Casual: Hobusu (Mono-White) vs ARMed_Pirate (Blood/Demonology/Strength)

Edit: Adding just a bit to thoughts, fixing Vandy’s stats, and adding stats to Ardra’s Boulder

P1T4


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH

Shoddy Glider
Shoddy Glider


STARTING HAND
Crash Bomber
Ardra’s Boulder
Charge
Bloodrage Ogre
Bombaster

WORKERS

Bloodburn
Pillage
Careless Musketeer
Bombaster

NextHand

Bloodrage Ogre
Nautical Dog
Shoddy Glider

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($7)
Worker - ($6)
Vandy attacks SQL Sensei, killing it, taking 1 from it and 1 from the tower
Recruit Crash Bomber - ($5)
Vandy casts expensive Charge on Crash Bomber - ($2)
Crash Bomber, now 3/2, suicides on Rook, bringing him to 1, and on death deals another 1 to Rook, killing him; you draw, Vandy levels to Max and heals, and doom fizzles, which is my new band name
Recruit Ardra’s Boulder - ($0)

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


[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]: Ardra’s Boulder (0/6)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Vandy Anadrose (4/5, Resist 1, Lv. 5)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

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

  • Hand: 3
  • Deck: 9
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 8

[details=Thoughts]
The correct move here is probably just to play Ardra’s Boulder, maybe take out the Sensei, and build my Tech II. But I haven’t been floating gold, so I wouldn’t have enough for Tech Lab, and if I tech in DG+TQ now, I might draw them but not have enough gold/specs to play them. Instead I’m going to try out Tech II (Blood), but not this turn. That means next turn. But I still want to get some Tech II’s into the cycle for next turn. So I’m teching Blood’s cheapest, the Gliders, in the hopes that I won’t draw more than 1 for this hand… And I drew 1. If he Glorious Ninjas my AB away, I’ll have 4 cards, and hopefully I won’t draw the other Glider.
I decided to go with my first instinct (aggro, of course) mostly because Rook is much easier to kill now than later.
I had a really hard time deciding between workering Bloodrage Ogre and Bombaster. Bombaster is effectively a 3/2 Haste for 3, while BRO is a 3/2 non-haste for 2. I decided with Charge and Bloodlust in the deck to stick with the cheaper BRO.

[/details]

Player 2 Turn 4


Tech, Starting Hand and Workers

TECH

Hidden Ninja
Glorious Ninja


STARTING HAND

Grappling Hook
Fox Primus
Sparring Partner
Savior Monk
Morningstar Flagbearer
Snapback


WORKERS

Smoker
Fox Viper
Reversal
Fox Primus


Next Hand

Sensei’s Advice
Glorious Ninja
Safe Attacking
Morningstar Flagbearer
Porcupine


Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Worker - ($7)
Summon Setsuki - ($5)
Setsuki casts expensive Snapback on Vandy to swap her for Drakk - ($1)
Recruit Sparring Partner - ($0)

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


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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Sparring Partner (2/2+a)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Setsuki Hiruki (1/3) [Costs 1 to attack]
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 19
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Ninjutsu)
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

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

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 6
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 9
Thoughts

I hate having given Vandy so many free levels, but at least she’s gone now. He still hasn’t built Tech II yet, so maybe I’ve still got a shot at this! As long as he can’t break my Tech II, I can play both Glorious Ninja and Porcupine next turn, which should be a huge swing. I also teched Hidden Ninja as a way to guarantee that either a Ninja or the Porcupine takes out the biggest threat on the turn I play it.

P1T5


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH

Land Octopus
Crashbarrow


STARTING HAND
Nautical Dog
Bloodrage Ogre
Shoddy Glider

WORKERS

Bloodburn
Pillage
Careless Musketeer
Bombaster

NextHand

Shadow Blade
Scorch
Bloodlust
Charge

Discard

Shoddy Glider
Nautical Dog
Land Octopus
Crashbarrow

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Skip worker
Build Tech II (Blood) - ($4)
Recruit BRO - ($2)
I’m good for now.

Float ($2)
Discard 2, draw 4


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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Bloodrage Ogre (3/2+a)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :exhaust: [I]Technician[/I]: Ardra’s Boulder (0/6)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Drakk Ramhorn (1/3, Lv. 1)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Blood)

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

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 5
  • Disc: 4
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 2
  • Workers: 8

[details=Thoughts]
Fastest. Turn. Ever. It’s crazy what you can do when you really want to build a building and you don’t have haste. I could have maxxed Drakk, played Nautical Dog and haste/double-frenzied him into killing the Sparring partner. I then could have had Drakk kill Sets. That would have been a great board wipe, and I’m kinda regretting not doing it… but Tech II is good, I hear?

