runecraft deck building help

[ICStars77]

https://shadowverse-portal.com/deckbuilder/create/3?hash=1.3.5-gkQ.5-gkQ.5-f_Y.62WbG.5-gka.5-gka.5-gka.5-gkk.5-gkk.5-gku.5-gku.5-gku.62UtQ.62UOA.66IXo.65CDA.66IIA.62ZmE.66J0Q.66J0Q.66J0Q.62UOU.62WqQ.62Wbk.5-glC.5-glC.5-glC.62UOK.5zWmg.659nE.5-iS6.5-iS6.62Wba.62Z12.62Utu.62Utu.61SDy.62bTI.5-iRo.62Zm4
I don't have a ton of cards yet and not wanting to spend too many vials so making golds/rainbow cards is for the minute out of the equation. Cards of note that I don't have in deck but do have are flame destroyer (2), mythril golem (1 - just got haven't gotten around to adding it yet), gilgamesh (3), fiery embrace (3), petrification (2).....
Anyway been having a lot of fun with this deck but feel like I'm missing something - I don't have a lot to get heavy board control vs rush (hence the ward cards), but if it gets to turn 5-6 I'm usually fine but it still feels like there's something missing and can't figure out what (or how much needs to be changed). Any tips appreciated.

[Xuande]

Runecraft is very bipolar at the moment - either you try to win through stall (a deck completely dedicated to the interaction between multiple copies of Dimensional Shift+Flame Destroyer) or through value (typically centered around Earth effects and lots of Guardian Golems). While you might not be able to do either to its fullest on your current card budget, you should try to work towards one of those concepts rather than both.

[Complete Domination]

You get some of those from completing story mode,iirc. Not sure about fiery embrace but I'm quite certain they give out flame destroyer x3.

And I'm more leaning towards getting a D.rune. Earth isn't bad but they are in a weird place right now since their win condition really isn't that great compared to other decks. It all comes down to which legendaries and golds you manage to acquire though,if you got Pascale there's no reason not to go with Earth.

[ICStars77]

KIDS LIKE YOU SHOULD BURN IN HEL님이 먼저 게시:

You get some of those from completing story mode,iirc. Not sure about fiery embrace but I'm quite certain they give out flame destroyer x3.

And I'm more leaning towards getting a D.rune. Earth isn't bad but they are in a weird place right now since their win condition really isn't that great compared to other decks. It all comes down to which legendaries and golds you manage to acquire though,if you got Pascale there's no reason not to go with Earth.

Aside from mythril golem don't have any runecraft specific legendaries. Like I said just started playing hence why I was hoping to get some generic deck building advice or things like you probably should get rid of x or focus on a better mana curve or something like that, not hey go to one of these generic preconstructed decks that I can't make and clearly am not asking for.

[Jet Uppercut]

So I don't know what you know about deckbuilding but there's a rule I tend to follow when I'm trying to craft my own decks called 'the rule of 9'.
This is a more Magic the Gathering specific term, but the principle applies to any card game.
In MtG, what you would do is pick 9 cards, then run the maximum copies of each card (4), and then the rest of your 60 card deck would be basic lands. That would act as a thumbnail for your deck from which you could refine it more.
You want to do this mostly for consistency, since having more of a card obviously means, you're going to be more likely to draw it. Try and just cut down that list to the 13 cards you really want to play + 1 leftover. I usually just toss in Angelic Barrage since that's guaranteed to get some use in this aggro meta. And then go from there. You can change the mana curve and swap around cards after you know what your deck has too much of and what it needs more of.

[Xuande]

I get that, but I'm also not going to hand you a budget decklist either. You can't have it both ways, saying you don't want to netdeck but also want help adding/removing cards.

Until you decide what direction you want to gear your deck towards (as its a bit all over the place right now, and Hybrid Runecraft isn't a deck I'd recommend to any player new or otherwise currently), I can't give you much in the way of useful advice. But sure, let's try anyway (Disclaimer: I don't play Runecraft outside of Take Two, I prefer interactive Control builds, which often means I get to lose to Runecraft frequently):

Insight: Run 3 in Spellboost decks or any deck that wants to filter towards a combo. Run 0 otherwise.

Sammy: Run 0 unless the goal is to outlast your opponent and deny their win conditions through superior value, instead of the standard D-Shift style. You'll overdraw with Sammy in a D-Shift deck.

Scholarly Witch: Can be used as a substitute for Merlin and/or Levi. This is generally only the third best Evolve target if all three are options, but if you're not running a Spellboost deck or a specific card for Merlin to tutor, then Levi+Scholarly might be valid.

Magic Missile: Run 3 in Spellboost decks. Generally run 0 otherwise, if you need token removal consider Angelic Barrage or Fire Chain.

Conjure Golem: Run up to 3 in Spellboost decks, 0 otherwise (2/2 for 2 mana with an effect is better when Spellboost isn't a factor, for examples Unica/Levi).

Wind Blast: Run 3 in Spellboost, 0-3 otherwise.

Kaleidoscopic Glow: Meta-dependent, but running 3 seems rather strong in the current meta regardless of build.

Teachings: Filler for Earth builds that need more Earth ammo, run 0 otherwise.

Red-Hot: Staple in Earth builds, eats up board space otherwise.

Surefire Bullet: Great budget card for any class, though Runecraft has better removal. Filler card, but cut when your collection gets larger.

Witchette: Too low of an impact for a midgame "free" 2/2. Just run a 2/2 for 2 mana instead if that's what you need.

First Curse: Rare tech in D-Shift builds, run 0 otherwise. There are better value cards that aren't so slow to cash in, you don't want to spend your turn playing just one follower nuke spell.

