RACE #3: Barrelfish ([Necro]/Blood/Growth) vs. Hobusu (Mono Green)

Codex Codex play-by-forum
1

@Barrelfish will be going first against @Hobusu. Good luck and have fun!

2

@Hobusu glhf!

P1T1

StartingHand Workers

STARTING HAND
Sacrifice the Weak
Jandra, the Negator
Thieving Imp
Pestering Haunt
Skeleton Javelineer

WORKERS
Jandra, the Negator

NextHand

Skeletal Archery
Deteriorate
Poisonblade Rogue
Summon Skeletons
Graveyard

Discard

Skeleton Javelineer
Thieving Imp
Sacrifice the Weak

Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($4)
Worker - ($3)
Garth - ($1)
Skeleton - ($0)
Haunt

Float ($0)
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]: Skeleton (1/1)
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Pestering Haunt (1/1)
  • Lvl 1 Garth (1/3)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20

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

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

GLHF, @Barrelfish!

Player 2 Turn 1

Starting Hand and Workers

STARTING HAND

Verdant Tree
Spore Shambler
Merfolk Prospector
Rampant Growth
Ironbark Treant

WORKERS

Ironbark Treant

[details=Next Hand]Tiger Cub
Forest’s Favor
Young Treant
Playful Panda
Rich Earth

[/details]

Discard

Spore Shambler
Rampant Growth
Verdant Tree

Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5)
Worker - ($4)
Recruit Merfolk Prospector - ($3)
Summon Argagarg and Wisp - ($1)
Build Tech I - ($0)

Float ($1)
Discard 3, draw 5

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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Merfolk Prospector (1/1+a)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]: Wisp (0/1)
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Argagarg Garg Lv. 1 (1/3)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

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

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

So, playing any 3-drops against Black starter is bad early-game, especially if they have Garth to keep making Skeletons as fodder so they don’t sac something useful. Since my only choices were Prospector and 3-drops, I figured Arg might be useful here. I know I just said in my last game that this was a mistake, but being able to threaten paying 2 to buff any unit that lives and 2 more to get a 3/3 for no cards could help a lot if I play this right… At the very least, it helps against the threat of Sac the Weak and Theiving Imp (the latter because I can build board without paying cards if needed).

4

P1T2

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Bone Collector
Bone Collector

STARTING HAND
Graveyard
Deteriorate
Skeletal Archery
Summon Skeletons
Poisonblade Rogue

WORKERS
Jandra, the Negator
Poisonblade Rogue

NextHand

Deteriorate
Sacrifice the Weak
Skeletal Archery
Bone Collector

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5)
Worker - ($4)
Graveyard - ($2)
Deteriorate Prospector
Tech I - ($0)
Garth kills Wisp (you get a gold)
Haunt hits your base to 19

Float ($0)
Discard 2, reshuffle, draw 4

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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]:
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]: Skeleton (1/1)
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Pestering Haunt (1/1)
  • Lvl 1 Garth (1/3)
  • Graveyard (3 HP)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 5

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

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 4
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 6
My thoughts

Thought about getting Skeletal Archery up instead of Graveyard (which would have allowed me to skip Deteriorate and draw up to 5), but I don’t mind going down a card so I can get 2 rounds of teching in before my next reshuffle.

5

Player 2 Turn 2

Tech, Starting Hand, and Workers

TECH

Tiny Basilisk
Centaur

STARTING HAND

Young Treant
Forest’s Favor
Tiger Cub
Rich Earth
Playful Panda

WORKERS

Ironbark Treant
Rich Earth

[details=Next Hand]Verdant Tree
Spore Shambler
Tiny Basilisk
Young Treant
Merfolk Prospector

[/details]
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float + Scavenger - ($8)
Worker - ($7)
Build Tech I - ($6)
Recruit Playful Panda and Wisp - ($4)
Arg kills Skeleton and takes 1 damage, you gain a gold
Level Arg to max, healing him and summoning a Water Elemental - ($0)
Patrol as shown below

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

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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Water Elemental (3/3+a) [Anti-air]
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]: Wisp (0/1)
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Argagarg Garg Lv. 5 (1/5)
  • Playful Panda (2/2)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 19
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

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

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

I was expecting that, but he’ll have a harder time beating this setup. Admittedly I’m worried about the Graveyard and the potential Garth maxband getting a Crashbarrow… But there’s not much to be done about that right now.

