Casual: jasonwocky ([Bal] / Bash / Fire) vs Drakona (Red)

[jasonwocky]

@Drakona good luck and have fun!

Starting Hand and Thoughts

Merfolk Prospector, Rampant Growth, Forest’s Favor, Ironbark Treant, Young Treant. Ugh…this is a really bad opening hand. I can’t threaten much of anything in terms of damage next turn since all of my buffs are in my current hand. None of my heroes are particularly aggressive. At least I have my 1-drop.

Worker

Young Treant

P1T1:

• Collect 4g (4)
• Worker (3)
• Merfolk Prospector (2)
• Troq Bashar (0)
• Patrol as below
• Discard 3, Draw 5
• Float 0g

Patrol:

• SQL: Lvl 1 Troq Bashar (2/3 + 1)
• ELITE:
• SCAV: Merfolk Prospector (1/1)
• TECHN:
• LOOKOUT:

Info:

• Base: 20
• Buildings:
• Other:
• Hand: 5
• Deck: 0
• Discard: 3
• Gold: 0
• Workers: 5

Next Hand

Playful Panda, Tiger Cub, Verdant Tree, Rich Earth, Spore Shambler

[Drakona]

Wicked. Ok, I’m all set up – just a sec while I figure out how the posting format works.

[Drakona]

Starting Hand and Thoughts

Holy wow, I have no idea what to be afraid of here. Awesome! Balance has lots (and lots) of flying things and the good fire tech 2 is a flying thing, too. Maybe that? Bashing . . . Iron Men? Turtle and air strike? At a guess? That’s what I’d do. At least I don’t have to worry about token spam. Or crazy buffs. So that’s something.

Ok, what would I even do about that strategy? Kill them first is about all I know how to do, so let’s go with that. I bet I can’t bet on keeping anti-air alive with Jaina on the field, so . . . I’ll make sure to get kidnapping. Maybe shoddy gliders. Something like that. Blood is conducive to kill them first anyway. We’ll see if it even goes that way. I’m probably overthinking this.

Anyway. Bloodburn seems reasonable, since I’m probably going to be trying to take down flying mimics, but I can’t afford it just yet, not without letting Troq come through. No way to attack without extreme measures, so let me just least try to set up something Troq can’t cheaply get through.

Starting hand: Bloodburn, Nautical Dog, Makeshift Rambaster, Scorch, Bloodrage Ogre

Worker

Scorch (Direct damage seems like what I’m going to be doing, but this option seems kinda expensive for what it does. Besides, I like those other cards.)

P2T1:

• Collect 5g (5)
• Worker (4)
• Bloodrage Ogre (2)
• Jaina (0)
• Discard 3, Draw 5

Patrol:

• SQL: Bloodrage Ogre (3/2 + 1A)
• Technician: Jaina (2/3)

Info:

• Base: 20
• Buildings: None
• Hand: 5
• Deck: 0
• Discard: 3
• Gold: 0
• Workers: 6

Next Hand

Charge, Careless Musketeer, Bombaster, Mad Man, Pillage

[jasonwocky]

Sorry for the delay! I’ll make my move tonight after I get my kids to bed in about 2.5-3 hours.

[Drakona]

Sure, no worries. Thanks for letting me know.

[jasonwocky]

I was able to sneak away for a few minutes earlier than expected

Starting Hand and Thoughts

Playful Panda, Tiger Cub, Verdant Tree, Rich Earth, Spore Shambler. Yeah, without my buffs, I don’t see any favorable trades set up for me here. Not playing RE this turn so it goes in the worker pile. I generally like to do 1 spell, 1 unit, and I’ll try to keep to that formula. Red’s stuff tends to be pretty cheap at Tech 1, so a Basilisk might not trade up. I’ll try Iron Man.

Worker

Rich Earth

Tech

Ember Sparks, Iron Man

P1T1:

• Tech 2 Cards
• Collect 5g (5)
• Exhaust Merfolk Prospector for 1g (6)
• Worker (5)
• Build Tech 1 (3)
• Tiger Cub (1)
• Patrol as below
• Discard 3, Draw 5
• Float 1g

Patrol:

• SQL: Tiger Cub (2/2 + 1)
• ELITE:
• SCAV: Lvl 1 Troq Bashar (2/3)
• TECHN:
• LOOKOUT:

Info:

• Base: 20
• Buildings: Tech 1 (5)
• Other: Merfolk Prospector (1/1)
• Hand: 5
• Deck: 0
• Discard: 3
• Gold: 1
• Workers: 5

Next Hand

Playful Panda, Verdant Tree, Forest’s Favor, Rampant Growth, Ironbark Treant. Argh, no Tech 1 units.

[Drakona]

No, that’s fine. I plan to really think this stuff through to force myself to learn the strategy. Apologies in advance for verbosity and potential slow play.

And hey – your final status says you’ve got 5 workers, but I’m pretty sure that should be 6.

[details=Thoughts]So, the down time has given me a little time to think through what I’m facing. Couple lines of thought.

