{{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD_UNEkIU0s}}

Introduction

This deck was born from a simple idea: build an aggressive strategy capable of fighting the current water-heavy meta while still using the raw efficiency of Fire creatures.

At the center of the deck is [[Savior]], an Avatar whose ability to grant Ward fundamentally changes how aggressive creatures behave. In a normal deck, small creatures trade once and disappear. Here, they often survive multiple combats, forcing the opponent to spend far more resources than expected.

Spiritually speaking, [[Savior]] is also a pretty interesting Avatar. In this list he represents something closer to shamanism and chaos magick — animals, fire, protection and controlled chaos. Which feels extremely appropriate when you see how the board develops.

Instead of relying heavily on card draw engines like many Water decks do, this deck focuses on extracting maximum value from each card played. Creatures stay alive longer thanks to Ward, removal becomes asymmetric, and mass removal spells often hurt the opponent far more than they hurt us.

Another important pillar of the deck is the strategic use of board wipes. Because many of our creatures are protected, these spells often create devastating tempo swings.

Testing updates and meta adjustments appear at the end of this primer.

About the Deck

This list plays best as an Aggro Tempo strategy.

The goal is not simply to flood the board with creatures, but to create efficient threats that survive longer than they should.

Thanks to [[Savior]], creatures can often:

attack
trade
survive
receive Ward again
continue applying pressure

This creates asymmetric trades, meaning each of your creatures can force two or more answers from the opponent.

The deck also treats sites as strategic tools, not just mana sources. They help control positioning, punish certain strategies, stabilize thresholds and sometimes function as removal themselves.

In most matchups, you are the beatdown.

Who Is This Deck For?

I built this list specifically to satisfy my urge to play aggro while still leveraging the strongest Fire cards I already owned, combined with the new Gothic Water staples.

Aggro Heads

If you enjoy putting pressure on the board and attacking constantly, but feel frustrated with the dominance of Necromancer and Water control shells, this deck gives you the tools to fight back.

Druid Fire Widows

After the errata, many players abandoned Druid Fire entirely. This list gives those cards a new home and lets them shine again with Ward synergies and asymmetric trades.

Necrowater Haters

If you enjoy anti-meta strategies and dislike seeing a single archetype dominate the environment, this deck is extremely satisfying.

Steampunkers

If you always wanted to combine Fire and Water but felt limited by the lack of a dedicated Omphalos, this list finally makes that combination work.

Alternative Spiritual Paths

Since [[Savior]] grants Ward as protection, I like to think of the deck as representing broader spiritual paradigms — something closer to shamanism and chaos magic rather than rigid orthodoxy.

Core Strategy

The game plan can be divided into three phases.

Early Game

The early game is about developing efficient threats while preparing your mana base.

It is usually correct to draw sites in the first two or three draws, while keeping at least two sites in hand.

A strong opening hand usually includes creatures costing (1), (2) and (3).

Important early cards include:

[[Redcap Powries]]
[[Redbreast Robin]]
[[War Horse]]
[[Pied Piper of Hamelin]]
[[Ring of Morrigan]]
[[Philosopher’s Stone]]

The ideal hand also contains a containment plan such as:

[[Atlantean Fate]]
[[Peasant Revolt]]
[[Fields of Camlann]]

Mid Game

This is where the tempo advantage becomes decisive.

Your creatures continue applying pressure while the deck uses powerful reset tools such as:

[[Peasant Revolt]]
[[Atlantean Fate]]
[[Fields of Camlann]]
[[Poison Nova]]

These spells often become one-sided board wipes thanks to Ward.

This is also the stage where creatures that generate card advantage should enter the game:

[[Captain Baldassar]]
[[Maiden, Mother, Crone]]
[[Morgana le Fay]]

Late Game

The deck does not aim to prolong the game, but it still has powerful finishers.

Common ways to close the game include:

[[Searing Truth]]
[[Quarrelsome Kobolds]]
[[Redbreast Robin]]
[[Saracen Raiders]]
[[Ring of Morrigan]]
[[Flame Strike]] (collection)
[[Minor Explosion]] (collection)
[[Flayer]] (collection)
[[Colicky Dragonettes]] projectiles

And when [[Boudicca]] enters the board…

MAMA IS COMING.

Resource & Card Advantage

This deck does not rely on heavy draw engines like many Water decks.

Instead, it creates card advantage through survivability and efficient exchanges.

Ward already generates huge value by allowing creatures to survive longer than normal.

Additional draw sources include:

[[Captain Baldassar]]
[[Morgana le Fay]]
[[Gift of the Serpent]] - Combine with Redbreast Robin, Quarrelsome Kobolds or Colicky Dragonettes and see the magic happening
[[Maiden, Mother, Crone]]
[[Searing Truth]]

Together these cards provide just enough card flow to maintain momentum without slowing down the aggressive plan.

Key Cards

[[Redbreast Robin]]

This is my secret weapon.

I learned the importance of having my own Robin from Batman.

The card is incredibly versatile:

removes tokens
deals finishing damage
controls sites
attracts removal

Many players underestimate it, which makes it even more dangerous.

[[Redcap Powries]]

Three power for (3) cost and fully compatible with Ward.

They are responsible for much of the deck's early and midgame pressure.

[[Adept Illusionist]]

One of the most interesting engines in the deck.

Because it enters with Ward, it usually survives long enough to fetch another copy from the deck.

After that, it becomes extremely hard to remove and is excellent for defending frontline sites.

[[Lugbog Cat]]

Four power for only (3) cost.

In a meta full of water decks, its restriction of only being played on water sites often becomes an advantage.

With Ward it becomes an extremely efficient attacker.

