Huge thanks to GOODLUCKBAD, For giving tips and being a huge inspiration

https://curiosa.io/decks/cm7mf7rrm001ele03o1xweti9?tab=view

AGGRESSIVE WATER? BUT HOW IS IT SO DEFENSIVE?

[[Druid]] is always the answer. Trying to play [[Druid]] in the year of 2026 is different. Without tawny respawn you have to fully utilize the rest of his kit. This wasnt an easy task, one that i probably still havent fully realised. But the revelation that led to this list was found in the deepest of dungeons.

Deck origin:

On a late evening; A while after i'd given up on the quest to play druid in a deck I enjoy, one that i felt utilized his kit to the fullest. I was playing VS my boy GOODLUCKBAD on the sorcerers summit. He was piloting his signature [[Spellslinger]] water list. After the match i said to myself, ive tried alot of color combinations for druid, but never mono colored. So unbeknownst to him i copied his masterpiece and swapped [[Spellslinger]] for [[Druid]]. A few games in with the deck i felt a breath of fresh air. I didnt win them all, however its strength commanded respect. Alot of the deck changed since that however there are still plenty of remenants.

Realising the potential of the unbroken body of water, consistency with spells such as [[Riptide]] and sites like [[Undertow]] and [[Maelström]]. Aswell as access to double Omphalos.

A little bit of tweaking to the sites. Maximizing the ammount of movement and adding some spells like coy nixie was all i did in the beginning. The beast had been unleashed.

Minions were flying left and right. Being dragged in by an [[Innsmouth Dock]], [[Riptided]] onto a river, pushed from said river onto a [[Wuthering Heights]], Bounced onto a [[Troll Bridge]]. All while being pinged down. This might be a juicer fellas.

Some time after these changes i felt comfortable enough to make even more changes, No more mixes, no more rivers. Alltough rivers still have a place in my heart im currently trying out more meta cards such as [[Thin Ice]], and utility colorless sites like [[Sinkhole]]. The rivers are certainly good and could come back in the future. The curve also lowered as i realised utilizing [[Bruin]] early is a way to success.

Strategy:

Tapping and flipping our avatar early is now the name of the game. I mulligan my entire hand most games unless i have a [[Lugbog Cat]], or a real 4 mana threat in hand.

The plan is to establish a good board presence early. Putting down minions such as [[Lugbog Cat]], [[Sea raider]] and [[Adept Illusionist]]. With all this we can safely flip our avatar. Playing out both bruin and someone else to push the pressure with some real threats.

This almost always happens on turn 5. The previous turn i should have put a 4 mana minion on board. Now it is time for our fluffy friend. Aswell as (hopefully) another hard to deal with dude. Prime examples would be [[Failed Mutation]], [[Sacred Stag]] or [[Captain baldassare]]. This swarm of minions will be hard to deal with. [[Earthquake]] is hopeless, [[Poison Nova]] is weird. Suffering from an [[Atlantean Fate]] is our biggest trouble here so focus on staying spread out and keeping atleast one of your guys alive.

This heavy pressure can be enhanced with a [[Sinkhole]]. After taking away their 4th mana i dont see many ways of dealing with all of this.

During most games i only draw 1 site at the beginning of my turn. Thats before flipping. Even after flipping i keep drawing spells. Simply tapping for sites. Trying to keep up the momentum of the double threat and draw through to as many good cards as possible. Unless i ofcourse have access to a game ender like [[Atlantean Fate]] or missing one threshold for [[Mesmerism]].

In the case that you didnt draw anything aggressive even after mulligans. The luck isnt out. This deck is great at fighting in the pocket. We still have a great defensive plan. No aggressive minions on hand can only mean one thing. Only defensive spells on hand. From here on out we try to utilize our [[Riptides]], [[Coy Nixie]] and [[Nelly Longarms]] in conjunction with the sites to remove any threats and bring forth 2 for 1s. This act of attrition will sooner or later end up in a draw that allows you to swing the momentum and end the game. Dont be afraid to sacrifice little [[Bruin]] if you have to.

A mix of these two gameplans is what happens most games, Being aggressive with the fluffy guy and using thorns and spells for removal. Always looking to spend as little cards for as much impact as possible.