Observation one, Bal/Bash/Fire has got no anti-air. Not summonable. Not at tech 1. Not at tech 2 either. I’d been thinking in terms of being afraid of his flyers, but I wonder if maybe he should be afraid of mine? Could I win a space race? Shoddy gliders seem like they could handle the Faerie Dragons and their cohorts at an economic advantage, and with the occasional +1 from Charge or Drakk, could even take on mimics. But they don’t stick around, so a mimic with haste or a flying lobber could come right through and there’s nothing I could do to stop them. I probably wouldn’t have flyers for long. Seems like a bad plan. Firebirds seem like they could probably go toe to toe with the mimics well enough; he’s got buffs, I’ve got buffs, they’re similar size and cost, and if I could get one through to a building, advantage me. The threat of them might force him to patrol some flying things as they only way to stop me from hitting his tech buildings, which would keep his stuff out of my base. That sounds workable except for the dragons creating flying things and Midori himself. I betcha he can put more warm bodies in the air than I can, and that seems like a losing bet.

Observation two, what is Troq doing here? No, seriously, all of his tech 2 and tech 1 stuff seems to do the same thing as Feral except for being strictly inferior on the numbers. Seems silly to be going for the duck. Troq himself? He’s not that special. His spells? The only one that stands out is Intimidate, which, if used on my firebirds . . .

. . . ah. Then I really couldn’t keep an air army out of my base. There it is, I bet.

Is he doing anything to telegraph that this whole theory is right? Seems like the strongest play I see from that combination of heroes, but what’s he actually doing on the ground? Playing for gold, apparently. That does support a mimic + faerie dragon + lobber on turn 4 theory, that’s not going to be cheap. And while I don’t want to focus overly on that as a threat, it does seem like what I should be most concerned about, and the only warning I’d have would be a balance spec.

If I can’t stop it from flying in, and I’m probably spending a turn or two without my tech 2 (and shouldn’t rely on it), can I at least deter the strategy? A tax man and a tower would mean pretty much anything that attacked would die, and they both cost less than the air things. The threat of a blood tech 2 and crashbarrows would mean he’d have to keep my tech2 down or spend on big bodies, which might distract him from other endeavors. Jaina and the gliders both seem like solid choices as flyer assassins, though I can’t rely on either of them staying alive. I probably can’t stop the mimics from getting haste, but maybe I can kill the things helping them fly. Still, that makes kidnapping seem less valuable. He’s probably not going to have a lot of stuff I can suicide the mimics into. Direct damage seems like a better bet, though I’ll want a fallback if Jaina goes out and kidnapping will probably eventually be it.

I want to target units directly, not partrollers, so – Fire darts or Flame arrows? I want to be able to kill those mimics, and I’d love to be able to drop heroes at will, which argues for the latter . . . but I probably can’t stop the mimics picking up haste, and Fire Dart should be able to take out anything that’s giving them flying. I don’t have anything expensive in my plans yet which means I’m probably going to be constrained by cards . . . just the same, going cheap feels like the better decision.

Before betting too hard on the mimic lobber theory, is there any alternative I should be worried about? Speccing bashing seems like a silly move, and my crash barrows would work against big bodies until I could get kidnapping going. Much easier to handle. Speccing fire gives him . . . firebirds? That might suck, but he doesn’t have a way to haste them, and nothing else there looks significantly scary. Nah, I’ll play like this is the plan.

So – my shopping list for the next couple turns looks like: Tax men (let’s get two, they’re still useful even if I’m wrong, I need something heavyish for the iron men, one might get intimidated), fire darts, shoddy glider, crash barrow, probably a tower, let’s see what the board looks like at that point.

Final note, let’s kill as many of his units as I can. Solid strategy anyway, and if I’m right about the mimics, preventing him from getting even one of the cards he wants on exactly the turn he wants it could save me a lot of damage. Oh yes, and if I see any lobbers, kill them dead.
[/details]

Starting Hand

Charge, Careless Musketeer, Bombaster, Mad Man, Pillage

Worker

Careless Musketeer. I’m not sure I’ve played this guy yet.

Tech

Gunpoint Taxman, Fire Dart

More Thoughts

BRO’s gotta kill the tiger cub. That much seems obvious.

Do I wanna kill Troq too? A charging bombaster would do it for 4 gold and 2 cards. A madman and Jaina could do it, for one gold, one card, maybe another gold to midband Jaina and heal the damage. I’d leave myself without a board either way, so the Merfolk prospector could hit. A buffed up Lobber could hit. Ummm yeah that could hurt.

Do I have a compelling reason to kill Troq? I can’t really think of one. Seems expensive. His spells don’t seem that dangerous right now. And while leaving the prospector around to collect money doesn’t seem smart, getting behind to kill it doesn’t seem smart either. I’m red! Rawr kill! sigh, later . . .

Is pillage worth going down a card for? Meh, I’m not experienced enough to know. But I do know I won’t be able to respect myself in the morning if I don’t do some damage to his base.

P2T2:

• Collect 6 gold (6)
• Worker (5)
• Tech 1 (4)
• Bombaster (2)
• Blood Rage Ogre attacks Tiger Cub. Both die. (2)
• Pillage - I spent 1 gold, You lose 1 gold, I gain 1, your base takes 2 damage (2)
• Discard 2, rs, Draw 4
• Float 2 gold

Patrol:
SQL: Bombaster (2/2 + 1A)
ELITE:
SCAV:
TECHN: Jaina (2/3)
LOOKOUT:

Info:
Base: 20
Buildings: Tech 1 (5)
Other:
Hand: 4
Draw: 5
Discard: 0
Gold: 2
Workers: 7

Next Hand

Fire Dart, Bloodrage Ogre, Nautical Dog, Charge

[jasonwocky]

You’re right on my worker count; thanks.

