That monster combo used to be popular, I got it from a very good player named Gravekpr. It's actually not hard to mulligan but you do need Royal Decree or Woodland Spirit in your starting hand. When the combo works most people pass because of the massive tempo. You should try it because it shocks most people, they sit and think for a sec and then pass usually.
My ST deck isn't like Brouver, it has Swordmasters, Handbuff units, elven archers for Shirru and Iris for surprise tempo which usually wins me round one. It's a deck I have been optimizing for two seasons and is very successful so far. Deck building is 50% of the fun for me and being original catches people off guard. Nova is usually boosted to 28 or so and I always push for final say.
Maybe Henselt players underestimate me but I rarely get them passing first round. Keep in mind I like long rounds too so maybe they know that and work around that.
To your points..
1. I agree, monster spy is useless. This is one reason I stopped playing monsters.
2. Again I agree, ADC isn't worth running with a spy in monsters. Just my opinion.
3. I disagree, I have several ways to make a thin deck. You can't thin the beloved deathwish netdeck but again, being original can win you games as people have no idea what to expect. I could go in on this more but it's a lot to type and there are stupid things that cripple monsters like the mulligan crap that makes playing Crones impossible. I wont play monsters until weather cards have the same draw priority as other cards. Many people say there are no set draw priorities but smart monster players should know better. But anyways monsters can thin quite well I assure you.
4. Again we agree, rares are for the most part awful and some are 100% must include so we can even compete.
5. And yet again we agree, ridiculous that we have no deathwish leader, Dagon is trash even Woodland Spirit is much better and Hillock is unreliable so not using it at all. Wont risk the game for RNG. The other two leaders are cool and find their place in certain archetypes even if some of those archetypes aren't viable at all like the Mild Hunt. Most golds are bad or very situational though.
You sound like me before I stopped playing monsters and moved to ST. I understand your frustration, I really do. I haven't played in a month and if some of these issues aren't fixed I doubt I'll come back. My second faction ST is about to get YET ANOTHER list of nerfs because people simply don't like it and I have no interest in the other 3 factions.
The reason I defend the elf swap is because that's the last archetype ST has left. I agree Brouver needs a spy nerf, I somewhat agree on scout needing a change if replaced with another option to drop two bodies for swap to stay viable and the same goes for half elf hunter, lower it a point but leave the bodies. Even with those nerfs plus wardancer being nerfed the archetype could be dead. There is a thin line for that archetype and if it gets a dwarf style nerf it's dead and I for one will just uninstall the game.
