A bit ago, I made a deck list for the first level 5 blend in the base set, Blood Reaper, as a way to sequentially introduce ideas for intermediate decks for the community. After creating the direct playstyle of The Blood Reaper Summoning, I figured I could whip up decks pretty fast and offer a consistent way to build them yourself. I quickly got to work on the next level 5 blend, Catalyst Controller, where I further believed that an intermediate deck was just a short trip away from the Catalyst Corp Starter Deck. The starter deck already acknowledges the ability of the Catalyst Controller, with the supporting role of Roost Bomber to cycle fowl school blends effectively (if none of that made sense, that’s okay, we are just getting started!). But after poking around for just a bit of time, I realized that the Catalyst Controller has the potential to be the most complex blend in the game, with its value and adaptability growing as more cards are created (like they were recently!). With more and more experimenting, I fell down a rabbit hole of how different this deck could be, and made my friends sick of the deck by the end of it (thanks guys!).
The Catalyst Controller is a level 5 blend in the Fowl school. Once placed on a level 5 hero with an Aqua, Pyro, Electro, Nocturna, and Aero gem, it can copy the ability of another Nocturnagem blend in the discard pile every turn. This ability can copy the same ability every turn, and can extract things like stat increases onto his already formidable 2 attack and 3 defense.
Strengths
The ability to copy other abilities gives incredible versatility in a game, allowing you to adapt to the playstyle of the opponent. This fares particularly well in organized play where the cards of the opponent are completely unknown to you at the start. It also allows adaptation based on the cards you draw, as there are many abilities on the Nocturnagem blend tree that can transform gems into blends, blends into gems, and gems into other gems. Of the 153 blends in the game, 61 of them have a Nocturnagem, which is 60 other blends to experiment with!
We can also have multiple copies of Catalyst Controller down at once, each copying the same or different abilities on any given turn, so I will be packing 3 copies of the blend in this deck. Our end goal should be 2 of them down (and honestly nothing else) to have a wind up and a strong hit every turn.
Weaknesses
Without the unique ability, the Catalyst Controller has low written stats compared to other level 5 blends. Even worse, its ability requires having discarded blends. The need to get blends into your discard pile is not difficult to reach, but does often come at the cost of a small hand or a dwindling draw pile. We will have to tread lightly when considering the trade off of discarding blends (disclaimer: I do not tread lightly, nor have I ever played this against an opponent that is trying to discard my deck to death). There is a silver lining here; discarded blends are normally entirely a bad thing, but we can use them to our advantage.
Additionally, while there isn’t much we can do about it, I should point out that the copied ability does not last through the opponent’s turn, making the Catalyst Controller weaker when defending. Finally, we will see later on that there are virtually no abilities on Nocturnagem blends that heal or move heroes, so keep that in mind too!
Sub-Blends
It’s time to go off the rails. There are two trees of sub-blends we can consider, the normal Catalyst Controller tree and the “tree” of all Nocturnagem blends.
Using blends that are sub-blends of Catalyst Controller are important for playing early-game and for transforming into gems with abilities like Mage and Gloria. They also are likely to have natural synergies with the Catalyst Controller, although some less than others. I don’t want to use any blends that don’t have a Nocturnagem, so all blends in deck the can all be used by the Catalyst Controller without having to keep track.
I will also note here that we only need one copy of a card to have it be valuable to the Catalyst Controller(s), so I will only include one of each blend unless otherwise noted.
