STARTING HAND
Verdant Tree
Rich Earth
Playful Panda
Ironbark Treant
Forest’s Favor
WORKERS
Rich Earth
NextHand
Merfolk Prospector
Spore Shambler
Rampant Growth
Tiger Cub
Young Treant
Discard
Verdant Tree
Ironbark Treant
Forest’s Favor
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5)
Worker - ($4)
Playful Panda with Wisp - ($2)
Argagarg with Wisp - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 5
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Wisp 0/1A
Elite:
Scavenger: Wisp 0/1
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
L1 Argagarg 1/3
Playful Panda 2/2
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 0
Disc: 3
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 6
Thoughts
It was either this or a lone Ironbark Treant. I didn’t like that as much since I could see a straight line from there to midband Grave facing off against an empty board. This way I should have more bodies to help weather the coming storm. #gravejokes
Cal might’ve been a better choice after all… oh well.
I don’t think thehug0naut has very good anti-hero options, so I’m orienting towards a HH next turn.
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($6)
Worker - ($5)
Tech I - ($3)
Rampant Growth on Arg - ($1)
Arg safely kills Monk
Panda kills Sensei, takes 1, 1 card for you
Merfolk Prospector - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 2, reshuffle, draw 4
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout: Merfolk Prospector 1/1 [Resist 1]
In Play:
L1 Argagarg 1/3
Playful Panda 2/1
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 4
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 7
Thoughts
My main worry this turn was being vulnerable to Reversal. Killing his board this way is less efficient than Growthing the Panda, but it means he has to pay 4 to reversal my 1/1 (a bad trade by itself) and then doesn’t have enough gold to worker and midband Grave, meaning Arg should survive. If he doensn’t have Reversal then I simply lose Propsector for no benefit so I can live with that. I had to go down on cards but I feel a lot more comfortable with this board than trying to defend vs Grave with buffs and healing. Dropping down in cards means I probably need to plan for Tech II in 2 turns, but it will mean I can stack my deck to make it hit right. Because of that (and my drop in cards) I’m throwing in Spirit of the Panda and a Centaur rather than my usual Galina+Huntress go-to.
Change of plans, I’ll go for a fast tech 2 + Centaur next turn. I’ll pre-tech the right cards so I’ll have at least one of them on T5 for sure.
Flagbearer should counter all Green/Arg spells other than Forest’s Favor, which means he’s actually a higher priority than Spartner.
STARTING HAND
Rampant Growth
Forest’s Favor
Centaur
Ironbark Treant
WORKERS
Rich Earth
Tiger Cub
Rampant Growth
NextHand
Spore Shambler
Spirit of the Panda
Young Treant
Discard
Merfolk Prospector
Playful Panda
Forest’s Favor
Hyperion
Temporal Distortion
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($7)
Worker - ($6)
Arg removes Armor from Sparring Partner, takes 2
Panda trades with Sparring Partner
Centaur - ($3)
Ironbark Treant - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 1, draw 3
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Ironbark Treant 1/2AAA
Elite: Centaur 4/4 [Overpower]
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
L1 Argagarg 1/1
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 3
Deck: 1
Disc: 5
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
Thoughts
This turn I wanted to seize some advantages by getting a couple of big bodies into play, even if I go down in cards. Given that I can skip worker, max arg and get Tech II up my hand size will recover pretty quickly even if it takes a hit right now. Plan A is still in effect so let’s get the deck stuffed Present Tech II.
Commentary (not to be read by players until post-game)
Curious why Hug would patrol Centaur in Elite, when that will net him taking a free sparkshot and/or get doubled off from Grave sword / Reversal… I like the Ironbark / Centaur lay to set up Arg Max + Tech 2 next turn, really smart plan, but the patrol kind of baffles me. Anyone else following along that’s curious? Grappling Hook doesn’t seem a good reason to me
I can’t get a read on thehug0naut, so I’ll just tech generic answers to Present’s tech 2. If it ends up being MoLaC instead, I could tech a Versatile Style before the reshuffle.
Assuming my patrol zone dies, my next turn would either be maxband Garth or midband Cal + YLD.
