I wake up in a cold sweat, my eyes opened suddenly and I knew something was different. Pirate took his turn. I could feel the dread as if it were a physical palpable fog as I pushed my way to my bathroom. I read the news on the toilet and spilled my guts. Yes, the Treant died. No, BRO is not dead. Yes, your floating gold is long gone (“Why weren’t you more careful like the previous games”, I ask myself). And of course the ultimate terror - Zane is alive and well, smirking across the battlefield. This is the stuff nightmares are made of.
"P2T2
Tech StartingHand Workers
TECH
Hooded Executioner
Hooded Executioner
STARTING HAND
Forest’s Favor
Spore Shambler
Merfolk Prospector
Playful Panda
Tiger Cub
WORKERS
Rich Earth
Spore Shambler
NextHand
Hooded Executioner
Ironbark Treant
Forest’s Favor
Playful Panda
Rampant Growth
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($7)
Worker and pillage - ($5)
Build Tech I - ($3)
Hire Merfolk Prospector - ($2)
Summon Arg - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 3, reshuffle, draw 5
[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]
[I]Squad Leader[/I]: Merfolk Prospector (1/1+A)
[I]Elite[/I]: Arg (2/3)
[I]Scavenger[/I]:
[I]Technician[/I]:
[I]Lookout[/I]: Wisp (0/1)
[B]In Play:[/B]
[B]Buildings:[/B]
Base HP: 14
Tech I: 5
[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]
Hand: 5
Deck: 4
Disc: 0
[B]Gold:[/B]
Gold: 0
Workers: 7
Thoughts
Wow, what a monster! As my little asides hopefully illustrate, this is scary to be on the receiving end. My Tech I options are as follows: Bone Collector, Hooded Exec, Brave Knight, Overeager Cade, Galina Glimmer, and Giant Panda (as an aside, why the fuck are there 3 pandas that all do basically the same thing with panda in their name? There is no Panda tribal synergy - it’s just insanely confusing if you don’t play a lot of green or against a lot of green). None of them seem great on the defensive. I figure a really expensive Executioner can get rid of BRO, next turn its overeager cadets. He’s clearly not playing a long game, so a Tower at my first opportunity seems really good.
He’s not sane. Sane people don’t skip workers on T2. Sane people don’t say they want to learn to play defensively and then deal 10 damage on T2. There’s no reasoning with him. There’s no logic. Just pain and aggression, manifest through a crimson haze. Hold on tight, because this is going to be a bumpy ride.
STARTING HAND
Careless Musketeer
Makeshift Rambaster
Bloodburn
WORKERS
Scorch
NextHand
Nautical Dog
Surprise Attack
Surprise Attack
Mad Man
Discard
Bloodburn
Careless Musketeer
Maximum Anarchy
Chaos Mirror
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5) Skip worker BRO kills your Prospector (taking 1 damage), but not your prospects!
Level Zane to midband - ($2) Zane kills Arg, surviving, maxxing, and healing; Zane’s maxband moves your wisp to scavenger, but costs $1 due to Lookout; - ($1) but the the wisp dies and we both get $1! - ($2)
Recruit Makeshift Rambaster - ($0) Rambaster bastes your base for 3!
Float ($0)
Discard 2, draw 4
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout: In Play:
Bloodrage Ogre (3/1) “RawrRawr!”
Captain Zane, Lv. 6 (4/4) “InZane in the membrane!”
Makeshift Rambaster (1/2) “(He’s inZane! Got no brain!)” Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 3
Disc: 4 Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 5
[details=Thoughts]
Bad luck drawing both Surprise attacks in one hand, but if I can kill a scav. with Zane, I’ll have enough for Mad Man or NDog, too, next turn. (:
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($7)
Worker - ($6)
Get paid for “Scavenger” Wisp - ($7)
Hire a Boosted Hooded Executioner who chops the Rambaster back into wood - ($2)
Hire a Playful Panda and a much-needed Wisp friend - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 2, draw 4
[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]
[I]Squad Leader[/I]: Hooded Executioner (3/3+A)
[I]Elite[/I]:
[I]Scavenger[/I]:
[I]Technician[/I]: Wisp (0/1)
[I]Lookout[/I]:
[B]In Play:[/B]
Playful Panda (2/2), tired for now
[B]Buildings:[/B]
Base HP: 11
Tech I: 5
[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]
Hand: 4
Deck: 0
Disc: 5
[B]Gold:[/B]
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
Thoughts
Ok Cadets are coming in for some cheap blockers. Executioner did great work (although killing a 2 gold unit for 3 gold is never ideal, I could use a 2-for-1). Zane is maxed which means I think sharks are coming? Probably. I’ve got another executioner next turn if BRO somehow doesnt die again. Hopefully he then has a new unit which can get sniped, but if not I’ll take a 2 gold 3/3 anyday. Long-term we have to get Tech II (Growth) built and start getting Mantises online. I’m not sure there is a long-term with this game, but he only has 5 gold a turn on a bloated starter deck to kill me. That said, he’s doing a hell of a job so far. And Sharks, I know the Sharks are coming.
