Strong start from thehug0naut, and I’m not entirely sure about my best response. On the other hand, I can pretty safely bet on Present as a Tech II choice, unless he’s gunning for Now!'d Rampaging Elephants or something. I think that means I’m best off going for value plays from Growth.
Early priority is not letting Calamandra get out of control. I’d like River for Discord against Green starter, but I think Midori’s got better chances of scaring off Calamandra, and I don’t like my options for unit patrollers. Buffing him gets a 3/4+1A, which still goes down to Rampant Growth on Calamandra and sacrificing the prospector. I think I just have to put down two units. Neutral has more instant damage options than Green, so I can just go for the payoff patrol slots and go for value, I think.
STARTING HAND
Rampant Growth
Tiger Cub
Spore Shambler
Young Treant
Rich Earth
WORKERS
Ironbark Treant
Rich Earth
NextHand
Verdant Tree
Forest’s Favor
Huntress
Playful Panda
Young Treant
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5)
Worker - ($4)
Tech I - ($2)
Calamandra kills Older Brother, takes 2, 1 gold for you
Midband Calamandra - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 4, reshuffle, draw 5
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Merfolk Prospector 1/1A [Resist 1]
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
L3 Calamandra Moss 3/4
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 4
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 6
Thoughts
Hmmm. I can’t see a line where I don’t attack with Calamandra, so I need to decide which target makes the most sense for her. Older Brother leaves her dead to Wither so I need to midband her afterwards if I do that. That leaves me 1 gold if I Worker+Tech I+Prospect or 0 gold if I patrol with Merfolk instead. 7 gold is a very attractive total to guarantee next turn since it allows Worker + Tiger, but SQL Prospector instead of Scav means he has to spend more cards to kill it, which I very much like. I should be able to keep aggressive even if I don’t get to prospect.
My other lines were 1) Rampant Growth the Prospector and kill his whole board leaving Calamandra on 2HP but undefended or 2) Kill the Tenderfoot and play a unit. The problem with 1) is Messenger + Bloom or Wither will kill her, and while 2) does offer me a bigger board that I could exploit with Ferocity or similar, I think I prefer the hand suppression, since it seems important vs Finesse.
With the extra gold from OB he’s most likely to tower up, which leaves 3 gold after worker. So he could maybe go Arg + Messenger. I suppose if he skips the Tower he could maxband Arg to wall me out and recover his hand. He could threaten Stampede from that position, but it seems less likely than Fencers + buffs.
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + scavenger - ($7)
Worker - ($6)
River Montoya - ($4)
Wither puts a -1 rune on Calamandra - ($2)
Midband River - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 2, draw 1, reshuffle, draw 3
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite: River L3 1+2/4
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
Tenderfoot 1/2
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 5
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 7
Thoughts
Hmm, was probably better off putting just an Older Brother down in Elite there. I can either tower up or Wither Calamandra here, the latter needs me to pick the hero. Argagarg doesn’t have enough attack, River could be brought up to midband for an extra health, Midori would allow a Moment’s Peace later on. I’m not worried about needing MP until Tech II, let’s go with River.
Definitely teching in one Tiny Basilisk for Calamandra and Centaurs. What else am I worried about? thehug0naut could skip a worker and bring in a Tiger, but I doubt it, and the Basilisk can deal with it. Argonaut’s pretty likely, Growth Tech I units are slow. Main thing I’d be worried about that Basilisks can’t handle is Murkwood Allies, so I could bring in a Discord, and that lets me deal with the Prospector too. I could just tower up in that case, though. OK, let’s just bring in two Basilisks, I think I might need them.
