DECK OBJECTIVE:

To Cheat THE DOOM as fast as possible on the board, possibly duplicating it with Selfsame Simulacrum. Don't worry about casting selfsame early, Deathspeaker can revive it when you have the doom to make another copy (It can't be banished after summoned as it can't be banished). This deck you KEEP the DOOM if you draw it in starting hand. Well, not really in competitive, but casual for sure. Casting browse twice (Archimago) is valid strategy to find THE DOOM when playing casually.

Deck focuses on summoning spirits and reanimating with Ghost Ship, while cheating big minions with Sinister Pond - mortal transform combo and shapeshift.

Try to ramp for 1 mana in early game and solve thresholds, following with big minion plays like Headless Haunt, Lugbog Cat to pressure opponent into using removal on minions, while you leave some time to put on Pathfinder mask and try to get as many sites with him as you can. From then on change masks according to needs and punish opponents for letting you develop a huge mana base, which this deck tries to revolve around. Deck tries to go long to fully develop Spirit strategies and utilize the big minion strategies. To this end you play defensive site placement, and vampires for healing.

Deck wants to go long and develop. For this how you play sites is crucial. Ideally you have one tower in hand, one movement site and one trap site, decide while playing if you want to ramp with tower turn 2 to go into Pathfinder, or if you have to adjust strategy based on opponent. Against agro, it may be better to focus early game more on defensive plays, and ramp more later with pathfinder. Ideally, you can get multiple site placements with Pathfinder with this deck, develop your mana fast and play big minions from hand, while baiting removal early game with threats like Lugbog cat, Sturmgeist, Headless haunt.

SPIRITS:

Gost Ship on The Void next to river rapids or wuthering height or Innsmouth Dock lets you reanimate one spirit each turn in late game, when you should at least have one target for it, usually more.

SHAPESHIFT and SINISTER POND:

Mortals transform into Evil from hand via Sinister Pond - DOOM cheat strategy. Alot of good evil targets to shapeshift, can even same turn shapeshift into Vampires and whirling blades for 7 mana if you have Apprentice magician out, which is a good get back into game play to heal damage taken in early game. Just don't prioritize Sinister pond in starting hand, try to be defensive. It is only a nice bonus if you can pull it off.

Apprentice and Fey Changeling are prime shapeshift targets searching for The DOOM. These cards keep you afloat in early game, cutting tempo from opponent and stalling into late game.

Shapeshift has ALOT of good targets, prime target being The DOOM. If you don't draw into any good shapeshift targets, you can go into necromancer from collection, albeit that is quite slow, but there are turns when you have 4 mana and nothing better to do then Necromancer for 3 and skeleton for 1.

DECK PERFORMANCE:

Deck performs consistently and is quite strong into most things except for agro, which it hopes to stall with defensive sites. If you pull off early DOOM you usually just win.

DECK CHANGES:?

Optionally you can put in Dank Omphalos, i just don't like it drawing THE DOOM and this deck doesn't have the tempo for playing it.

Testing abundance, idea is for combo with Arcane Barrage, testing if its too slow for this deck. 1 test, looks promising. Abundance strong, they can't remove it as a minion and next turn enchantress, animate and go to town. Or leave the aura be and play more cards each turn.

Still don't know what to cut for four waters of paradise. Could cut the cores, but the threshold fixing is great as the deck is quite high in thresholds requirements, also feels like the deck likes to have all the mana it can consistently get, not just for DOOM.

Contemplating cutting witch as I played it once in 20+ games. Only really usefull where there is 2 or less life till Deaths Door. Was thinking Interrogator, as you could at times pull it off, as they would not see it coming, and his effect doesn't require tapping. Gonna test.

Could swap 3 towers duplicates for 3 watchtowers.. I find in testing that having more one mana bumps really helps the deck, also Atlantean fate doesn't wreck your thresholds from towers.

Abaddon Succubus could help some with healing to prolong into late game, but i am finding it hard to cut anything for them. Same with orm infestor or angel egg. Was thinking of cutting sinister pond and 2x Apprentice Magician for 2x Abaddon Succubus, but for time beeing i like the occasional ramp that you get from Magician pond combo, not to forget Death dealer can revive apprentice for card draw, and this deck utilizes them for Shapeshift or a Early game blocker.

I liked playing with Perilous Bridge as it can stop opponents nicely, one problem is drawing it while pathfinder and blocking yourself from moving with the sites. Now the strategy is more on coy nixie thin ice side, which work nice, but granted stopping opponent with site placement is trickier.

Call of the sea could fit in, but only half water might not be enough.. Deck could use some more removal.

COOL POINTS:

Bonus points if you transform the fay changeling into THE DOOM! Forsaken dead baby transforms into a monster to haunt the mortals that abandoned it (Ruler of Thul and Highland Princess forbidden love child). The deck tells a great story. Have fun!

Doom of the Sinister Pond

@treexnerd