[/details]

Player 2 Turn 5


Tech, Starting Hand and Workers

TECH

Entangling Vines
Porcupine


STARTING HAND

Porcupine
Safe Attacking
Glorious Ninja
Sensei’s Advice
Morningstar Flagbearer


WORKERS

Smoker
Fox Viper
Reversal
Fox Primus
Morningstar Flagbearer


Next Hand

Savior Monk
Hidden Ninja
Grappling Hook
Snapback


Discard

Safe Attacking
Sensei’s Advice
Entangling Vines
Porcupine


Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($9)
Worker - ($8)
Recruit Glorious Ninja - ($3)
Recruit Porcupine - ($0)
Glorious Ninja swiftly kills BRO
Sparring Partner spars with Setsuki, giving her a +1/+1 rune
Setsuki attacks Boulder for 2 damage
Patrol as shown below

Float ($0)
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]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]: Porcupine (2/6) [Deathtouch]
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Setsuki Hiruki (2/4) [Costs 1 to attack] {+1/+1}
  • Glorious Ninja (4/3) [Haste, swift strike]
  • Sparring Partner (2/2)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 19
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Ninjutsu)
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

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

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 2
  • Disc: 4
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 10
Thoughts

I think I have a good position here as long as he can’t kill Setsuki. Putting Porcupine in Lookout and giving her a +1/+1 rune should help with that, but it all depends on what’s in his hand… As long as she survives, I think I can win this without too much difficulty, especially with Hidden Ninja in hand.

Editx2: Adjusting thoughts both times

[details=Thoughts][spoiler]
That was some great Teching on his part. I was half-expecting the Glorious Ninja, but I was not expecting the Porcupine. I just haven’t studied Ninjutsu that much, so I don’t know it very well. The spiny pig is like a much better boulder but he has to get to Tech II… and he did. Meanwhile, I’m sitting here all dressed up with a handful of spells and no good targets. I’m really regretting not patrolling the boulder in SQL and keeping the BRO in Technician. The damage is more important now; if he was still around, I could smack the porcupine then follow up with Shadow Blade (if expensive). I’m also regretting not wiping his board last time, but then he would probably have killed Drakk or my Tech I, so I probably shouldn’t. Really I just made a bad patrol choice, maybe my first real mistake of the game (outside of Tech, most likely), and I’m paying for it.

Taking out the Porcupine would be hard with this hand even if he hadn’t put him in Lookout. A really smart patrol on his part.

So my choice now is to Bloodlust Vandy so that she can tutor for something.

Bringing her out, leveling her to 3, Bloodlusting her, and exhausting her to tutor costs 7. So that leaves me with 3 to play the spells. I could grab a Soul Stone for my Boulder, play it, and turtle up, while still having a gold to worker. But he could knock the Stone off with Porcupine, safely kill it with Glorious Ninja and Sparring Partner, and kill Drakk with a slightly leveled Sets for a maxxed Sets. But my Tech II would be safe, I think, and I’d have decent odds of a comeback next turn?

I could grab a Dark Pact, play it immediately, and hope to draw some combo of Mythmaking and Shoddy Glider/Crash Bomber for my last gold. But that’s no worker, and without the Soul Stone, AB’s going to die immediately to Porcupine next turn; then leveled Sets kills Drakk to max again. Then sparred Ninja kills my Tech II and I lose. If I draw Glider, though, I could kill Glorious Ninja. (I was thinking I could Charge it to kill Sets, but that would cost an extra $1 to attack her that I don’t have.) But that’s a 2/5 chance of survival… hrmmm.

I’m also thinking about maxing Vandy, threatening Metamorphosis (which I don’t have and can’t draw), but he can take out my Boulder with Glorious or Porcupine, Drakk with a leveled Sets (and max her) or Glorious, and Vandy with Porcupine, without losing anything. So it would require me to tutor her for a Soul Stone, play it on the Boulder, which I don’t have enough gold to do. Oh, and maxing her would doom the Boulder and one of his cards. But if the Boulder’s going to die next turn anyway, I might as well give it +2/+2 (Look at me! I’m a Porcupine without Deathtouch!).

