In Blitz, even more so than in Classic Constructed, you need to distil your list down to a core strategy. You don’t have extra card slots – equipment is all the sideboarding you’ll be doing. Therefore, my list focuses on one core thing – big, beefy attacks!
Runeblade is the only class that has high-cost cards that don’t necessarily cost that much in practice. I’m trying to combine that with cards like Pummel, Sloggism, and Lead the Charge for devastating effects.
Let’s look at my pool of attack actions. Do note, not even one of them cost 1 or less:
Many of these require some Runechants to be cost effective, so I do run a few cards that help set these up:
To chain powerful attacks, I also run some enablers, that really help to put the pressure on:
These cards put in the hard yards in the list. Combination of the Tome of Fyendal and Mage Master Boots allows you to create some insane five-plus card hands and gain you a bunch of life. Lead the Charge and Mauvrion Skies let you maintain action points to continue the onslaught. This list is very resource intensive, hence why Energy Potions are included to make sure you have the resource to overwhelm your opponent on that one big turn.
The deck usually settles on one to two Runechants. Stacking them up higher isn’t the easiest when you want to attack as much as possible. Therefore, the Bloodsheath Skeleta combines nicely with cards like Sloggism, a single Arknight Ascendancy, and one Rattle Bones to create some fun, instant speed shenanigans.
Now, it is also important to note what isn’t included in the list. Ninth Blade of the Blood Oath is just too hard to pull off without stacking Runechants. I do not run any Defense Reactions, as I believe offense is the best defense – plus you have a solid amount of equipment blocks. Also, I found cards like Runeblood Barrier and Enchanting Melody to be too defensive, but they could be good choices versus classes like Wizard, Ninja, or Warrior, so do keep in mind that you can tweak it depending on your local metagame.
I am already running four Attack Reactions, so fitting any other cards that are not non-attack or attack actions is hard. Things like Sigil of Solace or Remembrance are too slow for my liking. You need to constantly pressure your opponent, so they don’t pressure you back.
It is important to note that this list is not very intuitive and requires you to know your threats inside out. Sometimes you need to have turns when you just drop a Spellblade Assault to set up your Runechants, or even block with the whole hand and drop a potion into play. Be patient. Set up and wait for that busted hand. Once you have it, take a chunk of damage or use your equipment blocks and go all out. There are so many card combinations to do ridiculous things, I’ll give you some examples:
- Command and Conquer – Sloggism, Lead the Charge, Pummel
- Dread Triptych – Mordred Tide, Oath of the Arknight, Sloggism, Pummel
- Rune Flash – Sloggism, Pummel
- Drawn to the Dark Dimension – Lead the Charge, Mauvrion Skies, Pummel
Sometimes it requires quite a bit of time to work out if you have a good play or not, but hey, it’s blitz! The game will be over in a few turns anyway – specially with this explosive list – so take your time.
Class: Runeblade Hero: Viserai Weapons: Nebula Blade, Reaping Blade Equipment: Arcanite Skullcap, Bloodsheath Skeleta, Crown of Dichotomy, Grasp of the Arknight, Mage Master Boots, Nullrune Boots, Nullrune Gloves, Nullrune Robe (1) Arknight Ascendancy (red) (2) Command and Conquer (red) (2) Drawn to the Dark Dimension (red) (2) Mordred Tide (red) (2) Oath of the Arknight (red) (2) Pummel (red) (1) Rattle Bones (red) (2) Rune Flash (red) (2) Sloggism (red) (2) Spellblade Assault (red) (2) Amplify the Arknight (yellow) (2) Pummel (yellow) (1) Tome of Fyendal (yellow) (1) Arknight Shard (blue) (2) Become the Arknight (blue) (2) Drawn to the Dark Dimension (blue) (2) Dread Triptych (blue) (2) Energy Potion (blue) (2) Lead the Charge (blue) (2) Mauvrion Skies (blue) (2) Oath of the Arknight (blue) (2) Spellblade Assault (blue) fabdb.net
Note: The list includes some expensive cards like Arknight Shard and Grasp of the Arknight – these are not required and can be switched to something else like a blue Rune Flash and a Goliath Gauntlet.
Notable Matchup Overview
Ira Control
It’s a tricky matchup. They constantly pressure you with Kodachis and mask triggers and have several Defense Reactions, so be careful with Pummels. It’s fine to spend most game blocking and setting up, then doing blowout plays. You need to pressure 15+ damage in a turn to get through, as Ira is good at blocking both Runechant damage and physical damage. My favorite pocket play is to punish their reliance on defense reactions by saving either a Command and Conquer or Pummel in Arsenal and waiting to draw the other, can really blow them out! Reaping Blade can help if you know they run life gain.
Wizard
You’re running 17 blue pitch cards and five yellow pitch. These is great for preventing arcane damage. At the same time, your attacks are really resource intensive, so it might be best to wait for some Energy Potions before making big plays. Avoid Pummel plays here, Wizard is too nimble at using their hand in response, so it’s best to set cards like Mordred Tide or blues like Lead the Charge in Arsenal – you can pitch blue enablers at end of turn, if your opponent goes for Kano ability.
Brute
Try to keep your life total high. Try your best at stopping their massive turns, while slowly setting yours up. This one is just a race of who can set up their big turn quicker! Command and Conquers and Pummels are key here to stop their big attacks, as they either force blocks, or strip them of cards in hand. It’s fine to block with equipment aggressively, as you want to maintain a high life total against cards like Reckless Swing. Other than Command and Conquer, they shouldn’t have any impactful on-hit effects.
Conclusion
So, there you have it. A fun and exciting way of playing Viserai in Blitz. The Pummels are a great way of surprising your opponent, so try to keep the strategy hidden. I recommend you try this list at least once in your local scene, but do note, it could become quite predictable once your opponent knows what you are trying to do. If you’re playing against the same people, it can be a good idea to switch up your decklist, go more Viserai Control or even Viserai Low-Cost-Matters. The great thing about the class is how versatile it is. The versatility makes it a challenging, but exciting class to build – I hope you enjoy this unorthodox list!
