Hello! Michael here. Today I want to write a somewhat more chill article than usual, this just being a deck guide for the Skaventide Cataclysm deck that I ran at the Copenhagen Tournament, a overview of which can be found here!
This deck can be found on the Staggerers Deck Repository, under the name Skaventide Cataclysm V3 (as this is the third iteration), if you are looking to find this deck easier.
Without further ado, lets begin!
Here is a decklink for anyone that wants to follow!
A general overview of this deck will yield that this deck is all about hitting and running, with more emphasis on the running part. It is the meta Countdown to Cataclysm and Pillage and Plunder. You have to leverage the Swarm’s ability to quickly run around and grab tokens before your opponent does. It is important to know when to Raise fighters and when to run around as well!
THE OBJECTIVES
Claim the Prize: This is an easy surge just for delving. I don’t feel like I need to explain more. In the clash if I started with it, I tried to play for the Underdog mechanic to get this without needless danger, but sometimes a Justified Paranoia + Lurking Skaven flying into enemy lines is a good strategy.
Delving for Wealth: Literally the best surge in the game in my opinion, super hard to deny, super easy to score. Krrk just sat on a token the whole game and scored this for me repeatedly.
Share the Load: This fits well with the ‘be everywhere’ strategy. The one time I had issues scoring it was when every single token was occupied, so I couldn’t move onto one.
Careful Survey: This can be scored by moving, or raising! The hardest part to get into is neutral territory. A word of advice – if doing so doesn’t compromise Skritch/Krrk’s safety, I prefer Raising in enemy lines if it scores me this card instead of moving in. A free Skaven is always nice!
Collateral Damage: I only didn’t score this once when my opponent missed everything… otherwise your minions will die. At some point. Maybe. This also is super good for the Underdog gameplan so it has synergy with Claim the Prize there.
Shocking Assault: This was a last-minute add in place of Hostile Takeover. I prefer it with Spiteclaw honestly. It’s pretty simple with your high move, two defense, Wary Delver, Justified Paranoia… the best opener you can have is Justified Paranoia + move onto the token in mid to score this with the Lurking Skaven. This is the ‘flex’ surge, cut it for whatever you feel like! Perfect Cut and Hostile Takeover work well here too.
Broken Prospects: Visit three tokens at some point during a round. It’s super easy but you have to deploy tokens far back and pray your opponent does the same for the best way to score it. I just had a skaven or two (usually Krrk) stay back and delve all the stuff in my territory. Be sure to keep track of what tokens your opponent started the round on to score this for basically free.
Against the Odds: Delve once on a specific token. The one time it messed me up was when my opponent was running Uneven Contest and I made it simpler for him. Other than that, it’s generally super good and easy!
Desolate Homeland: I know it’s tempting to set up only one token in your territory to make this free, but don’t. It’s much more effective to have two in your territory to make Torn Landscape and Broken Prospects easier. Also a word of advice, if the only feature token you are standing on needs to be delved for this but your opponent might have Strip the Realm, just don’t delve it. Strip the Realm is worth much more. Still, this card worked super well for me and I scored it in all games I drew it!
Torn Landscape: This genuinely messed me up twice because it sets up Strip the Realm for your opponent. Be sure to grab four tokens instead of three if possible is my advice, unless you see your opponent also playing to score Torn Landscape. Of course, this does not apply if your opponent isn’t playing Pillage & Plunder, in which case this card is basically a slightly harder version or Broken Prospects.
Strip the Realm: Looking back, in a Bo1 tourney it would have been brighter not to bring this. Still, I scored it twice in the matchups which I actually wanted to score it, which is against elite aggro. It helps offset your relatively low glory bleed. It also forces a lot of positioning in a Bo3 so simply having it in your deck is usually enough! If I would cut an objective, it would be this.
Spread Havoc: I do love free glory points so I took this card.
Wreckers: I do love playing Sunder the Realm so I took this card. Jokes aside, this is pretty easy even if you don’t attack due to your 4 pings. I only failed to score it once, which is a good track record! If you have to attack, make sure to use someone accurate to hit the attack.
PLOYS
Sidestep: Spiteclaw is the Ploymaster, and Sidestep is ‘the’ ploy, so it’s obvious to run here. I didn’t draw it much but it’s very good when you do, you can use it as a pseudo overrun if you fail to crit or to get into better positions for stuff like Careful Survey. One thing you should also think of is using it to setup your warscroll!
Commanding Stride: You have one leader at any point in the game pretty much so it is important to keep the leader safe, whether it be Skritch the Greatest or Krrk the Almost-Leader. I like to use it as a safety net when Skritch makes an early charge, to bounce back into safety.
Wary Delver: Guard tokens are good and you will be charging sometimes so this is a good pick. It also happens to Inspire you! The best skaven to use it on is either Krrk or Festering, as they both go to two dodge when picked and this makes them even tankier.
Trapped Cache: This makes Wreckers trivial, punishes Strip the Realm deniers, wins the Jaws matchup, a lot of things. Pings on top. It also compensates very nicely with your low damage output, so I feel it is a required pick.
Growing Concerns: My favorite use for this is destroying my opponent’s mental fortitude by reducing their move to 20% of mine. You move really fast, so if you need to get away, this is the best card to do it with as you can buy yourself a second activation. Nothing in this game moves faster than Skritch. A good use for it as well is early on to block a charge on your Shocking Assault holder, it then basically gives you a glory.
Total Collapse: One of the best cards for Spiteclaw. First of all, (if you roll it), it can be used as a ping. This compensates for low damage and scores Wreckers. Second, it is a ‘pick’ ploy, so it inspires your guys. Third, it can be used as a ‘teleport’ if you kill off a Skaven and then Raise them on the other end of the board. Finally, it can be used to deny charges. You can knock out low health (or even high health!) minions with this and if they were already raised, you deny bounty as well as become unchargeable which messes up the Reckless Fury deck!
