Guide to Spellboost Rune
By Nautilasu
Hi, I’m Nautilasu, and for those of you that don’t know me, I am the SVO West Contenders Cup winner from 2023, and also a JCG winner in 2024.
I am currently Beyond with Rune, and I hit CR2000 recently so I am writing this guide.
Decklist
My current list looks like this:
These are the cards that I would say are untouchable:
To explain a few of the cards
Melvie: You generally want 3 copies of her. The only time you would cut a copy of her is when you want to replace her with a different 2 drop, there are times when you want the dirt immediately instead of putting one in hand to activate cards like Edelweiss.
Gilnelise: I would want 2 copies in the deck. She does emergency healing, and she also gives you more lethal options as well. Very good addition to the deck.
Bergent: I would run 2 copies in the current meta. The main reason being that this deck needs to spend turns on cards like Norman and Gilnelise and you’re not gonna get spellboost during those turns, so Bergent makes it so much easier to get your spellboost going. Onion + Norman super evo is also a very good way to counter Sinciro because Norman cannot kill Sinc on his own.
I don’t think the other guaranteed cards need any explanation.
Options
These are the cards to fill the rest of your deck with. There are a few other techs like Odin but I’m not gonna go into those. I forgot about Eruption here but I’ll talk about it a little bit later.
2 Drops
You have options between Melvie, Penelope, and Astrologer. These 2 drops add to the consistency of the deck so I would run at least 3 copies total. I personally like running 4.
Melvie: The best 2 drop for sure. Gives you dirt and draw.
Penelope: Gives 2 dirt but no draw. Super evo effect is useful sometimes.
Astrologer: Ruby-chan but better.
I think 3 Melvie + 1 is a good balance. I prefer Penelope over Astrologer because the extra dirt makes it easier to use dirt early for Sagelight or Edelweiss. The 1 extra dirt can make the difference of whether you can use Norman or not later on. There are also times when you don’t have any cards you want to send back in the deck, so I didn’t really feel good using Astrologer.
Low cost draw spells (Foresight/Pascale)
The total number of these cards can fluctuate between 1~4. To be honest, I don’t really know what the right answer is but these are going to be the cards that compete for slots against removal tools sooo I resorted to just 1 Foresight for now.
I like Pascale as a card too. Gives draw + dirt, and the extra buff effect can be cheesy. Unfortunately, I go on a losing streak whenever I try with this card in the deck, so yeah.
Removal tools
4 cards are going to compete for maybe 2~4 slots
Edelweiss: She’s cute. Use your common orbs on her. I used 3 orbs even though I only run 2 copies max.
Jokes aside, she’s very good in the current meta.
She’s the only option out of the 5 (including Eruption) that you can use early game, and she can act like an extra copy of Sagelight against aggressive decks like Loot Sword. Gives you more consistency in dealing with early tempo and also lets you save Sagelight to heal.
She’s really good against Crest Haven as well in two ways.
- She gives you an easy way to deal with Wilbert
- She gives you board presence while clearing board
Other options, you can just run whichever one you like.
Snowman: This is my choice for the 1 last slot. It’s a very flexible card being able to be used at 0 cost, and gives you the option to push board with Anne Grea or Kuon, or maybe heal with Norman, etc.
Flames: This card has a little bit of flexibility because it only costs 3, but the amount of damage this card does can be excessive in most matchups.
William: Really good against decks that make a big board like Mode Abyss, but the same problem with Flames, this card can be excessive in most matchups. Costing 6 also limits your options.
Eruption: Not a bad 4 cost AOE, and also gives you a draw. Generally a card you would use against Sword early game, but it’s not very useful at the moment because of Octrice. The only good use right now is when you want to unlock your onion board.
Mulligan
These are the only cards I keep guaranteed in any situation.
Turn 1 draw and 2 drops to get the early game going.
These are the conditional keeps
D-Climb: You can generally keep this card. I don’t keep it against Sword because if I get run over in the early game I’m going to die before I get to use Climb. I also wouldn’t keep it in an open list situation where you know your opponent is using an aggro deck. You can keep Climb against these decks too if you have access to dirt + Sagelight / Edelweiss.
