[XCAFS20] Round1: charnel_mouse [Balance]/Blood/Strength vs James MonoBlue

Hello, @James! Rules changes below, I’ll post a turn once my brain’s in gear enough to parse them.

Green Starter

Ironbark Treant: ability becomes “-1 ATK/+1 :psblueshield: while patrolling” (rather than -2 ATK/+2 armor).
Rich Earth: gains “Arrives: Get a 0/1 wisp token. While you have 10 or more workers, this gains “tap: make a wisp”.

Balance

Midori: Midband becomes “Your units with no printed abilities get +2/+1”.
Circle of Life: becomes “Sacrifice a Tech 0 or Tech I unit. If you do, put a unit one tech level higher with cost 4 or less into play from your Codex” (instead of a green unit with cost 5 or less).
Gemscout Owl: is 1/1 instead of 0/1. It still can’t attack.
Chameleon: costs 0 (instead of 2).

Blood

Rickety Mine: gains Haste, ability changes from coin flip to “When this arrives, put two Ore runes on it. Tap: gain 3 gold, remove an ore rune. When this runs out of Ore runes, trash it and deal 1 damage to you and your opponent’s base”.

Strength

Bird’s Nest: Ability changes to “Arrives or upkeep: Put a 1/1 Flying Bird Token into play (max 2 tokens in play at a time)”. Remains as a channeling spell.
Mythmaking: gains the ability “Your Legendary units ignore the ‘Legend Rule’”.

Blue Starter

Porkhand Magistrate: ability costs 0 (instead of 1) to use.
Lawful Search: Changes to an upgrade, with “sacrifice this:” as the trigger for the ability it currently has as a spell (Look at opponent’s hand or discard, then draw 1).
Building Inspector: ability is “Your opponents must pay you 1 gold to build (or rebuild) a building” (instead of only the first building costing 1 more).
Bluecoat Musketeer: can now be long range while 2 attack or less (instead of exactly 1).

Law

Jurisdiction: gains “You may trash Jurisdiction and/or the searched-for spell” and “If that spell has Channeling your Law hero can Channel it until he leaves play” at the end of its effect.
Tax Collector: is a 3/3 (instead of 2/3).
Guardian of the Gates: is a 2/6 (instead of 1/6) and affects Units and Heroes (instead of just Units).
Arresting Constable: Gains “Haste” and can target any unit or hero with it’s ability.

Peace

General’s Hammer: costs 2 (instead of 3).
Drill Sergeant: gains “limit twice per turn” on it’s second ability (can only move 2 runes off of the DS each turn, same as Ancient).
Debilitator Alpha: costs 4 (instead of 5) and has “As Patroller: Attackers get -1 ATK” (even if they aren’t attacking Debilitator Alpha).

Truth

Spectral Tiger: gains Resist 1.
Spectral Roc: gains Resist 1.
Hallucination: Changes to: Spell - Summon :target: Target up to 2 units or heroes. Summon a 0/X hallucination token for each target, where X is the current HP (factoring in any buffs, debuffs or damage) of the target. Destroy these at your next upkeep.
Dreamscape: Instead of “all units are illusions” this becomes “Arrives or Upkeep: mark up to 5 units. These units are illusions until your next upkeep, even if Dreamscape is removed from play”. Also gains “Tap: Create a Mirror Illusion (max 2)”. Still channeling, still cost 3.
Quince: Midband ability now costs 1 (instead of 2).
Mind Control: Cost reduced to 4 and can attach to any unit, including tech IIIs.

1 Like

GL HF!

P1T1

Starting hand: 5

Merfolk Prospector
Spore Shambler
Rich Earth
Rampant Growth
Forest’s Favor

Thoughts

This will take a while to get used to. My thoughts for playing against vanilla Blue are that Nature Reclaims is decent against Flagstone Garrison if you keep up pressure before they arrive, and that Thunderclap + Bloodlust/Crash Bomber are good against illusions, but you might need to Kidnap Macciatus. Spectral Aven is more annoying, since my starter deck can’t deal with it, Bloodlust / Crash Bomber can.

Law: Guardian of the Gates is sort of annoying, because a Crashbarrow can no longer kill one by itself so easily. Constable could be annoying if I go for Balance. Juggernaut is decent against Kidnapping and deathtouch. Not sure what I think about Jurisdiction change.
Peace: Debiliatator Alpha can stop a frenzied Mimic, or a frenzied Crashbarrow in Elite. Good target for Kidnapping, though.
Truth: The extra resist will suck, I might need to lean on Kidnapping more than usual if Macciatus is on the way. Dreamscape is nasty if I don’t go with Blood, but high illusion stats discourage going with Blood. Fighting Truth II could be really rough.