Slow play is totally fine. I prefer not to feel rushed as well! Feel free to take your time w/your next move. I’m likely to only make this one more move tonight.

Starting Hand and Thoughts

Playful Panda, Verdant Tree, Forest’s Favor, Rampant Growth, Ironbark Treant.

Worker

Verdant Tree

Tech

Flame Arrow, Iron Man

P1T3:

• Tech 2 Cards
• Collect 6g (6)
• Exhaust Merfolk Prospector for 1g (7)
• Worker (6)
• Heroes’ Hall (4)
• Ironbark Treant (1)
• Troq attacks Bombaster, does 1dmg after armor, takes 2dmg.
• Patrol as below
• Discard 3, Draw 3, RS, Draw 2
• Float 1g

Patrol:

• SQL: Ironbark Treant (1/4+1)
• ELITE:
• SCAV:
• TECHN:
• LOOKOUT:

Info:

• Base: 18
• Buildings: Tech 1 (5), Heroes’ Hall (4)
• Other: Merfolk Prospector (1/1), Lvl 1 Troq Bashar (2/1)
• Hand: 5
• Deck: 4
• Discard: 0
• Gold: 1
• Workers: 7

Next Hand

Iron Man, Ember Sparks, Spore Shambler, Rampant Growth, Tiger Cub

[Drakona]

[details=Thoughts]So . . . fiddlesticks. I think the Pillage might have been a mistake. I’m going to have 8 workers this turn and could be teching my tech2 cards and building my tech2. But with five cards in my draw pile, there’s no way I could get them next turn, so there’s no point. The mechanics and timing of the tech and draw continue to befuddle me regardless of how many times I work things out on paper and try to practice against myself. Ok. Things dying slows my tech down. Having fewer cards in my hand slows my tech down.

Let me work through this.

If I hadn’t played pillage, I’d have drawn 5. And my draw deck would be 4 cards, not 5, so if I teched two tech2 cards this turn, my discard would be three from my hand and those two I teched, and I’d draw one from the discard for . . . an 20% chance of getting ONE tech2 next turn. Maybe lower cuz stuff might die. I guess I control that, but fundamentally… that’s what I gave up.

Ya know, that doesn’t seem that bad.

So let’s see. Should I tech some tech2 on this turn anyway? I’m playing slow. Let me run through this. I’m (presumably) going to discard 3 and draw 5. And that’ll leave my draw deck empty. And then next turn I’ll discard 3 and draw 5, from the five I leave this turn (two I tech now) plus the three I discard and the two I tech next turn. So two turns from now, I’ll be drawing five from a pile of 10 cards, 6 of which are already in the deck, and four of which I’ll be teching. Plus any spells or units that die. So this is playing odds no matter how I run it – I can’t guarantee a tech2 unit two turns out. But teching one now improves my chances. How much?

2 T2s in the pile: 70% chance of getting at least one
3 T2s in the pile: 83% chance of getting at least one
4 T2s in the pile: 93% chance of getting at least one

Interesting. How bad do I want 'em? Given that I screwed this up (did I screw up? Is this normal?), I think I’m getting my T2 units a turn after he gets his rather than a turn before. I wanted those gliders to kill scary flying things, but ya know . . . I can’t count on it, and deterrence seems like a better strategy. And a crashbarrow now, a crashbarrow later . . . who cares. It hits.

So, okay. Teching two tech2s next turn. I think I wanted the tax men more anyway.

---

Next thought. Do I want to use a tech lab and put my own firebirds on the field, on defense? Seems like I might need that to survive, and tech labs are super cheap. And the birds are a great deterrent. It costs me the tower, but I don’t see how building one this turn helps me much. I can decide next turn.

---

Next thought. What do his choices tell me? A heroes hall says he wants Jaina or Midori, and bad. Possibly both. I bet he’d be happy if I killed Troq, so I won’t do that. What’s the threat there? Direct damage from Jaina could target a unit, maybe two spells could wipe a building. I guess that’s an argument for getting my tech2 down even if I can’t use it yet, but I don’t see anything else on my side of the board that seems like a target. So, not too worried about Jaina. I guess she could kill Jaina. Meh. What could happen with Midori? He could turn a lobber into . . . arbitrary badness, really. A harvest reaper, a basilisk, a firebird. That’s a six or seven gold plan, but he’ll have that much without even skipping a worker. And I still don’t see a way to give whatever he summons haste, so I can probably deal with it next turn.

Do I see any evidence for or against my air theory? Not yet. But I wouldn’t.

---

Gameplan options.

Option 1: Take a down turn, catch up on cards. Build tech 2 as a target and to potentially allow Zane or Drakk to act next turn. Maybe build a tower, maybe build a tech lab.

Option 2: Kill all the things. The bombaster can attack. Jaina can attack and cast Fire Dart. The Bloodrage Ogre can charge. That destroys my economy – what can I get for it? I think the most efficient way to go about it would be Fire Dart, Bombaster -> Treant, and the BRO can drop 4 damage on whatever. Could break the heroes hall. Then I’ve got no board (Troq and the prospector kill my tech?), or I put the Nautical Dog on defense and I’ve got no cards, and draw 2. And if he has to, he can suicide Troq to put whatever dastardly plan that hero’s hall is for into action. That seems like a way to get behind right when I need to be ready for action.

