GG, WP!
Thanks for your detailed feedback, I very much appreciate it!
Yes, I’d like to play another game - are there any match-ups that would be particularly useful for a beginner to play through?
GG, WP!
Thanks for your detailed feedback, I very much appreciate it!
Yes, I’d like to play another game - are there any match-ups that would be particularly useful for a beginner to play through?
I think red vs green is the best matchup to learn the game with personally, but I’m down to play whatever. You go first this time, pick a matchup and post! You can stay in this thread or start another, just be sure to tag me if you stay a new thread
GL, HF!
Player 1, turn 1
Events of turn
Upkeep:
Main:
Patrol as below
Discard 3, draw 5
Tech two cards before my next turn
Board info
Buildings:
In patrol:
In play:
Economy info
Cards:
Gold:
I’ll focus on learning from my earlier mistakes: putting heroes into play when they can quickly be taken out, deploying a Tower (if necessary), keeping an eye on my gold (i.e. think carefully before doing Spore Shambler gifts).
Looks good, GL HF!
As an aside, if you haven’t already, I highly recommend utilizing Autocard Anywhere for quick reminders to yourself of specific card and hero text!
Bloodrage Ogre
Mad Man
Bombaster
Careless Musketeer
Bloodburn
Bloodburn
Charge
Nautical Dog
Scorch
Makeshift Rambaster
Pillage
Bombaster
Mad Man
Careless Musketeer
I never start Jaina, gonna try it out
Thanks for suggesting the software, I’ll check it out.
Player 1, turn 2
Events of turn
Upkeep:
Main:
Patrol as below
Discard 3, draw 5
Tech two cards before my next turn
Board info
Buildings:
In patrol:
In play:
Economy info
Cards:
Gold:
Jaina’s spells would counter Murkwood Allies, so I might go for fewer, more powerful units instead.
I’ll tech in a Centaur (for its stats) and Tiny Basilisk (to create a threat against Jaina).
It’s a chrome extension, you can limit it to just this site and just Codex words, makes them mouseovers that pop out the card image, really handy
When combined with the" preview" during editing, lets you just check a card really quick (if you can spell its name Doubling Bar-BAR-barian used to really throw me for a loop!)
Charge
Nautical Dog
Scorch
Makeshift Rambaster
Pillage
Molting Firebird x2
Scorch, Bloodburn
Molting Firebird
Pillage
Careless Musketeer
Bloodrage Ogre
Bombaster
Mad Man
Careless Musketeer
Woulda been nice to have Musketeer or Bombaster here for a big-time pillage.
This is a little bit odd for me, but I’m gonna try fast-teching fire and loading this first draw with Firebird. No idea how poorly this will turn out, but hey, gotta try some stuff once in awhile eh? Hopefully I draw Bombaster or BROgre next turn so I can block up a bit, maybe he’ll forego a hero so I can suicide Jaina.
…
Nice, Brogre secured, let’s see what he rolls with.
I’ve got the extension and it works well for most cards, but not on the Centaur or your Jaina - (for some reason it works when I type Jaina). Overall, it is very handy .
Player 1, turn 3
Events of turn
Upkeep:
Main:
Patrol as below
Discard 2, draw 4
Tech two cards before my next turn
Board info
Buildings:
In patrol:
In play:
Economy info
Cards:
Gold:
I’ll bring out Calamandra – I hope I haven’t just crippled myself on turn 2, again.
I haven’t yet teched in any spells as I lack the units to cast them on.
I’m getting a little … creative here
Molting Firebird
Pillage
Careless Musketeer
Bloodrage Ogre
Hotter Fire x2
Molting Firebird x2
Scorch, Bloodburn
Charge
Molting Firebird
Mad Man
Bombaster
Hotter Fire
Hotter Fire
Makeshift Rambaster
Nautical Dog
Pillage
Molting Firebird
I’m in a playful mood, let’s break shit, make bad trades, and tech up in the name of science. His play was about what I expected, and that’s cool. Provided he doesn’t have Forest’s Favor or Behind the Ferns in hand, I should be able to rain terror with my birdie next turn.
Player 1, turn 4
Events of turn
Upkeep:
Main:
Patrol as below
Discard 3, draw 5
Tech two cards before my next turn
Board info
Buildings:
In patrol:
In play:
Economy info
Cards:
Gold:
I am very suspicious – why would my opponent throw away all units and Jaina?
I’ll take the Tech at face value and plan against it:
Molting Firebird
Pillage
Careless Musketeer
Bloodrage Ogre
Ember Sparks, Bamstamper Lizzo
Hotter Fire x2
Molting Firebird x2
Careless Musketeer, Scorch, Bloodburn
Molting Firebird
Charge
Pillage
Yay! Nasty birdy kills big cat lady! He’s got a buncha gold and tech 2, probably going to have to deal with Mimics or Fairie Dragons, I could break the tech 2 and put a dent in Cala for later levels, but I think I’d rather eliminate the immediate threat. I’ll tech Ember Sparks and Bamstamper to help me deal with possible counter fliers.
…
I got another Firebird, awesome, should be able to cut down whatever he throws my way then XD
Player 1, turn 5
Events of turn
Upkeep:
Main:
Patrol as below
Discard 2, draw 4
Tech two cards before my next turn
Board info
Buildings:
In patrol:
In play:
Economy info
Cards:
Gold:
Relying on my gut this turn as things are starting to get complicated (Drakk giving out Frenzy, Flying units etc.).