The list of all Nocturnagem blends is too big to practically drop here, but I do want to be thorough in our search through them to get juicy abilities for the Catalyst Controller. Keeping in mind that these blends can never be played on the field, as we don’t have the gem requirements for them; we will have to send them straight to the discard pile from our hand or deck. Let’s start axing Nocturnagem blends from the list:
- Blends that have abilities that are “supposed” to be “hinderances”
- Fume Blitzer, Chain Smoker, Glass Raider, Wood Ghost
- Blends that have abilities that need to last more than one player turn
- Blood Reaper (aw too bad), Dread Blader, Break Detector, Slip Knotter, Witch Crafter, Fever Virus, Snow Fowl, Sonic Ghost, Wave Ram, Corruptor, Virus
- Blends that require hard or impossible to achieve requirements
- Fleet Reacher, Lattice Crusher, Berg Inflicter, Cannon Boomer, Flare Launcher, Bolt Ram, Ram
- Blends that don’t increase the value of Catalyst Controller enough or at all
- Mantis Slasher, Rage Domesticator, Gloom Miser, Herd Necromancer, Needle Rusher, Rime Piercer, Fungus Usher, Venom Fowl, Usher (but could work on their own with Data Cipher rotating)
- This leaves:
- Pearl Deceptor, Torrent Crasher, Tremor Bounder, Verve Conflictor, Stakes Raiser, Bond Breaker, Combustion Boiler, Condensation Collector, Data Cipher, Gale Tracer, Mineral Juggler, Roost Bomber, Shadow Sneaker, Trick Taker, Void Charmer, Bluster Mage, Burn Fowl, Charge Fowl, Drip Fowl, Pristine Mage, Signal Corruptor, Silent Usher, Skull Ram, Steam Usher, Tinder Ram, Toxic Ram, Fowl, Ghost, Mage,
(Even just when writing these down I am having new thoughts and different ideas on how this deck can use these cards…)
Since we are only grabbing 1 copy of each of these, we can actually use most of the 29 viable cards left. Going back to the sub tree of the Catalyst Controller, I will bring along Combustion Boiler, 2 Bluster Mage, Burn Fowl, Drip Fowl, Steam Usher, and 2 Mage for their abilities and gem compatibility. I left behind the viable Fowl because I never got enough value out of them in testing, and surprisingly ditched Roost Bomber because there aren’t enough playable blends to use their ability on.
For the other viable blends, Ghost is the only other level 2 worth adding, with a niche but potentially game winning ability. For level 3 blends, I’m going to skip the damage trading of Tinder Ram, Signal Corruptor, and Toxic Ram, as well as the less needed Pristine Mage ability. I’ll also add the strong ability of Silent Usher, but not Skull Ram.
If your head doesn’t hurt yet, I’ll take you to level 4 and 5 blends, where Pearl Deceptor, Tremor Bounder, Stakes Raiser, Gale Tracer, Mineral Juggler, and Shadow Sneaker aren’t strong enough to make the cut, but the rest are. Tricker Taker and Verve Conflictor can be crazy damage, Data Cipher and Torrent Crasher can be cycled as expected (but both conveniently under the Catalyst Controller name), and Condensation Collector and Bond Breaker have their own tricks up their sleeve…
This totals to 21 blends, which is a manageable number to make a full deck from. We will have less space for actions, but can make up for that with the spread of abilities we can use from these blends.
Okay but what do we actually do with this
The hardest part of making a hyper-centric Catalyst Controller deck is understanding the end goal of the deck. I have discovered this through lots of play testing; most of the styles lean more towards a slow speed of play, but do have the potential to rush if the opponent doesn’t heavily invest in winning round 1.
- Blend for Blend Destruction: Copy Torrent Crasher to deblend opponent heroes. Then use Data Cipher to get your Catalyst Controllers back, and Verve Conflictor to deal increased damage afterwards. Works well against level 4 blends as its destructive and cheaper for the Torrent Crasher ability.
- Gem for Blend Destruction: Copy Bond Breaker or Combustion Boiler to sacrifice gems to deblend opponent heroes. Then use Condensation Collector to get gems back, and Verve Conflictor to deal increased damage afterwards. Works well against low level heroes when using Bond Breaker, and high level blends if you get the right gems in place to use with Combustion Boiler.
- Conditional Damage Buffing: Copy Burn Fowl, Charge Fowl, Verve Conflictor, or Trick Taker to deal up to 8 additional damage on top of Catalyst Controller’s 2 damage.