!!! I’m looking at this all wrong! Vandy is not the answer. Rook is the answer! Level him, Bloodlust him, send him through to take out Sets! Now the shoe is on the other stone foot! Sparring partner, Porcupine, and Glorious aren’t enough to take out AB, Drakk, and my Tech II, and this is much cheaper! And it gets me back up to 5 cards! Let’s do it!

Next turn I can at the very least play Glider and max Vandy to immediately take out his Tech II. Edit: No I can’t. Her doom only affects Tech 0 or 1 units. The turn after I want to threaten Metamorphosis. So let’s tech in some Metamorphosis. I might also want Earthquake in case Rook survives 'til then. I could put Drakk in Technician, and give me a chance of drawing Earthquake next turn, but then I won’t be able to play it and max Vandy. But playing it after Glider hits his Tech is good enough, isn’t it? So do I do 2x Earthquake now, increasing the chance to 25% (Edit: I forgot about this hand’s discard: 2/11) that I have it next turn and hope for the early draw? 1x EQ and 1x Metamorphosis (so that Metamorphosis makes it into this cycle) and hope I draw the first (1/11 chance), not the second (more likely neither)? Or 2x Metamorphosis, put Drakk in Scav. now, use Rook to tank next turn, and tech in the EQs if he looks likely to survive? He already has the Tower up, so Meta isn’t as good. I’ll Tech the EQs now, and if he doesn’t kill Drakk for some reason, I’ll tech the Meta’s next time. (Edit: Maybe not.)
[/spoiler][/details]

P1T6


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH

Earthquake
Earthquake


STARTING HAND
Bloodlust
Charge
Shadow Blade
Scorch

WORKERS

Bloodburn
Pillage
Careless Musketeer
Bombaster

NextHand

Makeshift Rambaster
Crash Bomber
Shoddy Glider
Mythmaking
Mad Man

Discard

Shoddy Glider
Nautical Dog
Land Octopus
Crashbarrow
Bloodrage Ogre
Bloodlust
Charge
Scorch
Shadow Blade
Earthquake
Earthquake

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($10)
Skip worker
Summon Garbage Crook, Imposter Golem, and level him to 6 - ($3)
Drakk casts Bloodlust on Crook and Glorious Ninja - ($1)
Crook, 3+1/5, waltzes past the Porcupine (paying a toll on the way) to can Setsuki; he survives her and the Tower, levels, maxxes, heals, and gains a 2nd Life - ($0)
Patrol AB in SQL, like I should have freakin’ done last turn, and bring Drakk out as Technician
At the end of turn, Crook and GN each take 1 damage from their insatiable lust for delicious blood

Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 5


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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Ardra’s Boulder (0/4+a)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :exhaust: [I]Technician[/I]: Drakk Ramhorn (1/3, Lv. 1)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Garus Rook (4/5) [Two Lives]
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Blood)

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

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 0
  • Disc: 11
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 8

@ARMed_PIrate, I had patrolled Porcupine in Lookout, so it costs an extra $1 to target with Bloodlust. You need to either pick a different target or not attack Setsuki.

Thanks, @Hobusu! I knew that when I started formulating plans, but somehow forgot it by the time I finished. Fixed now. (:
Sorry for the late reply. Didn’t have a chance to hit the computer yesterday.

Player 2 Turn 6


Tech, Starting Hand and Workers

TECH

Fox’s Den Students
Speed of the Fox


STARTING HAND


Grappling Hook
Hidden Ninja
Snapback
Savior Monk


WORKERS

Smoker
Fox Viper
Reversal
Fox Primus
Morningstar Flagbearer


Next Hand

Glorious Ninja
Snapback
Safe Attacking
Aged Sensei
Fox’s Den Students


Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($10)
Summon Grave - ($8)
Grave casts Snapback on Crook to replace him with Vandy - ($5)
Porcupine hugs your Boulder, which falls apart from excess affection (also spikes)
Glorious Ninja eliminates Drakk without being seen or heard, my base takes 1 damage, Grave gains 2 free levels and you shuffle and draw a card
Sparring Partner spars with Grave, giving him a +1/+1 rune
Ready Sparring Partner - ($3)
Patrol as shown below

Float ($3)
Discard 3, draw 2, reshuffle, draw 3


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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Sparring Partner (2/2+a)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Grave Stormborne Lv. 3 (4/5) [Sparkshot, readiness] {+1/+1}
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Glorious Ninja (4/2) [Haste, swift strike]
  • Porcupine (2/6) [Deathtouch]
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 18
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Ninjutsu)
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

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

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 7
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 3
  • Workers: 10

[details=Thoughts][spoiler]Welp. Didn’t even think about Hasted Unstoppable Rook, because seriously, who expects that?! At least I was able to immediately get rid of the key threat (Hi max-level Rook again), but I need a bit better luck than I’ve been having. Fortunately, I have another Glorious Ninja in hand and I don’t see much of a way for him to break my Tech II.

