Welcome to the Forest

The deck is meant to lean more toward the midrange category, with the ability to hold its own in the late game and potentially take the wind out of aggro decks’ sails—at least until the Battlemage and his horde of pigs and beasts have built enough board presence to turn the game around.

Gothic Update:

Using a bit more Waterspells...the Forest is turning more and more into a Swamp. Also some Knights joined our Beasts on their Quest to defend the Forest.

Primer Update 02/07/2026

The deck is slowly developing away from earth. In the end there will maybe just a little splash for invigorate, or the bury in the collection. 2 or 3 Earth Threshold in cards is to much, since there is no more Mix Terra in this deck.

Also cutted whirling blades, it is a strong card but i decided to make a limit of 4 mana for the magic spells. Testing Upwelling and it feels good. Maybe because it feels like another Version of Fey Changeling.

Order of the white wing is still in the deck because of necromancer and tokendecks. But sometimes the threshold could be a problem. Maybe i'll try Kisser of Wounds instead for some heal or wards.

Primer Update 30/05/2026

The biggest change is, that the deck doesn't include Squeakers etc. With 60 Cards in the spellbook it feels nearly impossible to make it work and is most of the time frustrating.

I also decided to go with 2x Toolbox instead of common sense and added a little beastpackage for Assorted Animals (maybe a second copy is also good).

If I could get a Gargantula or two and a second Sacred Stag this would be really good additions for the deck. Also 2x or 3x Invigorate would be good and better as the muddy pigs. You see over long time all pigs in this deck will sadly be gone. Maybe 1x Muddy pig will stay for the Assorted Animals package.

The Crusade Aura is also not that good anymore because i added many water minions.

Fine Courser is because of our many movement spells irrelevant now. We are not that aggro in our playstyle so no need to hurry and ride a horse.

An idea i got is to combine peace offering with river rapids. Play it and push it for the effect. Next turn return to the river and push it again. Could be really frustrating for the opponent. But i am missing a second river and a peace offering.

I added 2x Malakhim because with Mix Terra it is a really good minion that can be cast early in the game. And in my Lore for the deck, Malakhim is the Angel which protects the Forest, the Knights are praising him and following his path to protect the forest from evil.

Primer Update 13/12/2025

I took out the Arc Lightning for a Pollimorph. Because it banishs the minion and could do this also to minions over 4 Power, which is good against those big harbringer minions. Also the frog is a free card to draw when killed by Battlemage. The only reason to keep Arc Lightning would be the possible damage to an Avatar and the possibility to search for it with common sense.

I also added a third Shrink for the Disenchant. We have still the Dispel, which can be searched with Common Sense if artifact removal or aura removal is really needed. It's more a personal preference.

Primer Update 10/12/2025

I decided to cut the Master Tracker for a Replication.

Master Tracker is most of the time just a 2 Mana Minion with 2 Power, so i think replicate a Ring of Morrigan, the Amethyst Core or a Crown of Victor (if i have one) is much stronger.

Primer Update 09/12/2025

I added two Floodplains. They are good for three different things:

Fixing water threshhold
Flood enemys site, so we can cast our cats there for more pressure
Remove burrowed enemy Minions like root Spiders or Pit Vipers by flooding them

I took out the Wolpertinger for a Selfsame Simulacrum. Because Wolpertinger is just a big minion in the best case. (Graveyardhate is thing now). Selfsame Simulacrum can copy my and my opponent’s minions. So it is a more situational card. Thanks for the idea in the comments Minkdinker.

Primer Update 08/12/2025

I added 4 Ponds because of the threshold ability for beasts and the costreduction. This site feels so good for this deck. I'm also thinking about adding two Kelp Caverns to get the Pigs of Sounder or the Grand Old Boars from under the deck on top of it. I think in some situations it could be a cool play.

When my gothic order is arrived (europe located, so i have to wait for my predorder) i would like to splash a little bit water for cards like Invigorate or Swap and maybe the Lugbog Cats from arthurian legends. A 4 Power Beast cast for 2 with the Pond ability or cast for 3 mana to an enemy water site is really good. Shrink is also good option.

Maybe i will take out the rootspiders when water is splashed.

I also want to use some cards in the collection but at the moment it is used to remember the next possible good cards for the deck.

Edit:

I couldn't resist to add some water cards right now.

I added Shrink, Lugbog Cats, Geyser and Questing Beast.

I added also two Kelp Caverns and a Lighthouse.

Shrink is good to stay alive while killing big minions.

Lugbog Cats are good because of the reasons above.

Geyser is good for flooding burrowed minions or helping out with water threshold. (Besides getting airborne and a card.)

