[details=End of Turn Hand]
Sacrifice the Weak
Graveyard
Skeletal Archery
Pestering Haunt
Poisonblade Rogue [/details]
[details=End of Turn Discard]
Deteriorate
Summon Skeletons
Thieving Imp [/details]
[details=My Thoughts]
Debated between this and Imp, bleeding his cards is very effective, but I feel like that invites too much counter-pressure. I think I can keep him at bay better this way. Do think Graveyard is probably the play next turn though. Soul Stone + BC or Shadow Blade or Dark Pact as a tech [/details]
STARTING HAND
Tiger Cub
Young Treant
Playful Panda
Verdant Tree
Spore Shambler
Ironbark Treant
WORKERS
Spore Shambler
NextHand
Verdant Tree
Forest’s Favor
Merfolk Prospector
Rampant Growth
Rich Earth
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5)
Young Treant, draw 1 - ($3)
Playful Panda, make Wisp - ($1)
Worker - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 4, reshuffle, draw 1
[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]
[I]Squad Leader[/I]: Young Treant (0/2+1Armor)
[I]Elite[/I]:
[I]Scavenger[/I]: Wisp (0/1)
[I]Technician[/I]:
[I]Lookout[/I]:
[B]In Play:[/B]
Playful Panda
[B]Buildings:[/B]
Base HP: 20
[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]
Hand: 5
Deck: 2
Disc: 0
[B]Gold:[/B]
Gold: 0
Workers: 6
My Thoughts
I guess I should do the whole thoughts thing since it’s finals. Decided to run our young treant despite lowering my chance of drawing a tech I on turn 3 because having a lot of bodies out helps buy me time. If I hit Tech II Blood and untap I probably win, if not he wins so my job is to survive.
[details=All Teched Cards]
Bone Collector, Dark Pact [/details]
###Main:
Vandy pecks 1 off of YT after armor
Graveyard (3)
Pestering Haunt
Worker (2)
Tech 1 (1)
[details=Workers]
Poisonblade Rogue, Jandra, the Negator [/details]
Patrol as below
Discard 2 rs Draw 4
Tech 2 cards before my next turn
###Board Info:
####Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech1 HP: 5
####In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Skeleton Javelineer (1/1+1armor)
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
####In Play:
Vandy (2/3 lvl 1)
Pestering Haunt (1/1)
Graveyard (3hp)
###Economy Info:
####Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 3
Disc: 0
####Gold:
Gold: 1
Workers: 6
[details=End of Turn Hand]
Summon Skeletons
Skeletal Archery
Sacrifice the Weak
Dark Pact [/details]
[details=End of Turn Discard][spoiler]
[/spoiler][/details]
[details=My Thoughts][spoiler]
Interesting that he pushed a cycle early. Maybe planning for a fast tech 2? That’s my guess. Might be best to load up on firepower then and skip the Graveyard? Naw I think going for a BC and a Dark Pact will help me bust him up best of anything, so I’m going that route. Can second tech something like Starlet and Fencer, pound hard that way.
There’s a trap patrol here of putting the skeleton in resource that allows a insta-mid Drakk to have wisp + Panda kill Vandy. Don’t want that, so I’ll take the SQL loss of Jav. Throwing haunt out for extra harass and board clear potential. Won’t be surprised to see tech 1 + tower here from him
[/spoiler][/details]
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($6)
Merfolk Prospector - ($5)
Worker - ($4)
Tech I - ($2)
Float ($2)
Discard 3, draw 2, reshuffle, draw 3
[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]
[I]Squad Leader[/I]: Playful Panda (2/2)
[I]Elite[/I]:
[I]Scavenger[/I]: Wisp (0/1)
[I]Technician[/I]:
[I]Lookout[/I]: Young Treant (0/1)
[B]In Play:[/B]
Merfolk Prospector (1/1)
[B]Buildings:[/B]
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]
Hand: 5
Deck: 2
Disc: 0
[B]Gold:[/B]
Gold: 2
Workers: 7
Thoughts
The game is looking slower than expected since graveyard came down. That should be to my advantage. I’m just going to sit back on defense and make him play the beatdown. Centaurs seem like the best option against shadow blades and nimble fencers just by being beefy.
