Armory Deck Guide: Azalea (With Upgrade Guide)

Since the beginning of the year, LSS has released new products each month. Besides standard sets (draftable sets), LSS has also released Blitz precons and 1st Strike decks. However, the line of products that has been impacting the game the most is Armory Decks: precon decks designed for Classic Constructed that are ready to play, include a few exclusive cards and are well-balanced. They're perfect for new players.

We've already discussed Kayo, Armed and Dangerous's precon and Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn's precon. Now, it is time we discuss Azalea, Ace in the Hole's precon, the strongest Ranger in the format.

In another article, we discussed Azalea in Blitz. Since then, time has passed, and she got new tools, but I still highly recommend you read the other article to understand her story as well as the Ranger class as a whole. Today, we'll focus on her Classic Constructed deck.

Unlike Riptide, Lurker of the Deep, Azalea is a Ranger that wants to Go Tall - this means she won't attack multiple times on the same turn but rather set up a gigantic attack and threaten many on-hit effects. She still uses a few attacks with go again to threaten more damage, but her ability is much better when we give Dominate to an attack with 8 or 13 power, for instance.

To better understand this deck, let's split it into two parts: arrows (which will be our main source of damage), and buffs (the Actions that buff our attacks).

Arrows

Before we discuss each arrow, please note that we only use one copy of a few of them. It might seem odd, but it makes sense because of Nock the Deathwhistle (3).

This tutor does everything this deck wants: it gets you the perfect arrow for every situation, puts it on the top of your deck (and thus guarantees your hero's ability won't fail), and also puts a card in your arsenal through its Reload ability. This specialization is one of the best cards in the deck, and using three of it is a great idea.

Red in the Ledger (1) is certainly one of the strongest attacks in the game. Its on-hit effect simply "disables" the turns of any aggressive deck. As we're talking about Azalea, this arrow will have a lot of power as well as Dominate, and thus make your opponent's blocks inefficient. They'll have a pretty weak turn. When we discuss upgrades, we'll talk about it again.

Barbed Undertow (1) is more situational and might not fit most of the deck all that well, but it also might put many heroes that depend on colors (or nearly monocolored heroes) in tough situations. Prism, Awakener of Sol, for instance; with it, you can prevent Prism from pitching yellow cards and using her weapon, Luminaris, Angel's Glow. It is quite specific, but great as a single copy in this precon.

Bolt'n' Shot (1) is one of the best arrows this class plays. It might naturally be "just" a zero-cost card with four power, but the number of buffs in this deck often enable its go again ability as well as its Reload. This can be very frightening for your opponent and extend a more aggressive turn when we don't have more attacks than buffs in our hand.

Infecting Shot (1) and Sedation Shot (1) are more standard arrows in this list and don't do anything too amazing, but they fit perfectly because of the tokens they give our opponents. Bloodrot Pox's token is more aggressive and performs well when you need to deal as much damage as you can as fast as possible, but Inertia is great against decks that need the arsenal for some setup; either with a combo or a card that gives you more value if you play five cards in a single turn.

Drill Shot (1), Sleep Dart (1), and the exclusive card in this precon, Stone Rain (1), are in this list because they, in some way, disrupt the opponent and force them to play inefficiently. Sleep Dart (1) directly affects heroes that depend too much on their abilities (like Kayo, Armed and Dangerous and Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn), and Drill Shot (1) punishes decks that play a lot of defensive equipment. The new arrow is a sort of "Intimidate" that doesn't let your opponent play a card until the end of the turn.

Lastly, Spire Sniping (2) is an arrow that doesn't have an on-hit effect. However, you don't want to play it mindlessly. The goal is using its ability to manipulate the top of your deck and activate your hero's ability more consistently.

Buffs

However, you'll need to do more than just play several arrows. Otherwise, you won't be able to do any real damage with it. Let's discuss the buffs that will make them truly threatening.

The Lace cycle is this deck's bread and butter: it buffs your arrow attacks and gives them some on-hit effect. Each of them will give your opponent a disease token (Bloodrot Pox, Frailty, and Inertia), and each is great in many situations: we already covered Bloodrot Pox and Inertia, and Frailty is perfect when your opponent's weapons and arsenal take the center stage (like Warriors).

The other buffs will both give you aim counters to put on your arrows and manipulate the top of your deck to make sure your hero's ability doesn't fail.

Scout the Periphery (1) and Read the Glide Path (1) let you manipulate the top of your deck and give you information. Point the Tip (1) and the new card, Line It Up, give you aim counters to put on arrows that interact with them, like Drill Shot (1) and Stone Rain.

