Custom Spec: Dominance ( Perse for Codex )

Codex
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Disclaimer: I have no actual clue about Codex nuances or balance yet, so this is very much a first draft by a newb - I expect there are all sorts of balance and mechanics problems. But hey, I had fun writing it, so mebee yinz will have fun reading and nitpicking it.

The intent is to have her function in the sort of “Control Deck” role she does in the other games - with a focus on theft and force destruction.


Persesphone: Nox Oracle
Color: Given the established lore for Fantasy Strike, Perse is a Neutral hero. I have given her a bunch of Legendaries and a couple Cute Animals, so she probably has the best synergy with White, but I also gave her a Soldier and a Tiger for Purple and Green synergies if you want to go there.
Hero Card:
$1-2 Startband: 1/3 Prophecy: ($1) Look at the top 3 cards of a player’s deck. Put them back in any order.
$3-4 Midband: 2/4 Savor the Lash. Pay ($2), return a Dominance Spell from your discard to your hand
$5 Maxband: 3/5 Oracular Sight: Detector

Spells

Meddling: ($3) spell-buff (target) Until end of turn a Tech 0, Tech I or Tech II gains +1 ATK, Haste and Ephemeral.

Pleasure and Pain: ($2) spell-burn (target) deal 3 damage to an opposing unit or hero which has already taken damage. If this does not kill the target, your Dominance heals 1 damage.

Sadism: ($0) spell (target) Destroy a token unit. If you do, draw a card.

ULTIMATE: Mistress’s Command ($4): Gain control of an opposing hero until end of turn. Until end of turn it gains haste. If it dies this turn, one of your heroes gains the bonus levels.

Tech I Cards


($4) Fluffy: legendary cute animal unit
2/3
arrives: put a 3/2 legendary dog token named Scruffy into play
leaves: Sacrifice a dog token named Scruffy.
These immortal hounds are always together


($3) Living Lash: animated weapon unit
1/1
indestructible, readiness
Whenever living lash deals combat damage to a hero, disable it (Exhaust it and it doesn’t ready during it’s next ready step. Sideline it if it was patrolling)
The sting of the lash lingers

Tech II Cards

Oracles%20Dreamery_zpske1g7zak.png751×316 183 KB

($5) Oracle’s Dreamery: Legendary Building
4 :heart:
All your patrollers gain Resist 1, +1 Attack, + Armor, Dies: gain (1) and Dies: Draw a card.
Leaves: All your patrollers take 1 damage.
The Oracle’s Forces deploy knowing where and when the enemy will attack


($3) Ghost-Chan: Legendary Spirit Unit
2/3
Arrives: gain control of an opposing (target icon) Tech 0, I or II Legendary unit. That unit gains indestructible so long as Ghost-Chan remains in play.
The Spirit is willing, especially when the flesh is weak

sleeping-beauty-thorns.jpg850×336 268 KB

($3) Twisted Thorns of Fate: plant unit
3/5
Arrives: (target) Ready an exhausted unit or Hero
Upkeep: Return Twisted Thorns of Fate to your hand
Fate is like a rosebush – some get thorns and others get flowers


($5) Doomed Knight: soldier unit
6/4
Upkeep: This takes 1 damage
This gets +1 Atk for each damage on it.
Dies: Destroy an Upgrade or Ongoing Spell.
Either the quest ends when the knight falls or the knight falls when the quest ends.


($4:) Tyger Tyger: Burning Tiger Unit.
4/4 Stealth
Swift Strike when attacking
“What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?”

Tech III Unit


($8) Great Python: Giant Snake Cute Animal Unit
6/6
Attacks: defender* loses all abilities.
Swift Strike,
$2: ready Great Python
The serpents of the earth see what the light of the sun cannot

  • {“Defender” here meaning “unit or hero which this attacks” - just like it does in the definition which was not actually put into the Codex rulebook }
3 Likes
2

Would require some tuning, but def like the concept and the ideas!
Btw, imho ghost chan should be a legendary unit

3

Just a few thoughts of mine:

  • I like the spells.
  • Fluffy seems way too strong for Tech 1. You get 2 3/3’s for $4. My thought would be 2/3’s (which is still very strong). Combo’s with White’s legendary buffs, is scruffy a legendary token? Combo’s with Midori.
  • I love the Living Lash.
  • I like the flavor of Prophecy, but it seems too strong. Maybe a higher cost ($5 or $6 to balance). Another option is rewording it. A couple ideas: “Your patrollers gain the benefit from every patrol slot.” (I think this next option is the most balanced and creates more fun strategic situations) “Your patrollers gain the benefit from each patrol slot occupied by one of your units.”
  • I agree with @Legion that Ghost Chan should be a Legendary unit.
  • Twisted Thorns of Fate… I like it. But it took a while to grow on me. (See what I did there?)
  • Doomed Knight is good.
  • Tyger Tyger needs some tweaking. I might remove legendary from him (since adding to Ghost Chan).
  • I really like the Tech 3 option.

All said… nicely done. I am a fan of creative work like this. I wrote up a “Brown” expansion (heavily themed around Zerg). Some day soon, maybe I will type that up here (currently in an excel document with slightly different formatting).

Thanks for sharing!

2 Likes
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I like it! The flavor on Pleasure and Pain is a little weird though. In PS The Pleasure part comes from the fact that Perse draws chips and benefits personally from it. Here it’s more like “Pain and also more Pain”. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Perse lore would actually make her a Red hero (Passion, Emotion, etc.)

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Codex colors are more based on ideological/political factions than alignment though.

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[quote=“Archon, post:3, topic:360, full:true”]
Just a few thoughts of mine:

  • Fluffy seems way too strong for Tech 1. You get 2 3/3’s for $4. My thought would be 2/3’s (which is still very strong). [/quote]

Rambasa Twin is a pair of 3/2s for $4 at tech one, So it depends how you evaluate the “legendary”, “token” and “tiger” types as to whether this is better than Rambasa twin. Still Rambasa Twin is a top tier-T1 so it shouldn’t even be arguable that this is better - and thus I’m applying the slight nerf to make it a 3/2 and a 2/3 and giving Fluffy the drawback that he takes Scruffy with him when he leaves.

[quote]

  • I like the flavor of Prophecy, but it seems too strong. Maybe a higher cost ($5 or $6 to balance). Another option is rewording it. A couple ideas: “Your patrollers gain the benefit from every patrol slot.” (I think this next option is the most balanced and creates more fun strategic situations) “Your patrollers gain the benefit from each patrol slot occupied by one of your units.”[/quote]

The only power issue I see here is the cardflow engine potential, where this turns chump-blocking into one to five additional cards per turn. And that’s more limited and the opponent has more ways to play around than the $3 Tech II Flagstone Garrison. But this provides additional bonuses, and Flagstone Garrison is vulnerable to damage, so yeah this is likely a bit too strong.

However the suggestion of “Your patrollers gain the benefit from every patrol slot” cannot work - as that gives all of them Taunt or requires a bunch of “clarification” as to how it doesn’t give them all Taunt, and in either case results in convoluted rules-parsing.

Then as to strength, a $4 tech II card is competing against units like a 5/6 unit (Reg Rhino) or a 4/3 Flier (Eggship) or a 3/6 Unstoppable weenie-sweeper (Xenostalker), so in comparison, your suggestion of an upgrade which provides any benefits at all only when you have at least two patrollers is a pretty much a never-Tech at that cost and level. And the interesting tactical puzzle you would present your opponent of which order in which to disassemble your patrol zone to minimize Prophecy’s effect would never actually happen in game play. Making your proposed effect lower cost and Tech could work, but that would involve upgrading one of the Tech I’s to Tech II - which is more work than I want to do.

So I’m gonna stick with the original effect, but bump the cost by one, make this a building with 4 :heart: and give it the drawback of “leaves: deal one damage to each of your patrollers”. Additionaly since “prophecy” sounds weird for a building name, I’m swapping the name to Oracle’s Dreamery and calling the hero card ability Prophecy instead.

Making her Legendary would make her an immediate answer for herself in the mirror match – that’s interseting enough to be worthwhile.

That seems fair.

I’m a bit worried that the cost to re-ready might be too low, but as Tech IIIs are win conditions and it takes damage when attacking anything with more than 6 health, meaning that it’s not always going to be able to clear a patrol zone for $10. I think it’s a more-targeting, gold-to-use, more obvious-countermeasure equivalent to Obliterate.

Yeah. I keep having similar thoughts. I’ve added a conditional upside here, but I’m not sure if that makes it too good for the cost.

