It has been four days since the release of Apocalypse Pact at the time of writing this article. Today’s objective is to look at the decks that have performed well so far.
For each class, I wanted to showcase:
- one deck that makes good use of the new cards,
- and one “old” deck from the previous expansion that remains playable if you don’t want to spend your resources too early.
If you don’t have an unlimited vial budget, I strongly recommend waiting before crafting heavily. What looks strong today might become the worst deck tomorrow.
There is no tier list or meta ranking yet, it’s simply too early. The only clear trend so far is that Forestcraft is the most played class at the moment. Meanwhile, Abysscraft Milteo appears to be the go-to aggressive deck if you just want to climb quickly.
The most notable event of this first week was the immediate nerf of 10533310, a card that had never seen competitive play before.
Why? Because of this deck:
As soon as it appeared on the CN server, it spread rapidly and quickly infested the global ladder. Its only real weakness was heavy aggression.
The concept was extremely simple. The deck only ran two unique Runecraft followers, easy to draw with the new 10632310. After playing 10232110, you generate 90032110 each turn, reducing the cost of 10132120, and now you only need to draw 10533310. From there, if you hadn’t already drawn all copies of 10204110, you could generate five followers, then play 10533310 to transform them into an army of 10204110, dealing 20 damage instantly.
The combo could reliably happen on turn 7 or 8, sometimes even turn 6 with a perfect draw.
The response was immediate: the spell’s cost increased from 5 to 7, effectively killing the deck overnight.
With that out of the way, the meta opened up again. Let’s look at the most popular and promising lists from top Beyond-rank players.
Disclaimer: We’re focusing on what’s new and/or most played. If your favorite deck isn’t listed, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s unplayable.
Forestcraft
Forestcraft Evolve
The new cards fit perfectly into Forestcraft Evolve, which is quickly becoming one of the strongest Evolve decks, possibly the best one at the moment.
The new Pixie token, 90011120, can be generated easily and repeatedly, providing free Evolves to fuel 10404110 and the Faith from 10614120.
Forestcraft Roach Combo
When rotation hits next set, one of the biggest losses will undoubtedly be 10113140.
Since Legends Rise, Roach Combo has haunted players every expansion. Once again, it proves its strength by reaching Beyond rank quickly, even in a meta filled with Forestcraft Evolve decks.
Swordcraft
Swordcraft Enhance
Enhance was already a known mechanic, but it now functions as a full strategy.
The deck revolves around the Faith of 10624120, which unlocks its true power after you’ve played five Enhance cards. From that point on, every Enhance grants +1/+1 to all allied followers.
In this build, 10124110 becomes a serious threat. With Super Evo and the Faith buff, it can reach 7–8 attack, threatening 14–16 damage to the opposing leader.
It’s weaker early compared to Loot but boasts a strong midgame and massive late-game lethal range.
Swordcraft Loot
Loot remains the safe and reliable choice.
It lost some highroll potential with the nerf to 10524110, but it adapted quickly. 10123130 helps stabilize early Evo turns if you already have followers on board, and 10124130 increases midgame aggression through Super Evo pressure.
Dragoncraft
Dragoncraft Ramp Discard
The new Dragoncraft synergy revolves around discarding cards, but here, discard isn’t a downside.
Many discard targets have beneficial effects, such as 10641310, which can return at hand at half cost if discarded or the new Legendary, 10644120, which can summon itself for free.
Classic Discard staples like 10143210 and 10544120 remain core, while 10644110 adds a powerful Storm threat with an excellent Fanfare to clear the path.
Dragoncraft Ramp Storm
If you draw your ramp cards, this classic archetype remains straightforward and effective.
The only notable addition is 10644110, which could still be replaced by 10204110 without much impact.
Dragoncraft Ramp Fennie
The Fennie build from last expansion still works perfectly fine. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend crafting it now, but if you miss the gambling feeling of 10524110, try this deck.
Its spiritual successor is 10604110. Thanks to Fennie’s ramp and cost-halving mechanics, it can be played much earlier than intended. Some lists also include 10142130 to give Storm to 10604110.
It won’t always one-shot your opponent, but it creates overwhelming pressure. It’s not the most consistent option, but definitely one of the most fun and unpredictable.
Portalcraft
Portalcraft Puppets Evo
Portalcraft receives the new Accelerate keyword, allowing followers to be played as spells for a reduced cost. When used this way, they lose their Fanfare effects but retain their original cost for synergies.
10672110 is a great example.
The deck synergizes perfectly with the new Legendary 10674110, which evolves your 5+ cost followers and deals damage for each of them.
10674120 helps reduce the cost of high-cost cards like 10674110 and 10174120, enabling explosive combo turns alongside 10404110.
Portalcraft Lishenna
Lishenna was a top contender last season and proves it doesn’t need new cards to remain competitive.
The deck’s strength lies more in understanding matchups. For example, destroying your own units against Abysscraft can prevent them from healing through Drain.
The deck isn’t weaker, opponents are simply better prepared. And less straightforward.
Abysscraft
Abysscraft Evolve
New support enhances 10454120’s Evolve strategy with 10654120, 10653310, and 10653110, enabling early Super Skybound activations.
The true late-game threat is 10654110: untargetable, indestructible, and massive. Clearing it demands significant resources.
A serious contender for Best Evolve deck alongside Forestcraft.
Abysscraft Milteo
The fastest climbing deck of Week 1.
Swordcraft lost power after the 10524110 nerf, while Milteo gained consistency thanks to 10651120, improving Ghost generation for 10554110 turns.
10654120 is included as well, because free Evolves and draw for one play point is simply too efficient to ignore.
Havencraft
Havencraft Amulets
Amulets are finally playable.
The strategy revolves around playing and destroying Amulets to increase the Faith of 10664120. After destroying 10, evolving it adds 90064320 to your hand.
From there, repeatedly playing and destroying Amulets slowly burns your opponent down.
The new keyword Crystallize allows followers to be played as Amulets that summon the follower when their Countdown reaches 0.
Havencraft Crest Faith
A hybrid between the new Amulet strategy and the classic Crest deck.
Crest already used strong Amulets. The new tools allow more flexible destruction timing and add more consistent late-game damage.
Havencraft Ward
When Aggro rises, Ward follows.
With Dragon Ramp and Swordcraft seeing less play, and more Forestcraft and Milteo on ladder, the environment is ideal for Ward Havencraft.
No major changes here, perfect if you want to stick with older builds.
Runecraft
Runecraft Calge-Dantha
10634120’s Faith mechanic works differently from others.
Instead of reaching a fixed threshold, its Faith increases every time you summon 10631110. After evolving 10634120, you unlock 90034330.
For each 10631110 summoned during the game, the spell generates one 10631110 , and distributes effects between:
- dealing damage,
- healing your leader,
- or granting stats.
For example, if you summoned 20 tokens, the distribution might look like:
13 damage to the opponent, 6 healing, and +1/+1 to the token.
Runecraft Spellboost
If you prefer a safer investment, Spellboost has been viable since launch.
The deck no longer relies heavily on 10104120 or 10134310. It now plays more like a combo deck, aiming for explosive turns with discounted high-cost followers.
Runecraft Dirt Rune
No major new tools for Earth Rite, but the deck remains strong and consistent.
Even if it wasn’t the best last meta, its solid early-game matchups against aggressive decks make it a strong Week 1 choice if you want to farm resources before committing to new builds.
