RACE #3 Top 4: EricF ([Demon]/Necro/Bashing) vs Jadiel (Mono Purple)

@Jadiel - good luck and have fun! People might actually be reading/watching this game, so extra thought comments are appreciated!

[details=P1, Turn 1]Hand:
Poisonblade Rouge
Thieving Imp
Jandra -> Worker //even going first, Stewardess still crushes Jandra
Graveyard
Deteriorate

Patrolling in SQL because I’m 110% happy if it gets targeted with Forgotten Fighter, and the armor will keep Nullcraft from taking a pot shot. I’m not planning to deviate from the default plan of Metamorphosis on turn 4 or 5. Origin Story is a thing, but as long as I make it inefficient, everything should be fine.
[/details]
4 gold (4)
Worker (3)
Thieving Imp (0), let’s start things off right with the classic black opening!
Discard 3, Draw 5

SQL - Thieving Imp (2/2 +1)

Base - 20

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

3 Likes

Sorry, I’m not going to get chance to play my turn until Monday.

Pre-Match thoughts

Eric’s deck is quite an all-in tech 1 deck. None of his tech II specs are particularly strong, and looking at his previous games he generally techs mostly spells and looks to establish a dominant position in the first 3-4 turns, occasionally supplementing them with Bashing tech II.

He typically techs at least one copy of Metamorphosis, and tends to build a Hero’s Hall to threaten a game win through that. He tends to tech a lot of spells, esp for Vandy, although occasionally techs Doom Grasp or Lich’s Bargain (the latter seems unlikely here, as it loses pretty hard to Stewardess). Bone Collector is the only tech I unit he regularly techs, but we could see Iron Man or Hooded Executioner.

Especially as I’m P2, I feel that the longer the game goes, the better it is for me. I don’t think I need to rush to Tech II, as if the game goes that far I’m probably in a good position. At Tech II I have access to flyers through either Past or Future, and outside of Doom Grasp and Egg Ship, he doesn’t really have an answer (and neither of those are particularly good answers). His tech III in Bashing is mediocre (although a Tech Lab to Demo is a possibility), so I feel I’m advantaged at that tier also.

So I think my plan is try and match him in the early game, and leverage patrol slots for an economic advantage. Both Stewardess and Argonaut seem like strong options, and an early tower seems like it might be good also, as it bolsters my patrol and provides an additional line of defence against Metamorphosis. Given my Tech I choices both benefit from Battle Suits and EricF has no easy way of removing upgrades, that seems like it might be a good play also. Nullcraft is another starter deck card which seems strong in this matchup, as his only easy answer is Tower, and I’m very happy if he goes that over Hero’s Hall.

None of my spells seem particularly strong here. Origin Story against max-band Vandy might be helpful for delaying Metamorphosis if I draw it at exactly the right time (and have Prynn), but it doesn’t give me an economic advantage (I’m trading a card and 4+ gold for 6 gold to resummon and max Vandy). Vir has a couple of spells which could give me some interesting options. The only real Assimilate target is Graveyard, which could see play, but I’m not sure I want to tech it until I see it in play. Unphase is also an interesting option with Argonauts (assuming they survive to be able to attack), with Battle Suits they can snipe a Hero’s Hall (to stop Meta plays), or in conjuntion with Nullcraft could take out a max band Vandy.

@EricF Really sorry for the delay!

P2T1


StartingHand Workers

STARTING HAND
Battle Suits
Neo Plexus
Hardened Mox
Plasmodium
Nullcraft (discarded)


WORKERS
Plasmodium


NextHand

Forgotten Fighter
Temporal Research
Time Spiral
Tinkerer


Discard

Nullcraft
Battle Suits
Neo Plexus


RNG = 3, discard card 3 to Imp
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5)
Worker - ($4)
Hardened Mox - ($1)

Float ($1)
Discard 2, draw 4


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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]:
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]: Hardened Mox
    [B]In Play:[/B]

[B]Buildings:[/B]

  • :heart: Base HP: 20

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

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 1
  • Disc: 3
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 1
  • Workers: 6
Thoughts on T1

I had 3 potential lines of play this turn:

  • Float 4 gold - the only cost to doing this is that Imp is likely to swing at my base for 2 damage. It takes me back to discard 3, draw 5, and gives me gold to play a unit, a hero, a tower and tech I next turn.
  • Summon Geiger - I don’t think there’s any way he can kill Geiger next turn, so this seems a pretty safe way of saving my base 2 damage. However, it locks me into Geiger, and also I don’t know if I can protect my hero next turn from Vandy, who I don’t really want to give free levels to
  • Summon Mox - Mox seems like a strong card in this matchup, as he doesn’t have easy access to -1/-1 runes which are blacks usual answer to it. It also benefits from Battle Suits, and I think that the hardest part of this game will take place at Tech I, so it’s drawback is less likely to be a problem

Writing thoughts is stressful! I’m pretty sure I’m missing really obvious things - apologies for anyone I’m triggering! I’m really not very good at this game!

