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Legacy of Heroes Pet Deck Designing Guide

The Pet Deck concept has been around since Issue 7, when we got Pesticide: Receiver of Wreck . And since then, I've been trying to make it viable. With the advent of some Vengeance cards to fill some gaps, it finally is.

The core of the Pet Deck involves 3 allies . Two of which should be obvious.

Editing Note: Card names are color coded. BLUE cards are currently farmable, and thus available to all players. PURPLE cards were previously farmable (mostly holiday events and megabrawls), longer term players should have these. ORANGE cards are premium, only available in draft and LC packs generally, but currently available in the base set or current preview. RED cards are like orange, but from retired sets - you'll only be getting these if they show up in weekly promotions, or are rotated into the base set in the future. Cards in BLACK are warnings - commonly seen as good cards, but a very bad idea in the pet deck. Mentioned here to keep you away from them.


ALLIES:
Pesticide: Receiver of Wreck - this guy is the i7 mission forge Psych badged ally who, on deplete puts copies of Flotsam (3/4 Psych badged ally ) and Jestam (4/3 Psych badged Ally ) into your deck. On play, he does +1 damage for each ally in your deplete .

Cornerman - Rare drop from Firerazer League Brawl , 4/2 Psych badged ally who recovers one ally when played, and recovers ALL allies , and self banishes , on deplete .

And a bit less obvious, but nearly as important

Helios: Genesis - i8 mission forge, Sculpting badged, on deplete , opponent depletes 2. On play, add buff that reflects damage from next threat that deals you 8 or more. This is both an excellent form of damage for you (2 at a time, and recovered many times in this deck), and aggressive defense against nukes. The reason you need the latter is Cold Case . Your deck is designed to repeatedly deplete and recover allies , so they'll have enough WC to nuke you to oblivion - unless you can play a Helios: Genesis and make them nuke themselves to oblivion first.


Other allies worth including:


Iso-Man - Legendary from Vengance set. If you can get him, USE him. On play, he depletes an ally (hopefully Helios: G or Pesticide : RoW) and adds 2 damage to all allies you play the rest of the game). On deplete , he recovers 5 attacks . And you can recover him repeatedly to do it over and over again.


Pesticide - Epic from Genesis (original) set. He puts a 2/2 Albino Crocodile into your deck when played, and also gives +2 to all Psych badged allies for the rest of the game. That's everyone but Helios: Genesis . He's only a 1/1, but he does +1 damage for each ally in your opponent's deplete . No on deplete effet though, so he's strictly worse than the other allies mentioned here (except in certain ally heavy PvE fights ).

Crime Blotter: Gumshoe - Epic from Vengance - Recover a Memento (important, covered later), Delay: Shuffle a Copy of Glory Days and Show Stopper into your deck (two excellent mementos for this deck). If discarded, recover all allies . Excellent card for this setup, especially if you have good cards to discard.

Afterimage - Epic from Tempus - Search for and play two copies of Step for Step from your deck - this ability is likely worthless to you. I wouldn't think it would make it worthwhile to put Step for Step in the deck just for Afterimage , although I suppose you could. It's the second ability that makes it good: On deplete , shuffle 2 copies of Afterimage Token into your deck. This is a 4/1 Ally who pulls and plays one copy of Step for Step . Effectively, Afterimage is a weaker version of Pesticide: Receiver of Wreck . But, if you have a high ally limit, I could see including Afterimage in addition to Pesticide: Receiver of Wreck .

Shimmerstorm: Warning - Legendary from Tempus - Lots of abilities here. She recovers 5 on a delay, and puts a copy of herself in deck on a delay, and gives one extra card played on delay. On Deplete , she deals 1 damage for each copy in your deck. Could be useful if you need more allies , especially if you have multiple copies.

Any other powerhouse cards do fit in here (such as any of the legendary Zeroths, or Billy Stopless for more haste), but I only plan to mention key cards that may otherwise be overlooked, or are particularly potent. I don't have time to type info up on every good card in the game.


