[XCAFS18] charnel_mouse [Finesse]/Balance/Growth vs CarpeGuitarrem MonoRed

Codex Codex play-by-forum
21

P2T7

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Marauder
Marauder

STARTING HAND
Chaos Mirror
Bloodrage Ogre
Nautical Dog
Charge

WORKERS
Pillage
Careless Musketeer
Makeshift Rambaster
Bloodburn
Mad Man

NextHand

Marauder
Chaos Mirror
Gunpoint Taxman
Pirate Gunship
Bombaster

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($10)
Summon Zane - ($8)
Jaina trades with River; Zane levels to 3 and your levels fizzle
Taxman trades with elemental and steals your Scavenger gold - ($9)
Summon Drakk - ($7)
Max Zane, swoosh Arg into Scavenger and deal 1 damage to him - ($4)
Zane kills Arg, takes 2 damage, level Drakk to 3, gain gold from Zane midband - ($5)
Build Tech 3 - ($0)

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

Board Info:
In Patrol:

  • :psblueshield: Squad Leader: Drakk Ramhorn L3 1/3a
  • :psfist: Elite:
  • :ps_: Scavenger:
  • :pschip: Technician:
  • :target: Lookout:
    In Play:
  • Zane (haste) L6 MAX 4/2
    Buildings:
  • :heart: Base HP: 18
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Anarchy)
  • :heart: Tech III HP: 5
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

Command Zone:

  • Jaina Stormborne (dead)

Economy Info:
Cards:

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 10
  • Disc: 0
    Gold:
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 10
Thoughts

Irony of ironies, Iā€™m not that worried about Stampede. Itā€™s a biggish board but not that big. Dinosize is a threat, though.

I can actually build t3 and kill both heroes with the following line:

summon Zane (2), Jaina kill River, take 3, level Zane to 3, taxman kill elemental (steal scavenger 1), max Zane (3), shove Arg into scavenger and kill (gain 1), Tech 3, 2 left over. Can summon Drakk after Jaina dies, will end with 0 gold.
End result: 4/2 l6 Zane, 1/3 l3 Drakk patrolling, t3 up

Any tricky plays I can make with Chaos Mirror? They canā€™t really use cards from the hand; I donā€™t have haste options.

instead of building t3, I canā€¦ totally fail to get to blooming ancient. Thatā€™s fine. Iā€™ll build t3.

The most CM can do next turn to deal with patrol is Midori (2), bloom (2), wither (2), shift the Midori rune from ancient to wisp and kill Drakk, Ancient can hit something for 2, including Zane. 4 free gold, 1 card left. Can max Midori and worker. Can alternatively play a unit. wandering Mimic can drop as a 5/5 to smash T3ā€¦ Wait no, itā€™s balance. PHEW. The only way my T3 goes down, then, is Nimble Fencer. T3 down, Midori patrol, Zane lives.

In that eventuality, dropping a single Marauder as a tech seems reasonable. How does that effect odds?

With two marauders, probabilityā€¦
Drawing at least one gunship
2 cards out of 15, 5 draws
1 - 13/1512/14ā€¦9/11
1-(109)/(15*14) = 1-9/21, about 57%
Same percentage for drawing one marauder

With one marauder,
2 cards out of 14, 5 draws
1-12/1411/13ā€¦8/10
1-(98)/(14*13) = about 60%
odds for drawing one marauder is 5/14, roughly 34%

For a 3% lower chance at gunship, I gain a 23% increased chance of a marauder to keep momentum if T3 falls. That seems like a good trade.

1 Like
22

Hasty Messengerā€™s really doing some work this game.

