Decklist: https://gudecks.com/decks/2282
This Atlantean Deception list, put together by my TSTeammate Apollo, is my favorite list I have come across in a long time playing Gods Unchained. It also just so happens to be my highest win rate deck, with a 61-12 record in the past 30 days, at time of writing.
I consider it an aggro-leaning midrange list. It has the potential to put opponents on their heels early with incredible aggressive openings, but it also has the ability to play responsively in the early game, and eventually win out in the mid-game before snowballing to victory. The deck is super flexible, and after gaining some familiarity with its various paths to victory, it allows the pilot to easily tailor their mulligans around specific matchups and circumstances.
Below, I’ll break down the deck by splitting it into 6 categories, and attempt to explain each card and category’s role within the deck.
The God Power:
Cheat - Allows you to give your friendly creatures Hidden at the expense of 1 damage. Conversely, the 1 damage ping can be used as a removal tool against your opponent’s creatures. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Cheat allows you to give your opponent’s Frontline creatures Hidden, which allows you to attack as if they weren’t even there.
The Snowballs:
These are the cards that demand answers from your opponent, and if they fail to answer them, can single-handedly win you games. Using Cheat to give your snowball creatures Hidden can help limit your opponent’s potential answers, or outright eliminate them. This deck mostly wins by sticking these snowball creatures early and often.
Rolling Watcher - Your cheapest snowball creature. Only used as a one-of, because it is answered pretty easily on curve. That being said, it does demand an answer, which just means your opponent will have one less answer for any future threat you put out. Rolling Watcher can get out of hand pretty quickly if protected by a Pyramid Warden, or hit with Boost Walker on a subsequent turn.
Jinxblade Duelist - Arguably the best 3 mana creature in the game; Jinxblade can be difficult to remove on curve, and near impossible to remove if it sticks for one or two turns. If your opponent’s god has 3-4 damage removal readily available, ie. Nature or Magic, Jinxblade can be paired with Cheat on 5 mana. Jinxblade’s ability allows you to use Cheat to give it Hidden every turn, while still netting +1 health per round.
Shade Walker - The heaviest hitter in the deck. Shade Walker comes down as a 4/3 with Hidden, and gains +1 attack at the end of your turn. Your first chance to attack with the Shade Walker, it will be a 5/3, at which point you can swing at your opponent’s face, and use Cheat to give it Hidden again. Repeat the process with a 6/2 and a 7/1 on your subsequent turns, for a total of 18 damage. If you’re sure it will stick, try using a mana pip on turn 3 to play Shade Walker, and follow-up with Boost Walker on curve for some serious carnage.
The Synergy:
Your payoff cards that ensure you are well-rewarded for running Atlanteans.
Phase Touched Golem - The priority of the deck is sticking your snowball creatures, and Phase Touched Golem plays a massive role in that. Granting Ward to your Rolling Watchers and Shade Walkers can further eliminate your opponent’s potential answers, and make your board more resilient to board clears. Phase Touched is key against Nature and Magic, or any archetype that relies on AoE or single-target removal spells and god powers.
Boost Walker - Turns an innocent-looking 1/5 Dwarf Atlant into a 3/7 mid-game trade machine with Twin-Strike, OR turns an already threatening creature like Shade Walker or Spiral Golem into a game-ending monster.. with Twin-Strike. If you have an Atlantean, any Atlantean, on board and can buff it with Boost Walker’s Roar effect, I like your chances of winning the game.
The Awesome:
These cards are mostly excellent in any situation, and would probably find themselves in any optimized Deception list.
Switch Duelist - Arguably the best 1 mana creature in the game. Impossible to remove on curve, acting as a 1/4 during your opponent’s turns. Switches to a 4/1 during your turn, and can hit your opponent for 4 damage starting on turn 2, or can be used to trade up into more expensive 4 health creatures. Just a beast of a 1 drop, and should probably be kept in the mulligan every game, going first or second.
Pyramid Warden - Arguably the best 2 mana creature in the game. In this deck, having Orfeo come down next to Pyramid Warden on turn 1 is probably the ideal opening when going second, unless you’re up against Blastwave Magic. Offensively, it can be used to hide your Rolling Watcher or Jinxblade Duelists in the early game, forcing your opponent choose between removing the Warden first, or trying to work around it.
Avatar of Deception - AoD can neutralize an opponent’s threat for one turn, while providing you with a Hidden 4/4 body. If your opponent plays a creature with the intention of trading it into one of your creatures next turn, AoD’s Roar effect allows you to effectively ignore the potential trade, and continue pushing damage to your opponent’s face.