- Disorient and Disable: Copy Void Charmer to move the opponent’s heroes around; use Drip Fowl, Silent Usher, and Ghost to crumble setups that rely on persistent abilities.
You can change between these based on new info throughout a match, all while using Mage, Bluster Mage, and Steam Usher to manipulate your deck.
I will admit, after all this data crunching it is a bit wearying to see that the resulting deck leans so far towards hindering the opponents, destroying blends, and using Verve Conflictor, but I will also admit I did a lot of deck adjusting for competitive play; there are still lots of options that just may be a tad less powerful, not to mention the prospect of new cards adding more to the deck in the future!
Gems
A standard starter deck has 20 gems, and we can actually get that number despite the non-standard construction of the deck so far. Like I talked about in the previous workshop, there are 3 considerations for the gem count:
- How many blends use each gem?
- How many heroes do we want gemmed? What gems?
- Do any effects need a specific type of gem?
Since the end goal is only two Catalyst Controllers, there isn’t much to be discussed there. Drip Fowl and Combustion Boiler are the only abilities that rely on certain gem types, and I only mildly considered them (especially with Condensation Collector to pull the gems from the discard pile). This leaves the regular check for gem requirements, but where we only want to consider the cards that can be played onto the field:
Blend cards that want a(n)
Aquagem: 6
Pyrogem: 10
Electrogem: 7
Nocturnagem: 12 (All)
Aerogem: 5
Total Gems Required: 40
Proportionally, we will want
6/40*20 ~ 3 Aquagems
10/40*20 ~ 5 Pyrogems
7/40*20 ~ 3 Electrogems
12/40*20 ~ 6 Nocturnagems
5/40*20 ~ 3 Aerogems
With a boost to Aqua for Drip Fowl and Combustion Boiler, and some pity points to the Aerogems and Electrogems, I actually just ended up with and even 4/4/4/4/4. I say pity points, but really my idea was that Mage can get 2 of a gem type with its ability, so at least 4 of each or at an even number for each will help with searching and tracking out gem counts throughout a hectic game.
Starred Actions
We only have 9 slots for actions, which luckily is enough space to get all 5 action stars. I want to maximize the feeling of diversity in the deck, so having 5 1-star actions will be my approach. This did cause me to abandon some honorable mentions, such as Lock, Gem Trick, Super Collect, Survive, Protect, and Weaponize, but still allowed me to fill in lots of gaps in the deck. 1 Super Blend Search will allow for tracking down a specific high-level blend once we identify what we need mid-game. 2 Block Attacks will cover the empty lane without a Catalyst Controller or stop a big attack anywhere. Finally, 2 Copy actions will allow us to have the dream of 2 and 3 star actions, or more searches or more draws, depending on what the opponent plays.
0-Star Actions
With 4 slots for 0-star actions, I can add a few mild abilities based on preferences and play testing. 1 Blend Search can grab many blends to discard with a Mage/Gloria, getting almost any gem and priming it to be copied by the Catalyst Controller. I also eyeballed Super Cancels for starred actions, but they conflict with Copies, and aren’t worth the star when I can throw in 3 regular Cancels to get comparable power and fill the deck!
Heroes
To finish the deck, we need the cornerstones: 4 heroes with effects and levels that allow out plans to line up. I will also be including a full bench that has a second level 5 hero, which is vital for a successful field. But because a level 5 can be on the bench, we can have only one level 5 on the field to start, and lots of low-level utility beyond that. The specific utility we are looking for is tightly identified by our remaining weaknesses:
- How are we getting the right gems without any Gem Search actions? Gloria can get the gems needed for a Mage, and a Mage can go from there.
- How are we discarding all these unplayable blends (besides with Mage)? Abbey can be our level 5 and an emergency explosion of our entire hand to the discard pile. Gloria will also discard some lower level blends to our advantage.
- How are we moving our heroes without any abilities or actions that can move us? Silas is our savior!
