Deck Philosophy

This list focuses on fast, relentless pressure, using charge minions and equipment to overwhelm opponents before they can react. Every play is designed to maximize tempo and force your opponent into an immediate defensive stance, embodying the Bladedancer’s ethos of speed, precision, and relentless offense.

Strengths

Fast early aggression
Strong equipment with minion synergy
Keeps opponents constantly on defense
Flexible with targeted spells
High burst and finishing potential

Weaknesses

Low powered minions
Struggles vs board clears
Weak in late-game scenarios
Equipment dependent
Exploitable attack patterns

Sites

Understanding site placement and their effects are fundamental and is the difference between average and good players. It's the first (and easiest) concept you should learn about your deck.

[[Accursed Desert]]

Wards can be a pesky thing to deal with and if you're going up against [[Savior]], these sites may be useful early game. However, since Water seems to be prominent in the current meta, breaking [[Order of the Sacred Oak]]'s ward always feels good.

[[Active Volcano]]

Double Fire threshold. Need I say more?

[[Bureau of Occult Control]]

This site is criminally underplayed. If you're running a mono Fire list, consider going without [[Toolbox]] / [[Silver Bullet]] and run this site to force your opponents to pay an extra 2 mana to access their cemetery and collection. If your opponent is forced to [[Dispel]] or [[Disenchant]] your equipment or auras, it's going to take a total of 6 mana to get it done. Bureau is also effective against [[Imposter]] forcing them to pay 5 mana to transform. Guess they won't be transforming into [[Pathfinder]] anytime soon ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[[Fields of Camlann]]

A well timed Fields of Camlann can tilt the odds in your favor if you allow your opponent to build their board. Look to play on turn 4 (on the draw) or turn 5 (on the play).

[[Forge]]

There is no other site I would rather play on Turn 1. Getting a [[Lance]] immediately in hand is like getting the corner slice of a brownie.

[[Plague Pits]]

Death is coming and there are usually at least 3 minions between both cemeteries by turn 5. Effective against any decks using recursion or utilizing the cemetery like [[Archimago]], [[Deathspeaker]], [[Flamecaller]], and [[Necromancer]].

[[Poisoned Well]]

This is another site that requires patience. Opponents are usually punished if they play sites all the way up to you, but if they remain hesitant for long, a well placed Well can deal 2 to 3 damage.

[[River of Blood]]

Many speculated that this site would deter players from utilizing [[Ring of Morrigan]], but that card is still strong simply for it's ability to deal damage by casting spells. You cannot allow your opponents to stabilize. Blood for the Blood God!

[[Sinkhole]]

There are a few sites out there like [[Troll Bridge]] and [[Perilous Bridge]] that are quite annoying to traverse through in order to reach your opponent. [[Gnome Hollows]] is also sometimes annoying if you already have [[Sword and Shield]] equipped. Then of course, there is [[Pebbled Paths]] which shuts down your charge minions. Blow up these sites and clear the way for you and your minions. If you're going first, a Turn 3 Sinkhole followed up with a [[Colicky Dragonettes]], [[Quarrelsome Kobolds]], or [[Redcap Powries]] feels really good, putting more pressure on your opponent to draw a site on their next turn.

[[Vast Desert]]

Great for popping [[Skeleton]]s and [[Foot Soldiers]] or hitting 4 powered minions for 1 then trading a [[Redcap Powries]] into a [[Autumn Unicorn]] or [[Failed Mutation]].

[[Vesuvius]]

Blowing up and damaging all units around you for 3 can really save you in some tricky situations. Not only does it hit units on the surface but also the subsurface. Great for taking out a number of [[Frog]]s, [[Skeleton]]s, [[Foot Soldiers]], [[Coy Nixie]], [[Root Spider]], and any 3 powered minions. You can play this site in front of your starting site, but if somehow you can place it nearby your opponents starting site, that's even better.

[[Vindictive Nation]]

There is nothing worse than getting blown out by [[Realm-Eater]]'s site destroying capabilities. Second to that, is having all your minions killed by [[Earthquake]] and then rearranged. Nation forces your opponents to think carefully about the risk vs. reward of manipulating your sites.

[[Wizard's Den]]

There is no denying that card advantage comes at a cost. This site is particularly good in more aggressive decks, increasing the odds of you obtaining the cards you need early on to get the job done. Not much can be done against [[Phase Assassin]] or other stealth minions who are able to reach this site. I would always advise playing this site on your back row, but to the left or right of your starting site on turn 2 or 3.

Spells

Even in a Minion, charge-centric [[Bladedancer]] build, Magic spells are crucial for answering bigger threats and breaking through defensive walls that pure minion aggression can’t bypass. They provide targeted removal and control and tactical utility to keep your momentum intact and ensure your rush doesn’t stall against high-value or sticky enemy minions. Equipment-based Artifacts are exceptionally powerful on the [[Bladedancer]] because they directly amplify her damage output, turning her into a mobile, scaling threat rather than just a support piece. Since she can step and attack a unit after her first strike each turn, every equipment buff compounds across multiple attacks, allowing her to deal explosive damage and pressure multiple units in a single activation.

Minions

Charge Minions

[[War Horse]], [[Wild Fanatic]], [[Redcap Powries]], [[Monstrous Lion]], [[Saracen Raiders]], and [[Rebecks]]

These Charge minions are vital because they convert resources into immediate pressure, denying opponents the safety of a setup turn with opportunity of applying damage, reducing your opponent's life total the turn they are summoned. Instead of waiting a round to impact the board, they threaten damage, trades, or positional advantages the moment they enter play, keeping tempo firmly in your favor.

Low Impact Minions

[[Vile Imp]], [[Colicky Dragonettes]], and [[Quarrelsome Kobolds]]

These minions influence the board the turn they’re summoned without needing charge or combat. Instead of relying on an attack step, they generate value through enter-play damage, chip pressure, or direct pings that soften targets, finishing weakened units, push incremental damage, and defeating opponents that are on death's door.

High Impact Minions

[[Cerberus in Chains]], [[Morgana le Fay]], and [[Boudicca]]

These minions must be dealt with by your opponent the turn they come into play or else their abilities allow them to heavily influence the match. [[Cerberus in Chains]] is a high-powered minion that follows [[Bladedancer]] and acts as both a great blocker as well as a minion that can dish out a high amount of damage. [[Morgana le Fay]] provides card advantage allowing you with more ways to deal with threats. It's worth noting that attacking with this minion while they have stealth is worthwhile as getting in 3 points of damage before casting her spells is ideal. [[Boudicca]] is useful because [[Bladedancer]] gets the added bonus +3 damage bonus on their first attack when hitting a site.

More to come on this primer...

"Pandemonium" SC 26' 12th Overall (6-2)

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