Escape Land Deck Profile - Spookyfish!!!
Intro
With TCG's, writing about them is definitely one of my biggest passions - especially when it comes to writing about cards, deck profiles, and strategies. I am incredibly excited to bring that passion to Escape Land!!!
Escape Land's game system is unique in that there are no resource cards, your board is limited to having 4 Critters max in play - which requires you to play Legends to keep consolidating and opening up opportunities to reuse powerful effects, you have to try your best to play around the Monsters you could rescue on your rival's side of the table, and you're constantly trying to both solve your own math equation while also trying to through your rival's math off as much as you can.
Spookyfish is a tempo/control deck that definitely gives off Sultai or BUG Delver vibes if you're a Magic: the Gathering fan since you're constantly trying to find ways to apply meaningful Escape Point pressure, disrupt your rival with key KO effects and powerful Monster effects, and create small advantage combos that can keep you ahead on card or tempo advantage depending on the state of the game.
Monsters
Starting with the suite of Monsters, Bonelash is a Ghoulie staple - since it will let you either double up on one of your Monster's effects or let you copy a rivals already rescued Monster. Typically, if I am playing a Bonelash deck I really try to ensure that I'm the first to rescue a Monster, as Bonelash gets better as more Monsters are rescued and I really want to ensure I can copy a powerful effect.
Next for our Monsters is Cryptag which lets you either draw a card or look at a rival player's hand and force them to bottom-deck a card of your choice. The second ability is a game changer in Escape Land, letting you snipe a rival player's key disruption or KO effect that could throw off your path to winning the game.
Third is Finra which offers the cleanest removal in the game by shuffling ANY Critter into its owner's deck. This is huge in Escape Land since a lot of Critters have "When KO'd" effects and Finra gets to bypass that!
Lastly is Krakenor...
Summoning a Legend WITHOUT Linking is HUGE. Just being able to put down a Necrostag to KO a Legend for no cost at all is absurdly powerful, or any Legend for that matter.
Based on the effects of these Monsters, you can easily see why Bonelash is such a powerful card that actually comes in the Creep & Cuddle Quick Escape Deck!
Basic Critters
It is hard to go over all of the Basic Critters, but in a section below focusing on "Combos" I delve a bit more into one of the key cards and engines in the deck. For now, I am going to hype Grimshaman up even more than he already is...
Playing any Ghoulie based deck, Grimshaman is an obvious staple that offers the ability to recur Legends from your discard pile by discarding a card when summoned. As you can see from the suite of Legends available in this deck, your options are incredibly powerful, and you have a lot of flexibility based on the state of the game.
Need to get back a threat that almost guarantees 16 points over 2 turns, Kingjaw is the play. Need to punish KO heavy strategies and setup a Grimshaman loop, Ghoulrex is the play. Need to KO a powerful Legend, Necrostag is the play. I could go on and on, but as you can see those 3 options alone have the ability to absolutely dominate the game or swing it back into your favor.
Legends
With Legends in Escape Land, since they are a necessity, the decks I build usually opt for 13 of them to ensure I regularly have a couple of options in hand while trying my best not to get Legend flooded. This is kind of the secret sauce in Escape Land, as Legends are incredibly powerful but if you only draw Legends, you're definitely not winning - that and it is usually best to keep your board at 3 to 4 Critters in play to insulate yourself from spot removal effects - so too much consolidation can easily put you at-risk; this is why I tend to Link into Legends on an "as needed" basis depending on my current math, whether or not I need to setup for the following turn, or if I need to catch up right now.
Kingjaw truly is King - 8 Escape Points and can't leave play for any reason until the start of your next turn.
Ghoulrex - 7 Escape Points and creates a difficult problem for other Ghoulie, Snuggler, or Dragon decks to solve since KO'ing it actually unlocks a lot for you - especially with a Grimshaman in the discard pile.
Necrostag - 5 Escape Points and the MOST efficient way to KO a Legend.
Glimmus - 5 Escape Points and an amazing Critter Ability! Even though you exhaust the Glimmus, stopping you from gaining its 5EP for the turn, gaining 2 Escape Points during your Action Phase and letting you draw a card for no real Action Point cost is very powerful. Especially when you're at 18 Points, you then gain 2 to go to 20 and rescue a Monster during your Action Phase meaning that during your Escape Phase you're actually gaining points towards the next Monster. And of course, let's not forget the combo with Finwing to restand and use the Critter Ability again!
You can find Glimmus and Finwing in the Splash & Burn Quick Escape Deck!
Croaksis - 7 Escape Points and letting you sneakily draw 2 cards for no Action Point cost just for using a Legend to Link summon it.
Scorptide - 4 Escape Points, but all-around GOAT. Scorptide lets you exhaust a Critter, turning it sideways, and that Critter doesn't ready during your rival's next turn. This not only stops them from gaining Escape Points with that Critter, but they also can't link with it - making that spot on their board essentially dead for a full turn.
Combos
As stated above, in this section I wanted to highlight a Basic Critter that facilitates a lot of combos and acts as one of the main advantage engines in the deck - Rillix. Rillix costs 1 Action Point, for 3 Escape Points, and when summoned allows you to return a Basic Critter you have in play back to your hand and if you don't, you must discard a card from your hand. In this deck, you are ALWAYS trying to bounce one of your Basic Critters back to hand, haha.
In the image I highlighted 3 Critters specifically that offer you 3 very different things:
Malfin offers you the ability to protect any one of your Critters for a turn, which usually you're choosing one of your own Legends. Malfin also can target a rival Critter if you're worried about your rival trying to Link with it on their turn, making their turn a bit more awkard.
Shellock is all gas, no breaks with it... yaaadddddaaaaa mean? Since Shellock only gets its +2 Escape Point boost when summoned, using a Rillix to bounce it back to hand and then replay it now or later provides you a surge of Escape Points to keep you ahead, or help you catch up.
Grimshaman does what Grimshamans do and Rillix letting you have multiple copies of that effect beyond the 3 you play in your deck means you ALWAYS have access to the Legend you want/need as long as it's in your discard pile.
Rillix is ALSO found in the Splash & Burn Quick Escape Deck!
Final Thoughts
At first glance with the short rulebook and the aesthetic of the game, Escape Land can trick you into thinking its "too simple" - but once you're in the seat, you learn the cards, and you start brewing - the strategic depth knows no limits.
Spookyfish is a deck that offers the pilot a lot of agency and ample opportunities to outsmart your rivals - while also letting you play incredibly powerful cards and creating memorable moments through combos you've carefully constructed as each game goes on. If you're looking to dive right into Escape Land, feel free to open up TCG Arena, add Escape Land to your games, and import the deck list below to start playing!
If you want to take that a step further, our 2nd Tournament is tomorrow, May 15th at 7PM EST if you want to try and win a Fabled Rare Ghoulrex! If you're looking for something more casual and flexible but still want to win prizes - check out the Guardian League! Both of these event signups can be found on our Card Database, Deck Builder, & Event Website!
Paste List into TCG Arena:
1 Bonelash
1 Finra
1 Krakenor
1 Cryptag
3 Ghoulrex
2 Glimmus
3 Kingjaw
3 Necrostag
1 Croaksis
1 Scorptide
3 Puddleflit
3 Malfin
3 Rillix
3 Shellock
2 Finwing
3 Dreadhound
3 Grimshaman
3 Axobubs
3 Ghoulfetch
1 Sneakfin