Heroes are safe since he can’t play more than 1 and Zane is maxed, so Oni would be a cheap blocker. Too bad I can’t just summon Arg again. That said, I could make a Playful Panda (the one that is a 2/2 exhausted with a wisp buddy). If I’m suspecting Sharks (and I am), then the Wisp could absorb as much as 3 damage? Which is great. Hmm. Oni would just die to a shark, but the Panda puts me down to 4 cards. Of course if the Tech Wisp dies I get the card back AND if he wants the card then the Wisp absorbs 4 damage from Zane which is totally worth it for me. Ok, Panda it is.
On the bright side Zane doesnt really have a good ult for closing out a game…unless you play hasted stuff after Maximum Anarchy. Hmm, I’ll have to keep that in mind for later turns.
STARTING HAND
Nautical Dog
Surprise Attack
Surprise Attack
Mad Man
WORKERS
Scorch
NextHand
Pillage
Surprise Attack
Charge
Maximum Anarchy
Bombaster
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5) Skip worker
Zane casts Surprise Attack! (Surprise!) - ($0) Zane goes all Reign of Terror and executes the Executioner, surviving with 1 HP Jabber Shark mistakes your Wisp for chum; you draw Old Kentucky Shark violates international law by killing your Panda. “A shark on whiskey is mighty risky. But a shark on beer is a beer engineer.” BRO hits your base for 3
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 3, reshuffle, draw 2
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout: In Play:
Bloodrage Ogre (3/1) “RawrRawrRawr!”
Captain Zane, Lv. 6 (4/1) “Zaney’s got a gun…” Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 9
Disc: 0 Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 5
[details=Thoughts]
HAHAAHAHAHAHAH! I redrew Surprise Attack, and I drew Maximum Anarchy! How do I choose?
Young Treant
Tiger Cub
Hooded Executioner
Playful Panda
Artisan Mantis
Might of Leaf and Claw
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Worker - ($7)
Draw a card for Tech Wisp
Play a boosted Hooded Executioner, killing off BRO (finally). - ($2)
Summon Arg and a friendly-neighborhood wisp - ($0)
Hire a truly Overeager Cadet
Float ($0)
Discard 2, draw 4
[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]
[I]Squad Leader[/I]: Hooded Executioner (3/3+A)
[I]Elite[/I]:
[I]Scavenger[/I]: Wisp (0/1)
[I]Technician[/I]: Overeager Cadet (2/2)
[I]Lookout[/I]:
[B]In Play:[/B]
L1 Arg (1/3)
[B]Buildings:[/B]
Base HP: 8
Tech I HP: 5
[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]
Hand: 4
Deck: 0
Disc: 6
[B]Gold:[/B]
Gold: 0
Workers: 9
Thoughts
Well the die is cast. I’m teching in Tech II stuff for the next rotation and next turn I have to take a 4-gold break and build it, hopefully it lives long enough to matter! He is truly all in on this strategy and I’m expecting another round of sharks next turn, but fortunately that will be all his gold and Zane will die. If he’s got something else up his sleeve then I will have to react to that.
It’s definitely possible. A memorable game in the old forum days had the Red player stay on 6 workers well into the Tech II phase of the opponent - and win. Curious to see what the Pirate will dish out next.
