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Foreword

Constructed Epic is a very different beast than Epic draft. I have a lot of experience drafting, in both Magic over the years and Epic now (some Hearthstone, Solforge, and Duelyst). I have significantly less experience competitive deck building, largely because of the prohibitive cost associated. In this article, I am going to explain my current thoughts on constructed. As I play more constructed Epic, I assume that these opinions will evolve.

Constructed Conditions

• A constructed deck must include at least 60 cards
• You may include up to 3 copies of each card
• For each 0-cost card you include, you need to include two 1-cost cards of the same faction. For example, if you want 3 Muses, you would need something like 3 Erases, 1 Sea Titan, and 2 Lying in Waits.

So, in order to build any potentially competitive deck, you just need 3 sets of Epic. You may include any number of the factions in each deck. Promo cards, such as the ones included with the Kickstarter, are not legal in competitive play until they are released to the public.

General Thoughts

Constructed decks are a lot more fine-tuned then draft decks. Each card must serve a specific purpose, and it must fit with the rest of the deck. It is, however, much easier to utilize a situational card optimally, since you can set up your deck specifically for that situation. In the next section, I analyze some cards specifically for constructed play.

In constructed, it is also much easier to pull off devastating combos. For example, Courageous Soul + Secret Legion, Amnesia + Army of Apocalypse, Avenging Angel + Priest of Kalnor, Secret Legion -> Drinker of Blood + Flash Fire, Sea Hydra + Hurricane, etc.

As I always say, I think card draw is incredibly important in Epic. My initial feeling is that gold-recall ability cards are worse in constructed. I think you would generally have a better play then spending your gold to recall one card. However, playing a card to draw 2 also effectively increases you hand size by 1 for 1 gold. So, we will see how this pans out. In constructed, you are not going to ever draw out for a win, so I wouldn’t recommend trying. Prove me wrong.

Staying in faction is also a lot easier in constructed, since you can run 3 of each of the best cards for that faction. This also means that you can avoid the weaker cards in each faction. Due to this, faction balance focuses on the strongest cards in each faction, instead of the faction as a whole. In the small experimenting I have done so far, I like focusing on 1 faction and taking the creme de la creme of the other 3. Or, I go about 30 and 30 into 2 factions. 1 faction decks are also definitely possible, but each faction has its own weaknesses.

Constructed Cards

Some cards are significantly better in constructed and others are better in draft. If I do not mention a card here, its constructed value matches its draft value.

Angel of Death Constructed Notes (+):

Angel of Death is already an incredible card. Then you add Surprise Attack, Final Task, 3 Corpse Takers, and Necromancer Lord (if necessary) to get a Fast unconditional reusable breaking board clear. Yeah, Angel of Death is amazing.

Army of the Apocalypse Constructed Notes (+):

This is a card you can literally build your deck around. Inherent blitz champions (not Steel Golem for instance) are great with this, and there are plenty of other devastating things you can do with that many champions. In addition, if you bring discard pile removal like Amnesia/Guilt Demon or banish effects like Banishment, you can make it a really 1-sided play. The champions returning to play would not trigger Ally effects.

Corpse Taker Constructed Notes (+):

There are so many 1-cost champions that are amazing to play repeatedly in one game: Necromancer Lord, etc.

Dark Knight Constructed Notes (+):

A 0-cost unbreakable blitz 5 offense card can be utilized in a few ways. Throw these out then The Risen or, after attacking, Time Walker.

Drinker of Blood Constructed Notes (+):

Drinker of Blood is also a lot better when designed around. I personally like Secret Legion on your opponent’s turn. On you turn, this + Flash Fire. At minimum do 14 damage and gain 10 health. (You would need to start with at least 2 health though, otherwise Flash Fire would kill you before you gain the health). Breaking board clears are great, and Surprise Attack is nice.

This card has carried me on its back for a couple wins, but I am still hesitant about it. I feel like its greatest strength would be in a token deck, and I don’t think tokens are any more viable in constructed than they are in draft. We’ll see as I’ll definitely make a deck with this card featured.

