It’s the time you’ve all been waiting for, hearing rumblings of a disgusting Ray trading deck and here it is.
The deck has done incredibly well the last few weeks doing very well in testing and getting 1st (27-1) at the Hidden Gem Tournament and 1st (14-1) & joint 3rd at the Achroma Grand Tournament, overall that’s a pretty insane W-L ratio.
Deck List
Well first up let’s take a look at the deck list.
The original deck idea was from Echo(and you can check out his review of the deck on Draco Temple here), after hearing about the deck I gave it a go and came up with a similar deck list, I believe 26/30 of the same cards. I was toying with the idea of giving Ray protecting with Release the Fireflies but after talking to Echo realised this didn’t actually help the deck. It doesn’t matter if they remove Ray the next turn, you already got value from it. We also tried testing Kuanan instead of Wincey but felt Wincey just nearly always felt better. It got a card on board, drew you a card and normally was resolving for at least it’s cost if not more. I made one change to 30 before Hiddem Gem, originally we had 2 Giant Prism, 1 Shard Cache but swapped those around which won me a few games at HG. The final change I made in the lead up to the Grand Tournament was removing 1 Trainee Painter to put the 2nd Giant Prism back in. While I didn’t miss the second prism more high trade value cards was only a good thing and 1 Painter, 2 Imp, 2 Carmella and 2 Firetender was still plenty of Role Reversal fodder and with that me and Echo ran exactly the same 30 for the Grand Tournament
So let’s analyse each card and its role in the deck
Ray – Does it get much more value than Ray? +4 the turn you play him and they have to use a removal card on it to get rid of it as it can’t be attacked, if they don’t remove it another +5 the next turn.
Wincey – As discussed above this was the rare we were toying with removing but the value it provided was just too good. Draw a card, get a body on board and it’s almost always at least a +3. Value.
Splat Square – This is pretty much another Wincey, it draws you a card, has a natural +3 and again normally is at least +5 paying for itself the turn it comes down, also it’s a 5 cost for trade. Value.
Soronno – A little bit a steal can lead to some surprise Achrom victories for the deck and the ability to remove troublesome Characters or Locations, espically those with protection
Cintimani Stone – What more can I say other than this is best card ever printed. I don’t think it should shock anyone that everyone in top 4 was playing this card in their deck. It’s so versatile in what it can do and you can use Factory Production Line to reveal and play it for free. Often what you get with it can vary but the most common targets were Ray, Lab Coat, and HAIM Shard Cache, so much value from one card. Don’t be afraid to trade it away either (though normally I’m not trading unless that trade is getting me to 30 shards)
Trainee Painter – It’s cheap, it nets you +1 the turn you play it and pairs well with Wincey and Splat Square. Prime Role Reversal Target
Firetender – Why have one Ray in your deck when you can have 3? You have a 43.34% chance of having at least one of these cards in your opening 5 cards, 50.14% after 6 cards and 56.37% after 7, there’s a good chance you are playing Ray in most of your games. Once you’ve got Ray it can still find a Dracon or Full Palette too.
Dracon – Pays for itself as soon as you play it and help increase Blueprint Swirls resolve.
Imp – Drawing cards means more chance of finding your good cards and it’s also great Role Reversal Fodder
Carmella – Removing any pesky Locations or Objects, mostly it’s been used for killing Hex Clunker and removing Muon Traps, corrupted or otherwise, also Role Reversal Fodder
Blueprint Swirl – The theme of the deck is value and this card is value. Minimum pays for itself but as almost every other card in the deck has different colour shards rarely is this less than a +4 and normally a +5/+6
Full Palette – One of the best cards in flutterby, just an action +4 basically.
Role Reversal – Has your opponent played a good character? Do you need that character gone? Why remove it when you can have it. Give them a Trainee Painter instead and thanks to the recent rules clarification you can attack and remove the card you just game them.
Factory Production Line – Remember when I said Cintimani Stone was the best card ever printed? What if you could reveal that card and play it for free at anytime on your turn? That would be pretty bonkers right? It is. With only 2 objects in the deck to find this card is always (are you sensing a theme yet) value. Ensure before you play it that you have something good in dregs to play (trade a card away if you don’t) and then hit one of your two objects.
Giant Prism – This card is the perfect trade card. +5 when you trade it and if you are being overrun by Achrom you can play it and still come out net positive on shards! I played one game where it got me +15 total. Don’t forget it’s number of cards erased, if they have a Rabid Dog with 2 objects on it you get +6 as the Objects also get Erased.
Advance Scouting Party – This card has two roles – drawing more cards when you need them (and often still trading one of those to pay for itself anyway) and just trading it for 5 shards. The often muttered by Rayders players “Before I Draw/Trade – Advance Scouting Party” gives you so much more information about to play the turn, drew good cards of ASP but low costed? Trade for turn. High trade but nothing to play, draw for turn.
HAIM Shard Cache – 5 Trade Value – this card was already good for this deck but Steal 3?! This card paired with Soronno, Stone or another Cache can lead to some serious Steal and even Achrom Wins. Players will see your gain and think it’s safe to leave themselves low on shards for turn, then you can show them why that was a mistake.
Dr Hue’s Lab Coat – So some of you may remember I gave this card an F before and here I am eating those words. Yes in a vacuum this card is still overcosted HOWEVER in this deck it does so much. Trade for 6, yes please. Play it for free with Factory Production Line? Yeah that seems pretty good. Turn Blueprint Swirl into a +6. Okay yeah that’s also pretty good and the really underrated thing. I’m close to victory but can’t quite get there this turn? My shard bank is safe until next turn. Only a handful of cards can still touch your bank and even so it likely negates a lot of it..
How to play the deck
This deck is about being fast, you want to be winning by turn 2/3. Turn one get down some natural gain, use Advance Scouting Party if you don’t have much to play. Play Firetender/Ray if you can. After that it’s really about calculating what’s best to do, sometimes turn 1 is enough and next turn you can trade to victory off your gain, otherwise you might have to advance your board a bit more to get the win next turn. Don’t be afraid to just double trade, pass and then double trade for victory next turn. If you have enough 5-6 shard cards in hand that’s 20+ gain in trade over two turns.
Assess the board state. It’s not worth using a Carmella on something unless it directly affects us. Your opponent can keep their Monastary Nest, their own Splat Square, hell they can keep the Corrupted Muon Trap on Ray in some cases, unless it’s having a serious negative impact on our board or our shard bank it doesn’t matter, we should be outpacing them. Playing Carmella cost us 2 shards, that’s 2 shards further from victory, and 2 less access to trade (almost a net -4, you’d be surprised how much that matters) Let say I’m on 20 shards. They have a promo location out for steal 2? Well playing Carmella cost me 2, putting me to 18 shards. This is no different to them resolving again next turn, either way I’ve lost 2 shards but now I’m a card and a deploy down. Unless you are pretty sure you aren’t winning next turn leaving that card on the board doesn’t affect how many shards you’ll have at the start of your next turn.
To Trade or not to Trade that is the question. I’m pretty sure that’s the age old quote but really this is the most difficult thing about this deck, choosing the wrong option can easily be the difference between victory and failure. It mainly comes to, can I win this turn if I trade now? If the answer is no is 90% of cases you should draw, however if double trading would put you 1-2 shards from victory after resolving again you need to assess the board state. Can my opponent realistically win during that extra turn if I do nothing, if not can they disrupt my board and shard bank enough to stop me winning? If the answer is yes then yeah you should draw, if not double trade and watch as your opponent see’s the fate they can’t stop and the fairies and pixies on your shoulder tell you how terrible a person you are for doing this to them. Another key thing to remember, as I mentioned earlier a common phrase from a Ray Deck should be “Before I Draw/Trade – Advance Scouting Party”, this can open up so many options for the turn where you aren’t sure what to do and can turn easily help find those cards you need for the final few shards to victory.
Achrom is always a possibility, embrace it. This might seems like a Chroma deck through and through but you’d be surprised how easy it is to get an Achrom Victory. You opponent might feel safe leaving themselves on 7 shards after seeing you race to 30 in 3 turns in game 1, but game two I have HAIM Shard Cache and Cintimani Stone in hand? Well let’s just play those and take them down to 0 shattering their soul in the process. You won’t have any friends playing this deck so don’t take any mercy.
This isn’t a super easy deck to play, not anyone can pick it up and just win every game, you need to know every card in your deck, it’s role and exactly when to play them. One misplay can spiral out of control and lead to a loss. You need to practise, math out your turns and assess all scenarios to make sure you making the best plays for the deck at the time, for Factory Production Line you need to make sure you know exactly what cards are left in your deck and what the plan is for either of them. Want to hit lab coat, plan for if you don’t. Make sure another lab coat is in your dregs so you can dig it or at the very least make sure there is something to play that helps if you hit stone instead.
It’s not a just a 1v1 deck, it’s certainly harder in multiplayer as you will likely be targeted by any and all steal/drain but it’s still very good.
The Grand Tournament
Round 1
Round 1 was vs a Curse Deck. I hadn’t done much testing into curse so was interested to see what the matchup was like my opponent got Ezili out turn 1 allowing to control my board pretty well however I fortunately still managed to outpace them to take the game. Game 2 was very short, my opponent had a bad opening hand and I ran to victory in a couple of turns.
2-0 matches 1-0 record
Round 2
Round 2 was Otrix Control and a couple of quick games here as Otrix struggled to control my board and keep my shards down.
4-0 matches 2-0 record
Round 3
The mirror match – Round 3 and I’m already facing Echo, was hoping this might not happen until the finals but unfortunately we were both doing well. The mirror match mostly comes down to who goes first and a bit of luck. Game 1 I go first and managed to get the turn 2 win, Echo had game in hand if I hadn’t of got there. Game 2 Echo goes first and doesn’t seem to have the best starting hand. He plays it out with a decent starting turn, my turn 1 I play ray and gain some shards I don’t have the best hand but I can work with it. Turn 2, my Ray gets role reversaled but fortunately I have 2 role reversal in hand obliterating Echos board and taking him out of the game, another round and a few trades and the round goes to me
6-0 matches 3-0 record
Round 4
Hex Clunker – My hardest matchup by far – Hex Clunker can get a lot of control down quickly and I can struggle to keep up. Game 1 my opponent gets clunker turn 1 and thing’s aren’t looking good. I try to keep myself in the game but there’s too much control and not enough trade, game 1 goes to Clunker. Game 1 and I’m going first, I get a good start but my opponent gets Clunker out again! Thing’s aren’t looking great but I can still do this. A bit of back and forth and I manage to trade my way to victory. Where are those damn Carmellas?! Game 3 starts and my opponent gets Clunker out for the 3rd time, some things just aren’t balanced, but this time I have Sorrono to remove Clunker and a Wincey for good measure. My opponent takes Sorrono with Corrupted Muon Trap and leaves themselves low, just 7 shards. They aren’t expecting an Achrom Burst but I have Cintimani Stone and Haim Shard Cache in hand. I trade away the shard cache, sacrifice Wincey into the Corrupted Muon Trap to get it back, play Cintimani Stone to play the cache giving me a total of 7 steal to take the game! That was closer than I would have liked
8-1 matches 4-0 record.
Round 5
Otrix Control and we have a slightly rocky start but they can’t keep the gain and trading down for a fairly quick 2 games
10-1 matches 5-0 record.
Semi Finals
Into the Semi Finals we go and knowing I’m playing Ray my opponent thinks that Breach Pixies is their best bet. However thing’s don’t go as planned for them as the character hit the board and the gain/trade means they can’t burst me down fast enough and it’s 2-0 just like that.
12-1 Matches 6-0 record.
Finals
It’s time for the finals and that same pesky Hex Clunker is back. Game 1 they get clunker out but they don’t have any drain. I consider just double trading and giving them nothing to work with. I decided it’s my best course of action and get myself high on shards but low on cards. If they get 2 drain/steal on the board I win with a double trade next turn, it’s risky but with my current hand it’s my best play. I go for it, they don’t get it down and I double trade again to victory for game 1. Game 2 starts and it’s all a blur, I’m just focused on winning, I come out on top but I’ll have to watch the recording video when it comes out on Friday to see what actually happened, check out the Achroma Youtube Channel for that when it drops.
14-1 matches 7-0 record
At the first Grand Tournament I got to finish (I had to leave part way through the last one) I came out on top and couldn’t be happier, the deck is amazing and the event was run really well, big thanks to Chris, Charlie, Sara and everyone else who put it together and helped run it.
This next part is my feedback on the event as opposed to Ray, feel free to skip over if you don’t care about my opinion
I’m really glad the guys listened to feedback and things were a lot better compared to the previous one. There’s only one thing I’d like to see changed which is the changing of decks between rounds. I still believe it should be one deck for the whole tournament. In the semi-finals knowing I was playing Ray my opponent chose Pixies thinking it was their best matchup for it, I don’t blame them for that, the rules allow it but it also puts people in this rock paper scissors of well what I change too, what if they think I changed when I haven’t… etc and also puts players with less ability to have multiple decks ready to go at a disadvantage. No other competitive or casual style event allows this in Pokemon, Magic etc. I understand the want for events to be accessible for everyone but the reality is you need both a Casual and Competitive scene for the game, there’s nothing wrong with having events like the story event at the start of the season with the location cards and then a more serious event with the Grand Tournament. Also the advantage to a swiss style system is even if they have a bad couple of rounds, the later rounds they are playing against people on the same record as them, eventually the skill cap fixes itself leading to more balanced matchups each round.
Anyway back to the deck. If you like the deck and want to build it yourself you’re going to need a few bits
The deck uses cards from every Faction of Fall of Flutterby so you’ll need all 3 faction boxes or a complete first edition set(shop.achroma.cards/q9lvuz)
You’ll of course need a Ray deck (https://shop.achroma.cards/5vpcqa)
Things are a bit tricky for the Flutterby RotRR cards, you need both Yana and Hod to have everything, however with a minor downgrade you could get one and replace the missing card (Hod comes with 1x Lab Coat and 2x Factory Production Line, Yana comes with 2x Lab Coat and 1x Factory Production Line), it’s a hard choice but I think I would cut a lab coat if pressed and pick up Hod (https://shop.achroma.cards/xvpest)
Finally you’ll need 2 HAIM Shard Caches
Remember whatever you are missing you can use my code AchromaTools for 10% of your order(except Charity Cards) or follow the link here for the discount to automatically apply
Hope you enjoyed the Article, I aim to write more of these in the future, let me know what you think, what you liked, what could be improved etc.
See ya next time!