Dumpster Dive #4: In Too Deep

Can you smell the sweet scent of bin juice? You’ve stumbled upon Dumpster Dive, where we scrape the bottom of the barrel for decks to take to your next Commoner gig! Join us as we sift through the dregs for decklists that are kick-ass, giga-brain, or sometimes just downright deranged. Despite the limited card pool, we’ve only scratched the surface of what the world of budget beatdowns has to offer… If you’re willing to get your hands dirty!

Goodness gracious, how did we make it to a fourth piece?

It did cross my mind when I was planning this series to potentially explore Ultimate Pit Fight instead of Commoner, simply due to the vast number of strange interactions and ridiculous combos available. But if I'm being honest, Ultimate Pit Fight felt too easy. Anything's possible when you can play literally any card in the game and the rest of the table leaves you alone to play solitaire until your silly deck does its silly thing.

So... why Commoner? Not only is it a beloved format, and an exceptional way for new fans to try out a vast range of heroes, talents, and classes in casual, quick, and wallet-friendly games, it's also a challenge. I believe that when the community is forced to work with only the bare bones, when they have to search the bottom of the barrel, when they have to really tap their noggins, that's when they do their best work. And as you will see in this month's Dumpster Dive, I've been proven correct. Too correct. But we can't go back. We're in too deep.

Righto, let’s get scrounging for our next Landfill Legend…

Out of the Bluu

Our first deck comes from the freshly minted Japan National Champion, Xavier McLean. At first glance this appears to be a relatively normal Commoner take on Nuu... except there's no reds. Okay, fair play, we're going for a fatigue plan using Beckoning Mistblade and and 1-cost contract attacks, it's easy to transcend, it's almost impossible to brick, seems legit. But that's when you notice a very small but very nasty surprise tucked away in Xavier's deck...

The only 2-cost attack action card in Xavier's deck is Spillover, so why... why on earth is he running Pummels? I'll give you a minute to remember what Nuu's hero ability does. Finished? Yep. You and I both share that look of horror and disgust. The absolute disrespect of playing Pummel on the off chance that you play into another deck running blue 2-cost attacks and surprise them with it is absolutely horrendous. If my opponent activated Nuu, played my own Macho Grande against me, then activated their own copy of Pummel that they are seriously playing in their own deck... I'd probably retire. Xavier, you should be ashamed of yourself (although I did quite enjoy that your submission was entirely just Eurodance lyrics).

Axe Stax

This deck has a more competitive bite to it, with two separate Top 8 placements in Commoner side events this year. If you're the type of person who has a Lumberjack Calendar in your kitchen then this Decimator Great Axe Olympia deck could be the key to carving out your place in the world of Commoner. The basic idea is to go lean and mean, creating rolling Vigor tokens to pay for 1-cost pumps into an axe swing for 7 off two cards, halving those pesky defense reactions that are always getting in the way. It's incredibly efficient at returning damage while under fire, and is actually a really decent option in today's Commoner metagame (if you believe in such a thing).

Steven Morgan has clearly been following the recipe and has the tray of muffins to prove it. Gold doesn't just sit around in this deck, it plays an active role in retaining value when you find yourself with two Vigor tokens, or even none, pitching a blue to draw another blue, leaving 1 resource floating for your pump. If it makes it to late game the deck can clean up quite efficiently, with attack reactions, Refraction Bolters into Rising Energy, or even just going over the top with Felling Swing. Nice work Steven, your deck is very clean. My only gripe is that your arcane sideboard includes Hatchet of Mind instead of Hatchet of Body. I mean... just look at Olympia... He's clearly BODY-builder material.

Corporate Finance

Look, I get it. Everyone's got a business proposition. A gap they see in the market and the perfect idea to fill it. In Albert Chui's case however, his goal seems to be to completely tank the stock of Teklo Industries and ruin Teklovossen's esteemed reputation with a handful of cards from Heavy Hitters that should be illegal for Mechanologists to play. The idea is you play a bunch of big attacks to pair with Test of Strength, winning the world's saddest clash, and then with nothing else to spend your Gold on - you destroy it to activate galvanize. You're literally just pouring money down the drain, no wonder Teklo Industries isn't turning a profit.

Oh but it gets even worse. Albert has elected Brothers in Arms as the champion of the deck, as you can pay for its defense while activating Teklovossen's hero ability and spending the other 2 resources on an Evo Sentry Base. It also happens to be a 6-power for winning clashes, and a 2-cost to pair with Money Where Ya Mouth Is. Normally I would suggest leaning even harder into this fiscal fiasco by adding red and yellow copies of Infuse Titanium, but in Albert's own words, the deck is "really, really bad." Thanks for that assessment Albert, I gathered as much.

And now… The moment you’ve all been waiting for…

Our third Landfill Legend…

For his "really, really bad" Corporate Finance Deck...

ALBERT CHUI!

Congratulations, Albert. You don’t win anything, but if you play the ambient sound of a crowd cheering in the background it will feel like you’ve won a prize. You’ve done an honourable service for all the Commoner Teklovossen fans out there, and made a lot of Teklo Industries stakeholders extremely angry.

To the rest of you, have you got what it takes to make Cadaverous Contraband Uzuri a threat worth getting a restraining order against? Have you been taking home the bacon with Decimator Great Axe Dorinthea? Does your Brandish Arakni deck go harder than eating shredded cheese straight out of the bag at 3AM? Submit your deck to the form below and you could become the next Landfill Legend!

I’m going to go wash my hands now… catch you in next month’s Dumpster Dive!