What an awesome game! Really enjoyed that one! GG & WP!
Well, the opinion on a bloomed Cal always depends on the side of the table you’re sitting
This was the first match where our MoLaC nerf actually felt great for me as it’s opponent. Yes I was a bit ahead of you almost all the time. Had you jammed it in one of your Tech2 turns in the old way, it probably would have given you the boost rather sooner than later and that would have been the pivoting point. With you probably not being able to instant charge it, I wasn’t that afraid of it as I used to.
I know my own Deck has a certain power level which is necessary for such a statement but still, the nerf is way better than I thought!
Little one’s still got a bad cough but much more back to normal on energy level and health than previously. Wish I could say the same for myself I’ve been pretty miserable still this bout of COVID’s been a real bugaboo
GL HF! Let’s see if I can find a winning formula against Cala the jerk
That’s very good and very bad news, I’ll change to crossing my fingers for you then! The four of us had this first omicron variant a few months ago. Was pretty tough still, but nothing in comparison to what you describe here.
GL & HF!
Your winning formula night just read “do not have as much bad luck drawing cards as two games ago”
nerfed Miracle Growth testing game #4 P2T1
P1 [Anarchy]/Growth/Strength vs. P2 [Finesse]/Present/Feral
Charge Dog, kill Cala, you get 1g, Zane to level 3 (1)
Zane hits your base to 18
Worker (0)
Workers
Bloodburn, Careless Musketeer
Patrol as below
Discard 2 rs Draw 4
Board Info:
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
Zane (2/2 lvl 3)
Economy Info:
Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 6
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 6
End of Turn Hand
Bird’s Nest
Makeshift Rambaster
Scorch
Pillage
End of Turn Discard
My Thoughts
So just don’t let Cala get out ahead and win at tech 2? I guess we try that lol. I’m gonna have a fat cycle next time around but at least that probably means I can stack the next one.
Nautical Dog
Gunpoint Taxman
Mad Man
Bombaster
Charge
End of Turn Discard
My Thoughts
Well Bloomed Max is still a nuissance and I can’t really keep Zane safe w/o maxbanding and leaving open to a easy counterkill. I’m fine with geiger maxbanding here though, that’s actually good, so midband + elite makes that the only safe “good trade”, and I can float some. that’s a win I think.
Bloom
Granfalloon Flagbearer (2/2)
Research & Development
Maestro (3/5)
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Worker - ($7)
Max runs into SL
Messenger trades SL - ($6)
Fencer hits Rook - ($4)
Cal - ($2)
maxband max flickers fencer - ($0)
flickered fencer kills Rook, Cal to midband, you draw
Float ($0)
Discard 2, reshuffle, draw 4
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Cal (3/4A, lvl3)
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
Max (4/5, lvl5)+
Nimble Fencer (2/1)
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Finesse)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 7
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 9
Thoughts
72,7% probability to get R&D and therewith a guaranteed Maestro + 4 virtuosos will hit the table, if I’m lucky I can attack+suicide with many of them and replay them plus an additional starlet from my next tech choice. I like!
Research & Development
Granfalloon Flagbearer (2/2)
Feral Strike
Star-Crossed Starlet (3/2)
Nimble Fencer (2/1)
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($9)
R&D, draw 5 - ($7)
Maestro - ($4)
Max kills Arg, Cal maxbands
Starlet for free, runs into BA
old fencer runs into BA
new fencer for free trades with BA, you draw
second R&D, draw 2, rs 6, draw 3, then R&D to discard - ($2)
fencer & Starlet for free break Tech 2, base to 18
messenger pings tech 1 - ($1)
cal breaks tech 1, base to 16
tenderfoot for free kills dog
worker - ($0)
I think bloomed heroes was not fully utilized in the past. And bloom is strong on many heroes. I have some more ideas which are interesting. But the final question is, if they can compete with nightmare at least with the new version. But first let’s see what this peace/demon version can do. I think it is very promising.
I think I will fold to the double tech break GG WP! I can’t really think of a line to keep up here, maybe I’ve been unlucky three straight games but seems unlikely. I haven’t been able to line up Birds + Ancient dropping at all which certainly has been a problem.
I’ll let this thread lie for a bit while we play our tourney thread but happy to return to it later, welcome thoughts on where I might be going wrong or whether the matchup is as tough as it seems!
Yeah, that was an awesome game, smashing such a powerful deck felt great, but you already pointed out the main issues:
Your deck is great against bully heroes only if Rook by himself is strong enough to survive some pressure. Against a bloomed cal plus potentially hasted fencers that’s just not the case
With Rook not being safe, the tremendous pressure early birds can put on the board is just not as easy to achieve. BUT if you take a closer look on my tech choices, I went the high risk approach that would have been very bad in case you had gotten birds on the table (I’ll come back to this on 4.). Only in our last match I felt safe against that line due to the timing of when what hero was on the table. But especially that turn 2 last game took quite some brain power to find a line that seemed worth it.
In case you had a proper defending unit in your hand T3, especially if that were a Bogre, everything looks quite different in our last game. I think that was the crucial factor in that last game of ours
As mentioned above I went high risk with increased pressure with fencers at the cost of not being prepared against birds. I think such an asymmetrical approach probably has the largest influence on how such a game between powerful decks turns out. If you try to be prepared against everything your own line of play typically is not as strong anymore. If you then take a risk in order to favor your best lines, it heavily pays out, if the risk did not hit the table. But in case it does, you usually just look dumb
I’m happy with resuming to this thread after dealing with your nightmare threat in the tourney! I hope that the game will not be decided by some trivial lucky draws but due to strategic decisions!
Hey Frozen, here my input on Zango’s deck. As his strategic consultant I should know the weaknesses. It is very strong when he draws directly feral strike at the first tech 2 and has cala max. That is not easy to avoid with miracle growth. Bloomed Cala puts a lot of pressure on the table. But the downside is that it is a very expensive deck in the beginning. He has no 1g tech 1 unit and the neutral units are from a g/stats perspective weaker vs red. So often he can just play 1 tech unit because he needs to spend money on Cala. Other decks can utilize that weakness better, here is what I would try with miracle growth:
Tech 2 taxman. Don’t go in turn 1+2 down on cards. Use scav and technician defense where possible. The first two rounds a bit more defensive than you played. Use Rook midband as a thread for Cala, to pass 1 patroller. Rook midband can still kill bloomed Cala midband and survive, when Cala has some damage on it. Maxband rook will be very difficult for him to remove. That is for sure not a safe win condition, the draws at tech 2 will decide. I think molac and sharks at tech2 would work better than ancient and birds.
Some tactical points from the games: I was only participating at the last game so I have not thought throught the games before. Zane is completely useless in the beginning against that deck. It just allowed him to tech 2 fencer, which should not work against rook and gpt. I told Zango in turn3, if you teched like usually chances are high for GPT and Rook in turn4. If you would put it sl and technician the game is over. Better would have been gpt sl and rook on elite, since you could expect fencer with finesse tech 2. Sharks in turn 5 would have cleared the board completely. You still would have been behind, but chances are there.
From the other games just some observations from a short look which might be wrong. Tower instead of rook midband. Give him easy sl kills which allow midband cala. Aggression in turn 1 and 2 instead of 3 and 4.