Test-Piloting: friendlynihilist's Pile of Trash
Our test subject today is the current iteration of the BC Nox pile that friendlynihilist took to Top 32 last Seasonal
Teemo Ziggs Gnar Katarina
Our test subject today is the current iteration – affectionately nicknamed Pile of Trash – of the Bandle Noxus Treasured Trash pile that friendlynihilist took to Top 32 of the Curious Journey Seasonal Tournament, and that he recently wrote an article about .
You can find the decklist [HERE]
Our testers:
Horsea and Hazy came out even after half a dozen games, and regularbird also ended even after more than a dozen,
YouuXun won a bit more that they lost, and Yondy came out way ahead, after about a dozen games each.
About the Deck
Yun: I still have no idea how to classify this deck. I just play cards, and the other Nexus goes boom.
On the one hand, it's consistently inconsistent. I usually had no idea what to plan to draw, all I could do was to react as cards came into my hand and make plans off of that.
Yet, on the other hand, this pile is inconsistently consistent – weirdly effective in a variety of situations, it was almost like even though I wasn't ready to face the world, the deck was.
Horsea: It's kinda mixed, in my opinion – on the surface it looks like an aggro-combo deck. But I won a game against Viego thanks to Tybaulk and Farron, so it feels a bit like control too.
Hazy: Yes, this felt like aggro with control elements. And Treasured Trash, which is essential for nihilist piles.
Yondy: I'm not really sure what to call it! It's an extremely flexible deck and its "role" can change heavily depending on the match-up and your draws. So, midrange, I guess?
It looks to either swarm the board early and then finish off with Tybaulk, or control the board and finish with a heavy top-end (Tybaulk, Farron, Treasured Trash) once the opponent runs out of steam.
regularbird: Pretty much. This is an aggro deck, but with lots of tricks up its sleeve.
Our primary goal is to develop a wide board, use Noxus removal tools to neutralize our opponent's tempo, and empty our hand to set up a big Treasured Trash finisher.
Tybaulk and Captain Farron can provide alternative routes to success, or act as clutch bodies in longer games. As nihilist says in his write-up the Champions are mostly glorified followers, and protecting them isn't always necessary.
Yondy: It's such a fun deck to play! It is extremely flexible and has you thinking through tons of choices, but unlike other decision-heavy decks, like Nami TF or Invoke decks, it doesn't feel like a single misplay can cost you the game.
And it truly does seem like we have answers for everything! I even won a game in which the opponent had double It That Stares into Feel The Rush-ed Zoe+ASol by only using the spells in the main deck. No Treasured Trash required!
regularbird: Yeah, the deck feels snappy. Cards are cheap, expendable, and can deliver decent wide swings, or stall until a Treasured Trash turn arrives.
If you start with a Champion in hand, they do not necessarily dictate your gameplan, but I find Ziggs to be particularly effective. With Ziggs on board, it's easy to pivot to a speedy burn plan, or set up removal via his skill into Ravenous Flock or Disintegrate.
Treasured Trash is always a fun card, and setting up a big Trash hand is sometimes a fun goal to work towards.
Yondy: We run THREE copies of what is probably the most fun card in the game. If you follow friendlynihilist's steps and you set up your Treasured Trash with a pretty empty hand, there's almost no way you don't get insane value from it – with an average of 7-8 created cards, you find good cards more often than not.
BUT!
One of the best feelings is when you high-roll the exact answers you need to win, and it happens more often than you'd think.
Horsea: I have to say that Treasured Trash seems to not have a liking to me. I didn't pull anything good most times – I usually tried to do chip damage in the early game, try to defend my board, and end with Tybaulk.
regularbird: What felt off was that, sometimes, I had no choice but to play Treasured Trash with a 5-6 card hand. Our deck rarely bricks, but sometimes you have a hand full of removal spells and no units, making it difficult to regain your board.
Yondy: The weak spots I found is that, since we don't run a lot of board clears, we can lose quickly to decks that are able to go wide faster than us, especially if we miss our early units.
I've only lost three times with the deck, but all three followed the same pattern: My opponent gets a quick early start and goes wide fast, and I have to play catch-up thinking whether to spend mana on removal or blockers.
Hazy: And we can run out of steam, too.
Mulligan
Yondy: I think you're always happy to see your early units, whether to pressure and start piling up damage, or to block a faster deck. However, against faster decks it's also alright to keep removal like Pokey Stick.
A card I also like to keep is Ravenbloom Conservatory, because once you've played a Tybaulk the scales tip heavily in your favor, so the earlier you're able to play it the better.
Yun: I tend to keep Teemo, Conservatory, Ziggs, at most one Ravenous Flock, Legion Sab, House Spider, and if you can't get a hold onto any of those, Conchologist and Arachnoid Sentry are fine to keep.
Hazy: Yeah; Conservatory and small units, I'd say.
regularbird: I'd recommend to always keep Ziggs or Teemo, Ravenbloom, at least one ping spell, and perhaps one Disintegrate.
Hazy: Do you keep Treasured Trash?
regularbird: I've done alright keeping it in the mulligan, since it's our win condition – knowing that I don't have to wait to draw it, I can sculpt my hand and set up mana for a round 7 or 8 Trash with ease.
Tweaks
regularbird: Unlike other decks we've pilot-tested, I didn't feel the need to make any tweaks. The numbers of cards all feel very finely-tuned.
Yun: Heh… same here. I look at this deck, thinking, "Every single card is mediocre."
And yet, I can't get myself to cut anything out.
The deck feels like exactly what it needs to be.
Hazy: I would like more small units, to be honest. Like Stone Stackers for example.
Yondy: There are cards I wasn't sure of at first, like Blade's Edge and Lecturing Yordle, which after playing the deck have absolutely convinced me that their spot on the deck is well deserved.
Usually main decking Blade's Edge means that you're down one to three copies of a quality card in your deck. In this deck, however, it enables your removal, like Ravenous Flock, Disintegrate, and Scorched Earth, while also meaning that you keep your hand empty for your big Treasured Trash turn. It's also much better (twice as much, actually!) once you've played your Tybaulk. You can also use it to level Gnar if you really need to.
Lecturing Yordle is a great blocker that provides a Poison Dart on attack, which comes with all the previously mentioned Blade's Edge advantages!
So you can see how I'm really unsure about touching anything in the deck. I think I would seek to make room for cards that worked really well in the original deck, like Culling Strike, which is still good in this meta (it targets popular champions like Aphelios, Nami, Twisted Fate, Ahri) and Wallop, which is usually good to buy yourself an additional turn.
Conclusion
regularbird: This deck is just a lot of fun. If you like aggro, a bit of RNG, and have enjoyed Disintegrate and Flock in this meta (or you just want to play a winning deck that runs your favorite Champion, Ziggs), give this deck a try!
Yondy: This was a blast to test, and probably the first actually competitive deck that we've tested in these articles. I have to admit I'm a bit biased, because I loved friendlynihilist's original concept and I took it from D4 to D1 last season.
When we play competitively, we're always looking for the best decks, and we often disregard whether or not we have fun while playing. For me, it's certainly been something tough to balance. It's very rare for me to find a deck that is both competitive and really fun to play, but this one certainly does both well!
If you want to try one of our tested decks, this is probably the best one of the bunch!
Yun: I think this is the perfect deck to describe what a "Treasured Trash" should be. It looks stupid; it shouldn't work; and yet, somehow, it all comes together and is not only fun but also surprisingly solid.
I love and hate this pile at the same time. A true masterpiece of a deck.
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