- How can we get the Catalyst Controller? Fiona + Isabel can get 2 right away, or can get 2 Mages or can get 2 Bluster Mages. They can also become the Mage since they get an activation gem, and then they can be benched after round one to be the second Catalyst Controller.
We now have 4 bench slots, one of which needs to be the second level 5:
- Since the level 5 will bench out Fiona + Isabel, Winona can be the replacement and have their ability active.
- A failed Trick Taker ability will send a Catalyst Controller to the bottom of the deck; we can later tag in Camille to get it back quickly.
- If we run out of cards, Janette may be a good round 3 emergency bench pick.
- Since we have 5 1-star actions, and none of them are specifically needed for our plans, Joon-Ki is actually viable on the bench, so we will throw them in for fun.
The Decklist
With 20 gems, 21 blends, 9 actions, 8 heroes, and lots of experimenting still to be had, I present the deck built to maximize the ability of the Catalyst Controller and have EVERY. CONTIGENCY. COVERED:
I have a feeling that the developers will have to check this card every time they make a new card, because the Catalyst Controller is waiting to fill in its weaknesses and have even crazier strengths.
Because of the already extreme spread of blends you can use with Catalyst Controller, I didn’t do any direct exploration of adding a sixth gem. My exploration did however take me to many other variants that you could make (and post in the Gem Blenders Discord!):
- Adding a sixth gem, especially Caprogem, would allow some of these throw away blends to be played (and deblended if desired). For a lesser investment, you can add Jubilee or Gem Trick, and use their wild gems to play blends for a turn, giving them value before they become Catalyst Controller fodder.
- I almost found value in Palmer, since we have two LV.1 heroes down and one could be Palmer. However I didn’t find enough other valuable LV.1 heroes (the best heroes for Palmer’s ability) to implement (especially with a LV.5 hero on the bench and other LV.1 heroes needing an activation gem on top of Palmer). But, if you put Winona on the field right away instead of Fiona + Isabel, then Palmer could swap out the backline LV.1 hero and 4 other benched LV.1 heroes. You could choose from Silas, Gloria, Jubilee, Joon-Ki, Francisco, Devin (and then copy Fleet Reacher?!?!), Janette, or even Min-Seo if you got more level 2 blends. It’s just a lot more build up to put a gem on Palmer and the backline.
- Quinn was originally in this deck, because they had a defense and the ability to essentially discard some blends to get other, likely higher level blends, which on paper sounds like what we want. However, his luck based system combined with no extra ways to get blends (Replacing Fiona + Isabel, and without Blend Calls, Extra Blend Searches, etc.), they can melt through your hand pretty recklessly. We want blends in the discard, but can do that and get a benefit with Mage. You can decide if you want to throw his aspect of luck back in! If you don’t run Fiona + Isabel, you can replace Abbey with Maeve to get a Mage on the top of your deck with your turn one activation gem.
- Beth is an honorable mention, as they were the first hero I discovered that could discard blends straight from my hand. If they were LV.1, Palmer could go crazy with a field and bench of all LV.1 heroes. Since they are LV.2, I suppose they could replace Fiona + Isabel after turn 1, and go from there… lots of approaches there, I just never found the right one.
- Adding Fiona + Isabel was one of the last decisions for the deck (since I was getting mad at Quinn lol), but now with their powerful turn one ability, Tinder Ram could be added back in to trigger their double search constantly (at a teeny cost of your health). This is another rabbit hole; we could then use Toxic Ram, then use Signal Corruptor and maximize Void Charmer and Data Cipher. While we are at it, we could use Palmer to bench between Fiona + Isabel and Fatima to get gems whenever… or ditch all that for Claire, Selma, or both. I don’t know where you are fitting all of these heroes and 1 or 2 Catalyst Controllers, and now you may need Caprogems to get these down in other ways, but some also need Terragems… maybe we circle back to this when the gems are more suited to us.
- Blah blah, something something, Data Cipher making Mantis Slasher and mill strategy viable, blah, no one do that please.
I think that about does it. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the descent into madness while playing Every Contingency Covered!