[details=P1, Turn 2]Summon Skeletons -> Worker // this is too expensive for a couple of guys who will just die to Nullcraft / Mox / Stewardess activities.
Skeletal Archery
Skeleton Javelineer
Pestering Haunt
Sacrifice the Weak

Tech in 2x Bone Collector - going first, I can’t afford the more expensive Tech I options. This will build up board pressure, especially in conjunction with some Soul Stones next turn, and work around the Mox as I tech up.

I’m still super happy to have my Imp bounced by FF and the other guy killed by Mox, so I can maintain the anti-Nullcraft patrol method. If my board gets bounced / technician killed, I’ll have 7 cards in hand, and 6 gold to spend, and no 1-drop that’s easy to play, so I’ll just patrol in Scavenger to get my gold back, in the event of a Nullcraft ping.
[/details]
5 gold (5)
Vandy (3)
Worker (2)
Tech I (1)
Skeleton Javelineer (0)
Discard 3, rs, Draw 5

SQL - Thieving Imp (2/2 +1)
Scavenger - Javelineer (1/1) w/ rune

L1 Vandy (2/3)

Base - 20
Tech I - 5

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

[details=Next Hand]Graveyard
Deteriorate
Skeletal Archery
Poisonblade Rouge
Bone Collector[/details]

P2T2


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Stewardess of the Undone
Argonaut


STARTING HAND
Temporal Research
Tinkerer
Forgotten Fighter
Time Spiral


WORKERS
Plasmodium
Forgotten Fighter


NextHand

Neo Plexus
Argonaut
Temporal Research
Fading Argonaut


Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($7)
Worker - ($6)
Tech I - ($5)
Tinkerer - ($3)
Tower - ($0)

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


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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Tinkerer (1/2+A)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]: Hardened Mox (1/1)
    [B]In Play:[/B]

[B]Buildings:[/B]

  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

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

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 4
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 7
Thoughts on T2

Having Fading Argonaut stuck on the bottom of my deck sucks…
Workering Forgotten Fighter - it’s almost useless in this matchup, as there are no Tech I units I can hit with it, and it’s useless against all of blacks tech II. I guess it kills skeletons, but that doesn’t feel like a great trade…
I feel like I don’t have many good lines here, Vandy is just so oppressive :disappointed:

  • Tower + hero. Deteriorate kills Mox, and then it’s just too easy for his other stuff to kill my hero and push down my tower. I think that if your tower is going to die the turn after you build it, you probably shouldn’t bother
  • Tinkerer and hero. Tinkerer trades really badly with either Vandy or Imp, and it just puts me further behind.
  • Vir + Fargo: I hate that I’m giving up a gold due to a bad draw, and Vandy + Imp almost certainly just kill both Vir and Fargo, but maybe he doesn’t have Deteriorate? I at least kill Imp, and get scav and tech bonuses, but I’m probably dealing with HH + max Vandy next turn - Metamorphosis to finish the game on T4? This was the line I was going to take until…
  • Tinkerer and Tower: Tinkerer trades much better with tower to support. Deteriorate and all his units can still kill my board, and he still has enough gold to max Vandy to kill the tower, but at least he doesn’t get a HH as well…

[details=P1, Turn 3]Skeletal Archery
Poisonblade Rouge
Graveyard -> Worker //too slow for what I’m doing, and vulnerable to Assimilate
Deteriorate
Bone Collector

So, I could max Vandy and pop the Tower, leaving the board at:
Him: Mox
Me: L5 Vandy (4/4), Doomed Javelineer (3/2), Thieving Imp (2/1), 5 cards in hand, and either no patrol zone (so the Imp is a dead to Mox attack) + 7 workers & 1 gold OR Bone Collector patrolling + 6 workers

Alternately, I could play BC and mid vandy, and just keep all my stuff on-patrol, leaving the board at:
Him: Mox, Tower
Me: L3 Vandy (3/2), Imp, Javelineer, BC all on patrol, 7 workers & 1 gold

Either way I want to bring in Soul Stone + Dark Pact. And I think the second is better, as I can still take advantage of Vandy hitting max next turn, probably better than this turn (also, it means Mox spends another turn not helping).