Violent Blast: This is mainly run to setup Strip the Realm. Try to put tokens near Stagger hexes (unless your opponent is also Pillage/Cata) to make use of this card. Worst case scenario it can still screw your opponent’s positioning up as well as can be used as a Sidestep! Just be careful to not Inspire after using it, cause you never actually get picked.
Sunder the Realm: Best card in the game. It wins the Zarbag matchup and is massive for setting up Wreckers as well as just compensating for your damage in general. Truly one of the best cards of all time. Haters will point out the obvious anti-synergy with Shocking Assault but you know that the Realm is about to be Sundered, so just play it first and then score Shocking Assault! Also, please don’t be greedy with this card. Many a-damage was avoided because I tried to wait for more fighters to enter neutral territory.
Coutner-charge: An inspire, a push, and a defense buff, and a Schemer set up? What’s not to love? My favorite use is setting up the Crit Grievous for Schemers cause it is a very schemy thing to do, but the inspire and defense buff is also super good.
Improvised Attack: Ok… lots to talk about. First of all, damage compensation as it is a ping. Second, inspiration. It does inspire the fighter who attacks with it. Third, this is a core ability. Why is that important? Because of your warscroll! In Skritch’s claws, this card can either be used as a 4 Range attack (if you push closer to your opponent), as a Sidestep (if you push away), as a Shields Up! (if you use Justified Paranoia). This card is super good on Spiteclaw, 10/10 would recommend.
UPGRADES
Great Speed: +1 Move is always nice, even if you already have 5. This turns Skritch into an absolute monster and there is nowhere to hide from him! This is probably one of the more cuttable upgrades, looking back I might switch it for Tightening Grasp to crush those Zarbag players.
Swift Step: This gives you a free push 3 times per game, which is nice. Even if you use it once to steal a token from an opponent, that is good enough! I mainly used it to get a free Broken Prospects (if I hit the attack).
Burrowing Strike: With the Stagger token this is the same accuracy as the Lurking/Festering but it does more damage and has better Range, so pretty much a direct upgrade. Only thing not to love is how it breaks when you die.
Canny Sapper: Apparently free teleports are very strong. You can use this as a safety net for a risky charge, a get-out-of-jail-free card, or even an aggressive teleport card (which I personally don’t recommend). Still, a super strong teleport!
Impossibly Quick: Extra Save dice, what’s not to love?
Gloryseeker: Extra damage is always good but especially on this warband! I love to combo it with Desperate Rage or Burrowing Strike but that rarely happens so it’s still strong on your Skaven alone! Skritch and Krrk really enjoy it despite having Schemers.
Utter Conviction: Typically tossed onto the Hungering Skaven or Uninspired Krrk, as it gives them the biggest defense buff and makes them super hard to hit. Careful with giving it to Krrk or Skritch, as they will lose their Crit-Grievous and same with Hurled Weapon.
Great Fortitude: I know it may be tempting to leave it on Krrk or Skritch but if you will lose a minion it’s also worth to save them, especially if they are in a tactical position! Other than that, use when necessary.
Hurled Weapon: Extra range is always nice, and this is SUPER good on Skritch/Krrk for no particular reason. Don’t forget about this weapon’s Crit Cleave! It let me hit unhittable attacks a lot of times!
Desperate Rage: This is super good for one and done charges with a minion, but I put it on Skritch several times during the Clash in order to try and roll for the Crit-Grievous and secure a 4-damage kill. Keep in mind it’s extra good on low bounty minions.
OVERALL GUIDE
This deck is very good against elites and slow warbands and can stand it’s ground against Zarbag (but not Grymwatch, that’s much harder). You have to leverage your warband’s superior speed and AMAZING tankiness in early game to get quick Broken Prospects and Torn Landscape.
Before the game begins, I look for pretty much any objective card except Wreckers and Spread Havoc, as these are much better late game. Power cards are more flexible. I typically mulligan if 2 or 3 of my 5 cards are either unplayable or Cataclysm dependent. Here is my favorite board, with me being on the right half:
If I get 3 tokens, I put the middle one next to a Stagger hex for Violent Blast. The other two I like to leave deep in my territory to make is safer for my fighters to hold them.
For deployment, I like to deploy Skritch on one end of the board and Krrk on the other end of the board. This makes it hard for one super hard hitter to take out both (somehow… not sure about the logic here honestly but it works). The Lurking Skaven is legally obligated to be dpeloyed within reach of a treasure in enemy or neutral territory AND adjacent to another friendly fighter. This allows for some aggressive claiming with Justified Paranoia early on. Festering and Hungering can be deployed as needed, but if Wary Delver is in hand Festering Skaven is better to be deployed aggressively for early space claiming.
My first activation is typically a Justified Paranoia on the Lurking Skaven + a move action onto a token, either in enemy or neutral territory depending on my hand. I recommend using Krrk as your backline delver as well as Skritch as your main fighter but make sure to NOT lose both! Festering and Hungering Skaven are your weapon caddies/expendable material. They are fast and can hit decently hard/accurately and are pretty tanky! Other than that, just make sure to always pay attention as to when to use your warscroll abilites. They can be super clutch!
And that’s it! I hope you enjoyed this article! If you want to read about these Skaven’s success (or lack thereof) at the Copenhagen Grand Clash, check out this article. If you want to get in contact with me for some feedback or just some friendly chatting, you can find me on the Staggerers Discord Server. With that, thank you for reading and I hope to see you again soon!
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