I debated building a Tech III building instead of readying Sparring Partner, but I’d rather keep my stuff alive right now (Jade Fox isn’t the best Tech III in this position, and I don’t want to tear down my Tower to get Oathkeeper out). The tech choice probably should have been both copies of Fox Den Students, but something tells me I would have drawn both if I’d done that…[/spoiler][/details]

Don’t forget that killing Drakk brought your base from 19 to 18. (:

[details=Thoughts][spoiler]
So…Snapback is still a thing. He did not worker it. It is still here. Acknowledge. Note for later.

I spent a long time on this turn before realizing I had accidentally deleted my AB instead of moving it to discard. Ack. I had to restore the previous version and restart, including re-drawing my Technician draw with a Boulder in the deck.

And this time it’s my ideal draw: Crashbarrow. I just got stupid lucky.

GN is really tough to deal with, and I should probably just snipe it with my Glider now. How many other answers to GN do I have?
Crashbarrow will clear out his SP and do 3 to Grave. So I just need to be able to do 2 more.
Crashbarrow and Glider costs 4, leaving me 4 to work with. Not enough to level Vandy, fish for another Blade, then play it. But enough for Rambaster, MM, and Crash Bomber, the first two finishing off Grave and the Bomber becoming a solid patroller; or I could leave Vandy defenseless to the porcupine and worker.

I could have Glider (1) clear out SP, have MM (1) poke Grave, then have Crashbarrow (3) slam through Grave and take out the wounded GN (the Bloodlust-rich portfolio pays off for the hungry investor!). Now I have 3 to work with and only porcupine on the board. This is going to taste all right.

I could exhaust Vandy for 1, pull out a Soul Stone for 2 and treat it as an extra tech.
I could exhaust Vandy for 1, pull out a Dark Pact for now, and try to draw into what? AB, BRO, NDog, and Shoddy Glider could all be a bit useful, but none could kill the spine-pig. Two of them would let me play the Crash Bomber as well. And any way I could play CB without going down on cards. Maybe even worker.
I could max Vandy, dooming a Crash Bomber, which might make him think twice about attacking it with the porcupine, but I’d go down on cards. Or I could play CB without maxing her, go down on cards, and use the money.
I could play Mythmaking, with the assumption that AB will come up soon. Then CB to protect Vandy, which would really put me down on cards.
I could Rambaster his Tech II, then finish it off with Vandy. This leaves me 1 for worker or patrolling CB. This seems like the way to go. I want to protect Vandy from the Hog, so let’s opt for the patroller, which leaves us at Tech II and 8 workers indefinitely.
So let’s tech in the other Crashbarrow and a spell? Metamorphosis, Bird’s Nest, Bloodlust or Kidnapping? I’ve never tried Kidnapping, but kidnapping a GN or porcupine seems okay. I’ll have time to see if Vandy’s around for Metamorphosis later. And kidnapping a GN doesn’t kill the GN, so it’s hard to get the 2-for-1. Likely likewise with porcupine. And Bird’s Nest doesn’t put much damage on the field (though what’s he going to do about the birds?). Thunderclap would be great against ninja tokens, but he hasn’t maxxed Sets yet or built Tech II, so I’ve got time for that one, too. So Bloodlust… or Bugbladder? CesareB just wrecked me with those in another game. The way I’m plowing through units, that seems like the right call. But another Bloodlust would increase the chance of Bloodlusted Octopus… Bugbladder for now!
[/spoiler][/details]

P1T7


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH

Crashbarrow
Captured Bugbladder


STARTING HAND
Crash Bomber
Makeshift Rambaster
Mythmaking
Shoddy Glider
Mad Man
Crashbarrow

