[Crime/Order] Masyaf counter deck

[lurifaxb]

*Disclaimer: This deck is a lamoid deck. Use only against the people who deserve it*

Foreword:
So, there has been much talk that counter are dead and the nerf to counters made it simply non-competitive. While I haven't played counter decks in a long time (a good time before expansion), I decided to prove that counters ARE indeed viable. You just have to use then in the right way. Cards like Suleiman and Marco Babardigo are still great, especially if used in the right context.


Confessions of a lamoid:
It is with some reluctance I submit this, as I honestly don't want to play against it myself. Yet, I'm feeling rather devious these days, so why not. Against quick doomsday, forgotten temple, Malfatto decks etc. it gives some satisfaction to stop it before they get started.

*Another lame headline:*
I thought the deck would be good, but I was surprised how good it actually was. I have played it for about a week and win most games by far. Biggest problem for the deck is if someone plays a lot of agents early.


Concept:
The idea is pretty simple. Get down lots of cheap agents fast. If opponent doesn't have early agents. Get down a Masyaf, start drawing like mad.
Should the opponent play early agents, kill then with "killing" agents like Mario Auditore. Wait until you have more powerful agents on field or opponent doesn't have any before you deploy Masyaf. After this, you should have really good draw power. With 2 (0 cost) agents make you draw up to 4 cards a day. Set up the counters. Get down a Marco Barbarigo, to make sure that (almost) what ever comes next, you can stop it, while you keep drawing. Most important in this deck is to keep opponents agents from deploying. Suleiman is great in this deck. He kills the agent and can then immidiately start campaigning and draw. Once you have set up, you should get plenty of counters in your hand and on board. Still, always keep one Marco from campaigning to avoid a nasty card like wrath of the righteous.

Play tips:
This deck can actually still win without Masyaf. Every counter card in there, gives you card advantage, either through an agent that can campaign or another draw.

Your low cost agents can also serve a purpose later. Paola is really good at keeping scores down. Romani pickpocket can be useful for scoring that one last point. Theodore can be buffed up to a 4/4. Dante can keep some of your key agents safe.


Strenghts:
Most decks that rely on late game powerful cards. You should shut then down early on with the counters and draw. Even the fast doomsday is not a problem, even without being able to counter it, if you have a Masyaf down and agents, you should draw new cards fast.


Weakness:
Any deck with fast agents in play.
Courtesan decks are also a bugger, since they gets lots of agents down. I've still beaten these decks. Just make sure to counter their bearer of mixed tidings, and kill their best agents (like the ones that retrieves a courtesan from archive).
Late game vs. Ezio Mentor makes countering useless. This one is a problem, so make sure you save an agent killer just for him.
Piri Preis is actually not that big an issue. Sure if he does get down and you don't have agent killer in hand, then you can try to lure him out for a fight. If he doesn't want to fight, then you get the draw advantage anyway.


The deck:

Cheap agents (15):
5x Paola
5x Romani P(r)ickpockets
2x Dante Moro(n)
3x Teodor(k) Viscardi

Agents killers (10):
1x Mario Auditore
2x Byzantine Brute
5x Ezio Assassin
2x Giovanni Auditore

Counters (15):
5x Marco Babarigo (agent)
5x Suleiman (agent)
5x Preemptive Strike (swap for court order if you don't have it)

Pure income (5):
5x Forced Charity

Sites (5):
5x Masyaf




Unnecessary headline:
*I apologize to all the people I've played this against who where innocent and did not play a lamoid deck. Guess what, I was the lamoid!*

I actually had someone play something very very similar against me today. It destroyed me. It may have been payback from an earlier game where I used this.

[Tuism]

I took the idea, didn't look at your deck, and built my own, and it was ok, untuned. Your version looks muuuuuch cooler

I tweaked it a bit, I like being a bit earlier to the game so swapped in more marios against Ezios, one less Masyaf, etc. But it's basically the same deck.

The endgame comes slowly, like any counter deck, and it can be overrun, like any counter deck. But it's a good deck, I like it, despite being countery, it's not like the old counter everything boredom

[lurifaxb]

I think more Mario's makes it better, true.

I didn't do too much tweaking to the deck after I played it for a while, so there is some improvements to gain. What I did do, however was to add 5 Ezio assassin, as I desperately needed powerful agents late game and had the income. The diversity of Ezio (agent or site kill) is also very welcome. Yet, early game the cheap agent killers are often needed. Some matches Suleiman countering is too slow.

[kackman73]

Given the number of agents that you're using, any thoughts about using Castel Sant'Angelo as well?

[lurifaxb]

Oct 11, 2012 12:26:20 GMT -5 kackman73 said:

Given the number of agents that you're using, any thoughts about using Castel Sant'Angelo as well?

Could work, but it only scores in one site, so you need two to win. It will also delude the deck. When you have the dominance with counters, you will win although slowly.

[lurifaxb]

I made some small adjustments.

Added 3 Borgia towers (don't know why I missed this one...). Perfect in this deck.

Added two agent killers (Mario if you have him).

Took out an Ezio.

Took out 2 Suleiman. Often it just sits there waiting to be used while the other counters are used.

Took out 2 forced charity. They are good, but you don't need their income and draw you have.

[Tuism]

Yeah, one thing I found was that you draw and draw, but run out of agent slots or you can't do much more with more masyafs. Towers are good. I wonder though if there are actions that could be taken advantage of (besides more draw).

I've tweaked with pretty much the same changes. Would explore more actions

[lurifaxb]

True. I often replace the lowly agents for better agents. But towers make up for this and also makes you win the "weeny fight" early if opponents have cheap agents and before you deploy masyaf. 1 masyaf is good. Two can be if you have total domination. 3-5 in hand = waste. The most important part about drawing is having the counters ready, but it is a slow grind for victory with only power 2 agents.

Win conditions would be nice. But I'll argue that once you have the grip of opponent with draw and counters, it's over anyway.


Another point. This deck easily carries over to other colors. A scholar/order or media/order deck could be really good. Media has best cheap agents and PP. Scholar has Piri, scientific espionage and mafalto (urggh). The farmer or Templar captain can easily be used instead of the cheap girls in crime. Or... Make a peasant deck with Masyaf... So many options. Not looking forward to meeting these type of decks though

[UnCL0NED]

... When I read you took out a few Forced Charities, I was immediately wondering what the use is of playing Crime. You don't use tutor cards to get the Mercenaries, so they could be easily replaced by the Erase Soldiers in the Order faction. And then you can play Media instead of Crime to speed up the deck (bigtime). Dama Rosa, PP... Even add 1 or 2 Man of the People as a game finisher... Maybe Bearer of Mixed Tidings. Anyway... Just spamming my thoughts here.

[lurifaxb]

Uncloned, my thought exactly regarding media. Order now have good killer agents. I do find Paola especially good in this meta. Good way of dealing with deceptive (sites mainly). Reduce one side. But besides her and Ezio mentor, you can get everything else in order. Forced charity is not critical and PP is better early game where it is needed more.

I think you are mistaking forced charity (+2 income, draw card) with a tutor card. There are no tutor cards in the deck. Don't need them - I think.

[UnCL0NED]

No mistake

I meant Forced Charity is a strong card in Crime, but if you don't use it, all other cards can be replaced.

By no tutor cards, I meant Discreet Calling to find a specific Mercenary or Ezio. If you don't tutor your kill cards, you might as well replace those with Order eraser cards. Which leaves you no excuse to abandon Crime completely in this deck, imo

But I guess we're on the same page