Last time I checked “Vandy & Friends” was one of the better deck concepts around. Can anyone offer solid partner-specs for it?
I guess the spell itself is pretty flexible, so virtually any deck that features Demonology can… transition to Metamorphosis at some point of the match.
So would you prefer any particular heroes to combo with? Maybe Zane can take good advantage of the bonus stats with his haste. Or some hero that provides strong continuous effects while maxed-out (such as Drakk).
Still, the deck should be about more than just 2+ max-out heroes. Thoughts?
The basic monoblack heroes are pretty great with meta, but any hero that maxes at lvl 8 are strong candidates. Midori, Onimaru, Troq, Rook, all great choices somewhat dependent on the matchup. Zane is simply great for his haste, and other runners up are Vir, Prynn, Garth, Setsuki…
Heroes I dont think meta works for, Argagarg, Geiger, and Drakk mostly buff units which all die to Meta. Jaina might be able to get some value out of readiness, but it is questionable with such low health. Quince just seems terrible because meta kills the free mirror.
Grave, Calamandra, Bigby, River, Orpal are probably not terrible but not as good as other choices.
The ONLY downside I see to MetaZane is that, given that he becomes invisible, his maxband shove ability isn’t quite as good as usual (no reason to move a Squad Leader in order to hit a better target, essentially). Same with MetaRook, becoming Invisible makes him hard to kill anyway, so the 2nd life isn’t AS important as usual. Still, those are very minor complaints when you would end up with, basically, a crazy kill spell with legs and an invisible rock monster.
I guess that’s a bit true with Zane, but you’re still getting a free damage in that can often finish off a minion for a gold or card. Him having haste is insane with meta.
Rook’s maxband combos really well with metamorphosis. By being invisible, he’s not vulnerable to spells which can negate the impact of his maxband.
I’m open to suggestions. Let’s move away from heroes for a bit. What specs are nice with Demonology?
Given that Demonology tier 2 is rarely used, we’d need something better on that front I guess. Balance comes to mind, as a solid T2 and okay hero spells. Midori doesn’t offer much when meta-ed tho.
Also, would you consider a starter deck different than Black? I guess purple and white are good, too. Not sure which purple spec to bring in though.
Meta’d Jaina + Vandy can also one shot a base the following turn.
Turn x: Meta
Turn x+1: Jaina + Vandy atk for 12, Jaina’s innate hits the base for antother 3, cast Jaina’s ult, gg
Tower: Jaina’s ult, 4 to tower, 3 to base, atk for 12, Jaina’s innate for another 3, Vandy tutors for dark pact for the final 2, gg
Finesse is an obvious choice to pair with Demonology.
Harmony, Two Step, Discord+Terras Q are all great additions to Demonology.
Nimble Fencers also provide strong hasty options.
Strength likewise gives you DeGrey, who also activates Terras Q, but it’s a bit tougher than Finesse, since it necessitates a HH.
Finesse/Demonology/Strength isn’t bad, since you also have Two Step+Birds (which dovetails into the HH strat that you want for Meta), and a few other synergies.
Strength plus Demonology tech 2 also lets you feed infinite Birds to Banefire Golem and play Mythmaking. Mythmaking affects Jandra, Terras Q, and Zarramonde.
I like Garth (to get a blocker after Meta resolves), Zane (for haste), Troq (huge for base racing, no multicolor penalty, and Wrecking Ball isn’t bad in a base race), Midori (fly over to use up Tower, then Vandy stealths in, also Moment’s Peace ), and Onimaru (huge, and generates free blockers post-meta).
There are a couple of different metrics to consider when evaluating how good a hero is with Metamorphosis:
Combat Proficiency: This includes the hero’s stats at maxband, as well as any additional keywords they have.
Maxband Ability: Since Metamorphosis levels heroes directly to their max level, heroes with impactful maxband abilities are better.
