Welcome to Sorcery's Druidic Order! You have been charged with the sacred duty of reclaiming the holy woodlands. Read on to arm yourself with the knowledge and tools needed to ensure victory!

Ever since the release of Arthurian Legends, I've been quite intrigued by [[Druid]]. In my opinion, this avatar has some of the deepest deck-building options and as such, you never know what you're up against when you see a Druid across the table. The flexibility of build options and three powerful abilities allows Druid to adapt to any metagame. This may or may not actually be a good thing from a game design perspective but it has been a very fun puzzle for me as a deckbuilder.

Sylvan Crusade was designed to attack a very specific expected meta for Season 6 of the TTS League. As this particular list evolves, I'll make notes in the "Card Choices" section to shed light on why certain cards are or are not included based on the current meta. Additionally, I’m going to preserve the original list for posterity.

If you're interested in checking out my other Druid decks, I've included a section at the very end of the primer with links and brief descriptions.

On the surface, Sylvan Crusade looks very similar to the classic Earth/Air Sorcerer Midrange decks of yesteryear and I'm honestly not certain that Druid is a more competitive choice over [[Sorcerer]] for this style of deck. The raw power of Sorcerer is undeniable at this point but, when you start to include a lot of spells that cost 5+ mana, the Sorcerer's ability to cast multiple spells each turn begins to diminish. Is a heavier top end at the expense of card quantity worth it? I think that a lot more testing is required to definitively answer that question but for now, I'm leaning towards yes! Yes, but...you need to leverage the abilities on Druid to make up for the card advantage of Sorcerer.

Historically, the Earth/Air package of beefy minions paired with [[Grapple Shot]] and [[Earthquake]] has been a very effective way to beat Fire-heavy Sorcerer aggro decks like Fury Road or Zalem's Fire/Air deck.

When I was looking at the decks used for qualifier rounds by players in the top cut for Season 6, Sorcerer aggro seemed to have a very hefty meta share. There were also a handful of other aggro decks with [[Flamecaller]], [[Avatar of Air]], and [[Battlemage]]. If players kept with whatever archetypes they used most during the qualifying rounds, there were going to be about 18-19 aggro decks (primarily Sorcerer/Fire), 8-9 [[Archimago]] decks (control or combo), and a small handful of other midrange or combo decks. This data led me to the conclusion that I wanted a deck that had an excellent matchup against Sorcerer aggro while not completely folding to Archimago control. I expected virtually no traditional midrange in this top cut as the general sentiment was that Archimago had pushed it out of the meta.

I considered just going with the old Earth/Air Sorcerer option in the hopes that the card draw would be enough to keep pace with Archimago's overwhelming amount of removal. After some deliberation though, I decided that I wanted to have fun with Druid even if it meant that I was going with a deck that might not be optimal. I still really liked the idea of out-muscling aggro with large Earth minions and I had also seen good results with Grapple Shot paired with [[Bruin]] in my Fire/Air aggro builds. I chose to lean into the aggressive end of the curve a little more to fight Archimago. I figured that most of the control versions were going to have the risk of stumbling on threshold early and the best plan was to try to Door them before they got the threshold to cast [[Divine Healing]]. While the plan of early Death's Door against Archimago is still a good one, some of the cards that I included to pursue this goal ended up being very poor choices.

If I'd had more time to test the deck before top cut submissions were due, I think I would have realized that [[Highland Falconer]] and [[Palliburie Bats]] were not good options for this deck. Despite the fact that they pair well with [[Torshammar Trinket]] and offer some resilience against Earthquake, the reality is that they don't line up well against [[Vile Imp]] and [[Quarrelsome Kobolds]] from the Fire aggro decks and they are particularly bad against all of the [[Magic Missiles]] and [[Firebolts]] from Archimago.

Overall, the deck performed very well though and with a few adjustments, I'm super happy with the current list.

Best cards for specific matchups:

Sorcerer aggro (fire) - [[Bosk Troll]], [[Autumn Unicorn]], [[Daperyll Vampire]], [[Sir Galahad]], [[Earthquake]], [[Whirling Blades]], [[Crusade]], [[Ring of Morrigan]], [[Torshammar Trinket]], [[Shield Maidens]], [[Root Spider]], [[Pillar of Zeiros]], [[Pebbled Paths]], [[Quagmire]], [[Pudge Butcher]]. If your Sorcerer opponent is on Air with Palliburrie Bats, Root Spider becomes much worse and if you're against a Water aggro deck, Earthquake is obviously pretty horrible.

Flamecaller aggro - Same list as above but include [[Funeral Pyre]].