Merfolk Prospector
Forest’s Favor
Young Treant
Verdant Tree
Tricycloid
Temporal Distortion
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($6)
Worker - ($5)
Forest’s Favor to restore Calamandra - ($3)
Calamandra and Prospector kill River, Prospector dies, Calamandra maxbands and heals
Huntress - ($1)
Float ($1)
Discard 2, draw 4
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Huntress 3/3A [Anti-Air, Sparkshot]
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
L5 Calamandra Moss 4/5
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 0
Disc: 6
Gold:
Gold: 1
Workers: 7
Thoughts
This line seems excellent for me, I get a maxband Calamandra, which gives me the threat of a Tech building break with Startband + Rampant Growth, and her ultimate, while his board is looking pretty weak on defense if he wanted to tech up. Given that he has Balance, I could expect Tiny Basilisks to scare Calamandra and threaten Fairie Dragons, or Fencers if he plans to go Mimics. With the Huntress and Galina I should be able to keep them at bay, but even so I don’t know if I want to risk teching Feral Strike. I may double tech it if I think she’s protected next turn. For now Tricycloid makes sure I don’t buff his mimics if he goes for that. Slowing down my draw here helps a lot for stacking up my Tech II options for next cycle.
Technician: Tiny Basilisk 1/2 (deathtouch, no combat with Tech 0 units)
Lookout:
In Play:
*
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tower HP: 4
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 1
Disc: 4
Gold:
Gold: 1
Workers: 8
Thoughts
That was not how to stop Calamandra from getting out of control.
Only single-target removal Huggy’s got is Polymorph, so I could go for Rhinos, with Pandas to add chaff blockers. Alternatively, there’s Balance. That Huntress will be a problem, but I could Feather a Wisp to deal with it. Potent Basilisks would be a decent response to Present II and Behind the Ferns, I think. Let’s find out.
STARTING HAND
Galina Glimmer
Rampant Growth
Spore Shambler
Tiger Cub
WORKERS
Ironbark Treant
Rich Earth
Playful Panda
Tiger Cub
NextHand
Feral Strike
Feral Strike
Young Treant
Forest’s Favor
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($8)
Worker - ($7)
Tech II Present - ($3)
Galina Glimmer - ($2)
Huntress trades with Basilisk, Sparkshot 1 damage to Tenderfoot, 1 card for you
Float ($2)
Discard 2, reshuffle, draw 4
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Galina Glimmer 2/2A [Resist 1]
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician: L5 Calamandra Moss 4/5
Lookout:
In Play:
*
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Present)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 7
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 2
Workers: 8
Thoughts
I think I go to tech II 100% of the time here, so I don’t have the gold for a big tiger this turn. Tiger cub is my go to worker here, so my first impulses are to either play Spore Shambler or play Galina and float 2 gold.
I feel I have more upside with the extra float since it lets me use Young Treant if I draw poorly or Rampant Growth / Forest’s Favour to help break his patrol/buildings. He also only has access to 1 unknown teched card, so he can’t kill Calamandra if I patrol Galina, whether or not I kill Tenderfoot. I think on balance I leave Tenderfoot alive and hopefully retain a high HP Calamandra for later. I’ll patrol her in technician as it’s less suspicious of Feral Strike. Giving him 10 gold (which allows maxband Arg+Tech II) seemed a bit excessive simply for clearing a 1/1.
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($10)
Geiger - ($8)
Boosted Feral Strike, Tricycloid and Hyperion arrive - ($0)
Hyperion kills Arg, takes 2, Geiger midbands, 1 card for me
Remove 3 runes from Tricycloid, kill Wisp and Tenderfoot, 1 damage on Tech II, 1 gold for you
Calamandra breaks Tech II, takes 1, your base to 18
Galina trades with Basilisk
Float ($0)
Discard 4, draw 5
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Tricycloid 3/3A [Resist 1]
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
L5 Calamandra Moss 4/4
L3 Max Geiger 2/4 [Sparkshot]
Hyperion 4/3 [Haste, Resist 1]
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Present)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 1
Disc: 8
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
Thoughts
Board wipe, Tech II break achieved, and even more pressure coming next turn with my Geiger set up. Feeling pretty confident now.
Thanks very much! I reckon I managed to eke out a lot of advantage by playing so as to keep your hand size down and slow your cycling. That and Calamandra P1 doesn’t leave much wiggle room for P2.
Yeah, I think I should have just put down Older Brother on turn 1 and stuck him in Elite, so Cal couldn’t kill anything without midbanding. That would have kept my hand size up, and might have prevented her from getting out of control so quickly.