By now, the core concept of the deck should be clear. You deplete allies , you get more allies , make your allies stronger, and heal allies and other cards back. Then you deplete them again and repeat the cycle. You want to build on those strengths with your other cards.




MEMENTOS :


Show Stopper - Tempus Rare - "While in deck, your threats have a 33% chance to deal +1 damage for each Ally in your depletion pile." The value of this card should be immediately obvious. A high end pet deck can easily have 20 or more allies in deplete , making every card you play a potential nuke. This is the most important Memento in your pet deck. It can work without it, but it's much better with it, if you can get ahold of it.

Cold Case - Genesis Epic, crafted from materials from boss fights off issues 1-6. The most time consuming card in the game to farm for. "While in deck, whenever an Ally card is put into a player's depletion pile, you have a +50% chance to gain 1 Willpower Counter ." This works for your own depleted allies , so you'll get a TON of WC. If you go this route, you'll be filling your deck with WC nukes and using the ally engine mostly to power the WC generation. Not a bad plan, although not the way I run my Pet deck.

Weight For It - Christmas Brawl drop - Martial attacks have a 75% chance to gain +1 shield and when you play an Ally you have a 25% chance to gain +1 WC. Could be used in a WC Nuke deck, but probably not necessary with Cold Case , and not enough without it.

Glory Days - Genesis Epic - "While in deck, whenever you play an Ally , you have a +60% chance to recover an Ally ." More Ally recover is good. And you should be playing allies quite often. Not essential, but a decent choice.

Two Birds - Christmas Brawl drop - Your Tactical Attacks and Allies have a 35% chance to recover 1. Similar to Glory Days , but recovers any card, not just allies . Whether that's better or worse depends on how much ally recovery you have from other sources.

The Road to Hell - Tempus Rare - "While in deck, attacks you play have a 10% chance to be unstoppable ." Even in a pet deck, you have more attacks than allies . If you decided not to go the WC route, you won't have many huge attacks , so this really helps deal with shields .

Still the Best Jokes - Christmas Brawl drop - Martial Attacks have a 33% chance to deplete 1 and Allies have a 20% chance to be unstoppable . Same idea as The Road to Hell , but for your allies .

Faculty Mixer - Tempus Rare - Previous Megabrawl reward. "While in deck, if you would gain shield , gain an additional 1 shield ." These can really help to build up your defenses. Combined with Helios: Genesis to avoid the big attacks , it can cause many decks have a hard time doing enough damage to hurt you without reflecting death at themselves.

Practical Gift - Christmas Brawl drop - Tactical attacks have a 55% chance to deal +1 damage, and allies have a 25% chance to banish one. Extra damage and banish never hurt.


EVENTS :


On the Bubble - Genesis Epic - Likely your only source of haste, as you hopefully have enough of the primary allies to fill most, if not all, of your available ally slots, so no Billy Stopless . You don't want to use Heartbreaker , as banishing the wrong ally can REALLY hurt you. Use 3 of these if you can.


Welcome Wagon - Tempus Rare, drops from The Abyss: Genesis League Brawl - "On deplete , your opponent can't gain shield until the end of their next turn." Excellent choice, particularly if you're not running The Road to Hell .


Trick or Trick - Promo from Halloween event . Next threat does no more than 3 damage. Speaks for itself.


Sage Council - Scarlet Tiger Brawl Forge - For the next three turns, your allies deal +2 damage. This is strictly worse than many of your "until the end of the game" ally buffs, but the more the merrier. Still, I prefer other options.


Philisophical Differences - Previous Megabrawl Drop - Recover 2 Allies . You can overdo ally recovery. It's a waste if this depletes right after a Cornerman , or after you've recovered allies in other ways. Still, can definitely help.