P1T8

StartingHand Workers

STARTING HAND
Blooming Elm
Granfalloon Flagbearer
Timely Messenger

WORKERS
Helpful Turtle
Wither
Fruit Ninja
Brick Thief
Bloom
Circle of Life

NextHand

Giant Panda
Blooming Ancient

Discard

Tenderfoot
Galina Glimmer
Artisan Mantis
Giant Panda
Oversized Rhinoceros
Dinosize
Dinosize
Momentā€™s Peace

Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid + second scavenger - ($11)
Master Midori, Blooming Ancient gets a rune - ($9)
Timely Messenger, Blooming Ancient gets a rune - ($8)
Granfalloon Flagbearer, Blooming Ancient gets a rune - ($5)
Blooming Elm - ($2)
Blooming Ancient, now a 6/8 with Overpower, kills Drakk and Zane, takes 2 damage, Midori goes to Level 5 (midband), my base goes to 18
Blooming Ancient gives all 4 runes to Timely Messenger
Timely Messenger breaks your Tech III, your base to 16, takes 1 damage
Two levels to Midori, just shy of maxband - ($0)

Float ($0)
Discard 0, draw 2

Board Info:
In Patrol:

  • :psblueshield: Squad Leader: Midori L7 3/4+1A
  • :psfist: Elite:
  • :ps_: Scavenger: Granfalloon Flagbearer 2/2 (flagbearer)
  • :pschip: Technician: Wisp 1/2+1A (Midori boost)
  • :target: Lookout:

In Play:

  • Blooming Ancient 2/2 (2 damage)
  • Timely Messenger 5/4 (++++, haste, overpower from Elm, 1 damage)
  • :heart: Blooming Elm HP: 4

Buildings:

  • :heart: Base HP: 18
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Growth)
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

Economy Info:
Cards:

  • Hand: 2
  • Deck: 3
  • Disc: 8

Gold:

  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 10
Thoughts

Tech III going up is rough, but the Elm arrived in time for a full hero wipe, so Iā€™m happy.

Only thing Iā€™m worried about right now is Tech II hasty stealth units arriving, the Ancientā€™s damaged enough for a Monkey to kill and a Chameleon Lizzo could knock out the Elm. Putting Midori or the Flagbearer in SQL should ensure that the only thing a Lizzo can hit, and return to hand without dying, is the Wisp.

Not sure which to put in SQL, Iā€™m tempted to put Midori in because killing him will hopefully be at the expense of killing anything important in the back, but that does risk missing the Momentā€™s Peace. If the Elm survives the overpower overrides his midband anyway, though. Iā€™d like Flagbearer alive on the next turn, too, in case of Jaina coming out strong. OK, going with making Midori a tempting target.

ā€¦ Second Ancient, Panda and Wisp, and Argagarg and summons on the next turn? Sure, why not? Means I can still use Momentā€™s Peace, unless Carpe kills Midori and Wisp this turn for some reason.

23

Actually, shouldnā€™t my Wisp have been Sparkshot by Jaina? Flagbearer in Technician, if so.

1 Like
24

Oh hey, right you are. The one time it would be useful, and I forget. Not that it would stop the power of a cheap tech 0 haste in Green.

2 Likes
25

P2T8

StartingHand Workers

STARTING HAND
Chaos Mirror
Pirate Gunship
Gunpoint Taxman
Marauder
Bombaster

WORKERS
Pillage
Careless Musketeer
Makeshift Rambaster
Bloodburn
Mad Man

NextHand

Pirate Gunship
Calypso Vystari
Charge
Chaos Mirror

Discard

Pirate Gunship
Chaos Mirror

Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($10)
Boosted Marauder trashes one of your workers - ($4)
Summon Gunpoint Taxman - ($2)
Summon Bombaster - ($0)
Rebuild Tech 3

Float ($0)
Discard 2, draw 4

Board Info:
In Patrol:

  • :psblueshield: Squad Leader: Marauder (haste) 4/3a
  • :psfist: Elite: Gunpoint Taxman (anti-air) 4/3
  • :ps_: Scavenger:
  • :pschip: Technician: Bombaster 3/2
  • :target: Lookout:
    In Play:

Buildings:

  • :heart: Base HP: 16
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Anarchy)
  • :heart: Tech III HP: 5
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

Economy Info:
Cards:

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 6
  • Disc: 2
    Gold:
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 10
Thoughts

This is probably it. I was banking on that gunship. My only hope is to keep desperately jamming things in the patrol zone. I donā€™t have a good angle on Midori, so itā€™s not worth trying to break it.

