Eldar with Teeth - SC 1st

This is far from solved. Without more one cappers you simply cannot play the command game as efficient as before. Also I don't see any bonesinger choir introduced, which fits very well into this deckshape. And finally it is time to move on to Eldorath / Tau, which fits this deckstyle more.

Agree with the above - where are the Bonesinger Choirs? Just having 2 of those would make this deck much more powerful, so take out at least 2 Dooms for those.

Also splash Tau - the new Defense Drone card is great for handling swarms and Trailblazer gives you more mobile command. Just my two cents :]

Bonesinger Choir is a limited card (competing with Promotion), and it requires I have a Vehicle or Drone unit in hand, of which there are only 9. It requires I find two of those for it to be cost effective. The chances of being able to use it on turn 1 are 71%, and the chances of using it twice between turn 1 and 2 are approximately 58% (based on a 4 card draw). Generally speaking, I'd prefer to have a more reliable early game, and not have the chance of drawing a dead card toward the end of the game. And I would never drop Doom.

Leaving for Tau means abandoning Archon's Terror, which seems like a bad idea. In favor of Sslyth Mercenary and Incubus Warrior, I gain a 1/1 Mobile and... Earth Caste? Which could be helpful, but still leaves me down one command, and down a dramatic amount of attack power (the threat of a 2/2 and 3/1 is pretty strong).

Thanks for the feedback. If I keep the deck together I'll probably give each attempt a go, just to see how it feels. Will report back if I do so.

Six expensive vehicle units could be a risk in the coming meta with Gorzod about to get another 1-for-1. I'd be inclined to preemptively switch Wildrider for Celachia (which also boosts your anti-Worr game, which Eldorath/DE can find hard to take on, and your anti-Kith game, which is always going to be a harder match up for any deck that relies on concentrating a lot of fighting power on fewer fighting units). I think the Vypers can stay, as you can always wait till you've got Nullify in hand before deploying them with Gorzod, and they hit hard enough that Gorzod can't risk you 2-shielding, so will have fewer windows to play his signature event.

My main worry with this deck is variance - 25 unit decks can easily pull into bad hands, even after a mulligan, so consistency could come back and bite you in a critical match. Likewise, its hard to play Ssylth reliably if you're averaging a low number of deploy actions. I'd strongly consider -1 Doom, -2 Empower to make room for 3 Void Pirates. Empower is mostly going to be a 2-shield anyway, as its not as if you're fielding swarms of Eldar units, so its a high cost to pay for an attack boost on 1-3 units at a time.

I haven't seen a good Gorzod deck, so I'm not willing to change a deck around at this time for that warlord. In any case, it requires the Warlord get damage through, and with the shields as they are, his hits will almost never successfully get through (and, as you noted, Nullify exists as some extra backup). 

As for 25 units, I almost always play decks between 23 and 27 units, with an emphasis on shields. 10 + 3 promotion + 4 fixed non-units + 2 good events/supports usually leaves me with the rest as units; this deck happens to have Nullify + Doom + Rout, so it's hard to argue against those events). I could run more units at the expense of shields, but I prefer the greater staying power the shields provide. Case in point, the only reason I run Empower is because it is 2 shields. I've used it for its effects once in active memory.

I like the deck, but I kinda hate Sslyth and will change them for Bloodied Revers (IMHO they can be cappers too since they are good againts command snipe especially with the lot of shield this deck contains)

What do you think about Subdual? Does it worth the slot/cost in this deck?

You can switch to Tau and replace Terror with Mind War instead. Adding ECT, who can grab either Wraithguard or Jetbike, could be a big asset for this deck. 

@Gazgoblin: I can't say I strongly disagree with Bloodied Reavers. I ran them in a previous build (before Warbikes showed up) as an attack unit and liked them a lot. And I'm not an enormous fan of the downside of Sslyth, as it is a dead card when you're behind (when you really want your cards to matter). But I've accepted the risk inherent with Sslyth, and as such opted for the greater Cost/Command ratio, rather than the greater Attack (which is no longer found wanting, thanks to Jetbikes being able to get your key units into the battle, and Vyper's impressive attack). And while it's not a good metric, technically they do have the same cost/attack ratio. 

@Gazgoblin and VonWibble: I've run Subdual in the past (primarily for Khymera Den meta) and didn't enjoy it much. Given that Astra now has four pieces of card board that are pretty back breaking, I might take another look at it -- although for every game it's effective, you play three more where it does nothing (in a tournament environment with varied opponents). But let's assume we want to take it out. For what? I'm not willing to drop my 9 2-shield cards, nor am I willing to cut down on Doom / Archon's / Nullify / Promotion. More on this thought process is below. So that leaves units, but removing units from the deck seems unwise. So we're left with no Subdual. But I agree, getting rid of that Forward Barracks would make a lot of games easier (which, as a side note, changes the game quite a bit, but I think (??) can be played around.

Doom: I only ever need 1, but when you need it, I NEED IT IN MY HAND RIGHT NOW. I can't afford to run 1 or 2 because it won't reliably be a tool that's available to me.
Archon's Terror: Best out-of-hand Battle action in the game.

Nullify: Shutting down your opponents actions (Archon's Terror, Indomitable, Astra ranged-attack-thing, Astra turn-planet-green thing, Warp Storm, Tau-move-your-ethereals thing, Doom, Drop Pod Assault, etc.) gives a lot of protection against the unknown.

Promotion: Winning command (and preventing your oppoonent from winning command) wins games; probably don't need to explain this one much.
 

@Solaris: There's a pretty huge difference between sending someone home and exhausting them, especially with the targets Archon's Terror wants to hit. I did run Mind War for a while but, even with 7 Psykers, found I rarely had the correct unit composition to use it. that said, I do love me some ECT. So strong.

@BiasOldZombie: I would argue 9 2-shield cards (total) is not enough; if I could run 10, I would. That goes for every deck I build. This is a formulaic decision that my playground has adopted, and it's worked out really well for us (I recommend trying it). Shoot, in this deck, because the 2-shield cards are so good, I might consider going up to 12 just because I want to actually use my Jetbikes and Gift of Isha's. The staying power your units have as a result is worth writing home about. You're not wrong; my heavy hitters can shift into combat at the end of a combat round, but they still have to survive the next combat round to make their swings. But even besides that, the shields are not really there for my heavy hitters. They're there for the early Starbane's Council, or Iyanden Wraithguard.

Regarding Bonesinger: I agree, Bonesinger decks have a lot of work to do; my biggest gripe with Bonesinger decks is that they rely on Bonesinger. It's like saying Tau Ethereal is awesome because of the move-an-ethereal location. Yeah, it's freaking fantastic. It's also 3 pieces of cardboard; you won't always find it. A card that is that big an economy swing means you'll either:

- Build a deck that utilizes the big economy, and struggles when it doesn't find one (early)

- Build a deck that CAN utilize the big economy but runs okay without it, and winds up with loads of resources when it does find one.

If there was a way to more consistently find the Bonesingers, it might be Tournament viable. But that's a completely different deck. And as I write this I realized that Swordwind Farseer would go really well in that deck. And yes, Tau would run better with that build, I imagine. Maybe throw in a Dome of Crystal Seers, for the lols.

Thanks for the discussion all, some good ideas coming out of it. And to clarify: while I said it's "solved", that is to say the deck is at a place that I feel is so solid that there are significantly reduced return on time investment to improving this deck, while I could work on, say, my Chaos Elites deck and make quite a bit more progress (because it's uh, bad). Could it be better? Almost certainly. But how much better? Not much, I'd argue. At this point any modifications would result in trading one weakness for another. For example, I run 3x of every card. A more diverse player would probably run quite a few 2x cards. I like consistency, not diversity, so almost all of my decks look that way. Your mileage may vary.

@Exveer thanks for the replays

I went 3-1 at the local GNK last night with your deck and got 2nd place (12 players/4 rounds)

Won againts Worr (bloodied him, then doomed his army)

Won againts a Kith (lot of shield helped againts Klaivex shinenigans)

Won againts Zarathur (lot of mobility and shields helped escaping warpstorms, then dooming his army sealed the deal)

Lost againts Aun'shi: her signature support made my Eldorath's ability useless from the first turn, and the City helped her to hunt down my units

My changes for your deck was the following:

-1 Wildrider Vyper +1 Autarch Celichia (againts Kith she is a powerhouse)

-3 Sslyth Mercenaries +3 Bloodied Reavers

-3 Promotion +3 Gut and Pillage (this card is awesome, many times made my life easier! Just snipe enemy command with Eldorath on a red planet for +3 resources (and every red planet ability is a win with this deck IMHO) 

51st card: Subdual (never used it, never needed it on the tournament)

English is not my native tongue so sorry for any errors

Swapped out Sslyth for Kinsmen, wound up getting second at regionals.

Matchups for the curious:

1W: Mavros

2W: Worr

3L: Kith

4W: Ragnar

T8: Kith

T4: Kith http://www.cardgamed...gionals-16-r837

Finals: Eldorath http://www.cardgamed...regionals-r835)