Option 1 it is. Only question is – tower or tech lab? Let’s do the tech lab. It’s scarier, I think I might actually turn out to need those firebirds, and I think the tax men should be sufficient deterrence by themselves, especially with two in the deck. I guess I have to worry about mass stealth rather than mass flying now, but blowing it up is only a two damage, one gold adjustment. And he’d have to draw a yahtzee to get a hasted stealthed mimic on one turn.
[/details]

Starting Hand

Charge, Nautical Dog, Bloodrage Ogre, Fire Dart

Tech

Gunpoint Taxman, Kidnapping

Worker

Nautical Dog.

P2T2:

• Tech 2 cards
• Float 2 gold (2)
• Collect 7 gold (9)
• Worker (8)
• Tech2 – Blood (4)
• Tech Lab – Fire (3)
• discard 3, draw 5
• Float 3 gold

Patrol: Bombaster (2/1 + 1A)
SQL:
ELITE:
SCAVENGER:
TECHN: Jaina (2/3)
LOOKOUT:

Info:
Base: 20
Buildings: Tech 1 (5/5), Tech 2 (5/5), Tech Lab (Fire, 4/4)
Other:
Hand: 5
Draw: 0
Discard: 3
Gold: 3
Workers: 8

Next Hand

Pillage, Gunpoint Taxman, Mad Man, Bloodburn, Makeshift Rambaster

[Drakona]

Dunno if I’ll have time to get another turn in tonight, especially if you take your time (please feel free to!), and I have work tomorrow, so there will mostly likely be an 8 hour delay between turns at some point. I appreciate you being chill about it and giving me time to think. This is great!

[jasonwocky]

No problem at all. Breaks in between working hours are commonplace! I’ll try to make my move around lunchtime today.

[jasonwocky]

So sorry for the delay!

Starting Hand and Thoughts

Iron Man, Ember Sparks, Spore Shambler, Rampant Growth, Tiger Cub. I can break her Tech 2, which when faced with Blood is always a good idea, but I can’t really build any board doing so. So that sucks. Still, I’ll roll the dice and try to deaden her hand.

Worker

Spore Shambler

Tech

Hrm, need to decide on a Tier 2. Nothing sticks out as an obvious matchup for Blood, but I’ll go with Balance. 2x Wandering Mimic.

P1T4:

• Tech 2 Cards
• Collect 7g (8)
• Worker (7)
• Tap Prospector (8)
• Jaina (6)
• Jaina casts Ember Sparks: Does 2 to Bombaster (killing it), 1 to Jaina (3).
• Troq Trades with Jaina, my Jaina to level 3. You get a card.
• Rampant Growth Ironbark Treant (0)
• Ironbark Treant destroys your Tech 2; your base @ 18
• Patrol as below
• Discard 2, Draw 4
• Float 0g

Patrol:

• SQL: Lvl 3 Jaina (2/3 + 1)
• ELITE:
• SCAV:
• TECHN:
• LOOKOUT:

Info:

• Base: 18
• Buildings: Tech 1 (5), Heroes’ Hall (4)
• Other: Merfolk Prospector (1/1), Ironbark Treant (3/2)
• Hand: 4
• Deck: 0
• Discard: 0
• Gold: 1
• Workers: 8

Next Hand

Flame Arrow, Iron Man, Forests Favor, Playful Panda

[Drakona]

Oh yeah, no worries! This is getting exciting!

On your turn: Discarded Bombaster, which took the discard deck to six cards. Reshuffled, drew one card.

Drew

The other tax man. Oh hellzyeah.

[details=Thoughts]Hahahahaha, holy cow, he went for it! When he took a long time to play, I started wondering if he might! WHAT A GREAT GAME THAT THIS CAN HAPPEN!!!

Building that tech 2 started out as “Meh, it’s a target, he might go for it”, but as time went on I started to wonder just how credible this bluff was. On the one hand, I would have had to tech my T2 cards on very, very first cycle to have them in my hand right now. Is that sort of thing common knowledge / expectation? No idea. On the other hand, I haven’t revealed any of my tech choices, so a rush is not a completely extraordinary idea. I would be scared too. Ha!

I was worried he would see a transparent bluff and kill my tech 1. That could’ve been bad. Troq for Jaina I saw coming. Ember Sparks I didn’t – efficient. And defensive. Interesting. I thought he’d need another card. I just wish he had committed something from his main strategy. I kinda wanted to see it, and I’m still left with no confirm/deny on the air thing. Hrm.

He didn’t even build his tech2, and Jaina herself is light defense. Part of me wants to play straight for one more turn and go for a tech lead, and part of me wants to try to trash his tech1. Can I even? I’ll have to think.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shoot. I just realized the drawn card caused a reshuffle, which puts my odds of drawing any tech2 cards for use next turn at 0% instead of 70%! Man I get tripped up by that a lot. Not that he knows. But this is far from the first time I’ve shot myself in the foot by causing a reshuffle. Drawing a card is not always a boon!!!

Ok. So what I tech this turn is not for next turn, but for two turns from now. Unless I get a card draw, and even then it’s 40%. Well, more like 25%, I guess, as things will die. It’s still admittedly is not bad odds.

Let me think about where I’ll be before locking in my tech.

What are my options for killing Jaina?

Midband Drakk (5) + Rambaster (2) + Mad Man (1) => 8 gold, 2 cards, Rambaster and Madman both die. Yuck.

Zane (2) + Rambaster (2) + Mad Man (1) => 5 gold, 2 cards, all three die. Better, but still kinda yuck. More expensive than Jaina herself is, and it uses up all my haste.