Archimago control - [[Dwarven Digging Team]], [[Shield Maidens]], [[Pudge Butcher]], [[Grandmaster Wizard]], [[Gigantism]], [[Grapple Shot]], [[Whirling Blades]], [[Funeral Pyre]], [[Rift Valley]], [[Kingdom of Agartha]], [[Crusade]], [[Pnakotic Manuscript]].

Avatar of Air - [[Torshammar Trinket]], [[Daperyll Vampire]], [[Sir Galahad]], [[Earthquake]], [[Crusade]], [[Grapple Shot]], [[Whirling Blades]], [[Rift Valley]], [[Ring of Morrigan]]

Mirror Match - [[Torshammar Trinket]], [[Pudge Butcher]], [[Dalcean Phalanx]], [[Root Spider]], [[Earthquake]], [[Grapple Shot]], [[Whirling Blades]].

Card Choices:

[[Bosk Troll]], [[Autumn Unicorn]] - These two minions have some of the most aggressive stat lines in the game and contribute to a critical number of beaters with high power to mana ratios. This is important both for stifling early aggression from aggro opponents and putting solid pressure on Archimago in the early game. Many of the best opening hands include one or both of these cards.

[[Pudge Butcher]], [[Dalcean Phalanx]] - While these minions come with serious mobility restrictions, 5 power for 4 mana is still a fantastic rate and when you pair them with mobility spells such as [[Blink]] or Grapple Shot they become incredibly dangerous. If you don't have mobility options, both of these cards can be a liability against aggro decks. If you are playing against aggro and your opening hand has one or more of these and you don't have Grapple Shot, Blink, or an early minion such as Bosk Troll or Autumn Unicorn, you'll probably want to mulligan them away. Summoning either of these on turn 3 using the extra mana from a Tower is one of the best early plays possible.

[[Root Spider]] - Still one of the best ways to shut down aggro and with Torshammar Trinket, it gets to win the fight against opposing spiders! If you're expecting a Water-heavy meta, or a significant amount of minion-light decks like Archimago or Battlemage, you can certainly trim some number of Root Spiders.

[[Daperyll Vampire]] - While this card has my least favorite art in the whole game, it is an incredibly powerful minion and puts in solid work against most opponents. The list that I used in Season 6 only had one copy of this card and that was a mistake. If you're expecting a lot of aggro in the meta, you should run the full 3 copies. This is one of the best things you can combo with Grapple Shot or [[Whirling Blades]] and it's also dreamy with Torshammar Trinket.

[[Grapple Shot]] - Grapple is still one of the most powerful cards in the game and this list wants the full 4 copies. It is fantastic with any large minion and is particularly sweet with [[Bruin]]. The only downside to Grapple is that you need a minion on the board for it to work and keeping a suitable minion alive can often be a challenge. Being able to flip Druid and immediately Grapple with Bruin is an awesome option.

[[Whirling Blades]] - While this card doesn't work optimally with Dalcean Phalanx and doesn't work at all with Pudge Butcher it is wildly powerful and goes well with just about every other minion in the deck.

[[Earthquake]] - My vote for best Earth card to date! This deck gets to leverage the movement of sites very well with Pudge and Phalanx.

[[Gigantism]] - Another of Earth's most powerful cards here. If you've got 7 mana, Gigantism and Grapple Shot, it's usually enough to Door your opponent in one turn.

[[Blink]] - The best mobility spell there is right now. Blink is necessary for most decks that include things like Pudge Butcher or Dalcean Phalanx and surprise movement is one of the most effective ways to win games.

[[Dwarven Digging Team]] - This card is one of several concessions to the prevalence of Archimago. In many games against Archimago control, your best route to victory is to chip your opponent down to around 15 life and then set up a big attack to Door them on a single turn, thus negating Divine Healing. Being able to build up a small army underground and then pop up for a huge attack is one of the best ways that I've found to accomplish this. Dwarven Digging Team also helps combat enemy Root Spiders. This card is not very good against aggro and I would mulligan it if I was up against Sorcerer, Flamecaller, Avatar of Air, or Battlemage.

[[Kettletop Leprechaun]] - This unassuming little fellow is actually very effective in this deck. Since this deck is interested in going up to 6+ mana - especially if it's a matchup where you want to keep [[Tawny]] around as long as possible - anything that draws a site during the early game is about as good as drawing a spell. Having 2 power makes in considerably better than [[Land Surveyor]] in a deck like this that is looking to get aggressive and even smaller minions can become real threats with Torshammar Trinket and [[Crusade]]. The 4 copies that I had in the original list felt like too many and 2 copies has been feeling pretty good.

