Notes & Combos

S59: Electric Potential

This is my 1st day take on Blitz Ryz, a hybrid build of Blitzclique that trades non-engine space for a more explosive first turn. While I started today playing with a Pure decklist, I was drawing many awkward hands with only 0-1 plays and was easily getting stopped by a single HT. The Ryzeal engine fixes this problem by providing hand-trap resilience as well as higher ceiling, reducing the reliance on Blitz's usual 2-card+ combos. Detonator still manages to be a big menace — while it's been missing from top meta spotlight for a hot minute, its insane ability to pop continuous, field spells, pend scales vs. the Medius lore and new contenders like Rikka / Witchcrafter / DM Yummy cannot be understated.

Cards like Alternator and Lightning Crash have additional synergy with Ryzeals, as it can allow quick access to Sword Ryzeal if you already have multiple Blitz pieces to combo with. In hands with only Ryzeal engine, you can even "bridge" to Blitz via gambling on draws with Dugares (potentially high-rolling an Alternator discard). The main weakness of this engine is clearly Fuwalos, so you have to be ready to pivot into Blitz lines to give fewer draws.

As for the engine / non-engine ratios, I'm currently figuring out the optimal mix, which is why you see cards like Tachyon and Lightning Crash at 1 each. To include more, you'd have to either cut down on HTs OR the only other debatable inclusions: Emi or 3rd Whisker. In practice, Whisker is almost too good to not run 3 copies (the reason to play this deck), and I'm not convinced that running extra copies of the search spells is the way to go, especially as Droll is expected to rise in popularity. Emi feels kinda mid without Return Stroke, but I'm also not sure if the extra brick is worth it yet.

This deck isn't without its flaws though — going 2nd can still be very rough because of the limited HT space, so I'd say the current power level sits at roughly high tier 3 or low tier 2, following the footsteps of actual meta frontrunners like Artmage & Dracotail. Overall, while Ryzeal is probably the most fun way to play Blitzclique, I'm not sure if this build will be the most optimal in the long-run. Between Pure's space to run strong HTs like Harmonia + Purge, and even the Branded build's access to Nadir Servant + Fallen & Virtuous, I'd recommend experimenting with all sorts of dazzling variations to see which Clique fits you the best!