Witchbolt: I feel like this card gets slept on and should be ran more, yet I rarely see it. D-Shift should be able to make an Evolve play with this around the Turn 5-7 range, and its reasonable on Turn 3 in a pinch.

Elementary: Turn 3 is a bad time to get a 2/2 unless you went first. Not a huge fan.

Rune Blade: Flame Destroyer tends to do this card's job better. And unlike Rune Blade, its never a terrible topdeck with a 7/7 baseline in stats.

Conjure Twosome: Filler card for Spellboost builds. Better when going first so you don't play into the first Evolve as badly as a lot of 4-drop plays would.

Alchemist's Workshop: Same problem as Elementary, there are better effects than gaining a drop undercosted by 1 mana just for an Earth ammo.

Angelic: Generally run Goblinmount over this, the +1/+1 in stats is significant and the downside can be played around.

Dance of Death: If you want generic removal, run Fiery Embrace (in Spellboost decks) or Execution (hits some key amulets in exchange for not burning face) or Petrification (more reliable/cheaper removal that works vs all amulets, but better with Earth ammo) over this.

Lightning Shooter: Filler, but bad filler. The problem here is that she just isn't efficient enough as a non-spell play in a Spellboost deck, while also being weak in a non-Spellboost deck. Cut when possible.

Flame Witch: Filler, mostly because 3/5 on 5 isn't independent enough. Free Angelic Barrages are great, but not so great if you lose the game to Aggro before you get to play them, or get put within Storm lethal range.

Ancient Alchemist: Strong play in Earth decks, bad otherwise. Run in Earth builds.

Twin Guardians: Generally bad value, run Juno over this for 3-4 Guardian Golems over time instead of the immediate two this card provides at the same mana cost.

Lucifer: Runecraft has better win conditions than this, if you want to stay alive its generally better to rely on removal or Guardian Golem walling than Lucifer, but he's never an awful card. Filler.

Mythril Golem: Runecraft tends to draw a lot of cards, so running a 9-mana card that doesn't earn mana reductions is generally too slow. Fire Chain does a similar job (though weaker and without the body, but also for five mana less). Really though, he's a card that looks good specifically for Spellboost decks where Dimensional Shift doesn't exist. Problem is, D-Shift does exist, and will be looking to win the game outright starting at around Turn 8. In those decks, Mythril is a dead draw.

Flame Destroyer/Dimension Shift: Run 3 of both in Spellboost decks, 0 of both in non-Spellboost decks. That simple, really.

[Xuande]

Cards you didn't list but may want to look at:

Angelic Snipe: Spellboost decks run this for similar reasons as running Insight - gets out of your hand cheaply with a minor effect, while also Spellboosting your hand.

Scrap-Iron/Crafty Warlock: Low mana sources of Earth ammo. Commence Experiment too, but that's for something closer to a Hybrid build and that isn't really good at the moment.

Levi/Merlin: Mentioned these earlier, but both are prime cards for most Runecraft decks. Levi is more versatile, while Merlin is more important specifically for Spellboost variants.

Summon Iceform: Staple stall card in Dimensional Shift decks. Bad otherwise.

Remi and Rami: Staple in Earth builds, she's your major Evolve tempo play on curve.

Fate's Hand: Staple in Spellboost builds.

Master Alchemist: Decent to staple in Earth builds.

Calamitous Curse: One-sided board clear in Earth builds.

[ICStars77]

Thanks @ Jetuppercut and xuande for the insightful responses. I apologize for my last post - it was right before I went to bed and was a bit tired and cranky. Based on your post, it sounds like spellboost deck without every card needed (or 3 of cards that would greatly benefit from it) make it hard to work around exactly, which would probably be where a lot of my struggle was coming from. I would get decent board control but having cards to spell boost was hit or miss so it felt like it wasn't synergizing well in part because not 3 of certain cards and in part because not enough spell boost cards.

The problem however is I don't think I have enough cards to make a solid earth deck either - I'll look when I get home, but if I can't realistically make a "solid" pure spell or earth deck, would earth with filler be better or spell with filler to be better? Normally I'd think earth, however I've been surviving a lot in games that are close in large due to heavy spell cards that I draw, so I'm concerned I'd not have enough clear control. Though I guess clear cards could be simply added as filler...... I'll rework my deck tonight and see how it goes thanks again!

[Xuande]

Completed Spellboost deck > Completed Earth deck > Completed custom deck that fits neither category > Partial Earth Deck > "Generic curve deck that any class can run" > Partial Spellboost deck, IMO.

In other words, until you get the completed core of a Spellboost deck, you'll see better winrates with other deck types. Spellboost Runecraft, however, is the only Runecraft build where you could see a consistent >50% winrate vs good players with good decks - if you pilot it correctly.

I'd suggest focusing on a few key strong Earth effects, run enough Earth support to fuel them most of the time, then filler for the rest of the deck. Keep in mind that the next expansion is likely to launch next month and may change everything.

[ICStars77]

So tried messing around with both earth and spell decks with the cards I have and neither really work that great xD. Biggest issue I'm having with spell deck is while I can clear fairly effectively, having no wards means any storm cards or rush decks = insta loss as there's nothing I can do to keep board clear. I mean there's angelic snipe and barrage and w/e but those are inconsistent to rely on drawing vs something like fairy deck or rush sword deck. Additionally only 1 dimension shift so yea xD. As for run just don't have enough synergy yet not enough good rune making cards or cards that utilize sigils well just missing cards.

For now sticking with my weird ass hybrid deck - I know I need to make changes regardless but the amount of games that a guardian golem has saved me is kinda stupid xD. I know I could just make a lot of cards I need esp for earth deck as most of those are pretty cheap just don't want to spend vials yet as I don't know what deck I'm gonna "main" yet, so for now just arena spamming I guess.