Dark Pact + Technician Patrol because my whole deck is good at this point, so I just want to be able to play multiple cards, and/or be assured of a Metamorphosis on Turn 5.
[/details]
6 gold (6)
Worker (5)
Bone Collector (3)
Mid-band Vandy (1)
Vandy kills Tinkerer
Discard 3, Draw 3, rs, Draw 2. Float 1 gold

SQL - Bone Collector (3/3 +1)
Tech - Javelineer (1/1) w/ rune
Lookout - Thieving Imp (2/2)

L3 Vandy (3/2)

Base - 20
Tech I - 5

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

[details=Next hand]Pestering Haunt
Sacrifice the Weak
Bone Collector
Soul Stone
Dark Pact
[/details]

P2T3


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Shimmer Ray
Shimmer Ray


STARTING HAND
Fading Argonaut
Argonaut
Neo Plexus
Temporal Research


WORKERS
Plasmodium
Forgotten Fighter
Neo Plexus


NextHand

Time Spiral
Battle Suits
Stewardess of the Undone


Discard

Tinkerer
Temporal Research
Shimmer Ray
Shimmer Ray


Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($7)
Worker - ($6)
Argonaut - ($3)
Fading Argonaut - ($1)

Float ($1)
Discard 1, draw 3


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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Argonaut (3/4+A)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]: Hardened Mox (2/1)
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Fading Argonaut @3 (2/3)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]

[B]Buildings:[/B]

  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

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

  • Hand: 3
  • Deck: 1
  • Disc: 4
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 1
  • Workers: 8
T3 Thoughts

This game is going the way I was expecting. I thought he would try and break through early, but he’s holding back and just trying to build up board position… I still think this is good for me - I think I have the stronger Tech II, and the longer the game goes, the more economic advantage I gain from my P2 worker. However, EricF knows all these things, so I’m beginning to suspect that my initial analysis was incorrect and I’ve overlooked something obvious. Very few of Eric’s games with this deck made it to Tech II, so I can’t see what cunning plan he has to deploy when we get there.

I still think flyers are probably my best bet to gain board advantage and ultimately win. I’d like another Argonaut - they trade well with his units, and potentially 2 for 1 if they survive a turn. Eric is playing around stewardess, but I haven’t drawn mine yet. I’m guessing he will attack with BC next turn, so the resulting Skeleton is a potential target (unless it gets put in Lookout). He’s also playing around Nullcraft, but that’s another unit that won’t see play until next turn. I also want to tech at least one T2 unit as well this turn, which means I need to make my choice between Past and Future. Void Rays and Hive look nice but they’re also really expensive. I think I’ll need all the gold I can get to keep my board in a healthy state, so I think I’m going to go Past. It also gives me access to one of the strongest T3 units in the game, and Past units generally are good when you expect a lot of bloodshed - the stand off we have at the moment can’t continue for much longer! I also thought about teching Unphase to get a sneaky kill on a damaged hero, or on a HH. However, I have no guarantee my units will get to attack. Eric has 9 power on the board atm, and I don’t see Argonauts getting a chance to attack back. He also hasn’t actually built a HH yet…

My worker choice this turn is tricky. I still think there’s a possibility I play Battle Suits next turn, and so I don’t really want to worker either Fargo or Neo. However, I’m already down on cards, and I potentially go down to 1 this turn, and I feel I need to keep Temporal Research in my deck. It also works well with Past units in general, as they tend to have a lot of time runes on the table. I guess it will have to be Neo. With 2 Argo, Fargo and Stewardess, I should have enough units to keep things going.

The board state doesn’t look good. I’m already down 1 card, and he has 9 power on the board to my 1 hp. I have a tower, but neither my tower nor my Mox have actually inflicted any damage yet, so Eric has done a good job of completely nullifying my 6 gold investment. I could easily see a Shadow Blade this turn also, so that’s potentially 12 power to deal with.

Lines for this turn:

  • Argo + Fargo: This prevents a hero kill to stop Vandy maxing for free, but involves going down to 1 card, which I’m reluctant to do.
  • Fargo + Hero + Temporal Research: This takes me back to card parity, but gives him free gold for killing a hero, and leaves me with a much weaker board position
  • Argo + Hero: This keeps me at 2 cards, but potentially gives him free levels. Argo is SQL is beefy, but Sac the Weak is a thing, and this line loses pretty badly to it.

