CAPS 2017: EricF ([Peace]/Balance/Anarchy) vs. ARMed-Pirate (Mono Red)

@ARMed_PIrate good luck, have fun!

[details=P1, Turn 1]Manufactured Truth
Reputable Newsman
Porkhand Magistrate -> Worker
Lawful Search
Spectral Aven[/details]

4 gold (4)
Worker (3)
Spectral Aven (1)
Discard 3, Draw 5. Float 1 gold.

Lookout - Spectral Aven (2/2)

Base - 20

5 workers, 1 gold
Hand: 5
Deck: 0
Discard: 3

Thanks! Good luck to you, too, and thanks, as always, for organizing!

P2T1


StartingHand Workers

STARTING HAND
Nautical Dog
Bloodburn
Careless Musketeer
Makeshift Rambaster
Bombaster

WORKERS

Bloodburn

NextHand

Mad Man
Scorch
Bloodrage Ogre
Charge

Discard

Careless Musketeer
Bombaster

Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5)
Worker - ($4)
Recruit Ms. Rambaster - ($2)
Rambaster hits base for 3
Recruit Nautical Dog - ($1)

Float ($1)
Discard 2, draw 4


[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]:
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]: Nautical Dog (1/1, Frenzy 1)
  • :exhaust: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Makeshift Rambaster (1/2)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20

[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 1
  • Disc: 2
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 1
  • Workers: 6

[details=Thoughts][spoiler]
Sigh. No T1 Pillage. He gets the big T2.

The smart move might have been Jaina+Bombaster. No matter what I do, he could play midband Zane and still have enough to worker, and Zane+Aven can take out anything except SQL 2HP and Jaina/Drakk in another slot. Jaina in Elite would have made it not worth it to hit her with Zane, so she might get poked with a bird, but could midband next turn. Also, full hand.

I thought about Bloodburn. It might have been worth it, especially to deal with Aven. Enh. He can always get rid of it with Nature Reclaims and it’ll be a good trade. And if I’m not playing it, I need to worker it.

But it’s me, and aside from Newsman he doesn’t seem to have many answers to burn. So aggro away! If I get to Tech II, I’ll probably either do Fire for Hotter and Bird, or Bloodlusted Doubleshot, or Blood for Gliders and Bugblatters.

Depending on what he does, early techs are probably Ember and Lobber or CB (though Taxman might be important if I can’t poke that Aven somehow). I think his T1 units are cheap enough (and Peace Engine in general) that Detonate might keep him off of Peace Engine for a turn, but won’t hurt his board presence. Still a possibility.

I guess I’m leaving it all up in the air! Oh! Bloodlust should be my first tech, because it deals with Aven and/or hastes Drakk, and hastes Doubleshots later. Let’s lean towards that, with CB or Lobber being the other tech, then Ember and Doublshot the turn after, then maybe Hotter and Firebird or Cinder. Well, it’s a plan anyway.
[/spoiler]

[/details]

1 Like

[details=P1, Turn 2]Bluecoat Musketeer -> Worker
Jail
Arrest
Building Inspector
Traffic Director

Tech in Overeager Cadet and Tiny Basilisk, as usual.
[/details]
5 gold (6)
Worker (5)
Tech 1 (3)
Aven pecks the Rambaster to death
Zane (1)
Zane kills the Naughty Dog
Building Inspector (0)
Discard 3, rs, Draw 5

Elite - Building Inspector (2/1) -your first building costs 1 extra

L1 Zane (2/1)
Spectral Aven (2/2)

Base - 17
Tech 1 - 5

6 workers, 0 gold
Hand: 5
Deck: 3
Discard: 0

[details=Next Hand]Reputable Newsman
Jail
Traffic Director
Lawful Search
Tiny Basilisk[/details]

[details=Thoughts][spoiler]
So:

