There are numerous ways to play Sorcery: Contested Realm, and for many, the Sorcery experience is at its best when playing with the cards they love. While many are drawn to Mortal-themed decks, some seek the power to contest the Realm not in the lands of mortals but deep beneath the ocean surface. This week, David, better known as FloatingSkull on the Sorcery Discord Server, helps us explore the depths of Water with a Seer deck that calls forth the mighty beasts from the ocean’s depths.
David is a frequent contributor to the Sorcery community and a champion of Sorcery in the Pacific Northwest. He is currently organizing a regional Sorcery convention for February 2024. You can find out more about the event here.
You can view David’s full deck list on Sorcery TCG's official deck-building site Curiosa.io here: Pool Party
Deck Inspiration: What inspired you to create this deck? What theme or concept behind this deck makes it stand out?
With the release of beta, a lot of my friends were able to get into Sorcery for the first time! I wanted a deck to play with them that was fun but maybe wasn't as aggressively tuned as my alpha air/fire Deathspeaker deck. I didn't want something that was extremely aggressive out of the gate, since that can be very offputting for someone who is still figuring out the rules and flow of the game.
Plus, I remember watching the 1981 film, Clash of the Titans, when I was a kid, and being blown away by the stop-motion monsters, particularly the Kraken! And who doesn't love a bit of cosmic horror as well? I wanted to be able to summon Krakens and Great Old Ones from the unspeakable depths to smash my enemies (and my friends).
Key Card Choices: Tell us about some of the key cards in your deck and why you included them. How do they synergize with your deck's strategy?
I already mentioned the Krakens, the Great Old One, big stuff like that. But how do you survive long enough to get those huge, 8-cost minions out? Life gain helps, but what I hit on pretty early was the absolute fun of Giant Shark. Once you play a shark, it's a pretty important threat that your opponent cannot ignore. It tends to grind the game to a halt while they figure out how to deal with it. And every turn they waste trying to find a way to remove it is another turn you get to use Seer's power to scry through your deck and look for the big, fun cards.
Lots of people are put off by Giant Shark's limitations, but the card does something extremely unique and powerful. It, effectively, can attack multiple times per turn, and can even attack on your opponent's turn! No other card in Sorcery can do all of that just right out of the box like Giant Shark. The problem, as with all powerful cards, is that you need to find ways around its limitations. For that, we've made sure almost every minion in the deck is something that can be played even if you've still got a shark out. Sure, they'll kill the shark, but at that point, the Shark has done its job. And Turtles? They won't even kill the shark! Turtles and sharks are great friends!
Playstyle Tips: What's the recommended playstyle for this deck? Are there any specific strategies or combos that players should be aware of when using it?
You should be using Seer's power to dig through your atlas, looking for your 2 Island Leviathans. Being able to play both of these out adjacent to an enemy site is huge. They effectively mean that when you get your eighth site out, you get two free 8-power minions with charge. Once you have those two played, start using Seer's power to dig through your spellbook exclusively looking for big threats. Once you've got the mana base down, make sure to scry away cheap minions (unless you have Mother Nature out already, then it's worth summoning them for free).
Always make sure you're holding onto an Ice Lance or Rolling Boulder to end the game once you smash your opponent to death's door. It may be tempting to kill two lower-powered minions with an Ice Lance early, but you'll regret it once you have to start chasing your nearly-dead opponent around with your giant, slow monsters. Lastly, you can cast Drown on your own Kraken to push it underwater, allowing it to use its ability over and over without having to spend a turn moving underwater on its own!
Matchup Insights: How does your deck perform against popular archetypes in the game? Are there any particular matchups where it excels or struggles?
Considering I built this deck to play in a more casual capacity with newer players... it has a lot of weaknesses. It dies hard to very aggressive decks, and it's healing and stall tactics will not impress a Deathspeaker with 10 cards in their hand and a Nimbus Jinn. But that's not the point! The point is to summon huge, unspeakable monsters from the briny depths and splash around in the pool.
Connect with the Community
David can be found on the Official Sorcery Discord and in the Pacific Northwest Discord. Let him know if you were able to make a splash in your local scene with his deck!
We'd love to hear about the decks you are building, share your decks in the Sorcery: Contested Realm Facebook group!
