Once you complete each faction's campaign in Smite Tactics, you'll gain access to that faction's starting deck. These range from fairly respectable to barely playable, so we'll help you make the best with what you've got and advise you on what cards to swap in as your card collection grows.


Important Note: Though I've won with each of these decks, none of them (with the possible and occasional exception of the Greek starter deck) can compete with a stronger constructed deck played to its full potential. A hard reality of card games is that your deck will lose against a competently played superior deck, no matter how well you play. The key is to figure out if your deck lost or you lost, and learn your lessons and make adjustments accordingly.

That said, it's worth cutting your teeth on starter decks to learn the cards, basic combos, tactics, how not to make common mistakes (and take advantage when your opponent make these mistakes) and, most of all, learn to be patient while waiting for the correct cards to come out. As you accumulate more cards and play with better decks, these early lessons will serve you well. Have a look at our Smite Tactics: The Basics guide for more general info.


Norse (Odin's Might)

Leader: Odin (melee leader, ability: Targeted friendly gets +1/+1 until next turn)

Description: As the Norse starting deck, Odin's Might plays to the strengths of low cost Norse cards. This means a lot of raw early game aggression and very quick matches, win or lose.

Mulligan for: 1 or 2 cost cards

Win condition: Leverage every combo and buff you can for an early game victory.

Pros:

  • Nasty early game combos (e.g. if you have the cards, a turn 3 Cursed Warrior / Cursed Hunter / Double Mayhem play (with Mana Potion) can deal a devestating 10 damage and, if your opponent lacks AoE clear or ranged plinkers to play quickly, sets you up for a fatal blow on turn 4 or 5. Add in fire imp on turn 4 for even more damage.
  • Cards like Fire Imp (Charge +2/+1) and Fate (Deal 2 damage to two random heroes) help with early game clear / weakening the leader.
  • Gugnir's Might (+1/0 to the leader) can double stack on Odin nicely, and with Odin's ability, turns Odin into a powerful early game fighter.
  • Matches up nicely against slow-developing decks which lack taunt / root / significant ranged damage, such as the Egyptian starting deck.

Cons:

  • This deck fades noticeably after about turn 5. It lacks cycle, and you'll find yourself card-starved mid game if you play as aggressively as you should. Unless you can position Thor to use his ability effectively (gain +1/0 for each adjacent enemy) or Ymir can maneuver close enough to pull off some key stuns (stuns all enemies in any direction of a 3 tile cross), you'll be in trouble if the game reaches its latter stages.
  • As with all melee leader decks, there's a temptation to over-commit the leader. Odin is vulnerable to ranged attacks, and can't use his ability if taunted. Even when playing it safe, Odin is exposed on maps without foliage (which camoflages characters unless an enemy is in an adjacent tile).
  • Matches up poorly against crowd-control (taunt / root) decks like the Greek starting decks. These decks can easily root or taunt your heroes and minions until the serious damage dealers come out.

If you have the cards, consider swapping in:

  • Freya for Odin - you'd need to reconstruct the deck, but negating any enemy unit for a turn can turn the tide of the game.
  • Surtr and Frenzy can help your Cursed Warriors and Hunters become game enders.
  • Norse has more lower cost deities than the other starting decks. Swap Skadi / Kaldr or Sol (for Elder Harpy) - Same cost for some powerful abilties

Greek (Zeus's Wrath)

Leader: Zeus (Ranged, ability: spend two mana to draw a card)

Description: The Greek starting deck has a considerable amount of combo power - more than any other starting deck. Playing patiently, i.e. using no more cards than is necessary to clear in turns 1-3, drawing when you have spare mana, can lead to some blistering mid- to end-game opportunities.

Mulligan for: Divinity-keyword cards and low cost clear (fire imp, basilisk).

Win condition: Trade only with low future value units like fire imp and basilisk, keep divinity units in-hand or alive (in bushes or on the back lines) until you can buff them with gods and goddesses like Aphrodite. Don't worry about the enemy leader until you can use taunt units to lock him / her down along with the most powerful enemy units. Keep taunt units alive with Aphrodite and (especially for a fresh Athena) Stone of Gaia. Whittle away at the enemy leader with your finishers, Elder Harpy and Fury.

