STARTING HAND
Scorch
Bombaster
Charge
Pillage
Bloodrage Ogre
WORKERS
Scorch
NextHand
Mad Man
Nautical Dog
Careless Musketeer
Makeshift Rambaster
Bloodburn
Discard
Bombaster
Charge
Pillage
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($4)
Play Bloodrage Ogre from hand - ($2)
Worker - ($1)
Float ($1)
Discard 3, draw 5
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger: Bloodrage Ogre 3/2
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
*
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 0
Disc: 3
Gold:
Gold: 1
Workers: 5
Thoughts
BRO is necessary here, just to make sure that in conjunction with Mad Man we can kill Grave or Vandy. My window of time to win tempo is Turn 2, because of Tech 1 multicolor. CM’s turn 2 will have only 3 gold to work with, and I need to make CM build from scratch. Mad Man and Zane and BRO should clear out whatever CM plays.
Pestering Haunt
Skeleton Javelineer
Thieving Imp
Sacrifice the Weak
Graveyard
Thoughts
As usual, facing a potential 3+2+1=6 attack damage on Carpe’s turn. I’m thinking of bringing out Vandy anyway, Sacrifice the Weak lets me at least kill off the Ogre and Vandy can kill Zane / Mad Man (Orpal can’t without trading). The alternative is Thieving Imp + Skeleton Javelineer + Pestering Haunt, and to try to make Carpe attempt to keep up on card expenditure, which is a game he’d lose. Going to a 3-card hand on Turn 2 seems a little early to do that, though.
Get paid - (5)
Worker - (4)
Vandy Anadrose - (2)
Sacrifice the Weak, Bloodrage Ogre dies, you get a gold - (0)
Pestering Haunt
Discard 2, draw 4
Vandy L1 2/3+1A (sparkshot)
Pestering Haunt 1/1 (unstoppable; can’t patrol or be sacrificed; attack capped at 1)
Base HP: 20
Hand: 4
Poisonblade Rogue
Jandra, the Negator
Deteriorate
Summon Skeletons
Deck: 1
Skeletal Archery
Discard: 3
Sacrifice the Weak
Thieving Imp
Graveyard
Card-count check (opponent-viewable)
Expected: 10
1 on board
4 in hand
1 in deck
3 in discard
1 in workers
Total: 10
STARTING HAND
Mad Man
Bloodburn
Makeshift Rambaster
Nautical Dog
Careless Musketeer
WORKERS
Scorch
Bloodburn
NextHand
Bombaster
Careless Musketeer
Nautical Dog
Bloodrage Ogre 3/2
Surprise Attack
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float + scav - ($7)
Summon and midband Zane - ($2)
Zane bops Vandy, dealing 2 damage after armor
Play Mad Man, kills Vandy, Zane maxbands - ($1)
Worker - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 3, reshuffle, draw 5
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
L6 MAX Captain Zane (haste) 4/4
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 5
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 6
Thoughts
So option 1 is to Max Zane Vandy into Scav, get a gold back for worker. Option 2 is to Mid Zane for 5, hit Vandy and pop Vandy with Mad Man for 1, worker. That’s way better because Zane sticks at Maxband. Either way I miss Tech 1 but that gives me a huge tempo advantage so I’m okay with it I think. Since I’m missing Tech 1 I’ll throw in a Max Anarchy pre-emptively against Lich’s Bargain spam; next turn I gain tempo decisively unless CM also skips Tech 1.
Poisonblade Rogue
Jandra, the Negator
Deteriorate
Summon Skeletons
Thoughts
Ouch, missed that line. No Tech I for Carpe, so I can assume he’s going for Surprise Attack. This is not a good hand to defend against that, unfortunately. A hero can stave off two of Zane + Sharks, probably Grave since I’m thinking about teching double Carrion Curse. That leaves me with 3 gold, I can either tech up or play Jandra / Rogue. Rogue is vulnerable to Mad Man, but Carpe would skip a worker to play it in addition to Surprise Attack. Leaves some float for him to Pillage, but I don’t care too much about that. Oh, I could also build a Heroes’ Hall instead, but Zane would just demolish it.
Teched cards: 2
T2: 2 x Carrion Curse
Get paid - (6)
Worker - (5)
Grave Stormborne - (3)
Jandra, the Negator - (0)
Pestering Haunt hits your base to 19
Discard 2, draw 1, reshuffle, draw 3
Janda, the Negator 3/3+1A (overpower; dies: my non-demon units die)
Grave L1 1+2/3 (sparkshot)
Pestering Haunt 1/1 (unstoppable; can’t patrol or be sacrificed; attack capped at 1)
STARTING HAND
Surprise Attack
Bloodrage Ogre 3/2
Careless Musketeer
Nautical Dog
Bombaster
WORKERS
Scorch
Bloodburn
Bloodrage Ogre 3/2
NextHand
Mad Man
Maximum Anarchy
Pillage
Makeshift Rambaster
Charge
Discard
Surprise Attack
Nautical Dog
Careless Musketeer
Bombaster
Kidnapping
Gunpoint Taxman
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($6)
Zane kills Jandra, takes 3 damage, Haunt dies
Zane casts Surprise Attack, summoning two 3/1 sharks with haste and ephemeral - ($1)
One shark trades with Grave, levels fizzle; the other shark deals 3 damage to your base (17 HP remaining)
Worker - ($0)
Second shark dies
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 5
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
L6 MAX Captain Zane (haste) 4/1
Buildings:
Base HP: 19
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 0
Disc: 6
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 7
Thoughts
Surprise Sharks is probably my best option here because it’s cheap. Zane goes to 1, I live in terror of Deteriorate. Haunt dies, Grave dies, I waste a shark but it’s still the only line that kills Grave because I don’t have three damage. I’m okay getting 3 base damage out of this, though.