WORKERS

Bloodburn
Pillage
Careless Musketeer
Bombaster

NextHand

Shoddy Glider
Earthquake
Nautical Dog

Discard

Mythmaking
Crashbarrow
Captured Bugbladder
Shoddy Glider
Mad Man
Crashbarrow

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Skip worker
Draw 1 from poor, dead, Drakk. Foreshadowing: it was a Crashbarrow
Recruit Shoddy Glider - ($7)
Shoddy Glider trades with your Sparring Partner, shoddily
Recruit Mad Man - ($6)
Mad Man suicides into Grave, bringing him to 4 hp
Recruit Crashbarrow - ($3)
Crashbarrow trades with Grave; you draw; 2 excess damage barrels into Glorious Ninja, whose Swift Strike does nothing in the face of an enemy he was not directly attacked by: he dies gloriously; Vandy to Lv. 3
Recruit Makeshift Rambaster - ($1)
Rambaster attacks your Tech II for 3, taking 1 from the Tower and surviving
Vandy (now 3/4) attacks your Tech II for 3, destroying it; your base takes 2 damage, down to 16; Vandy takes 1 from the Tower but survives
Recruit Crash Bomber - ($0)

Float ($0)
Discard 1, draw 3


[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]: Crash Bomber (2/2)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Vandy Anadrose (3/3, Resist 1, Lv. 3)
  • Makeshift Rambaster (1/1)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Blood)

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

  • Hand: 3
  • Deck: 8
  • Disc: 6
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 8

Sorry for the delay! To be fair, coming back to that mess… :unamused:
Seriously, the last couple of turns have been “As long as he doesn’t kill Setsu- Oh, he killed her. Still, as long as he doesn’t break my Tech- No, no. He did that too.” Good on you for pulling that off, though!

Player 2 Turn 7


Starting Hand and Workers

STARTING HAND

Glorious Ninja
Aged Sensei
Snapback
Safe Attacking
Fox’s Den Students
Savior Monk (technician)


WORKERS

Smoker
Fox Viper
Reversal
Fox Primus
Morningstar Flagbearer


Next Hand

Hidden Ninja
Speed of the Fox
Entangling Vines
Sensei’s Advice
Grappling Hook


Discard

Sparring Partner
Glorious Ninja
Snapback
Fox’s Den Students
Glorious Ninja


Draw from Technician
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($13)
Rebuild Tech II after some jerks destroyed it…
Summon Rook - ($11)
Level Rook to Lv. 8(!) - ($4)
Recruit Savior Monk - ($2)
Recruit Aged Sensei - ($1)
Research Safe Attacking, mostly to get it out of my deck - ($0)
Porcupine hugs your Crash Bomber and is surprised when he explodes; it takes 2 damage and my base takes 1 damage, you draw a card
Patrol as shown below

Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 5


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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Garus Rook Lv. 8 (4/6+a) [Two Lives]
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Savior Monk (2/2) [Healing 1]
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Safe Attacking
  • Porcupine (2/4) [Deathtouch]
  • Aged Sensei (1/1)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 15
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Ninjutsu)
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

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

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 1
  • Disc: 5
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 10
Thoughts

I need to stop jinxing myself… All I’ll say is that I don’t care that much if Rook lives or not, since he’s not the hero I need to use. It should be obvious from the cards I’m getting next turn what I’m really after…

No worries. It’s a busy time for me (I tutor, and it’s semester finals for a lot of my clients), so having a break was good for me, I think.

And thanks! I was very satisfied with how that turn went. I’ll probably post it in the “When the Codex hits just right” thread, even if I lose this game. Though, I should say, I am somewhat less satisfied with it now that I see what you’ve done. This is a really good match! (Also, thanks for making me laugh out loud while reading your turn. (: )

Edit: Adding in to my actions that I did, in fact, draw from Technician.

[details=Thoughts][spoiler]
If I tech Metamorphosis now, I won’t get it for a while. I’m thinking I’ll have Vandy fish for it next turn, if I decide to turtle up and protect her (leveling her this turn). Of course, he could just snap her back again.

I’m thinking I’ll tech in Kidnapping, because I’ve never used it and it could be great at helping me with hero removal at this point, and another Bloodlust. Ugh. My deck is so fat and bloated. It’s like an abomination or an ogre recruiter. Yuck. I know, I’m fat-shaming my deck. But I built the thing, so really I’m fat-shaming my own mind.

Ardra’s was a nice draw from Technician. I’m tempted to fetch a Soul Stone to make it into Rook lite.
I’m also contemplating fetching the Dark Pact and drawing again. What would help?