This needs to happen since your only way to draw cards in this deck is Omphalos. We do not have the privelege of being able to tap to draw sites or turning skeletons into huge threats.

Theres also a secret minigame here that wins many games. Trying to pull the enemy avatar onto your sites. It will cause most players to panic. This provides alot of extra damage. Hard to defend against and leads to coy nixie and riptide being a death door finisher. More on this later on.

Tawny...

[[Tawny]] shouldnt be compared to her older brother bear. They are not the same and do not serve the same purpose. I try to get as many hits in as possible with her. Some games [[Tawny]] will deal 5 damage due to nobody wanting to spend cards to remove her. If they end up doing it later down the line it just feels worse because they ended up paying 5 life for their greed. Other use cases could be such as popping wards on critical threats, Going in for that last damage on a minion that survived a fight with 1 life or sacrificing her to a [[Troll Bridge]] if thats your only alley of attack. Drowning a [[Sacred Stag]] on [[Thin Ice]] is something she excels at.

At the end of the day going in for 1 or 2 damage is still good. How many times have you been 1 away from dooring someone?

SPELLS:

We begin to summarize the cards and maybe talk some use cases in this deck.

[[Atlantean Fate]]

Best card in the entire game. Draw an extra site for turn if you have this in hand please!

[[Ring of morrigan]]

Sweet on the defense in this deck. Sometimes you're missing that single ping to kill a minion. Otherwise obviously as a finisher which water doesnt have many of. Hold it in hand vs water decks. Play it freely vs any other element.

[[Torshammar Trinket]]

Currently only at one because you want a juiced hand not one filled with trinkets. Water minions already pack a punch aswell. Could be two but i dont know what to cut. Pairs really well with tawny to strike sites or vacuum up some skellies. Love to trinket a fey changeling aswell to get in some extra chip damage.

[[The rack]]

New addition to the deck so i havent tried it too much yet. Must feel good if you can get in atleast one hit with it. If the enemy avatar is on your side its very easy and the damage will jump through the roof with your thorns. Comboes with [[Plague of Frogs]]. Slapping it on [[Tawny]] to have her hit and die and maybe a cat can pick it up and strike again isnt bad at all. With enemy stretched to your side the game should be fairly easy to play.

[[Toolbox]]

Finishers, movement, utility. Only at two because the collection in water is horrifyingly bad.

[[Truesight Crossbow]]

Classic mono water death door technology. Many usecases for this one. Could be put on your [[Druid]] for that extra ping when someone is in your business. Other things include putting it on a stag to keep it even safer than it is. Killing airborne units, ETC.

A favorite is putting it on a [[Coy Nixie]] to deal with their [[Coy Nixie]] while keeping yours alive.

[[Dank Omphalos]], [[Algor Omphalos]]

Super good, one of these on board feels like game secured. Infinite access to cards. Easier to play than in most decks because you can always play it and summon bruin for atleast some board presence.

[[Meat hook]]

Sneaky meathook to pull their avatar into your territory. Pulled through thorns + trollbridge from bruin provides a respectful 9 damage. Probably forcing them to discard and ending the game on the spot. I only play with 1 because drawing two in one game would suck so much ass.

[[Adept Illusionist]]

Crazy good with [[Thin ice]]. Sacrificing a brother after riptiding or undertowing an enemy minion onto the ice. Early chip damage and lining up [[Snowball]] in the midgame. Aswell as working togheter with tawny to take down a 3 power minion basically for free. These guys end up being utility for anything that you might need, even sacrificing one for a trollbridge or sacrificing both of them incase you need to take drastic measures against a big guy in your territory.

If cemetary hate goes beyond what we have today this will go away. Things like [[Kor Crematory]], [[Mismanaged Mortuary]] and [[Bureau of Occult Control]] makes thes guys boring to play.

[[Pied Piper of hameln]]

A card im always on the edge about. Tokens arent in every game and this card is often useless. When its good its nice because it can really ruin certain decks aswell as hinder a necromancer for a couple of turns. One day this might change into another 3 or 4 drop if the meta doesnt call for it anymore.