Wait lol I forgot Deteriorate doesn’t hit heroes, so unless CM teched Sickness I can drop Max Anarchy next turn and rebuild after wrecking Black’s turn.
Could have done with Scavenger gold, really, so I could tech up this turn too. But then Zane could have been on 2 HP, and I’d have to put Orpal in Elite and leave him open to hasted units for the kill.
Not sure what to tech here, probably a Tech I and a Tech II. Sparring Partner’s cheap, so I can try to play it and quickly jump to Tech II. Not sure what I want for Tech II, so I’ll go for Disease and try to kick up the hand-size warfare. Most of its units are fairly cheap, too, so better against gold steal. I’ll go with Crow to start with, haven’t seen a Gunpoint Taxman yet.
Teched cards: 2
T2: 2 x Carrion Curse
T3: Cursed Crow, Sparring Partner
Get paid - (7)
Orpal Gloor - (5)
Carrion Curse, I look at your hand - (2)
Oh, Maximum Anarchy, interesting. Pillage might take my float, Charge lets Mad Man + Rambaster do 3 damage and stops me putting Orpal in Scavenger / Technician. Another play is Mad Man + Rambaster + midband Drakk for base damage after sacrificing Zane, but only with worker skip + Scavenger share. I can discard Charge and put Orpal in Technician, then if Zane trades with Orpal and Carpe draws Surprise Attack it’s pretty great for me.
You discard Maximum Anarchy and Charge
Worker - (1)
Discard 2, draw 4
Orpal L1 1/3 (deals damage in - runes)
Base HP: 20
Hand: 4
Sacrifice the Weak
Thieving Imp
Carrion Curse
Deteriorate
STARTING HAND
Makeshift Rambaster
Maximum Anarchy
Mad Man
Pillage
Charge
Desperation
Surprise Attack
Crash Bomber
Maximum Anarchy
WORKERS
Scorch
Bloodburn
Bloodrage Ogre 3/2
Maximum Anarchy
NextHand
Nautical Dog
Gunpoint Taxman
Discard
Pillage
Desperation
Surprise Attack
Crash Bomber
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($7)
Zane trades with Orpal, we both draw
Play Drakk from hand - ($5)
Pillage your gold, your base takes 1 (to 16)
Play Makeshift Rambaster - ($3)
Play Mad Man - ($2)
Drakk casts Desperation, I draw 3
Build Tech 1 - ($1)
Worker - ($0)
Mad Man and Rambaster hit your base down to 12
I discard my hand
Float ($0)
Discard 0, draw 2
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
L1 Drakk Ramhorn (Dies:*) 1/3
Makeshift Rambaster (haste) 1*/2
Mad Man (haste) 1/1
Buildings:
Base HP: 19
Tech I HP: 5
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 2
Deck: 4
Disc: 4
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
Thoughts
Well that’s obnoxious but not the worst outcome here. Max Anarchy doesn’t hit a lot of value here anyhow, and the most important bit is that I’m ahead on techs. If I’m okay going down on cards, I can Pillage for an extra damage and just hammer 8 damage into the base this turn. That leaves me with 5 gold…I can worker and build Tech 1 and sink 3 gold into something, I can worker and HH and tech 1 and float one, I can not make a worker and just build a surplus. I think having Fire spells open is a good argument for a HH here, I don’t need to skip worker, Surplus isn’t powerful enough.
STARTING HAND
Makeshift Rambaster
Maximum Anarchy
Mad Man
Pillage
Charge
Desperation
Surprise Attack
Crash Bomber
Maximum Anarchy
WORKERS
Scorch
Bloodburn
Bloodrage Ogre 3/2
Maximum Anarchy
NextHand
Charge
Bombaster
Discard
Pillage
Surprise Attack
Crash Bomber
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($7)
Zane trades with Orpal, we both draw
Play Drakk from hand - ($5)
Pillage your gold, your base takes 1 (to 16)
Play Makeshift Rambaster - ($3)
Play Mad Man - ($2)
Drakk casts and trashes Desperation, I draw 3
Build Tech 1 - ($1)
Worker - ($0)
Mad Man and Rambaster hit your base down to 12
Float ($0)
Discard 0, draw 2
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
L1 Drakk Ramhorn (Dies:*) 1/3
Makeshift Rambaster (haste) 1*/2
Mad Man (haste) 1/1
Buildings:
Base HP: 19
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 2
Deck: 4
Disc: 3
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
Thoughts
Well that’s obnoxious but not the worst outcome here. Max Anarchy doesn’t hit a lot of value here anyhow, and the most important bit is that I’m ahead on techs. If I’m okay going down on cards, I can Pillage for an extra damage and just hammer 8 damage into the base this turn. That leaves me with 5 gold…I can worker and build Tech 1 and sink 3 gold into something, I can worker and HH and tech 1 and float one, I can not make a worker and just build a surplus. I think having Fire spells open is a good argument for a HH here, I don’t need to skip worker, Surplus isn’t powerful enough.