Molting Firebird
Pillage
Careless Musketeer
Bloodrage Ogre
Bamstamper Lizzo, Ember Sparks
Ember Sparks, Bamstamper Lizzo
Hotter Fire x2
Molting Firebird x2
Pillage, Careless Musketeer, Scorch, Bloodburn
Bombaster
Bamstamper Lizzo
Makeshift Rambaster
Ember Sparks
Bamstamper Lizzo
Molting Firebird
Bloodrage Ogre
Charge
Good times here! I may be just going tech 3 + tech lab next turn, but let’s wait and see what shakes out. At the least, Bamstamper will be able to plow the road.
Player 1, turn 6
Events of turn
Upkeep:
Main:
Patrol as below
Discard 1, draw 3
Tech two cards before my next turn
Board info
Buildings:
In play:
Economy info
Cards:
Gold:
Not too much I can do here without Tech 2 – I don’t want to bring a Hero out, for fear of them feeding levels to a Zane or Jaina.
Bombaster
Bamstamper Lizzo
Makeshift Rambaster
Kidnapping, Flame Arrow
Bamstamper Lizzo, Ember Sparks
Ember Sparks, Bamstamper Lizzo
Hotter Fire x2
Molting Firebird x2
Pillage, Careless Musketeer, Scorch, Bloodburn
Ember Sparks
Nautical Dog
Hotter Fire
Ember Sparks
Bamstamper Lizzo
Molting Firebird
Bloodrage Ogre
Charge
Bamstamper Lizzo
Bombaster
Flame Arrow
Kidnapping
Okay, all buildings down is solid, I’m vulnerable to a moment’s peace so let’s get the double tech kill just in case that happens, that way I can tech up if need be. Flame Arrow would help with that, so sure let’s grab it.
I concede: GG, WP!
That was a very exciting game and will be another valuable learning experience.
GG WP! Happy to provide in-depth insights again later if ya like, curious to hear what you think went wrong for you, and glad to play again!
If you want, we could swap decks so you can see what the matchup looks like reversed. I find that helpful sometimes.
At the moment, there are two things I suspect for bringing about my decline:
But I might be way off - I’ll have a read through your thoughts and see if they support my evaluation.
Okay, late reply but here’s my turn-by-turn breakdown:
Turn 1:
I think Merfolk + Cala is a better opening here. Gives you two attackers, which makes it much riskier for me to bring out a hero, and thus gives you early board pressure. You also know Ironbark, Shambler and Rampant Growth are in the next hand, so you have the flexibility to respond to anything I would put down to oppose.
Turn 2:
Given what I laid on my turn 1, not playing a hero here is smart. I do think Ironbark or Shambler is a better response though. Ironbark in Elite is guaranteed to trade well with my board. Your tech was solid facing Jaina, though I think Huntress + Centaur would be a little better (Jaina can flame down Tiny B effectively, and Tiny B isn’t going to block a tech1 rush of dudes from me)
Turn 3:
Great choice of what to spend gold on, my only suggestion would be in patrolling. Cala in SQL here is tough for me to trade well into (I’d need to tech a lobber, decently likely, but then give up 4g and 3 cards for your 4g and no card, getting the 2g in levels back). I think that’s a good trade for Green, as Red gets into trouble dipping that hard on cards.
You’re then guaranteed to keep Centaur, who is a further card-advantaged attacker. Overpower gives him great 2-for-1 potential, and possibly can get a counter-kill on the Jaina that got “free levels”, giving you a chance to get those free levels right back. I think you want to tech at least one spell or tech 2 card here, as doubling down on tech 1 units only guarantees that if I fast tech, you’ll be ill-equipped to respond
Turn 4:
I don’t think playing to destroy the tech 2 is a smart play here. If you had Forest’s Favor, I would say yes, break my tech 2 and tech up yourself. But Rampant Growth is spending 3 cards and 2g just to delay my tech 2 a turn, and I could easily be bluffing having a tech 2 and that’s a lot of investment to be not sure.
You get a bit unlucky here from me having a draw set up that contains Charge + Firebird + Mad Man, you’d be safe to a large variety of more likely hands for me.
You also really need a spell by this point. Dinosize to base race with Centaurs, Polymorph: Squirrel to take care of the bird, but something.
Turn 5
Solid play. Instamax Arg instead of Tower + Centaur could be considered as well, but I think Tower + Centaur is better.
Turn 6
I didn’t get my Bamstamper but the Firebird was just as bad for you. This is where you need something in the deck that will give you some grace. Polymorph, Ferocity, moment’s peace, something to stifle my momentum. Mimics are also a better choice than Chameleon at this point, but yea without having teched one of those spells several turns prior, I’ve got a bit of a stranglehold on the board.
Like I said, I’m happy to play the green side if you like, or play more red, or play another matchup all together. Just let me know. Hope all is well!
I greatly appreciate your turn-by-turn analysis - as a new player, I find your reasoning to be very helpful e.g. evaluating whether I should’ve broken your Tech 2.
I must say that Codex is the most thinking-intensive game I’ve come across, and while the learning curve does feel very steep, it is all the more rewarding for it.
Thanks for offering to play again - I might switch it up and play as Red. Would you be ok with being Player 1 Green?
You’re quite welcome, this forum needs more fresh players so I’m more than happy to encourage that!
There’s a lot of cards to learn and possible scenarios to work through each turn (even when limiting what permutations you’re considering from your opponent to just plausible ones, and discounting some possible surprises), but I agree that it rewards the knowledge investment with extremely deep gameplay. I’m rarely rewarded for going on auto-pilot, and much better off making the careful and fun interesting considerations.
I am definitely up for P1 Green! I’ll post later this afternoon / evening with turn 1, right now I’m late for lunch and exercise