Final Task Constructed Notes (+):

There are so many strong targets for this card. Angel of Death becomes a Fast board clear. A blitzing Kong is a scary thought. In addition, if you use this on a champion that is unbreakable, it can’t break at the end of the turn. In other words, it stays in play permanently.

Necromancer Lord Constructed Notes (+):

Necromancer Lord is a monster plain and simple. You do not know frustration until your opponent plays a Necromancer Lord with Loyalty, returns another Necromancer Lord to play, and then returns your Kong to play breaking your Lurking Giant…not that I’m still holding a grudge or anything. (It might actually have been me who did it.) When you combine this with Corpse Taker, it can be a real pain removing them from the board unless you banish them.

Unquenchable Thirst Constructed Notes (+):

A primarily evil deck makes this into amazing removal. That is assuming you aren’t running cards like Army of the Apocalypse, Corpse Taker, etc.

Avenging Angel Constructed Notes (+):

Avenging Angel does a lot of great things, if it survives. It is very fragile though. In constructed, it is a lot easier to keep it alive with cards like Angel of Mercy, Priest of Kalnor, etc.

Courageous Soul Constructed Notes (+):

This card makes tokens a lot stronger, and it combos amazingly with Secret Legion. Unfortunately, I am still hesitant to use it since I don’t think tokens are viable.

Inheritance of the Meek Constructed Notes (+):

If you insist on a token deck, this is a really nice card to have. It is especially nice with The People’s Champion.

Priest of Kalnor Constructed Notes (++):

I consider this card nearly worthless in draft, but I constantly want to use it in constructed. This card makes a lot of other cards a lot better. My personal favorite might be Gold Dragon in a Good deck. This card alone is a lot of why I currently go 30 Good cards in some decks.

Resurrection Constructed Notes (+):

There are so many strong cards that Resurrection works great with. I had one game where I blocked a couple champions with Kong, my opponent used something like Rage so everything died, then he played Raging T-Rex. When he tried to end his turn, Resurrection. I broke the T-Rex and got a 13/14. I was quite pleased.

Vital Mission Constructed Notes (+):

I mainly want to use this on my The People’s Champion in a mass health-gain deck, but I feel like the health gain for my opponent would be less important in constructed as well. I’m not sure how I’ll rate this card once I have played with it a bit.

Amnesia Constructed Notes (+):

I feel like Necromancer Lord and Army of the Apocalypse are going to be a big deal. In addition, the fact that it replaces itself is so nice. It’s possible that this could be weaker in constructed then in draft though. The main reason, you’re not going to draw out in constructed, but that is a real threat in draft.

Ancient Chant Constructed Notes (+):

I feel like this is going to be a beast of a card in aggro decks with recycle. Essentially draw 3 from one card on your opponent’s turn seems pretty strong. I do really like card draw, but I feel like aggro might shun it a bit. In that situation, I see this card shining.

Memory Spirit Constructed Notes (+):

Some events are very good to get back for an extra use, Erase for instance. Interestingly, if you use Resurrection to return a Memory Spirit to play, you could return the Resurrection to hand before your opponent gets a chance to stop you, I think. Same is true with Surprise Attack and Final Task, if I am correct.

Muse Constructed Notes (+/-):

Muse is one of the best cards in the game. It is so powerful, that I believe all decks should have 0-cost cards specifically able to get rid of Muse. Because of that, Muse might not be worth running. Who am I kidding, Muse is still strong enough even if you just force a 0-cost for 0-cost trade.

Psionic Assault Constructed Notes (+/-):

Against an aggro deck that burns through their hand quickly, this could be devastating. Against my decks that will probably hope to stay at 5+ cards constantly, this is less strong, in theory. Dropping below 5 cards can be pretty huge though, especially if you have more than 1 faction with Loyalty 2/Ally effects.

Time Walker Constructed Notes (+):

This card helps 0-cost blitz champions. Bouncing board clear is strong. Surprise Attack makes this great. This is a very strong constructed card.

Turn Constructed Notes (-):

I think bounce is great, and I think Erase will be in a lot decks. If bounce is prevalent, Turn becomes much worse.