Well, Bloodlust on Rook isn’t happening (and it’s unclear it would help), as Drakk’s not out, and I can’t get him and Rook out together without killing Vandy, and I can’t attack with her if I’ve used her to get a Dark Pact to draw Bloodlust. So, Bloodlust on Drakk? 2/3 haste for 4 (5 counting the Dark Pact fetch) isn’t great. 3/3 if I bring him to Lv. 4, but now we’re talking all my money. Nope. Bloodlust on Glider and Rambaster? The Glider could take out Tower or Porcupine (might be worth it). If I max Vandy to doom the Rambaster, that’s 8 damage. On Naughty Dog and Glider, with Rambaster doomed, that’s 10 damage. Not enough to take out a 13-HP Rook, though. And all that (including Drakk) would cost 9, which I don’t have. So Bloodlust really isn’t great right now except for boosting my Glider, and I can also do that by pumping 5 into Drakk without losing a card.
BRO isn’t fantastic. Expensive by my standards for what would be a patroller.
Octopus can’t patrol. Why did I tech him? Well, at least it would be an alternative target to keep heat off Vandy. But I think smart patrolling on his part could keep it from being much of a threat, and he’d just let my cephalopod eat my workers alive until I was helpless.
Earthquake would be useless now.
Charge wouldn’t be bad. It’d be expensive at $3 for Vandy, but it’d let me boost my Glider without Drakk. Shadow Blade would let me pop his smug little Monk and drop him a card, but I’m not sure that does that much for me.
Scorch is worse.
So the only thing I really could hope to draw is Charge, and that’s not fantastic.

I really want to take out that porcupine, but there’s not guaranteed way to do except pushing $5 into Drakk, which leaves only $3 for the Glider, leveling Vandy, and recruiting the Boulder ($5 worth). Then Rook comes through like Wreck-it-Ralph next turn.
Hrmm. If I push $5 into Drakk, I could hit Rook for 4 from the Glider ($1). Level Vandy for my last $2 and then the Rambaster hits for 4. Maxxed Vandy could hit for 4 and survive. That’s 12. Not enough to kill Rook and it doesn’t work that way. I’d do 8 before he started crumbling, then I’d have to do 6 again. I really need to hit for 7 then 3 then 3, or 4 then 3 then 6. Blahhhh. Rook is annoying.

I guess I turtle up. But how?
Rook + AB + soul stone = $7. Not enough left to level Vandy to max for next turn’s Meta.

Rook + AB + max Vandy = $6. Porcupine kills one rock and his rock walks past my other rock and rocks Vandy or my Tech. If play NDog, then he might just have Sensei or Monk kill the dog before Rook walks by. But decent odds of max Vandy surviving. She might take 4. (Of course, if he has another GN, I’m
hosed.) But I could use my last money to have Glider kill the Monk.

AB + soul stone + max Vandy = $7. Not enough for another patroller, unless I use Dog. Let’s see. Porcupine knocks stone off SQL boulder. He still has to do 6 worth to kill boulder. Dog keeps Sensei’d Rook from killing Vandy or Tech II. That just might work. But no Glider. Oooh, man, I hate not swinging with a Glider when I have it. But it sets me up good for Metamorphosed Rook next turn, unless he has a second GN. This goes against everything I stand for, but I think it’s my best chance at victory.

Maybe I should doom the boulder instead of the Rambaster? That’s a 2/8 even after he porcupines away its first life. A GN could still get through with a doomed Monk or Sensei. If I doom the Sensei, Rook can’t get a boost from him if he’s using him to pop the Boulder. And the Dog should still keep the Monk from finishing off Vandy. I’m guaranteed my Meta if he doesn’t snap her back next turn. (Big if.)

If I doom the Rambaster, Boulder is just a 0/6 after porcupine. GN + Monk could take it, and boosted Rook could kill Vandy. Let’s not do that.