I’ve also gone ahead and edited in cheesy flavor text into the original post. Enjoy.

8

Why is meddling so much worse than bloodlust? Cost, target limitation, ephemeral…

1 Like
9

Meddling needs to be a much worse buff than Bloodlust because Meddling is much stronger removal than Bloodlust.

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Ephemeral is kinda poor removal though, as it will never help you get through a patrol zone. Also, it should say until end of turn, because I could happily cast that on Hardened Mox for a permanent +1 on top of Battle Suits. Though Boot Camp is still better for that.

It still seems weak either way. It could be cost 2 and left as is, or it could include Tech 2 and stay at $3.

11

@rabid_schnauzer
With your tweaks to Fluffy, I think he looks awesome!
Your Oracle’s Dreamery seems much more balanced (though still super strong for T2 building, very techable)
I like the Ghost Chan modification.
I like new Tyger Tyger.
Tech 3 Snake is not Tier 1 (no immediate board effect on entering), but has a very strong presence if unanswered, and I think his ability cost is fair.

I like your tweaks. Thanks for the response above and your feedback (esp. concerning prophecy / oarcle’s). I think you have a strong aggressive neutral spec there. You should proxy it up and test it out and return to us with your feedback. My initial thought is that it is very strong on attack and a little weaker on defense (does not mean it is out of balance). The form it is in today (9/7) seems to be playably balanced to me.

Good stuff & thanks for sharing!

12

I really appreciate all the thinking you put into this, and thanks for sharing.

But I think it doesn’t have any identity. Nothing special or different from what there’s in the game already. I’d consider it as a plus one expansion, and not worth adding to the game, because of that.

13

That is a fair point.

I’ve tweaked by allowing it to target Tech IIs and giving it the suggested “end of turn” clause…

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Now, as to how and why you’d play this.

As a splash, you get the Hero, the Tech Is and maybe some spells.

  • The Hero’s big selling point is Detector, with a side of spell-recursion for cardflow.

  • The Tech I selling point is that you have an indestructible readiness wall for defense, and a near-Rambasa twin pair of early units that easily earn a place in a Mythmaking build.

  • The spells’ selling point is that you have a zero cost cantrip which clears tokens. Combined with the hero’s spell recursion ability, this is a decent draw engine which comes online early enough to be meaningful against token spam strategies.

  • You also present threats to high-stat or useful exhaust ability Heroes with both Living Lash and Perse’s Ultimate.

As the Spec you take to Tech II you have three viable cards to build combos around.

  • Oracle’s Dreamery combos strongly with Token-spam to make for a Patrol Zone that punishes your opponent for attacking it. Perse being a detector limits your opponent’s options for getting around it. (Although it is intentional that this spec has zero fliers nor anti-air)

  • Twisted Thorns of Fate combos with backline units that have Exhaust abilities - like Firebat, Lobber, Jaina, Porkhand Magistrate, Sparring Partner or Warp Gate Disciple. Since it bounces itself during upkeep, it also combos with clear-all effects like Maximum Anarchy and Judgement Day. Note that this Spec also includes an Indestructable unit and a means to get Haste.

  • Doomed Knight is your Tech II offense option, and you have enough removal that it should be able to punch through reasonably often. But it cries out for some form of Buff to be useful. Because of the above synergy, Sparring Partner is likely your best option, but Bloodlust, Boot Camp, and maybe even Spore Shambler seem to offer reasonable combo potential here.

  • Ghost-Chan isn’t something you build around, but is instead a conditional answer to things an opponent might play.

So between walls, removal and cardflow options, this spec can play defensively for the long game. But it has neither a top-tier Tech III (like Ebbflow) nor an explosive game-wining combo (like Garrison). That means that you generally want to press any board advantage before things get to Tech III.

The obvious build is Strength + Dominance + Growth for a Mythmaking Build.

I can also see a pressure “Cats and Dogs” build with Strength where you tech Rambasa Twin, and Fluffy first cycle and then go to Sparring Partners with the idea to go to either Thorns + Knight or tech in Meddlings to use Prophecy to set up TPoS.

But there is enough synergy to go a number of other ways. (Purple Starter) Past + Anarchy, gives a Tech 0 indestructible on top of the tech I indestructible as well as a board clear and a pair of top-tier Tech III potentials. Law+Peace gives another board clear option, a decent +1/+1 counter option, and a lot of board lockdown potential until you can win via Garrison combo or landing Community Service.