Warrior Golem Constructed Notes (+):

A 4/2 blitz that can recycle itself. This card seems perfect for a Sage aggro deck.

Lash Constructed Notes (-):

Lash is an incredible card, but I am not sure if I want to spend a gold to recall it in constructed. I will still definitely run the card, but I’m not sure if I want multiples in a deck. I am also not sure if I can get enough use out of it. We shall see.

Lightning Storm Constructed Notes (-):

Lightning Storm is still a great card for 6 divisible damage. Once again, I’m just not sure if I want multiples or if I want to recall it for a gold. This card does still break a lot of cards that are great in constructed. In addition, Lightning Storm on opponent’s turn, recall on your turn immediately, then Lightning Storm on your opponent’s turn is still pretty strong.

Sea Hydra Constructed Notes (+):

Tribute -> Draw a card makes me happy, and this combos well with cards like Hurricane and Angelic Protector. This + Angelic Protector gave me a nice 18/23 champion after I blocked a Steel Golem. There is something satisfying about needing to use a d20 to represent counters.

Surprise Attack Constructed Notes (++):

If you deck runs any of the following, you probably want 3 Surprise Attacks: Angel of Death, Dark Assassin, Drinker of Blood, Murderous Necromancer, Necromancer Lord, Soul Hunter, Succubus, Thrasher Demon even, Trihorror, Gold Dragon, High King, Lord of the Arena, Palace Guard, The People’s Champion, Thundarus, White Knight, Blue Dragon, Frost Giant, Sea Titan, Steel Golem, Time Walker, Winter Fairy, Bellowing Minotaur, Burrowing Wurm, Jungle Queen, Kong, Pack Alpha, Raging T-Rex, Rampaging Wurm, Sea Hydra, and/or Triceratops.

In addition, this also thins your deck a bit too. In other words, you effectively have a 57 card deck. This is because when played, you draw a card to replace it and you still play a champion from your hand.

Wurm Hatchling Constructed Notes (+):

In a predominantly Wild deck, this 0-cost card attacks as a 10/10 breakthrough, on its first attack.

Afterward

I am going to be posting some decks in the next week and explaining how they are supposed to work. As I play them, I will describe how they actually work, if they are worth further play, and how I plan on tweaking them.

 

All Epic Card Game images are owned by White Wizard Games, Copyright 2016.

Foreword

Remember how I said I wasn’t going to rank cards in my previous article, Epic Card by Card Analysis (Drafting)? Well…I got carried away describing my drafting philosophy, so I did it anyways. (In my defense, writing this article has inspired me to begin programming an Epic drafting AI. So, I’ll eventually need these rankings for that.) Anyways, explained below is my drafting philosophy that has been working very well for me.

6 Card Categories

When drafting, I break the cards into 6 different categories: Always Strong, Draft Direction, Strong Faction Specific, Weak Faction Specific, Situational, and Not Worth Drafting.

Always Strong

These cards are incredibly valuable cards in essentially any deck. These cards also do not require a faction investment to be useful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Draft Direction

These cards are incredibly valuable cards for specific factions. To best use these cards, you need to commit to drafting cards of that faction. With those faction commitments, these cards all become superstars for your deck. In addition, since they are potentially so strong, they can be worth counter-picking to deny your opponent. I call them Draft direction cards because they help decide what you should draft moving forward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strong Faction Specific

These are cards you should take to meet the faction requirements dictated by your Draft Direction cards. These are cards that either rely on the same faction investment to be useful, or they just aren’t powerful enough to make the above two categories. All draw 2 cards are at least in this category if not higher. Generally, cards in this category matching your faction investment(s) are better for you then cards that don’t match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weak Faction Specific

These cards are similar but not as useful as Strong Faction Specific cards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Situational

These cards are usually weak, but in certain circumstances, they can be incredible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not Worth Drafting

These cards aren’t worth drafting. They are almost always bad, and, if possible, they should frequently be cut from your deck if you have to draft them.

Drafting Philosophy

Overview

Drafting a winning deck relies on 3 aspects: getting powerful cards/combinations, balancing the type of cards in your deck, and countering your opponent’s deck.

Don’t Commit to a Faction too Soon

In general, I focus on drafting Always Strong cards, and other useful, non-faction specific cards first. Once I am able to grab a Draft Direction card, I begin to focus on supporting that faction. While my decks usually contain all 4 factions, I frequently try to support only 1 faction, sometimes 2. For the factions I support, I will take cards that rely on their Loyalty 2 and Ally abilities to be useful. For the remaining cards I draft, I avoid Loyalty 2 and Ally abilities.

When drafting Epic, you never want to predetermine the faction(s) you will pursue; it is very possible there won’t be many amazing cards of that faction in your specific draft. It is not worth it to draft faction specific cards early, if it means drafting Weak Faction Specific or lower category cards. Since you aren’t guaranteed to see the Draft Decision cards of that faction in your draft, and your opponent might get them before you, taking sub-optimal, slightly synergistic cards can be severely disadvantageous. I would much rather have strong cards in multiple factions, than weak cards in the same faction.

Not committing early also allows you to adjust your strategy based on the cards available later.

Fast Cards and 0-Cost Cards are Critical

The closest thing Epic has to mana-flood/mana-screw is slow-flood. This happens when you have no way to spend your gold on an opponent’s turn. Usually, this is because you have no Fast cards (ambush champions and events) in hand. Gold-recall and gold-activated abilities can mitigate this to an extent.

To avoid this, it is very important to have at least half your deck be Fast cards. In addition, in a 30 card deck about 6 cards should be 0-cost. The more reliable draw you have, the more 0-cost cards you can run, up to about 10.

Watch Your Opponent’s Picks

If you can work out your opponent’s strategy, you can pick to counter that strategy. On the simplest level, if you see your opponent take Angel of Death, don’t let them have Necromancer Lord too. If they’re going Evil, deny them Evil Draft Decision cards. In addition, White Knight becomes significantly better.

If they draft Lightning Storm, Psionic Assualt, or other discard dependent cards, Guilt Demon and Keeper of Secrets get better.

If they are going for a token strategy, deny Courageous Soul and prioritize Flash Fire, Hurricane, etc.

If they have a lot of targeted removal, Steel Golems and Sea Titans are even better. If it is banishment based removal, Thundarus.

It’s generally a bad idea to let your opponent get both Psionic Assault and Thought Plucker.

This aspect of drafting takes awhile to learn. Until you understand the relative power of cards and combinations, it can be incredibly difficult figuring out: when to counter your opponent and when to improve your deck. As long as you pay attention and learn from your mistakes, this will become easier. This is probably my favorite part of Epic.

Rankings

My Process

I went through and divided all of the cards in the base set into the 6 categories explained above. I then ranked all of the cards in those specific categories. My rankings assume that you have the required cards to activate Loyalty/Ally. The card becomes weaker if you can’t. The number after the ~ is the adjusted value. In general, once you have a Draft Decision card, cards of the same faction in the same category are generally better.

To determine the relative strength of each faction (in my opinion), I took my rankings, assigned weighting to the categories, and added the relative strength of each faction for each category.

Always Strong and Draft Direction cards get a weighting of 100 per card.
Strong Faction Commitment cards get a weighting of 75 per card.
Weak Faction Commitment cards get a weighting of 50 per card.
Situational cards get a weighting of 25 per card.
Not Worth Drafting cards have no value.

Evil: 7×100 + 90 + 3×100 + 22 + 8×75 + 142 + 6×50 + 64 + 1×25 + 4 + 5×0 + 29×0 = 2247

Good: 5×100 + 48 + 3×100 + 15 + 12×75 + 192 + 7×50 + 68 + 2×25 + 7 + 1×0 + 2×0 = 2430

Sage: 13×100 + 261 + 3×100 + 12 + 8×75 + 226 + 4×50 + 59 + 1×25 + 1 + 1×0 + 7×0 = 2984

Wild: 7×100 + 129 + 1×100 + 6 + 12×75 + 211 + 7×50 + 109 + 1×25 + 3 + 2×0 + 7×0 = 2533

My Analysis

Based on my ranking system, Sage is the best faction overall for drafting; however, all factions are still viable.