I wish I could spare a single $1 to build a Tech Lab (or, for that matter, worker). I have a hankering for a Morningstar Pass. Or, hell, a Hero’s Hall. Sure would be nice if Meta (again, big if) hit Rook and Drakk.
[/spoiler][/details]

P1T8


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH

Kidnapping
Bloodlust


STARTING HAND
Earthquake
Nautical Dog
Shoddy Glider
Ardra’s Boulder

WORKERS

Bloodburn
Pillage
Careless Musketeer
Bombaster

NextHand

Shadow Blade
Bloodrage Ogre
Scorch

Discard

Mythmaking
Crashbarrow
Captured Bugbladder
Shoddy Glider
Mad Man
Crashbarrow
Crash Bomber
Earthquake
Shoddy Glider
Kidnapping
Bloodlust

Tech 2 card(s)
Draw a card from the poor, dead, Crash Bomber. Only the good die young!
Get Paid - ($8)
Skip worker
Recruit Vandy’s Boulder, Imposter Golem - ($6)
Exhaust Vandy to discard a card and fetch Soul Stone from my codex - ($5)

VandyDiscard

Earthquake

Vandy casts Soul Stone on her Boulder. Two can play at this game! - ($3)
Max Vandy; she heals and dooms her Boulder and your Aged Sensei for +2/+2. (He was aged. It’s not like he’s not expecting death soon. It’s merciful, is what it is. One last hurrah for the old fellow.) - ($1)
Recruit Naughty Dog - ($0)

Float ($0)
Discard 1, draw 3


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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Ardra’s Boulder (3/9+a, doomed) {+1/+1 from Soul Stone; will be 2/8, doomed, if it, I don’t know, gets hugged by a cute spine-pig}
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :exhaust: [I]Technician[/I]: Nautical Dog
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Vandy Anadrose (4/5, Resist 1, Lv. 5)
  • Makeshift Rambaster (1/1)
  • Soul Stone (attached to Ardra’s Boulder)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Blood)

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

  • Hand: 3
  • Deck: 4
  • Disc: 11
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 8
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OK, just to be clear, this is a renamed Ardra’s Boulder? The “imposter golem” bit is what you used for Rook, so I was unsure if you summoned him or not for a bit.

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Player 2 Turn 8


Tech, Starting Hand and Workers

TECH

Fox’s Den Students
Earthquake


STARTING HAND

Sensei’s Advice
Speed of the Fox
Entangling Vines
Hidden Ninja
Grappling Hook
Porcupine (Hidden Ninja)


WORKERS

Smoker
Fox Viper
Reversal
Fox Primus
Morningstar Flagbearer
Grappling Hook


Next Hand

Glorious Ninja
Sensei’s Advice
Entangling Vines
Glorious Ninja
Fox’s Den Students


Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($10)
Savior Monk heals Porcupine by 1 HP, being careful to avoid the pokey bits
Summon Setsuki - ($8)
Setsuki casts Hidden Ninja on herself and Porcupine, giving them both stealth this turn, and I draw a card - ($6)
Porcupine sneaks over to Vandy and gives her a hug, taking 4 damage (but living to hug another day) and giving Setsuki 2 free levels
Level Setsuki to Lv. 6 - ($3)
Setsuki casts Speed of the Fox, gaining haste, readiness, armor piercing, and +1 ATK until end of turn - ($1)
Aged Sensei gives one final piece of advice to Setsuki, knowing he will soon die from Vandy’s curse, giving her +1 ATK/+1 Armor this turn
Setsuki, now 5/4+a for this turn, sneaks past your patrollers and destroys your Tech II building single-handedly, striking a cool pose as it explodes behind her; Your base takes 2 damage from the blast
Worker - ($0)

Float ($0)
Discard 3, reshuffle, draw 5


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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Garus Rook Lv. 8 (4/6+a) [Two Lives]
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Savior Monk (2/2) [Healing 1]
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Safe Attacking
  • Porcupine (2/1) [Deathtouch]
  • Aged Sensei (3/3) [DOOMED]
  • Setsuki Hiruki Lv. 6 (3/4) [Costs 1 to attack when not patrolling, Upkeep: Draw 2 cards]
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 15
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Ninjutsu)
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

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

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 7
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 11
Thoughts

That went better than I expected! I don’t see him coming back from that, especially since he’d need to kill Setsuki and break my Tech II this time. As long as one of them stands, I should be able to win this.

Yeah, since I was giving the Boulder a second life and putting him in SQL, “Imposter Golem” seemed appropriate.

Argagarg Garg! Good game! I have a Scorch, a Shadowblade, and a BRO in hand. No way to draw more. I have an EQ coming up, but no way to max Rook, and no way to keep him alive even if I did with that porcupine on the board. I’d say the cuddly hugger was your MVP. I could have taken him out last turn by bringing out/leveling Drakk and sending a Shoddy Glider in, but then you would have been able to kill Vandy, and I was pinning my hopes on her.