6
My thoughts

Option 1: Bone Collector, Skeleton, Midband Garth, Haunt kills Wisp, Draw 4
Option 2: Haunt kills Wisp, Sac the Weak kills Elemental, Skeleton, Midband Garth, Draw 4
Option 3: Haunt kills Wisp, Sac the Weak kills Elemental, Skeleton, Bone Collector, Draw 3 float 1
Option 4: Deteriorate Elemental, Midband Garth, Garth and Haunt kill Elemental (Haunt dies), replay Haunt from Graveyard, Skeleton, float 2 or Bone Collector and draw 4/3

Water Elemental + Arg midband + Forest’s Favor and/or Rampant Growth is kind of scary this early, so I want to wipe it out while I can. Next turn is probably Worker + Tech II + Skeleton + float 1 regardless of what I do this turn, so let’ s go for the option with the biggest board impact even if it puts me down a card.

P1T3

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Crashbarrow
Shoddy Glider

STARTING HAND
Sacrifice the Weak
Skeletal Archery
Bone Collector
Deteriorate

WORKERS
Jandra, the Negator
Poisonblade Rogue
Skeletal Archery

NextHand

Summon Skeletons
Thieving Imp
Bone Collector

Discard

Deteriorate
Sacrifice the Weak
Crashbarrow
Shoddy Glider

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + Scavenger - ($7)
Worker - ($6)
Deteriorate Water Elemental to 2/2
Haunt trades into Elemental’s armor and dies
Exhaust Graveyard to replay Haunt
Midband Garth - ($3)
Garth kills Elemental and takes 2 damage
Skeleton - ($2)
Bone Collector - ($0)

Float ($0)
Discard 1, draw 3

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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Skeleton (1/1+A)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Bone Collector (3/3)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Pestering Haunt (1/1)
  • Lvl 4 Garth (2/2)
  • Graveyard (3 HP)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

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

  • Hand: 3
  • Deck: 1
  • Disc: 4
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 7
7

Player 2 Turn 3

Tech, Starting Hand, and Workers

TECH

Nature Reclaims
Barkcoat Bear

STARTING HAND

Tiny Basilisk
Young Treant
Merfolk Prospector
Verdant Tree
Spore Shambler

WORKERS

Ironbark Treant
Rich Earth
Verdant Tree

[details=Next Hand]Tiger Cub
Forest’s Favor
Centaur
Nature Reclaims
Rampant Growth

[/details]
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($7)
Worker - ($6)
Recruit Tiny Basilisk - ($4)
Build Tech II – Feral - ($0)
Patrol as shown below

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

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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]:
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]: Playful Panda (2+1/2)
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Wisp (0/1)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Argagarg Garg Lv. 5 (1/5)
  • Tiny Basilisk (1/2) [Deathtouch]
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 19
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

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

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 4
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 8
Thoughts

I doubt I’m winning this one, but I can at least try to shut down his plan! I did get Nature Reclaims in hand, so the Graveyard is getting trashed. Barkcoat Bear is a big body that’s hard to remove except through combat, and with the armor from Squad Leader he has to throw something else into it to get Overpower to work. I wanted to fit Circle of Life in there, but I’m not sure I could get it to work anyway (and the time for that is early game anyway).

8

P1T4

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Kidnapping
Shoddy Glider

STARTING HAND
Bone Collector
Thieving Imp
Summon Skeletons

WORKERS
Jandra, the Negator
Poisonblade Rogue
Skeletal Archery
Summon Skeletons

NextHand

Sacrifice the Weak
Shoddy Glider
Kidnapping
Skeleton Javelineer

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($7)
Worker - ($6)
Tech II (Blood) - ($2)
Skeleton kills Wisp, you draw a card
Bone Collector trades with Panda, makes another Skeleton
Exhaust Graveyard to replay Bone Collector - ($0)
Haunt hits your base to 18

Float ($0)
Discard 2, draw 1, reshuffle, draw 3

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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Skeleton (1/1+A)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Bone Collector (3/3)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Pestering Haunt (1/1)
  • Lvl 4 Garth (2/2)
  • Graveyard (3 HP)
  • Skeleton (1/1)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Blood)

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

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 5
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 8
My thoughts

Don’t love giving him the Technician draw, but for my Crashbarrows to be any good I need to clear out the riffraff from his patrol zone. Teching a Kidnapping to deal with his giant Tech II units. Will probably get another one or a Doom Grasp next turn.

9

Hobusu paid for his tech 1 twice (on turn 1 and turn 2).

10

See, this is why you shouldn’t build your Tech I until turn 2.

@Hobusu you’ve got one more floating gold - spend it wisely.

11

Sorry for the delay, @Barrelfish! I should be able to take my turns today, so hopefully we can wrap this up quickly.

Thanks @cstick and @EricF for pointing out the gold I should have floated.