Verdant Tree
Forest’s Favor
Hyperion
Spirit of the Panda
Merfolk Prospector
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Treant suicides into Centaur, deals 2 damage through armour
Midband Arg - ($6)
Arg deals 1 to Centaur, takes 3
Centaur kills Centaur, takes 3, overpowers 2 to kill Flagbearer, 1 gold for you
Maxband Arg, Water Elemental - ($4)
Tech II Present - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 1, reshuffle, draw 4
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Water Elemental 3/3A [Anti-Air]
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
L5 Argagarg 1/5
Centaur 3/1 [Overpower]
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Present)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 7
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
Thoughts
Well that worked out pretty much as expected, managed to clear most of his board and recover my hand size. Likely Tech II options from him are Young Lightning Dragons, Mind Parry Monk and Training Grounds. I currently don’t have an answer outside of Tricycloid for a YLD, so the combo with MPM is a pretty strong lock, but it takes up his whole turn and I can probably do something about it if I draw well enough. Reversal would be pretty good here, letting him get past my elemental, but even at 9 gold he can’t break Tech II with Grave because of the extra 1g needed for Training Grounds. His most likely turn is probably MPM or YLD plus some gold spent on Grave. I suppose Hook Elemental, Midband, kill Elemental, maxband kill Arg/Centaur is pretty decent for 6 gold too. Regardless I can’t see how he breaks Tech II, so I shall throw in some more Tech II options and entrust my fate to the gods of cards and spreadsheets. Worried about insufficient gold for unit + Geiger + TD so trying to make sure I get something decent in hand.
Well I’ve got some oomph in hand, lets see if it’ll be enough. Kind of depends what he leaves me with.
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Scavenger gold - ($9)
Garth - ($7)
Garth to maxband, fetch Vigor Adept from discard - ($1)
Training Grounds - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 1, reshuffle, draw 4
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Vigor Adept (5/5A)
Elite:
Scavenger: Garth lvl 7 (4/4)
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
Grave lvl 1 (3/2)
Training Grounds (4)
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Discipline)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 7
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
Thoughts
I’m actually considering fetching Rambasa Twins instead of Vigor Adept, to get more patrol goodies, but they’re more vulnerable to overpower, Tric pings, and Hyperions.
Luckily, thehug0naut can’t afford too many Geiger shenanigans yet. And after that worker skip, I feel comfortable doing the same.
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Spirit of the Panda on Elemental - ($4)
Arg buffs Elemental
Elemental kills Adept, takes 4 through armour, 1 gold for me - ($5)
Hyperion - ($0)
Hyperion kills Garth, takes 4, 1 card for me, 1 gold for you
Centaur trades with Grave, levels whiff
Float ($0)
Discard 4, draw 5
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
L5 Argagarg 1/5
Hyperion 4/1 [Haste]
Water Elemental 5/1 [Anti-Air, Spirit of the Panda]
Spirit of the Panda [Healing 1]
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Present)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 1
Disc: 7
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
Thoughts
So I managed to murder his whole board, which is great, but I drew into TD off the Hyperion, which is real bad for my damage/gold spent. No worker means 8 gold next turn to face down what I assume will be 2g maxband Calamandra plus some Tech II threat. A boosted hoodie is also nasty as it clears my Elemental to pave the way for a YLD to take out tech buildings uncontested, but I’m not sure if thats on the cards or not. He’s 4 cards into his cycle though, so if he’s anticiptaed this line then it could be. If there isn’t a hoodie coming then I’ve stll got good board pressure so hopefully I can make a significant dent. As it is the game feels on a knife edge and a mistake either way will likely swing it. Teching in an extra TD to try and make sure I draw into it on the recycle and a Now! for more tempo potential. Tempted to throw in Chronofixers so I can safely ignore the Training Grounds, but not confinced they’ll come out fast enough to do anything useful for me at this point. Will decide what I think is best once I see the board state.
That hurt, but thehug0naut is taking a risk skipping a 2nd worker with such an expensive tech 2 plan. If I get to keep my Training Grounds for another turn, I think the economical advantage is gonna start showing.