Pros:

  • Excellent taunt with teleporting, damage causing Athena - she's the key deity in this deck, use her well.
  • Zeus's ability allows for a great cycle option - use if cards like Athena and your finishers aren't coming up later in the game.
  • Aura is a very powerful damage absorber especially for taunt units.
  • Divinity units do well when you begin subsituting cards, given that the Greek pantheon has more deities (9) than any other pantheon at the moment.

Cons:

  • Vulnerable to early-game minion heavy play - avoid letting your leader get hemmed in and use Zeus's ranged to clear melee enemies as much as possible.
  • Avoid the temptation to throw out cards for one-turn trading early in the game, keep divinity cards in particular for pairing with gods - don't throw them away.
  • The Greek pantheon has an embarassment of riches - its tempting to swap in tons of deities and leave yourself somewhat vulnerable in the early game.

If you have the cards, consider swapping in:

  • Literally any deities for non-divinity, non-taunt units - just be aware that more gods tends to mean a more difficult time with early-game clear, since Greek gods cost 4 to 7 mana.
  • Spartan (for Brontes) - the AoE Aura passive makes this a valuable support unit to taunt units.
  • Scylla (for Brontes or Fury) - Truly frightening (and nearly cooldown-free) ranged clearing ability. Just keep her out of range of enemies.
  • Enyo (for Fury) - combining Rally with taunting units can allow you to disrupt an enemy's tactics in a big way, and a 5/5 with initiative is punishing.
  • Arachne or Ares (for Fury) - Very strong gods with useful abilities to boot.

Egypt (Ra's Glory)

Leader: Ra (Ranged, ability: Spend 2 mana to restore 1 health to all units in a 2x2 target area)

Description: The Egyptian starting deck is pretty heavy handed, with multiple cards that damage or kill non-leader enemies (either outright or on the next turn). NOTE: One important early game card, Minion Recruiter, is hampered by a crippling bug at the moment. You cannot play this card if you're facing off against another Egyptian deck.

Mulligan for: Sunder and Sobek

Win condition: I find this starting deck to have the lowest winrate of the three. Trade effectively; rely on items over your scanty supply of minions until Neith can come out on turn 5. Protect her, spawn your Fury finisher, and avoid playing Execute and Last Breath prematurely, and you just might pull out a win.

Pros:

  • This deck has several shutdown cards that can devastate decks that rely on a few key deities.
  • Includes Neith, the strongest ranged deity in all the starting decks.

Cons:

  • Shutdown cards are ineffective against decks that rely on low-cost minions or items.
  • Your other non-leader deity, Sobek, is low cost but relatively weak. His ability can get backline units into vulnerable territory and break up taunts, but has limited utility and cannot be used diagonally.
  • Neith is powerful, but if she's focused down, the rest of your deck will lack finishing ability.

If you have the cards, consider swapping in:

  • Literally anything for Sacrifice. This deck (and Egypt in general) is low cost minion-starved as it is. You might find some utility with Stereopes (swap in for Sobek), or Geb's ability and some high health throwaway units, but this is highly situational and I'm seldom pleased I made a trade like this.
  • Fist of the Gods can be handy to stun powerful non-leaders (stunned units can't counter-attack or move/attack the next turn), but has limited utility in a deck with so many direct damage options. Consider swapping out for Magma Slam (for clear) or Emperor's Health (for survivability).
  • Swap out Minion Recruiter until its fixed or you'll be fairly crippled in Egypt vs. Egypt matchups.
  • Rod of Tahuti is a great buff card for Neith or Anhur.
  • Bastet greatly increases the playability of this deck, as do any of the 3-6 cost god cards.
  • If you have any of the grave cards, (Book of the Dead, Ritual Tribute) swap them in once you have a decent amount of deities in your deck. These can easily turn the endgame tide in your favor.

To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Smite Tactics Game Page.

Last Updated: Feb 09, 2017

About The Author

Jeff joined the Ten Ton Hammer team in 2004 covering EverQuest II, and he's had his hands on just about every PC online and multiplayer game he could since.

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