Wow, you stuck Bloodburn. I haven’t played against that yet, but it seems like it could get really annoying.
Player 1 Turn 3
[details=Tech StartingHand Workers]
[spoiler]TECH
Shadow Blade
Inverse Power Ninja
STARTING HAND
Dark Pact
Spark
Bloom
Granfalloon Flagbearer
Tenderfoot
Brick Thief
WORKERS
Helpful Turtle
Fruit Ninja
Brick Thief
[/spoiler][/details]
[details=NextHand]
[spoiler]Dark Pact
Timely Messenger
Shadow Blade
Wither
Older Brother
[/spoiler][/details]
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($7)
Dark Pact
Tenderfoot - ($6)
maxband Vandy, dooming Tenderfoot and BO - ($4)
Heroes’ Hall - ($1)
Worker - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 4, reshuffle, draw 1
[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]
-
[I]Squad Leader[/I]: Tenderfoot (3/4+A, Doomed)
-
[I]Elite[/I]:
-
[I]Scavenger[/I]:
-
[I]Technician[/I]:
-
[I]Lookout[/I]: Vandy lvl 5 (5/6) + , resist 2
[B]In Play:[/B]
[B]Buildings:[/B]
-
Base HP: 18
-
Heroes’ Hall HP: 4
[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]
[B]Gold:[/B]
[details=Thoughts]
[spoiler]So I have lots of ways to remove the Ogre and tech up. Shadow Blade is tempting, but I have to pay 4 for it, which only leaves me enough to build Tech 1, when I’d prefer to go for a heroes’ hall first. Then again, I didn’t think about that until after I teched IPN, so I might be drawing tech I next turn. It also leaves Vandy a bit more vulnerable, because she has to exhaust, and therefore can’t patrol in Lookout (the obvious threat is Origin Story. another option is killing the ogre with Vandy, then leveling her to heal the damage. This leaves me with 4 money, which is enough for both the heroes’ hall and Tech 1, but it once again means Vandy can’t patrol. On the other hand, it leaves me the option of playing Tenderfoot to block, and going with either just HH or just Tech 1, and floating a gold for next turn. He can pillage, but that means either paying extra or playing Jaina instead of Prynn, and either way it costs a card. If he plays Prynn and bounces Vandy, it costs all of his gold and he leaves me with a unit on the board and a tech advantage. It doesn’t even lock Vandy out for next turn, so I can still play my Dark Pact. If I play a blocker, though, I likely feed bloodburn. If I play Tenderfoot first, and then maxband Vandy, Dooming them Both, I feed bloodburn, but I can patrol Vandy in Lookout, meaning he can’t afford to bounce her unless he skips a worker. I like this play a lot, because it means that Vandy can probably break any building he builds next turn, leaving him woefully behind economically. I wish I’d thought more about this before I made my tech choice, because it probably pairs best with Heroes’ Hall, since playing a hero next turn basically forces him to bounce Vandy or lose to metamorphosis. That threat is actually so strong that I might go for it even though I already teched IPN. It means I might get her as a dead draw next turn, but Dark Pact should cycle my deck fast enough that that won’t matter much. It would be nice to have a useful spell in that slot, like Discord, Shuriken Hail, or Speed of the Fox, though. That would make the plan of trying to break her building more likely to succeed, because I have to wipe her patrol zone without exhausting Vandy in order to do that. I’ll chalk that up to a beginner mistake, and make the HH play anyway.
One potential concern is her going for an all-out assault on my weakened base using bloodburn and Jaina. I think my board control is sufficient at this point to make that a minor concern, as long as I don’t just play Dark Pact with reckless disregard. Also, going for a more hero-centric gameplan means I have fewer units dying to feed his bloodburn. It leaves me somewhat vulnerable to Origin Story, but that’s expensive, and frankly if he bounces Vandy, that’s pretty OK with me. It takes metamorphosis off the table for the time being, but it’s extremely costly, and I’m well-set-up to transition to a units-in-front gameplan, with Vandy and friends staying at lvl 1 and providing spell support. There’s a solid chance I tech Harmony if he goes that route, then aim to soul stone an IPN and use it in conjunction with my powerful spells to keep his board clear while beating his face.
On second thought, Harmony being a channeling spell adds significant value to origin story, though removing it wouldn’t get rid of dancers I’d already summoned. Two-step is also channeled and requires two units, which is anti-synergistic with IPN (as is Harmony, come to think of it) so if I decide to do the heroes-behind-a-big-ninja thing, I’ll probably go with Setsuki. Hidden Ninja is especially good with IPN at 4 (which it is with two heroes out). In fact, I might throw in Fuzz Cuddles or a second ninja to make it 4/4 even with Soul Stone. Of course Hidden ninja can also target heroes, so using it to snipe down Prynn with Vandy or Setsuki is a way to get free levels on Vandy and create a window for Metamorphosis. Prynn is unlikely to have more than 3 HP, due to the expense of leveling her combined with the cost of playing Origin Story.
[/spoiler][/details]
Edit: added further thoughts
Edit: added further further thoughts