Anne & Grea / Bergent: I don’t keep them going first most of the time, I might keep one if I can keep 2 or 3 other cards. If going second, I would keep one if I have either a 1 cost draw or one of the 2 drops.
If there’s both, I generally prefer to keep Bergent except against Roach because onions will get board locked.
Sagelight / Edelweiss: I keep them going first against aggressive decks like Sword. Make sure to look for dirt access if you are keeping these.
Homework: I keep this card against Haven because Crest Haven barely has any early game tempo. I might keep this in other matchups as well in combo with either Penelope or Blast. Don’t keep this when you have Melvie because you’re going to overdraw.
Blast: I keep this going second in combo with any of the guaranteed keeps against tempo decks.
Cocytus: Keep against Crest Haven.
General Gameplan
This deck basically has 4 routes
- Win with enhance Kuon
- Win with Cocytus
- Control
- Win with board
Enhance Kuon Route
This is the route where you look for lethal using Demonic Call and Kuon (and sometimes Gilnelise).
Enhance Kuon on its own is 11 damage with a target for Kuon to attack.
Add/subtract from there to figure out the damage you can do:
- Add +3 for each Demonic Call
- Subtract for shikigami overflow if your board is half full (Enhance Kuon with 2 spaces filled is 8 damage, etc.)
- D-Climb into second Kuon: Add 1 + the attack of shikigami’s from new Kuon
- D-Climb into Gilnelise: Add 7 (2 from buff, 5 from spell)
Remember some OTK patterns too
- Demonic Call x3 + Kuon (no climb needed)
- Demonic Call + Kuon into second Kuon with empty board
- Demonic Call x2 + Kuon into second Kuon with 4 board spaces open
- Demonic Call + Kuon into Gilnelise (with the 5 cost spell)
It’s important that you know these patterns so that you instantly see it after using D-Climb, but also so that you know the cards you need to keep in your hand to potentially draw back from D-Climb.
For those of you that want to see visually:
Also know that when you don’t have D-Climb and you don’t have Demonic Calls either, you may have to win by using enhance Kuon twice. This can actually work because the Kuon board is hard for many decks to clear AND heal at the same time, so you can just do 22 damage and win over two turns. When you have to go for this option, make sure to save both your super evos and keep two Kuon in hand.
Cocytus Route
Some tips when using Cocytus:
- Decrease your hand size before using Climb so that you have a better chance of drawing damage cards.
- When going second, you can save your extra play point until turn 10, and you’ll be able to use Rider and Demon in the same turn with 11PP.
- Save Homework/Looking Smart in hand for after Cocytus. You might want to save 1 cost draws in hand as well.
Know that it’s never good to put yourself in a situation where Astaroth is your only way to win. Even worse if you’re in a situation where you lose unless you draw into Astaroth.
There are also times when you don’t want to use Climb on the turn where you use Cocytus. If your opponent has a weak board and you know you won’t die next turn, you can just drop Cocytus and end the turn. This way you have a chance to draw a damage card next turn, and then use Climb for a better chance of OTK or near OTK damage. This also allows you to go for Kuon Climb into Rider for an OTK.
Control Game
This deck has a crazy amount of heals and against aggro decks or decks like Loot Sword, you can spam massive heals and make your opponent concede. In a game like this, the most important thing is to manage your evo points. Even though this deck has a ton of heals, most of it is reliant on evo points. Try to maximize your healing and avoid using EP on a card like Anne & Grea.
It’s also very important to use Super Evo on Gilnelise instead of a normal evo. Maximizing the amount of drain is one reason, but it’s more important that Gilnelise will be able to stay on your board. Gilnelise is a follower that your opponent won’t be able to ignore because you can just drain and heal if she’s left on board.
Win with Board
This is a route that a lot of people tend to look over, but this is a big part of what makes the difference between a good SB player and a bad SB player. Don’t be so fixated on winning on turn 10 or winning with Climb. Spellboost Rune is a deck that can make a pretty strong board so utilize it.
