Casual - robinz [Blood]/Feral/Present vs EricF [Demonology]/Discipline/Present

Codex Codex play-by-forum
1

@EricF, thanks for the game! I was looking for practice, and I guess I’m going to get some tough practice in this game - if I somehow avoid getting steamrolled in the first few turns. My first hand was not promising, but you work with what you’ve got :confused:

P1T1

StartingHand Workers

STARTING HAND
Scorch
Bloodburn
Charge
Careless Musketeer
Pillage

WORKERS
Scorch

NextHand

Bloodrage Ogre
Bombaster
Mad Man
Makeshift Rambaster
Nautical Dog

Discard

Pillage
Bloodburn
Charge

Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($4)
Worker - ($3)
Careless Musketeer - ($1)

Float ($1)
Discard 3, draw 5

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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]:
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]: Careless Musketeer (2/1)
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]

[B]Buildings:[/B]

  • :heart: Base HP: 20

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

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 0
  • Disc: 3
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 1
  • Workers: 5
Thoughts

Ick, only 1 unit in my first hand, and it’s the Careless Musketeer - usually an auto-worker because he’s soooooo bad. Maybe this is the game where I might get to figure out what, if anything, he is useful for.

The alternative was to play a hero (I was intending Calamandra), and play one of my good starting units from my next had. That might have been better, but 2 things swung me against it. One is that on principle I dislike discarding more than 3 cards - unless I’ve got a massive handsize from Hyperion(s) or Setsuki. The other is that, while I’m not very experienced up against Vandy and co, I’m well aware of the danger that playing heros early against her can put me in. I think that danger is bigger for P2, but even so I don’t want to risk giving the game away at T1 or T2, because against EricF I’m never going to recover.

My basic plan in this game is I think going to be Blood Tech 2, with Bugblatters - supplemented by Calamandra, after advice in my last game against Legion that Murkwood allies is a good spell for this situation. (It’s very much a midgame spell, given its cost, but Cal is great early for other reasons - provided I can keep her alive in the face of a Vandy onslaught.) In other words, I’m at least partially going to try to base-race this - which is about the one thing CM might help me with. For that reason, I’ve workered Scorch rather than Bloodburn or Pillage, because both of the latter cards might help me get a crucial point of damage in later. (Although the chances are I’ll worker one or both of them when I next see them…)

I’m going to try to tech cheap things this game - it’s pointless playing expensive heavy guys like Argonaut and Centaur when he has access to Sac the Weak. He also has potential to send fliers at me - Gargoyle, and YLD if he goes Discipline Tech 2. (I have no idea what his Tech 2 plan might be at this point.) Both these factor argue in favour of a Huntress, or perhaps Sentry if he goes for direct damage effects. Whatever he chooses at Tech 2, he’s sure to threaten me with Metamorphosis at some point, so I expect I’ll be building a tower later.

I’ve patrolled the Musketeer in Scavenger because he could kill it with either of StW and Deteriorate - and while the latter targets, the former doesn’t. I’d be reasonably happy for him to play a spell instead of a unit and give me a free gold. Next turn I can worker, build Tech 1, and play a unit or 2. (Or a hero if I feel it’s safe to do so.)

2

[details=P2, Turn 1]Skeletal Archery -> Worker
Jandra
Pestering Haunt
Graveyard
Skeleton Javelineer[/details]
5 gold (5)
worker (4)
Jandra (1)
Discard 3, Draw 5. Float 1 gold

SQL - Jandra (3/3 +1)

Base - 20

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

3

P1T2

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Huntress
Crash Bomber

STARTING HAND
Mad Man
Bloodrage Ogre
Nautical Dog
Makeshift Rambaster
Bombaster

WORKERS
Scorch
Nautical Dog

NextHand

Pillage
Bombaster
Huntress
Bloodburn
Mad Man

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($6)
Worker - ($5)
Tech 1 - ($3)
Bloodrage Ogre - ($1)
Musketeer exhausts to do 1 damage to your base, and 1 to mine

Float ($1)
Discard 3, reshuffle, draw 5

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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Bloodrage Ogre (3/2)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Careless Musketeer (2/1)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 19
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

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

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 3
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 1
  • Workers: 6
Thoughts

I don’t see many other options this turn. Might as well use Musketeer’s ability, because he’s not going to last long - and taking 1 off each base should advantage me if I’m going to try to do some sort of rush down. The biggest play he can make next turn is Vandy+Deterioriate+StW (in that order) to wipe my board - but that relies on 2 specific cards in his hand. Jandra is definitely scary - but she definitely has drawbacks, and didn’t EricF himself rather controversially rate her an F? Is this an experiment, or a change of mind? Does this signal a play for Demonology Tech 2?