[[Polar Explorers]]

These guys line up perfectly with our gameplan and are almost always happy to see. Main reason for them is getting [[Bruin]] active as quick as possible. Great to summon minions in your backrow safe from [[Gargantulas]] and [[Quarrelsome Kobolds]] etc. And avoiding back breaking defensive sites.

[[Aino]]

Puts pressure on an opponent and might force out a rootspider that we will later [[Geyser]]. Its not the most OP unique but when it does its thing it feels nice.

In mono water she kind of serves the purpose as a death door finisher with stealth. Definetley keep it in hand if you draw it late unless theres a more effective finisher.

[[Coy Nixie]]

Certainly feels overpowered here. She will open up attacks that werent previously discovered. Drag in the enemy avatar towards your sites. Functions as a death door finisher aswell if your opponent stepped up to cast a [[Poison Nova]] or other. She is one of the better minions in this deck.

Popping wards. The list goes on.

A key tech ive found works well is looking to build out sites on the third row in your opponents territory. This provides a safe haven when you flip for [[Bruin]] for avoiding atlantean fate. But more importantly serves as a spawning point for Nixie. Where you can instantly pull in the enemy avatar and potentially riptide them onto your thorns.

[[Fey Changeling]]

Used on the attack when opponent plays a minion infront of your [[Lugbog Cat]] and just start pushing damage. Damage is one of the most important things in this list. We want to end the game quickly and with as few roadblocks as possible.

Used defensively it simply buys you a turn but that could be enough. Way better on the offense.

After its been deployed i just look to hit an unblocked site, participate in killing a high powered minion or blocking.

[[Lugbog Cat]]

Just a great minion and when combined with a pond its such heavy pressure that opponent often folds before they can get their foot in the game.

Not much to say here other than to keep these in opening hand and if you have two it might be worth to go looking for a pond.

[[Nelly Longarms]]

Threaten their avatar with a drag. Play it on river rapids or use riptides to reposition. Good minion that makes it awkward to play.

[[Order of the Sacred Oak]]

At two since im so scared of [[Bane of Aventis]] but other than that i dont know why im only on two. I think i drew them too much and felt that their impact was lower than expected.

Alot of good decks will have access to a silencing effect, a desert or other that kind of ruins the purpose of them.

[[Sea raider]]

Great "Counter" to [[Plague of frogs]] and Foot Soldiers. This guy lets our hand be thick and gives access to other elements spells which can prove to be useful. This guy is meant to die in the name of card draw.

[[Abaddon Succubus]]

One of the goats here, 3 damage on flipped side. Pulling into a wuthering heights. Well you can imagine the damage. Meanwhile we are healing and leaving a 3 power body on the board. Just the best minion and will be a keep in opening hand. Works well with Geyser as people will try to play far away from it however do not expect an airborne attack.

[[Captain Baldassare]]

Love this ability and provides very interesting games. Certain choices are tricky to make but provide super interesting lines of play. Discarding bangers also feels soothing.

[[Failed Mutation]]

Beast at staying around. With this classic beater we can secure a healthym, strong boardstate alongside [[Bruin]]

[[Lord of unland]]

Great to power up [[Bruin]] when you are in a defensive position. Can also chase around the opponents [[Coy Nixie]] to get them off problematic sites. Very strong now that water is so popular giving the upper hand in trades. I will usually try to walk him in under opponents water site and go in for a strike further down the line. Often hes good to just stay submerged.

Comboes with [[Geyser]] and [[Floodplain]] in non water matchups.

[[Ruler of thul]]

This is the bomb of all bombs. Bruin + tawny + ruler is 10 damage with only 1 card from hand!!! Use him wisely and dont just play it whenever. The setup here is very important and do not greed to cast it early.

[[Sacred Stag]]

Stays around, It is a boring minion but very good. These guys feel extra good into another water deck that just played a stag because their stag cannot attack into your thorns. So you will keep a stag and they wont!

[[Selfsame Simulacrum]]

Selfsame is my favorite water card of all time. The ceiling on this card is endless and ive never experienced a match where i hadnt had the opportunity to cast it. Copy a [[Morgana le fay]], [[Gargantula]] their [[Gargantula]] or just copy one of your dudes. If you have other minions to cast i would wait until a juicer hits the bord that you can copy.

