Introduction

So, you’ve opened your first Doom Pile Structure Deck and discovered the Master Plan Cast the Doomspell! Now what? If you’re looking for guidance on how the deck works out of the box, and what you can do to improve it, then you’ve come to the right place!

Cast the Doomspell! is a Master Plan which reads “If you resolve an Arcana Plot with Starting Countdown 8+, you win.” It is most closely associated with Arcana and Grimoire cards, and focuses on resolving either Archmage’s Doomspell or Perfect Gathering of Magic, the only two cards in the set that can fulfill the Master Plan’s win condition.

Opening Strategy

Your opening hand out of the box consists of Greedy Page-Turning, Archmage’s Doomspell, Wizard Initiate, Grim Undertaker, and Doomspell Procedure. You should play all of these cards into countdown on your first turn.

At the start of your next turn, Grim Undertaker will resolve, and you’ll draw your sixth card, Expensive Knowledge. Here is where your first choice of the game will come up.

You can either sacrifice Grim Undertaker to play Expensive Knowledge right away, or hold onto Expensive Knowledge and use Grim Undertaker to attack an opponent’s vulnerable Minion or Artifice. You may also need to consider whether your opponent may be able to thwart your Greedy Page-Turning before your next turn, in which case playing the Expensive Knowledge is critical, as you will absolutely need to draw at least two extra cards next turn, if not more.

Your third turn is where your game plan really kicks off. First, your Wizard Initiate, Greedy Page-Turning, and Doomspell Procedure all resolve, and you’ll draw two cards. If you played Expensive Knowledge last turn, you’ll draw another two cards, and then draw for your Draw Phase. Among the cards now in your hand is Perfect Gathering of Magic, Sadsack Devil, and Bring to Fruition, plus up to two more cards depending on your choices earlier.

Play Sadsack Devil first, then sacrifice both it and Wizard Initiate to play Perfect Gathering of Magic.

At this point, Archmage’s Doomspell is also at 8 count remaining, so you now have two possible Plots that can achieve your Master Plan, neck and neck. Your choices from here will largely rely on reading your opponent and counter-measuring their potential disruptions. At the very least, Wizard Initiate’s Sacrificed effect will activate, letting you choose either of these Plots to tick down by one, bringing you closer to victory. You may also choose to use Doomspell Procedure to tick down Perfect Gathering of Magic by one.

If you use both of these effects on Perfect Gathering of Magic, that will bring you much closer to your Master Plan’s win condition, but also makes it a prime target for a thwart card. Spreading them out between both Plots may slow you down, but also leave your opponent with a lose-lose situation where they can thwart one but not both.

From here, the remainder of your deck is built on drawing more cards to both protect your expensive Arcana Plots from your opponent’s disruptions, and to accelerate their countdown through cards such as Accelerated Schemes. Other cards, like Recollection Vial, will help you re-use cards in both pursuits over time. Think about the best times to Stack used cards from the Discard Pile back on top of your deck with these effects and ultimately destroy the world with Cast the Doomspell!

Matchup Considerations

Every deck has access to thwart cards like Employ Contingencies or Dismiss Opposition, sometimes both. These are some of the key things to be on the lookout for as threats to your gameplan, and why having backup options between both of your big Arcana Plots is critical to success.

Besides your standard thwarts, the other main contender to watch out for is the Ignite the Guidestones! Structure Deck. This deck is uniquely situated as a strong control strategy, featuring Scolding Stone, which while a powerful card against any deck, can completely lock you out of your Master Plan by denying your Archmage’s Doomspell or Perfect Gathering of Magic from ever resolving, without needing to thwart them. This is why you have several options for Artifice removal like Fractal Meteorite, some of which may be worth playing higher up in your deck list to keep afloat against this slow but steady Master Plan.

With the amount of drawing available to you, putting your own Scolding Stone higher up in your list, or even in your opening hand, can help you delay your opponent’s attempts to thwart your big Arcana Plots.

Besides control decks, your other main threats are other combo decks, such as The Sacrifice Must be Paid! Because this Master Plan operates on a completely different axis from you, you may need to plan for going on the offensive rather than simply protecting yourself. This is where cards like Lay to Rest and even Recover Research can come in, keeping your opponent off their game plan by keeping Infernal Minions out of their Discard Pile.

And of course, making your own deck operate faster is a surefire way to protect your cards, simply by winning before your opponent can set up a counter-strategy! Additional copies of Wizard Initiate or Greedy Page-Turning can go a long way, and you can add cards from other structure decks too, such as Doctor Stein, Dark Architect, to pull double duty as protection for your Artifices and an engine to count down your Arcana Plots faster!

Conclusion

What do you think of Cast the Doomspell!? There are plenty more ins and outs to learn about the structure deck and the cards within as you work to improve it, develop your own strategy, and aim to end the world with one giant Doomspell.

Good luck in your pursuit of world domination!