It's time I gave my two cents on the game of Harry
Potter, considering my 52 streak was killed by a
pathetic coin toss ruling - no I'm not bitter(grrr!).
However, I think the game is finally coming to a point
where no deck really dominates the playing field.
Breaking the game down there's basically 5 decks to
beat.
 
The most played deck of all is the Minerva McGonagall
denial deck, which commonly uses cards such as marble
gargoyle, black bat, lost notes, bewitched snowballs,
or steam of flames, and of course the staple Halloween
feast. It relies on many damage cards while trying to
halt the ability of the opponent from either playing
creatures to minimize marble gargoyle damage, or gain
a lesson advantage thereby allowing mass removal such
as the dreaded transfiguration exam. This deck is an
all around strong deck and consistently performs.
However due to the fact that it is over played I
expect that good players who go tournament will make
there decks specifically with this deck in mind. I
know I do. But if you want to run with a strong solid
staple deck- this deck gets an A- in my book.
 
An example of it would be-
1 Professor Minerva
4 black bat
4 marble gargoyle
3 halloween feast
4 lost notes
4 picking on neville
4 stream of flames
4 borrowed wand
4 bewitched snowballs
2 welsh(the big dragon)
4 scribblifors
 
And then I'll leave the lesson assortment up to you.
It's not that hard to figure out from here.
This deck will defiantly crush beginners.
 
The next deck to beat is really more of an assortment
of decks. Which fall under the category of the
quid/charm deck. I've seen many different versions in
both tourneys and online play. From the basic beat you
up quickly, to the more complicated denial quid/charm.
The concept here is to use cards again like bewitched
snowballs/stream of flames to remove creatures while
beating your opponent to a pulp. Also staple cards
include fouled 4 damage and slows down the development
of your opponent. Personally I find these decks to be
weaker then the above denial deck- but everyone has
their opinion. This deck also relies on action
advantage. The concept that suggests that if you steal
opponents actions and have them scurrying themselves
through their deck for cards in hand-(if you Out of
Controlled them, or Purple Firecrackered their
behind)- you will come out ahead. Overall I give the
best quid/charm decks a B-. Hopefully one day someone
will prove me wrong.
 
Moving right along- we come across the infamous
Potions Class Disaster deck. Secretly I was a HUGE fan
of this in the hay day of Harry Potter. But now I'd
discourage people from playing it in tourneys, as it
is TOO slow. Try playing the minerva denial deck
against it. Yes, it will crumble and die too quickly
before getting the Obliviate/ PCD combo. I've tried
everything to resurrect it from bravado to wand shop/
phoenix feather it's a lost cause against a QUALITY
player. This does not mean it does not win. It will
beat about 80% of a playing field, and you get to
decimate newbies(always a plus). There is controversy
as to whether start with Minerva or Serveus. Try this
deck out see if its for you-
an example of it would be(and this is a bad example)
1 serveus snape
4 PCD
4 Obliviate
4 wand shop
4 bewitched snowballs
4 phoenix feather
2 ollivianders
1 bulgeye
2 silver unicorn horn
3 potions exam
3 bravado
1 hannah abbot
2 transfiguration exam
 
And again I'll leave the lesson assortment to you.
 
In one online tournament, I played my creature deck
and became aware of the power of Draco Slytherin
decks. The speed at which bulgeye's can hit the table
and lay smack down. With the addition of Marble
gargoyle I don't know if it's possible to carry the
same precision and speed. Before Adventure's @
Hogwarts I'd give this deck an A- but now more like a
B grade deck.
 
The last class of decks are the renegade decks. These
are decks not commonly played by a mass audience. I
know recently I played PotterRULZ and SSJLOKI with my
Ron Weasley deck, and you can ask them about the power
of crazy untapped and unexplored decks. This class of
decks include philosopher stone decks(infinite
cyclers), along with speedy denial, adventure decks.
The point is, they are not commonly used in the
CURRENT meta game. I wouldn't be surprised if the Ron
deck I played becomes a staple deck soon. Maybe you'll
see me online I come on as either Seth, or Hermoine
now. Ask me about it and we'll play. If any one has
any comments or decks they'd like to add feel free to
add to the board.
And I would LOVE to get a DECKS to BEAT section
started. 
-Seth
dreamer262@yahoo.com
"You're a dead man."