Lots of cool stuff in my own deck’s changes. For now, the main thing is that Birds are no longer a good emergency defence against Aven due to the delay, so either I go for early targeting or I stick Gemscout Owl in Elite. I might not want an Owl, though, since there are now more attractive targets for Circle of Life.

OK, do I want hero + Prospector or Rich Earth + Prospector? The latter might be too greedy in the face of Onimaru + Aven. Heroes get minced by Onimaru, and I have no spells for support next turn. Maybe I wait a turn, see what I think I need before I commit to a first hero. Oh, Spore Shambler is an option too, right? It can snipe Aven if it appears, but if the Aven’s in Lookout then I can’t play anything else after teching up. I’ll hold off for now, then.


Get paid - (4)
Rich Earth, Wisp arrives - (1)
Worker
Merfolk Prospector - (0)
Discard 2, draw 4


Merfolk Prospector 1/1
Wisp 0/1

Rich Earth (my workers cost no gold; 10+ workers: exhaust to make a Wisp)

:heart: Base HP: 20


Hand: 4

Young Treant
Playful Panda
Ironbark Treant
Verdant Tree

Deck: 1

Tiger Cub

Discard: 2

Spore Shambler
Rampant Growth

Card-count check (opponent-viewable)

Expected: 10
2 on board
4 in hand
1 in deck
2 in discard
1 in workers
Total: 10


Gold: 0
Workers: 5

4 x start
T1: Forest’s Favor

@James Friendly reminder.

Sorry! Turns coming later today - tournament start just caught me at a busy time

1 Like

Sorry for more delay! I will speed up soon!

P2T1


StartingHand Workers

STARTING HAND
Porkhand Magistrate
Building Inspector
Spectral Aven
Reputable Newsman
Arrest


WORKERS
Spectral Aven


NextHand

Jail
Manufactured Truth
Lawful Search
Traffic Director
Bluecoat Musketeer


Discard

Arrest
Reputable Newsman
Porkhand Magistrate


Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5)
Worker - ($4)
Building Inspector - ($3)
Onimaru - ($1)

Float ($1)
Discard 3, draw 5


Board Info:
In Patrol:

  • :psblueshield: Squad Leader: Onimaru L1 2/3A frenzy 1
  • :psfist: Elite:
  • :ps_: Scavenger: Building Inspector 1/1 Pay ME 1 for buildings
  • :pschip: Technician:
  • :target: Lookout:

In Play:
*

Buildings:

  • :heart: Base HP: 20

Economy Info:
Cards:

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 0
  • Disc: 3

Gold:

  • Gold: 1
  • Workers: 6
Thoughts

Let’s try out this BI buff. I could try the Law plan into a big ol gryphon with the various Law buffs.

No worries! We all get times like that. That new Building Inspector is nasty.

P1T2

Starting hand: 4

Young Treant
Playful Panda
Ironbark Treant
Verdant Tree

Thoughts

No surprise to see Onimaru here, but that Building Inspector is pretty painful. I wonder if I can get away with playing Verdant Tree and waiting a turn, it would allow me to get down a larger board to work around Onimaru. Oh, but I’d pay James for the Tree too, hmm. In that case, maybe just tech up and put down the Ironbark Treant in Elite, behind Wisp in Squad Leader. That way, Building Inspector can’t clear the way to the Treant by itself, and even if Oni can get through he has to trade. Alternatively, Treant goes in Squad Leader as 2/2+2A

Building Inspector ruins the idea of taking double Rickety Mine. Maybe I go for Bloodlust + Crash Bomber or double Bloodlust instead, I might be able to snipe the Inspector. That’s a two-turn delay if I kill it with lust damage, though. I’ll go with the former.

Teched cards: 2

T2: Bloodlust, Crash Bomber


Get paid - (5)
Worker
Merfolk Prospector exhausts for gold - (6)
Tech I, you get a gold - (3)
Ironbark Treant - (0)
Discard 2, draw 1, reshuffle, draw 3


:psblueshield: Wisp 0/1+1A
:psfist: Ironbark Treant 1+2/2+1A

Merfolk Prospector 1/1

Rich Earth (my workers cost no gold; 10+ workers: exhaust to make a Wisp)

:heart: Base HP: 20
:heart: Tech I HP: 5


Hand: 4

Tiger Cub
Playful Panda
Rampant Growth
Bloodlust

Deck: 3

Spore Shambler
Crash Bomber
Young Treant

Discard: 0
Card-count check (opponent-viewable)

