Foreword
This is the spiritual successor to Bouncing Chip which can be found here. Since only 20 cards are the same between the decks, I decided to just start a fresh deck post.
First Shot Deck List
Evil (9)
Slow (0)
Fast (6)
3x Bitten
3x Inner Demon
0-Cost (3)
3x Dark Knight
Good (9)
Slow (0)
Fast (6)
3x Ceasefire
3x Urgent Messengers
0-Cost (3)
3x Brave Squire
Sage (33)
Slow (9)
3x Juggernaut
3x Mist Guide Herald
3x Time Walker
Fast (15)
3x Helion, the Dominator
3x Memory Spirit
3x Temporal Enforcer
3x Thought Plucker
3x Turn
0-Cost (9)
3x Forcemage Apprentice
3x Shadow Imp
3x Warrior Golem
Wild (9)
Slow (0)
Fast (6)
3x Flame Strike
3x Mighty Blow
0-Cost (3)
3x Rage
First Shot Explanation
This is an aggro deck. I did say previously that I thought aggro decks wouldn’t really be a successful archetype in Epic, aside from Burn, but I was wrong. This deck can output a lot of damage quickly. A large chunk of that damage comes from the 0-cost cards.
Each 0-cost card is either a blitz champion or a 4+ offense buff. Shadow Imp is especially dangerous because it is unblockable, and it can either attack twice in one turn or be held onto to protect it/use it as a free chump block. For blocking, you would ambush it in, pass initiative, declare it as a blocker if it lives, and then play a fast 1-cost Sage card to return it to hand if it lived through your opponent’s post-block initiative. Shadow Imp is also an ideal target for Rage, Brave Squire, and Mighty Blow.
The Wild is included because I wanted the highest single damage events in the game, Flame Strike and Mighty Blow. Rage was a nice bonus.
The Good is included because I wanted 3 Brave Squires. Ceasefire and Urgent Messengers are excellent for a bit of defense and draw.
The Evil is included because I needed 3 Dark Knights. I decided to take Bitten and Inner Demon because it’s helpful to have more than just bounce for removal. Drain Essence could also work for removal and some health gain. Final Task is a definite possibility because it works well with Juggernaut (unbreakable on your turn), Mist Guide Herald (you still get the tribute ability), Time Walker (fast defensive board bounce), Helion, the Dominator (8 blitz offense and a partial Turn), Memory Spirit (can return that final Flame Strike etc.), Temporal Enforcer (bounce and 6 unblockable offense), Thought Plucker (strong tribute, strong damage effect, and unblockable), and I am already running 3 Brave Squires which could prevent that Final Tasked champion from breaking at the end of the turn. After some more testing, I might exchange some of the Bittens and Inner Demons for Final Tasks.
The Sage cards are just solid aggro cards. Helion, the Dominator and Turn give me solid (temporary) removal + a (temporary) threat. Juggernaut and the unblockable champions are excellent for inflicting damage.
Bounce is solid for both defense and offense, as was the original intention of the deck. For offense, I can play and attack with a Dark Knight, bounce it, and then play/attack with it again that turn. For defense, there is the obvious bounce a threat, but you can also bounce one of your blocking champions as well. For example, your opponent attacks with a blitzing Steel Golem. You block with your Mist Guide Herald, and then, assuming it lives to your post-block initiative, you ambush in Temporal Enforcer and return Mist Guide Herald to your hand. Since Steel Golem was blocked (even though the blocker is no longer in play), the Steel Golem does no damage that turn. Temporal Enforcer can also use its ally ability to bounce Dark Knights or Warrior Golems for a second attack.
Mist Guide Herald is a strong card for this deck because it can bring any of your other threat champions directly into play. Taking that Juggernaut out of the top 5 cards of your deck and putting into play is crazy. Even just taking a Shadow Imp is solid. Also, since this deck has so much bounce, you can potentially replay your Mist Guide Herald multiple times for significant value.
Helion, the Dominator is excellent to steal an opponent’s ambushed in blocker and attack with it that turn, or to steal an opponent’s blitzing attacker to prevent the attack that turn. In addition, you can always use its loyalty ability on itself to be able to immediately use its expend ability. That 2 damage to 2 targets should not be underestimated.
As you can tell, I am experimenting with the card images in the explanation. Feel free to let me know in the comments below if you think this is helpful or just annoying.