    1. I could play everything except Scorch, and play Zane. Charge the BRO at base, Zane trades with Zane, MM trades with Elite, build Tech I, skip worker. Good news: levels fizzle, and he won’t be able to steal them with a new hero next turn. Bad news: no hand, basically, and lose my worker advantage.
    1. I could do the same as above, but BRO and Zane take out Tech I instead of taking out Zane and hitting base. That could prevent Basilisks, Cadets, and Brave Knights, which are all problems for me (especially the first and the last). But that’s just giving his Zane free heal and levels, which is bad.
    1. I could do the same as above, but BRO and Zane both hit base, putting him at 11. Sweet. Then he kills my BRO with Aven, midbands his Zane to kill mine, and maxbands. Interesting. 11 HP is 3x Ember Sparks+Scorch, or 2x Ember + Scorch + Pillage + Crashbomber/Lobberx2. If I do this, I want to ignore the Aven completely and just push for direct damage techs. I might actually want to replace Ember Sparks with Fire Dart to get around a Rep. Newsman at 3.
    1. I could max Zane, killing the Inspector in Scav and getting a money (putting me at 2). Then kill Zane with MM and build Tech I. Then send Zane at base or T1. Keeps my hand solid, and does the same damage as 2, but puts me on better board. Also helps him out with money.
    1. I could max Zane, as above, and spend my remaining 2 on a BRO in defense, who will just be killed by the Aven. Seems bad.
    1. I could bring in max Drakk. That would allow me to play a unit like BRO with haste, but I wouldn’t be able to afford BRO. So I could play Mad Man. Which already has haste. Nope.

I’m choosing Option 4, and sticking to the plan on Tech.

To reiterate, I’m skipping worker on T2. Which always goes so well for me, right @NikoBolas? At least I’m not skipping Tech or running on an empty hand!
[/spoiler][/details]

P2T2


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH

Bloodlust
Crash Bomber


STARTING HAND
Bloodrage Ogre
Mad Man
Scorch
Charge

WORKERS

Bloodburn

NextHand

Pillage
Makeshift Rambaster (1/2)
Crash Bomber
Bloodrage Ogre
Careless Musketeer

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($7)
Scavenger bonus - ($8)
Summon maximum Captain “Maximum Anarchy” Zane - ($1)
Zane shoves your Building Inspector to Scav and slaps him in the face; BI falls over and we both get $1 - ($2)
Recruit Mad Man - ($1)
Mad Man trades madly with Zane; levels fizzle
Zane hits your base for 4
Build Tech I - ($0)
Skip worker

Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 1, reshuffle, draw 4


[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]:
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :exhaust: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Captain Zane, Lv. 6 (4/4)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 6
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 6

[details=Afterthoughts]
Pillage+CB is good, but no MM or Charge means I might not be able to sneak a Rambaster through. If a Brave Knight comes out, Rambaster will probably become a worker. Zane should die just in time for Bloodlust to do its stuff. Then maybe Jaina will be available for the late game? I do hope I get to Tech II. Peace engine hits real fast if you’re behind on econ.

[/details]

1 Like

[details=P1, Turn 3]Jail -> Worker
Traffic Director
Lawful Search
Reputable Newsman
Tiny Basilisk

Tech in 2nd Overeager Cadet and a Gunpoint Taxman

Draw Manufactured Truth…
[/details]
6 gold (7)
Onimaru (5)
Lawful Search your Hand (4)
Worker (3)
Tiny Basilisk (1)
Aven pokes Zane for 2 damage
Traffic Director
Discard 2, Draw 2, rs, Draw 2.

SQL - Tiny Basilisk (1/2 +1)
Tech - L1 Onimaru (2/3)

Spectral Aven (2/2)
Traffic Director (1/1) untargetable

Base - 13
Tech 1 - 5

7 workers, 0 gold
Hand: 4
Deck: 4
Discard: 0

[details=Next Hand]Arrest
Overeager Cadet
Building Inspector
Overeager Cadet[/details]

[details=Thoughts][spoiler]
Well, I knew something like that would happen, though I didn’t expect the Traffic Director.

If I don’t play 2 units, he can break my Tech I (kill Zane with Aven, kill CB with Basilisk, break Tech I with midband Oni (for $2), and Traffic Director. Is that bad? I got my Tech I unit out. But there’s a chance I could go to Tech II next turn. (I’m still undecided on Blood for Blatters or Fire for Archers/Hotter). Also, he keeps up his board presence in that case.

Zane’s going to die and give levels, no matter what. I need to decide if I want him to kill a unit first, or give me a card when he goes. I think we’ll do card.
I’m putting CB in SQL because, if I don’t, Basilisk will go right past BRO to kill Zane and Aven (or Aven+Director) will kill BRO, and he can leave CB alive or kill it with Oni. This way he’ll probably kill Zane with Aven, and he’ll have to waste Basilisk on CB to get to BRO, and probably won’t hit BRO at all unless he maxxes Oni entirely. He might keep Basilisk alive with an Elite Training. That would suck, but there’s not much I can do about it, and I’m okay with him spending money there.