So I guess it comes down to how likely is he to have Sac the Weak? His deck is currently probably Haunt, Jandra or Summon Skel, Graveyard, Deteriorate, Sac the Weak + 3 tech cards I don’t know. And he has 5 of them in hand. So, the probability he has StW is 3/8+2/5=77.5%, I think I need to play around it… Line 1 it is… I really need some Tech draws. If he has Shadow Blade and StW, I think this game is going to be over pretty quickly…

Lots of different ways this turn could go…

[details=Setup]I have 8 gold to spend, and
Bone Collector (3/3)
Tech - Javelineer (1/1) w/ rune
Lookout - Thieving Imp (2/2)
L3 Vandy (3/2) in play against:

  • :psblueshield: Squad Leader: Argonaut (3/4+A)
  • :psfist: Elite: Hardened Mox (2/1)
  • :pschip: Technician: Fading Argonaut @3 (2/3)
    Tower HP: 4

I’m 2/3 to have a Deteriorate as well, so we’ll start with options that utilize it

Hand:
Pestering Haunt
Sacrifice the Weak
Bone Collector
Soul Stone
Dark Pact

Deck:
Skeletal Archery
Poisonblade Rouge
Deteriorate

[/details]


[details=Option 1]7 gold, dark pact self drawing Deteriorate (8)
Max Vandy (6), dooming Fader and Imp
Deteriorate Argo
Vandy kills Argo, sparks Mox, takes 3 damage
Sacrifice the Weak (4) Javelineer & Fader
Imp breaks tower
BC hits base?Tech I for 3
Hero’s Hall (2)
Worker (1)
Discard 3, Draw 1, rs, Draw 4. Float 1 gold.

Patrolling Skeleton (1/1)

L5 Vandy (4/2)
Doomed Imp (4/3)
Bone Collector (3/3)
Hero’s Hall
Tech in Metamorphosis and Gargoyle
[/details]


[details=Option 2]Worker (7)
Tech II Bashing (3)
Max Vandy, dooming BC and Mox (1)
BC kills Argo
Vandy kills Fader
If Deteriorate was drawn, retroactively sideline Mox before maxing vandy, and Imp pokes Tower for 2
Pestering Haunt
Discard 3-4, Draw 1, rs, Draw 4. Float 1 gold.

Patrol Javelineer, Skeleton, (maybe Imp in Lookout)

L5 Vandy (4/2)
Doomed Collector
Tech II
Pestering Haunt
Tech in Metamorphosis and Sneaky Pig
[/details]


[details=Option 3]Soul Stone BC (6)
Deteriorate Argo, kill it with BC
Max Vandy (4), doom Imp and Fader
Sacrifice the weak Skeleton token and Fader (2)
Jav trades with Mox
Imp Breaks Tower
Vandy hits Base?Tech I for another 4
Worker (1)

Soul Stoned BC (4/1)
L5 Vandy (4/5)

[/details]


[details=Option 4]Tutor for and Shadow Blade Fader (4)
Sacrifice the Weak (2) Javelineer and Argo
Deteriorate Mox
BC and Imp break Tech I
Worker (1)

Patrol Skeleton

BC (3/2)
Imp (2/1)
L3 Vandy (3/2)
[/details]


[details=Option 5]Bone Collector (6)
Soul Stone the old BC (4)
Deteriorate Argo, kill with SS BC
Worker (3)
Jav moves Mox
Max Vandy (1), dooming Mox and Imp
Vandy kills Fader, taking 3 damage
Imp breaks Tower
Patrol Skeleton and BC

L5 Vandy (4/2)
SS BC (4/1)
Doomed Imp[/details]


[details=Option 6]Deteriorate Mox
Max Vandy, dooming Mox and Jav (6)
Jav and Imp kill Argo
Vandy kills Fader, takes 3 damage
Worker (5)
Tech II (1)
BC hits Tower for 3
Patrol Skeleton

L5 Vandy (4/2)
Doomed Jav
BC (3/2) [/details]


[details=Option 7]Soul Stone BC (6)
Deteriorate Argo, Kill with BC
Worker (5)
Tech II (1)
Patrol a bunch of stuff
Vandy just stits around[/details]


[details=Option 8]Soul Stone BC (6)
Vandy and Imp kill Argo, sparking Mox
BC kills Fader, taking 3 damage
Worker (5)
Bone Collector (3)
Garth + Skeleton (0)

Patrol Skeleton x2 and Jav
SS BC (4/1)
BC (3/3)
L1 Garth (1/3)
[/details]


Conclusions

I don’t see a really good way to fit in a Tech II, so I’ll stick with Metamorphosis (for if I draw Deteriorate), and a Hooded Executioner (for if I don’t)