I’ve never workered Nautical Dog so early before - but every other unit in this hand will probably have more value later than it will. (The only other card I considered workering was Mad Man, but a hasty 1 damage might make all the difference later.)

Biggest decision: what to tech? I’ve already decided to tech cheap stuff to protect against StW - and Crash Bomber seems worth a try here, as he fits a base race plan well, and I clearly don’t much care if he dies, because that’s what he’s for! And Huntress, as already mentioned, is for anti-air. While his deck shouldn’t offer me easy options to abuse sparkshot, at least it’s a better ability than that on sentry.

I’m going to start teching Blood Tech 2 stuff very soon, as well as some Calamandra spells if I get a good opportunity to bring her out. I do worry that the Musketeer - and the Crash Bomber potentially next turn - will signal a Blood plan rather strongly, but I’m not sure what I can do about that. I wouldn’t have played the Musketeer if I’d had any other unit in my hand! And I’m not sure Blood Tech 2 rush is so easy for him to stop with his options, although he can certainly slow it down, or distract me with his own threats (like Metamorphosis…).

4

[details=P2, Turn 2]Thieving Imp
Poisonblade Rouge
Deteriorate
Sacrifice the Weak
Summon Skeletons -> Worker
[/details]
6 gold (7)
Worker (6)
Tech I (4)
Vandy (2)
Deteriorate BRO
Jandra kills BRO, overpowers to kill Musketeer too
Poisonblade Rogue (0)
Discard 2, rs, Draw 4.

SQL - L1 Vandy (2/3 +1)
Tech - Poisonblade Rogue (2/1)

Jandra (3/1)

Base - 19
Tech I - 5

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

5

[details=CommentsToReadAfterGame][spoiler]
I think you fell into the same trap here that I did by playing Rambaster against petE’s Zane. It’s not quite as bad here, because none of Eric’s heroes have haste, but he’s still the first to get a hero out (or in this case Jandra, who is almost a mini-hero in terms of cost, accessibility, and stats), which gives him the first chance to attack with that hero. With all of black’s weakening/removal letting Vandy get first swing whenever Eric wants is risky.

Also, I tend to think (now) that if you’re not playing Bloodburn within the first two turns, it won’t be worth it. When else are you going to want to spend that much money on 1 damage (at the soonest) next turn? So I would say it either should have been played or workered, given the Musketeer choice. (I would have been really tempted to play it, but that might have been rough against Vandy.

I love that you started the base race with Musketeer (it’s something I would do), but as long as you’re exhausting him, it might have been better to swat at Jandra (since she has no midband to heal at). I’m not sure about that, but it might have helped. Alternatively, putting him Technician is like spending $2 on turn 1 for a 6-card hand on turn 3, which seems good.

For what it’s worth, I also forgot about Jandra’s OP, and didn’t consider the chance of deteriorating BRO to have Jandra take out both and survive. Black has so much internal synergy in its starter! Deteriorate is ridiculous. I think it’s important to remember that to really abuse all its spells, black has to go down on cards. Of course, putting a huge threat like PB Rogue in Technician makes it hard not to help him get back up to full.
[/spoiler][/details]

2 Likes
6

You know, I actually saw the possibility of that play before you posted it - although only after I’d already posted my turn. Even if I’d seen it in time, I have no idea how I could have prevented it (at least at T2, I did have one alternative at T1 that I now think may have been better).

