The Elder Scrolls Legends Decks: Blue Marshall
Sep. 28, 2016The Elder Scrolls Legends Decks: Blue Marshall
Back in August, I published my first deck guide for theElder Scrolls Legends:Purple Prophecy. At the time it was one of the most fun and interesting decks I had played to date while also being pretty succssful. Over a month later, I still love playing it, but have fallen in love with a completely different deck and have put together a guide for those looking to expand their options. Thisdeckis called the Blue Marshall Deck and you can see it in action in the video above.
Why is it called the Blue Marshall Deck? That’s a great question, and the answer is simple: because you have alargequantity of creatures and 90% of them are blue. Most Mage (Blue/Yellow) decks are either two types: a) heavy on Action Cards, mostly Creature removal, stalling the game until they can play powerful cards or b) heavy onYellow Creature CardswithBlue Action Cardsto support them, removing other player’s Creatures. The Blue Marshall Deck is neither and is unlike any other Mage deck I have played. Let’s get into thecardlist and what makes this deck tick.
You’ll notice right away that there are very few Action Cards, 3 to be exact. This is almost unthinkable for a Mage deck. The name given is Mage and, yet here we are with ascant selection of spells. The deck has a very low casting cost average, and this means that you will almost never suffer from poor draws, which honestly, is about 50% of your losses if you’ve been playing competitively. This deck also allows for you to play from ahead or from behind, so you don’t have to burn your opponent or slow play them, you can adapt your strategy to the deck you are playing. This is really the key to this deck, knowing what you are up against and how to playthisdeck against it. For this reason I would classify this deck as Advanced.
Other than those wrinkles mentioned, this deck is relatively straight forward. You usually lead withBrutal Ashlander,Dunmer Nightblade,Daggerfall MageorCunning Ally. Which card you play will depend on the deck you are facing, your draw and whether you went first or second. You don’t want to trade Creatures if you can help it, so be sure to follow up withShrieking Harpy,Wardcrafter,Camlorn Sentinelor aFirebolt, if you drew one from Cunning Ally. Generally, you want to pass if you cannot protect your creature the following turn, exceptions here are against burn decks and against decks where you must get rid of a specific creature no matter the cost such asBruma Armorer,Fifth Legion Trainer, etc.
Daggerfall Mage,Cunning AllyandBaron of Tearare really the staples of this Deck. Daggerfall Mage Comes withWardand gives you aTome of Alteration, helping with damage and card draw. Cunning Ally gives you a Firebolt, which is great for cleaning up little enemies that may kill a more powerful creature. Baron of Tear is a game changer and can save your ass when you are being pounded relentlessly by your opponent by grantingGuardtoallof yourBlue Creatures. It’s also fantastic to play when your opponent has not calculated that your creatures my gain +1/+0, thereby often providing opportunities to kill enemy Creatures.
The deck has excellent card draw inDunmer Nightblade,Daggerfall Mage,Cunning Ally,Eastmarch Crusader,Telvanni ArcanistandElusive Schemer. Furthermore, the creatures in this deck are exceptionally hard to kill, or provide a benefit when they die, making your opponent make difficult choices that often lead to mistakes. To cap it off, there’sDivine Fervor…
Divine Fervor might just be the best card in the game. You can buildmanycompetitive decks around it, just as I have done here. I have absolutely gotten 3 of these out in games before and 2 is not that uncommon. Simply put, even getting one of these out raises your chances of winning by about 50%. This card isthereason we have so few Action Cards and somanyCreature Cards. We want as many cards as possible to get the benefit of this divine card! One of the great things about this card too, is that there are only about 3 cards in the game that can destroy it and 2 arePurple. So 75% of the time, it’ll remain in play the entire game. Never mulligan this card if you draw it to begin the game, unless you drew more than one.
Some general notes and tips for this deck. I like to drop creatures into play and then drop Divine Fervor, given the option mid game. Often your opponent will not calculate for your creatures all getting +1/+1 the following turn and it can open up some great opportunities for easy Creature kills.Ash Servantis a great card to wipe out a small Creature Card and then enter the battlefield, sometimes as a 3/3 or 4/4. Hold this card until you can kill something with it. Save yourSteel Swordsfrom your Dunmer Nightblades for killing large creatures or hold them to get a lethal kill on the enemy player when he has forgotten you have it.Keeper of Whispersis in the deck for 2 reasons: 1) it’s a 3 mana 3/4 which makes it really tough to kill and it can trade with many 3/3s and still live and 2) to help combat purple decks. Purple decks are some of the most difficult to beat with this deck, mostly for their ability to combat Divine Fervor, they have tough Creatures and they can overwhelm you when played with yellow.
Some cards you might consider adding arePit Lion,Morthal ExecutionerandFire Storm. Pit Lion is a tough card to kill and can really open up the board for you early. The challenge is being able to keep a creature in either lane on the board early. Since most of our cards have low costs, you can probably achieve this around turn 5 reliably to further bolster your army. Morthal Executioner is a good alternative to Keeper of Whispers. It’s still just as tough to kill and can potentially do more damage, so consider swapping these two if you find you don’t really use Keeper of Whispers’ ability much. Fire Storm is a great card to consider and I might add it to my Deck as well. The reason being, is it isn’t the big bad creatures you fear with this deck, but the small tokens that can kill your creatures for chump change. This card will help wipe them off the board if they get to be too much.
My win/loss record with this deck over the past 30 games of competitive play is 23/7, which is the best I’ve posted to date. I hope you enjoy the deck, and I urge you to try it out for a little something different. It’s always fun when your opponent has no idea what cards you have or will play next! Thoughts on the deck? Have a deck of your own to share? Share your ideas in the comments!
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Castielle
Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.
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