Elder Scrolls Legends Decks are the bread and butter of the game, and since the release of Heroes of Skyrim on June 29th, they have changed significantly. As an avid fan of Elder Scrolls Legends, having spent well over the amount any sane person would on the game, I’ve decided to do a weekly segment dedicated just to Decks. If you’re a new player to the game or are simply struggling in competitive play, then these guides are for you. This week’s Deck is a revised version of a deck I had previously published called Blue Marshall. This version is updated with Heroes of Skyrim.
Elder Scrolls Legends Decks: Blue Marshall 2.0
- Deck Colors: Blue/Yellow
- Deck Type: Combo
- Legendaries: 6
- Epics: 3
- Overall Cost: Low
- Difficulty to Play: Easy/Med
Deck Theme
The theme of this deck is pretty straight forward. It focuses around deploying a large number of creatures, primarily blue creatures, that control the board buying time for you to deploy some powerful creatures that buff your deck. Because of the large number of blue creatures, that there are a few cards that take advantage of having a lot of blue in your deck, and the fact that you tend to be able to keep a lot of them in play I have dubbed it the “Blue Marshall” deck. The previous version of this deck had a similar concept, and this one is simply updated for Heroes of Skyrim.
In this deck you deploy tough creatures that have ward, high health, etc and start chipping away early, taking care not to get too far behind. This deck relies on putting pressure on your opponents to remove your creatures, and if they don’t making them pay for it. There are a large number of Prophecy cards in your deck, and many of which are creatures. Your opponent will often underestimate your ability to catch up, which will often prove fatal for them.
Because most of your creatures have “Summon” abilities there are a couple cards in the deck that will “reactivate” these, granting you their ability a second time. The abilities range from gaining a Firebolt card, Shackling a creature or even adding a random Keyword to every creature in your deck. In short, this becomes another way to make your opponent pay for not removing your creatures.
This deck is difficult to play against because it kills quickly and becomes more powerful the longer the game goes. This makes it particularly hard for opponents to determine how to play against it and they can often end up making bad decisions. Creatures with “Summon” or “Prophecy” abilities are extremely powerful because they cannot be prevented by your opponent. Since these types of cards make up the bulk of your deck, it gives you a fighting chance against just about anyone.
Must Have Cards For This Deck
Let’s start with what I feel is the most important card in the deck: Praetorian Commander.
This card is a new addition to the Blue Marshall Deck and fits nicely with our theme. I replaced Divine Fervor with this card for a couple of reasons. First, Divine Fervor was given a nerf a bit back that increased it’s cost from 4 Magicka to 5. Second, unlike Divine Fervor the Praetorian’s buff cannot be removed from your deck. While it’s true that cards in play will not benefit from Praetorian Commander, most of the cards remaining in your deck will. Many of these cards have Prophecy. You can also use cards like Close Call and Dark Rebirth to reproduce the summoning effect of this card to further buff your deck. Needless to say, this card will win you games.
The next card that really makes this deck lethal is: Echo of Akatosh.
For 6 Magicka this Dragon rivals only Blood Dragon for the best Dragon in the game. Get this creature in play as soon as you can to take advantage of his “Summon” ability and reproduce it if you can. This card keeps with our theme of mostly blue creatures and can help turn the tide of the game in your favor over time.
The last must have card for this deck is called Baron of Tear.
This is simply a card you don’t see in many decks and is one that I love playing. This deck has only 6 defenders. Some of that is offset by your Shackle abilities and a fair bit of creature removal. Baron of Tear can help get you those very needed guards against aggressive decks, often saving your ass. Besides the Guard it gives your blue creatures +1 Power, which can help get you that extra damage to kill a creature or finish your opponent. This card is one of the reasons I play so many blue creatures in this deck.
Important Cards For This Deck
These cards are not as important as the “Must Haves” but they are still vital to the deck. Let’s take a look at the first three, which are: Daggerfall Mage, Hive Defender and Lightning Bolt.
Daggerfall Mage is a fantastic card for anyone playing a blue deck. For 3 Magicka you get a tough creature, and likely an item that grants you a buff and a card. What’s even better is that you can re-ward this guy and get this bonus again! These guys get particularly nasty if they have been buffed by Praetorian Commander…
Hive Defender is perhaps the best defender for the cost in any deck in ESL. It’s frustrating to play against and can often kill 1 or two creatures before heading to the discard pile. Drop this guy when you need to protect important creatures or just ruin someone’s day…
Lighting Bolt is a staple in any blue deck, and you probably won’t see one anywhere without it. For 4 Magicka dealing 4 damage is a great bargain and it can save you against a game changing creature. Moreover, it has Prophecy, making its value even higher. Use these to control the board, or save them to finish off your opponent when he gets low.
The last batch of Important cards are: Shrieking Harpy, Eastmarch Crusader and Mystic Dragon.
Shrieking Harpy is probably one of the most underrated cards in all of ESL. It’s value becomes clear when you are about to win a game and your opponent Prophecies one and you lose. The Shackling ability will help you control the board and the fact that it has Prophecy means that you can pull this from your deck for nothing, potentially already buffed by Praetorian Commander…
Eastmarch Crusader is one of the few yellow creatures we have in this deck, and for good reason. The card draw this guy provides is vital to keeping your army churning out creatures and overwhelming your opponent. Be sure only to play it after a rune breaks, and reproduce its Summon ability if you need to draw a card.
Mystic Dragon is a new addition to this deck that came with the Heroes of Skyrim expansion. A 4/4 creature is pretty good for 4 Magicka, but the fact it has Prophecy is what really makes it worth playing here (and it’s blue). You will often get these after Praetorian Commander buffs them and they will be 6/6 or sometimes higher. In short they are a fantastic bang for your buck.
Final Tips
There are few low cost cards in this deck, so if you go first you will most likely be playing from behind, but that’s ok so don’t panic. To offset this, there are plenty of Prophecy cards in your deck to help you get caught back up. There are also fewer aggressive decks than control or combo, so this shouldn’t bee too much of an issue overall.
Try to keep your creatures to one side and use them to protect one another. Always try to keep the side with your creatures clear of enemies, and use your Shackles and creature removal to prevent anything in the other lane that may cause serious problems. Taking damage with this deck is not the end of the world. It gives you opportunities to pull Prophecy cards, and also facilitates card draw.
Consider adding more Prophecy cards if you can find ones that fit. They will only help you maintain control of the game, and with Praetorian Commander they could win you more games. There are entire Mage decks that revolve around just that concept, and while this isn’t completely that sort of deck, having more Prophecy might improve it. Just be sure you aren’t creating some other weakness by removing something you shouldn’t.
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