STARTING HAND
Pillage
Charge
Bombaster
Surprise Attack
Maximum Anarchy
WORKERS
Scorch
Surprise Attack
NextHand
Speed of the Fox
Careless Musketeer
Chaos Mirror
Makeshift Rambaster
Hidden Ninja
Discard
Bloodrage Ogre
Bombaster
Maximum Anarchy
Charge
Pillage
Hidden Ninja
Now!
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5)
Worker - ($4) Zane casts Maximum Anarchy! Everybody dies! Have a card and a money! Wa-chow! - ($1)
Note: I could have damaged your base this turn. I chose not to. Out of benevolence.
Float ($1)
Discard 4, draw 5
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout: In Play:
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 4
Disc: 7 Gold:
Gold: 1
Workers: 6
[details=Thoughts]
Really want to pillage. Might need money. Next hand? 1 money short of Hidden Speedy Sets+Hidden Rambaster. If no tower from him, just Hidden Rambaster. Then try to charge base damage with hasted Musketeer? Imagine all the monkeys I could bring in if I had Tech II…
I like how you could have built a worker there and still drawn 5 cards, but you decided to float 1 and discard 4. Your adherence to anarchy is truly a spectacle to behold. And for what it’s worth, I believe you could have hit my base if you really wanted to!
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($9)
Worker + Scav + Tech Draw
Build Tech II (Growth) - ($5)
Summon Onimaru, to bring some PEACE to the party. - ($3)
Hire Ironbark Treant (Look who’s back. Back again. …) - ($0)
Hire Overeager Cadet (It’s like they don’t even see what’s happening on the news)
Float ($0)
Discard 2, draw 4
[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]
[I]Squad Leader[/I]: Ironbark Treant (1/2+AAA)
[I]Elite[/I]:
[I]Scavenger[/I]: Overeager Cadet (2/2)
[I]Technician[/I]: L1 Onimaru (2/3)
[I]Lookout[/I]:
[B]In Play:[/B]
[B]Buildings:[/B]
Base HP: 8
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Growth)
[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]
Hand: 4
Deck: 3
Disc: 4
[B]Gold:[/B]
Gold: 0
Workers: 10
Thoughts
Disaster of Disasters, my draw for the Tech Wisp was Artisan Mantis, literally the only card I’m really nervous about drawing from a fat deck of 8 cards. Whew, this is going to be closer than I wanted it to be. The next Artisan Mantis won’t have a chance to cycle in for 2 turns. I don’t have to go down to 4 cards, but floating gold against his potential pillage + pirate seems like lunacy. The only good news is Zane is unable to be summoned for a turn so if he does want to pillage it costs him some serious doough. That said, I don’t even want to open that line up to him. On the slightly-bright side, thanks to Garth’s maxband I can grab one from the discard. That may very well be my best play next turn, even if it costs 8 gold!
Does Zane casting Max Anarchy trigger his mid-band - so you would get a card and a gold too? I’m not sure if he has to be alive for it to trigger or not.
Sadly this has been ruled upon.
Now it WOULD be a sick play to Maximum Anarchy in 5 player FFA for 4 gold and 4 cards if it worked that way.
Ruling copied from CCD
Zane’s middle ability requires ZANE to kill a scavenger or technician to get a bonus. If Zane himself kills them in combat or if Zane uses the damage from his max level ability, that counts. If another unit or hero kills them, or if Zane uses a spell to kill them, that does not count. — Sirlin
As fantastic as that would be, I actually did worker (and float). It turns out I forgot to move Maximum Anarchy to my discard pile when I played it, so it got discarded with the rest of my hand.
At any rate, getting back to it:
C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!!!
I couldn’t wipe your board this turn! And here I was hoping to bowl a perfect game!
P1T6
Tech StartingHand Workers
TECH
Hidden Ninja
Now!
STARTING HAND
Hidden Ninja
Careless Musketeer
Speed of the Fox
Chaos Mirror
Makeshift Rambaster
Nautical Dog
WORKERS
Scorch
Surprise Attack
Nautical Dog
NextHand
Bloodburn
Mad Man
Surprise Attack
Careless Musketeer
Hidden Ninja
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($7)
Summon Setsuki - ($5)
Recruit Makeshift Rambaster - ($3)
Setsuki casts Hidden Ninja on herself and Rambaster, granting them stealth; I draw because Sets is a Ninjutsu Hero! - ($1) Makeshift Rambaster stealthily bastes your base for 3 more
Worker - ($0)
[details=Thoughts]
I drew Hidden Ninja and Mad Man, but Sets will be dead. I drew Musketeer, but sadly no haste. I drew Surprise attack, but it’s unlikely I’ll be able to do enough with Zane and two sharks to make use of it. So my next turn will probably be Bloodburn, Mad Man, and Musketeer (getting him on the 5-turn clock!). I think it’s all downhill from here, but if I could get him to 1 HP before I go it would be fantastic.