P1T3

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Captured Bugblatter
Murkwood Allies

STARTING HAND
Mad Man
Bombaster
Huntress
Bloodburn
Pillage

WORKERS
Scorch
Nautical Dog
Bloodburn

NextHand

Makeshift Rambaster
Careless Musketeer
Crash Bomber
Charge

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($7)
Worker - ($6)
Huntress - ($4)
Bombaster - ($2)

Float ($2)
Discard 2, draw 3, reshuffle, draw 1

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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Huntress (3/3+1A, sparkshot, anti-air)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Bombaster (2/2)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]

[B]Buildings:[/B]

  • :heart: Base HP: 19
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

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

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 5
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 2
  • Workers: 7
Thoughts

Sigh. This is as predictable as it is unpleasant. My first game against “Vandy and pals”, against perhaps the best player around - and of course I expected to lose. What I didn’t expect was to seriously consider conceding at T3 :frowning: (No, I’m not going to, because it’s not clear how he’ll turn his massive board advantage to a win - there is “in theory” still time to turn this around.)

As I said above, I’d actually thought of his play, not long before he made it. Too late by then - but even if I’d taken it into account, it’s not clear what I could have done better. Really I suspect I’ve been screwed by my terrible T1 draw - and am thinking that a hero play would have probably been much better. Isn’t hindsight wonderful?

In any case, I can’t see how I can do much now other than bring out my 2 biggest guys (OK, 1 guy and 1 gal). I originally thought I could risk Calamandra, but I can’t - he has multiple ways to break my patrol and get the kill, and that’s not even considering that he might have a Shadow Blade in hand! Ending up heavily on the defense as P1, playing the red starter remember, by T3 is NOT how this should go!

I’ve teched Murkwood already because I need the cheap blockers - I don’t see that at Tech 1 or with Vandy’s spells he has any quick way of clearing those frogs out of the way. I’ve also gone with a Bugblatter, but I may not build Tech 2 next turn - because it’s very likely he can just break it. Of course, if he can break Tech 1 if I don’t I should go for it, but that 4 gold might be better spent on more blockers. I’ve teched generally cheap stuff and am already floating 2 gold, so I actually have reasonable cash economy. My card position is much less good, especially considering he could play Imp or Shadow Blade at any time :frowning:

7

[details=P2, Turn 3]Pestering Haunt
Skeleton Javelineer -> Worker
Sparring Partner
Twilight Baron -> Discarded

Tech in 2x Temporal Distortion, as usual

Defense: 4, 2 // 5 (with likely a Tech I in hand)
Attack: 2, 2+, 3* and no spells.
I could burn 3+ gold on level + fetch + spell - that actually looks semi-worthwhile here, so sure, why not!
[/details]
7 gold (7)
Worker (6)
Level Vandy to 3 (4)
Tap and Discard to fetch a Soul Stone (3)
Soul Stone on Jandra (1)
Poisonblade Rogue hits Huntress through her armor for 2 -1/-1 runes
Jandra kills Huntress, Overpowering the Bombaster as well, you draw a card
Sparring Partner (0)
Pestering Haunt (0)
Discard 0, Draw 2

Tech - Sparring Partner (2/2)

L3 Vandy (3/4)
Soul Stone enhanced Jandra (4/1)
Pestering Haunt (1/1)

Base - 19
Tech I - 5

8 workers, 0 gold
Hand: 2
Deck: 2
Discard: 4

8

I should probably concede already - although that wouldn’t be fun. I’m going to bed soon and will think it over in the morning. (But my next hand is terrible, even after the technician draw.)

9

Well, you do have one clear advantage:

The question is, can you leverage it?

3 Likes
10

I definitely can’t leverage my card advantage this turn, but perhaps I can do so later if I can survive for a few turns…

P1T4

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Murkwood Allies
Crashbarrow

STARTING HAND
Makeshift Rambaster
Crash Bomber
Charge
Careless Musketeer
Captured Bugblatter <- technician draw

WORKERS
Scorch
Nautical Dog
Bloodburn
Careless Musketeer

NextHand

Mad Man
Murkwood Allies
Pillage
Bloodrage Ogre
Makeshift Rambaster

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($9)
Worker - ($8)
Tech 2 Blood - ($4)
Crash Bomber - ($3)

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

[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]: Crash Bomber (2/2)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]

[B]Buildings:[/B]

  • :heart: Base HP: 19
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Blood)

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

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 6
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 3
  • Workers: 8
Thoughts

I hadn’t thought of Soul Stone on Jandra - that’s a good way to mitigate her downside, for a considerable while anyway,