[[Shield Maidens]] - Not including this card in my Season 6 list was a mistake. It is incredibly powerful against Fire-heavy aggro and provides your whole team with protection against [[Poison Nova]] from Archimago.

[[Sir Galahad]] - This card looked like it was going to be pretty solid but I was not prepared for just how incredible it actually is in the current meta. It prevents damage from some of the most popular minions such as Vile Imp, Pudge Butcher, Daperyll Vampire, and [[Headless Haunt]]. It is very difficult to kill in combat or with damage-based removal and it even survives [[Chaos Twister]] if it lands on a site (with split power/toughness, Chaos Twister adds both numbers together and divides by 2 before rounding up. This means that Galahad only deals 5 damage if it lands on a site after being targeted by Twister). You can also use Pudge Butcher to fight Galahad if you really need to gain 3 life.

[[Grandmaster Wizard]] - The Season 6 list had a single [[Unlikely Alliance]] as a way to catch back up on cards against Archimago. Alliance worked nicely with Highland Falconer/Palliburie Bats and Tawny/Bruin but with the Falconer/Bats package out of the deck, it just isn't reliable enough. Grandmaster Wizard is 6 mana but it is a guaranteed 3 spells which is exactly what this deck wants on later turns. With 3 copies of Trinket in the deck, the 0-power body isn't completely irrelevant either!

[[Highland Princess]] - Any deck that is running good 1-mana artifacts and can get 2 Air threshold should probably include Princess.

[[Disenchant]] - This is a card that is very meta-dependent and always comes with the risk of being a dead draw. I still think it's probably worth including a single copy but I also think you could easily trim it and be fine.

[[Torshammar Trinket]] - This card is so good with Tawny that I really like including the full 3 copies. It makes most combat situations favorable for you on your turn, can't be hit with removal like Disenchant, and is insane with Ring of Morrigan. I think that Trinket is one of the best cards in the current meta.

[[Ring of Morrigan]] - Ring good.

[[Philosopher's Stone]] - With a good mix of multiple elements, Philosopher's Stone is still among the most useful cards available.

[[Pnakotic Manuscript]] - This card is very good with Tawny but can also be used by Dalcean Phalanx or Pudge Butcher of their movement restrictions are preventing them from being effective. I'm still not 100% certain that this card belongs in this list but I do like it and we'll see how further testing goes.

[[Crusade]] - Once you get to around 20 Earth minions in your deck, Crusade starts looking very appealing. Archimago uses a lot of defensive sites like [[Perilous Bridge]] and [[Gnome Hollows]] and Crusade allows you to skip right over those cards. It's also one of the best ways to fight against [[Jihad]] from the Fire aggro decks. Keep in mind that Bruin is a Earth minion and will get the +1!

[[Feast for Crows]] - while this card is particularly bad against aggro, it is incredibly useful against Archimago. I think that this deck has a good enough matchup against aggro to afford a few cards like this and still be ok.

[[Dark Tower]]/[[Gothic Tower]]/[[Lone Tower]] - The best mana accelerant sites in the game. Jumping the curve on early minions is one of the best paths to victory.

[[Funeral Pyre]] - No Fire, 3 Pyre! Archimago is this much of a problem. Typically decks with threshold requirements like this can afford 3-5 off-element, utility sites. I would love to be able to play more [[Wizard's Den]], [[Sinkhole]], [[Free City]], [[Town]], etc., but stripping Archimago of cards is just too important right now. You'll also be happy to see Pyres against any [[Deathspeaker]] opponents you run across.

[[Glastonbury Tor]]/[[The Colour Out of Space]] - While both of these sites can be a liability against opposing Earthquakes they are a necessary inclusion for the threshold requirements. If you're playing against an Earth opponent, try to spread them out so they can't both be hit by the same Earthquake.

[[Impenetrable Copse]] - Copse is fantastic against Archimago and other decks using Grapple Shot or Pudge Butcher.

[[Kingdom of Agartha]] - There is some tension between this card and the two copies of Earthquake but Kingdom is so good against Archimago that I think it's worth the risk.

[[Mirror Realm]] - It's rare that a deck doesn't want Mirror Realm and this certainly isn't one of those rare decks.

[[Pebbled Paths]]/[[Quagmire]] - These are the two most effective Earth sites when you're facing against Fire aggro. With how much charge is in the meta right now, I think that pretty much all heavy-Earth decks want a good number of these sites.

[[Pillar of Zeiros]] - Deathspeaker has fallen off considerably in past months but the healing effect from Pillar is still very useful.