Elite, Technician, SQL

Up to four runes going out, 19 potential damage, I have 8 health to soak it up. Probably getting blown up this turn.

26

P1T9

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Polymorph: Squirrel
Polymorph: Squirrel

STARTING HAND
Blooming Ancient
Giant Panda

WORKERS
Helpful Turtle
Wither
Fruit Ninja
Brick Thief
Bloom

NextHand

Spark
Momentā€™s Peace

Discard

Tenderfoot
Galina Glimmer
Artisan Mantis
Giant Panda
Oversized Rhinoceros
Dinosize
Dinosize
Momentā€™s Peace
Timely Messenger
Blooming Ancient
Polymorph: Squirrel
Polymorph: Squirrel

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($9)
Blooming Elm exhausts to give Blooming Ancient 3 runes
Blooming Ancient #2, BA#1 gets a rune - ($5)
Giant Panda, Wisp arrives, BAs get two runes each - ($2)
Argagarg Garg, Wisp #2 arrives, BAs get two runes each - ($0)
BA #1 kills Marauder and Taxman, takes 5 damage
Timely Messenger trades with Bombaster and takes your base to 13, you draw
Midori hits your base to 10, takes 1 damage
BA #1 gives 5 runes to Flagbearer before dying
BA #2 gives all 4 runes to Flagbearer
Flagbearer takes your base to -1, takes 1 damage, GG!

Float ($0)
Discard 0, draw 2

Board Info:
In Patrol:

  • :psblueshield: Squad Leader: Argagarg L1 1/3+1A
  • :psfist: Elite:
  • :ps_: Scavenger: Wisp #1 1/2 (Midori boost)
  • :pschip: Technician: Wisp #2 1/2 (Midori boost)
  • :target: Lookout:

In Play:

  • Midori L7 3/3 (1 damage)
  • Granfalloon Flagbearer 11/10 (9+, flagbearer, overpower from Elm, 1 damage)
  • Blooming Ancient #2 2/4
  • Giant Panda 2/4
  • :heart: Blooming Elm HP: 4

Buildings:

  • :heart: Base HP: 18
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Growth)
  • :heart: Tower HP: 4

Economy Info:
Cards:

  • Hand: 2
  • Deck: 1
  • Disc: 12

Gold:

  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 9
2 Likes
27

Note, when you have victory, you should tag me so I can record it.

1 Like
28

@zhavier I normally let the opponent check the turn and post first, if youā€™d rather I tag you immediately thatā€™s fine.

29

Yea, Iā€™ll check it before marking you victorious.

30

Fair enough!

31

@CarpeGuitarrem Well played! Looking through your thoughts, I feel like I lucked into a win here. You had a good idea of what I was doing all game, but my midgame block-up lasted just long enough for my bloomers to go down and help wreck your board.

1 Like
32

Gg, that was a sick swing turn!

2 Likes
33

You definitely punished my big mistake with the Taxman patrol, and it was hard to keep control from there. I also think going T2 Blood wouldā€™ve been better instead of immediately forcing the race to gunship. I needed a bit more breathing space.

Chaos Mirror also never actually helped because you went wide instead of sticking with big dudes. Swapping one or both for Kidnapping, and I might have been able to deal with Blooming.

1 Like
34

Yeah, I was definitely expecting Blood, given the board state. Frenzied Gliders would have stopped me cold.

1 Like
35

Also, you didnā€™t need to worry about Lizzo, you had a Tower.

36

I was worried about several Lizzos/Monkeys coming at once, because it was my best guess for what you were going Anarchy for.

1 Like
37

Good point, though I would need to get really lucky to draw them all.

Anarchy t2 mostly seems good if your board position is already solid. If youā€™re using gunship to swing, it seems like tech lab is better for that.

1 Like
38

True, but it was a guess! I wasnā€™t even thinking about Tech III going up, Zane is ridiculous.
Good luck in the rest of the tournament!

1 Like
39

Thanks, you too!

1 Like