[details=Player 1, Turn 4]Tech in Metamorphosis and Hooded Executioner

Pestering Haunt
Sacrifice the Weak
Bone Collector
Soul Stone
Dark Pact

Draw 2:
Skeletal Archery
Poisonblade Rouge -> Worker //keeping the Archery as a potential answer to Nullcraft, and this is just a Nullcraft vulnerability

//I guess I’m going with either a modified Option 2 or Option 8. Of those, Option 8 puts me in a better position to start breaking things next turn (especially with the guaranteed Deteriorate to sideline the Mox)
[/details]
7 gold (8)
Dark Pact, I draw 2
Soul Stone the Bone Collector (6)
Vandy and Imp team up to trade with Argo.
Bone Collector kills Fading Argo, pops a Skeleton
Garth (4)
Make a Skeleton (3)
Worker (2)
Bone Collector (0)
Pestering Haunt
Discard 2, Draw 1, rs, Draw 3

SQL - Bone Collector (3/3 +1)
Scavenger - Skeleton Token (1/1)
Technician - Javelineer (1/1) w/ rune
Lookout - Skeleton Token (1/1)

Bone Collector w/ Soul Stone (4/1)
L1 Garth (1/3)
Pestering Haunt (1/1)

Base - 18
Tech I - 5

8 workers, 0 gold
Hand: 4
Deck: 3
Discard: 0

[details=Next Hand]Deteriorate
Thieving Imp
Skeletal Archery
Metamorphosis
[/details]

P2T4


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Rewind
Argonaut


STARTING HAND
Time Spiral
Stewardess of the Undone
Battle Suits
Nullcraft (tech draw)


WORKERS
Plasmodium
Forgotten Fighter
Neo Plexus
Time Spiral


NextHand

Fading Argonaut
Argonaut
Argonaut


Draw due to TECH death
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($9)
Worker - ($8)
Stewardess of the Undone, bouncing scav Skeleton - ($5)
Nullcraft - ($3)
Nullcraft kills Soulstoned BC, Soul Stone is discarded
Geiger - ($1)

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


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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Hardened Mox (1/1+A)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]: Stewardess of the Undone (2/3)
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: L1 Geiger (2/3)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Nullcraft (1/1)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

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

  • Hand: 3
  • Deck: 6
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 1
  • Workers: 9
T4 Thoughts

Wow, must be nice to have 8 options… :slight_smile:

Ok, so the good news is that EricF still hasn’t broken through our patrol line. We got our tech draw, which takes us back up to 4 cards in hand. I’d rather be at 5, but beggars can’t be choosers… Also I never expected him to give up Vandy, especially after teching 2 of her spells. I’d far rather deal with Garth’s Skeletons. What might he have teched last turn? Potentially Doom Grasp, especially if he’s expecting Hive or Void Star. Neither of Garth’s other spells seem a good choice here though. Tech II units? Seems a reasonable bet…

Time Spiral is the obvious worker here, if we decide to make one. We’re not currently looking at doing any time rune plays, so it’s dead weight.

After that action packed turn, EricF has 12 power on the board, and our grip on the game feels as precarious as ever. We should be able to take that down to 10 power after our turn, but we still need to fill our patrol zone and pray we can hold the forces of evil at bay. Speaking of which, there are an awful lot of Skeletons around don’t you think. There could potentially be another 5 made next turn also (Summon Skeles, Garth and 2 BCs). A Skeletal Lord (possibly resurrected by Garth maxband) could bring a Lord of Shadows or even Zaramonde very easily, and I have absolutely no way of dealing with Zaramonde. Teching Rewind seems like possible answer, although I need to be at 12 gold to play it, so if I draw it early it’s pretty useless. Rewind gives me an actual answer the worst case scenario where a big Nasty T3 thing gets summoned, but it’s also a good answer to tokens in general. But I need to either get Prynn out or have gold to play it… Now that Garth’s in play, Lich’s Bargain seems like something I should be thinking about… Rewind is a strong line of play there also, but maybe I’d be better with another Stewardess…

I think there’s two reasonable lines here. I need Nullcraft to get rid of Soulstone and threaten skeletons. Stewardess is also a 2/3, and kills a Skele. That leaves me with 4 gold:

  • build Tech II: This means skipping a worker, which is never good. However, we’re at turn 4 and 8 workers so it’s not terrible, and it does push us to tech II with 4 cards at the end of the turn, or 5 if he gives me a technician draw. That’s a reasonable chance at getting a Shimmer Ray on the table. I don’t need to worry about Sac the Weak or Shadow Blade, but that only leaves me with 5 hp of patrollers and he has 10 power, so it seems likely that he can probably destroy my Tech II building (he needs Deteriorate to move Mox out of the way, and then he can sent Haunt + skeles at stewardess)
  • Geiger + worker: This is the less risky line. I’m much less concerned about giving Garth free levels, as I’d quite like him to stick around so I don’t have to deal with Vandy, so a hero seems a really good option here. It means delaying Tech II a turn, and going down to 1 card again though…

[details=P1, Turn 5]My Board:
Bone Collector (3/3)
Javelineer (1/1) w/ rune
Skeleton Token (1/1)
Bone Collector (3/3)
L1 Garth (1/3)
Pestering Haunt (1/1)

My Hand:
Deteriorate
Thieving Imp
Skeletal Archery
Metamorphosis

Defenses: Mox, 3, 3 // 1, 4, 5

Let’s see if building my Tech II works out for me:
8 gold (8)
Worker (7)
Tech II Bashing (3)
Deteriorate Mox
Skeletal Archery (1)
BC trades with Geiger, Garth to L3
Level Garth to 4 (0)
Garth & token kill Stewardess
BC and Haunt kill Tower
Javelineer kills Nullcraft
Discard 1, Draw 3

Patrol 2 tokens
L4 Garth (2/1)
Javelineer
Bone Collector (3/2)

That seems fine. If I don’t build Tech II I can re-play Imp and force another discard, but I’m just spinning my wheels. So, I should tech in a couple of Tech II things, and see where things go.

Tech: Sneaky Pig, Hired Stomper
Worker the Thieving Imp (planning to max Vandy next turn)
[/details]
8 gold (8)
Worker (7)
Tech II Bashing (3)
Deteriorate Mox
Bone Collector trades with Geiger, Garth to L3
Level Garth to 4 (2)
Garth and Pestering Haunt kill Stewardess
Bone Collector and Skeleton Token kill Tower
Skeletal Archery (0)
Javelineer kills Nullcraft
Discard 1, Draw 3

Scavenger - Skeleton (1/1)
Technician - Skeleton (1/1)

L4 Garth (2/1)
Javelineer (1/1) w/ rune
Bone Collector (3/2)

Skeletal Archery
Base - 18
Tech I - 5
Tech II - 5
Spec: Bashing

9 workers, 0 gold
Hand: 3
Deck: 0
Discard: 7

[details=Next Hand]Sacrifice the Weak
Dark Pact
Hooded Executioner
[/details]

P2T5


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Ebbflow Archon
Ebbflow Archon


STARTING HAND
Fading Argonaut
Argonaut
Argonaut
Shimmer Ray


WORKERS
Plasmodium
Forgotten Fighter
Neo Plexus
Time Spiral
Fading Argonaut


NextHand

Temporal Research
Shimmer Ray
Battle Suits
Tinkerer
Rewind


Discard

Stewardess of the Undone
Nullcraft
Argonaut
Shimmer Ray
Argonaut
Ebbflow Archon
Ebbflow Archon


Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float + scav - ($11)
Vir - ($9)
Vir peeks at top card
Tech II - Past - ($5)
Worker - ($4)

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


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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Hardened Mox (1/1+A)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]: L1 Vir (2/3)
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]

[B]Buildings:[/B]

  • :heart: Base HP: 18
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Past)

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

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 0
  • Disc: 7
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 4
  • Workers: 10
T5 Thoughts

Ok, I was not expecting Skeletal Archery. I thought that would have been workered ages ago. Not sure if that ruins my Flyers plan… I think not as 1/1s shouldn’t be too scary. It makes me really want to rebuild my tower though - taking 3+ unreturned damage each turn seems bad. The good news is that I feel like we’re in the strongest position we’ve been in all game. Double Argonaut would definitely put us in the driving seat for board control, but it will mean we start falling behind in the tech race. So suddenly I have a bunch of different options - I hope that’s a good sign!

