Devastating Mortar Spell Bait Deck v2.0

Hey guys! Nitrome95 here with a revival to my old Mortar bait Deck.

I have seen this Deck played by a few Reddit Alpha players, so I decided to make my own variation to fit with the mid 4000 meta.

This Deck is great because it uses almost all commons, Tornado which is non-level dependent, and Princess and Miner which are also non-level dependent. So let’s get into the cards!

Devastating Mortar Spell Bait Deck

Card Breakdown

Mortar: One of the two win conditions of the Deck. Try not to overdefend you Mortar. If your Mortar gets countered by a Bowler, Giant, etc, don’t worry! You are not solely relying on the Mortar for damage, as your Miner pushes are also deadly.

Miner: Your secondary win condition. Used as a tank for a quick push with Goblin Gang or Minion Horde. Also a great source of guaranteed damage. At first, I used Rocket in this slot, but the Miner also does good chip, is less risky, and synergizes better with the rest of the Deck.

Princess: Your ranged support card. Let me ask you something: Do you place your Musketeer by itself at the bridge? No, right? So why would you put Princess at the bridge?? The best placement for Princess is behind the Tower, on the lane with the most health on your side, and the place where it can attack both lanes at the same time. This is either the bottom right or the bottom left corner of your king Tower.

If your Princess is logged, don’t worry. Punish with Goblin Barrel. Also, I prefer to not place ANYTHING into the Princess lane, unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary that you protect it or lose the game.

On defense, play it on the opposite lane.

Goblin Gang: Even after the nerf, Goblin Gang card is still a great offensive, defensive, and spell bait card. It just isn’t as good at air.

Skeletons: If you use the Barbarian version of the Deck, you will use Skeletons instead to quicken up your cycle.

Minion Horde: I absolutely love this card to the point where it is in my top 3 of favorite cards. It has such a high skill ceiling because it is countered so easily. However, when used right, Minion Horde can obliterate pushes and towers in an instant.

Zap: You know the deal.

Tornado/Log: These two can be interchanged to fit with different metas. If you struggle against Log bait, Graveyard, and siege, go with Log. If you struggle against Hog, Lavaloon, and beatdown, go with Tornado.

General Gameplan

The Mindset

Unlike most guides I have written, I will be talking about mindset.

The biggest mistakes I see with new people trying to play a Deck is that they completely play the Deck wrong.

For example, Graveyard is usually a very defensive Deck, but someone new might try to play it offensively.

This Deck is a hybrid Deck.

Starting Hand

The best opening move is the Princess in the back. If Princess is not in your hand, use Goblin Gang in the back. If you do not have either, wait for your opponent to place a troop first and plan accordingly.

First Minute

Your goal is to scout out your opponent’s Deck, specifically splash units and spells. If your opponent makes a huge mistake, by all means punish it.

Mid-game

Your goal is to start playing more offensively. Begin to apply pressure with your Mortar, causing them to overreact, then punish. Slowly chip away with your Mortar, as well as Miner.

In Double Elixir, this is where the two halves of the hybrid come together. You can do pushes where you have Mortar attacking the Tower, you defend with Goblin Gang or Minion Horde, and you place Miner to tank for the remaining troops.

If the Tower is about ¾ down, you can slowly chip away with Miner and Princess to slowly burn them out.

Overtime

If you are in overtime and still haven’t done major damage to the Tower, play defensive Mortars and take the tie.

You shouldn’t be playing this Deck in tournaments.

Mortar Placements

Standard Placement

The standard placement is one tile from the bridge and one tile against the wall. This is the optimal way to defend the Mortar as it allows you to place troops in front of it.

Side Placement

Right against the wall and a few tiles to the side of the bridge. Used if they only have melee troops to counter your Mortar.

Center Placement

This is usually in a Lava Hound matchup. When your opponent plays a Lava Hound in the back, place your Mortar right in the center, offset by one tile based on which side you want to attack. Then place your Inferno Tower so that it is in range of the Mortar. This puts your opponent in a difficult position because they have to either let the Mortar get a bunch of shots or place a troop (usually Mega Minion or balloon) to counter, which will get shred into pieces by the Inferno Tower.

Defensive Placement

Put it in a normal standard placement of a building. Good if you have nothing else to put down, forcing out an attack from the opposite.

Offense

This Deck is very flexible when it comes to offense.

You have two win conditions, the Mortar and Miner. Both synergize very well with the bait cards.

Use the Princess to bait out spells, then rush with the Minion Horde or Goblin Gang with one of the two win conditions. Keep in mind that Minion Horde Miner can not be countered by Zap or Log, while Goblin Gang can not be countered by Zap.

With these two things in mind, you know when you can safely play these two cards.

Matchups

Hog Rider- This is a fairly easy matchup, even without Tornado because of Mortar.

With Mortar, you can use it to distract a Hog Rider while it is still attacking the Tower.

If you are using Tornado, it gives you an even cheaper way to shut it down.

Heavy Beatdown- PRESSURE PRESSURE PRESSURE.

If your opponent places a tank in the back, spend about 6 Elixir on a Goblin Gang Miner attack. Use your Mortar defensively like you would for a Cannon.

If your opponent places an Elixir Collector, pressure them with a Miner and get ready to counter the Skeletons with Zap.

Lava Hound- This is a special type of matchup.

If you have Tornado, you can use the Mortar on the same lane if they place a Lava Hound in the back. If not, you will use a Goblin Gang Miner combo on the opposite lane.

Use the Tornado or Mortar to aggro the push away from your Tower.

The main key in this matchup is the timing of Minion Horde. The first time, your opponent will not be expecting your Horde and you get a free kill of the Balloon. However, the second time, you have to mess with their timing.

Try to pressure them with your spell bait cards to hopefully bait out their Arrows. If not, mix up your timing with your Minion Horde so they can never predict Arrows.

If you can’t take the Balloon out with your Minion Horde, your Princess and Goblin Gang should be able to finish it off.

3 Musketeers- Tornado is a great card to prevent your opponent from split lane pushing. Use Miner to pressure their pumps, and try to take the early Tower. Once you do so, use Mortar defensively to splash all of the Musketeers together.

Graveyard- Log helps a lot in this matchup. If you have Tornado, you can have a Knight or Electro Wizard activate the king Tower. Then, use Princess to take out the majority of the Skeletons.

Here’s some gameplay of the Deck to get an idea of how to play it

Conclusion

Thanks for reading this guide. This Deck is fairly easy to pick up, but powerful in the meta.

The main thing you have to remember with this Deck is that it is okay to take the tie. Some matchups, such as Royal Giant, are almost unwinable.

Good luck and have fun with the Deck.