IDK (H₂O Shifty) Street Legal v2.0
“We love water & movement.”
Deck Concept
This deck began as an Elementalist hybrid leaning toward Water, but it has evolved into a pure Water control-tempo build — with just a splash of Air. The idea is simple: use Water’s ability to reshape the map, submerge, and disable, while Air gives you just enough burst to keep opponents guessing.
You’re playing fluid tempo control — not full stall, not aggro, but that beautiful middle ground where your opponent always feels a half-step behind.
Mana cap sits at 6, which gives room for big bodies that can double dip with Grapple Shot or Helpful Hob for extra attacks.
Game Plan
Opening
Mulligan for at least one Air site (to support your spell suite), but otherwise lean heavily Water.
Your ideal opener:
- Pond, Tower, Pirate Ship, Lugbog Cat, and ideally a Grapple Shot.
Classic curve:
- Turn 2: Lugbog Cat (with Pond)
- Turn 3: Pirate Ship (with Tower)
- Turn 4: Flood an enemy site and swing with Cat
- Turn 5: Flood their back site (Step cat back), then Grapple Pirate Ship into their Avatar for a direct strike & attack.
- If they already have Water sites, even better — the current is already flowing your way.
Core Tools
Hard Removal
- Atlantean Fate, Iron Shackles, Drown, Stormy Seas
Card Draw & Cycling
- Seelie Court, Blink, Riptide
Stalling & Tempo Tools
- Tufted Turtles, Plague of Frogs, Adept Illusionist
Big Bodies for Grapple Combos
- Pirate Ship, Questing Beast, Daperyll Vampire — boosted further by Lord of Unland
Play Patterns
- Early: Establish control with Pond, Babbling Brook, and Floodplain sites while dropping small, resilient minions (Lugbog, Shellycoat, Turtles).
- Midgame: Build tempo through Blink, Riptide, and Grapple — pivoting minions into key attacks or repositioning threats with Maelström.
- Late: Transition into large, sticky finishers (The Green Knight, Daperyll Vampire, Lord of Unland, Ruler of Thul).
Evolution Notes
This deck has evolved through a ton of tuning — often in response to the shifting meta and the wisdom of fellow Sorcery players:
- Removed Swindlers for Coy Nixie and Ribble to reduce mortals (due to Bower of Bliss and King of the Realm).
- Added Poachers per Buamie’s suggestion — useful for peeking and sniping threats, though risky if it thins their deck favorably.
- Brobdingnag Bullfrog now serves as the primary disable tool, giving a body plus lockdown. Previously tested Sleep and Shackles could return.
- Shameless Squire offers artifact retrieval — great when paired with Disenchant or Atlantean Fate.
- Best combo: Mester Stoor Worm + Riptide + Hob for double attacks, especially after flooding a site to access the opponent’s back line. Trinkets amplify this combo when available.
- Trinkets / Ring of Morrigan once offered strong boosts but were cut for a leaner, submerge-focused build.
- Card Draw Core: Tadpole Pool, Frogs, Manuscript — flexible enough for discard synergy or Turtle backup.
- Site & Minion Core: heavy Water build now includes Tufted Turtles, Shellycoat, Tide Naiads, and fewer land-locked pieces. Naiads help conserve Waveshaper taps for midgame plays.
- Caution: Babbling Brook can disable your own minions’ great abilities.
- Mana curve: Leans toward 3–4 mana plays. Use early disables to survive, then deploy consistent threats each turn. 4 mana is the sweet spot — it enables both Waveshaper’s ability and flexible reactions.
Post–Gen Con Tuning (Aug 2025)
- Removed: Hobs → Added: Grim Guisarme (enables 6-mana Grim + Grapple plays)
- Reintroduced: Daperyll Vampires for life gain (Angel Eggs cut)
- Swapped: Shameless Squire → Attack by Night → back to Squires (artifact pickup utility > burst)
- Trimmed: Frogs → briefly replaced by Maelström for reposition testing, then re-added for reliable stalling
- Removed: Lord of Unland and Trinkets → doubled down on submerge synergy
- Removed: Unland Eels (dead draws) → replaced with Shellycoat, Tufted Turtles, Tide Naiads
- Added: Drown, Stormy Seas for flexible artifact removal + submerge synergy
- Latest advice from Sun God: reinforce card draw, early stalling, and hard removal for consistency while maintaining 6-mana ceiling
- Removed: Manuscript to make room for Swap
Final Thoughts
“H₂O Shifty” thrives when you play like water — flow around obstacles, absorb pressure, and strike when the current turns. The best games feel less like combat and more like choreography — your minions glide, flood, and vanish, only to reappear for the finishing blow.
“The tide doesn’t turn in your favor — you become the tide.”