[details=Starting Hand]
Summon Skeletons
Skeletal Archery
Sacrifice the Weak
Dark Pact
Imp + Deteriorate (DP, woof bottom decked BC) [/details]
##Events of Turn:
###Upkeep:
Get Gold (5)
Tech 2 cards in (except turn 1)
[details=All Teched Cards]
Nimble Fencer, Star-Crossed Starlet
Bone Collector, Dark Pact [/details]
###Main:
Dark Pact, base to 18 draw 2
Deteriorate Panda, Vandy kills him
Jav kills Wisp, you get 1g
Haunt trades with Prospector, resurrect him from Graveyard
Thieving Imp, discard #1 of 5 (4)
Midband Vandy (2)
Worker (1)
[details=Workers]
Skeletal Archery, Poisonblade Rogue, Jandra, the Negator [/details]
Patrol as below
Discard 2 Draw 1 rs Draw 3
Tech 2 cards before my next turn
###Board Info:
####Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech1 HP: 5
####In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout: Thieving Imp (2/2)
####In Play:
Vandy (3/4 lvl 1)
Pestering Haunt (1/1)
Skeleton Javelineer (1/1)
Graveyard (3hp)
###Economy Info:
####Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 3
Disc: 0
####Gold:
Gold: 1
Workers: 7
[details=End of Turn Hand]
Bone Collector
Summon Skeletons
Sacrifice the Weak
Deteriorate [/details]
[details=End of Turn Discard][spoiler]
[/spoiler][/details]
[details=My Thoughts]
Yea I’m grabbing Fencer + Starlet, likely his plan here is Huntress + Tech 2. Possible he’s going for a cheeky Kidnapping play, but I don’t think that’s his move. If I draw Deteriorate I can nearly board clear with zero cost
…
Well I got the Deteriorate but at the expense of BC, bummer. Playing Imp, and then killing everyone but Wisp or YT? Better to kill Wisp I think, give him the gold and no chance to retaliate. Patrolling for Kidnapping protection
…
WOOF nasty reshuffle, no Fencer or Dark Pact… May have to Vandy Midband for the other Dark Pact to get the tech kill I’m angling for. [/details]
Things are looking scary. There’s a lot of cards he could play to break my Tech II and since I have only seen dark pact so far I have to assume his other teched cards are coming. If I can make it with my Tech II and draw crashbarrow life is obviously looking pretty good though.
[details=End of Turn Hand]
Dark Pact
Star-Crossed Starlet
Nimble Fencer [/details]
[details=End of Turn Discard]
Nimble Fencer
Maestro
Sacrifice the Weak
Deteriorate
Bone Collector [/details]
[details=My Thoughts]
Okay that’s a beatable defense, but are we concerned greatly with beating it? I think yes, this cycle should have 2-3 Bloody bombers. So I can kill tech 2 and make my own if I want to, but at the cost of not getting BC down now. That’s actually pretty okay considering I’m drawing into 5 hasty damage (8 with the Graveyard). So do I want to worker BC, or Summon Skeletons? Probably SS. Okay, probably will tech Soul Stone + the other Dark Pact. Maybe Nether Drain or the other Starlet, or perhaps DP + Maestro just to maximize my chances of running that. Going to patrol in Techn just to stay healthy on cards [/details]
If his next turn is good that’s probably game. I have to run out a mediorce attempt at defense with Quince and I need the tower in case of Vandy ult. The bloodlusts could help if he breaks my tech II, but patrols lightly like has been doing.
Graveyard (3hp holding Thieving Imp and Skeleton Javelineer)
###Economy Info:
####Cards:
Hand: 3
Deck: 2
Disc: 2
####Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
[details=End of Turn Hand]
Soul Stone
Dark Pact
Bone Collector [/details]
[details=End of Turn Discard]
Dark Pact
Sacrifice the Weak [/details]
[details=My Thoughts][spoiler]
Hmm I have an interesting choice here. With the right draw, I could theoretically break both the Tree and Tech 2, but it’ll be a long shot. Teching a Dark Pact is one way I improve my odds so I’ll do that, and beyond that… Another Starlet I suppose? Maestro helps me afford everything? I mean I’m strapped enough for gold that it’s going to be a long shot regardless, I kinda need to draw Deteriorate + Fencer / another Starlet if I tech one. I think I’ll err on the side of keeping stuff alive (since the likeliest outcome is I can’t break both, and thus need to mount a strong defense) and grab Soul Stone.
…
So Dark Pact for Fencer + StW gets me just enough to break tech 2 + Tree if I want to, but to do it would require getting no free levels off Quince, skipping worker, playing my hand empty, and not patrolling. That’s steep, but it would mean getting him to draw into a very deep deck, whereas here he has a good shot at having double barrow or barrow + glider.