Memorial Ground (2) seems a bit lost in this list, but it actually gives this deck some recursion by returning to you relevant attacks you've already played. What makes this card truly shine is the fact it also lets you put a target attack on the top of your deck, and thus make sure you'll activate Azalea's ability safely. You'll also know which of your attacks will have Dominate.

Equipment

This precon brings an array of new equipment cards that give you aim counters to put on your arrows and get even more benefits.

Death Dealer and Crow's Nest are the "basic" equipment cards you need to play with Azalea. Her Signature Weapon puts an arrow in your arsenal and refills it by drawing you a card. However, her quiver might also be useful if you have any resources left on your turn to put its counter on another arrow that might benefit from it.

Target Totalizer can work as a sort of Ponder that refills your hand when one of your arrows hits your opponents, but you can get more value out of it with arrows like Bolt'n' Shot (1). They have go again, so you'll draw more cards the more go again arrows you play.

Hidden Agenda helps you pay for the cost of arrows like Red in the Ledger (1). This means you'll be able to play a turn without necessarily pitching any card. Furthermore, it has Arcane Barrier 1, so, with it, this class will have another way to deal with arcane damage.

Sharp Shooters is nearly identical to Bull's Eye Bracers. It lets you put arrows in your arsenal without necessarily activating any bows. However, the new equipment card has Battleworn, so it's another great defense for Azalea.

Flight Path follows the same logic as your arm equipment. It is also nearly identical to another card, Snapdragon Scalers, but its Battleworn 1 makes it more defensive.

Like any precon, this deck needs many changes to become actually competitive. Let's see how some stronger cards can make it more functional and, next, check out an entire list with all the upgrades we can add.

Our first change is adding two extra copies of Red in the Ledger (1). One copy makes sense in the precon, but, in a competitive list, we need all copies to make sure we actually see it and play it. It is also essential against aggressive decks.

Endless Arrow (1)'s on-hit effect is quite interesting. The fact we can return it to our hand means we'll always have an arsenal. Furthermore, in the late game, we can always play this arrow an extra time (and give it go again as well as put it back in our arsenal), and force our opponent to play something.

Premeditate (1) is a fair Plunder Run (1), but it is still quite powerful. You'll only be able to buff attacks in your arsenal, but that is no issue because we can only play arrows from our arsenal. Its effect, which creates a Ponder, lasts until the end of the turn, so even if our first attack misses our opponent, this card's effect will also apply to the next attack.

Codex of Frailty (2) is one of the most powerful Assassin cards, but it's also a Ranger card and does everything this deck wants: it gives you card recursion (Endless Arrow (1) and Red in the Ledger (1) are the best targets for it), and gives you a Ponder. This means it guarantees you can build your arsenal until the end of the turn and also disrupts your opponent, both because of the Frailty it gives you and the card it discards. It is a very powerful action that certainly brings this deck to another level.

We've discussed that this hero needs a few ways to manipulate the top of your deck to make sure her ability doesn't fail. The precon already plays many cards that do that, but what if we used an equipment card that also did that?

That's precisely what Skullbone Crosswrap does. Its Opt 1 ability lets us get the best out of Azalea and is certainly the first legendary equipment card we reach for. Furthermore, it is also one of the few equipment pieces that can defend both physical damage (with Blade Break 1) and arcane damage (with Arcane Barrier 1).

Now, let's take a look at a competitive list. The one we'll review was played by Connor Mcgrath, a finalist of the Calling: Lyon that took place recently.

Note that its main game plan is still the same as the Armory Deck's: it plays several buffs and many arrows that somehow disrupt your opponent. A competitive list like this one will want the best the game can offer, so you'll see a few cards in it that we haven't listed before: Remorseless (1), Rain Razors (2), and Seek and Destroy (1). They all have cheaper versions that are included in the precon - what sets them apart are their effects, but their power is similar.

The new cards might not shine with Azalea, but Riptide, Lurker of the Deep got a few great addition thanks to this precon. If you want to build many Rangers and collect a few options to build other decks, you should definitely get this precon.

Azalea, Ace in the Hole is an excellent deck that has become quite relevant in the meta, as it can stop more aggressive decks, like Aurora, Shooting Star, and Zen, Tamer of Purpose. A precon like this one not only perfectly introduces a beginner to this class and Azalea but also gives them many cards if they prefer building another hero in this same class.

What about you? Did you enjoy this Armory Deck? Will you get it? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!