Questing Beast is a big Minion with Lethal and implementet Stealth and Movement. Nothing to explain here.

Took out some Villages, a Quagmire and a Holy Ground.

Also Took out one Unicorn and the two Root Spiders. They are good but are easy to remove and sometimes blocking our own minions. With the new more aggressive playstyle they are not that important. For locking problematic minions we still have two iron shackles.

With Gothic and rivers of blood i think two sinkholes or fields of phyxis could be important and instead of Divine Healing adding Invigorate for the lower healing with powerboost should be fine.

Divine Healing with Rivers of Blood is just +3 Lifepoints. Invigorate is just +1 Lifepoint with river of blood but still boosts for Damage, its like a four Life Difference and a bit more flexibel for combats because the powerboost could also effect minions and not just the avatar. In addition the artwork of invigorate is fitting more the theme of the deck.

Primer Update 30/11/2025:

An update which makes the deck more aggressive.

And maybe a bit more competetive.

Added Ring of Morrigan, Grim Guisarme, Highland Princess, Sir Galahad, Amethyst Core and Earthquake. Took out the Vampires, Valor, Poisonous Dagger, Flaming Sword, one Iron Shakle and a Common Sense.

I also added 3 Windmills and a Mirror Realm.

Primer Update 28/11/2025:

I added Fine Courser for more movement instead one Pallibure Bat and for the second Bat i added a Poisonous Dagger for Lethal as an extra removal option.

Took out the Entangle Terrain, because it also affects our airborne minions.

Took out the last Horn of Caerleon, because it also gives nearby enemy minions charge.

-> I Added Kettletop Leprechaun instead, so we don't need to draw extra sites in the best case.

I also added one Arc Lightning for bigger minions or as a death blow, when enemy is on death's door. It is also not random like the Lightning Bolt.

Primer Update 22/11/2025:

I added Master Tracker because of units like Sir Agravaine or Morgana le Fay.

"Starting Build of this Deck":

Key Creatures – “Beasts”

Squeakers, Pigs of the Sounder and Grand Old Boar are pretty self-explanatory here and, together with other Beasts, are intended to form the main theme of the deck.

The Wolpertinger can become very powerful as the game progresses.

The Gyre Hippogriffs, with Airborne and Charge, are excellent creatures for applying pressure.

The two Daperyll Vampires are useful later in the game, as they either attract the opponent`s removal or, in the best case, help regenerate some life.

Hounds of Ondaros can be really frustrating for the opponent.

Ramp

The deck includes 2× Mix Terra in case the large boar is drawn and cannot be played from the deck via the effect of the smaller pigs.

--> You can also cast Root Spiders, Pigs of the Sounder or Autumn Unicorns with it for free.

Frontier Settlers are like little Pathfinders, I like the concept - You don`t need to draw a site or use your battlemage to draw/play sites and have a body for blocking/attacking.

Movement

Blink, Grapple Shot and Tactical Move are included so you don’t end up being a Snailmage.

Tutor

With Common Sense, you can search for the appropriate Ordinary depending on the situation.

Tempo Tax

Entangle Terrain, Iron Shackles, Root Spiders, Quagmire and Pebbled Paths help slow down the opponent.

Artifact/Aura Removal

One Disenchant and one Dispel for Aura- or Artifact-Removal, since they can be searched with Common Sense and I want to play both because of the artwork.

--> You can also use Bury for Artifact-Removal if needed.

Burn and Removal

Bury is good against creatures without Burrowing.

Lightning Bolt serves as cheap removal for small creatures or as a finisher when the opponent’s Avatar is at Death’s Door.

Magic Missiles are used depending on the situation.

Aggro

Crusade and Horn of Caerleon are good cards for applying pressure.

--> A 5 Power Autumn Unicorn with charge cast to a Site of your opponent is really good. (You can also use a Mix Terra if needed for the Unicorn)

Healing

Daperyll Vampire, Divine Healing and Holy Ground are good to keep you away from Death`s Door.

--> Grapple Shot in combination with Daperyll Vampire can get you a massive heal and damage output at the same time.

Lands

The lands are taken from my available collection, so the list is not yet optimal. A more refined concept may come in the future.

Suggestions for Additional Cards

White Hart is planned to be added once available.

Highland Falconer is maybe also a good option. Because you can thin out the deck, which is better for the boars and if a Grain Sparrow is searched we have 2 bodys and gain 2 life for 2 mana. (I have no Falconer yet in my collection)

Assorted Animals is also a good option to search wanted beasts and thin out the deck. Two copys will be added in the future if i get my hands on them.

If you have any ideas that fit the theme of the deck, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Welcome to the Forest (Gothic Update)

@MrHappy