L4m4B4l0n1k DoC Blog: The Grand Scheme of Things, Part I

After SoB release metagame was ruled mostly by Trinity (Kiril, Deleb and Namtaru), but due to lastest patch notes we will focus only on Namtaru and Kiril, since I guess Deleb will be no more. In this post I'll try to share my thoughts about how to play Dhamiria against those two.

Game Plan

Play as many early drops as possible and flood the board with little demons - his ability can be very helpful with this. Push damage with burn - most common are: Firebolt and Forked Firebolt. Some versions use Blazing Succubus and/or Free Mage Altar to empower their offensive. Once enemy hp drop enough Kiril can finish him with indirect damage dealt by Thrall of Hatred, Caller of the Void or Bound Succubus.	Play as many early drops as possible and clear their path with ability and spells. Generate card and board advantage with Boneyards. Once enemy hp drop enough Namtaru can finish him with Time Jump with ease. Some versions can still use Ice Spear, which may allow them to deal some extra damage. Some versions can use Magic Steal, which can disturb enemy plans pretty well.
Take mulligan or not?
Any hand which has early drops and some AoE removal is good. Lurkers in the Dark and Ur-Jubaal's Minions are amazing in stalling Inferno creatures.	Same as with Kiril, however Lurkers aren't that good, because Namtaru can kill them with ability.
Early game
We want block everything if possible, even if we will have to make some sacrifices, our hp is the most precious thing here. However Kiril often will have more creatures in board and we will have to make choices, tough choices. In most cases we want to unleash power of our removal and gain small advantages whenever possible, so e.g. if we have Insect Swarm then we will block enemy Succubus with our own Succubus rather than Lava Spawn. Keep in mind that Lurkers and Ur-Jubaal's are in most cases safe blockers.	Namtaru creatures are less threatening than those played by Kiril and they aren't any issue on their own. We have to keep in mind that in this matchup positioning is the key, e.g. if we have choice between blocking his shooter or melee creature, then we should go for melee, because playing our own creature in front of it means two things: first, Geyser will hurt his own creature. Second, Alone in the Dark won't affect our blocker unless enemy will move instead of attacking. Use Rise of the Nethemancers on their 1-2 resource creatures whenever possible, otherwise Boneyards may be problem mid/late game.
Mid/late game
Mid/late is where our deck shines and at same time Kiril should lose most of his steam. If we haven't lost too much hp and we're out of range of indirect damage sources (Thralls/Callers/Bounds) we're safe and game is probably already over. At this game state it's good to have removal prepared for indirect damage sources so they won't trigger too many times.	It's a bit harder here. We have to focus not only on enemy board but also on his graveyard, and if possible take care of his hand or at last take a glimpse. Time Jump is the only way Namtaru can finish us, so we have to: a) take control over board and finish them fast, b) nulify possible Time Jumps with Stone Shields, c) discard their Time Jumps.