Sacrifice the Weak
Thieving Imp
Carrion Curse
Deteriorate
Technician draw after reshuffle: 1
Cursed Crow
Thoughts
Oh, right, Desperation lets Carpe draw from nothing. But they get trashed, so it doesn’t save him long-term. Speaking of which, I think I’m fine to play Thieving Imp here, get Carpe’s hand down even more. I’ll need to deal with a high-level Drakk, though, and Carpe hitting Tech II first.
Worker + Tech I + Imp leaves 2 gold, enough for Vandy + Deteriorate on Mad Man. Alternatively, I play Deteriorate + Sacrifice the Weak to get rid of both of Carpe’s units, so Drakk + hasted unit from hand is all I’m facing. I think I’d rather go for the card burn.
What do I want to tech? I guess I just stuff the deck with Tech IIs? If I’m draining Carpe’s hand, the main threat to my remaining base health is hero aggression. Direct hero aggression, if I get good Carrion Curse hits. Deathtouch is nice for anti-hero combat, but Gorgons are good Kidnapping targets, and would let Carpe replenish his hand on trade. Reversal disables them if they patrol, but I’m not sure if they will. Sickness is OK, but do I really want more Orpal spells? Another Cursed Crow might be good, try to snipe them down from the air. Plague Spitter can get Kidnapped too, but could also slow heroes down with 0 runes. OK, I’ll go with another Crow, and a Plague Spitter. Teching a lot of 3-cost cards, maybe I can bring out Grave later to swordswipe heroes / shoot for True Power of Storms.
Patrolling Vandy in Scavenger, so if maxband Drakk allows a board wipe then I could afford worker + Tech II + Orpal + Carrion Curse.
WORKERS
Scorch
Bloodburn
Bloodrage Ogre 3/2
Maximum Anarchy
NextHand
Nautical Dog
Gunpoint Taxman
Discard
Pillage
Surprise Attack
Crash Bomber
Mad Man (haste) 1/1
Charge
Bombaster
Ember Sparks
Ember Sparks
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Maxband Drakk - ($3)
Play Bombaster from hand, it gainst haste - ($1)
Frenzied Bombaster trades with Imp
Drakk kills Vandy, takes 2 damage
Frenzied Rambaster hits your base for 4, down to 8
Float ($1)
Discard 0, draw 2
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
L6 MAX Drakk Ramhorn (Dies:*) 3/2
Makeshift Rambaster (haste) 1*/2
Buildings:
Base HP: 19
Tech I HP: 5
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 2
Deck: 2
Disc: 8
Gold:
Gold: 1
Workers: 8
Thoughts
5 to max Drakk, 2 for Bombaster, Bombaster trades with SQL, Drakk kills Vandy, 4 base damage from Rambaster. Next turn, between Kidnapping and saccing Drakk to bring in Zane, I should be able to drop a lot more damage on the base. Double Ember sparks for the base burn/possibly clearing out patrol. I tried to figure out ways not to waste Vandy’s levels but I can’t figure out a good way to kill her without Drakk maxband
Jandra, the Negator
Pestering Haunt
Carrion Curse
Poisonblade Rogue
Thoughts
Skipping the Carrion Curse in favour of board presence. In as much as Jandra counts as board presence, anyway. Taking Abomination and Plague Lab for immediate damage / trying to slow Carpe down.
WORKERS
Scorch
Bloodburn
Bloodrage Ogre 3/2
Maximum Anarchy
NextHand
Nautical Dog
Discard
Pillage
Surprise Attack
Crash Bomber
Mad Man (haste) 1/1
Charge
Bombaster
Ember Sparks
Ember Sparks
Gunpoint Taxman
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($9)
Play Gunpoint Taxman, it gains haste - ($7)
Gunpoint Taxman trades with Jandra, you have no other units and no gold to steal
Drakk trades with Grave, levels fizzle, your base takes 1 (down to 7)
Rambaster bops your base for 3, down to 4
Summon and maxband Zane - ($0)
Zane goes in for the lethal, gg!
Float ($0)
Skipping Discard/Draw phase
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
L6 MAX Captain Zane (haste) 4/4
Makeshift Rambaster (haste) 1*/2
Buildings:
Base HP: 19
Tech I HP: 5
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 1
Deck: 2
Disc: 9
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
Thoughts
GPT is 2, trades with Jandra, Drakk and Grave trade, base down to 7, Rambaster for 3, maxband Zane is 7, float + 8 is win!
GG @charnel_mouse ! That was a sweat. I was not sure that I’d make it in time!