Zeroth Unity - Previous Megabrawl Reward - Recover 1 Ally , 1 Memento , 1 Tactical and 1 Martial - Probably your best choice for recover , especially if you're using Show Stopper , or Cold Case (in a WC nuke version of the deck), as you really need them in your deck as much as possible. Also recovers an ally , which is good. And you'll take the attack recovery, although that's less important.


Undercard Bout - Just mentionting this one so you don't use it. Welcome Wagon is farmable, and strictly better if you have any way to play more than one card on your turn. If they have no shields , it doesn't matter if your cards are unstoppable or not.




ATTACKS :


I'm bunching Martial and Tactical together here. This isn't a deck that should be using any martial or tactical specific type of cards, so you'll be choosing based on what the card does, with no regard to whether it's a martial or tactical.


Cover Fire - Previous Megabrawl Reward - Pulls an ally from your deck and plays it. Very useful.


There's No 'Eye' in Team - Vengance Epic - Discard a card, if you do it acts like Cover Fire . Also, it has Delay: Recover 2 allies . Perhaps even better than Cover Fire .


Grip of Fanaticism - This is a no brainer, if you have Psych badge 10. If you have at least Aco badge 6, it's okay, with the +3 to your next ally and Recover 2... but probably not as good as your other options.


Painful Memories - Another mentioned as a warning. DO NOT PLAY THIS CARD. The "one damage per ally in deplete " can be very dangerous to you. Just not worth it.


Family Gathering - Forged from Christmas Professor Brawl Drops - Recover all Mementos . Considering how powerful Show Stopper is for you late game, and Cold Case is if you're using it, you want to put it back in your deck. Use this if you have it.

Tool Box - Johnny Tinker Brawl Drop - Recover 2 Mementos , Do extra damage equal to how many mementos are in your deck. Good choice if you don't have Family Gathering .

On Your Feet - Vengance Epic - 3/3, +1 for each ally in your deplete , Survivor 30: Unstoppable . On Discard, your next ally does +4. This card is pure win. It can do huge damage late game, or be discarded for extra damage next attack .

Rain of Destruction - Previous Megabrawl Drop - 5/3, Survivor 10: +1 damage per copy in your deck. Survivor 15: Add 3 copies to your deck. Survivor 20: +1 damage for each copy in your depletion pile. Considering how large your deck can become, survivor effects are much more effective in a pet deck. These can be a great way to nuke late game, and further increase the deck size in the process.

Last Ditch Effort - Forge from Daddy-O Brawl - Survivor 25: +25 damage. Still a bit hard to pull off sometimes, but much easier in the pet deck than elsewhere.

Flight Suit - Previously sold for LC - Adds +5 to next attack , and +1 to allies for the rest of the fight . Clearly good, but most players won't have this.

Most Likely To Succeed - Crafted from Drama Pack Drops - Four abilities, each tied to having a badge at level 8. Two of which are recover 2 allies and +2 damage to allies for 3 turns. If you have this and have the badges , you're likely putting it in every deck you make.

Battle Modifications - Previous Megabrawl Drop - Discard Hand. If you discarded 1 card, recover 2 allies . If you discarded 2 cards, allies give +1 attack and +1 shield for the rest of the fight . This card is excellent - recover allies , buff allies , and help you cycle through hand faster. Also avoid playing too many cards when under effects like Chit Chat and Hasted. It can trigger your One Your Feet, if you have them.

Up and At 'Em - i7 Forge card - Recover an ally . For the rest of the fight , allies of this card's subtype deal +2 damage. Not quite as good as Battle Modifications , but it combines ally recovery with ally buffs that last all battle , so definitely good.

Blast from the Past - Rare drop from Mad Confectionist - +1 WC and Recover 2 allies . No buff, but the WC is nice if you're going for the WC nuke deck variant.

Eye of the Storm - Tempus Rare - Recover 1 Ally and 1 Martial. Not a great ally recover , but it does also get back one of your martials - some of which could be quite good.

