Peasant so far has mostly seen downgrades of popular PvP builds like 3DC and WarWarWiz. I decided to see what I could do with some archetypes that aren't viable normally. The devasting blow + insight combo has been remarked on before, but this isn't about originality. It's about probing, and it's about dirty elves spraying their foul techniques across the battlefields of Cardhuntria. Elvish Insight is the most violating card in the game (followed by Duck?), and these jerks are all about that. Here's the build: First up we see my vampire back in action, this time with two Lifesuck Spears for double the suck. I loaded him up with as many non-magic attacks as possible so that I could cheese Defensiveness as a free deck-thinner. He's only got two Devastating Blows, but he's packing Elvish Insight like the rest of my team and is more than capable of getting in. Entangling Roots seems fun for holding card-grubbing dwarves in place while the hunting triad homes in on its prey. I blew a on the shield because it's really important to protect your jewels when you're frail. Who's this? It's another stupid priest. Why so many priests when you could otherwise run more Blow? Simply put, I'm obsessed with healbots. We bring two more Elvish Insight and one more Blow, but we also pack 5 of the best card in the format as well as 4 Greater Heal. That's a lot of resilience. On any given turn, my elves have on average roughly the same hp as humans in equivalent classes thanks to these heals. Jonny's not a fighter, but a lover. And even lovers can get down and dirty with the Blow. Finally we have the meat and potatoes of the build: two more Elvish Insights! ... Just kidding, it's those Sharp Spetums. Grace packs eight Vicious Thrust which help her get in and then a full six of the eponymous Blow. She's frail, she's awkward, she's easy to disrupt—but isn't every cheesy combo? On a good turn, Grace can dish out 15+ damage with her Blows, approaching damage/card ratios otherwise unseen in Peasant. Beware, elves! ... oh. Wait. Anyway, the idea is that with proper support from Jonny, Grace and Earmuff are supposed to get there in a crushing series of Insight and Blow. The build is dirty when it works, and when it doesn't, well. The deck has gone 2-1 or so, haven't played it super much. But it's a fun one, and the kind of weird thing I hope would become more prominent in the lower-powered format that is peasant. I look forward to playing more games with it as well as seeing others try their hand at this or similar. I saw someone run a similar strat yesterday with two warriors, and while it lost to my dwarves, it was pretty sweet!
Just for reference, this deck was made back when AotA hadn't even been heard of as a rumor and Vicious Thrust was still step 2. There have been a lot of balance changes between now and then, though I'd personally think that the build is still pretty solid, if no longer competitive.
