Hello Splinterfans! Pogier here to discuss the Water Deck Meta currently prevalent in Bronze League. If you're a new player, you wouldn't be surprised to see this a lot, especially in the lower leagues. This card singlehandedly is responsible for most newbies instantly climbing as high as 1.5k MMR without any additional rented cards.
The pictures below show one of the most common scenarios. With the new Venari Wavesmith, all you have to do is spam and hope your opponent doesn't know how to beat it.
During the release of the Venari Wavesmith, it wasn't surprising to reach 30 wins straight because people just didn't know how to counter it. So how long will this strategy be viable? As players get smarter and smarter, you can't hope to win just by putting Venari Wavesmith each time and hoping for the best. Worry not! Here are some tips to increase your win rate.
If you want to increase your win rate using the Water Meta deck, you need to make sure your team has good damage, good tanks, and the right synergy.
As it is a water deck, your damage dealers would be primarily the Magic Damagers. The trick here is to place as much Magic damage as you can. Think of it as the more cannons you have firing, the faster you obliterate your enemies. The starter cards are fine, but make sure to pick them in order of tankiness and higher speed. Medusa -> Elven Mystic -> Venari Wavesmith -> Ice Pixie -> Enchanted Pixie.
Personally, I would take out Elven Mystic or Enchanted Pixie and add another tank for that extra protection. But if you want to up your game and are willing to pay a bit more, check out the low cost rent options!
I strongly suggest these two cards. The Captains Ghost has a rent cost of around 0.86 DEC, while Sea Genie is only 0.24 DEC.
With these two cards in your deck, you will be doing 3 magic damage instead of the starter deck's 2 magic damage. The Sea Genie is somewhat of a glass cannon but with enough tanks up front, you shouldn't have to worry about that. The Captains Ghost's affliction will also be very useful versus tanks with heals.
If you feel like climbing beyond bronze, these next cards will come in handy in adding an extra oomph to your damage.
Rental Cost: 14.95 DEC
For only 1 extra DEC more than the Beta counterpart, you will have 10% DEC bonus for using this in matches.
Rental Cost: 16 DEC
If you know you'll be up against Magic Damage, Djinn Oshannus can actually serve as both your damage dealer and your tank. Place him in front and whack your opponents with a barrage of magic attacks.
Rental Cost: 9 DEC
This is a great card when you need to do more damage and with only 4 Mana and it has sneak, this can easily obliterate your enemy's squishy monsters.
For the choices in the Starter deck, these are in my opinion, the best tanks. The objective of these tanks are to provide as much buffer from the enemy to your damage dealers. Think of it this way. If your enemy brings in physical damage, your shields will help. If they bring in magic damage, the more HP you have the better. In order of Mana, here are your starter pack choices! As a bonus, the flying ability will give a 25% chance to avoid physical damage from non-flying monsters.
As the Venari Wavesmith already provides 2 armor so at the very least, albatross can waste 2 hits of the enemy (provided magic wasn't the first hit).
Similar to the albatross, the Cocatrice is expected to take 1-2 hits before going down, but with the speed of 3 and flying ability, it's actually possible for him to even sneak in some damage and hopefully avoid some physical damage as well.
The Spineback Turtle is one of the most underrated cards in the game. For only 4 Mana, it is capable of taking a total of 8 damage (10 with Venari Wavesmith). This low cost wall even has 1 melee damage to add a little punch to the overall assault. It lives up to the name Spineback!
For 5 Mana, you have a wall, perfect to counter the enemies if you think they will have either retaliate or thorns. 8 HP is no joke when one hit from an enemy magic team is already 2 magic damage.
Lastly, if you expect the enemy to bring out a pure damage type and think you won't be able resist for long because of the assault, the Frozen Soldier will not disappoint. He will be able to take reduced damage from physical attacks making his armor that more useful.
For only 2.8 DEC, you can rent the Kelp Initiate. At only 2 Mana, it has 5 HP and brings the other free options to shame. Definitely a good rental option.
If you want to splurge a bit more, I strongly suggest bringing in Lobstradamus! He's a better option than the frozen soldier and will benefit from the +1 magic damage. He is definitely the best tank in the water deck for the DEC cost (9.9 DEC), in my book.
So now that you have your damage dealers and support, you need to do something that brings more to the table. Sometimes this is just putting your monsters in the right order, which is usually in order of tankiness for magic damagers. Other times you might need a bit of a helping hand. But the easiest way to get an edge up over your enemies is to simply make sure you have these two cards always in your deck.
Rent Cost: 1 DEC
The Creeping Ooze only costs 1 Mana to use. This will give you a higher change of going first. Remember, usually if you get to attack first, your chances of winning go significantly higher.
Rent Cost: 6 DEC
For 0 Mana, the Furious Chicken is a must for any deck. In higher ranks it's worth to use the Gold foil version of this because at 22 DEC, it will pay for itself for that additional 10% DEC.
Between these 2 options, the one with a small investment of 2.8 DEC has a considerable higher chance of winning mainly because of more HP in the front.
The Venari Wavesmith and the Water Meta it provides truly shook up the Water Deck. Because of the extra armor, your opponents must think twice on how they deal with you.
The next part you have to learn is how to outsmart your opponents. This deck is by no means a win all situation, but it wins most right now. Thus if you wish to truly flourish in the world of Splinteralnds, you have to learn about other strategies that you can apply as you climb the ranks in Bronze. If you were to go for the more premium rental options, you will find your fights a lot easier, and you may even find yourself doing well in Silver 3. Be warned, Silver 3 game modes require you to have a wide variety of cards at your disposal to adapt to each game mode. Rent accordingly and good luck. See you on the battlefield!
Bonus tip
Rent cards that give you bonus to your DEC wins as well as increase your collection power, allowing you to hit 2 birds with one stone.
These cards are Alpha, Beta, Gold Foil, or Promo Cards