If your hand sucks like you don’t have Climb, you don’t have Demonic Calls, don’t give up yet. Push with a strong board and you have a chance to win.
Also know that turn 6 Kuon super evo going second is a very good option. It’s probably stronger than you’d think. A lot of decks are going to have a hard time dealing with it, and even if they can deal with it they’re gonna have to use some valuable resources and waste the whole turn.
Matchups
Crest Haven (Favored with a big question mark)
This matchup is hard because the route to win is very limited. You can’t really win with board because Haven has very strong removal tools, and you can’t play the control game either. The Kuon route won’t work either half the time because Haven can put up wards with attacks less than 3 so demonic shikigami can’t die. This means that Cocytus is really the only solid route in this matchup, and even then Cocytus could be stopped by the barrier from Temple.
Even with all this I would still say this matchup is favored because it’s really more demanding for Haven to perfectly stop Rune.
General gameplan overview
Mulligan: Keep Cocytus and Climb, focus on draw sources otherwise.
Early Game: Focus on drawing to look for Cocytus and Climb. If they drop followers like Grimnir, you don’t necessarily have to deal with them, you don’t even have to run your 2 drop followers into their followers until your evo turn.
Mid game: Push your board before they can have full crests so that you can make them deal with your board instead of getting crests ready. Make sure to heal so that you have enough HP when you drop Cocytus or enhance Kuon.
End game: This is the matchup where you want to drop Cocytus and just end the turn there because if you can’t OTK, they can heal 10 and you’re gonna be in a pretty bad situation so maximize your probability for an OTK with Climb. Either wait to draw Rider, double Demon, or Astaroth or use enhance Kuon, then use Climb.
Tips
- Try to use 2~3 of your evo points to heal. To some extent, it’s ok to ignore their board.
- You can use Norman with Golem if your HP is high, but I would just drop Norman and not evolve. Norman + 1 golem is enough to make Haven need to deal with your board, and having 1 vs 2 golems doesn't matter against Unholy Vessel. Norman evo heal + golem is ok if you are at around 15, 16HP.
- Save your Blast for Wilbert, you can ignore the early game Grimnir. Blast + Edelweiss is the best way to deal with Wilbert.
- Do your best not to leave your board empty, and this is sometimes more important than healing. Don’t give your opponent a turn where they are free to set up multiple Disenchantment or Unholy Vessel.
Loot Sword (Slightly unfavored)
This matchup is weird because I’m in Beyond with both decks (not anymore with sword), and I don’t want to do this matchup on either side. The matchup can be tough for Rune because Sword can destroy you with tempo, and Zirconia is still one of the most broken cards in the game. If you take too much damage early on, you could die to an early Odin or Albert, and even if you survive you would still have to spend your heals and then you won’t have enough resources to heal after their Sinciro.
Against Loot Sword, you have to take the control plan most of the time. You really want to use most if not all of your evo points to heal (although it’s ok to evo Bergent to clear Sinciro with onion + Norman).
General gameplan overview
Mulligan: Looking for a 2 drop is the priority. Keep Sagelight or Edelweiss going first, and keep Blast going second. Keep a 5 cost (A&G or Bergent) in combo with a 2 drop as well going second.
Early Game: Focus on dealing with their early game tempo and protect your face. That is the one and only priority in the early game for this matchup, especially when going first because if you leave followers on their board and they have Zirconia turn 4, it’s game over.
Mid game: Heal back up if you took damage early game. If you have a decent amount of HP, try to build a board because Loot Sword has very limited options to deal with board outside of Sinciro.
End game: Keep healing and make them concede. If you have enough HP, put up wards to stop Albert.
Tips
- When 9PP Albert is active, make sure to have your wards at least 4HP.
- They might have 4 ways to kill you (Albert, Odin, Centaur, and Tentacle), and you may not have the way to stop all of them. Think about what gives you the highest chance of survival and take that option. If they can get lethal around it, just take the L and move on.
- Super Evo Sinciro is 8/9 and he’s pretty big, so make sure you have a way to answer it. Pre-evolving Bergent is one way to prevent a situation where you can’t kill Sinciro.
