Treasured Trash: Dread Draconic Dunking — a Kalista Shyvana Deck Guide

Set up ferocious combos with this unrelenting list from Hazy!

Aug 11, 2022

‘Sup everybody, It’s me Hazy! Also known as Gracrys and the Glorious Glitcher of RIWAN. I'm an off-meta player who started playing a little before Rising Tides. You can find me as >Hazy̸͌͜ ≋≋😶🌫 ❄#4160 on Discord and @gracrys on Twitter.

I sometimes climb to Masters and complete my Gauntlet runs, but for the most part you can find me playing community tournaments and fun brews on ladder.

You can find the deck’s code here!

Death to all Betrayers!

I have always been a fan of Shadow Isles decks, and I love Kalista in LoL and LoR. I tend to make weird decks and discard them when they don’t work, but this time the deck ended up being really solid!

Kalista has been looking for a home for a long time. Since They Who Endure went from being a top meta choice to unplayable and after the last buff to her sturdiness, I had to try something with the spooky girl. A lot of changes in many directions made my eyes sparkle. Maybe I could make it with Freljord, or with Noxus, but after a Monday Madness tournament, I saw the light.

The core of the deck came to me: Jarvan IV, Protective Broodfather, Kalista. After many tweaks, I traded the Prince for the Hot Flaming Dragon Girl Shyvana.

The idea of the deck is to do big swings. It’s a combo-midrange deck and the goal is to snowball the game: Develop strong units as fast as possible and level up Kalista, and use Protective Broodfather to pull in one or more dragons to end the game.

Core of the Deck

Kalista: She's your main Champion, ok? While the deck can survive without her, she is what makes swings stronger by pushing more damage and widening your field. Leveling her is a must, that's why you use:

Haunted Relic: This card insta-levels Kalista and makes fodder for Crawling Viperwyrm and Camavoran Dragon, use it wisely.
Strike up the Band: Similar to Haunted Relic, but adds a little more pressure. The attack buff can be strong if used wisely.

Shyvana: This Champion is just another unit in this deck; her value is as good as Camavoran Dragon or Screeching Dragon.

Protective Broodfather: One of your most important combo pieces and your second Champion. While you can close the game rounds before you can play him, this big unit pushes your late game pace and fills your battling row with strong units. And for some reason, this guy always gets his condition met, but maybe I'm just a highly skilled player. It's so satisfying (and scary) to watch Kalista summon a Broodfather and another dragon, or when Broodfathers chain-summon themselves.

Camavoran Dragon, Screeching Dragon, Crawling Vyperwyrm:
These cards are there for the same reason, these are your units to preserve, your strong soldiers, and your burst summon targets.

Cataclysm: This deck has a lot of tech choices, but this is not a tech. It is a necessary trophy, a glorious invention; use it with my spear girl and you will see. You can also use it with your dragons or Broodfather.

Tech Choices

Sultur: Early chump blocker with built-in tribute potential for your big bois (and girl).

Dragon Chow: Little guy with big value potential plus tribute fodder plus Kalista flip condition. This little guy is amazing.

Ruined Dragonguard: This is a big boi, which makes your dragons a little more sturdy, and, as some of your dragons slay on drop, it can make a little dragon 5/4 or stronger when summoned!

Sharpsight: Your best (and only protection) for your units, use it wisely.

Concerted Strike, Single Combat: Interaction, which also helps Shyvana flip.

Dragonguard Lookout: Big unit with rally. It's pretty cool.

Mulligan

Look to stabilize your early turns. Strike up the Band and Haunted Relic can be preserved, but don't keep more than one/two copies of them. Look for Kalista first, then early drops. If you have some of that, just wait for some protection; it’s that simple.

The worst mulligan possible is a full spell hand with dragons that need tributes. If you are falling behind, use your health as a resource.

Gameplan

Take the early turns slow. Try to build your combos. Your opponent will have a hard time dealing with your big dragons, but do not focus on one dragon alone so as not to leave it so easy for your opponent.

Save some mana before making a big drop as best as you can. If you have the tributes, and Kalista on hand, slow your pace—the game is yours, big chilling ;)

The deck is tested to be really good in the usual mode and Welcome to the Jungle and can beat slow decks with ease. Be careful of control decks, and try to go for tempo against other go-wide midrange decks like Sivir and Yetis.

Conclusion

This deck is a blast; a midrange bomb capable of big turns if you think ahead. Of all my experiments, this one of the strongest Kalista brews I've made. There are many units that are worth linking with Kalista's ability, but linking one big dragon that summons other dragons at burst speed is amazing overall. I hope you have some fun with the deck.