Exhaust Abilities: Since Metamorphosis grants readiness, any exhaust abilities are potentially better than average, because you can attack and then activate them.
Ultimate Spell: By leveling heroes to their max level, Metamorphosis makes it easier to set up an ultimate spell. Ultimate spells that are particularly powerful or synergistic with the Metamorphosis plan are worth noting.
Other Spells/Abilities: This is a catch-all category for any other ways a hero can contribute to the Metamorphosis plan.
I’ll try going through the list and rating each hero this way. I’ll start with the Green heroes:
Midori
Combat Proficiency: Outstanding. Midori is larger than average, and flying is an amazing ability. The typical counterplay to Metamorphosis is to build a tower and stick big units in SQL to try and slow you down and wear down your heroes. Against Midori, this doesn’t really work at all, because flying lets you attack past their patrol zone to hit anything you want, while still using up the tower’s detection so that Vandy can get through as well.
Maxband Ability: Gives Midori flying. See above.
Exhaust Abilities: N/A.
Ultimate Spell: It can contribute additional damage and make Midori even more powerful, but it’s sort of overkill and is generally just worse than teching Moment’s Peace.
Other Spells/Abilities: Moment’s Peace is great for stopping your opponent from trying to base race with you, and can set up some checkmate situations.
Final Verdict: Midori is one of the best heroes with Metamorphosis because of how powerful flying is.
Calamandra
Combat Proficiency: Above average. Calamandra is larger than the average hero. Her stealth ability, however, is redundant with invisibility.
Maxband Ability: Good. As an exhaust ability, Calamandra is able to attack and make tigers every turn. The Tigers are useful blockers, and Stalking Tiger even has invisible, so if it survives a turn you can use it to trigger the tower’s detection in order to swing through with both heroes. Additionally, the tigers are great targets for Soul Stone, which you can fetch with Vandy’s midband. However, it’s worth noting that this ability doesn’t have an immediate effect the turn you play Metamorphosis.
Exhaust Abilities: See above.
Ultimate Spell: Feral Strike is powerful and often worth going for if you already have Tech 2 built, but it isn’t good off of a fast Metamorphosis where you have Heroes’ Hall + Tech 1.
Other Spells/Abilities: Murkwood Allies can be good for defending your heroes and base from attacks.
Final Verdict: Calamandra is great with Metamorphosis.
Argagarg
Combat Proficiency: Poor. Argagarg’s low attack makes him unable to kill off most patrollers in SQL, and he also is too weak to break tech buildings or destroy a tower. He also doesn’t contribute much in a base race.
Maxband Ability: Decent. You get a free 3/3 to help immediately rebuild your board after Metamorphosis.
Exhaust Abilities: Marginal. You need to be attacking with units in order for this to do anything, and even then it isn’t a huge bonus. Additionally, I think that you actually want Arg to patrol most of the time.
Ultimate Spell: Stampede doesn’t really work with Metamorphosis, because you want a lot of units to go with it, and Metamorphosis kills all your units.
Other Spells/Abilities: Dinosize actually has decent utility here, as you can have Arg use up the tower’s detection, then Dinosize Vandy and have her attack for massive damage.
Final Verdict: Argagarg is one of the worst heroes with Metamorphosis because of his poor attack. If you Metamorphosis with just Vandy and Arg, don’t expect it to be your win condition, because Arg will have a hard time killing your opponent. However, with Arg’s high health + the Water Elemental, Metamorphosis with Arg can still work if you do it “for value” as a way to set up a different win condition. If you have Demonology and Growth in your codex, it’s worth trying to choose a third hero that’s good with Metamorphosis.
Damn. Evaluating every hero in the game across all those metrics might a bit of an overkill… If you are feeling like it- go ahead! Personally, I am very intrigued by it, and I imagine other new players would be as well.
Midori
Calamandra
Argagarg
If you are feeling like it- go ahead! Personally, I am very intrigued by it, and I imagine other new players would be as well.