Since I don’t have a strong hand, my main aim in the current turn is to prevent Hyperion from surviving its first attack and being flickered/TDed.
Centaur
Ironbark Treant
Young Treant
Tricycloid
Spore Shambler
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Heal everything by 1HP
Hyperion trades with Sparring Partner, 1 gold for you, 1 card for me,
Hyperion - ($3)
Hyperion kills Monk, takes 3, 1 card for you, reshuffle, 1 card for me
Water Elemental breaks Tech II, takes 1, 1 gold for me - ($4)
Tower - ($1)
Worker - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 5, draw 5
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout: L5 Argagarg 1/5 [Resist 1]
In Play:
Hyperion 4/2 [Haste]
Water Elemental 5/1 [Anti-Air, Spirit of the Panda]
Spirit of the Panda
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Present)
Tower HP: 4
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 4
Disc: 5
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 9
Thoughts
It took a bit of doing to figure out my optimum line. He pretty much managed to take the Tricycloid off the table with Calamandra’s midband, so short of a really lucky TD draw I was stuck on Hyperions which are poor value vs numerous smaller things. I did see a line where Calamandra died and I got the Tech building break but it a) left Geiger on field at maxband where he could easily be snapbacked b) meant I couldn’t worker and c) isn’t as mean as trapping him on Calamandra so he can’t use the Training Grounds (mwahaha) While Arg is vulnerable to Snapback, it’ll cost 5 gold with resist and offcolour penalty and then he’ll still have to choose between killing my Tech II, my Hyperion or Geiger (assuming he snaps him in) so I should have some sort of options next turn even if he’s drawn it. Chronofixer in to hopefully lock down the Training Grounds permanently, and Immortal as a strong TD/Now target.
STARTING HAND
Mind-Parry Monk
Centaur
Young Lightning Dragon
Snapback
Smoker
WORKERS
Fox Primus
Fox Viper
Sensei’s Advice
Safe Attacking
Aged Sensei
Centaur
NextHand
Grappling Hook
Lich’s Bargain
Young Lightning Dragon
Snapback
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($9)
Scavenger gold and technician draw - ($10)
Rebuild tech 2.
Worker - ($9)
Snapback Arg for Calamandra, paying 2 extra for resist and off-color - ($4)
My Calamandra trades with Water Elemental, Spirit of the Panda to discard, your Calamandra to midband.
Garth - ($2)
Exhaust Training Grounds to maxband Garth, fetch Rambasa Twins from discard.
Garth makes a skeleton - ($1)
Smoker - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 2, draw 2, reshuffle, draw 2
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Skeleton (1/1A)
Elite:
Scavenger: Rambasa Twin (3/2)
Technician: Rambasa Twin (3/2)
Lookout: Smoker (1/1)
In Play:
Garth lvl 7 (4/4)
Training Grounds (4)
Buildings:
Base HP: 18
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Discipline)
Tower HP: 4
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 9
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 10
Thoughts
Not having a HH is a disaster… I’m afraid this game might be over.
STARTING HAND
Forest’s Favor
Hyperion
Immortal
Temporal Distortion
Temporal Distortion
WORKERS
Rich Earth
Tiger Cub
Rampant Growth
Playful Panda
Forest’s Favor
NextHand
Now!
Chronofixer
Merfolk Prospector
Immortal
Verdant Tree
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($9)
Geiger - ($7)
Calamandra kills Skele, takes 2
Temporal Distortion bounces Hyperion, Tricycloid into play - ($5)
Shoot Garth 3 times
Maxband Geiger, flicker Tricycloid - ($1)
Shoot Garth dead, Calamandra maxbands
Shoot Scav Rambasa dead, 1 gold for you
Worker - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 4, draw 4, reshuffle, draw 1
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Tricycloid 3/3A [Resist 1]
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician: L5 Geiger 3/4 [Sparkshot]
Lookout:
In Play:
L5 Calamandra 4/5
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Present)
Tower HP: 4
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 12
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 10
Thoughts
Well, that was much more painful than I anticipated. Although I saw the start of that line I didn’t think about Rambasa twins. That could be the beginning of the end potentially. His board has so many different threats that its hard to know what to focus on this turn. I couldn’t see a line that uses the Hyperion in my hand and killed everything I wanted so I had to look instead at TDing in a Tricycloid and flickering it. 6 damage to spend lets me take out one of Tech II/Garth/Training Grounds/board. On balance I think Garth + one Rambasa is maybe the best option here as it denies him most of his scariest responses (Garth spells mainly) and I don’t think his hand will be completely full of Reversal/Snapback/Ferocity/Behind the Ferns. Even if he has one or more of those he’s not breaking my Tech II or killing Calamandra so I might still have some hope of staying in the game. I did think about patrolling Geiger in SQL but I’m worried about Ferocity making him an easy kill.