15

How are you supposed to play against Living Lash? With indestructible and readiness, she is applying strong offensive pressure as well. Dominance player doesn’t even have to choose between offense and defense. She even gets a powerful bonus effect on heroes. This will be one of the best targets in the game for +/- runes.

Sadism seems like a very hard counter against token units. Are there any comparable abilities? Maybe Stewardess of the Undone?

Savor the Lash allows you to keep playing a spell as long as you have the money? Combining that with Sadism gives you an early game draw engine? Maybe you start targeting your own tokens to draw more cards?

Does Ghost Chan target? Also, she seems much, much better than Quince’s ultimate spell.

I’d like to see a time limit put on Great Python. Maybe until your next upkeep? I don’t know if it needs it, but I thought I’d mention it. Also, how does that interact with Oathkeeper?

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[quote=“chucklyfun, post:15, topic:360, full:true”]
How are you supposed to play against Living Lash? With indestructible and readiness, she is applying strong offensive pressure as well. Dominance player doesn’t even have to choose between offense and defense. She even gets a powerful bonus effect on heroes. This will be one of the best targets in the game for +/- runes.[/quote]

Okay, comparing to other options in the game, it does need to cost at least $3 (maybe even $4) instead of the $2 I had it at, but a 1/1 Tech 1 is hardly strong offensive pressure. You deal with it much the same way you deal with Hardened Mox

Blue: can either tie it up forever by ceding card advantage with Porkhand’s exhaust ability or use Spectral Aven to bypass it and win a damage race. Blue also has ways to copy or take control of it.

Red: can use Bloodburn or Firebat to deal damage every turn to keep sidelining it

Neutral hits it with a -1/-1 rune from Wither

Black also hits it with a -1/-1 rune from Poisonblade Rogue or Deteriorate. Even general utility plays like Gargoyle or Bone Collector manage to keep even or better with it for a couple turns.

White can either bypass it with Smoker, play Safe Attacking to kick it out of the way repeatedly or use Savior Monk’s healing to negate counteract the damage it does

Purple can bounce it with Forgotten Fighter, or Undo bypass it with Nullcraft, or just stand it off with Hardened Mox,

Green does have real trouble bypassing it, but can stand it off for four turns with Verdant Tree and indefinitely with a patrolling Ironbark Treant.

The only comparable ability is DeGrey - but the problem is that DeGrey generally cannot come online until turn 5, which is way to late to even matter against token spam strategies. That’s after a Feral player has not merely been able to cast Murkwood Allies twice - but also untap and attack with all the generated tokens. A Necromancy player going for a Lich’s Bargain rushdown can have generated 9 token creatures as early as turn 3. IMHO, Codex could use some better token-counter abilities.

The $0 cost on Sadism is somewhat questionable, but I feel that an opponent can fairly easily play around it by avoiding token generation and/or using tokens to power their own sacrifice effects.

Which is why this spec only generates a single Legendary Token. You’re only going to get mileage out of that if you combine it with a token generating spec. And if you go with something like Dominance / Necromancy then Garth can just turn all of your skeleton tokens into cards without having to tech in a spell nor pay gold to recur it.

There’s some utility there with Growth and the Green Starter’s wisp tokens, but you’re not getting the “generate a token, then immediately sac it to draw a card” engine going in more than fits and starts until you can have both Perse and Quince/Garth/Rook in play at once - which means either Tech II or Heroes Hall. Tech II means that the opponent has access to Garrison or Hyperion draw combos, and Heroes Hall means that the opponent had time to build a Surplus - so in neither case is it likely to be abusive.

17

I’m not a great player by the way, so my guesses on how powerful a card is are mostly to point it out for other people.

Sidelining is much more effective against Hardened Mox than this, because Living Lash has readiness. It can attack and patrol every turn. Hardened Mox also trashes itself once you move to tech 2, while Living Lash keeps any bonuses the whole game.

You make a really strong argument that this counters token strategies hard. I’m guessing that this is also one of the best anti-illusion skills in the game. Do you get to draw a card if you kill an illusion token by the way?

I think that I missed the legendary part. Against anything else, she seems useless. DeGrey still seems useful without token units.

I think you broke the quote at the end. What were you asking?