Author: Dave "MutantDave" Eubank
This deck promoted Maximillion but puts the focus onto turning Ryla into an attacking monster. It's difficult to choose which to focus upon because Max brings the firepower, but it's Ryla that swings for large amounts of damage.
Cards
Maximillion Level 1-4
Ryla Level 1/2
Leetah Kalynda Level 1/2
Pago Level 1/2
Mandy von Ulaga
3x Sunder Maul (C)
2x Spiked Fists (C)
2x Arm Blade (C)
3x Gandrel's Ax (R)
2x Kal Tasha's Molten Hammer (U)
3x Double Team (U)
3x Join Lock (U)
3x Kung Fu Dodge (U)
2x Karate Strike (C)
3x Gelhar's Spear Lobber (C)
3x Calm Hovering (U)
3x Probably Healing (C)
3x Soul Bleed (R)
2x Revitalization (R)
1x Final Embrace (U)
3x Jagged Bones (C)
2x Projectie Spines (C)
2x Festering Stink (C)
2x Spinal Twist (C)
2x Portalled Heist (C)
1x Shrivelled Bones (U)
Strategy
I ran this deck in a 9 player tournament on Dec 27th, 2003. It went 3-1 and came in third after 4 rounds of Swiss.
The deck promotes Max, but focuses most of the offense onto Ryla. By doing this, it forces the opponent to choose one of the two gladiators to focus attacks on. If they can kill Ryla, Max boosts the other gladiators with the pumps that were going to Ryla, and Gelhar's Spear Lobber boosts everyone left. If they kill Max, Leetah Kalynda is promoted so you can still play Kal Tasha's Molten Hammer and Gandrel's Ax onto Ryla, and keep her getting bigger. There is no clear-cut gladiator to kill off, and this makes tough decisions for your opponent. Especially as you have a bit of healing to keep Max and Ryla alive.
Second, I'd suggest having Ryla and Max Protect for Leetah and Pago early on. Get Ryla to Raging early, so your opponent hesitates to attack her, lest she unset and swing for lots of damage again.
Later on, after Max has taken a bit of damage, keep him in the back (or use his Retreat ability if he gets pulled to the front) and have Pago and Leetah Protect for him. Ryla needs to stay up front to swing and deal lots of damage.
As Ryla is dealing a lot of damage, you can often deal a finishing blow to a higher level glad, or outright kill a low level glad. Protecting and Intercepting become less of a worry because either way, you're likley to get VP's for your efforts. However, beware of Intercepting minions! Use Leetah, Pago, and Max to kill them off, or just use Gandrel's Ax.
I cannot say enough about Projectile Spines right now. It is better minion meta than Spinal Twist, as it can kill smaller minions, or hurt glads in the back if not facing minions.
One of the weak points to this deck is Cheer. I never had more than 2 cheer at a time.
Potential Auto-loss would be against a Queen Alexandra deck. (Or a handful of Psi-heavy decks.) If she sets Ryla in Wave 3 and plays Alter Ego, Ryla is in for a LOT of hurt.
In all four games, I never used the 1 Final Embrace, 2 Karate Strike, or 2 Revitalization, so they're out come the revision. I will add 1 Projectile Spines, 2 Supported, and 2 Let Freedom Ring because they would have been very useful at several times.
Supported will be soooo good on Wave 3. Max can Protect early on, then sit safely in the back using either Supported or Double Team to add to the offense.
Last note on the deck.. The current version only has 8 rares. 3 Gandrel's Axe, 3 Soul Bleed, and 2 Revitalization. The Revitalization is being taken out, leaving only 6 rares. If I wanted to make it a no-rare deck, I'm sure there are a few non-rares to fill these holes without losing much efficiency.
Please let me know what you think of the deck. It was fun to play with, and will be fun to evolve as time goes on.
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