Maxband Drakk (7) + Taxman (2) => 9 gold, 1 card, Tax man dies. I’d have to skip a worker to put anyone other than Drakk on defense. Then again, he used his rampant growth. He might have Nature’s blessing, and the Treant plus the Prospector plus that buff could put together 5 damage. How bad do I need Drakk to live? I do like kidnapping. Could skip the worker to hit with the Rambaster, which would almost be worth it if I could get his tech 1 . . . alas, it’d only do 4 damage. Pillage is constrained to the base. Out of money, can’t use the mad man. I could break the Hero’s Hall, but with Jaina dead, that’s of questionable value. Hmm. I’m almost tempted, but it’s expensive and the only advantage I see is keeping Jaina from acting next turn. I can’t keep her dead all the time.

Zane (2) + Midband Drakk (5) + Mad Man (1) => 8 gold, 1 card, Madman and Zane die . . . sounds more reasonable . . . no, wait, that doesn’t work, Jaina midbands and heals.

Hum.

Ok, if I’ve got a good attack option, I don’t see it. Turtle options it is.

Threats are: The treant, the prospector, Jaina herself (plus spells), Troq’s spells, very very possibly Midori’s mimics. If I play the madman on defense, they get haste. Consider that. Max d, puts me a card behind, consists of Tax Man, Tax Man, Mad Man, Zane/Drakk. 7 gold. Need to go down to 2 cards to get my worker. Nine hit points, four units, all cost efficient, which I think is more than he can overcome and still do anything useful. I could alternatively swap the Mad Man for Bloodburn, which is an option I’m really feeling right now.

Is Bloodburn worth skipping a card? On the one hand, I’m playing for targeted damage here. On the other, I’d rather have a shot at tech2 next turn (40% if he kills my technician!), and cards to play next turn. Let’s skip it for now.

Huh. So, final analysis, what I got out of the tech2 bluff was him clearing his own board for me. But I wasn’t in position to capitalize, so it’s a wash now. Interesting.

Okay. Two turns out, I’m expecting either the D will get crushed or I’m facing the materialization of my opponent’s plan. Not both. I’m thinking Crashbarrow and Firebird give me the most/best response options, and I won’t be needing to save money on an emergency glider. So, okay. Here goes nothing.
[/details]

Tech

Crashbarrow, Molting Firebird

Starting Hand

Gunpoint Taxman, Gunpoint Taxman, Pillage, Mad Man, Bloodburn, Makeshift Rambaster

Worker

Pillage

P2T4:

• Tech two cards
• Float 3 gold (3)
• Collect 8 gold (11)
• Worker (10)
• Gunpoint Taxman (8)
• Gunpoint Taxman (6)
• Zane (4)
• Discard 3, Draw 5
• Float 4 gold

Turn ends, Tech 2 rebuilds.

Patrol:

SQL: Gunpoint Taxman (3/3 + 1A)
Elite: Gunpoint Taxman (4/3)
Scav:
Techn: Zane (2/2)
Lookout:

Info:
Base: 18 hp
Buildings: Tech 1 (5/5), Tech 2 (Blood, 5/5), Tech Lab (Fire, 4/4)
Other:
Hand: 5
Draw: 0
Discard: 5
Gold: 4 (Gosh, I really oughta spend that)
Workers: 9

Next Hand

Kidnapping, Bloodrage Ogre, Fire Darts, Charge, Bombaster

What a great game! This is super fun! However it turns out, thanks so much for playing!

[Drakona]

Don’t bother trying to get back to me tonight. I think I’m going to write down the board state (yeah, I’m tracking this with physical cards) so it’s easy to reconstruct, and run a faceup game against myself. This has been SO much fun, I think I’ll join in that tournament after all, even though I have no idea what four of the colors do. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to game my opponents’ spec a couple times to at least know how things work. Wheeeee…

Anyway, I want to see if swapping out Zane for River gives me something I like better than mono Red. So I’ll be doing that for the rest of the evening. Take care for now! This has been super fun!

Board State Notes

Jaina unsummonable (comes back next turn)
x5 workers + 4: Pillage, Scorch, Nautical Dog, Careless Musketeer
Draw deck empty
Discard: Bloodburn, Firebird, Crashbarrow, Makeshift Rambaster, Mad Man

Also, while I’m here –

Self Critique

I’m scaring myself with phantasms and consequently playing too defensively. I’m not wrong that this spec could put together one heck of an air strike, but maybe two tax men was an overreaction. If one of those had been a lobber, last turn would have played very differently. I do need to think about what he might do and be prepared, but I also need to take some initiative and have my own scary plan.

[jasonwocky]

Starting Hand and Thoughts

Flame Arrow, Iron Man, Forests Favor, Playful Panda. Argh, I don’t have a really good plan here. Nuking her Tech 2 was probably unnecessary last turn. I’m just skittish around Blood.

Worker

Playful Panda

Tech

2x Moment’s Peace

P1T5:

• Tech 2 Cards
• Collect 8g (8)
• Worker (7)
• Tap Prospector (8)
• Iron Man (5)
• Tech 2: Balance (1)
• Jaina to lvl 4 (0)
• Patrol as below
• Discard 2, RS, Draw 4
• Float 0g

Patrol:

• SQL: Ironbark Treant (1/4 + 1)
• ELITE:
• SCAV: Iron Man (3/4)
• TECHN: Lvl 4 Jaina (3/3)
• LOOKOUT:

Info:

• Base: 18
• Buildings: Tech 1 (5), Tech 2: Balance (5), Heroes’ Hall (4)
• Other: Merfolk Prospector (1/1)
• Hand: 4
• Deck: 6
• Discard: 0
• Gold: 0
• Workers: 9

Next Hand

Rampant Growth, Forest’s Favor, Tiger Cub, Moment’s Peace

[Drakona]

It just occured to me that I’m supposed to be playing Red.

