2026 Grand Contest Hartford Report — Top 8 w/Earth-Air Seer

Sorcery: Contested Realm · by Will(minorexplosion)19 · October 26, 2026

With Avatar of the Realm on the horizon, my only real goal for the 2026 Grand Contest Hartford was to get some good, solid reps and practice in an in-person tournament setting. I play mostly on the Summit and through Play Sorcery Online (PSO). Hartford was excellent paper-play testing.

[earth][air] Seer

DECKLIST_START

Minions

2 {Arjaro Exorcist} [2][earth]
1 {Sister Stefania} [2][earth]
3 {Autumn Unicorn} [3][earth][earth]
3 {Order of the White Wing} [3][earth][earth]
3 {Root Spider} [3][earth]
3 {Shield Maidens} [3][earth][earth]
3 {Dalcean Phalanx} [4][earth][earth]
2 {Gargantula} [4][earth][earth][earth]
4 {Monks of Kobalsa} [4][earth][earth]
2 {Paladins of Bazia} [4][earth][earth][earth]
3 {Pudge Butcher} [4][earth][earth]
1 {Sir Perceval} [4][earth][earth][air]
1 {Archangel Michael} [5][earth][earth][earth][earth]
2 {Atlas Wanderers} [5][earth][earth][earth]
2 {Hounds of Ondaros} [5][air][air]
2 {Lord of Fear} [6][air][air]

Magics

3 {Lightning Bolt} [2][air}
2 {Bury} [3][earth]
3 {Grapple Shot} [3][air]
3 {Cave-In} [4][earth]
3 {Smite} [4][earth][earth]
2 {Earthquake} [5][earth][earth]
3 {Whirling Blades} [5][air][air]

Aura

1 {Crusade} [2][earth][earth]

Artifacts

3 {Toolbox} [2]

Collection

1 {Zap!} [air]
1 {Blink} [2][air]
1 {Dispel} [2][earth]
1 {Gift of the Wolf} [2][earth][earth]
1 {Lightning Bolt} [2][air]
1 {Magic Missiles} [2][air]
1 {Scent Hounds} [2][earth]
1 {Bury} [3][earth]
1 {Cave Trolls} [3][earth]
1 {Grapple Shot} [3][air]

DECKLIST_END

I have always loved the art of {Seer}. The ability is a lot of fun; it gives you something to do or consider at the start of every turn. Other avatars certainly use their abilities for stronger effects or card advantage. {Seer} is just card selection, so what you decide to do with that selection is half the battle.

I think the typical {Seer} build leans into the 30-card atlas, making it easy to dig through to find a specific piece like {Roots of Yggdrasil}, {The Base of Babel}, or {The Apex of Babel}.

Sometimes that can feel like a distraction; you may be digging for something that will never be there. I lean away from being an Atlas deck, though that is probably the cooler way to build {Seer}.

Instead, I chose a more straightforward midrange approach: focus on strong [earth] cards, splash [air] for extra strike effects like {Grapple Shot} and {Whirling Blades}, and build a nice, rounded-out {Toolbox} collection.

The real goal of this deck is to get 4-power minions out early and often. A turn 3 Tower or {Beacon} is what my {Seer} is really trying to accomplish early. A turn 3 {Pudge Butcher} or {Dalcean Phalanx} is the best case, but I will settle for {Monks of Kobalsa} or {Autumn Unicorn} if I don't draw a Tower. This deck needs patience and taps to draw sites, so it kinda needs to play a 3-drop on turn 4.

4 power isn't the easiest to remove, and sure, you can likely remove the first one. But what about the fourth in a row? The plan is to pair these 4-power minions with strong strike effects like {Grapple Shot}, {Whirling Blades{, and {Smite}, and hard removal like {Bury}, {Cave-In}, and {Earthquake}. The deck often looks to overpower my opponent and gain card advantage by having bigger minions most of the time.