The real question is my tech. If I draw Scorch, then I won’t have enough money to build Tech II. So I should tech this turn as if I won’t get to Tech II, and adjust next turn depending on how it goes.
I just got him to 10 if he kills CB. Drakk+Scorch will get him to 7. The best bet for killing him is 2x Ember Sparks, but if he does Reputable at 3, I’m hosed. So I can mix it with Fire Dart, or Flame Arrow (or do both instead), and that’ll do 4 or 5 instead of 6. But less likely to get hit. Sigh Let’s try it.
[/spoiler][/details]

P2T3


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH

Fire Dart
Flame Arrow


STARTING HAND
Pillage
Makeshift Rambaster (1/2)
Bloodrage Ogre
Crash Bomber
Careless Musketeer

WORKERS

Bloodburn
Makeshift Rambaster (1/2)

NextHand

Charge
Nautical Dog
Bombaster

Discard

Pillage
Careless Musketeer
Fire Dart
Flame Arrow

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($6)
Worker - ($5)
Recruit Crash Bomber - ($4)
Recruit BRO - ($2)
Zane casts Pillage, dealing 2 to your base (yo-ho, CB!) - ($1)

Float ($1)
Discard 1, draw 3


[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Crash Bomber (2/2+a, Hits your base for 1 when he dies)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]: Bloodrage Ogre (3+1/2)
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :exhaust: [I]Technician[/I]: Captain Zane, Lv. 6 (4/2)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]

[B]Buildings:[/B]

  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]

  • Hand: 3
  • Deck: 3
  • Disc: 4
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 1
  • Workers: 7

[details=Afterthoughts]
After the draw: no Scorch or Bloodlust, and Charge is not in the bottom. That’s bad because I was hoping to Charge a Musketeer later (though Bloodlust would do), but also because I have to deal with Aven another turn after this one and I might not have enough money to play Scorch and Jaina spells. Not looking good. Well, I have a 2/3 chance of drawing one of the useful cards when he kills Zane.

[/details]

[details=P1, Turn 4]Arrest
Overeager Cadet
Building Inspector -> Worker
Overeager Cadet

Tech double Disguised Monkey
[/details]
7 gold (7)
Worker (6)
Tech II - Anarchy (2)
Onimaru kills Crash Bomber, my base goes to 10
Aven swoops down on Zane, Onimaru to L3
Level Onimaru to 5 (0)
Traffic Director ignores your patroller and attacks your Base for 1
Overeager Cadet (0)
Overeager Cadet (0)
Discard 1, Draw 3.

SQL - Tiny Basilisk (1/2 +1) can’t be attacked by L0
Scavenger - Overeager Cadet (2/2)
Tech - Overeager Cadet (2/2)

L5 Onimaru (3/4)
Spectral Aven (2/2)
Traffic Director (1/1) untargetable

Base - 10
Tech 1 - 5
Tech 2 - 5
Spec: Anarchy

8 workers, 0 gold
Hand: 3
Deck: 1
Discard: 3

[details=Next Hand]Reputable Newsman
Lawful Search
Manufactured Truth
Last card in deck: Gunpoint Taxman
[/details]

[details=Thoughts][spoiler]
So… I drew the Mad Man. That’s not good. Welp. When life gives you lemons, throw the whole damn bag at the base and hope you break a window. That’s how the saying goes, right?

I mean, I could build up, build Tech II, give him more targets. But he didn’t hit my Tech building. He’s aiming to take out my base with Art of War and General’s Hammer and Steam Tank. And it’s going to be ugly. He might even get me next turn if he’s played it right and gotten lucky.

