Classic Constructed Deck Tech : Arakni "Slippy" - Chaos Assassin

A while ago, I wrote an article on Arakni, Solitary Confinement for the Blitz format. At the time, only Outsiders and Dynasty were available, which made the deck really short on good cards for its strategy.

Time flew by, and two new Sets brought a lot of stuff: Part the Mistveil and The Hunted, with new Stealth cards and Attack Reactions that propelled Arakni for the competitive metagame.

However, that's not the focus of our article today. The Hunted also had a nice surprise for Assassin players, with a nearly identical Arakni hero for Classic Constructed.

Today, we'll talk about Arakni, 5L!p3d 7hRu 73h cR4X!

Arakni, 5L!p3d 7hRu 73h cR4X - from now on referred to as “Slippy” - is just like the Young hero Arakni, Solitary Confinement, except for two important changes: the Chaos talent and the fact that they include all Stealth attacks - even the opponent's.

As mentioned in our The Hunted review, the Chaos talent does not currently add much to the hero, except one important card for the deck. The talent will be more relevant once we have new Chaos cards in future sets.

Slippy plays in a different way from other heroes of its class, so let's talk about pros and cons:

Pros

- Easy go again due to its ability;

- Lots of 0-cost cards, which means less dependent on blue cards;

- Lots of disruption

Cons

- Less Life Points;

- Grants go again to the opponent's Stealth attacks, which limits the usefulness against other Assassins;

- Similar deckbuild to Arakni, Marionette, but with less powerful plays.

The showcased deck reached the Semifinals of Calling: Christchurch, played by Jasin Long.

We'll analyze each of the Attack Actions, Non-attack Actions and Reactions.

Before we continue, I strongly recommend you read my The Hunted set review, in particular how the Marked mechanic works.

Equipment

One of the main strenghts of Slippy is in the equipments, so let's check them out first.

Hunter's Klaive is the only way to mark our opponent, but it's the best available for the Assassin class. Piercing makes it very difficult for opponents to block as well.

Although the 1 power is somewhat low, it's more than enough to enable Marked synergies, and you can also use another equipment for this:

Uzuri, Switchblade has already shown how powerful Flick Knives is against a low-health opponent, and in this deck it's even better. Since the dagger's on-hit effect is applied, we can use the Attack Reaction to "throw" Hunter's Klaive and mark the opponent.

Like in Aurora, Shooting Star decks, it may seem odd to use Tunic when nearly all your cards cost zero. However, there are a few one-cost cards, and the weapon's two-cost, so the Chest can help with those.

This specialization has become a favorite since its release. With the ability to transform into any Agent of Chaos, this Head piece is very flexible, transforming into Arakni, Black Widow when you need disruption, or Arakni, Trap-Door for a more defensive game.

Snapdragon Scalers is a staple of aggressive decks. Although the hero can easily go again, the Legs are essential to further extend the Combat Chain when needed.

Last but not least, the “Widows” provide us with not only Arcane Barrier 3, but also Spellvoid 3, which is quite relevant against Wizards and Runeblades - for the last ones, just one of them should be enough.

Attack Actions

Thanks to the hero's ability, we can abuse Stealth attacks with strong on-hit effects and have multiple threats in the same turn.

The Art of Desire attacks and Infiltrate (1) act like a kind of Snatch (1). Art of Desire draws a card, Infiltrate (1) "steals" a card from the opponent. Although we'll need to pay their costs, many will be irrelevant. However, there's always the chance of removing an important card or even getting something so powerful that the whole game turns in our favor.

Aggressive decks want to deal as much damage as possible, and Infect (1) is perfect for the job. Thanks to the Bloodrot Pox token, you threaten five damage, which is well above ratio for a zero-cost attack.

Bonds of Agony, Persuasive Prognosis and Mark of the Black Widow (1) are the deck's disruptive attacks. While all of them have requirements, they're also easy to accomplish. Their main goal is: reduce the opponent's hand and make their turn weaker.

Kiss of Death is a distinct card in the decklist. Although it has a somewhat standard effect, it has the "Dagger" type - which makes all cards that interact with Daggers also affect Kiss of Death. An example is using it with Flick Knives, but we'll detail this a little more on a further section of the article.

Even a stealth-focused hero can benefit from other types of attacks. Pick Up the Point (1) recovers a Hunter’s Klaive after being "thrown", and both Leave no Witnesses and Command and Conquer are staples, since they directly disrupt the opposing arsenal.

Reactions

Assassins are dangerous not only for their attacks, but also their Reactions. The Hunted brought very strong Reactions to the class.

Both Tarantula Toxin and Shred (2) have the same goal: lower the defense of a blocking card. This is usually enough for an attack to break through. Be careful, though - if your opponent is not blocking, these will become "dead" cards in your hand or arsenal.