Cards in his discard: 2 teched cards from last turn, Soul Stone, Bone Collector, Pestering Haunt, Deteriorate, whatever he discarded last turn.
Other cards we know he has: Dark Pact
Cards which have likely been workered (I know, I know, SArchery used to be on this list…): Rogue, Graveyard, Summon Skeletons, Jandra + 1 more (probably Imp?)
So cards in hand are 3 of: Dark Pact, Imp, 2 cards he teched at the start of T4, StW

  • 2 Argonauts, Tech II, worker: This seems pretty strong, although it means we go down to 1 card, and also take 3 free damage from skeletons. We potentially lose one Argonaut to StW, and the other could go down to skels + Garth. A resurrected Hired Stomper (or one from hand I guess) means that Tech II potentially goes down. However, will we draw anything useful next turn? We might get Shimmer Ray, we won’t have enough gold to play Rewind, and the only other unit in our deck is Tinkerer…
  • Argonaut, Tech II, Tower, worker: This gives us another card, and means we’re more likely to have Shimmer Ray, but there are still no good units in our deck. We have a pretty weak Patrol which StW pretty much decimates. Skeles could sideloine mox and then Garth and BC kill our Tech II.
  • Argonaut, Fargo, Tech II, worker: This looks straight-up inferior to the first line, but the key difference is it leaves us enough gold to Rewind next turn (assuming we draw it). I’m not sure Rewind is actually useful though, as I end up with max Prynn vs Max Garth + Vandy, and I don’t think that will go well for me. We’re back to a metamorphosis win condition.
  • Argonaut, Argonaut, Tower, Hero: This leaves me in the strongest board position, but puts me behind in the tech race and in workers. He’s playing tech II units to my tech I, and I can’t play tech III for another 3 turns. Also, StW and a resurrected Hired Stomper can destroy my board, and I have nothing in my deck to play next turn except Tinkerer…
  • Tech II + worker + float 6: This pretty strongly telegraphs Rewind, and it will be interesting to see how EricF responds. My big fear here is resurrected Sneaky Pig (and maybe one from hand?), as if he can destroy both Tech I & II, I’m unlikely to be able to recover…
  • Tech II + worker + Vir + float 4: Vir is immune to both Stomper and StW, so to destroy both Tech I and II he needs Stomper and double Sneaky Pig, which is not impossible but seems unlikely. The downside is obviously that Vir is pretty certain to die, and so I’m handing 2 free levels to Garth or Vandy.

So, it looks like I’m losing this game :slight_smile: He can resurrect either Sneaky Pig or Hired Stomper, and I think there’s a very strong chance he’s holding Sacrifice the Weak. So, if he doesn’t have StW, double Argonaut is probably my strongest line, but it leaves me with no plays next turn, and if he does have it, my Tech II and my whole board dies. I can bet against him having either Sneaky Pig or Hired Stomper in hand, and float 6 gold, but it’s my Tech I building which is on the line. My safest option is probably Vir and float 4 gold, but this leaves me with 1 less gold, and hands him 2 free levels. I think it’s probably my best line though…

[details=Thoughts]There are 5 possibilities to play around here (Jadiel will have 15 gold on his turn):
Rememberer + Seer/Time Spiral producing up to 5 patrollers (costs 6-8 gold + 2 if a Hero needed)
Rewind clearing the board, and leaving a 3/5 Prynn (costs 12 gold)
Origin Story returning my max-band Vandy (costs 4 gold + 2 if Prynn not summoned for something else)
Ready or Not letting Mox attack twice, and locking down my units (costs 4 gold + 2 for Geiger)
Now! letting Geiger or something else attack Hastily (costs 1 gold + 2 for Geiger + cost for other unit)

If I don’t max out Vandy, that neuters extra attacks and Origin Story. On the other hand, if I do max Vandy and let Tech II live (dealing all damage to the Base) I can ignore everything except Origin Story. Unfortunately, he’ll have enough gold to Origin Story + Fill Patrol Zone, or Rewind + Origin Story on Garth. However, I think if I grab a Death Rites I can cleanly handle either course, and most likely just get lethal next turn, but possibly need to go a little longer (although there is no threat of me dying, so I can wait for Wrecking Balls if needed) [/details]

[details=P1, Turn 6]Hand:Sacrifice the Weak
Dark Pact
Hooded Executioner

Tech: Death Rites, Regular Sized Rhino (worse than Harvest Reaper in general, but this plays around Ready or Not better)

Draw: Pestering Haunt
Worker: Pestering Haunt
[/details]
9 gold (9)
Javelineer and Skeleton long-range the Mox out of the way
Summon and Max Vandy (3), dooming remaining Skeleton and Mox
Skeleton kills Vir, Garth to L6
Max Garth (2), retrieving a Regular Sized Rhino
Sacrifice the doomed skeleton, reshuffle, and draw a card
Garth and Bone Collector attack your Base, reducing it to 12 hp.
Worker (1)
Make a Skeleton (0)
Discard 3, Draw 5

SQL - Regular Sized Rhino (5/6 +1)
Scavenger - Skeleton (1/1)
Tech - Skeleton (1/1)
Lookout - L5 Vandy (4/5) resist 2