Expected: 10 + 2 teched = 12
3 on board
4 in hand
3 in deck
0 in discard
2 in workers
Total: 12


Gold: 0
Workers: 6

4 x start
T1: Forest’s Favor
T2: Verdant Tree

P2T2


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Brave Knight
Tax Collector


STARTING HAND
Manufactured Truth
Bluecoat Musketeer
Lawful Search
Jail
Traffic Director


WORKERS
Spectral Aven
Jail


NextHand

Tax Collector
Bluecoat Musketeer
Lawful Search
Porkhand Magistrate


Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float + Inspector tax - ($8)
Worker - ($7)
Manufactured Truth - my BI becomes a Treant - ($6)
Treant Inspector kills your wisp
Midband Onimaru - ($2)
Onimaru kills Treant, takes 3
Traffic Director - ($1)
Tech I - ($0)

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


Board Info:
In Patrol:

  • :psblueshield: Squad Leader: Traffic Director 1/1A
  • :psfist: Elite:
  • :ps_: Scavenger:
  • :pschip: Technician: Onimaru L5 3/1 frenzy 1 Readiness
  • :target: Lookout:

In Play:

  • Building Inspector 1/1 Pay ME 1 for buildings

Buildings:

  • :heart: Base HP: 20

Economy Info:
Cards:

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 4
  • Disc: 0

Gold:

  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 7
Thoughts

I can trade my 1 cost spell for his 3 cost minion, which seems good. I can then defend Oni with my one cost minion, and put something in tech to maybe recover the card. What do I need to be afraid of? green buff spells won’t help. My BI cuts out Mines. So I go…Knight? Tax? Seems worth having at least one Taxer in the deck with the buff. Then Tech up soon.

P1T3

Starting hand: 4

Tiger Cub
Playful Panda
Rampant Growth
Bloodlust

Thoughts

That’s painful, but I can do a pretty good retaliation with Bloodlust. I then have 2 gold to work out what to do with.

  1. Midband Drakk, trade Prospector with the Traffic Director. Then put Drakk to level 5 to avoid having float, since Tax Collector is now pretty good and the only buffed Tech I unit.
  2. Playful Panda, Prospector goes in Technician instead of exhausting for gold. James can take away some of my income with Traffic Director trade, but puts me back on 4-card hand size to do so. If not, I get another tech cycle, and have a larger board for frenzy.
  3. Midband Drakk, exhaust Prospector for gold, play Panda. I have a better board to make use of Frenzy next turn, but Traffic Director can trade with Prospector without a Technician draw, so I go further down on cards. That does give me an additional tech round before the reshuffle, but I’m not sure it’s worth, it unless I shoot for Desperation.

Option 2 seems good here, not guaranteed that I’ll get the Technician bonus but I’ll get more income / benefit from Frenzy if not.

Do I want to tech War Drums? Playing Bloodlust might prompt James to block 2-cost spells with Reputable Newsman, so I can’t rely on it, at least not yet. I am going into a slow cycle, though, so I might be fine taking it now. In that case, I should be fine taking a Tech II unit, too. I’ll take Doubling Barbarbarian and War Drums: they work together well, and Hallucination doesn’t benefit from the former’s ability at all. Once Rich Earth starts producing Wisps things should hopefully snowball pretty quickly. I don’t think I care about Guardian of the Gates or Debilitator Alpha if I can get War Drums out, and Barbarbarian’s overpower would hopefully keep a Peace engine under control. I just need to watch out for Illusions / Macciatus, especially fliers.

I can see workering Tiger Cub or Rampant Growth here. Tiger Cub’s nice to keep to get War Drums going and is OK for hasted damage, but Rampant Growth is great on Doubling Barbarbarian. I’ll worker Tiger Cub, I’m probably adding more units than spells for the next turn or two.

Teched cards: 2

T2: Bloodlust, Crash Bomber
T3: Doubling Barbarbarian, War Drums


Get paid - (6)
Drakk Ramhorn - (4)
Bloodlust on Onimaru and Building Inspector - (2)
Playful Panda, Wisp arrives - (0)
Worker
Discard 1, draw 3
Onimaru and Building Inspector die from lust damage, you draw, Drakk hits level 3


:psblueshield: Drakk L3 1/3+1A (dies: 1 to your base)
:psfist: Wisp 1+0/1
:exhaust: Merfolk Prospector 1/1

Playful Panda 2/2

Rich Earth (my workers cost no gold; 10+ workers: exhaust to make a Wisp)

