How to Play Gwen Illaoi
Hey everyone NicMakesPlays here.
Today I’m going to go over my Gwen Illaoi deck.
As always, we’ll be covering the decks mulligans, matchups, and more.
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Deck Code: CEBQGBQFBQIBYBIGAYDAOHA6EMBQCBJCFAYQGAICAYCQCBQGCUAQCBIBAEAQCBIZ
[NicMakesPlays Gwen Illaoi deck details]
Goal of Deck and Mulligans
The goal of this deck is to use the Hallowed keyword to buff the Tentacles and allow them to put on huge pressure. The deck is also well rounded since it is packed with removal spells, and ways to refuel.
The expected turn to win the game is turn 7-8 by either outvaluing your opponent via Spawn + removal spells or going for game with Illaoi or Atrocity.
In this deck, you want to mulligan for early game spawn generators such as Watchful Idol, Sea’s Voice, Illaoi, and Tentacle Smash. You also want to mulligan for early game Hallowed Unit’s such as Boisterous Host and Phantom Butler.
For other matchups, you can keep things like Vile Feast for Aggro or Black Spear for MF/Viktor/Aphelios.
Watchful Idol / Hired Gun
Watchful Idol is the strongest start you can have in this deck. You are able to start spawning Tentacles early and beef them up for the mid game. This sets up turns 3-4 nicely for The Sea’s Voice and Illaoi.
Hired Gun is an amazing way to hold down the early game. Her 2|3 statline blocks 2|1’s such as Byrd and lets you nicely stabilize into turn 3. You can combine her Vulnerable with Gwen’s Quick Attack for easy kills later.
Boisterous Host / Phantom Butler
Boisterous Host and Phantom Butler are your early game Hallowed units of the deck. You can trade with these units in the early game and then later reap the rewards of their Hallowed keywords.
You want to use the Hallowed keyword on your Tentacles because this also buffs Illaoi. Hallowed gives the Tentacles +1|0 and then Illaoi gains the Tentacles stats which effectively doubles the Hallowed buff and levels her easily.
Illaoi / Gwen
Illaoi and Gwen are your Champions of the deck. Illaoi is one of your main win cons since she can copy the Tentacles stats, pushes for huge Overwhelm damage, and increases your Spawn count but 1 when leveled. You can give Hallowed to the Tentacle and then Illaoi copies the Tentacles stats effectively doubling the Hallowed buff.
Gwen also benefits greatly from the Hallowed buffs. She gains all the Hallowed buffs as well, drains giving you reach along with Illaoi’s Overwhelm, and can combine well with Hired Gun’s Vulnerable for easy kills.
Both of these cards can quickly gain huge attacks to go for game through combat or Atrocity.
Tentacle Smash / The Sea’s Voice
Tentacle Smash and The Sea’s Voice are your Tentacle generators of the mid game. Tentacle Smash Spawns 3 and then strikes a unit. This is great at killing key enemy units or getting favorable trades where your Tentacles live and their unit dies such as against Annie.
If you open Watchful Idol it’s easy to get favorable trades with this card right away. The Sea’s Voice is a solid 3|3 that Spawns 1 and gives your Tentacles Overwhelm. In the early game, this helps grow your Tentacles, and in the late game, this helps push for game. This is particularly well with the Hallowed buff to make your Tentacles push huge damage with Overwhelm.
Vengeance / Black Spear
Vengeance and Black Spear are two of your removal spells in the deck. One of the biggest perks of this version compared to the Bard version is the abundance of removal.
You can use Vengeance to kill huge opposing threats such as Illaoi and Kai’sa. You can use Black Spear to kill mid-game threats such as Miss Fortune, Aphelios and Viktor.
Good Matchups
This deck is great against Illaoi Bard and Kai’sa. You want to mulligan for early game Spawn generators and Hallowed units.
You can slowly put on the pressure with your units while growing your Tentacles, and then at crucial points in the mid-game remove their threats with Black Spear and Vengeance. Against Illaoi Bard you can also Atrocity for game and they have no removal in the deck to stop you.
Bad Matchups
This deck can be weak against Aggro but there are tons of ways to mitigate this. Hired Gun is great at killing Annie or trading with their 2|1’s in general. You want to mulligan for as many early game units as possible and Tentacle Smash to get favorable trades.
Gwen can heal you back in the mid game and get you out of burn range. When the timing is right you can swing with a huge Overwhelm unit for game and Aggro doesn’t have many ways to stop you.
Tech Choices
This deck can cut copies of Black Spear, Glimpse Beyond, or Riptide Sermon.
Ye Been Warned – This card acts as both removal and refuel. This card also combines well with Gwen’s Quick Attack.
Make It Rain– Make It Rain is a generally good card that particularly helps against Aggro
Undergrowth – Another Drain card that’s good removal and helps out the Aggro matchup
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