[[Archangel Raphael]]

Extra good when you pull their avatar to your side or if you manage to build your sites into their row. Alot of decks cannot finish you if you have the ward + [[Bruin]] or a [[Makeshift Barricade]]. Super grateful for this instant strike as dealing the killing blow is hard in mono water.

[[Questing Beast]]

Here comes another way to kill them at door or simply just deal alot of damage. Both of my 5 drops have a reason to exist in this deck. At that point in the game i am looking for a way to end my opponent and this just helps that.

[[Lord of lies]]

Is obviously quite an overpowered minion. Its hard not to include and helps alot when games drag out due to unforeseen reasons. I think the deck can function without it and sometimes i feel bad playing it because its so OP.

[[The green knight]]

Is a saving grace when you have fallen behind. With thorns this guy will deal 4 damage, 7 on a [[Troll Bridge]]. That is enough to boardwipe an entire offense. He can also be used aggressively in some capacity to tap down blockers. Comboes super well at door with [[Bruin]] and [[Makeshift Barricade]] making a nuisance to reach your avatar.

[[Plague of Frogs]]

The frogs are super versatile. They pick up trinkets, Adept users of [[The rack]] and friends of [[Ruler of thul]]. The blocking potential slows the enemies game down heavily.

They can also go gather drowned rings and other goodies.

[[Geyser]]

[[Rootspider]] puts a stick in our wheels but the solution even draws you a card. Airborne can be hard to deal with and who doesnt like an airborne lord of lies?

This is a great card but i will cycle it for another card if i draw it early on and dont see any use case for it.

[[Pollimorph]]

[[Tawny]] can cast it and the frog cant even enter your site. The downsides to this card are almost non existent. Thanks Eriks Curiosa.

[[Riptide]]

Movement, This deck is all about movement so why not have a really good one that works for both minions and avatars. The icing on the cake is that it draws you a card. Its also used on door to dig through your deck to find that sweet finisher you are looking for. Sweeping away blockers. Love to see a [[Riptide]] in the mid game and is one of the foundational cards that make this deck work.

I could easily go to 4 of these but having one in the toolbox also seems worth it to me.

[[Ice lance]]

Might look weird but we need another finisher. Obviously they cannot banish it using [[Legion of Gall]] or put a tax on it with [[Bureau of Occult Control]]. Which is why i dont just play another [[Toolbox]].

I save it for door unless i see a sweet 2 for 1 potential off [[Tawny]]. Such as killing a Vile imp and a Dragonette. Maybe killing off 2 [[Adept Illusionist]] is worth it. Im not sure.

[[Swap]]

1 swap because even though it is strong ive found that its a little bit situational. I think i can safely go to 2 and still be happy but 3 feels way too much when i am looking to put out minions. It is very versatile because it can be used on deaths door, steal things, put unsuspecting minions on a thin ice and more.

[[Mesmerism]]

Just game winning.

[[Stormy seas]]

Found that i needed a card that was non targeted removal to get around ward and stealth but also deal with artifacts. It can put a stop for someone trying to set up a huge ruler turn.

The ceiling is so high and for only 1 more mana than [[Drown]]. But 2 less mana than [[Call of the Sea]] which feels way too expensive and combined with the movement in our list can make for similar results.

[[Snowball]]

Last spell and it is another death door finisher!! Yes, when we eventually door them we need alot of things in our deck that we can find to kill them. Heres another one. Deals alot of damage at times if you need to. Ive also used this as a delivery mechanism for [[Bruin]] picking up a 3 powered enemy guy to kill them, Deal 3 to their avatar and then another 4 with [[Bruin]]. I like to keep my possibilites open and hence im playing with so many different deaths door finishers. This style of deckbuilding has proven to feel very flexible rather than just maindecking 3 snowballs or something like that. They all serve a similar purpose but do so in different ways.

SITES:

[[Bureau of Occult Control]]

I lacked when playing versus [[Imposter]]. This is here to remedy that. Also great because i am only playing 2 [[Toolbox]] so the pain in the ass isnt huge. Also, make sure to draw another site and play this last if you have peculiar port on hand.

