There are three main takes on the Renewal of Life deck. You can use Spark, Ferocity via Arena, or just make several giant dudes. Each style has its own benefits and drawbacks, but all three will have overarching similarities that define the archetype. First, let's take a look at how these decks will plan on getting all of those allies into the graveyard.

The most common way to bin your allies will be through quests that require their controller to discard cards. Quests with Donation in the title jump immediately to mind, along with other popular quests like The Ring of Blood: Brokentoe and Darkness Calling. The Ring of Blood: The Warmaul Champion may also wind up working out. Of course, don't forget the location The Darkmoon Faire.

Many of these decks will also run a higher quest count than average decks. A combo deck usually looks to churn through the deck as fast as possible. Drawing cards will help to find the combo and fill the graveyard with tough allies. Seeing as many cards as possible will be key because the deck will have several pieces that are necessary for it to win, like Renewal of Life itself.

So what's the difference between the three builds, and which one is the best?

The first take on the deck involves bringing back a bunch of allies with Inspiring Presence, and then playing Spark to kill the opponent in one shot. The strength of this deck lies in the fact that it will almost always kill the opponent on the turn that you break the Renewal of Life. You can win by bringing back as few as three allies, and this deck can win with the right quest setup as early as turn 5.

Another big strength of this deck is the ability to play Grounding Totem. The biggest problem these decks will face is having their Ring destroyed before it can be triggered. Grounding Totem offers a good deal of protection the turn you play your Ring, as much of the removal that could destroy the Ring would instead have to target the Totem. Cards like Tremor Shock and Earth Shock also offer some backup to make sure that your Ring gets into play and stays there long enough to bring back your army.

This version of the deck also has several weaknesses, however. First, the deck basically can't win without seeing two cards: Renewal of Life and Spark. It's almost impossible to win without Spark, and it will be very difficult to do so against an opponent who knows what you're trying to do when you don't draw Renewal of Life.

Another big problem is that it isn't very resilient if your opponent is able to somehow survive your Spark. If they have some way to prevent damage or make their hero untargetable, the deck is basically all-in on the Spark plan. The turn after Spark is not something this deck wants to see—it isn't likely to have much game left in it.

The second take on the deck is the Arena-based Ferocity engine. Much like the Spark version, this deck will try to kill its opponent on the turn that the Ring breaks. Instead of churning out a big Spark, this deck brings back an army of Arena allies and gives them Ferocity with Gladiator Boum for one big attack. The deck has a whole host of potential Arena allies to bring back, but some of my favorites are Rehgar Earthfury, Gladiator Zi'mo, Gladiator Addisyn, and Gladiator Kileana.

Much like the Spark version, this deck hopes to kill its opponent in one turn—the turn that Renewal of Life brings back all of the allies. This deck has some advantages and disadvantages over the Spark version.

Unlike the Spark deck, the Arena deck doesn't mind going to another turn as much. Those allies are there to attack anyway, whereas most of the Spark deck's allies are there because they have Inspiring Presence. When you have a board of Rehgar, Boum, Zi'mo, and Mogor, surviving the turn is unlikely to win the game for the opponent. This version of the deck is also generally able to disrupt its opponent's plans early in the game a little better, because its allies are just as threatening when played from the hand.

On the other hand, this deck's best draw has even more individual cards that it wants to see, and will often need another turn after the Ring triggers. The deck also relies on actually attacking your opponent to death, which makes it easier to defend against. Also, since you need Boum for the Ferocity, you have to be Horde. That means you can't play any allies with Find Treasure, which is one of the best powers this deck can use.

The final plan of attack with Renewal of Life is simply to reanimate as many giant allies as possible. Without something like Invoke the Nether, there will simply be too many large bodies for your opponent to handle.

The biggest advantage of the fatty deck is that it only needs to see one card: Renewal of Life. Both of the other versions need to draw a second card to win the game. This deck just needs the Ring and some large bodies in the graveyard.

While this version generally isn't capable of the one-turn kill, it's also the hardest Ring pop to come back from. Wiping out a board of Inspiring Presence guys that didn't kill you is a lot easier than wiping out a board of allies that all cost 8 or more. Also, if you play a controlling deck that can drag out the game, a stream of big allies can play ball in the event that you don't draw the Ring.

This deck does have a couple of drawbacks when compared to the other two. First, this version doesn't actively try to kill its opponent the turn it breaks the Renewal of Life. That alone makes it more vulnerable than the other versions.

Maybe the most important drawback is that you'll be forced to find the balance between having enough big drops to draw a bunch, while not having so many that your hand gets completely clogged.

While I don't have any decklists for you this week, I hope that you've enjoyed this look at something new. The final preparations are taking place to crown a new wave of Champions. Will you be among them?