Player 2 Turn 4

Tech, Starting Hand, and Workers

TECH

Barkcoat Bear
Rampaging Elephant

STARTING HAND

Centaur
Tiger Cub
Forest’s Favor
Rampant Growth
Nature Reclaims

WORKERS

Ironbark Treant
Rich Earth
Verdant Tree

[details=Next Hand]Rampaging Elephant
Spore Shambler
Barkcoat Bear
Merfolk Prospector
Young Treant

[/details]
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + forgotten float - ($9)
Skip worker
Build Tech II Feral - ($5)
Recruit Centaur - ($2)
Argagarg casts Rampant Growth and exhausts to give a total of +3 ATK / +3 Armor to Tiny Basilisk - ($0)
Tiny Basilisk is ignored by Skeleton and safely kills Bone Collector, you draw a card
Patrol as shown below

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

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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Centaur (3/4+a) [Overpower]
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]: Wisp (0/1)
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Argagarg Garg Lv. 5 (1/5)
  • Tiny Basilisk (1/2) [Deathtouch]
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 19
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Feral)

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

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

I don’t like my odds of winning at all… If Midori were out instead of Argagarg I could have used that Nature Reclaims this turn, but alas. At least if my Tech II survives I can guarantee use of either Barkcoat Bear or Rampaging Elephant. We’ll see which one I prefer when the time comes.

12

P1T5

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Crashbarrow
Death Rites

STARTING HAND
Skeleton Javelineer
Sacrifice the Weak
Shoddy Glider
Kidnapping
Thieving Imp

WORKERS
Jandra, the Negator
Poisonblade Rogue
Skeletal Archery
Summon Skeletons
Skeleton Javelineer

NextHand

Death Rites
Bone Collector
Shoddy Glider
Deteriorate
Crashbarrow

Tech 2 card(s)
Technician draw
Get Paid - ($8)
Worker - ($7)
Maxband Garth, resurrecting a Crashbarrow - ($4)
Shoddy Glider - ($3)
Pestering Haunt kills Wisp, you get a gold
Skeleton #1 suicides into Centaur’s armor
Crashbarrow trades with Centaur, Overpower kills Basilisk
Exhaust Graveyard to replay Crashbarrow - ($0)
Crashbarrow kills your Tech II. Your base to 17
Shoddy Glider and Garth kill your Tech I. Your base to 15
Crashbarrow and Shoddy Glider fall apart and go to Graveyard

Float ($0)
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]: Skeleton (1/1)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Pestering Haunt (1/1)
  • Lvl 7 Garth (3/4)
  • Graveyard (3 HP) [Bone Collector, Crashbarrow, Shoddy Glider]
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Blood)

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

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 3
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 9
13

I’ll concede here. I can’t see any way to win with both tech buildings destroyed and perpetual Crashbarrow… Good game! I really need to stop using Argagarg early on. It’s just getting me in trouble more than anything, since he only can help if you still have a board for him to buff. Probably should have tried to get Midori out there instead, since I’d want him to use Nature Reclaims on that Graveyard.

@EricF, I’ve learned yet another way to lose. Maybe one day I’ll have run out of those and I’ll just win every time? :wink:

1 Like
14

It worked for me!

1 Like
15

I feel a little bad for pointing this out, but you might have had more luck if you hadn’t paid for your Tech II twice (T3 and T4), as well as Tech I. :frowning:

16

…I can’t blame that on anyone but myself, really. I keep forgetting to put the HP for tech buildings and add-ons in (I guess it’s because writing out that I’m building it makes me check it off my mental to do list).

To be fair, how much would the extra gold have changed? If I’d been certain the Crashbarrow was coming (which I should have been, but probably wasnt), I could have put Tiger Cub in Technician and cast Forest’s Favor on Centaur. The immediate consequence of that is the first use of Crashbarrow on his turn would not overpower as much damage, and the second is that there would be another unit to break through before getting to the good stuff. At this point I mostly just want to be done with the tournament, so there’s no point in seeing how it would have gone if I’d remembered that (I’m sure he’d still have won, just not as brutally soon).

If you’re up for it, @Barrelfish, I would be interested in how you’d take the last turn with the changes above? This is just a though experiment at this point; I already conceded.

17

Hmm, I’d probably play the same cards, but I’d change my attacks to:

Crashbarrow trades with Beefy Centaur (no excess damage to overpower)
Haunt kills Wisp
Resurrected Crashbarrow trades with Tiger Cub, overpowers 4 to Tech II
Skeleton #1 kills Tech II
Garth and Shoddy Glider kill your Tech I. Or Shoddy Glider kills Tiny Basilisk and Garth hits your base.

So I would have had an extra skeleton and you would have kept either your Tech I or your Tiny Basilisk. I probably would have left you your Basilisk, assuming you would trade him with Garth. I didn’t really need Garth at that point - I had another guaranteed Glider and Crashbarrow in my next hand, which with the Graveyard Crashbarrow is 15 hasty damage. As it was I had teched Death Rites, mostly because I’ve never used it before, but if I was leaving Garth exposed to Basilisk I probably would have teched a Bugblatter or something.

1 Like
18

As I suspected, I was basically doomed regardless. Not quite as bad, but still really bad.