{{https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG3rZMAu9gU}}

I G N I S D O O M † 🌪️🔥

Hi!

Here i bring you my take on a midrange smoke (A)(F) build on the coolest (and sometimes underestimated) Gothic avatar: [[Harbinger]]!

Let’s start our doom chants and begin to summon devilish creatures from hell!

0. WHY HARBINGER?

You go for Harbinger, if you like ✅:

a) Luck-based “mini games”: You start the game already playing against your luck: three rolls that can define your opening hands, site’s placement and how much of aggro or control you will be in the starting turns.

b) Big bad creatures: Harbinger truly shines outpacing your opponents, curving big minions with the discount, even better if putting them in the opposite sites for good trades and early aggression.

c) Midrange strategy: With this deck, rapidly you can switch from aggro to control (and vice versa) and often the best moments for you are in the midgame.

Maybe don't go for it, if you prefer ❌:

a) Consistent openings: The portal placements can be brutal sometimes, leaving you already in disadvantage before the game really starts.

b) Fast-aggro or hard-control: The super fast and cheap minion strategy lovers, as well as the hard-control players, can find this strategy clunky, with heavy (and sometimes hard to cast) minions or not so much flexibility and gas in the late game.

c) Super strong meta killer decks: Although i think this deck can be really strong (specially if well played and with some luck with the rolls...) this is NOT a tier-S meta killer deck. If you want to go for the obvious options, maybe Harbinger is not for you.

1. THE IDEA

ex abysso ignis nascitur

The main idea behind the deck is how to better leverage from Harbinger’s passive signature ability: get 3 minion spawn squares – possibly including your opponent’s sites and also voids – with the discount of (1), once per turn.

Harbinger can be built on a wide variety of elements, but after some tests, my preferred one is smoke: air (A) for better exploitation of voidwalk, positioning, removal and overall good collection options and fire (F) for great aggressive minions and finishers.

My first take on [[Harbinger]] was oriented towards water (W), which can also be very good, considering the wide variety of great powerful new minions from Gothic (you can check the list here:

Water (W) w/ splash Air (A) List : https://curiosa.io/decks/cmim4cz4o0084lc04os56yuvs

After some tests (and also considering the growing popularity of mono-water lists with [[Necromancer]], [[Pathfinder]] and even [[Savior]]) I switched to Air (A) + Fire (F). So let’s dive in!

2. THE ELEMENTS

silentium mundi frangitur

a) AIR (A):

Arguably the best color in Sorcery (sorry wet-heads (W)!) here is the place [[Harbinger]] shines the most. The main collaboration for the deck are:

AURAS

Three great auras that can impact game: [[Summoning Sphere]], because as you will see, sometimes the luck is against us with Harbinger passive ability and we need more strategic spawning options. [[Eclipse]] again can help us a lot with positioning and also beef-up our Evils (we have +25 sinful dudes around). [[Sphere of Animosity]] because it can be just backbreaking in some match-ups (hi [[battlemage]], hi [[pathfinder]]).

MINIONS

In the minion’s realm, for air, we have two great keywords at our disposal: airborne and voidwalk. [[Gibbous Nightgaunts]] is our bread-and-butter here, specially if it can be cast on turn 2, using the (1) discount. We also have a sub-theme here: VAMPIRES! Come on in, [[Daperyll Vampire]] and [[Renatus Trueblood]] two amazing flyers that can really outclass races with aggro match-ups and put us back away from death’s door. [[Hounds of Ondaros]] is a BEAST that is hard to remove and can be summoned early in the void.

MAGIC

Finally, the real spotlight for air (A): the magics. We have [[lightning bolt]], [[grapple shot]] and [[whirling blades]] as flexible cards that can be used aggressively our defensively (these ones specially effectives if combined with a vampire). Great to close the match.

b) FIRE (F):

Fire (F) brings more relevant options of minions: [[Barging Barghest]] for another dude that can be cast on turn 2 in the void with good mobility, [[greater blood demon]] for a cheap, dumb beater and [[clamor of harpies]] and [[askelon phoenix]] for two more flyers that can devour weak minions. Fire true stars are [[infernal legion]] (imagine casting this bad boy in a opponent’s site for (5) mana, burning their minions and/or avatar on turn 4 with the help of a ramped [[Lone Tower]].. just…. *chef kiss*.

