Genesis Druid: Elf Cleric Build (Pylades)

It's been a few weeks since the launch of the Campaign, and I'm still busy grinding out levels on characters and running dungeons to complete playsets between Property and Criminal Law readings.  The content that rolled out in the Chronicles Patch is excellent, and I can't wait for Set 4 and the following PvE updates (hopefully with Mercenaries).

For those that still haven't tried the campaign and are tentatively interested, I'm going to show off my first max level character, the Elf Cleric Pylades.  I'll be referencing the Cleric abilities without going into great detail about them, so if you're unfamiliar you can check out the Cleric Preview for a rundown (I'll have the Warrior rundown up soon as well).

Initially I thought I would want to play a Coyotle, but I was really impressed with the Elf artwork and abilities.  Elves have two strong Racial Traits.  The first is Long Life, which gives them a flat +6 Starting Health, the largest health bonus of any race in the game.  Since Clerics are all about longevity, I figured the-bigger-the-better in terms of a health buffer I could create between myself and whatever was out there for my first playthrough.  "What was out there" was fire zombies... lots of fire zombies, and I needed every point of health I could get.  The second Elf passive is Artistic, which gives you a 25% chance to receive a random stardust after clearing a dungeon.  Several of the races have traits like this that make it more efficient to grind. 

The Race-Combo Ability for Elf Clerics is Genesis Blessing, which enhances your Blessings to give you a Genesis Leaf, which functions similar to a Lotus Petal from MTG.  In dungeons, where tempo and managing your resources is incredibly important, these guys were invaluable and allowed my to ramp into 5-drops early and consistently.  Given that my racial ability already buffed by Blessing, I decided to focus on Blessing Enhancement Talents as I leveled.  Empowerment (the +1/+1 buff) is a much better talent than I had initially given it credit for.  Gaining 4 life, drawing a card, buffing you most expensive troop, and getting a free resource for a turn for free is a great deal, and each little addition really made my character feel substantially more powerful as I leveled and put points in it.  I wanted Blessings as often as possible, so I decided to work my way towards Good Karma, which moves your Blessings one space up in the deck every turn.  The Healing Aura you collect on the way is also nice, likely netting you an extra 6-8 health over the course of a game.  Unfortunately there just weren't enough points for Blessing of the Immortals if I wanted Good Karma and Empowerment (Coyotle get a bonus Talent Point, and could get Karma/Empowerment/BotI), so I decided to give the handful of Clerics in my deck Lifedrain instead for my final point, which is nothing to sneeze at.

31 starting health is an impressive number, which will buy you time until your troops reach critical mass.
515 gold is  much less impressive by comparison.

The decklist evolved over time as well, gradually moving from a Ruby-Wild affair to mono-Wild.  I put as many fighting dinosaurs as I could into the deck, since they dealt with aggressive zombies in both Devonshire Keep and Tomb of the Rose Knights (Smoldering Dead) well.  Feralroot Jaguar was the one PvE card I added to the deck, each one of which will randomly give two troops in your deck a +1/+1 bonus for that game.  Getting a 3/3 Carnasaurus in your opening hand can save you in the early game until your bigger threats can hit the field.  Both Carnasaurus and Succulent Cluckodon can gain health, which can be a saving grace while you're otherwise burning, and plays in well with the Health restoration from your Clerics and Blessings.  Here's the current list I'm running for dungeons:

Genesis Cleric

3 Carnasaurus

3 Dream Stag**

3 Lithe Lyricist*

3 Puck, the Dream Bringer*

2 Feralroot Jaguar

2 Prospero, Sylvan Enchanter*

2 Rhythmic Spiritualist

2 Wild Root Dancer

3 Genesis Hydra

2 Succulent Cluckodon

3 Crocosaur

2 Jadiim

2 Wildwood Beastcaller

2 Chlorophylia

2 Titania's Majesty (Empowerment)

22 Wild Shard

2 Crackling Vortex

Equipment

Head: Gardener's Hat (Chlorophylia)

Chest: Vest of the Ruminant (Dream Stag)

Gloves: Musky Leather Gloves (Dream Stag)

Feet: Enchanter's Footwraps (Prospero, Sylvan Enchanter)

Weapon: Lyricist Quill (Lithe Lyricist)

Trinket: Ring of the Goodfellow (Puck, the Dream Bringer)

Talents

Enhance Blessing: Life Essence
Enhance Blessing: Empowerment
Hale
Healing Aura
Aura Aspect: Good Karma
Affinity: Cleric

The general idea of the deck is to just play big stuff and keep making them bigger until you just overwhelm your opponent and win.  Dream Stag equipment will allow you to generate more shards to buff your team, as well as give you charges for more Blessings.  Max level Clerics can run 3 copies of Wild Rares, so there can be some interchange between the Wild Root Dancer (who is also a Cleric) and Spiritualist and Prospero.  Prospero is incredible with the Footwraps, since the Tempest Strikes he creates will also draw a card.  Unfortunately, this card is only available to Kickstarter Backers (I was fortunate enough to get two with this update).

While this deck has lots of rares, many of them are relatively inexpensive.  One very cheap card that is particularly effective against the Spitfire Elemental (both the penultimate fight of Devonshire and the troop-version Wiktor begins with) is Genesis Hydra, which gets stronger each time it is dealt damage.  Since the Spitfire Elemental deals damage to all troops each turn, the Hydra will just slowly grow bigger until it's big enough to start owning the field (assuming no Lethal Zombies are lurking around).  

Other rares also work better in stalemate situations so help the slow ramp up.  Wildwood Beastcaller generates a free beast every turn, which can be incredible if you get a Dream Bear or another huge troop.  It is possible to miss with Beastcaller and create a 0/0 Dangerous Beast, which is normally created with Bellow of Briggadon when you activate a charge power.  Rhythmic Spiritualist can be helpful since many cards and effects will slowly chew away at your deck, giving you the option to save important troops (preferably the dinosaurs) and shuffle them back into your deck, stronger and cheaper.  You can also manage Ravenous Zombies better by denying them the ability to feast on the troops in your crypt, baiting them to attack into your 3/4

Overall, the deck is very fun if you enjoy smashing through with gigantic troops, and seems to fit well with the unique resource ramp and empowerment blessings of the Elf Cleric, creating a psuedo-Druid feel.  It should be noted that the Keystone Race-Combo Ability, which will be unlocked when the campaign extends to Level 30 Characters, is called Born to be Wild, which one during the game will grant you 2 health for each Wild Threshold you have.  That makes me think my Elf Cleric will be clinging almost exclusively to the wild-side as the level cap rises.