Incidentally, I’m regretting not pillaging him for 1 damage last turn when I had the chance, even though it meant I got to worker this turn with the extra moolah.
Artisan Mantis
Young Treant
Hooded Executioner
Tiger Cub
Overeager Cadet
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($10)
Summon Garth (foreshadowing drums in the background) - ($8)
Upgrade to Might of Leaf and Claw - ($5)
L1 Onimaru frenzies (3/3) and attacks Setsuki (1/3), killing her and taking 1 damage. You get a gold. Garth gets 2 levels. MoLaC gets a rune.
Overeager Cadet (2/2) attacks the BBQ Engine of Doom (1/2) and destroys it, taking 1 damage. MoLaC gets a rune.
Garth maxes and uses creepy necrotic lore to put an Artisan Mantis from my discard into play, who then heals 3 damage to my base (by licking it?)! Arg is conflicted by all this on the sidelines. - ($1)
Garth makes a Skeleton - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 3, reshuffle, draw 2
[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]
[I]Squad Leader[/I]: Artisan “The Savior” Mantis (4/5+A)
L1 “A Real BRO sometimes” Onimaru (2/2)
[B]Buildings:[/B]
Base HP: 8
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Growth)
[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]
Hand: 5
Deck: 4
Disc: 0
[B]Gold:[/B]
Gold: 0
Workers: 10
Ok, I didn’t hit his base yet, but I’m working on it!
Thoughts
Ok, I have officially stabilized. The trickiest part of this turn was figuring out the patrol zone. I knew I wanted to play and max Garth for Mantis and I knew I had to take out his ability to attack (without Haste of course). Garth is really shining as a late-game Hero to Arg’s early game awesomeness. I’m not 100% sure about Oni, but here he does something that Rook would not have been able to do, so I am glad to have him. My strategy with the patrol zone is - he has got to Zane and Sharks. That costs 7 gold and he’ll have 8 from the scav. That gives him 3 attackers. I have 4 defenders! Even if Zane doesnt Surprise! me with Sharks, he can’t max-band to great effect. Killing the skeleton actually costs him a gold because he’s in Lookout, and moving the Mantis doesn’t really stop the problem (and let’s be honest, I would love for both Mantis and Garth to die). Next hand I have another Mantis which makes up for all the weird luck I had this game (2/6 chance). Basically, and I could just be feeling a little cocky about a scary nightmarish irrationally difficult early game, I think it’s over and I’ve won
Doom Grasp
Playful Panda
Hooded Executioner
Rampant Growth
Young Treant
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($10)
Hire Artisan Mantis, who licks off 3 damage from Base. - ($6)
Overeager Cadet (2/1) attacks and kills Zane (2/1), dying for the cause. MoLaC gets a rune. Oni gets 2 levels.
Max Oni, healing and summoning 3 fresh soldiers - ($2)
Ironbark Treant (3/2) hits your base for 3. MoLaC gets a rune.
L7 Garth (3/4) hits your base for 3. MoLaC gets a rune and becomes SUPERCHARGED.
L8 Oni frenzies (10/10) and hits your base for 10.
Hire Overeager Cadet
Build Heroes’ Hall - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 4, reshuffle, draw 1
[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]
[I]Squad Leader[/I]: L8 “Ready for Peace” Onimaru (9/10+A)
Jade Fox, Den’s Headmistress "Hey, don’t bring me into this!"
Octavian “That goes octuple for me!”
STARTING HAND
Now!
Maximum Anarchy
Charge
Hidden Ninja
Pillage
WORKERS
Scorch
Surprise Attack
Nautical Dog
Bloodburn
NextHand
Now!
Speed of the Fox
Hidden Ninja
Chaos Mirror
Bloodrage Ogre
Discard
Makeshift Rambaster
Surprise Attack
Hidden Ninja
Careless Musketeer
Mad Man
Ready or Not
Ready or Not
Now!