Remand... - Tempus Rare - Recover an ally . Your next attack does +1 damage. Probably not your best choice for ally recovery, but if it's what you have, it's not worthless.

Saving Grab - Vengance Rare - Discard hand, recover 3 for each card discarded. This can be a good way to trigger some of your on discard effects, and good recovery. I prefer Battle Modifications , for the ally specific recovery (although late game that's less relevant, as you have a large % of allies in your deplete ), the ally buffing, and the fact that it's 4/4 to this card's 1/3. Still, not a bad choice, and you could use both if you were running enough on discard effects.

Not On My Watch - Drops from Iso-Man League Brawl - Both players gain 2 WC, does +1 damage for each WC your opponent has. Very good against opponents with Cold Case , as they will have TONS of WC very quickly.

Waiting in the Wings - Forge from i10. Opponent has a 75% chance to deplete 1 for each WC he has. I prefer this to Not On My Watch, as it depletes directly instead of doing damage. This means shields don't really matter. Cards that limit damage done don't help. Cards that reflect damage don't trigger (unless it's base 2 damage is enough to trigger them, in which case, who cares). If you're playing a WC nuke deck, however, Not On My Watch is probably better for the WC generation.

Screen of Death - i10 Forge - You likely have at most 3 On the Bubble as your only haste, at most. So you'll spend a good part of the game playing only 1 or 2 cards a turn, and thus have room for a small number of Ploys . This is hands down the best ploy in the game, and farmable. It triggers on haste, or any cards that pull other cards, or even copies. It's rare you'll fight anyone who can't set this ploy off. But, you may occasionally be forced to play it, so it is a tradeoff.

Paper Into Trees - Halloween event - 1/1, play an ally from hand, opponent's next play is random. Not incredibly powerful, and I usually argue against using it because of the risk of having to play it with no ally in hand. However, in a Pet Deck, that chance is greatly diminished, so it could work.

Pet Society - Common drop from Scarlet Tiger and The Hat : Lost brawls - Deals +1 damage for each animal in your deck. This only counts cards generated from Pesticide and Pesticide: Receiver of Wreck currently, so it's of questionable power. The next card may be a better choice.

Fool Me Once - Tempus Rare - 50% chance of +1 damage for each ally in your deck. Until you reach the point that more than half your allies are ones created by Pesticide 's two forms, this is better than Pet Society . Most games, I'm not sure you'll reach that point.

Guess Who - Vengance Rare - 1/3, reveal top card, +3 damage if it's an attack , +5 if it's an ally . If you need filler, I'd average the damage and treat it like a 5/3 with no abilities for deck design purposes.

Dark Thoughts - Tempus Rare - 2/2, LvL3 Psych opponent depletes 2. LvL5 Strength next ally deals +3. Another good filler, if you have the badges for it.

For the WC Nuke Decks, you'll want any of the following (from best to worst) Moxie's Missiles, Help From Above, Nova, and Channel. Also worth getting is Hacking the System, although it's not a pure nuke, it's banish is very useful.


And of course, any no brainer cards to always include, like Knees and Elbows and Corner Pocket.


How your deck will look will vary, but as an example, here's my current Pet Deck, at the time of this writing:


Allies :
Iso-Man x2
Pesticide: Receiver of Wreck x4
The Cornerman x4
Helios: Genesis x4


Mementos :
Show Stopper x2
The Road to Hell x2
Faculty Mixer x2


Events :
Splash Damage x3 (extra damage never hurts)
On The Bubble x3
Trick or Trick x2


Attacks :
Corner Pocket x1
Cover Fire x4
Family Gathering x2
On Your Feet x2
Knees and Elbows x2
Grip of Fanaticism x4
Waiting in the Wings x2
Battle Modifications x3
Screen of Death x2
Accelerated Decay x1 (doesn't fit theme, but it just a great card)
Rain of Destruction x4


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