Elite Graveyard Poison for Arena 8+

Hey, Nitrome95 here coming with the meta deck with a twist, the main being that this deck does not use Fireball or Zap, but rather Poison.

Elite Graveyard Poison

So why this change?

Well it turns out that Poison and Graveyard have an amazing synergy together because:

1. They both last for 10 seconds.
2. Poison counters everything Graveyard can’t.
3. Unlike Fireball, the Poison radius covers a good amount of the Poison spell.

Other than that combo, Elite Barbarians and Poison have great synergy, which I will explain later. So without further ado, let’s get into the cards.

Cards Breakdown

Graveyard

Your primary win condition. You will want to play it only when you have a unit tanking the tower, usually Ice Golem or Elite Barbarians. Make sure you have an Elixir advantage when playing this card, as a misplay with this card will put you way behind on Elixir.

Elite Barbarians

Strangely, people still haven’t figured out how to counter these. Send these guys solo to punish your opponent when they overextend on Elixir, or use them to tank for your Graveyard, putting your opponent in a difficult position. If you are doing the second option, make sure you use the Elite Barbarians on defense first so that you have the Elixir to form the counterpush. Always hover Zap when you place Elite Barbarians down in case they have Skeleton Army or Tombstone. If you don’t have a HUGE Elixir advantage, DO NOT send these solo. You’ve seen oj’s guide; they’re easy to counter.

Poison

Counters Archers, Skeleton Army, Minion Horde, damages Mega Minion; all of the counters to your Graveyard. Since Poison lasts as long as the Graveyard, the troops will stay inside of the Poison long enough to get your full value. Poison will also do more damage than Fireball which may be the difference between win or loss if both players are spell cycling. If you know the general area in which they place their Graveyard counter, drop your Poison there. This move is a lot safer than trying to predict a Fireball. In an emergency, you can use the Poison to counter Graveyard.

Ice Wizard

You don’t see a lot of him in the current meta, which is strange because he is a decent Elite Barbarian counter when paired with Mega Minion. In general, you want to defend huge pushes with the Ice Wizard shooting at whatever the Elite Barbarians are attacking at. A surprise move you can do on your opponent is to have the Ice Wizard tank for your Poison, and then Zap the tower so that the skeletons can tank for the Ice Wizard. I don’t have the Electro Wizard, but he may be a good substitution for this deck, as he has a fast move speed to keep up with the Elite Barbarians.

Ice Golem

Your cheap tank for your Graveyard. You can also use him to tank splash damage so that the Elite Barbarians can defend unharmed. It’s not a bad idea to put an Ice Golem on a Skeleton Army or Minion Horde, but you are limiting your offense and defense variety by doing so.

Archers

Your Graveyard counter that also adds DPS where needed. Always split your Archers in the back if you have them as an opening hand.

Mega Minion

Of course we have to have the Mega Minion in this deck. Mega Minion Ice Golem will be your main defense against Elite Barbarians. Similar to the Ice Wizard, you can have the Mega Minion tank for the Graveyard, and then Zap the tower to have the skeletons tank for the Mega Minion. This combo is extremely deadly if not dealt with properly.

Zap

Your spell to quickly take out any delicate troops and to retarget units. As I described before, the retarget ability is extremely useful when using a Mega Minion Poison or Ice Wizard Poison combo.

General Gameplan

This deck is a mix between beatdown and control, which is weird because they are both complete opposites (I will explain later). The main pitfall of people who play this deck is they overextend on their pushes, mainly with the Graveyard. Sometimes, there are extremely tempting times where you could Poison for good value.

For example, they place their minions next to their Elixir collector. If it is in double Elixir time, definitely play the Poison; you need all the chip damage you can get. If it is in single Elixir time, be extremely careful. Elite Barbarians are your main defensive tool, but they cost a lot of Elixir. So if you overextend, it may cost you the tower.

Offensive Strategy

Beatdown Chip Style

This will be your main style of play. You have lots of aggressive cards that can be combined so that you always have an offense in your hand. Constantly pressure your opponent with pushes, and then occasionally build up your ideal push of Elite Barbarians, Graveyard, Poison, and Zap.

As I explained earlier, do not overextend with this deck. Aggressive and reckless have a fine line between them. So yes, you will want to constantly be attacking your opponent, but that doesn’t mean you have to make unnecessary risky plays. Prediction Poison for your Elite Barbarians or for your Poison are the true MVPs here.

Control Chip Style

If your opponent can constantly defend your pushes, you might want to use this style. You have a lot of defensive capabilities with the Ice Wizard, Archers, Mega Minion, and Elite Barbarians. As well, you have Poison and Graveyard for guaranteed damage. Play it safe. Defend against your opponent, and then use the remaining troops to tank for a Poison and possibly a Poison.

Spell Cycle

This only works in tournament rules with 3 minutes of overtime. Simply defend and constantly send Poisons at the tower. You will outchip a Fireball because Poison does more damage.

Defensive Strategy

Keep your defense flexible and see what works. Sometimes you will be using an Ice Wizard archer, Mega Minion combo. Other times you will be using an Ice Wizard Elite Barbarian combo. There are too many defensive combos for me to explain, so you have to get a feel for what will work depending on how much your opponent spent on the push.

Defensive Matchups

• Graveyard Decks: 60% win rate. Always keep Archers in hand and use Zap when necessary. Since Archers are your only counter, your opponent can get lucky with a first push if you don’t have Archers in your hand.
• Lava Hound Decks: 80% win rate. You have 3 air targeting units so you will always have units to take out the Lava Hound and supporting units. Generally, a Mega Minion Ice Golem combo will take care of any supporting troops.
• Golem Decks: 70% win rate. Even though you have no defenses, Elite Barbarians shred the Golem into pieces. Just make sure to apply opposite lane pressure with the Graveyard when they put their Golem in the back.
• Hog Decks: 40% win rate. Especially when you don’t have Elite Barbarians in cycle, they are hard to defend against. Valkyrie Hog Rider is especially tricky to deal with since the valkyrie counters Elite Barbarians. This is where you have to play super aggressive so that your opponent can’t attack often. When defending against a Hog Rider, make sure you always have a solid counterpush. If not, don’t attack. Save the Elixir advantage you got from defense.
• Royal Giant Decks: 30% win rate. The same issue as the Hog Rider and the same solution as the Hog Rider.
• Giant Decks: 70% win rate. Make sure to save your Elite Barbarians to shred the giant. If possible, use the Ice Golem to stall support troops so that the Elite Barbarians can also take those out. Ice Wizard helps a lot against these decks so use him frequently.
• Miner Control: I honestly don’t have too much experience against this type with this deck. Just ignore the Miner and go for as many positive Elixir trades as possible to overwhelm the opponent.
• Spawner Spam: 10% win rate. This deck absolutely sucks against spawners, but you should be able to go for the draw. Just make sure your opponent doesn’t build up too much Elixir.

Conclusion

Overall, the cards in the deck have great synergy and this deck is extremely fun to use.

I don’t have many problems with Royal Giant because I’m not a big fan of ladder. Spawner spam is pretty much obsolete.

In general, this deck is stronger in tournament rules because it opens up the door for chip-based control play and spell cycle.

This deck has no issues with getting 2 crowns or 3 crowns if you guys want to farm crown chests. All in all a solid deck.