:heart: Base HP: 20
:heart: Tech I HP: 5


Hand: 3

Spore Shambler
Crash Bomber
Young Treant

Deck: 0
Discard: 5

Ironbark Treant
Doubling Barbarbarian
War Drums
Bloodlust
Rampant Growth

Card-count check (opponent-viewable)

Expected: 10 + 4 teched = 14
3 on board
3 in hand
0 in deck
5 in discard
3 in workers
Total: 14


Gold: 0
Workers: 7

4 x start
T1: Forest’s Favor
T2: Verdant Tree
T3: Tiger Cub

P2T3


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Guardian of the Gates
Guardian of the Gates


STARTING HAND
Porkhand Magistrate
Lawful Search
Tax Collector
Bluecoat Musketeer
Reputable Newsman


WORKERS
Spectral Aven
Jail
Bluecoat Musketeer


NextHand

Arrest
Manufactured Truth
Reputable Newsman
Brave Knight
Guardian of the Gates


Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($7)
Worker - ($6)
Tax Collector, but you have no money to tax - ($4)
Tech II (Law) - ($0)

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


Board Info:
In Patrol:

  • :psblueshield: Squad Leader: Tax Collector 3/3A
  • :psfist: Elite:
  • :ps_: Scavenger:
  • :pschip: Technician: Traffic Director 1/1
  • :target: Lookout:

In Play:

  • Building Inspector 1/1 Pay ME 1 for buildings

Buildings:

  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Law)

Economy Info:
Cards:

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 3
  • Disc: 0

Gold:

  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 8
Thoughts

Right, bloodlust is a burn spell as well as a haste spell. Well, I forgot that, and thus did I have a bad time that turn. The best unit I can play is still the 3/3 for 2 Tax collector wven without the tax; it should let me keep my Tech II up, with some chance of drawing a Guardian next turn. I think Guardian will do pretty well against a lot of his deck, though not Rambasters, but maybe I could play some insurance and censorship council to deal with that.

Just to check before I post the turn, you know that Building Inspector died to Bloodlust, right?

Yes, admin error, and will redraw my hand! But I knew, so go ahead with your turn now

1 Like

P1T4

Starting hand: 3

Spore Shambler
Crash Bomber
Young Treant

Thoughts

This is straightforward to blow through with Crash Bomber. Teching in the other Barbarbarian, and a Grappler in case I need it for popping Spectral Hounds or killing a Newsman blocking War Drums.

Teched cards: 2

T2: Bloodlust, Crash Bomber
T3: Doubling Barbarbarian, War Drums
T4: Doubling Barbarbarian, Whitestar Grappler


Get paid - (7)
Maxband Drakk - (4)
Crash Bomber, Drakk gives it haste - (3)
Crash Bomber trades with Tax Collector
Wisp trades with Traffic Director, you draw
Drakk and Playful Panda destroy Tech II, your base to 18
Merfolk Prospector exhausts for gold - (4)
Worker
Tech II Strength - (0)
Discard 1, reshuffle, draw 3


Drakk L6 3/4 (dies: 1 to your base; units have frenzy +1; first unit from hand gets haste)
Playful Panda 2/2 (Drakk: frenzy 1)
Merfolk Prospector 1/1 (Drakk: frenzy 1)

Rich Earth (my workers cost no gold; 10+ workers: exhaust to make a Wisp)

:heart: Base HP: 20
:heart: Tech I HP: 5
:heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Strength)


Hand: 3

Doubling Barbarbarian
War Drums
Young Treant

Deck: 6

Ironbark Treant
Bloodlust
Rampant Growth
Doubling Barbarbarian
Whitestar Grappler
Crash Bomber

Discard: 0
Card-count check (opponent-viewable)

Expected: 10 + 6 teched = 16
3 on board
3 in hand
6 in deck
0 in discard
4 in workers
Total: 16


Gold: 0
Workers: 8

4 x start
T1: Forest’s Favor
T2: Verdant Tree
T3: Tiger Cub
T4: Spore Shambler

P2T4


Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Censorship Council
Brave Knight


STARTING HAND
Arrest
Manufactured Truth
Brave Knight
Building Inspector 1/1 Pay ME 1 for buildings
Guardian of the Gates
Porkhand Magistrate


WORKERS
Spectral Aven
Jail
Bluecoat Musketeer
Building Inspector 1/1 Pay ME 1 for buildings


NextHand

Lawful Search
Porkhand Magistrate
Reputable Newsman
Manufactured Truth
Guardian of the Gates


Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Worker - ($7)
Brave Knight - ($4)
Bigby - ($2)
Midband Bigby - ($0)

Float ($0)
Discard 4, draw 3, reshuffle, draw 2


Board Info:
In Patrol:

  • :psblueshield: Squad Leader: Brave Knight 3/3A Runs away
  • :psfist: Elite:
  • :ps_: Scavenger: Bigby L3 2/4
  • :pschip: Technician:
  • :target: Lookout:

In Play:
*

Buildings:

  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Law)

Economy Info:
Cards:

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 6
  • Disc: 0

Gold:

  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 9
Thoughts

Maybe forgetting how Bloodlust works has lost me the game? I need to defend my Tech II this turn, and preferably slow the game right down next turn I’m obviously playing brave knight, and probably a hero to go with it. I could go Quince for the extra chump blocker, or Bigby to hold on to my Guardian for a double guardian next turn. I would probs midband either for the extra HP. Assume he has another Crash Bomber; then the Bomber takes out my Knight, Drak and another card take out my hero, and then Panda and MP take out my tech building. Too risky, I think - I’ll have to go Quince for the chump. But then again, a Bloodlust just kills a chump, and one Guardian isn’t going to save me. I’ll take the risk and see if I’m punished.

P1T5

Starting hand: 3

Doubling Barbarbarian
War Drums
Young Treant

Thoughts

I feel bad, I’ve been consistently getting good draws. DB, Young Treant, War Drums. I could exhaust Prospector for gold if I draw a 2-cost card, I suppose, but I probably just attack with everything. Skipping a worker to get a larger Drums aura should be fine here.

Teching double Colossus, to close the game out if James somehow plays Judgement Day and follows up with a strong patrol. Not likely when I’m killing Bigby this turn, though.

Teched cards: 2

T2: Bloodlust, Crash Bomber
T3: Doubling Barbarbarian, War Drums
T4: Doubling Barbarbarian, Whitestar Grappler
T5: 2 x Colossus


Get paid - (8)
Doubling Barbarbarian, Drakk gives it haste - (5)

Young Treant, I draw - (3)

Crash Bomber

Thoughts

Oh my God, the 1/6 chance for lethal damage. This just feel cruel, but I have to do it.

Crash Bomber - (2)
War Drums at +5 attack - (0)
Skip worker!
Doubling Barbarbarian kills Bigby, sends Brave Knight to your hand, you get a gold, takes 3 damage
Drakk (3), Playful Panda (8), and Merfolk Prospector (7) destroy your base, GG!


:psblueshield: Young Treant 5/2+1A (Drakk: frenzy 1; War Drums + 5; can’t attack)
:exhaust: Crash Bomber 7/2 (Drakk: frenzy 1; War Drums + 5; dies: 1 to your base)

Drakk L6 3/4 (dies: 1 to your base; units have frenzy +1; first unit from hand gets haste)
Playful Panda 7/2 (Drakk: frenzy 1; War Drums + 5)
Merfolk Prospector 6/1 (Drakk: frenzy 1; War Drums + 5)
Doubling Barbarbarian 13/5 (Drakk: frenzy 1x2; War Drums + 5x2; haste; overpower; stat gains count twice)

Rich Earth (my workers cost no gold; 10+ workers: exhaust to make a Wisp)
War Drums (channelled by Drakk; units have +(# units) attack)

:heart: Base HP: 20
:heart: Tech I HP: 5
:heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Strength)


Remaining hand: 0
Deck: 5

Ironbark Treant
Bloodlust
Rampant Growth
Doubling Barbarbarian
Whitestar Grappler

Discard: 2

Colossus
Colossus

Card-count check (opponent-viewable)

Expected: 10 + 8 teched = 18
7 on board
0 in hand
5 in deck
2 in discard
4 in workers
Total: 18


Gold: 0
Workers: 8

4 x start
T1: Forest’s Favor
T2: Verdant Tree
T3: Tiger Cub
T4: Spore Shambler


Sorry that escalated so quickly, my draws were outstandingly good every turn. @FrozenStorm

2 Likes

That was a sick rs draw indeed, but just overall well teched

1 Like

GG! Yeah, I didn’t consider the bloodlust killing my patrol, and from there you just had an answer to my defences every turn. Well played!

1 Like

Yeah, it was drawing the Bloodlust that set up everything else, really. I suppose you could’ve traded the Inspector with the Treant instead, so that Onimaru stayed alive? But then I don’t know how easily you could’ve defended him afterwards. Getting to Tech II cleanly seems like it could still be rough for Blue, given Tax Collector is their only buff at Tech I.

Anyway, good luck in the next round! I’m looking forward to seeing how Blue does.

Wow… i wasnt looking at the teched cards so I was caught off guard by the wardrums and doubling barbarian base kill! Scary stuff

2 Likes