The Answers:
These cards will help immensely when going second, either by facilitating 2-for-1 value trades, or acting as cheap removal to recapture tempo.
Orfeo, Champion of Deception - Orfeo is very fragile, and should be tossed in the mulligan when playing against Blastwave Magic, or any other deck with access to cheap 1 damage pings. That being said, when played situationally, it can provide for some excellent trades into much more expensive creatures, or at least force your opponent into some suboptimal decisions. Orfeo can help dictate your opponent’s next move better than most other cards.
Vanguard Axewoman - Arguably the 2nd best 2 mana creature in the game, and the best answer to one of the other best 2 mana creatures in the game, Pyramid Warden! Immensely useful going second, allowing you to quickly take back tempo and move ahead on the board in the early game.
Sleep Dart - 2 mana spell that will eventually kill whatever creature it is played on. While it doesn’t always remove the creature in one turn, it allows you to effectively ignore it by putting the creature to sleep. Great tool against Nature’s army of 2 drop 3/3s, and helpful in burning down early-game Pyramid Wardens, and other mid-game Frontlines.
Hunting Trap - Arguably the best removal spell in the game. Hunting Trap is a 2 mana spell that almost always kills a more expensive creature. Solves all of Nature’s 5/5s, solves Jinxblade Duelist in the mirror match, solves Ashen Drakes and AoD and Charging Oryx and.. well you get it. All for 2 mana.
Umber Arrow - Allows for some crazy swing plays in the early game, and more often than not provides 2-for-1 value for 2 mana. Be aware: if you take control of an Afterlife creature, and it dies on your side of the board, its Afterlife will resolve under your control. This can be incredibly strong, with some of Umber Arrow’s favorite targets being Trojan Golem, Possessed Acolyte, Nether’s Advocate, Walking Plant, and Backstreet Bouncer. Conversely, be weary when taking control of an opponent’s Pyramid Warden. If it dies on your side, it will bring back a creature for your opponent. One other caveat with Umber Arrow: always toss it in the mulligan against midrange nature, unless they’re running Animal Bond. Even then, Umber Arrow can easily end up a dead card against Nature.
Dwarf Atlant - 1 damage ping on a sticky Atlantean body. The ping can be useful in the early-game, and the 1/5 body can trade nicely against cheap zoo creatures. That being said, Dwarf Atlant is mostly in the deck to be hit by Boost Walker.
Slip Blade - Effectively two creature’s worth of hard removal for 5 mana. Almost always provides 2-for-1 value, and doesn’t care about Ward or what the opposing creature’s stats are. Removes your opponent’s biggest threats, or tears down their defensive anchors, while allowing you to continue developing the board while using its second durability. Slip Blade is an invaluable tool against other midrange decks, especially Nature.
The Top End:
These cards should always be tossed during the mulligan. When drawn into during the mid-game, they can provide that final push to get you to the finish line, and your opponent’s health to 0.
Spiral Golem - A proactive answer to Demogorgon. Spiral Golem’s start-of-turn effect is unaffected by Sleep. If it is the only creature on board and your opponent plays a Demo, it will remove the Demo, leave you with an 8/3 creature, and all of your mana to continue pushing for lethal. And while you cannot control Spiral Golem’s start-of-turn attack, you can play Boost Walker to give it Twin-Strike, and that will allow you to have an extra swing every turn with a 10 attack creature. Game-ender.
Ashen Drake - Midrange staple. Ashen Drake’s Roar effect can help clear your opponent’s board, and can provide up to 4 burst damage from hand to help you find lethal, all paired nicely with a 6/5 body.
As I said before, this deck is super flexible and extremely well-rounded. Once you gain a bit of familiarity with its various paths to victory, it allows you to play comfortably against almost any other archetype. It has so many creatures that demand answers from your opponent, and provides you with potential answers for nearly any opposing threat.
If you have an affinity for well-rounded midrange decks, with the early-game power to punish slower, more control oriented decks, I highly recommend Apollo’s Atlantean Deception.
Thanks for checking out this deck breakdown covering Apollo's Atlantean Deception!
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Written By: cautionfun
cautionfun streams Gods Unchained on Twitch as a member of TeamStreamTeam. An 8x Weekend Ranked event winner, he currently holds the record for highest recorded MMR in Gods Unchained history. He is a Raving Fan of Rolling Watcher. Find him in the [tst]lounge or the RNG discord at 
w/ contributions from: Apollo.
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