I definitely have no real way to leverage my card advantage, with no meaningful aggressive OR defensive options in hand (only 3 playable units, of which neither Rambaster nor Musketeer will do much for me). Sure I could have Charged the Crash Bomber to kill his Sparring Partner - and that is tempting because he’ll get ridiculous advantage from SP if he stays alive for long. But that would take a minimum 4 extra gold, and whichever hero I end up playing will just die next turn and get him a maxed Vandy, for free. But since he has a small hand, and no need to play anything more to the board, so he’ll probably be able to spend a lot of gold in sparring with all his units :frowning:

If I have any chance of getting out of this, I have to get Murkwood Allies up and running, and try to cause rapid base damage with my tech 2 plan. I am well aware that my Tech 2 is going to get smashed on his turn - but if I don’t build it he can break Tech 1 instead and then it really is GG. What other option do I have - Musketeer again as a blocker?

(Actually, with enough sparring, and max Vandy, he can probably break Tech 1 and Tech 2. If he does I think I’ll be giving up.)

Next turn I will have Murkwood, so the plan is to rebuild Tech 2 (if needed, but I’m sure it will be), play Cal and then Murkwood, and hope that keeps Cal and tech 2 safe for at least a turn. I’ve teched a second Murkwood, as well as a Crashbarrow, to try to keep up the chump blocking. (Obvously Crashbarrow isn’t for blocking, that’s because I need some kind of win condition as well.)

At least he hasn’t built a Heroes’ Hall or Tech 2 yet, so I don’t have to worry about Metamorphosis for a turn or two. If he maxes Vandy and allows himself to play a second hero, I’ll definitely have to spend some of my spare cash on a tower.

We’ll see how this plays out over the next few turns - but it’s definitely not good. At least if I lose quickly I can read ARMed_Pirate’s much-liked comment - all I can think of it as saying is “yep, you needed to play a hero at T1”. Because there’s no doubt in my mind now that I should have done.

11

I don’t think that’s going to get you there

8 gold (8)
Vandy kills Bomber
Max Vandy (6), Dooming Partner
Partner and Haunt break tech 2
Ready Partner (4)
Spar with Jandra
Jandra breaks Tech 1
Tech 2 Present (0)
Discard 2, draw 2, rs, draw 2.

No Patrol

L5 Vandy (4/5)
Doomed Partner (4/4)
Pestering Haunt (1/1)
Soul Soned and trained Jandra (5/2)

Base - 18
Tech 1 - 5
Tech 2 - 5
Spec: Present

8 workers, 0 gold
Hand: 4
Deck: 6
Discard: 0

12

No, I think you’re right - but I really couldn’t have done much better.

This is virtually the last throw of the dice…

P1T5

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Behind the Ferns
Captured Bugblatter

STARTING HAND
Pillage
Mad Man
Bloodrage Ogre
Murkwood Allies
Makeshift Rambaster
Captured Bugblatter

WORKERS
Scorch
Nautical Dog
Bloodburn
Careless Musketeer
Mad Man

NextHand

Crashbarrow
Huntress
Charge
Bombaster
Murkwood Allies

Discard

Crash Bomber

Murkwood Allies
Makeshift Rambaster
Pillage
Captured Bugblatter
Bloodrage Ogre
Behind the Ferns
Captured Bugblatter

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($11)
draw 1 from technician
Worker - ($10)
rebuild tech 1
Tower - ($7)
Calamandra - ($5)
Murkwood Allies - 4 frogs appear - ($0)

Float ($0)
Discard 4, draw 5

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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Frog (1/1+1A)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]: Frog (1+1/1)
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]: Frog (1/1)
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Frog (1/1)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Calamandra lvl 1 (2/3)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 15
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

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

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 0
  • Disc: 8
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 9
Thoughts

Not much more to say here. I think those frogs should keep him away from breaking my Tech 1 again, and then I can play Murkwood again next turn and hopefully protect my Tech 2 as it rebuilds. I’m not sure how many tools he really has for getting past chump blockers.

I probably should have built the Tower last turn - the only reason I didn’t was that I wanted to have enough gold to cast 2xMurkwood if I’d managed to draw them both.