[details=Thoughts]He specced balance! I am shocked, shocked at this turn of events!

Iron Men! Also shocked! And I just remembered there’s a better counter to them than what I already have. We’ll see if I can get it out in time to do any good.

Less to say this time. I’ve decided to stop playing like I’m scared and let there be blood. And possibly fire.[/details]

Tech

Shoddy Glider, Ogre Recruiter

Starting Hand

Kidnapping, Bloodrage Ogre, Fire Darts, Charge, Bombaster

Skipping worker this turn!

P2T5:

• Tech 2 cards
• Jaina returns to the command zone
• Float 4 gold
• Collect 9 gold (13)
• Bombaster (11)
• Sacrifice bombaster to deal 2 damage to your Ironbark Treant, it’s now 1/3 (10)
• Tax Man kills Ironbark Treant, receives 1 damage. I see you were careful to spend your gold, and so I get none. (10)
• Zane suicides into Iron Man. Iron Man now 3/2. Your Jaina maxbands, 4/3. (10)
• Summon Drakk (8)
• Drakk casts Kidnapping on the Iron Man. (4) (I don’t think you get a gold here…)
• Iron Man and your Jaina kill each other. My Drakk to level 3. You draw a card.
• Summon Jaina (2)
• Jaina casts Fire Dart on your Tech 2. (0)
• The Other Tax Man attacks your Tech 2 and breaks it. 2 damage to your base.
• Discard 2, reshuffle, Draw 4.

Patrol:
SQL: Jaina (2/3 + 1A)
ELITE:
SCAVENGER:
TECHN: Drakk (1/3)
LOOKOUT:

Info:
Base: 18
Buildings: Tech 1 (5/5), Tech 2 – Blood (5/5), Tech Lab – Fire (4/4)
Other: Gunpoint Taxman (3/2), Gunpoint Taxman (3/3)
Further note: Zane unsummonable next turn.
Hand: 4
Draw: 8
Gold: 0
Workers: 9

Next Hand

Mad Man, Fire Darts, Blood Burn, Ogre Recruiter

Recording for reconstruction purposes, will shuffle before using – my utmost apology if this is considered cheating, though I can’t imagine what advantage I might derive from it:

Draw Deck

Bombaster, Kidnapping, Molting Firebird, Bloodrage Ogre, Makeshift Rambaster, Shoddy Glider, Charge, Crashbarrow

[jasonwocky]

Yep, I was wondering when the eruption was going to come!

Don’t worry about the draw pile. It’s common convention here in PbP that players can review whats in their draw piles as long as they shuffle before actually taking any cards

Starting Hand and Thoughts

Rampant Growth, Forest’s Favor, Tiger Cub, Moment’s Peace. Draw Mimic off of TECHN. Rough going, here. My heroes all level up sooooo sloooooooowly. Can’t decided whether I ought to float gold, or build a tower. If she comes hard after Midori to prevent another Moment’s Peace, I’m going to feel bad. If I build a tower to maximize Midori’s chance of living, then next turn I should have 11g. 5 for T3, 2 for MP, 3 for Iron Man? Maybe that works. It’s a long shot but I don’t really see any other path right now. Of course, maybe she’ll force me to find one

Worker

Forest’s Favor

Tech

2x T-Rex

P1T6:

• Draw 1 Card off of TECHN death
• Tech 2 Cards
• Rebuild Tech 2: Balance
• Collect 9g (9)
• Tap Prospector (10)
• Midori (8)
• Troq (6)
• Midori casts Moment’s Peace. Your units can’t attack; mine can’t patrol. (4)
• Worker (3)
• Tower, destroying my own Heroes Hall (0). My base takes 2dmg from that, now @ 14.
• Patrol as below
• Discard 3, Draw 5
• Float 0g

Patrol:

• SQL: Lvl 1 Troq (2/3 + 1)
• ELITE:
• SCAV:
• TECHN:
• LOOKOUT:

Info:

• Base: 14
• Buildings: Tech 1 (5), Tech 2: Balance (5), Tower (4)
• Other: Lvl 1 Midori (2/3), Merfolk Prospector (1/1)
• Hand: 5
• Deck: 0
• Discard: 7
• Gold: 0
• Workers: 10

Next Hand

Flame Arrow, Ember Sparks, Iron Man, Mimic, Moment’s Peace

[Drakona]

[details=Thoughts]Oh man, I should write these things down. I literally said yesterday looking at the board that his best move was Moment’s Peace – “But if I’m lucky, he doesn’t have it in his hand.” Perfect. Nice. I didn’t see the tower, though, and it was shrewd: I remember thinking I’d probably be happy to trade his heroes for mine, but the tower changes the numbers just enough that it’s not a good idea. If I’d teched a different spell for Jaina, then yes. As it is . . . not so much.

9 gold to work with. Tax men can’t do anything. What are my serious options here?

