| Summoner | Source | |
| Balthus | 10 x Water | |
| Souls | Spells | Relics |
| 1 x Irune | 2 x Blizzard | 2 x Spawning Pool |
| 1 x Glimisk | 1 x Repair Field Generator | |
| 2 x Water Titan | 1 x Congruent Mace | |
| 2 x Nuwani Warrior | 1 x Soulforged Sword | |
| 2 x Mirror Knights | ||
| 2 x Lesser Water Elemental | ||
| 3 x Troglodyte Water Caller |
Key Tactics
This deck is built to Source Explode then win in one big push, its early goal is to set up that Source Explosion. You want two things: more souls on the field and more damage on your Elementals. Troglodyte Water Callers are an ideal opener as their extra source can let you bring out souls even faster. (Don’t forget to focus them before Source Exploding if you plan to put a Water Caller back!)
Spawning Pools have a unique synergy in this deck, so try to get one after your Water Caller. They create more souls letting them produce net positive Source (and stuff your Hand) when you Explode, and they produce damage you can use to charge your Elementals. The former is a more reliable way setup your Source Explosion in the very early game. The Water Elementals advantage is how your opponent may hesitate to attack.
Elementals are good ramp tools if your opponent hits them, which they will often try to avoid if you haven’t Exploded. Put a cheap Weapon Relic on the Elemental and you can force your opponent to either block or take consistent damage. You do not need to focus the soul to attack if you do not want to use its damage or abilities (not even if it was summoned this turn).
Memorise the following numbers: 12 (Water Titan + full mimicry on a pre-summoned Mirror Knight), 13 (Water Titan + Irune), 11 (Nüwani Warrior + Blizzard). You should be able to hit any on the first turn where there are eight Sources in play, two turns earlier than you’d normally be able to.
Why Irune and not Kraken? Getting tentacles on turn six instead of seven is a much smaller advantage than a winning push on turn four instead of five. Irune has a lot of flexibility in this deck. Three cost is the sweet spot for fueling early Water Source Explosions. You can bring her out after you Explode then have her eat a devoted Titan to use its strength again next turn. And Balthus protects her until she gets strong. Irune also produces an enormous amount of psychological pressure on your opponent.
Don’t focus Irune on your turn. Let your opponent try to hunt a Devoted Water Titan, then focus her at the start of the fight. If you kill your own soul at the start of the fight, attackers fighting Irune’s snack are still blocked.
Use Balthus and Water’s immense Hand Blocking to keep your Source Explosion fodder alive (or barely alive in the case of Elementals). There’s no need to defend or lose souls to removal cards if you have enough Hand Blocking to stall until the Explosion. Balthus also means you don’t need to save Water Source or use Spells to protect your finisher souls from counters like The Honorable End, Sleep Spell, or anything with Venom.
Another potential win condition is to play Glimisk. With your regular Water Source and three Water Callers you can win just by redirecting your opponent’s attacks. And if your opponent tries to remove Glimisk with staggered damage, Balthus.
If you’re up against a pure rush deck be wary of it eating through your Hand Blocking. However, rush decks tend to have poor Hand Blocking, so a single Titan or a Nüwani if they have no defences can be enough to turn things around.
Your biggest counterplay is Depths’ Traps or Fast Spells that stop damage without needing to deal damage like Defensive Kata or Smoke Screen. Put Xanthos and Orbs of Unmaking in your sideboard (yes, you can react to Traps with fast Relic removal).
Decklist by BanjoCobra0000, write up by The Kings Raven