Daybreak Atrocity Deck Guide
We’re a couple of weeks into the latest balance patch as the meta begins to stabilize around the common proven players.
Many old archetypes have adjusted into position and a few new contenders are getting close to finding their way in.
While things may feel somewhat established, there’s still plenty of unexplored territory.
It’s Trevor “Shugo” Yung here and today the sun is shining bright!
With the buffs to Rahvun and Solari Priestess, I figured it’s time to give Daybreak another chance in the spotlight.
Deck Code: CEBASAYJBENBYIZWJRKFQYABAUFK6AICAIBQSF2VAEAQKGICAMBQSOKLKYAQICIN
[See Daybreak Atrocity deck details]
Deck Overview
Daybreak Atrocity is essentially a Targon Invoke Allegiance deck at heart. You’ll spend turns sustaining the board while you aim to generate value through Invokes.
Mountain Scryer allows you to find and summon your huge Celestials as early as possible, then threaten lethal with Atrocity.
While not a new strategy, Targon Atrocity has long fallen out of favor since the past nerfs to Aphelios. Except now we’ve got Daybreak.
Leona and the Solari stand ground and prevent aggressive decks from taking over the game too quickly. With great stats and constant stuns you’ll halt your opponent turn after turn!
The strategy is pretty clear with this deck. Play solid units, generate value, then Atrocity for the flashy finish.
However, being simple on the surface doesn’t mean there isn’t any depth. When you’ve got Invokes, crazy things can happen!
Mulligan Tips
This is one of the easier decks to mulligan with. Find a solid curve and try to play a Daybreak each turn to progress Leona’s level-up requirement.
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Always Keep:
- Zoe
- Solari Soldier
- Loping Telescope
- Solari Shieldbearer
- Solari Priestess
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Situational Keep:
- Leona: Solid keep against aggressive decks if you have at least two other opening units in hand.
- Solari Sunhawk: Keep against aggro.
- Mountain Scryer: Keep against slower matchups.
- Solari Sunforger: Keep against aggro.
Example Hand 1:
Example Hand 2:
Game Plans
Daybreak has a great early game with the likes of Solari Soldier and Solari Shieldbearer. Due to their stats, both of these units deter the opponent from attacking or defending when their Daybreak buff is triggered. This can put us ahead from the get-go while buying time for our mid to late game.
What Daybreak lacks is value outside of the first card played each turn. However, we now have even more ways to make up for this.
Zoe, Loping Telescope, Solari Priestess, and Mountain Scryer all generate free value. Now that Solari Priestess is a 2|2 we don’t even have to sacrifice much tempo when playing her.
This fits even better with the Daybreak game plan by improving the options we can curve into.
Leona is a great answer to punish the opponent for developing the board instead of open-attacking. If they play something small initially which hints towards a second unit, just pass. Giving up the Daybreak Stun can be dangerous if a worse threat is just around the corner (ex. Poppy).
Rahvun is the core that makes Daybreak truly shine. A flipped Leona becomes a must-kill target while all our units pop off for additional value. We also gain access to a separate pool of cards we normally don’t include. Generating a Solari Priestess, Eclipse Dragon, or Heavens Aligned is insane value.
Other times we’ll find extra Sunbursts, Sunhawks, or Sunforgers to have even more defensive options. There’s plenty of goodies so more often than not you’ll be happy with the result.
As we approach the late game there are a couple of key cards we’re looking to acquire. First is Atrocity, and the second is a giant Celestial. The Destroyer, The Immortal Fire, and The Great Beyond are our three cards of choice.
This is due to their inherent evasion and protection. Spellshield makes them incredibly hard to kill, and barring a silence or transform, The Immortal Fire is pretty safe also.
If we’ve dealt enough damage with our Daybreak game plan, sometimes our Celestial can close the game on its own.
However, even in the worst of cases, a Celestial attack plus Atrocity can usually deal 20 damage. Just be sure to play some cheaper Celestials throughout the early to mid-game to buff up our finisher.
Win Conditions
Zoe
Like most decks with Zoe, we’re playing her strictly for baseline value. We can never complain about a 1|1|1 Elusive that gives a free Supercool Starchart on every attack.
But of course, with the plentiful amount of Invokes, there’s always a chance she levels up. Just note we lack ways to protect her outside of Pale Cascade and Moonglow, so don’t throw all your eggs in one basket.
Leona
Honestly, I think Leona is somewhat underrated. Her level one stats and ability are decent, and once leveled she can just about perma-stun the enemy. Her main weaknesses are open-attacks, but with Rahvun she can combo stuns and dive straight to the Nexus!
Don’t misjudge her by her shield. Leona can pack a punch! Now if only she had Overwhelm.
The Great Beyond + Atrocity
Okay, so of course you can substitute The Great Beyond for one of the other big Celestials. But if I had to choose one, this is it. The Spellshield + Elusive combo makes it the greatest threat and is an incredibly safe Atrocity target.
In some games, you can cheat it out on turn seven. Good RNG and a couple of Mountain Scryers can be pretty nuts, but regardless, The Great Beyond + Atrocity is a fantastic game-ender. Put the pieces together on the way to surviving the journey and by the end you’re unstoppable!
Conclusion
There’s room to play around with this archetype and tech it to your liking. I prefer the handful of singletons due to Daybreak’s inherent “once per turn” weakness. Sunhawk and Sunforger are situational enough already without the Daybreak clause, so this way you won’t be able to double-draw them.
Overall, it’s a super fun deck that mixes fair interactive gameplay with a combo finisher.
Just make sure you’re not too greedy. Our removal is limited and varies on Invokes. While Hush can bail us out, just about everything else is at SLOW speed. So be careful out there!
Shugo’s Productivity Thought of the Day
When it comes to life, there are far too many factors to consider. As we all very much know, the odds won’t always be in our favor.
So don’t play the odds. Take advantage of what you can control.
