describes it as hiring.

No, Kev, I would actually disagree. You have a keen argument, but then Sutraps would read that he "hires" creatures without using an action. This is clearly an ability that directly puts creatures into play without the use of the "hire" process, which is the normal way. Also notice that Sutraps does this special ability also during an opponent's turn and not your turn, and also that he does it at Reaction Speed, not 0 like Hiring would. There is enough evidence here to support that Tirus' strategy is sound, and insightful I might add...

[tirus]

Yup, those 2/2 Worker Zombies are a very nice add for the deck.

[Deleted]

I think this decklist is nice and efficient. I think it could definitely hold its own...although I can already start formulating ideas on some things I might get creative with in a version I could play. Plus, I wonder what secrets you may hold, sneaky tirus! But all in all, good form, and thanks again for letting me post your ideas here from the General Board. I just wanted to get the ball rolling in the Deck Garage since I hadn't got the Deck of the Week posted yet, but it's all good now. Thank you trusty R&D Director!

(Can I exalt you or do you still like being in the negatives? lol)

[tirus]

I can honestly say I don't really care about my Karma status. For awhile me and friends were putting me in the negatives, -8 at the most I think. Then we stopped and now it's back to zero.

So w/e.

^^

Also I'll give one hint about what I hold in my sutraps deck...

It's a card normal thought of for a Zycon deck.

[Deleted]

Well if you don't mind, I'll add it then. You do good work here and is if nothing else it is a sort of symbol of it.

My curiousity about your deck is a healthy one...and I might know what you mean by that comment (or rather, a fellow windy plays an interesting magic card in his Sutraps in his deck that isn't wings or removal), but what I do know for sure is that whatever you are playing, I'm sure it's formidable. You didn't get your ratings on accident.

I hope that Redshirt sees this since he is the one who wanted this deck in the first place...

[Azurin Malkarie]

I miss going head to head with the flying sutraps circus, Tirus you are missed, yep sutraps' ability definatly does not hire, just like morlock, pathfinder, and recruiter/recruitment camp combo, he places them in play, this would also get around other hiring conditions, such as if there were undead angels, sutraps could put them in usuing his ability even though he dosen't have light magic.

[redshirt]

Seems to me that Sutraps got a lot of love in Dark Union.

Undead Creatures w/o Loyalty problems:

Lesser Vampire-- I think he's better than Greater Vamp, in that his 1 power will not outright kill as many creatures, and his two toughness gives him a greater chance to survive combat. Greater Vamp seems like he would just outright kill half to two thirds of the creatures in ME, and his 1 toughness means he will be killed by anything with any power.

Plaguebearer- Sure, I'll chump with this guy and get a free Zombie token.

Rotting Zombie -- Sure, I'll kill at least one of my opponent's most annoying creatures, and possibly two before this guy goes. And if not, I'll probably get a free Zombie token.

Skeleton Warrior -- Sure, I'll put out two guys for the price of one.

Sleeper Vampire -- Not too excited about her. But she could fit the bill.

Vampiric Illusionist -- Hmm. Seems like he can work in conjunction with Sleeper and Lesser to do some damage. Multiples hypothetically could make a creature have 0 loyalty.

Vaqueraqu-- 2/1 fliers seem good.

Xamber'Kul - Eh. Obviously he's meant to be in the Forsaken King deck, but he could be filler in this one.

Zombie Warrior -- Another 2 for 1 card.


Of the Undead Creatures w/ Loyalty problems, one stands out:

Shrieking Banshee -- Sure, I'll throw her out on your turn at speed 7 and then remove her from the game at speed 6 to fizzle all your spell-casting shenanigans, your attacks and most of your actions, and leave you almost defenseless during my next turn.

And then there's Sutraps's Underling. Yes, the big man has to use an action to hire him instead of swinging (assuming he doesn't have Ring or Devil's Contract in play). But you get two tutor at least twice for an Undead Creature and then use Sutraps's own ability to put it into play. Pretty sexy in my book.

Thoughts on how much should get inserted and what should get removed from the old version of the deck?

[samwise7]

I'm going to have to whip one of these decks together, with some of my personal flair, and introduce it to my little group. I am sure they will be impressed.

"What do you mean Sutraps has flying? Ugh..." hehe.