[Faith/Scholar] Joek's league deck.

[Joek]

Well, it's Faith/Scholar, and it's a league deck. I tweaked it a bit, and it works well in the new meta.

This deck is based around heavy self-discard.

Some cards are listed more than once, since they have multiple functions.

Self-Discarders

5x Bitter Farewell
5x The Discovery
4x Laboratory Research
-This card, in particular, is good early/late game. Use it for draw/selective discard/getting rid of cards you no longer need.

Other Income

5x Funeral Pyre
- +3 is invaluable in this deck. Use it mid-late game.
2x Holy Day
- Getting a peek at your opponent's deck, Income, and erasing 11s makes a strong card.
4x Benevolent Midwife.

Discardees.

4x Mentor's Return
4x Incite Revolt
- The most flexible card in the deck, hands-down. Bounce self-discard off it, get income, kill Brutality decks, drag a Forgotten Temple back into hand for a re-switch, (I've done this it is awesome) protect yourself from enemy discard, gain huge amounts of income, stall courtesan decks (no solari retrieval), gain income, and did I mention the income?
2x Sacred Vault

Discard Opponent's cards
4x Mysterious Stranger
5x Bitter Farewell
2x Sacred Vault

Draw
2x Claudia Auditore
5x Funeral Pyre
5x The Discovery
2x Leonardo Da Vinc
4x Laboratory Research

Bombs
4x San Gimignano
5x Ezio Auditore da Firenze
2x Leonardo da Vinci

Blockers
2x Claudia Auditore
4x Mysterious Stranger
4x Benevolent Midwife


Play Income Cards/Self-Discarders until 5 or so income, then drop Discard and Blockers like mad with income untill about 15 income, then drop all the bombs within 5 seconds.



Profit.

Optional Cards
Papal Bull
-I love this card. Unfortunately, Ezio Auditore does not.
Secret door, sharing secrets, KIP
Juan Borgia
-This deck was actually intended for him. He works well, but you have to drop 3 at a time or it just isn't enough power for money.
Ancient Discovery
-Originally in the deck. Too much gold for too little benefit. 5 cost +1 was worth it, 6 cost is not.
Devoted Scholar
-Too slow. Might be worth a try, though.
Piri Reis
-I refuse to play him on principle.
Losing Faith
-Ezio again. Otherwise, this card would definitely be in.
Leap of Faith
-Possible. This could work.
Quick Study
-The rate of draw is high enough that it isn't really needed.

[lurifaxb]

Thanks for sharing!

I have a hard time evaluating how good these self discard decks are, because I haven't played a proper one myself. It looks good. How did you do in the league?

I was thinking about sharing my modified league deck too. Kudos!

[Joek]

Well, I beat Tuism.

(He made a tiny mistake, if he hadn't...)

Let me add my scores, although they aren't that good; I just threw it together and had no time to practice. It wasn't polished, and I lost a couple games due to Ancestral carousel bugs. Later on, my scores are higher.

Against some deck types:
I got owned by the Abbazia Maria decks
Smashes counter to itty bitty pieces
Discard can do nothing (Incite Revolt)
Agent rush gets (usually) overwhelmed
Any deck with the old assassin stronghold/old byzantine ruins killed it.
Most site rushes get stalled
Other self-discard loses; not enough explosive power

[Tuism]

Joek did VERY well Him and the other self discard deck by Falkonator became two decks I studied quite a bit after the tourney. So YES THEY ARE GOOD Semi consistent super rush decks don't come often. Of course there are deceptirush now, but they've not got nearly this much explosiveness AND self discard can discard opponent too.

So - pretty ace

Joek, mistake or no mistake my ass was grass Wasnt' a good matchup against my mid-game Ezio Mentor deck

[kackman73]

Deck looks pretty nasty - wish I had the cards to try it out.

How do you deal with Holy Day? I mean, obviously there's nothing you can do to stop it, but if they happen to be smart enough to hold on to Holy Days until they see you play a self-discard card, what happens to your deck then?

[Joek]

Wait, continue to draw. You still have strong draw power, and you only need one Incite Revolt for an infinite self discard chain. This deck can stall.

[Joek]

Oh, a Family Heirloom or two to summon Ezio/San Gimignano/Incite Revolt would be useful.