Canvas Palette Showcase - Rayders
Hello to you all and welcome to another Custom Palette Showcase!
I had planned to go through my collection in realm order however, with Charlie’s weekly challenge as well as the GT upcoming on December 16th, I thought I’d skip ahead to the very much current peak of the meta in Achroma - Rayders.
Here’s the decklist I used to win the Draco Summer GT back in September.
For those not aware - the strategy behind a Rayders palette is that you use a lot of high value cards as good trade fodder whilst you deployer smaller costing cards which then pay for themselves, or net you more shards, on the same turn that they’re played so you’re constantly gaining. This results in you generally closing out the game by the end of your 2nd turn (a 1st turn win is also possible!), if you’re up against a strong opening Achrom deck or just don’t see your high shard cards quick enough, this is when it can drag out a little more however all it takes is one explosive turn and you’re back on course to win with relative ease. So let’s look at the individual cards.
Ray - Can be found by Firetender and is an immediate +4 on the turn he’s played which is huge value. Although he’s not a key piece if the deck, if not removed, he becomes an insane source of shards.
Sorrono & Carmela Traitorius - Both in here as good control cards that can take out your opponent’s cards if they’re threatening you or letting them get ahead of you in the mirror match. The steal & drain resolves are a nice touch and can get you sneaky Achrom wins occasionally. Realistically you’re not playing these cards unless their actions make a real impact.
Wincey Rustwhether - 3-drop character that draws you a card to find your bigger plays faster and, with 2 other characters/locations on the canvas he pays for himself, so can easy snowball into much more gaining.
Firetender - Mainly here to find Ray but can also grab Full Pallette or Dracon if you already have him.
Imp - Easy 1-drop draw a card helping you get to your key cards faster. Again a little drain on it can sometimes be relevant.
Dracon - Little 2-drop that pays for itself and allows Blueprint Swirl to be a +4 on resolve.
Splat Square - Effectively turning all your characters into extra gain. Draws a card when deployed and a high cost so good trade fodder if you either have very few characters out or it lets you hit 30.
Blueprint Swirl - Guaranteed to pay for itself the turn you play it and can go up to an impressive +6 resolve if you have Dr Hue’s Labcoat out.
Cintimani Stone - As per my recent article on it, found here, one of the strongest cards in the game. In this palette is also a 5-cost for trade fodder plus synergises with Factory Production Line to be played for even cheaper.
Dr Hue’s Labcoat - Whopping 6-cost for trading, high strength also lets you take out a lot of other characters without losing it. Its action counters your opponent’s ability to hit your shard bank effectively giving you a free turn. Has all 6 colours so Blueprint Swirl can get its maximum resolve and can be deployed off Factory Production Line for half the cost.
Advanced Scouting Party - Classic Spirata card that’s just below a staple for me. It basically plays out as a draw 2 for cheaper depending on what you trade, even if I only traded a 2-drop off this I still feel its worth it however, in this list, it’ll end up costing you nothing the vast majority of the time.
Cutting Cocoons - Gives you some flexible control ability. 4-cost card for trading.
Factory Production Line - Gets either your Cintimani Stone or Dr Hue’s Labcoat for only 3, realistically it rarely matters which one you get except in certain niche scenarios where you need a Dig a card back to win.
Full Palette - Staple of Spirata palettes, nice little 4 shard burst and searchable by Firetender if needed sooner for any reason.
Giant Prism - 5-cost card for trading and gives you the ability to board wipe Achrom palettes and regain the shards for it giving you a great counter to them.
HAIM Shard Cache - 5-cost for trading and can get you sneaky Achrom wins at times.
Squad Formation - Had it in here as a bit of a last minute add, in theory it filtered into more cards which then found even more so started off a chain of deck-thinning making it easier to find your higher cost cards to get your big trades in. Realistically it’s the first card I’d replace as adding an extra cost to your plays goes against the overall strategy of the palette.
How to consistently beat this palette has been a long running discussion that has even involved some of the core team looking into whether there’s something within the game mechanics that could combat it.
The main issue lies in the fact that Rayders use trading as a method for a lot of their gain whilst also having access to some powerful resolve cards as well so it’s difficult to hinder their gaining when its going off. As a little bonus let’s analyse certain options available from Keywords or abilities and how they can be used vs Rayders.
Cost Reduction - The Flutterby Faculty faction specialise in reducing the cost of certain colours of Chroma, which in turn also reduces their trade value. Whilst this might sound great versus a deck that makes great use of trading it then means they’ll just play those cards for less as usually you’ll be aiming for Red and Yellow… imagine giving them access to a Full Palette’s +6 for no cost? So it’s a tight one to use that can ultimately backfire big time.
Freeze - A newcomer to the scene which has really come in with a bang, this gives you the ability to stunt their shard generation in the resolve step which can sometimes really hinder them if they haven’t seen their higher cost cards to trade yet. However, if they have, then this method of countering them can often feel a bit flat as they’ll still be threatening to hit 30 with a couple of turns of going off. On top of this, if they’ve got out a Splat Square or Wincey Rustwhether you’d need to Freeze their entire board or else they’ll still be getting a good chunk of gain.
Achrom Palettes - Grouping these all together as they all face a similar issue vs Rayders; you need to be hitting their shard bank hard & fast. Every turn go for the biggest drain you can and try to keep up the pressure so their trades become a method of survival instead of how they win and eventually you should out-resource them. On paper you’d think surely that’s what Achrom palettes aim to do anyway? But versus Rayders it’s a lot tougher due to how much they can gain in a turn. On top of this, to keep up that amount of drain pressure, often involves a lot of shard investment yourself meaning you risk losing to any draining they can set up or lose steam after a couple of turns, especially if they have any good control cards of Giant Prism to hand, which can allow them to retake the lead.
You can see, from the points above, why it’s such a challenge countering Rayders consistently; if you counter one aspect of their plan they’re usually able to lean on the other. Currently your best chance is catching them with a subpar opening, when they open or draw very little high value cards in the first couple of turns, however you can see from the list above that that us a very rare occurrence.
Good luck to all of you for the weekly challenge! It’s not an easy one but give it your absolute best and one of you may well find the recipe that takes Rayders off the top spot! I look forward to seeing all you creativity at its finest!
That's all from me for now guys!
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