L7 Garth (3/4)
Javelineer (1/1) w/ rune
Skeleton (1/1)
Bone Collector (3/2)

Skeletal Archery
Base - 18
Tech I - 5
Tech II - 5
Spec: Bashing

10 workers, 0 gold
Hand: 5
Deck: 2
Discard: 3

[details=Next Hand]Bone Collector
Soul Stone
Sneaky Pig
Hired Stomper
Death Rites

Deck: Deteriorate and Metamorphosis
[/details]

I’m pretty sure this is over, but let’s play it out…

P2T6


StartingHand Workers

STARTING HAND
Temporal Research
Battle Suits
Shimmer Ray
Tinkerer
Rewind


WORKERS
Plasmodium
Forgotten Fighter
Neo Plexus
Time Spiral
Fading Argonaut


NextHand

Shimmer Ray
Shimmer Ray
Argonaut
Rewind
Argonaut


Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid + float + scav - ($15)
Max Prynn - ($7)
Rewind - ($3)
Tower - ($0)
Skip Worker

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


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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: L8 Prynn @4 (3/5+A)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]

[B]Buildings:[/B]

  • :heart: Base HP: 12
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Past)
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

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

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 8
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 10
T6 Thoughts

He’s clearly lining up for Metamorphosis to finish. If he has it in hand, I think I’m done for as he can kill my base in 2 turns with Demon Andy, and there’s nothing I can do about it. My only hope is that he’s needs to tutor for it. In that case there’s a chance I can get to Tech III where I can potentially turn things around…

[details=P1, Turn 7]Unfortunate that I don’t have Metamorphosis in hand, as that would be lethal right now (Pig uses up tower, attack for 11, tutor for Dark Pact). I think I still have assured lethal next turn, though. The only risk is a bunch of hasty attacks from Geiger (either Temporal Distortion or Now! could enable that), which I can mitigate by slowing myself down and breaking the Tech II instead of going Ham on the base.

Tech in the second Sneaky Pig[/details]
10 gold (10)
Tech in 1 card
Make a skeleton, sacrifice it to draw (9)
Play Skeleton Javelineer, sacrifice it to draw (8)
Metamorphosis (2)
Bone Collector (0)
Vandy kills Prynn, takes 4 damage, uses up Tower
Garth breaks your Tech II
Discard 7, reshuffle, Draw 5.

SQL - Bone Collector (3/3 +1)
Lookout - L7 Garth (5/6) resist 1 (and Invisible)

L5 Vandy (6/3) resist 1 (and Invisible)

Skeletal Archery
Base - 18
Tech I - 5
Tech II - 5
Spec: Bashing

10 workers, 0 gold
Hand: 5
Deck: 8
Discard: 0

[details=Next Hand]Deteriorate
Death Rites
Hooded Executioner
Dark Pact <- this means I have lethal through anything that doesn’t involve him killing Garth or Vandy on his turn
Regular Sized Rhino[/details]

P2T7


StartingHand Workers

STARTING HAND
Shimmer Ray
Rewind
Shimmer Ray
Argonaut
Argonaut


WORKERS
Plasmodium
Forgotten Fighter
Neo Plexus
Time Spiral
Fading Argonaut
Temporal Research


NextHand

Battle Suits
Rewind
Stewardess of the Undone
Ebbflow Archon


Discard

Shimmer Ray
Shimmer Ray


Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($10)
Argonaut - ($7)
Argonaut - ($4)
Vir - ($2)
Peek at top card of deck
Switch a card in hand with top of deck - ($1)
Rebuild Tech II
Worker - ($0)

Float ($0)
Discard 2, draw 4


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

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: L1 Vir (2/3+A)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]: Argonaut (3/4)
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Argonaut (3/4)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]

[B]Buildings:[/B]

  • :heart: Base HP: 10
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Past)
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

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

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 4
  • Disc: 2
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 11

Gg! I think that early mox/tower just didn’t work out for you, as I was able to build board advantage every turn without worrying about getting attacked back.

P1, turn 7:
Garth hits Vir, using up Tower
Vandy hits your base for 6
Dark Pact you for 2
Tap Vandy to fetch 2nd Dark Pact
Dark Pact you for the last 2

GG! Yes, I think that was my biggest mistake. Another significant one was I should have teched Glaxx instead of Argonaut early (and possibly late as well) as I had to play around Sacrifice the Weak a couple of times, where with Glaxx I could have made better plays. I knew that Readiness was almost certainly never going to be relevant.

I think the other thing was just how bad I was at predicting what you would do. I stil have a lot to learn! :slight_smile: