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Playing defense in Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond is an ungrateful job. Indeed, leaders don't have that much health to work with, most decks pack several Storm followers, and 10104120 has gained some momentum has a win condition in certain decks.
In that context, no wonder Havencraft is one of the least played class. First, it took about a week to refine the deck. Then, most players also need to go through that loss-heavy learning curve before they can play the popular match-ups well enough to compete. Last, even with a strong deck and an experienced pilot, there are certain things you can't do much about, except bet they are or aren't in your opponent's arsenal.
So why the would anyone play Havencraft or care about a guide if that's the proposition for the class in Legends Rise?
The deck is fantastic against any aggressive strategy, dismantling the likes of Swordcraft Aggro or Face Dragoncraft with ease. Also, even if not a top tier contender, Havencraft is the best control strategy available at the moment, considering Abysscraft is even worse.
Tired of those pesky aggro decks, or just looking to play that control style you enjoy? Havencraft is your answer.
How to Play the Havencraft Control Deck
The most important thing to understand with this deck is the concept of off-tempo.
Tempo means rhythm in the music world. Whenever someone refers to "Playing for Tempo", it simply means they want to be in charge of the game's rhythm, wishing to pick the pace that favors them the most. Off-Tempo means we don't really care about the pace of a match, as long as the opponent dislikes it more than we do. We have certain patterns or synergies we want to achieve, like any other deck, but apart from a few specific turns, we will focus on our opponent more than ourselves.
With Havencraft, those specific turns happen when our amulets' countdown reaches zero, and we suddenly get multiple followers at once. Those turns have the ability to turn the game upside down, as we suddenly become the assailant, while our opponent needs to stop developing to take care of our board.
During those turn, we don't have to play defensive cards, as we have 90061120, 90061120 or 90061130 to trade if need be. Both falcons have Storm, meaning we can push damage as well.
10104110 or 10164120 to take care of opposing followers while we send our buffed 90061120 to our opponent's face isn't a defensive move. It is a message: I'm in charge now.
The whole point of this deck is to send that message in the best possible set-up. From there, we have 10062120 representing a solid finisher whenever the opponent is in range.
How do we get to that point, then ? We control our opponent and set our amulets.
Arguably, Havencraft does not have the best early defenses in the game. 10001120 and 10101110 are pretty weak on the board, while 10163210 or 10062210 can be slow if we don't spend extra play-point to advance their countdown.
10162220 is a great removal, but also does not develop anything on our side.
Our comfort zone comes a bit later, from turn four to six. There, we have 10163120, 10164130 and 10163220 to keep the board clean. Plus, our early amulets will typically destroy around that time too. If we can keep our health high in that period, the bigger cards will typically take care of the rest. There is a bit of healing spread across multiple cards, so don't be afraid to take a few hits early on, you will naturally raise your defenses back up later.
During those first five or six turns, we also have to play our amulets to set for that swing turn. Typically, I aim for their destruction on turn six or seven, as this is when 10104110 can come down. For the timing to work, we need to play 10061210 or 10163210 on turn four or five. Some classes won't pressure you much in that period, such as Runecraft or Abysscraft, allowing you to develop as planned.
More aggressive decks, like Swordcraft, might already have mounted a scary board you can't ignore. Then, aim for your amulets to be destroyed turn four or five, a turn you can swing the board with 10164130's evolve.
Havencraft Control Deck Tips and Strategies
Play to win
"Wow den, what an incredible advice !". I know, it sounds like the dumbest thing to write. Yet, control decks tend to naturally drive you to accept a defensive role. It is crucial to understand we aren't trying to run our opponent out of cards, nor win through a deck out. These can happen, but we don't start the game with that intent.
The reason we accept to defend early on is that our synergies tend to take a bit longer than other decks to come online, but Havencraft will bring on the heat eventually.
Keep that in mind, and plan for that turn ahead of time. Play to win basically, not to avoid losing.
Check if your opponent is in a rush
Most players know Havencraft is a control deck, built to survive on the long run, either running you out of cards to play, or turning the board around once they dealt with your best shots. Then, you should feel a certain sense of urgency from your opponent, at least to keep you under pressure so you remain in a reactive stance.
If that doesn't happen - and the reason isn't that your opponent has two cards in hand, so they couldn't mount much pressure - expect some sort of late game win condition to be in the books.
It can be 10104120 for value, or a huge source of direct damage, like 90074110, 10133320 plus 10134110 or just a super-evolved 10124110.
If your opponent isn't in a rush, you might want to ask yourself if you should be.
Pressure is a great control tool
Someone forced to deal with a threat will naturally mount much less pressure than a player able to use all their play-points as they wish. Then, don't underestimate how your development will impact your opponent as well. If their board isn't threatening, it might be a better play to develop our side of the board rather than deal with a minimal menace, especially as we want to set our amulets at some point.
Not only it progresses our game plan towards that so important swing turn. We also force the opponent to consider more than just our defensive tools able to deal with their board. If they ignore our followers, we can now push for damage and put them on a clock. In they decide to trade, we won't have much to control, since they took their followers out on their own.
Budget and Possible Inclusions
Havencraft has decent budget options available, but the deck really clicks once we get three of 10164130 and at least two 10164120. Until you collect these, you can consider running more of 10162130, if you have three copies of 10163220. A third 10062120 is fine otherwise.
Other fine Havencraft cards include 10062110, 10161140 or 10061110. Amongst neutrals, 10102110 and 10103110 are solid if you have evolves to spend on them.
If you happen to have 10104120, it could represent an alternate win condition.
Closing Words
I'm not ready to say Havencraft Control is a great deck yet, It is too punishing to go against like of Runecraft or Portalcraft, two big reasons why Havencraft struggles to leave its mark in the metagame. However, I will say it is the best control strategy available in the game for this first set. Plus, it is more than enough to farm Swordcraft and Dragoncraft aggro if you see a lot of those.