I’m teching all spells and praying. I don’t know whether Scav or Technician is better. Going Technician.
[/spoiler][/details]

P2T4


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH

Ember Sparks
Fire Dart


STARTING HAND
Nautical Dog
Bombaster
Charge
Mad Man

WORKERS

Bloodburn
Makeshift Rambaster

NextHand

Scorch
Bombaster
Bloodlust

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($8)
Draw from Technician
Skip worker
Summon Drakkula Ramhorn - ($6)
Recruit Bombaster - ($4)
Bombaster pops, taking out your Technician Cadet; you draw - ($3)
Recruit Nautical Dog - ($2)
Drakk casts Charge on the Doggie - ($0)
Dog trades with Scavenger Cadet; have a gold
BRO hits your base for 3

Float ($0)
Discard 1, draw 2, reshuffle, draw 1


[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]:
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :exhaust: [I]Technician[/I]: Drakk Ramhorn, Lv. 1 (1/3, Hits your base for 1 when he dies)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Bloodrage Ogre (3/2)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 19
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]

  • Hand: 3
  • Deck: 10
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 7

[details=Afterthoughts]
Here’s where I get hosed by my fat deck. Maybe I’ll get something from Technician? My current plan is Zane+Scorch, then hope I live long enough for Jaina+Fire Dartx2 or Ember Sparks+Dart or something else useful.

[/details]

[details=p1, turn 5]tech Chaos Mirror x 2
Redraw is: a Monkey [/details]
8 gold (9)
Basilisk kills Drakk, Oni to L7, you draw
Lawful Search your hand (8), i rs and draw 1

Pause to let you determine what your 4th card is…

Regardless:
Max Oni, make 3 ducks (7)
Bird kills Ogre
Disguised Monkey (5)
Zane (3)
Monkey, Zane, and traffic cop hit your base for 6
Oni hits your base for 5, unless your technician draw is a tech 1 unit, in which case he breaks the Tech 1.
Reputable Newsman (1), naming either 3 or the cost of the spell you draw, depending on what it is
Discard 2, draw 4, float 1 gold

SQL - Huey (1/1 +1)
Scavenger - Dewy (1/1)
Tech - Louis (1/1)
Lookout - L8 Onimaru (4/5)

Reputable Newsman (naming TBD)
Monkey (3/3)
Bird (2/2)
Traffic cop (1/1)
L1 Zane (2/2)
Tiny Basilisk (1/1)

Base - 6
Tech 1 and 2 - 5
Spec : Anarchy

8 workers, 1 gold
Hand: 4
Deck: 2
Discard: 3

The card drawn is a 4-cost Flame Arrow. Is Newsman now naming 4, or still 3? Since it’s not a Tech I unit, my base is at 8 HP. I will summon Jaina and play whichever spell Newsman doesn’t prevent, but that’ll get you down to only 4 or 3.

I don’t see how even a midband hero and a Bombaster can stop you doing 8 to my base, even if you didn’t play any cards next turn.

Good game!

I got real greedy. I think I should have broken your Tech I instead of hitting base and killing Zane on Turn 2, but I didn’t want to go down so far on cards so early. Though I suppose I could have played a conservative game and not skipped worker. (Hah!) Very nicely played on your part.

1 Like

Thanks. I would actually stick with “3” since Jaina + Flame arrow is clearly non-lethal, and I don’t know what zane might be able to do.

Turn 2 worker skip was very aggressive on your part. You got to spend 4, 6, 5, and 7 gold on non-worker things, while I spent 3, 4, 5, 6, so you were still on par for the first 4 turns (having spent 4 more gold than I did), but your P2 econ advantage would erode from there if the game went longer.

Letting that Aven live (and just feeding it a Rambaster to get 3 damage in) really hurt your ability to keep up. As did spending 7 gold on killing my 1/1, again just to get some base damage.

1 Like

Yeah, I teched in Bloodlust so I could deal with it cheaply and get some extra value, but didn’t draw it until way too late.

I would have had to spend 4 Bombasting it on my Turn 1, or put out Bloodburn and Dog on T1 and hope to get to two runes the next turn. Or spend 3 Scorching it. Which in retrospect makes Bloodburn seem like a comparatively good value (or at least less bad).

I didn’t think I had the means to keep Jaina alive, but I guess with Zane as your only haste, I could have gone with her in Elite + Dog in SQL, and then you would have had to trade Zane to take her out, even if you drew Arrest. Of course, then it still would have cost me 3 to midband her to ping the Aven (but at least no card), and it might have been difficult to defend her with just BRO.

Having 3 HP on all of Red’s midbands really stings sometimes. I’m not sure of the best way to bring them in early without handing over free levels.