1 - Hunker down and go for tech 3. It’s another threat, and once it’s down it’s down. He might not believe it twice, though. That uses up six of my gold, leaving me three I’d probably float. Discard 3, Draw 5, ready to rock next turn.

2 - Play the Ogre Recruiter while I’ve got him. He’s scary. It’ll force him to patrol something that can do 4 damage (what does he even have . . . ?) or else avoid tech 1 units, and the guy swings a brutal club. Great deterrent. That uses up five of my gold, one more for a worker – puts me discarding 2 again.

3 - Bloodburn? I keep saying I want it, but I feel it’s too late in the game for it to be really worthwhile now. Probably gonna try to end this thing quick. Should worker this.

4 - Damage. Jaina can act. If I maxband her (6) and cast Fire Darts (2) . . . I can kill his Tech 2 again. Which is kinda evil. The odds of Jaina trying to kill Jaina if I did that are near 100%, but if I don’t patrol her, the Ember Sparks he’s revealed can’t do it, and neither can Jaina’s native abilities. So unless he bet hard on Jaina, he’s going to have a hard time actually touching her . . with . . . her. Max Midori could do it, of course, and maybe she’ll look scary enough that he will, but if you want to spend 7 gold on that, you’re not doing much else. Plus tax men will kill you back. Keeping his tech 2 down another turn is pretty attractive . . . alternatively, I could drop that damage on his base. It’d be at 9. Plus a maxbanded Jaina and maybe a midbanded Drakk, that makes the firebird or the crashbarrow a lethal threat next turn, with the taxmen to clear things out. He will have to kill Jaina. Likely he’ll use whatever his tech 2 plan is to do so, but if it’s doing that, it’s not hitting my tech, and I have nasty T2s next turn. Sounds . . . delicious.

Yeah, option 4. I do believe I said my strategy was to kill him first. Maybe I oughta do that.

And I may finally be getting my head around this deck thing. So check it out: The cards I want (Firebird, Crashbarrow) are already in my draw deck, see? (And the glider and rambaster would be reasonable consolation prizes). At this point the odds can’t change. Two cards of eight. Drawing 3, 58%. Drawing four, 70%. Drawing five, 86%. And a reshuffle can no longer change that! That makes this calculation easier. Is two damage to his base now (fire darts) worth 16% of a firebird or crashbarrow? It’s worth more. Is a madman as an extra body on defense and an extra poing of damage or two next turn worth 16%? Ehhh . . . kinda nah. Is he worth skipping a worker? Not if he gives a mimic haste and my plans get trashed. Plus, I don’t think he can get through my board without flying or stealth, and a mad man wouldn’t be defense either way.

Anyway. Draw 8 means I draw 5 now, 3 left. Next turn, draw 5, 2 come from the discard, so anything I put in the discard now has a chance of showing up two turns from now. What should it be?

I dream of that dragon. But I think I’m gonna try so hard to keep pressure on that I may not be able to afford it and my tech 3. I don’t want this game to go on long enough that he can do anything, and that would definitely happen if I went for it like that. I’m sure he’d be happy to play for time. Let’s go with cheap and nasty. I’m feeling the Land Octopus (fixes so many problems if Drakk hastes it, potential game-ender) and . . . hmmm . . . bet hard on Drakk surviving or give Zane the sharks? Cheap. Nasty. Bloodlust.

Let’s not bet on ultimate spells. Betting on low tech buffed units just seems so much more stable.
[/details]

Tech

Land Octopus, Bloodlust

Starting Hand

Fire Dart, Ogre Recruiter, Mad Man, Bloodburn

Skipping worker again this turn!

P2T6:

• Collect 9 gold (9)
• Jaina Maxbands (3)
• Jaina exhausts to deal 3 damage to your base (now at 11). (3)
• Jaina casts Fire Darts to deal 2 damage to your base (now at 9). (1)
• Float 1 gold
• Discard 3, draw 5

Patrol:
SQL: Gunpoint Taxman (3/3 + 1A)
Elite: Gunpoint Taxman (4/2)
Scav:
Techn: Drakk, level 3 (1/3)
Lookout:

Info:
Base: 18
Buildings: Tech 1 (5/5), Tech 2 – Blood (5/5), Tech Lab – Fire (4/4)
Other: Jaina, level 7 (4/3)
Hand: 5
Deck: 3
Discard: 6

Next Hand

Makeshift Rambaster, Molting Firebird, Shoddy Glider, Bombaster, Kidnapping

Draw Deck

Crashbarrow, Bloodrage Ogre, Charge

Discard

Ogre Recruiter, Mad Man, Bloodburn, Fire Dart, Land Octopus, Bloodlust

[details=Thoughts]Odds of maxband Midori killing Jaina I put up over 90%. I’ve really set this board up to look like I’m fishing hard for Jaina’s ult and betting on it, and that would be a devastating play. Hopefully that’ll mean he goes after her and not my tech. Truth is, all I want from her is the tap for 3, other than that, she’s a target. And given what I drew . . . it’s actually Drakk whose survival would be game over. Glider + Firebird + Haste + +1 atk. I’m a little nervous about Drakk getting killed. Troq and a super buffed prospector could do it, and he’s a heck of a target. He can’t kill everything though, and I feel like between Zane and the tax men and maybe the Rambaster, I might still be able to get the job done. I’m mildly nervous about what’s gonna get killed, he’s gotta be in panic mode on five different levels. But mostly I feel . . . dangerous.