Razor's Edge (1) and Spike with Bloodrot (1) are straightforward and efficient: they increase the power of a Stealth attack. Spike with Bloodrot (1) is just like Infect (1): the more damage, the better. That's why Bloodrot Pox is the best disease on your opponent.

While Nuu, Alluring Desire has more options to use Just a Nick, we can also use it on blue attacks like Bonds of Agony, Art of Desire: Mind and Persuasive Prognosis, turning them into six power attacks and banishing more cards from the opponent.

Take Up the Mantle is the most powerful Reaction in the deck. It allows you to transform one of your attacks into any attack from your graveyard. Thus, a harmless Infect (1) can become a Mark of the Black Widow (1), and surprise your opponents.

Other than Attack Reactions, Inertia Trap (1) excels against decks that hold onto their arsenal to set up combos, while Shelter from the Storm is useful against decks that make many attacks in one turn.

Non-attack Actions

Even though the deck's focus is on Attacks and Reactions, some Non-attack Actions are also very useful.

With Hunter's Klaive destroyed by Flick Knives's effect, we now have a Weapon slot available. Thus, Orb-Weaver Spinneret (1) not only equips a new Dagger, it also comes with Stealth, which allows our Attack Reactions to interact with the Weapon.

Codex of Frailty is one of the best cards for Assassin and Ranger, and one of the most powerful in Flesh and Blood. It replaces itself, grants an arsenal, takes a card from the opponent's hand, and even turns into an attack, all for zero cost. This is a must-have on this deck.

You don't usually see Toxicity (2) in these decks, but it has a very peculiar interaction that we'll explain later. It basically functions like a Boom Grenade (1).

The Schism of Chaos Gem may seem bad because it grants an arsenal for the opponent, however, the fact that it shuffles the deck (messing up any Pitch Stack) and the chance of trapping a horrible card in their arsenal makes it useful.

We can easily play any card in our arsenal, but what if an Enigma, Ledger of Ancestry ends with an Inner Chi on it? The Gem is a high-risk high-reward card.

As mentioned, being a Dagger means cards that care about Dagger also interact with it.

An example:

Nic attacks Tyler with a Kiss of Death. Tyler blocks with a Command and Conquer. In reactions, Nic plays a Tarantula Toxin choosing both modes, thus giving three more power to the Attack - since it is a Dagger -, and three less defense to Command and Conquer - since it's blocking an Attack with Stealth. Tyler has no reactions. When damage resolves, Tyler takes six damage and also loses one life due to Kiss of Death's effect .

Tarantula Toxin can also use both its effects, since Kiss of Death is a Dagger and has Stealth.

Now let's get to the reason why Toxicity (2) is on the list.

We can use Flick Knives to destroy Kiss of Death - even from a previous chain link - and cause one damage, but the Attack also maintains all on-hit effects, which means this one damage will trigger any other effects.

Let's look at another example:

Nic plays Toxicity (2) and then attacks Tyler with Kiss of Death - with go again, thanks to Slippy's ability. Tyler defends with a Command and Conquer. In reactions, Nic plays Spike with Bloodrot (1), and Tyler answers with Sink Below (1). The chain link resolves and no damage is caused. Nic continues their turn, playing an Art of Desire: Body. Tyler defends with Warmonger’s Diplomacy. On reactions, Nic activates Flick Knives, choosing to destroy the Kiss of Death from the previous Chain Link. Tyler takes one damage, and the on-hit effects of Kiss of Death occur, making Tyler lose one life from the Attack ability, four life from Toxicity (2) and also creating a Bloodrot Pox from the effect of Spike with Bloodrot (1)!

Kiss of Death has several interesting interactions in the deck, so always pay attention to Reactions with Dagger interactions, and effects like Flick Knives.

- Take advantage of the free go again effect on your first attack to threaten effects like drawing cards or disrupting the opponent's hand;

- Don't try to push damage through. If you feel that your first attack won't hit, save your Attack Reactions for the second one;

- Don't use Attack Reactions just for damage. Try to set up an Attack Reaction on arsenal and wait for a relevant attack like Bonds of Agony or Mark of the Black Widow (1);

- Use Flick Knives to force marked. This is excellent when you want to use the effect of Take Up the Mantle or Mark of the Black Widow (1);

Matchup-wise:

- Widows equipments against Wizards;

- Back Stab (1) against decks with many Defense Reactions;

- Pick to Pieces (1) against Illusionists with Ward auras;

- Poison the Well against decks with Count Your Blessings (1)

Slippy isn't the best Assassin in the current meta - Nuu, Alluring Desire has proven to be the best hero in this Class, and Arakni, Marionette is preferred by players who enjoy aggressive decks. However, Slippy is an excellent option for those who want a focused and aggressive game plan.

Thanks for reading and see you next time!