{Shield Maiden}s feel like a slam-dunk MVP right now in the heavy [fire] meta. Letting my 4-power minion attack another 4-power minion and take 1 less damage so it doesn't die is very good.

The normal plan is to play Tower or {Beacon} on turn 3 to set up a 4-drop. On turn four, draw a spell for the turn and tap to draw a site, then play a [3]-mana spell. Then set up turn 5 to play another 4-drop. Nothing too fancy or flashy; consistency is the key.

Some of the sites I chose may change. I have been trying to see how much value I can get from sites that either have a ward or give minions a ward; {Pilgrim's Shrine}, {Blessed Village}, and {Hillside Chapel} have all been surprisingly decent. Sometimes they don't do much; other times they make a huge difference.

Warding an {Autumn Unicorn} or {Dalcean Phalanx} while not playing {Savior} has been strong. I've really enjoyed the warded sites: protection from an early {Sinkhole}, saving life from an early charge minion, negating site-targeting effects like {Cave-In}, or soaking up a Desert ping is sometimes all you need to make it through the early game.

Overall, this is a fun deck to play, and I look forward to chasing the Rainbow dream at Avatar of the Realm.

2026 Grand Contest Hartford Recap

Round One | Win

I had a bye due to travel.

Round Two vs. {Elementalist} | Win

I faced an {Elementalist}, and I had two {Garguntula}s in hand early enough that when they came out on back-to-back turns, that was pretty much game over.

Round Three vs. [fire] {Necromancer}

I got Monks out on turn three from a Tower, then followed up with a {Beacon} into {Whirling Blades} to clear the early skeletons and his {Siege Giant}. Without that huge tempo swing back in my favor, I surely would have been overrun.

Round Four vs. [earth][fire] {Imposter}

I was on the play and cast a turn 3 {Dalcean Phalanx} off a Tower. I followed up the next turn with a {Grapple Shot} for 10 damage; he never really had time to shift into {Pathfinder}, so it looked like a quick game. I needed to use {Root Spider}s to attack him to Death's Door; however, the game started to slip as he played his warded minions.

Round Five vs. [fire] {Necromancer}

This was the hardest match of the day against my strongest opponent. He was on the play and developed a turn one {Boulevard of Bones}. He quickly built a large skeleton army and a {Toolbox}, which I knew meant my first minion was dying to {Gift of the Serpent}.

This game went right up to time, and I don't really remember the middle parts, but ultimately {Mount Ussar Sanctuary} saved my butt for a few extra turns so I could stabilize and build up a back row defense with an {Autumn Unicorn} and Order, plus a {Root Spider} in front of me, shutting down his {Wuthering Heights}. My {Archangel Michael} was in his back row, dealing 4 damage per turn. I am pretty sure I went to Death's Door, and he was still at about 16 life or so.

It was a great game, and I pulled it off at the end.

Round Six vs. [earth][air] {Necromancer}

I was happy to play against {Necromancer} again, since it seemed like a more fun brew. I put out a turn-two {Arjaro Exorcist} to deal with early skeletons, then followed with a turn-three Order.

Our minions danced around each other and didn't really interact; instead, we forewent defending. I cast {Bury} on his {Zombie Brusier} and followed with a {Dalcean Phalanx}. His downfall was having two {Landmass}es in hand rather than ways to remove my threats in time.

It led to a cool double {Landmass} turn into a {City of Glass} for a quick 7 mana. He used it to cast {Earthquake}, but it only killed two-thirds of my minions. {Dalcean Phalanx} went on to Door him, and I had the {Toolbox} in hand.

Wrap Up

That was my 6-0! It was a great day of good games with awesome opponents. Sadly, I couldn't make the trip back for day two to compete in the Top 8, but that's alright; I probably would have lost to an {Archimago} deck, since playing one minion per turn would likely get removed until the inevitable.

See you at Avatar of the Realm!

Featured image: {Seer} by Dan Seagrave