[/details]

[jasonwocky]

Eep, this one’s getting bloody now.

Starting Hand and Thoughts

Flame Arrow, Ember Sparks, Iron Man, Mimic, Moment’s Peace. Oh crap, the base race is on. She might have this in the bag.

Worker

None

Tech

None

P1T7:

• Forego teching
• Collect 10g (10)
• Tap Prospector (11)
• Midori casts Moment’s Peace. Your units can’t attack; mine can’t patrol. (9)
• Build Tech 3 (4)
• Troq to Lvl 5 (0)
• Patrol as below
• Discard 3, RS, Draw 5
• Float 0g

Patrol:

• SQL: Lvl 5 Troq (3/4 + 1)
• ELITE:
• SCAV:
• TECHN: Lvl 1 Midori (2/3)
• LOOKOUT:

Info:

• Base: 9
• Buildings: Tech 1 (5), Tech 2: Balance (5), Tech 3 (5), Tower (4)
• Other: Lvl 1 Midori (2/3), Merfolk Prospector (1/1)
• Hand: 5
• Deck: 7
• Discard: 0
• Gold: 0
• Workers: 10

Next Hand

T-Rex, Iron Man, Ember Sparks, Mimic, Tiger Cub

[Drakona]

Yeah, this is kinda . . . brutal . . .

[details=Thoughts]Two copies of Moment’s Peace! You know, that might be prudent against an aggressive red. Hadn’t thought about it before. Didn’t really see that coming.

Option 1: Get my own tech 3. I like the dragon’s chances against the squirrel tree, especially with his base so low. Drawing two from eleven with two chances, I can give myself a 35% chance of coming up with it next turn. I think its spellcasting on arrival doesn’t count as an attack for the purpose of Moment’s Peace. Exhaust Jaina again, base at 6. Kinda precarious. I’m expecting to see the squirrel tree next turn, but honestly – three damage? What’s it going to hit? Plus, I’m floating one gold, Tech 3 + worker is 6, I’ll have 10 . . . I could bring out my firebird.

Option 2: Kill Midori. He’s patrolling, so I could suicide Drakk (1 damage to your base), summon and maxband Zane (7), pushing Troq out of the way. Zane has haste and at 4/4 does enough to kill Midori. Or Zane could kill Troq and Jaina could kill Midori. That leaves me 3 gold. I could get a worker for a change. Or put the Rambaster or the Bombaster on the field just to have even more things next turn.

I like the second plan. I’m guaranteed my Crashbarrow next hand. I’m guaranteed charge and a BRO. If I genuinely wipe his field, I’ll be shocked if he can put up enough resistance to stop that, and my tax men, and Zane and Jaina. Doesn’t even matter what I draw beyond that. [/details]

Tech

Hrm. Something I won’t be sorry to see in my hand next turn, I guess. Surprise Attack, Crashbarrow.

Starting Hand

Makeshift Rambaster, Molting Firebird, Shoddy Glider, Bombaster, Kidnapping

Worker

Makeshift Rambaster

P2T7.

• Tech 2 cards
• Float 1 gold (1)
• Collect 9 gold (10)
• Worker (9)
• Jaina exhausts to deal 3 damage to your base. Now at 6. (9)
• Drakk suicides into Troq, removes his armor. Midori to level 3. Your base takes 1 damage, now 5 (9)
• Summon Zane (7)
• Maxband Zane (2)
• Zane’s maxband pushes Troq out of SQL into Elite, 1 damage to Troq. Troq now (4/3). (2)
• Zane kills Midori, takes 2 return damage plus one from the tower. No one can level from Midori’s death. Troq to level 7<— [edit: oops, my mistake. Was thinking Zane would die here for some reason. Troq’s still at 5]. You draw a card, I draw a card (2).

Drawn Card

Charge. At least it wasn’t the Crashbarrow. I wish I could refuse Zane’s ability, I really don’t want to draw a card.

• Bombaster (0)
• Discard 4, draw 2, reshuffle, draw 3

Patrol:
SQL: Gunpoint Taxman (3/3 + 1A)
Elite: Gunpoint Taxman (4/2)
Scav: Bombaster (2/2)
Technician: Level 6 Zane (4/1)
Lookout:

Info:
Base: 18
Buildings: Tech 1 (5/5), Tech 2 – Blood (5/5), Tech Lab – Fire (4/4)
Other: Level 7 Jaina (4/3)
Hand: 5
Deck: 9
Discard: 0
Gold: 0
Workers: 10

Next Hand

Bloodrage Ogre, Crashbarrow, Shoddy Glider, Fire Dart, Ogre Recruiter

[details=Thoughts]So, the worst case scenario here, I think, is he plays the squirrel tree. Hits something with Troq, maxbands and patrols. Jaina and the squirrels could break my tech 2. Or they could kill Jaina. Probably not both, though. If my Jaina lives, it’s game over – I have Fire Dart in my hand. If my Tech 2 lives, I’m not so sure. The shoddy glider can hit the base for 3, but those last two points of damage are going to be tough to come up with, what with all that he can patrol. Still, I find it hard to believe that he can kill me all the way dead before I come up with them. Worst case, he’d have two turns to do it before Jaina comes back and finishes him off.

Mimics don’t do enough damage to scare me anymore. Likewise non-hasted flyers. Maybe I will come to revise those opinions and I guess we’ll see, but I am . . . cautiously optimistic. We’ll see if he can steal the momentum.[/details]