I'll mulligan this if im not versus [[Imposter]] or [[Archimago]] in hopes of better sites.

[[Floodplain]]

Unleaches alot of cards that relate to your body of water. Great when your 4th site isnt a water site so you can still cast [[Mesmerism]] on turn 4 if needed. Making [[Rootspider]] bad is also a big positive.

[[Innsmouth dock]]

Enables thorns to finish someone off. Played upfront it also allows you to play minions safely in your back row and then pull them in to be ready for attack.

[[Maelström]]

More pulling, More goodness. Same as dock it can be played up front to pull your minions up. Full reach over the board versus another water deck feels real sweet, especially when your sites are spiky.

[[Mirror realm]]

Goes in any deck right? You have OP sites and you can have more. I have had 2 [[River Rapids]], A [[Wuthering heights]], and an [[Innsmouth Dock]]. Makes the game impossible to play. All thanks to mirror realm.

[[Peculiar port]]

Keeps up your hand size. Kind of a nonbo with Bureau and i had to cut something so im only playing 2. Great when you manage to cast a [[Horrible hybrids]] and make opponent discard a card due to a [[Troll bridge]] in the same game. Your hand size will be massive compared to opponent almost being in a topdecking situation without sacrificing any board presence.

[[Pond]]

[[Lugbog cat]], [[Sacred Stag]] and [[Questing beast]]. All out early swarming the board. A turn 2 cat followed by a turn 3 cat is breathtaking. I dont even hate this site later on in the game as it can allow for double casting for example a [[Pollimorph]] and [[Questing Beast]] while at 6 mana.

[[River Rapids]]

You know how this deck plays by now. Push them around. i like to have ordinary rivers to work with this aswell but we will see.

[[Sinkhole]]

Destroy the OP sites. Keep them off mana after you played some big stuff. Or keep it around if you need the mana yourself. Its a very versatile site. In some use cases you can even use it to pop your own site if they have a [[Lord of lies]] trying to get in. Its fringe but has won me games.

[[Tadpole pool]]

Generates some blockers, Attackers for [[Ruler of thul]] and snowball ammo.

[[Thin ice]]

Super good to kill minions free of charge with [[Coy nixie]], [[Adept illusionist]] and [[Tawny]]

[[Troll bridge]]

4 damage with thorns!!! they must be forced to discard a card!!! This staple site gets leveled up in [[Druid]] and has led many opponents to discarding multiple cards after pulling their avatar over this troll several times.

[[Undertow]]

MORE MOVEMENT. If i have to play this as a second site i will just put up my avatar so that i can get [[Bruin]] active quicker.

[[Wuthering heights]]

Last mention of movement, sorry but this site is OP. Be wary of playing your minions onto it versus earth.

A neat trick with this site is the mind games. Now your opponent has to play around a non existent [[Grapple shot]].

Collection:

Mono water collection is bad to say the least. Not much in way of aura removal or finishers.

[[Just a rock]]

Banish their ring seems good but you could also swap it.

[[Led astray]]

Sort of here as a non conditional [[Riptide]] you can walk minions into [[The void]] or just pull their avatar closer.

[[Old salt anchorman]]

The only real anti [[Coy nixie]] technology. Since it prevents the drowning of thin ice. Prevents [[Avatar of air]] of abusing your poor minions.

[[Riptide]]

Has been explained above. One in toolbox. Love that it draws you a card so your hand size stays up.

[[Drown]]

Removal.

[[Extinguish]]

As we are not in air this is all we get to remove auras. 2 for 1 when they play a jihad!! super good.

[[Horrible hybrids]]

Peculiar port.

[[Ice lance]]

The only finisher here! Cast it off any of your minions.

[[Makeshift Barricade]]

Excellent!! Traversing your sites to deal a finisher is already hard. Then getting through a barrier of 3 and dealing another damage. This card can easily buy you multiple turns.

[[Helpful hob]]

Never actually cast this but i see a world when lord of lies deals 18 damage.

shart style - Summit top 8

@Sirmurrmurr