I was a little confused by your T2. He has 2 2/1s and a 2/2 flier that you have no answer for. Your response was to Max your own Zane and keep him healthy and hit base for 4. This turn set the tone for how the rest of your game was going to go, but I’ll just offer my own versions:

Plan A - Not building Tech I, teching spells
Tech: Bloodlust, Ember Sparks [both can deal with Aven AND do something else]
8 gold, 4 cards
Hire Mad Man [$7]
Mad Man trades with building Inspector
Summon Zane [$5]
Zane trades with Zane - (neither of the spells tech’d require Zane and levels fizzle so it’s no biggie)
Hire BRO [$3]
Worker Scorch, we tech’d 2 spells [$2]
Build Heroes’ Hall [$0]
Patrol BRO in SL
Discard 1, Draw 3

Plan B - Not teching spells, going for beefier units
Tech: Gunpoint Taxman x2
8 gold, 4 cards
Hire Mad Man [$7]
Mad Man suicides into Building Inspector
Summon Zane [$5]
Zane casts Scorch to kill Aven [$2]
Zane trades with Zane, levels fizzle
Worker Charge, can tech in Bloodlust later to get similar effect [$1]
Build Tech I [$0]
No patrol (but all his board is clear, his Zane is dead, and he is on blue starter)
Discard 1, Draw 3

Anyway, I really don’t like building Tech I and skipping a worker, but I’m a conservative Codex player who likes to hit Tech II. Just some alternate lines to consider :wink:

Edit: Cleaned up some spots, wife was rushing me last night! :slight_smile: Yes, absolutely build tech I instead of floating 1g in plan B.

2 Likes

That’s because you’re still thinking about the whole game (beginning, middle, and end). If you’d learn to live more in the moment, you could lose more often! (;

Seriously, though, that’s fantastic advice.

In retrospect, if I was going to keep the same line, I should have broken his Tech I, leaving the onus on him as to weather to trade his Zane for mine (with a bird poke) or level his Zane and break my Tech I in return. That keeps us at a gimp fight (so I should have teched 2x spells in that case), and while my Tech 0 units are generally stronger than his, one can’t patrol, one can’t patrol after its first turn, one is expensive to “haste” and none of them have a tone of HP. So Tech 0 is really intensive to maintain for me, whereas low cost is one of Blue’s strongest suits. So ultimately, I think Eric still wins in that scenario because he’s likely to get Tech I operational sooner, and I’ve just given up my econ advantage.

I think I went into it being willing to lose the econ advantage because it seems like Peace (with Cadets, esp.) has unlimited money no matter what you throw at them, but I needed to worry about myself. And I should have known from previous tournaments (Frozen vs. Eric in Winter, was it?) that the way to stop Peace Engine (or Gunship) is to find a way to break tech buildings repeatedly or kill key combo pieces, not base race.

Ultimately, though, I just got suckered by a weak defense (which I’m not used to seeing). That base was sitting undefended on turn 1, then mildly defended turn 2. For me, that’s like putting a delicious pie right in front of me. I’m going to eat most of that pie. I may have to pay for the whole pie, and it might be more expensive than I’d like. But I’m going to eat that pie.

I need to remember that just because something is easy to damage at the beginning of the game doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to hit a few turns in. (Though I got him down to 3 HP, so I don’t feel too bad. (: )

I really appreciate the two lines you suggested. I always feel like I want a HH, but don’t know how to fit it in. You gave me an example of how.

In Plan A, I assume you’d put BRO in SQL so Aven can’t kill it?

In Plan B, I assume you mean Build Tech I instead of Float $1, so that we can actually play the Taxmen if we draw them?

Oh, and most of the (few) games I’ve won, I’ve hit Tech II. So yeah, that works out for me more than not hitting Tech II. So maybe I should force myself to do that? :grin:

3 Likes

It’s certainly some food for thought :wink:

@EricF - Do you know how many games were won by a player not getting to tech II? I can’t imagine it’s never happened, but it seems rare. @cstick certainly decided our CAPS game before he reached tech II, but casting 3 lich’s bargains is some value!

1 Like

I don’t have statistics, but my general feeling is that if you don’t plan to get to Tech II, then your win % isn’t very different than normal.

What’s most deadly is not being able to play the cards you teched in, either because the applicable hero got killed, the hero got blocked in the Command Zone (eg, because your Tech II got blown up), or the applicable tech building got destroyed, or the cards were just too situational or expensive to actually play when they were drawn.

4 Likes