I find myself in the surprising position to provide insight into the deck that won the Sorcery constructed tournament at Gen Con 2023. You might find this less of a deck tech and more of my thought process going into the event. The decisions that led me to this deck were as much personal as game related. The former, the personal, is inherently so specific as to be rarely addressed in analysis, but it is an equally important element in tournament success. I don't have any astonishing insights into how to build a meta-breaking, tournament-dominating deck. This is more of a lesson in how to stumble forward with what you know.
I prepared with a pair of assumptions:
1) It seemed likely that Air/Earth midrange would be the predominant build. Early successes established this as the preeminent powerhouse, and with limited card supply I suspected this would be one of the easier decks to build for folks who didn't pledge or pledge big. Much of the power is in the ordinary and exceptional slots, and many of the key cards are contained in the preconstructed decks, including one of the best avatars for it (Earth). A Pathfinder based version of this deck seemed on the verge of winning the second season of the TTS league. It's just a damn good, consistent deck that runs a lot of the best cards in the game, capable of big bursts of damage, strong board presence, board manipulation, burst healing, with great removal and maneuver.
2) I would be playing . It seemed close in power to the air/earth deck, if a bit less consistently good, and I had far more reps with it in and out of the TTS league. I did not have time to deviate from my comfort zone and get sufficient practice with anything before the con. The goals of the deck are straightforward. Draw as much as possible through recursion, don't allow heavy hitters to stick around, and maximize damage until you can or the opponent to Death's Door. Finishers abound. Pretty simple, right?
My most difficult choice came down to elements: Air/Earth/Fire, Air/Earth or Air/Fire? Air has the wizards for the card draw, so that was automatic, and Alpha Thunderstorm*. Earth has possibly the best overall suite of spells. Fire offers some of the best options for Deathspeaker in and , one of the best removal spells in , and best damage in Major Explosion. Take all three perhaps? Well, truthfully, there are more good options with the three elements than fit in a deck, and taking all three elements comes with the cost. Occasionally you will bump into a threshold problem and that can throw a wrench in things, especially if you're running triple threshold cards like and . This makes you more dependent on Cores which can be ripped away at inconvenient times. There were three main reasons I decided against Earth. The , playing into Earth, is especially devastating. She can grapple across the table with impunity as you're bolstering her with your own sites. I want my opponent to stay on their side of the table. Also, I knew of several off-meta Water decks in attendance, and suspected more. Water hampers many of Earth's best spells. Thirdly, Earth seemed like the slower road to the end game. requires Sphere offensively, is a turn and a tax behind Major Explosion, and healing is prolongation, not acceleration. I felt like I would want the most linear path to Death's Door possible, and to win a race in the mirror match.
Somewhat ironically, my game 5 finals opponent, Adam (Zalem), consistently one of the best Sorcery players throughout the league and playtests, helped solidify my choice and finalize my deck. After hammering out my idea on Curiosa I decided to see if anyone was running something similar. Lo, Zalem had built an Air/Fire Deathspeaker deck! And it was nearly identical! This gave me a huge confidence boost. His differences were one less Thunderstorm and an additional two . I liked my four , and I hadn't considered the latter at all in any kind of serious format. But upon checking the Twister FAQ, and with some consideration I saw the incredible upside. You are very likely to remove the target, between the void and sites, and with some luck you have a potential 2-for-1 by slinging it into another minion, or direct damage by hitting the opposing avatar. Funnily enough, when I told this to Zalem, he said it was one of his cuts before the event due to inconsistency!
Key Cards
. *A note on Alpha Thunderstorm. This event used the RAW version of Thunderstorm, the Alpha high T version. It's extremely powerful as it ticks down only when you shoot a bolt, and can linger and move until exhausted. 4 mana, 9 damage. This is amazing, almost immediate pressure. Thunderstorm pairs extremely well with some of the other spells and sites in the deck. Fire's Deserts can clear bolt-absorbers, as can Firebolts, assuring the bolts hit the enemy avatar. I wasn't going to play this event without three. This card will be brought in line for Beta. Three Thunderstorms was a winning choice.
Arguably the best removal spell in the game, this card takes your opponent's minion from them and gives you control of that minion with stealth until they deal damage. Notably, when attacking an undefended enemy site, you cause a loss of life rather than damage. Incredible potential, and a huge swing when you can eliminate a beater. I was particularly keen on this as if I stole a 5-power minion from an Earth deck I would now be able to trade their minion with another of their 5-power beaters.
Part of the win condition of this deck, a Summoning Sphere + Imp can finish an avatar on Death's Door. It allows me to play a Djinn and dump my hand to bring an avatar to 0. Alternatively, a sphere opener can allow me to play an Imp on their avatar turn 2, which puts a lot of pressure on the opponent to spend removal or get their own minion out at home.
The magnificent Imp! Pinpoint damage, harassment, finishing blow all in an inexpensive and annoying body.
Apprentice/
Draw/Draw more. X2. Maybe x3 or x4 with Geistwood and Pact.
The finisher. It's very hard to do sufficient chip damage to finish off an avatar, even with Thunderstorm. Seven mana is not that difficult to cast, and you're often one move away from launching this across the table. The 5 damage splash zone clears Earth heavies. It has the added benefit of clearing the immediate area of Thunderstorm bodyguards.
/
Exploding flying bugs! Easy four damage and 2-for-1 retrieval. I got rid of scarabs with mulligans every game I drew them in my opening hand. Better to draw some kind of ramp or a recurrable falconer to fetch one.
So it all worked out! It took some luck as it always does, but the deck performed extremely and consistently well. I stayed within myself, and the flow of play was very familiar despite the lack of reps with this particular build. Most importantly, I played five great opponents who were a pleasure to share the table with, foremost among them being Adam in the final. Nerves came with the stakes, but the game could not have been more friendly. And, despite his rough opening, he had me on Death's Door and was one turn away from snatching away the victory! Wild end to the event!