Minor plus points (I’m allowed to grasp at straws, surely?) - he wasn’t able to make a worker this turn, and as I know from my own games, Present tech 2 is very expensive.

Still, if a Tricycloid comes down to kill Calamandra, it’ll probably be time to call it a day.

13

[details=P2, Turn 5]Sacrifice the Weak
Deteriorate
Thieving Imp
Poisonblade Rouge -> Worker
[/details]
Sparring Partner dies
8 gold (8)
Vandy kills 2 Frogs
Deteriorate a 3rd Frog
Haunt trades for 4th Frog
Jandra breaks Tech I, again
Tower (5)
Grave, level to 3 (1)
Worker (0)
Discard 2, Draw 4

SQL - L3 Grave (3/4 +1)

L5 Vandy (4/3)
Soul Stoned and Trained Jandra (5/1)

Base - 18
Tech 1 - 5
Tech 2 - 5
Spec: Present
Tower - 4

9 workers, 0 gold
Hand: 4
Deck: 2
Discard: 7

14

lol, OK - I forgot about Vandy’s Sparkshot. Thought you couldn’t get past the wall of frogs without a Tricycloid.

GG (except it really wasn’t, from my point of view). What am I supposed to do with an opening hand THAT bad? (Careless Musketeer and 4 non-unnits?) I probably should have played a hero instead - was just worried by reports I’d heard that Vandy and pals eat opposing heroes for breakfast :slight_smile:

15

With your hero lineup, you could either play Bloodburn or Calamadra (who can hold her own against Vandy, especially going first)

1 Like
16

Yes, in hindsight I should have played Cal - who I was always planning to use as my main hero this game.

I rejected Bloodburn for 2 reasons - the first was that I didn’t want to give you the initiative by getting the first units/heroes down (although you soon got an overwhelming advantage there in any case!), and the second is that, especially with you having no haste, the chance of me being able to use it on T2 was virtually zero.

17

Do you want a re-match?

18

Sure - I’ll at least try to put up a little bit more of a fight :slight_smile:

I believe it’s your turn to go first.

19

[details=P1, Turn 1]Skeletal Archery -> Worker
Graveyard
Pestering Haunt
Deteriorate
Jandra[/details]
4 gold (4)
Worker (3)
Vandy (1)
Pestering Haunt (1)
Discard 3, Draw 5. Float 1 gold (I don’t recommend playing a hero to pillage this)

SQL - L1 Vandy (2/3 +1)

Pestering Haunt (1/1)

Base - 20

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

1 Like
20

P2T1

StartingHand Workers

STARTING HAND
Bloodrage Ogre
Charge
Pillage
Makeshift Rambaster
Careless Musketeer

WORKERS
Careless Musketeer

NextHand

Scorch
Nautical Dog
Bombaster
Mad Man
Bloodburn

Discard

Makeshift Rambaster
Pillage
Charge

Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5)
Worker - ($4)
Bloodrage Ogre - ($2)

Float ($2)
Discard 3, draw 5

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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]:
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]: Bloodrage Ogre (3/2)
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]

[B]Buildings:[/B]

  • :heart: Base HP: 20

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

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 0
  • Disc: 3
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 2
  • Workers: 6
Thoughts

I see only one question here: where to patrol the Ogre?

If I put it anywhere other than Squad Leader, it will die to Vandy - he can either level her up first, or use Deteriorate, to ensure Vandy survives the exchange. And even in SQL either of these will do the job. I could put it in Elite, which ensure that he’d need BOTH Deteriorate and a midband Vandy in order for her to survive.

Of course, he has Haunt to ping the Ogre too - as well as Sac the Weak to just kill it in exchange for Haunt. Since there are so many ways for the ogre to die, I might as well just put it in Scavenger and have a gold for it. Note that I’ve spent a card and 2 gold on the ogre, which is exactly what StW costs him. So as P2, I’m more than happy about this exchange, even were it not for the extra gold.

Still not sure what plan I’ll follow this game. As P2 I’m slightly disadvantaged if I go for the Blood base race (although it could well still work). Feral, even with haste, doesn’t seem too clever when he has sac the weak - unless I can get plenty of weaker units on the board as well (Murkwood Allies could work well here). Since I’m P2 I may go for Present, but all 3 options are very much open.

1 Like