Pillage
Hidden Ninja
Charge
Maximum Anarchy
Jade Fox, Den’s Headmistress "Hey, don’t bring me into this!"
Octavian “That goes octuple for me!”
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Summon Max “Will ‘Time’ Turner” Geiger, who has been waiting for the opportune moment - ($6)
Geiger casts Now! on himself - ($5) Geiger runs headlong into Oni, barely making a dent
Sumon Setsuki Hiruki, who always has her eye on the prize - ($3)
Setsuki casts Pillage, doing 1 damage to your base - ($1) Setsuki attempts to cast Maximum Anarchy. “I saw Zane do it earlier. It can’t be that hard.” - ($-2) Having neither the requisite gold, nor the requisite madness, Setsuki spontaneously combusts
Float ($-2)
Discard 3, draw 5
[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]
[I]Squad Leader[/I]: Setsuki Hiruki, Lv. 1 (1/3+a), on fire
[I]Elite[/I]:
[I]Scavenger[/I]:
[I]Technician[/I]:
[I]Lookout[/I]:
[B]In Play:[/B]
[B]Buildings:[/B]
Base HP: 20
[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]
Hand: 5
Deck: 1
Disc: 14
[B]Gold:[/B]
Gold: -2
Workers: 8
Good game, and well played! Mantis was a great tech choice, though really, as soon as MoLaC came out, it was over. I theoretically could have drawn BRO on that last turn, but I did not; I had Sets, Hidden Ninja, and Charge. So that would have gotten you down to 1 if you hadn’t brought in the healers. So I would’ve needed Mad Man, too, which would have cost 1 more than I had.
Good on you for staying relatively cool under pressure and moving steadily towards Tech! I really did start the game intending to play defensively… Then I saw your one puny patroller and all of the stuff in my second hand and that float I hadn’t even thought about, and I couldn’t resist. After that I felt like I barely had any choices. The deck just told me what to do every turn. (By the way: this last turn? No units in hand.)
That was a lot of fun, and I’m glad I was able to make you sweat for a while! Your commentary was fantastic!
I’m sure I’ll want some more matches in the future, but I’ll probably be concentrating on the Free for Draft game for the next while. (:
It is always interesting to read along with games where both players write down their thoughts in detail, but this last one was especially entertaining. (Both the hilarious unit names and the cough “defensive” cough Surprise! playstyle.)
I guess it illustrates why you don’t usually skip workers on turn 2 , but the Surprise! deck definitely has the tools to make your opponent very very afraid of what might come. As someone who doesn’t really understand aggressive play well, looking at aggressive games like this one will hopefully help me understand how to deal with it better in the future.
Whoah, what a wild ride! I’ve played a TON of magic and this is one of my favorite match-ups - one person aggressively throwing everything at the other person with little action if the game goes too long while their opponent has to put up defenses just right to stay alive. I had a couple really lucky breaks (even if I didn’t realize them at the time!), but my best play was probably the Playful Panda instead of Onimaru. That 2 gold investment soaked 6 damage from your 5 gold Surprise Attack! Had I just gone with Onimaru you could have done an additional 3 damage to my base.
Overall you had me staring at the Red starter deck all the time. I think the most base damage it can do, without actually attacking, is 5! That would be casting Scorch for 2, Pillage with a Pirate for 2, and if that Pirate was a Careless Musketeer with Charge he could do 1 more damage. That rather insane unlikely hand was really scary to me, though due to your previous comments I was pretty sure you didn’t have Scorch. Great Game man! I look forward to playing with you in the future
[I]Squad Leader[/I]: Merfolk Prospector (1/1+A)
[I]Elite[/I]: Arg (2/3)
[I]Scavenger[/I]:
[I]Technician[/I]:
[I]Lookout[/I]: Wisp (0/1)
[I]Squad Leader[/I]: Merfolk Prospector (1/1+A)
[I]Elite[/I]: Arg (2/3)
[I]Scavenger[/I]:
[I]Technician[/I]:
[I]Lookout[/I]: Wisp (0/1)
Base HP: 14
Base HP: 14
Base HP: 20
Base HP: 20
Base HP: 20
I guess I better make it good.
[I]Technician[/I]: