If you ever thought that a student might be lacking in knowledge, take a look at the masterminds in this deck. The students pass their expertise to the Alumni and Leticia Charbonneau, who cares for the welfare of all. Receiving a lot of impactful new cards and changes has made NR one of the best factions in the game again, and this is their best deck. You can rely on the carry-over potential in the form of Ban Ard Students and Aretuza Students, offering great synergy with Chapter of Wizards, which is the best location by far. Raffard’s Vengeance allows you to play both long and short rounds, so you should be able to dispatch the opponents without too much resistance. -Qnerr

Strengths:

- Palpatine-style unlimited power in the carry-over from students will often allow you to dominate a long Round 3

- Alumni and Seltkirk can control the board, giving you a lot of flexibility and making it possible to beat even the pesky no-unit decks

Weaknesses:

- Cards that interact with your graveyard can disrupt the carry-over synergy, so beware the likes of Xavier and Experimental Remedy

Considerations:

- Bloody Baron, Cursed Knight

The deck that has been in Tier 1 for the past few seasons got another tool in Lydia van Bredevoort. Utilizing high-tempo plays that provide thinning like Blightmakers and Dead Man’s Tongue allows the deck to win Round 1 or to effectively defend a bleed. A variety of tools that provide a way to interact with your opponent’s strategy give you a decent shot against engine decks in a long round. You have all the tools to defeat every other archetype, but it takes some skill and matchup knowledge to utilize the deck to its full potential. With the neat 1-power buff to Illusionist, two copies made it into the deck alongside The Mushy Truffle, giving you another way of using your opponent’s bronzes (preferably engines) against them. -Lorakko

Strengths:

- The meta decks play a lot of good bronzes nowadays; these provide great choices for our copying cards

- Consistency is amazing with all the thinning cards as well as Joachim being able to pull that one gold you missed in the mulligan

Weaknesses:

- Getting bled out of your high-end golds can be devastating, so utilizing your mulligans is the key to success

- Drawing your thinning early in the game is important, as you risk bricking some cards (especially Mage Assassins) in later rounds

Considerations:

- Bribery, Mage Infiltrator

One of the strongest of the recent additions to the game, The Mushy Truffle, gives Battle Trance some much-needed support. The new location basically supercharges Gedyneith while also acting as the perfect target for Dwimveandra. You have decent tempo with Derran and the Discard package, along with Crowmother for modest carry-over and a flexible finisher in Fucusya. Combined with Sunset Wanderers and the sheer power of Crow Clan Preachers, this deck can often force the opponent into submission as early as Round 2, leaving druids dancing in their wake. -SpyroZA

Strengths:

- With the addition of Heatwave, you have a potent mix betwen control and pointslam

- The deck is flexible - it can apply a lot of pressure in Round 2 and win the short round, but it also has great long round potential

Weaknesses:

- Compared to Reckless Flurry, the deck has fewer control tools and is more vulnerable to tech cards

- Despite having a decent amount of thinning, the deck is a bit draw dependent, as you don’t have direct access to Gedyneith

Considerations:

- Derran, Havfrue Singer

Reckless Flurry still stands as one of the kings of Red coin. There are a few changes and updates in the deck, including the new Little Havfrue, the buffed Primal Savagery and the renowned The Mushy Truffle and Fucusya. You have efficient control tools while packing some proactivity in Raging Bears. The deck truly shines when executing a Round 2 bleed, and you often don’t have to commit all of your high-end cards to bleed your opponent dry. As usual, the Discard package provides decent tempo even if you’re on Blue coin, allowing you to pass with 7 cards in hand if committing too many control cards in Round 1 seems to be a bad idea in the given matchup. -Zubedoo

Strengths:

- Effective removal, great tempo for bleeding the opponent and a finisher in Fucusya

- The deck has a great Round 1 presence, which allows you to be extremely aggressive and potentially win on even

Weaknesses:

- Not finding the Discard package in Round 1 can lead to missing some top-end cards

- You can struggle on Blue coin - you don’t have enough proactivity and run the risk of having to commit some important cards if you can’t find an early pass

Considerations:

- Svalblod Totem, Geralt: Axii

Despite losing 2 provisions in the latest patch, Nature’s Gift is still the best option that ST has to offer. As always, the game plan with this deck is to win Round 1 and bleed the opponent in Round 2, trying to shorten Round 3 without losing last say. The key to being a good Gift player is high-rolling the Bountiful Harvest into Sorceress of Dol Blathanna. These can then be buffed-up, so that if you’re really talented, they create more Bountiful Harvests - perpetuating the harmonious cycle. Knowing when to float Sorceresses to increase your removal range as opposed to clicking them for tempo, and knowing when it’s worth taking them over the other Bountiful Harvest options will certainly improve your results with the deck. -Lorakko

Strengths:

- The deck has a lot of proactivy, while Simlas into Bountiful Harvests provides insane tempo as well as carry-over

- Strong engines and pointslam options allow you to win Round 1, bleed your opponent and finish the game with Harald Gord

Weaknesses:

- Very predictable - opponents know they don’t need to respect tall removal and that you can’t answer their Defender

- At risk of over-swarming the board in a longer Round 3, especially against NG, where Gezras of Leyda is also a liability

Considerations:

- Filavandrel, Elven Seer

Precision Strike relinquishes some natural powers in order to gain some unnatural alternatives. The Devotion pay-off and the synergy between Symbiosis and Nature cards exit the stage and are replaced by Neutral powerhouses like Korathi Heatwave, Alzur and Madoc. This deck, with its control tools, can be better than Nature’s Gift if you want to answer the opposing engines. Simlas can set up Orbs of Insight, which allows you to fully proc Alzur in one turn. This can be achieved by tutoring Alzur with Oneiromancy or by floating Sorceress of Dol Blathanna and The Mushy Truffle. -Specimen

Strengths:

- Precision Strike with Madoc, bombs and Korathi Heatwave are efficient control tools

- Alzur gives you a huge pointslam option, along with having a decent finisher in Gord

Weaknesses:

- This deck has too many bricks, which can make the mulligan phase extremely tricky

- Can struggle on Blue coin and is vulnerable to being bled, as your tempo options are limited and predictable

Considerations:

- Saov Ainmhi’dh, Dwimveandra

While struggling to keep up with the evolution of the meta, Keltullis has been watching from the sidelines for a few seasons, envious of other decks in the spotlight. However, with the addition of Witches’ Sabbath, you can pull off some cheeky combos. This card allows you to not only manipulate card advantage but also the opposing graveyard in your favor. Count Caldwell and Dudu are the new arrivals, giving you what’s essentially carry-over to go along with your card advantage. -SpyroZA

Strengths:

- The deck overloads the opponent with threats, making it hard to answer everything

- Can use its win conditions twice with Witches’ Sabbath while also utilizing carry-over with Count Caldwell and Dudu

Weaknesses:

- Vulnerable to control-heavy decks

- Relies on winning Round 1 and needs to set up graveyards in order to be effective

Considerations:

- Dimeritium Bomb

While SY has taken a bit of a backseat since the huge nerf to Tunnel Drill, it seems that there is still some hope left with Jackpot actually being surprisingly competitive. The addition of The Brute and the 1-power buff to Witch Hunter Executioner made the Bounty package more functional, providing the deck with both removal and coin generation. It has some great control options, along with strong Midrange cards like Professor, Sigi Reuven and Caesar Bilzen. -SpyroZA

Strengths:

- The deck has a great long round and can rely on its top-end golds in a short round

- Efficient control with the Bounty package while the leader ability can always enable Whoreson’s Freak Show

Weaknesses:

- Vulnerable to high-tempo plays in Round 1, as your bronze package is rather slow

- The deck has a steep learning curve, as it requires an ideal hand composition with the right balance of coin generation and spenders

Considerations:

- Kurt, Tax Collector

While Reckless Flurry offers more control, Blaze of Glory offers Eist Tuirseach - a tremendous finisher, serving as both removal and points on your own side of the board. Nice additions to the deck are the new and improved An Craite Warcriers, who are cheap and reliable engines, and are easy to set up thanks to Coral or Dimun Light Longship to help secure Round 1. And no SK deck is complete these days without Fucusya, its strongest and most versatile card. You can use her on a low provision bronze to set up Bloodthirst with Rain, to help find the crucial missing gold cards with Birna, or to play Morkvarg: Heart of Terror again. The possibilities are endless. -McP0yle

Strengths:

- Threatening short round finishers with Blaze of Glory, Eist Tuirseach and Fucusya

- The deck has a decent Round 1 presence with the Discard package and its bronzes

Weaknesses:

- Without a Purify or Heatwave, the deck has a rough time dealing with Defenders

- If you use your Discards in Round 3, you risk drawing into Jutta an Dimun, which would make your leader ability and Eist worse

Considerations:

- Svalblod Totem, Little Havfrue