[[Quarrelsome Kobolds]]

Possibly the strongest Fire minion.

They enter the battlefield already dealing unavoidable damage.

With Ward they often survive long enough to attack again.

They also combine well with:

desert damage
[[Colicky Dragonettes]]
[[Redbreast Robin]]

[[Boudicca]]

An extremely powerful damage amplifier.

With just two or three creatures attacking sites, she can easily push the opponent into Death’s Door.

And when she enters the battlefield…

MAMA IS COMING.

[[Ruler of Thul]]

Another strong damage amplifier.

With Charge and buffs it helps your creatures reach the opponent's Avatar quickly.

[[Sacred Stag]]

Four power for (4) cost and already protected with Ward.

With [[Pond]] it can even enter play cheaper.

It defends, attacks and almost makes coffee.

[[Failed Mutation]]

An unusual but extremely powerful inclusion.

Although it cannot receive Ward, it has a form of natural protection since it cannot be targeted or damaged by spells.

This allows it to ignore most removal in the game.

Sites and Their Roles

Instead of grouping them as mana sources, it is more useful to understand their strategic functions.

Threshold Correction

These stabilize the elemental requirements of the deck.

[[Active Volcano]] (f)(f)
[[Deep Sea]] (w)(w)
[[Caerleon-Upon-Usk]]
[[Joyous Garden]]

Swarm Control

These help control wide boards.

[[Fields of Camlann]]
[[Remote Desert]]
[[Arid Desert]]
[[Vesuvius]]

Lifegain Hate

Prevents stabilization.

[[River of Blood]]

Graveyard Hate

Essential against recursion decks.

[[Plague Pits]]
[[Kor Crematory]]

Control Sites

These provide board control.

[[Fields of Camlann]]
[[Garden of Eden]]

Movement

Helps reposition threats aggressively.

[[River Rapids]] - You can put Quarrelsome Kobold in front of the enemy Avatar.

Ramp

Provides mana acceleration.

[[Imperial Road]]
[[Pond]]

Advanced Play Patterns (Extra Section)

Ward Sequencing

Creatures are usually only played without Ward if they must remove an immediate threat.

Otherwise:

if the creature would die in combat → Ward first
if it survives combat → Ward after

Asymmetric Board Wipes

Mass removal should be used when:

it removes key threats
it leaves the opponent far behind
or when the exchange is almost unilateral

The most powerful wipes are:

1 [[Peasant Revolt]]

2 [[Poison Nova]]

3 [[Fields of Camlann]]

Imperial Road Timing

[[Imperial Road]] is best used once the opponent has no sites left in hand.

It allows you to:

advance aggressively
gain extra mana
keep pace with Savior’s Ward cost

Boudicca Pressure

If you have two or three creatures hitting sites, [[Boudicca]] can quickly push the opponent into Death’s Door.

Common Mistakes (Extra Section)

Bad Mulligans

Players often keep slow hands.

The deck must start applying pressure early.

Playing Creatures Without Ward

This often leads to losing tempo unnecessarily.

Poor Site Positioning

Sites should be played dynamically depending on the matchup.

Most of the time it is safer to play backwards, advancing only when necessary.

Stacking Creatures

Placing multiple creatures in the same site makes them vulnerable to spells such as:

[[Earthquake]]
[[Call to the Sea]]
[[Atlantean Fate]]

Unfortunately, these cards affect warded minions.

Not Attacking with the Avatar

If the opponent relies heavily on removal, advancing with the Avatar can sometimes be the correct play.

Matchups

vs Aggro

Generally favorable.

Decks like [[Interrogator]], [[Persecutor]] and [[Battlemage]] can be controlled through efficient trades.

vs Midrange

This is usually the hardest matchup.

Large creatures combined with heavy removal can disrupt your tempo.

vs Control

Very good matchup.

Decks like [[Archimago]] and [[Deathspeaker]] struggle to keep up with the early pressure.

vs Water Decks

The most challenging matchup.

Cards like [[Coy Nixie]] can remove Ward through forced movement.

Positioning becomes extremely important. Sometimes attacking from the sides helps avoid dangerous movement effects.

Against [[Waveshaper]], placing earth sites in front of the opponent can help limit the expansion of water bodies.

Testing & Updates

The local meta in São Paulo, Brazil has shifted quite a bit.

Players here tend to build their own decks instead of following established metas, and due to both card availability and preference, we are currently seeing far fewer Necromancer and Water-based decks. Instead, a new challenge has emerged: Earth/Fire Savior builds.

These decks bring a very different kind of pressure. Instead of relying on spells or control, they present durable board states and efficient creatures that are much harder to break through.

The main problems I’ve been facing are:

[[Shield Maiden]] making trades extremely inefficient
[[Root Spider]] slowing down positioning and tempo
[[Assorted Animals]] creating constant board presence

This shifts the matchup significantly. Instead of fighting removal or combo strategies, the deck now has to deal with resilient midrange boards that absorb pressure very well, making it harder to close games.

Some players in my group have started adapting their lists with cards like [[Royal Bodyguard]] and other defensive tools, which makes the matchup even more challenging.

At this point, I’m still evaluating the best way to approach this shift. It may require adjusting the balance between aggression, removal, and reach, or even reconsidering how the deck closes games against more stable boards.

More testing is needed, and I’ll report back with further updates.

One of the most memorable moments with this deck happened on turn five, when I cast [[Peasant Revolt]] against an opponent who had only one unique unit and four unique sites in play. GG

Everything disappeared.

He conceded immediately.

Sometimes the deck wins through steady pressure.

Other times…

It wins through absolute chaos.

🇧🇷 Savior Steampunk - Aggro Tempo 🐎🐈🐦

@RaphaelFernandes