Vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas ᓀ‸ᓂ
If everything is in vain, why do you still struggle?
Hi, it’s has been more than 3 years since I made a deck guide. To be honest, I never had the motivation to make guides periodically. I would rather want to make a guide of a deck that is somewhat obscure, but viable but most of all, with a deck I like to play with and it just so happens that I want to make a guide out of it. I mean there was Chess Rune but a lot of people already made guides with it.
Anyways, let’s start with my idea of Evo Blood.
Disclaimer: I won’t talk about hybrid types that uses aggro or wrath cards as they are meant to be played in a different but more aggressive way.
We all know the gameplan of Evo Blood. Evolve followers 7 times, and deal enough face damage to win but the main problem is, how do we get there? What if I tell you that your main priority is not only to get 7 evos but to know how to navigate during your quest of 3, 5 and 7 evos and at the same time find ways to disrupt your opponent’s win conditions. The are two scenarios an Evo Blood player might happen in a match which are the “tempo” scenario and the “drawn-out” scenario which I will explain later on.
Starting with the decklists:
1.) Atom’s Evo Blood @RAGE Pro Tour: (Pre-buff/dirt meta)
This is the list that I believed that popularized and solidified the list of Evo Blood. With his astonishing record of 6-1 against the former meta lineup, Loot Sword and Heal Haven, he showed that Evo Blood has a lot of outplay potential when given the right moment.
After the pro tour, there was uptick of players topping Evo Blood in JCG to the point where people would rather play and top with Evo Blood more than Aggro Wrath Blood.
But when the buff/dirt meta came, almost all tier 2 decks including Evo Blood either disappeared or became very rare. There are times where they reached the finals bracket but only 1-2 people represented it from thereon.
2.) Yahiko’s Evo Blood @SEAO Contenders: (Pre/Post-buff/dirt Meta)
This was my list I used to get GM. I used Atom’s list at first but noticed that my hands tend to overdraw at t5-6 and there are so many times I do not have Lian & Alle or Provisions Aplenty to fuse cards with and prevent overdraw. Hence, I decided to cut a Kyrie and Provisions into an extra Angel of Darkness and Bloody Session for better board control and sustain which I thought was useful in the Heal Haven meta. I opt not to change my lineup post buff meta since I feel like the purpose of these techs also apply to the Buff Dragon match-up as well.
I chose Evo Blood over of Dirt Rune in contenders despite its low win rate (58% dirt vs 40% evo lol) because I would rather play a deck that has a chance to survive a beating and not instantly fold due to an early hp loss, and I don’t have to pray not going second in the mirror. This is the gambit that I am willing to take, and I want to test my opponents if they can navigate through uncharted territory.
3.) ZY’s Evo Blood @SEAO Contenders: (Post-Buff/Dirt Meta)
For ZY, he decided to cut a Goblin Genius and Provision with cards of more agency by adding extra Olivia and Odin which I like especially the extra Olivia where we will come back later on. I don’t think there is a wrong number of copies of a card in this type of Evo Blood. What matters is your own playstyle and experience.
The MVP cards in this deck:
The first few turns of Evo blood is… weak but the first 3 cards are very helpful in disrupting your opponent’s board but and at the same time regain tempo in an instant.
1.) Signa, Sealed Madwolf
Signa is the main mascot of the deck. For just 1 cost, she could do so much board clear at the same time deal face damage as a bonus. She is the prime example of regaining board tempo and can sometimes be pre-played before the evo turn or not attack after evo turn since her ambush lasts whenever you want and as long as there is no random/AoE board clear to kill her.
2.) Lian & Alfie, Hunters (also Lian & Alfie, Companions)
Not just a free evo but their clash effect is very useful for disrupting your opponent’s reaction to reclaim the board. The 3-damage clash effect for a 4-health body is so good that the only way to make an equal trade is by evolving a 2 cost 2/2, It equally trades of Rogers on evo turn. It equally trades a 2 buff Elluvia also on evo turn. It can cleanly trade off a Kyrie or Alice on evo or even take a big chunk of defense out of a 4 buff Grand Slam Tamer. Usually, those followers mentioned stick around at the end but only Evo Blood makes these scenarios like a normal thing.
But that’s not all, with 5 evos, you can fuse a card to it (transform into Lian & Alfie, Companions) to make a 5/5 ward with immune to damage and destruction effects making them even more annoying! I see Lian & Alfie, Companions as a pseudo-healer follower since it can just outright deny the face damage of turn 7 Jeanne or the 13-16 face damage Levi-Colossal combo in Dirt Rune because a 6/6 follower cannot clear a 7/7 no matter how much stack Dirt has. Against loot, it could be the difference of a Barbaros going face for 7 of not.
3.) Goblin Genius
It’s a card that punishes curve. In the current meta where playing followers and getting early face damage is generally good and recommended, Goblin Genius reacts complimentary in these kinds of situations and can combo with Blooming Dancer and Gadel quickening your evo quest to 2 at pre-evo turn. Goblin Genius is why Ruler invocation and 7 evos are possible as early as turn 5.