Sage came away with the highest score for a couple of reasons. First, Sage has by far the most Always Strong cards. Due to this, you can draft powerful Sage cards even if it is not your primary faction. You can cherry-pick Sage cards and still support any of the other 3 factions. Second, I generally valued Sage cards higher in their respective categories then any other faction. So, from a blank slate, Sage cards start off slightly stronger, but the cards in the categories are fairly close in power. If you do go Sage, even though they  only have 11 Draft Decision and Strong Faction Specific cards, it is easy to draft strong cards to meet the faction investment.

Evil had the weakest score. One reason is because it has the highest number of Not Worth Drafting cards. It is tied for the second most Always Strong cards though. In addition, the Draft Decision cards for Evil are more powerful then any other faction, but it only has a combined total of 11 Draft Decision and Strong Faction Specific cards. If you get Necromancer Lord or Angel of Death, it is worth it to go Evil. If not, I would generally just take the Always Strong Evil cards.

Good has the least Always Strong cards. It does, however, have the most Draft Decision and Strong Faction Specific cards, 15. So, Good is the faction most likely to benefit from having an investment in it, as opposed to just taking a few Good cards.

Wild has the least Draft Direction cards in the base game, granted Raging T-Rex is a great one. In addition, 9 of the 12 Strong Faction Specific cards are only there because I didn’t think they were strong enough to make the Always Strong category. In other words, they don’t have Loyalty/Ally requirements. Like Sage, Wild cards can be cherry-picked without requiring the faction investment.

Overall, Evil and Good cards are more dependent on a faction investment. Sage and Wild are strong without a faction investment. All factions are viable, and it is frequently more important to draft powerful, synergistic, non-faction specific cards, to draft a balanced deck, and to draft a deck that counters your opponent then it is to draft in-faction. Drafting a specific faction is important to be able to play your best cards effectively, but it should not distract you from everything else.

• Always Strong (32)

Evil: Apocalypse, Bitten, Guilt Demon, Inner Demon, Plague, Succubus, Zombie Apocalypse (7, 90)

Good: Brave Squire, Ceasefire, Divine Judgement, Inheritance of the Meek, Palace Guard (5, 48)

Sage: Amnesia, Ancient Chant, Deadly Raid, Erase, Frost Giant, Hasty Retreat, Lying in Wait, Muse, Sea Titan, Stand Alone, Transform, Turn, Wave of Transformation (13, 261)

Wild: Flame Strike, Flash Fire, Hurricane, Kong, Lash, Lightning Storm, Triceratops (7, 129)

Zombie Apocalypse(32), Sea Titan(31), Kong(30), Turn(29), Stand Alone(28), Erase(27), Muse(26), Hurricane(25), Lash(24), Lying in Wait(23), Amnesia(22), Wave of Transformation(21), Lightning Storm(20), Transform(19), Bitten(18), Inner Demon(17), Palace Guard(16), Inheritance of the Meek(15), Flame Strike(14), Flash Fire(13), Deadly Raid(12), Frost Giant(11), Divine Judgement(10), Plague(9), Apocalypse(8), Hasty Retreat(7), Ceasefire(6), Ancient Chant(5), Guilt Demon(4), Triceratops(3), Succubus(2), Brave Squire(1)

• Draft Direction (10)

Evil: Angel of Death, Dark Assassin, Necromancer Lord (3, 22)

Good: Angel of Mercy, High King, Noble Unicorn (3, 15)

Sage: Psionic Assault, Time Bender, Time Walker (3, 12)

Wild: Raging T-Rex (1, 6)

Necromancer Lord(10), Angel of Mercy(9), Angel of Death(8), Time Walker(7), Raging T-Rex(6), High King(5), Dark Assassin(4), Time Bender(3), Psionic Assault(2), Noble Unicorn(1)

• Strong Faction Specific (40)

Evil: Army of the Apocalypse, Drain Essence, Final Task, Medusa, Murderous Necromancer, Thrasher Demon, Unquenchable Thirst, Word of Summoning (8, 142)

