Roach combo deckguide

Hi everyone ! Happy new year !

For the 1^st article of 2017, I will be talking about the deck I have been using to climb Master ladder with great success. The deck is known as Roach Combo Forestcraft or OTK Roach. It is both a very fun deck to play as well as a very strong deck to use in the current meta-game.

Currently in the top 100 master and top 100 forest with this deck

Decklist

Cost : 16,550 vials

And the Shadowverse portal link.

Introduction

Rage of Bahamut introduced 2 new Neutral cards called Goblin Mage and Fortunehunter Feena; together with Rhinoceroach they form the crux of the deck. Fortunehunter Feena generates a 0 cost Goblin Mage upon evolution, giving you up to 6 possible Goblin Mages in a game. When Goblin Mage is played, it’s fanfare ability allows you to draw a random 2-drop follower from your deck directly into your hand. By running only Rhinoceroach as your only 2-drop follower, you can have up to 9 ways to draw a Rhinoceroach.

Goblin mage and Feena add virtually 6 more copies of roach in the deck

Gameplay

This deck is a combination between an Aggro deck and a Combo deck. In the early game, you would want to play very similarly to an Aggro deck, swarming the board and trying to push for chip damage. It is for this reason that there is an absurd number of 1 drops in this deck, to make for a more consistent early game.

Turns 4 and 5 is when you begin to set up for your Roach combo. Here you would use cards like Elven Princess Mage and Fortunehunter Feena to generate 0 cost cards to use in your combo.

Turns 6 and beyond is when you begin to look for ways to either set up or find lethal. Together with your 0 cost cards, Rhinoceroach, and Nature’s Guidance, you can push for an insane amount of damage in a single turn.

Tips

• You can treat the 0 cost Goblin Mage much like you would a 0 cost fairy and use it like a combo enabler. However, sometimes the correct play would be to play it immediately because having an extra body on board is more important than the combo – such as against Aggro Blood.

• Fairy Circle and other 1 cost spells are invaluable in boosting your roach combo because you’re limited to only 5 board space. Don’t use them outside of the combo if it isn’t necessary.
• Selwyn’s Command’s enhance ability activates at 8 play points. Make sure you play around this if you need the 2 damage for lethal.
• Don’t underestimate Selwyn’s Command’s enhance ability, it can really save your skin! Or you can use the Selwyn as a 0 cost card for your combo.
• When you have 7 play points, a Nature’s Guidance, and 2 Rhinoceroaches, the optimal order would be to play 1 Roach first, bounce it, and then play the 2 Roaches.
• 3 Roaches is more damage than 2 Roaches if you have the board space for it.
• Constantly keep track of how much damage your combo can do so that you can plan out and set up for lethal. The deck is like a puzzle where you’re continuously looking for the way to reach lethal.
• It is sometimes the correct play to play Rhinoceroach on turn 2 if you think your opponent has no way to punish you. Especially if you have a Goblin Mage, Feena, or Ancient Elf in your hand.
• An evolution point is 2 points of damage in your combo. So don’t waste it if you don’t need to!
• Dance of Death is a very useful tool to remove big wards like Khawy or Goblinmount Demon. Don’t waste it if you suspect your opponent will play those soon.
• When playing against Swordcraft, don’t overextend into making Aurelia un-targetable by spells if you have Dance of Death in hand.

• Be mindful of the number of cards in your hand. If you have 8 cards in your hand and you plan to Feena evolve next turn, you will be stuck with 9 cards in your hand and will mill a card the turn after. Plan accordingly.

Match-up

Against Tempo Runecraft : favourable

With the popularity and strength of Tempo Runecraft, a big determining factor in whether your deck is good or not is the matchup against Tempo Runecraft. Thankfully, OTK Roach is quite favourable against Daria right now. Sure, it isn’t possible to beat turn 5 Daria into a full board of followers, but there aren’t many decks that can.

What makes this matchup favourable is the lack of wards in the Tempo Runecraft deck. If you are able to hold on against the aggression put forth by Tempo Runecraft until you can get to your lethal damage combo, they don’t have anything that can stop your combo.

Against Blood aggro : favourable

Forestcraft has a lot of resources to slow down and deal with bats. It is even possible for you to win the board. However, be careful of the new two drop, Yurius. His 3 health makes him a pain to remove and can easily punish you if you overextend.

Yurius is the new powerful two drop for bloodcraft which is really annoying to deal with.

Against haven elana variant : unfavorable

They have a lot of heal to recover from the chip damage you do early on. They also have some really difficult ward options like Temple Defender that can put a stop to your early aggression. However, it is possible to win the matchup if you get a good hand with a super high damage combo or if you’re able to get a strong start by swarming the board.

Against shadow last word : unfavorable

A single card swings this matchup heavily in their favour, Death’s Breath. This card practically kills the combo by itself. If they don’t have it, you can potentially steal the game, but even then it is difficult. Fowl Tempest to stop early aggression, Khawy to ward up and heal, they simply have a lot of ways to deal with you. This is definitely not a good matchup.

Against Dragon ramp/mid : favorable

This deck is very slow and you don’t really care about their lategame. With some early chip damage, you can easily set up your combo and kill the Dragon player even if they have Bahamut on board. Their new card, Breath of the Salamander is something you should be careful of as it can completely destroy your board. Just be mindful of overextending when they reach 6 play points and kill them with your combo.

Breath of salamander can easily deal with the forest board. But you should be able to recover.

Agains midrange sword : even

Swordcraft still has the same problem it had from before. While they can be very powerful when they’re ahead on the board, they don’t really have the tools to comeback when they’re not. If you are able to establish board against them early and get in some chip damage, it is often enough to win. However, they have some very troublesome cards to deal with. Aurelia, Regal Saber with hex-proofing and Frontguard General being the most notable ones.

Other cards

• Angelic Snipe: Angelic Snipe instead of Felpur Kitten is a very common tech choice. By using Angelic Snipe, you’re sacrificing some early aggression and a more consistent early game for a more powerful Roach Combo. However, I prefer the kitten.

• Fairy Champion: Again, a tech choice instead of Felpurr Kitten. It can be an option if you value the ward over the +1/+1.
• Crystalia Tia: A more late game option. When used together with Elven Princess Mage, it can be provide a powerful mid-game swing; however, this slows down your deck.
• Will of the Forest: To stop aggro or kill wards like Death’s Breath.
• Angelic Barrage: For the mirror and Aggro Blood.
• Pixie Mischief: It is another bounce. You can also use it to bounce enemy wards to set up for lethal.
• Lionel, Elf Prince: It can be a very powerful Roach enabler. However, it is quite slow.
• Glimmering Wings: For when you really want card draw.
• Fairy Knight: It is a decent four drop play for early trading and also gives you a fairy. However, it can’t go face and isn’t as useful as Selwyn’s Command in the late game.

• Entangling Vines: It is a better top deck option than Dance of Death, and it is playable for less than 5 play points. The lack of reach can be a problem though.

Conclusion

This deck is very fun to play. When I play this deck, I constantly ask myself if I have lethal and if I don’t then what would be the best way to set up for lethal. It is like a puzzle. It is also very good in this meta because of all the very linear decks running rampant. Even though it wasn’t forecasted to be, Forestcraft is still a very powerful class in the Rise of Bahamut Expansion! I hope that you enjoyed this guide, see you next time !

Rhinoceroach is still there to threat lethal from nowhere !