Sadly, the value of Goblin Genius significantly drops off in the mid-late game and is usually use as fuse fodder for Lian & Alfie but even if you don’t get that early evo punish, it is still very useful as an effective 1 cost follower (Kyrie, Asuka & Shiori) to curve and use evo points with.
There are many times you are forced to take a backfoot and need to survive the barrage of attacks your opponent has. In that case, this is the time where you need to pivot into a drawn-out control game plan and disrupt your opponent’s lethal set-ups. These last 3 cards are very important in drawing out games.
4.) Tevali, Demonic Cat
Tevali does a bit of everything. She cycles card draw, deals face for 3, heals for 3 and even has bane on evo. She can also be a mini taunt because your opponent cannot afford to keep her alive despite her small stat line.
Many times, she is the usually the main evo point target when getting to 5 evo or if you already have 5 evo, you can just play her on curve to bring yourself closer to lethal while putting yourself away from your opponent’s lethal. She is the solid backbone of the deck especially because of her huge… huge… heavy axe that she carries around every day.
Yes Igni, she does have it.
5.) Bloody Session
For me, this is the most underrated card in the list. I had many scenarios where I had drawn-out games and survived against buff dragon and heal haven by just being able to play 1-2 of these. At turns 6-7, with invoked Ruler and/or a fused Lian & Alfie, you can deal 5-7 AoE damage and heal 5-7 life resetting all the board and damage your opponent committed with only 2pp. It helps a lot in awkward situations where there are annoying followers in the way, and you can use it to save your storm followers instead of trading wasting potential face damage.
6.) Olyvia & Sylvia, Wardens
Olyvia & Sylvia is what makes Evo Blood’s turn 7 and above easier. Even though Evo Blood is capable of doing a lot of evos by itself, you usually have to commit at least 2 evo points to reach the 5 or 7 evo quest and a lot of your strong draws, sustains and clears are locked behind on evo points which means that you usually don’t have evo points left at turn 7 and are left quite vulnerable.
Having Olyvia & Sylvia on turn 7 helps a lot to ease the difficulty in surviving the onslaught of your opponent or to continue the snowball for the following turns.
Sadly, Olyvia & Sylvia is getting rotated out next expansion. Even though Fallen Angel’s Blessing can be a substitute to it, their extra tempo of board wipe and pp recovery has always been helpful in maintaining the current board state.
Mulligan:
1st: Asuka & Shiori, Signa, Tevali
2nd: Asuka & Shiori, Signa, Doublame, Lian & Alfie (ex. anti-Roger, Elluvia), Gadel (anti-Aggro)
If opponent can curve tempo t3/t4: Goblin Genius + Blooming/Gadel
The mulligan is not strict because you have a high chance of drawing your self-evo cards on later turns so I think it’s ok to just cycle your deck on pre-evo turns. I usually keep Signa since as the cheapest self-evo card, she can slot in a lot of extra evos per turn. Next are some common evo combos on evo turns.
Turn 4 3-Evo turn
Turn 5 4-Evo turn:
If you notice, all the high-count Evo turns relies on how many effective 1pp followers you can evolve. There are also fringe cases where it’s ok to use an evo point on Doublame’s Leopard or Owlcat to fit it as much evos as possible.
The two scenarios:
1.) Tempo Scenario (you know you are ahead)
The most common start in this scenario is when you completely flip the tempo of the match with Signa and/or Lian & Alfie. You know it’s impossible for your opponent to clear all your board thus you are on the driver seat to pressure and snowball your opponent, push damage every turn until your opponent’s defenses folds.
Of course, how fast you can win also depends on the quality of the hand you have. The more Signas and face dealing Alices you have, the more potent your killing potential is.
2.) Drawn-out Scenario (you know you are behind or are unable to go ahead)
There are times where you opponent has the tempo or health advantage against you, or you just don’t have the hand to snowball the game. This is the time where you have to sit down and focus on repelling your opponent’s barrage of attacks with the resources you have as efficient as possible. Sometimes the barrage lasts only for a turn and loses steam, sometimes it lasts for multiples of turns and sometimes they still get you despite of how much healing you have, and I think that’s fine because the opponent should have a lot of luck and skill in navigating properly through those defenses. They are also responsible to play proactively and perfectly or else they will underestimate the tenacity of Evo Blood.
Against the current meta: (Updated to post buff, pre-mini/addi. expansion)
0.) In General:
Evo Blood is much more comfortable going 2nd because it is much faster to reach 5-7 evo with a turn 4 evo turn. Although going 1st is alright as well you just have to factor in the trade-offs in your gameplan. (More evo and potential healing vs 1 extra turn of attack or defense)
1.) vs Loot Sword:
Main cards against loot sword match-up are Signa, Lian & Alfie and Doublame. A lot of easy Evo Blood wins resulted of a single turn play that flip the tempo usually with Signa to clear the board while Doublame and Leopard answers back with some face damage. If the loot sword player is going first and you have a 4 wide board, it will be awkward for loot to play Rogers on curve and will be on the backfoot as you set up board after board. An evolved Lian & Alfie companions is like a Coral Spirit for loot since they have to use a Barbaros to cleanly trade it. As long as they don’t have the capacity to launch you a tidal wave of flags for lethal, the match will be in your favor.
