RE: the tech 2 spec, I had added it, but somewhere along the line the drop-down boxes in my spreadsheet had disappeared, So I had to simply type it in the space. The script apparently didn’t read that space, so nothing showed up in my posts. I’m making a new copy of the spreadsheet and modifying the post format, then I’ll post my turn.
Jandra was clearly trying to lead into Mythmaking, but he might have changed plans, midband Vandy, could lead to Metamorph, but heres hoping snapback and grave maxband limit that option.
[spoiler]Mythmaking
Thieving Imp
Skeleton Javelineer
Poisonblade Rogue
Sacrifice the Weak
[/spoiler][/details]
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($7)
Worker - ($6)
Use vandy midband to play Dark Pact from my codex - ($5)
Ardra’s Boulder - ($3)
Jandra, the Negator - ($0)
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($8)
Worker - ($7)
Grappling Hook Boulder to Lookout
Mario trades with Jandra, goes to Codex
Luigi and Grave kill Boulder
Morningstar Flagbearer - ($4)
Tech 2 Anarchy - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 2, draw 4
[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]
[I]Squad Leader[/I]: Grave 3/4+A, lvl 3
[I]Elite[/I]:
[I]Scavenger[/I]:
[I]Technician[/I]: Morningstar Flagbearer 2/2
[I]Lookout[/I]:
[B]In Play:[/B]
Rambasa Twin 3/2
[B]Buildings:[/B]
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Anarchy)
[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]
Hand: 4
Deck: 1
Disc: 5
[B]Gold:[/B]
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
Thoughts
desperate play for mythmaking, but I have 9 attack just sitting as is and I can clear his board. as a buffer against shadow blade i will grab Flagbearer, though he can still get around with sac the weak. oh well.
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($8)
Worker - ($7)
Tech 2 Anarchy - ($3)
Grappling Hook Boulder to Lookout
Mario trades with Jandra, goes to Codex, boulder dies from trigger
Luigi hits Vandy and goes to discard, Grave kills Vandy, goes to lvl 5
Grave to lvl 7, heals - ($1)
Once again, you’ve got me in a position I don’t think I can recover from. I think I forgot about grappling hook in this case. Going into CAPS, is there any advice you can give me to improve my play? I seem to be struggling pretty consistently.
One thing is to make a list of the cards you think your opponent has in hand as a starter point. Frequently you can know 1 or 2 cards are in the discard or are very likely not in hand because they only drew 1 or 2 after the reshuffle. From that list, you can usually identify 2 or 3 cards that would be problematic for what you are trying to do. In this case grappling hook would have sprung out, especially as I had already used it on P1T2 this game. This is the thing that helps me the most when planning my turns for maximum effect. Additionally, you have to guess what teched cards would be most troublesome for you and your future plans and add them to the list. How universally troublesome a card is can help, by looking at the card rating threads that are listed in the collected resources topic. For example, Sentry is very rarely a troublesome card on any given turn. Calypso Vystari can be quite troublesome, but only if she survives and the opponent has the gold to spend on spells, which are big ifs.
The second thing is harder, and has a bigger impact on the long term game, and that is teching a response to what you think they are teching. Don’t be afraid of spells, and try to imagine how much gold you might have to spend on the turn the teched cards comes up. This is especially important for turns 3 and 4. In this last game, I could have been in big trouble if you had teched shadow blade, for example, because then your turn 3 could have hit Mario, and then Vandy could kill something of her choice.
And then there is being flexible in your tech plan. If I was trying mythmaking with jandra, and Jandra died before I could even tech it in, I probably would have abandoned that strategy. The outcome of the first 2 turns is critical to what tech plan you can successfully execute.
So how would you have played my turn 2, and what would you have teched, given that Jandra was dead? Shadow blade, apparently, and what else? Was midbanding Vandy a good play? I was a little concerned about leveling heroes against the white starter.
Also, what do you think of this codex? It’s something I’m considering for CAPS, but I haven’t had much success with it in my casual games. That said, I haven’t had much success with anything else either. So far I’ve only won a single pbp game, and that was with necro/blood/law. I know that necro/blood/truth is supposed to be really strong, so I’ve considered going that direction, but I’ve never played that build.
Vandy is pretty safe against snapback, relatively. The only hero with any resist is not a REAL threat until she is maxband, and then you have to have the 4 gold it takes to vanish her, and in snapback’s case, there is still a hero on the other side that you have to worry about. Shadow Blade and Nimble Fencer could have really thrown me off, as 5 surprise damage can upset a lot of plans, but it isn’t very likely to get both in the same hand. Still either one would be fine to have gotten in hand. Your other tech 1 units are problematic in this deck, but Gargoyle could have been interesting. Gargoyle is guaranteed to stay on the board, at least against anything but past, until you can use it. Ideally gargoyle activates and you maxband vandy and destroy a pesky building. Sadly, the gargoyle won’t be usable the following turn, but it is one of the few units that can stick around after being doomed, so small price to pay for the utility.
Alternately, you teched soul stone and baron on T3, you could have teched that combo on T2 and had a decent chance at a defense either way.
As for the codex, metamorphed Rook is pretty strong, and two-step birds are pretty strong. Mythmaking Jandra is actually a fun line of play, but it can be problematic, unless you know Jandra will survive to turn 3, and then win the lottery with the T3 draw. A lot of your best plays rely on a heroes hall, so any deck that has trouble with removing heroes will suffer, but decks that can remove them are going to give you a really hard time.
When do you think I should go for the HH? I’ve thought about trying to do that before tech 1, but I feel like the black starter struggles to provide the necessary blockers to prevent my opponent from ganging up on my heroes for free levels. If I wait until after tech 1, though, a lot of my HH plays seem to lose a bit of their forcefulness, because they don’t come online until my opponent is either at or about to reach tech 2.
All valid thoughts. It suggests a need for a different codex, 3/3 for 2 at tech 1 could help, or a 3/4 for 3 could get you the blocker and the HH on t3. Zane instead of River, or swapping out Vandy for discipline for the cheaper tech 1. Or just drop the black start for neutral instead.
I thought about the neutral starter. It takes away the Jandra/Mythmaking option, but it could help me stabilize earlier. At that point, the question becomes, is Strength the right spec to go with the Demonology/Finesse Pairing? Mythmaking also buffs Terras Q, but frankly he’s already big enough. DeGray, likewise, can activate Terras Q, but so can Discord, without the need for a tech lab. Rook is obviously awesome to Metamorph, but there are other heroes that are difficult to level, but awesome at maxband, and have more useful tech 1 options (Grave and Oni spring to mind, but Orpal, Midori, Setsuki, and Vyr are all interesting possibilities). Bird’s Nest is awesome, but only if you can A) keep Rook alive (tougher if your only blockers are flying), and B) buff the birds (two 1/1 flyers are nice, but not too hard to deal with by themselves). I guess bloom makes B easier, so maybe strength is still the way to go. Discipline, Peace and, the more I think about it, Ninjitsu, are interesting options, though.