Spellboost Mirror (AKA Gambling Time)
This matchup actually takes more skill than you might think. But once you get to turn 10, it’s time for some gambling.
Mulligan: Look for a 2 drop and Climb.
Early Game: Try to take tempo, it’s actually kinda important in this mirror. Build up dirt, and draw to look for Climb.
Mid game: Fight over board presence.
- If you are going second you have the option to use the extra play point on turn 4 to use Anne Grea or Bergent, and you also have the option to use EPP on turn 5 instead for Norman double Golem.
- I generally think it’s better to use the first EPP on turn 5, and use EPP turn 4 when I either don’t have Norman in hand or if I have to use a 5 cost card to deal with opponent board.
- You can also skip turn 4 EPP, bait your opponent into pre-evolving Bergent turn 5, and then you can also evolve your Bergent turn 5 and leave your board empty and then you now have an advantage in the amount of spellboosts.
- If you’re going first, against turn 4 Anne Grea, you can use Anne Grea too but don’t evolve. If you evolve and clear the board, you will be left with a 6/1 and 5/1 and you give your opponent a perfect opportunity to use Bergent. Just let the opponent 5/5 banish, and then deal with Anne Grea.
- If your opponent skips the turn 4 EPP, make sure you have some board presence on turn 5 because dealing with turn 5 Norman is going to be very hard with an empty board on your side.
End game: It’s best if you can finish with Kuon. It’s time to gamble if you have to rely on Cocytus.
Tips
- Try your best to save Demonic Calls
- Try your best to save Gilnelise too for Kuon Climb into Gilnelise lethal.
- Try to win without relying on Cocytus Astaroth OTK
- Pray they don’t draw Astaroth
I’m gonna keep this short for other matchups, the top 3 are really the most important ones.
Roach Forest (Pray that your opponent bricks)
This matchup is actually near impossible if your opponent is good.
A few notes though,
- Spam Norman golem golem and make them spend resources
- If your opponent doesn’t draw Cairn, it’s going to be difficult for them to set up an OTK and they would want to go for a two-turn lethal. In that case, make sure you heal back up and demand an OTK from them.
- You can win if you are able to get to enhance Kuon, so save one in your hand.
- I would avoid evolving Bergent
Mode Abyss (Favored)
An important thing to note about this deck is that they can’t do a ton of damage in a single turn unless they save up their Rulenye/Valnareik spells. Because only a minimum amount of healing is necessary, you want to make sure to save your Sagelight for the AOE effect. Make sure to stock up on dirt too.
Abyss also doesn’t have very good removal tools, so push board in the mid game using Norman golems and Kuon.
Midrange Sword (Favored)
Same as Mode Abyss, save your Sagelight for AOE once you find out that your opponent is Midrange and not Loot. If you have enough HP to survive Albert, that’s enough.
Control Forest (Favored)
If there’s one thing you need to know, don’t leave an Izudia on board (unless your opponent is a certain SVO winner).
If there’s a second thing you need to know, it’s that this deck heals big with Fairy Beast, but it’s 8/4/4 so it’s very hard for them to clear board and heal at the same time. This basically means that you just throw enhance Kuon at them twice and you win.
Make sure to build a decent board too so that it’s harder for them to use Izudia, and also so that they can’t just drop a full Congregant board.
Tempo Jerry Forest (Favored unless Amataz destroys you)
I keep Blast against Forest now because of this stupid deck.
Just keep dealing with their board, heal back up and force them to evolve Jerry.
SB Rune is not gonna have a hard time killing your opponent before the Jerry deck runs out.
Lishenna Portal (This deck is so bad I almost forgot about it)
Do the normal Spellboost things and you’ll win. Just make sure you don’t get run over by their tempo.
Push board because Congregant is their only good AOE removal tool.
Other Tips
- Norman x3 draw is strong. Use it.
- Consider leaving Anne & Grea at 6/6 against Sword so Valse can’t clear it.
- You can leave onions on your board unless you need the spellboost because even a 1/1 can be an annoying board presence.
- If you have the option to use Homework or do something else, do the second option. You can spellboost homework and use it later for 1 cost.