Some examples of the Match-up:
a.) Atom vs Era53
https://www.youtube.com/live/4wzycCDqfjA?si=sfO8QjvK0g6ebODb&t=3934
b.) Atom vs Nonosan
https://www.youtube.com/live/UVK67jer9Ak?si=uSIFQD2NLgp1q5LG&t=15647
c.) Yahiko vs ZY when it worked.
https://www.youtube.com/live/PyZdyrIpvow?si=zOlhVbXgs53iYCMa&t=13352
d.) Yahiko vs ZY when it doesn’t work.
https://www.youtube.com/live/PyZdyrIpvow?si=P2r_hcafD2pwZUKU&t=2033
2.) vs Buff Dragon:
As the Buff Dragon deck lists evolve over time realizing that Drazael is not that effective in the mirror and changing some copies of Gunbein into Sandstorms for a more consistent academic pool, it actually works in favor of Evo Blood since there is a lesser worry of board reset, and they will have a harder time clearing an ambushed Signa.
A tempo scenario happens when you realize that if your opponent’s turn is weaker than expected, that is your opportunity to pounce. Create a hard board to fully clear and snowball the game to win.
But in a drawn-out scenario, the key card in both decks is actually an Alice going face. It confirms who will be the attacker and the defender for the next few turns.
As one of the most frequent archetypes currently in both ladder and competitive I have so many potential footages for both scenarios though I only have my 30 most recent games.
Some examples of the Match-up: (rip no audio)
a.) Tempo Scenario
https://youtu.be/aa_QR238vbE
b.) Drawn-out Scenario (last one was a L but the effort counts):
https://youtu.be/OqgQZfhdN4w
3.) vs Dirt Rune:
Main cards against Dirt Rune are Signa to clear the Golem Lord boards with ease, an Evolved Lian & Alfie Companion to block that comically large dragon going face and cards that can heal away the chip and burn damage. I do not have much to say against Dirt Rune but as long as you can stay out of their lethal range, everything is going to be fine. I guess my tip in general is that as much as possible never let that comically large dragon hit your face. If you think 3 Levi is bad, don’t give them a fourth. If Midelo high rolls and gets all the face dealing cards, it can’t be helped.
4.) vs Heal Haven:
Heal Haven was a pretty popular deck in the ladder and competitive during the pre-Buff meta. It’s very interesting to see the evolution of the playstyle and interesting variety of card choices for Heal Haven especially in the post-Buff meta.
At first, every player wants to go all-in on turn 5-6 and set-up OTK next turn since it’s impossible for loot sword to clear those. but for Evo Blood even without Angel of Desires, any board can be cleared comfortably with Bloody Session and sometimes with the help of Signa for extra reach. There was also a “debate” whether you should run Winged Brillance or Prayer Urn or even both. Ultimately majority picked running Prayer Urn but I noticed that if they don’t have an early Fount of Tranquility or Ochid to draw in early turns, it will be harder for them to go all-in because their hand is usually gone late game making them easy to out heal and mitigate their damage and win eventually.
But now, there are more and more people who are trying out more “conservative” lists. It’s still possible to do all-ins but this time they have cards that can take a step back and keep their hand size healthy like Citrine Rabbit, Winged Brilliance and even the newly addition of one of the best t2 card of Haven, Armed Al-mi’raj. To be honest if the trend of heal haven is going towards more conservative and control type lists, it will be definitely much harder to cheese them as Evo Blood. Heck there’s also Evo Heal Haven.
Some examples of the Match-up:
a.) Atom vs Kaoru (pre-buff meta)
https://www.youtube.com/live/sNKkk4A-gO8?si=SA_V5aELldTeOeuU&t=22715
5.) Bonus (the ladder is full of control decks…):
Control Portal…. Control Forest… Any deck that board locks… Yeah… Ladder why…
It really depends on the quality of your hand if you are able to string your tempo and face damage cards one after another and still make them lose the game due to too much hp loss despite playing their best card on that turn. Sometimes your hand is too much draw and have no pressure, sometimes your hand is too weak and it’s hard to do a follow-up next turn. That’s just Shadowverse.
Final Thoughts
Is Evo Blood a hidden tier 0? No, I think tier 2 is fitting. It still has glaring weakness in the early and late game if things don’t go in your way, and it does not completely beat a deck on high roll or against capable opponents who are familiar with the match-up. And just like Castelle, we have a mutual feeling when we draw our Mays and Rulers instead of invoking them.
I don’t know if the mini expansion will affect the status of Evo Blood or losing Olivia & Sylvia will make the deck more vulnerable but if you are tired of getting knocked around by the mirror by going 2nd. You could give this a try…. as long as have 90k vials to spare. Thank you for your reading. This is the Struggler’s Gamit. 👍
Finally, I’m done for this season. If you have any questions, just ask.
I want to give time to create content for SV.
But for now, I will watch Frieren
Beako's Shadowverse Blog 