I think the best choice is to get both Fencers and Starlet out on the field, knock out the tower for Starlet to survive to next turn’s Soul Stone. I’m going to have to trade the tech 2 or Graveyard or Vandy regardless, He’ll likely be forced to target the tech 2 with 3 Virtuosos on the board, and that will leave me room to operate with what’s already on the table.
…
Let’s hope he doesn’t target the fencers
[/spoiler][/details]
Luckily made it with my Tech II intact. I could choose to kill anything between Vandy, Graveyard, and a building and ended up going with Graveyard, because taking creatures off the board lowers the impact of any Tech IIs he could play. Vandy ultimate is a real possibility now, but since I’m teching so many Blood spells It’s not impossible for me to come back even if all my buildings are broken.
[details=Starting Hand]
Soul Stone
Dark Pact
Bone Collector
Deteriorate (techn)
Maestro + StW (dp) [/details]
##Events of Turn:
###Upkeep:
Get Gold (8)
Draw 1 Technician
Tech 2 cards in (except turn 1)
[details=All Teched Cards]
Star-Crossed Starlet, Soul Stone
Dark Pact, Soul Stone
Maestro, Nimble Fencer
Nimble Fencer, Star-Crossed Starlet
Bone Collector, Dark Pact [/details]
###Main:
Garth (6)
Soul Stone Starlet, she kills Cala, Garth to level 3, starlet loses Soul Stone and heals (4)
Vandy and haunt break your tech 2, your base to 14
[details=End of Turn Hand]
Nimble Fencer
Star-Crossed Starlet
Soul Stone
Graveyard
Thieving Imp [/details]
[details=End of Turn Discard]
Dark Pact
Sacrifice the Weak
Deteriorate
Bone Collector [/details]
[details=My Thoughts][spoiler]
Bummer that he kills the fencers but as it turns out killing them was much better for me than killing Vandy or especially tech 2. With no tech 2 I couldn’t lay good blockers or get Garth these savory free levels.
Grabbing the other soul Stone for offense / defense versatility, and the other starlet bc maestro is here now.
…
StW is not the virtuoso I wanted there but no matter, I’m set up pretty safe to bloodlust and kidnapping, boosted centaur would kinda suck but not much I can do about that, at least that would cost him lots of cards and still leave me free to dump attackers + fetch a guide
…
Yassss that’s a mighty fine draw
[/spoiler][/details]
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($9)
Rebuild Tech II
Drakk - ($7)
Kidnapping on Maestro - ($2)
Bloodlust on Drakk and Vandy - ($0)
Drakk kills Skeleton
Maestro trades with Vandy, Drakk levels up 2 times
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 5
[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]
[I]Squad Leader[/I]:
[I]Elite[/I]:
[I]Scavenger[/I]:
[I]Technician[/I]:
[I]Lookout[/I]:
[B]In Play:[/B]
Drakk (1/1, Level 3)
[B]Buildings:[/B]
Base HP: 14
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5
[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]
Hand: 5
Deck: 5
Disc: 7
[B]Gold:[/B]
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
Thoughts
I think I’m just dead to maxband Garth for Grounded Guide and a few Virtuousos. Even if not, I’m not sure how I can comeback next turn since Drakk will be dead and my Tech II will be dead. Let’s see what happens.
This is definitely one of the best decks we’ve seen, perhaps the best. It brings so much early pressure from so many different angles. I more so wanted to add a known quantity to the pool than be undefeated, next tourney I’m going to try branching out and I encourage others to run the meta decks!
GGs to @Bob199 and @zhavier for making top 4 on some cool, off-meta combos, and @rathyAro for running an unconventional but very potent version of Blood Truth; you’ve shown the effectiveness of Verdant tree very well I think!
@FrozenStorm Good game dude, your deck is definitely the most ruthless version of black I have played against lol. I’m glad I didn’t get completely run over so the finals match would be somewhat compelling so cheers to that! On the point of meta decks, what are the meta decks or where can I find out?
Metas i know of:
[Demon]/finesse/necro
[Necro]/blood/truth
[Anarchy]/strenght/grow
[Past(or Future)]/peace/anarchy
Past has a better control as in Origin story and undo, but future has more cost 0 units (knights of conclave) that makes draw faster (even if they go to future they still trigger garrison and sarge) and assimilate defuses stuff like molac