STARTING HAND
Grappling Hook
Young Lightning Dragon
Snapback
Lich’s Bargain
WORKERS
Fox Primus
Fox Viper
Sensei’s Advice
Safe Attacking
Aged Sensei
Centaur
NextHand
Reversal
Savior Monk
Death Rites
Discard
Grappling Hook
Snapback
Lich’s Bargain
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($10)
Scavenger gold - ($11)
Grave - ($9)
Exhaust Training Grounds to maxband Grave.
Snapback Calamandra for Arg, arrives with Wisp - ($6)
Grappling Hook Tricycloid to lookout.
Rambasa Twin trades with Tricycloid.
Young Lightning Dragon - ($3)
Float ($3)
Discard 1, draw 3
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Grave lvl 7 (5/5A), sword rune
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician: Smoker (1/1)
Lookout: Young Lightning Dragon (3/3)
In Play:
Training Grounds (4)
Buildings:
Base HP: 18
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Discipline)
Tower HP: 4
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 3
Deck: 6
Disc: 3
Gold:
Gold: 3
Workers: 10
Thoughts
thehug0naut just spent a lot of gold to offset the $2 that Garth cost me, so maybe I’m still in this game. I’ll Snapback Cal out because she’s scary (and Feral Strike is almost an insta-win), while maxband Geiger (even with R&D) isn’t so bad.
STARTING HAND
Now!
Verdant Tree
Merfolk Prospector
Chronofixer
Immortal
WORKERS
Rich Earth
Tiger Cub
Rampant Growth
Playful Panda
Forest’s Favor
NextHand
Young Treant
Hyperion
Ironbark Treant
Centaur
Discard
Tricycloid
Now!
Verdant Tree
Merfolk Prospector
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($10)
Immortal - ($4)
Now! on Immortal - ($3)
Immortal and Arg kill Grave, Arg dies, Immortal exhausts, levels whiff
Geiger kills Smoker, takes 2, Sparkshot Dragon for 1
Chronofixer - ($1)
Float ($1)
Discard 2, draw 4
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger: Wisp 0/1
Technician: Chronofixer 1/1 [Untargetable]
Lookout:
In Play:
L5 Geiger 3/2 [Sparkshot]
Immortal 5/5 [Indestructible]
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Present)
Tower HP: 4
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 8
Disc: 4
Gold:
Gold: 1
Workers: 10
Thoughts
So this is an interesting turn. The obvious play is Midband Arg+Immortal+Arg Buff+Now! to kill Grave, which maxbands Arg and gives me a Water Elemental to deal with the Young Lightning Dragon. However I mosg likely lose Tech II and with 1 gold left I’m unable to get Chronofixer into play, which seems like a super big problem against an immminently returning Garth. The alternative is to forego the Water Elemental and trade Arg in. He then has to choose between killing a 1/1 with the lightning dragon or taking out my Tech II. Given he only has 3 cards I think he has to take out the Chronofixer. That should leave me with Geiger, Tech II up and a 74% chance of drawing into a Tech II card. The only other possible line is to play Verdant Tree over Chronofixer which guarantees Tech II but I probably lose Geiger. After sleeping on it I think I need to try the Chronofixer line and hope I don’t get a bad draw. #pleasedontscrewme
Squad Leader: Grave lvl 1 (2/3A)
Elite:
Scavenger: Aged Sensei (1/1)
Technician:
Lookout:
Base HP: 20
Base HP: 20
dis gon b good
Base HP: 20