[[Rift Valley]] - One of the best sites in the game, Rift Valley should be included in just about every Earth deck.

[[Valley of Delight]]/[[Windmill]] - Great fixing for multi-element decks.

[[Watchtower]] - While [[Infiltrate]] isn't seeing as much play right now, it is still out there and one of the best things against your large minions. [[Morgana le Fay]] and [[Phase Assassin]] are also two big metagame players right now.

[[Wizard's Den]] - With very few options for drawing additional spells, Wizard's Den is a welcome inclusion and I wish that I could fit the second copy in here. If you expect less Archimago, you can definitely swap out a Funeral Pyre for an extra Den.

[[Highland Falconer]]/[[Palliburrie Bats]] (currently out of the deck) - This package works really well against decks that use things like [[Bury]] or Earthquake as their primary removal. They are also fantastic at driving out enemy Root Spiders. The two bodies that you get when you cast Falconer are nice with Torshammar Trinket. This package is currently out of the deck because Archimago has a ton of things like Magic Missiles and the Fire aggro decks have Vile Imp and Quarrelsome Kobolds.

[[Unlikely Alliance]] (currently out of the deck) - With the removal of Highland Falconer and Palliburrie Bats, this card just isn't reliable enough.

[[Vanguard Knights]] (currently out of the deck) - I really like that Vanguard Knights can be played off of a turn 1 Earth site into turn 2 Tower (something that Autumn Unicorn can't). It is also really cool that you can sneak the Knights onto Gnome Hollows. If you start their movement as 2-power they don't become 4-power until they're actually on the Hollows. This card can be incredibly awkward and ultimately, I've decided to bench it for now.

[[Atlas Wanderers]] (currently out of the deck) - While the ability on this card can be very useful, the triple Earth threshold and the fact that it isn't significantly more powerful than most of the other minions at the 4-5 mana range led me to cut the single copy that I had in my initial list.

[[Bury]] (currently out of the deck) - The Fire-based aggro decks have tons of small minions that make Bury feel underwhelming. Archimago has virtually no minions that you care about so Bury is just a weaker Disenchant for their artifacts. If non-water midrange makes more of a comeback, I would put Bury back in but for now, it's out and the cut has been feeling correct.

[[Common Sense]] (currently out of the deck) - With 0 copies of Bury, the Common Sense package began to look too small. The flexibility is nice for sure but so far, I haven't been missing it much in testing.

Notable Exclusions:

[[Dream-Quest]] - Even though this deck is looking to keep Tawny around for as long as possible, I don't like that Dream-Quest is mostly dead once you flip Druid. Additionally, the core of this deck is mostly just interchangeable, large minions and removal. Many Druid decks do want Dream-Quest but I don't think that this is one of them.

[[Drums of Doom]] - This deck is already very good at beating minion-heavy aggro decks and I didn't feel like I needed the help of Drums for those matchups. Since this is a deck with lots of large minions that are already going to dominate most combat situations, Drums can end up backfiring really badly for you (particularly against Fire) by allowing your opponents' smaller minions to trade up. Finally, Drums does virtually nothing against Archimago. With all of this in mind, it didn't make sense to include them.

Other Druid lists that I've been tuning:

Sylvan Crusade with a Dash of Fire - With Glastonbury Tor, The Colour out of Space, 3 Funeral Pyre, and Valley of Delight already in the deck, I figured that I could add in a few additional Fire sites and splash for [[Poison Nova]]. Nova is really good with Tawny and Shield Maidens and while I'm not sure that this splash is better than sticking to Earth/Air, it has been working well enough to warrant further testing.

Heavy Meta Druid - This list dips deeper into Fire for things like [[Morgana le Fay]], [[Sir Balin]], [[Sir Kay]], [[Sir Morien]], and [[Pact with the Devil]] while retaining a good amount of the beefy Earth package.

Swamp Song - This is the least tested of my Druid decks and I think also the weakest in the current meta. It uses lots of Water sites to play around Earthquake while tapping into a flexible menagerie of Beasts and Mortals.

The Art of War - A hyper-aggro Fire/Air deck that goes all in on charge minions and splashes for Grapple Shot. Lots of the proximity spells in Fire work nicely with [[Tawny]]!

Druid's Deep - My original Druid deck that is mostly Water with a splash of Air for things like [[Grapple Shot]] and [[Dream-Quest]]. This deck has lots of massive, top-end minions like [[Diluvian Kraken]] and [[Great Old One]].

Sylvan Crusade - 1st S6 - Top 8 ToC 2024

@Kyle