Strength + Growth has finished Top 3 in multiple CASS series. Necro/Str/Growth, Demon/Str/Growth, Growth/Str/Necro, and most notably Anarchy/Str/Growth, have all had very strong tournament finishes.
The purpose of this proposed ban list was to shake things up and see what’s “next tier” below these clearly established “top tier” combinations that were proposed as bans (by me, as an observation) and (mildly? generally?) agreed upon / unobjected to by the community.
Growth and Strength have a ton of synergy. Birds + Buffs, Str T2 + Buffs. Add Haste (especially Zane, who is always available as a hasty attacker and can bring Surprise Attack for 2 more hasty attackers) and Might of Leaf and Claw becomes a “have upgrade removal or lose” combination. A fantastic answer to the (otherwise totally dominant) Black-heavy decks.
Purple Starter + Peace + X (most notably, Past/Peace/Anarchy and Future/Peace/Necromancy) have also had multiple strong finishes and Battle Suits + Overeager Cadets + any other cheap tech 1 Soldier/Vystari (Hooded Executioner, Knight of the Conclave, Seer, Calypso Vystari) make for unending hordes of Drill Sergeant runes. Very tough to keep up with.
Demon + Necro are just really heavy early-game pressure. Vandy + Dark Pact + Bone Collector is too much balanced attack + defense card advantage for just about any deck to deal with effectively. Vandy makes hero answers rough with her easy healing off levels and Meta as a strong maxband threat, and skeletons make easy “just enough blockers” to keep safe.
I personally feel Anarchy and Necro are the primarily overtuned specs in the game (given how strong Anarchy is, Gunship is just absurdly strong when compared to other tech 3s, it’s not even close how much better it is than every other tech 3 in practice. If it costed 10, almost double what it costs now, it would still probably be the strongest tech 3 in the game. Maybe it tied with Liberty Gryphon, but it’s got way better staying power and abilities) Demonology gets an honorable mention as “too strong in isolation”, but people really sleep on how much Vandy’s perceived strength is tied to Garth as a perfect pairing. Necro does a lot of the heavy lifting for Black-featured decks like [Demon]/Necro/Finesse. Skeletons, Bone Collectors, and “8 gold for an immediate tech 2 while it’s up and Garth is available” is crazy good. Combine that with hero counter-measures and Lich’s Bargain, Necro is crazy strong and a good splash in almost any deck, despite having below-average tech 2 and 3.
I think this ban list is going to demonstrate that, but I’m excited to see what people pick and what ends up winning it all!