3. DECK COMPOSITION

a) STRENGHTS:

Strong and impactul minions, which can often be cast with discount (1), in your opponent's site and also have a lot of mobility (lot's of flyers);
Flexibility to switch between aggro and control stances;
Life gain with vampires;
Reliable options to close the game after death's door;
Overall good control and reach of the realm, including voids;
Can make epic swing backs (heavy burst damage if not responded);
Good match-ups: [[Witch]], [[Necromancer]], [[Pathfinder]]

b) WEAKNESSES:

Weak against heavy removal / board wipe decks;
Difficulty to deal with wards (dependent on one [[bane of aventis]];
Can be outrun by fast aggro, while also be outclassed by late game control;
[[Harbinger]] ability progressively loses relevance through long games;
Portal rolls can be dentrimental for your strategy;
Early game can be slow;
Bad match-ups: [[Savior]], [[Archimago]], [[Deathspeaker]] and some Fury Roads

4. SET UP - OPEN THE DOOM PORTALS 🌌🎲

ignis portas abyssī aperit

Well, let's talk about portals. Before you keep your hand, you roll the three squares on the realm where you will place your portals and see where you will have the advantage to cast your hordes. As already mentioned, luck can be on your side (or not!).

______Opp Avatar_____

A. [01] . [02] . [03] . [04] . [05]

B. [06] . [07] . [08] . [09] . [10]

C. [11] . [12] . [13] . [14] . [15]

D. [16] . [17] . [18] . [19] . [20]

_____Your [[Harbinger]]___

Let's say your opponent's avatar starts at square 03 and you on 18.

At the first glance, you can think that the best portal places are 02, 03 or 04, right?

Although, yes, they can be awesome depending on your oppening hand and opposing deck, they can also not be ideal.

The same goes for, let's say, portals on 17, 18 or 19 - at first you can think they are bad places to have portals because it's not on your opp's face... but these can also be great for defense against aggro decks or saving you in the late game!

So, it's good to remember:

It's best to have the portals spread out through the realm, spammimg different rows, for maximized options of aggro and control positioning along the game;
Defensive portals matter;
Outer colums kinda suck, but here voidwalkers can be your friends;

5. EARLY GAME / OPENING HANDS

After your portals are active and ready to go, you see your opponent's avatar and you see your first 6 card hand.

What you want to see?

In general:

At least one offensive and one defensive portal - preferable in the 3 mid colums;
1-2 minions with airborne / voidwalk / mobility;
Opportunity to leverage your portals in the first 2-3 turns with good minions;
Varied threshold (A) (F) and acceleration ([[lone tower]], [[gothic tower]], [[dark tower]] and [[city of glass]]);
Utility sites for mid rows ([[wuthering heights]], [[fields of phyxis]] and [[vindictive nation]] are relevant here);

BE CAREFUL!

Don't overpush it and put all your threats fast. You need to be aware of board wipes and bad trades that can threaten your mid game.

Try to save some gas for your opponent's response.

Watch out for [[Root Spider]], [[coy nixie]], [[thin ice]], [[Chains of Prometheus]] or bigger early drops as [[lugbog cat]] and [[Autumn Unicorn]]

6. MID GAME

Here is your time to shine. Ideally, in the mid game you have good minions in place and you are the aggressor, while also having some other threats in hand for scalability. Focus on pushing the damage and keep the minions comming and be mindful of your mana usage. Use your portals wisely, flanking your enemy army and opening different attack opportunities on different places of the realm. Your main goal now is to lower your opponent's life fast for a death's door - a well timed [[desecrate]] or [[grapple shot]] can be key.

Sometimes, in heavy control / attrition games, at this point you can have difficulties in asserting a constant wave of threats, so it's important to secure a "refill option". Try looking out for [[grandmaster wizard]] or even a [[book of the dead]].

Watch out for [[earthquake]], [[atlantean fate]], [[the black plague]], [[poison nova]], [[Divine Healing]]

7. FINISH IT UP

ignis ultimus omnia devorat

If everything went well, now your opponent is already at a low life and you have controled their threats.

Be careful with big late game decks, such as [[archimago]] and [[deathspeaker]]. The correct philosophy for this deck is "strangulation due to constant pressure" and not only as a glass cannon that only leaves your opponent at 1, 2 our DD life but can't finish it up.

Try to save a [[hotwheel]] in hand, or maybe even a [[infernal legion]]. We have great options in the toolbox as well with [[lightning bolt]] and the classic [[zap!]].

Watch out for [[Craterize]], [[Amulet of Niniane]] or big comebacks with [[infiltrate]], [[ruler of thul]]

8. THE COLLECTION

Finally, for the collection i bring flexible options:

1x [[Desecrated ground]]: Part of [[desecrate]];
2x [[Ghoul]]: Could be summoned with [[forsaken Crypt]] and [[Young Master Damion]];
1x [[Disenchant]]: Getting rid of [[Atlantean Fate]], [[ring of morrigan]] or other trouble-makers;
1x [[Displace]] and 1x [[Teleport]]: For positioning;
1x [[Lightning Bolt]] and [[Zap!]]: Insta damage / finishers;
1x [[Minor explosion]]: As a more tactical removal for stealth / grouped enemies;
1x [[Murder of crows]]: Recursive global chip damage / removal of skeletons against [[necromancer]];

Have fun opening portals! 🌌

Thanks for reading!

By: machinagro 🇧🇷

🇧🇷 I G N I S D O O M † :: Harbinger Smoke Competitive

@Machinagro