Good: Banishment, Feint, Gold Dragon, Priestess of Angeline, Resurrection, Secret Legion, The People’s Champion, Thundarus, Vital Mission, Watchful Gargoyle, White Dragon, White Knight (12, 192)

Sage: Blue Dragon, Crystal Golem, Forcemage Apprentice, Ice Drake, Juggernaut, Keeper of Secrets, Steel Golem, Thought Plucker (8, 226)

Wild: Cave Troll, Chomp!, Fire Shaman, Fireball, Jungle Queen, Lurking Giant, Mighty Blow, Rage, Rain of Fire, Sea Hydra, Wolf Companion, Wurm Hatchling (12, 211)

Ice Drake(40~9), Medusa(39~6), Steel Golem(38), Murderous Necromancer(37~6), Keeper of Secrets(36~0), Drain Essence(35), White Dragon(34~6), Juggernaut(33~10), Chomp!(32), Thought Plucker(31), Fire Shaman(30~1), Cave Troll(29~1), Resurrection(28), Fireball(27), Thundarus(26), Banishment(25), Blue Dragon(24), Lurking Giant(23), Jungle Queen(22~15), Sea Hydra(21), Gold Dragon(20), Mighty Blow(19), Vital Mission(18), White Knight(17), The People’s Champion(16~14), Rage(15), Forcemage Apprentice(14~1), Rain of Fire(13), Unquenchable Thirst(12~0), Priestess of Angeline(11~0), Crystal Golem(10), Thrasher Demon(9), Watchful Gargoyle(8), Wolf Companion(7), Final Task(6), Wurm Hatchling(5~0), Feint(4), Army of the Apocalypse(3), Secret Legion(2), Word of Summoning(1)

• Weak Faction Specific (24)

Evil: Corpse Taker, Dark Knight, Soul Hunter, Trihorror, Vampire Lord, Wither (6, 64)

Good: Angel of Light, Angelic Protector, Avenging Angel, Inner Peace, Lord of the Arena, Rally the People, Standard Bearer (7, 68)

Sage: Djinn of the Sands, Memory Spirit, Spike Trap, Winter Fairy (4, 59)

Wild: Forked Lightning, Hunting Raptors, Pack Alpha, Pyromancer, Rampaging Wurm, Strafing Dragon, Surprise Attack (7, 109)

Corpse Taker(24), Surprise Attack(23), Angelic Protector(22), Lord of the Arena(21), Memory Spirit(20), Pyromancer(19), Pack Alpha(18), Strafing Dragon(17~3), Spike Trap(16), Hunting Raptors(15~1), Trihorror(14), Winter Fairy(13), Rampaging Wurm(12), Wither(11), Djinn of the Sands(10), Angel of Light(9~5), Avenging Angel(8), Vampire Lord(7), Dark Knight(6), Forked Lightning(5), Standard Bearer(4), Rally the People(3), Soul Hunter(2), Inner Peace(1)

• Situational (5)

Evil: Drinker of Blood (1, 4)

Good: Courageous Soul, Faithful Pegasus (2, 7)

Sage: Ogre Mercenary (1, 1)

Wild: Burrowing Wurm (1, 3)

Courageous Soul(5), Drinker of Blood(4), Burrowing Wurm(3), Faithful Pegasus(2), Ogre Mercenary(1)

• Not Worth Drafting (9)

Evil: Dark Leader, Demon Breach, Infernal Gatekeeper, Plentiful Dead, The Risen (5, 29)

Good: Priest of Kalnor (1, 2)

Sage: Warrior Golem (1, 7)

Wild: Bellowing Minotaur, Wolf’s Call (2, 7)

Dark Leader(9), Infernal Gatekeeper(8), Warrior Golem(7), Wolf’s Call(6), The Risen(5), Demon Breach(4), Plentiful Dead(3), Priest of Kalnor(2), Bellowing Minotaur(1)

 

Next week (week of 2/29/16) I will probably take a break from Epic strategy articles. After that, my next planned Epic article is an example draft with commentary.

All Epic Card Game images are owned by White Wizard Games, Copyright 2016.