Argagarg guide

Argagarg is a defensive master, but that doesn’t mean he’s a pushover. Carefully placed wards can make an opponents purples useless, and hex can prevent his opponents from acting at all!

[Triangle: on the defense/rushdown edge, very far towards defense]

[B]Strengths:[/B]

  • Can give more wounds than any other character
  • Simple and great for beginners
  • Good natural defense against strong reds

[B]Weaknesses:[/B]

  • Simple gameplay makes it difficult to surprise expert players
  • Very low money
  • Relatively limited puzzle chip synergy

[B]Gameplan[/B]

Argagarg wants to disrupt his opponent’s plans with wounds while staying alive as long as possible. The longer the game drags out, the more Argagarg’s wounds and Protective Ward hurt his opponent.

[B]Puzzle Chips[/B]

[B]Chips Argagarg Loves[/B]

[I]- Gem Essence[/I]

Argagarg loves this chip. He already has a chip of every color, and no natural forks to use them! Even better, the trashing effect will help Argagarg much more than his opponent; the more his opponent trashes, the more annoying Argagarg’s wounds will become!

[I]- Color Panic, Ouch, Stolen Purples[/I]

Counterintuitively, defensive characters with blue reactions like strong reds in the pool. Argagarg can protect himself with Bubble Shield, while his opponents have no such defenses.

[I]- Really Annoying, Ebb or Flow, Thinking Ahead[/I]

Argagarg has two blue arrows on his character chips, which makes these much easier for him to play than other chips. These three chips all have great mains for Argagarg, so he should be considering them even if his opponent isn’t buying attacks! Really Annoying is an obvious choice to send yet more wounds the opponent’s way. Ebb or Flow lets Arg draw the game out or even attempt a rush. And Thinking Ahead makes up for Arg’s lack of cycling by letting him add new chips to his next draw.

[I]- Safe Keeping[/I]

This is a cheap chip that lets Argagarg stay alive in the late game. Because Argagarg has no natural forks, the pig is often useful for saving enders for next turn.

[B]Chips Argagarg Fears[/B]

[I]- Combos are Hard[/I]

Argagarg’s wounds can usually prevent opponents from getting to the really scary 8 and 9 cost chips. But many characters can easily get a 6 cost chip in the second cycle, before Argagarg has a chance to wound them much. Worse still, Argagarg has trouble getting that much money himself!

[I]- Risk to Riskonade[/I]

Rushdown characters can use this to rapidly speed up the pace of the game, making his wounds much less relevant.

[I]- Self-Improvement, Money for Nothing[/I]

Arg normally wants to wound his opponents as much as possible. With these strong reactions, opponents can actually wind up [I]better off[/I] after you play Hex of Murkwood. Self-Improvement’s main even lets them trash wounds.

[B]General Tips[/B]

  • Argagarg is not a fancy character. He should be buying lots of combines, because they are a great defensive option that doesn’t use a precious arrow.
  • Keep track of the combine effects you and your opponent are likely to draw next turn. Often Protective Ward will hurt you more than your opponent!
  • Bubble Shield’s ongoing effect is deceptively strong, because it removes itself from your deck. This makes you draw your purple chips that much faster! That said, if your opponent is buying scary reds, don’t just automatically play it because you can. Often it is better to keep in your deck as a reaction!

[B]Matchups:[/B]

[B]Matchups Argagarg Loves[/B]

Cycling characters like Valerie, Lum and Gwen are vulnerable to wounds, making Argagarg a reasonable pick against them. Additionally, Argagarg is favored against Menelker and Onimaru, since their Deathstrike Dragon and Wartime Tactics become harder to use effectively as their decks fill with wounds.

[B]Matchups Argagarg Fears[/B]

Midori and Jaina are strong rushdown characters that can end a game quickly. Worse still, they have natural ways to trash Argagarg’s wounds! Bal Bas Beta also can trash wounds into 1-gems with Upgrade, and can use Rocket Punch as a reaction to Argagarg’s hex. Setsuki is one of the few characters that can use Really Annoying even better than Argagarg can, and has such explosive economy that a few wounds barely hurt.

Guide written by Vivafringe

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