Notes & Combos

I played furniture lab, a build of it that once again leaned heavier on interaction particularly for turn zero while welding that to some very efficient removal and CA pieces to allow it to be strong in the grind game. This list rewards good decision-making and overall is similar to my Lab deck which was very effective at climbing last season. Given the speed and outcome this time around, I'm quite happy with the results for a second season in a row.

Notes

• I opted not to play Fenrir. The card is fine enough in general but doesn't specifically shore up Lab's weaknesses (most notably going second) as other non-engine could. Lab is already strong going first so its availability here on top of that is marginal in the bigger picture, and going second it just simply doesn't do enough to be impactful - the better players in ranked have little trouble playing around and even through this.

• I still see Clock ratios being shaky in other Lab lists. In here, I'm on 3 Clock because it gives the highest rate of being able to combo, convert Lady into a starter, and have an in-engine interaction for turn zero. Equally as important, having Clock naturally in hand more often means you don't have to waste an Arianna search or any of the Welcomes to go get it - all while telegraphing to the opponent that you're going for a Clock line or at the very least, now capable of one. Following that up, being on more Clock is very helpful in the mirror as getting access to it first can be huge, in addition to it being an easy block on opposing Ladies. The same can also be said for Purrely and its memories in that matchup.

• Ariane was particularly strong during this run. I've written about her benefits in other ranking list of mine and also in the original Lab guide here on MDM, however, the CA and options this card offers is just so nice that it's worthwhile to note once more. Besides being notably plus on all of your core disruption with her and Arianna making the mirror and most midrange decks trying to trade into you much easier, being able to directly grab furniture that you don't have came up a fair amount and was key at times. Lastly, the automatic access into Evilswarm Nightmare was very nice, the card is sneakily good right now into the meta an option that I believe is slept on