If I had played last turn any other way, you would have been able to push through with a Glorious (or Speedy Sets, I guess), and walked Rook in to kill Vandy. I took the risk hoping that you didn’t have Snapback, but I totally forgot about Hidden Ninja! What great utility!

I think you really took the game once I started skipping workers. It’s so easy for me to go too aggro, especially as Blood, and (as you said), Sets and Tech II were important targets. But I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish for so many turns on 8 gold.

Thanks for the match!

Oh, and my godly Crashbarrow turn was a stroke of pure luck. I had played it 8 different ways with a NDog instead of Crashbarrow, then realized I had deleted AB instead of adding it to my discard, so had to roll-back and redraw. Got lucky there.

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Good game! I was impressed by how long you held out too, but in hindsight it was kind of inevitable that I’d reach a critical mass at some point where you couldn’t stop me with so few workers. Next turn I had Fox’s Den Students and two Glorious Ninjas in hand (and Entangling Vines for good measure), so there really was nothing you could do to prevent game over.

I’m curious why you went Blood that game, since your codex was built with Demon + Strength as the main goal. It was annoying having to deal with the non-Red Tech I and Hero stuff, but I don’t think you did as well as you might have with mono-Red. As soon as I saw you go for that, I knew that Ninjutsu would help a ton against that (in theory, a single Glorious Ninja would be able to prevent all of your Crashbarrows from attacking, though that didn’t end up happening this time). Porcupine is not to be underestimated (so many hugs)!

I mostly went with Vandy and Blood because I hadn’t tried out either before, and I felt like I needed to learn what else this Codex is capable of in case I come up against players with really good answers to TQ+DG. Also, since I went first, I seemed to have a higher shot at viable aggro. But you’re right. With Banefire + EQ as an alternative, Demonology is my strongest spec, and it forces me to play more conservatively, which is good for me winning. Not that I always care about that. (Did you read my “mirror” match against CesareB?)

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I haven’t read that yet, but if you link me to it I’ll give it a look! It’s definitely good to experiment, but one thing to consider if you’re going with a Tech II that matches your starting deck is what differences there are between playing that mono-color and your current codex. Leaving mono-Red made you lose Zane and his nonsense and the Fire Tech I and Spells, and you’re paying 1 more gold to build Tech I in the first place, so whatever benefits you gain from your new heroes and Tech I options had better be worth it if you go that route.

That said, you mentioned Banefire Golem and Earthquake, which made me realize that if you have Demonology and Strength together, that should be your main strategy (with Terras Q as a way to force your opponent to overextend trying to stop you as much as anything). That actually makes me think that maybe Demonology/Strength/Finesse (your choice of starter deck) would be a good codex to try, since Discord is yet another way of getting Terras Q online if you want it, Harmony would let you create lots of fodder for Banefire Golem and pick off damaged buildings with Angry Dancers, and Nimble Fencer gives you early-game aggression to make it harder for them to stop your combo. The downside, of course, is that you can’t have a hasty Terras Q without either Charge, Bloodlust, or Now!, but I don’t know how much you need it. I’ve never actually played multi-color yet, so I could be getting everything wrong, but that’s what I think now that I’ve seen a little bit of it in action.

Step 1 - Play Mirrors; Step 2 - ?; Step 3 - Profit!

I’ve definitely thought about Demon/Str/Finesse. Demon as starter gives me Jandra, who also benefits from Mythmaking. Finesse as starter gives all my heroes cheap access to starter spells (admittedly not great, but in that last match there were quite a few times where expensive charge/scorch was annoying).

I’m so impatient, though, that it’s hard to give up Charge and Bloodlust.

I’m also thinking about trying out some combination of Blood/Anarchy/Present/Ninjutsu, to ensure that all my heroes have haste all the time. Just hardcore aggressive heroes. Thoughts on the best combo out of the four? (;

I’m tempted to say [Anarchy]/Present/Ninjutsu, but I’m biased since Setsuki and Geiger are two of my favorite heroes and Zane is never a bad choice if you can’t pick! If you really want all the haste, then you probably want to swap one of them for Drakk due to Bloodlust & maxband, but I’m not really the one to ask about that! Maybe post about it in the thread?

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I do, and I love Bloodlust so much. But Zane can go without any spells, and he’s got just as much Tech II haste, too, in case I get there. I’ll try it sometime soon! (I don’t care about viable. (: )

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