STARTING HAND
Bombaster
Pillage
Scorch
Mad Man
Bloodrage Ogre
WORKERS
Pillage
NextHand
Makeshift Rambaster
Charge
Nautical Dog
Bloodburn
Careless Musketeer
Discard
Bloodrage Ogre
Bombaster
Scorch
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($4)
Worker - ($3)
Calamandra - ($1)
Mad Man, hits your base for 1 - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 5
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout: Calamandra lvl 1 (2/3)
In Play:
Mad Man (1/1)
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 0
Disc: 3
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 5
Thoughts
The neutral starter is tough, especially with a strong early hero like Oni. But if I’m going to stop the Peace engine from forming, I need to apply pressure right from the get go.
Cala in lookout should be safe from Wither, at least for a turn, and should discourage an early hero. I don’t mind the spellcasting penalty since I’ll only have Charge in hand next turn, and getting the full effect would require going down on cards and delaying tech 1 anyway.
I’ll probably spend next turn teching up and playing Dog or Rambaster, though midbanding Cala is also on the table.
Workering Pillage over Scorch because I might need that 2 damage to finish a Garrison or something.
Note that your base should be at 19 after my Mad Man hit you on T1. It might make a difference considering how I’m playing this…
P1T2
Tech StartingHand Workers
TECH
Behind the Ferns
Argonaut
STARTING HAND
Careless Musketeer
Bloodburn
Charge
Nautical Dog
Makeshift Rambaster
WORKERS
Pillage
Bloodburn
NextHand
Nautical Dog
Behind the Ferns
Charge
Bombaster
Makeshift Rambaster
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5)
Worker - ($4)
Makeshift Rambaster - ($2)
Cal to midband - ($0)
Mad Man, Rambaster and Cal kill Oni
Cal maxbands and heals
Float ($0)
Discard 3, reshuffle, draw 5
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
Calamandra lvl 5 (4/5)
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 5
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 6
Thoughts
Do I want to delay tech 1 to kill Oni? It’ll leave me in an ok state overall, but I’m not sure I’ll have options for my next turn: Tiger/frogs doesn’t leave me enough gold to tech up, and Ferocity/Behind the Ferns are only useful if I have units on board.
OTOH, I’ll have trouble keeping Cal alive with buff Oni around: with Spark + Messenger, rathyAro could get free levels through anything but two patrolling weenies, one of which in SQL. And in that case, he’d just kill SQL, Wither Cal and patrol a 2 HP body of his own in SQL. That’s not a board state I want to be in.
…well, I did say I was going to be aggressive. So yeah, Oni’s gotta go.
I’ll make sure I have a body to play next turn by workering Bloodburn rather than Musketeer, and tech things I just want to have in my deck further down the road. I’m not super-likely to draw them next turn anyway, considering my thick discard. Not going for frogs because Discord is a thing.
…
After the draw: that’s not a bad split. One thing rathyAro could put up next turn is hero+Wither, but if he techs up that’ll be all he plays, and I could still kill him with Rambaster. Otherwise, Bombaster or BtF+Dog seem viable.
I could kill River, but I won’t get the levels and I’d be hard-pressed to protect Cal from Nimble Fencers afterwards. Likewise, Behind the Ferns is likely to end up in the discard after a Fencer rush.
Instead, I could play Bombaster and/or Dog. But should they be protecting Cal or should she be protecting them?
Could they even protect her? rathyAro could midband River to sideline SQL Bombaster and hit Cal with both Fencers, at a loss of cards. If I add Dog, he’d have to skip a worker for Spark/Messenger. Hmm, Discord would let him get through Bombaster and Dog without taking damage, but he won’t have the gold to finish Cal. Still a good trade for him.
Alternatively, Cal in SQL dies to River+Fencer+any of Spark/Wither/Messenger. If I lose her and keep the units, midband Drakk + Mad Man next turn could do some damage, though they can’t compete with tech 1 for long (not to mention tech 2).
Well, if he does go after Cal, it means he’s delaying tech 2, and that can only be good for me. With that in mind, Cal behind Bombaster is the best I can do ATM. It ensures I draw Argo, and with the float I’ll have enough gold to play him and tech up. Either that or cheat in a tiger.
I’m teching the second Argo and a spell (since I’m not at all sure I’ll get to tech 2 next turn), but whose spell? Not really expecting Cal to survive for 2 more turns, though Ferocity is something I’d like to have later anyway. Bloodlust is always solid too. Hmm, I’ll get Ferocity because it can help fend off Fencers, and I feel like I haven’t used it enough this tourney.
rathyAro should only have his first teched cards in hand. I’m going to bet on them not being Garrisons, and tech up rather than summon an invisible tiger.
I’m teching Immortal over Hyperion (Tricycloid is almost a given), with the idea of hiding behind him and Argo, while hitting priority targets with time runes and Stealth. And if the Immortal gets Withered, I can flicker or bounce him.
…
After the draw: whiffed the tech 2’s, but at least I have BtF and another Argo. And if all else fails, I can just cheat in a tiger.
STARTING HAND
Behind the Ferns
Bloodrage Ogre
Argonaut
Scorch
Mad Man
WORKERS
Pillage
Bloodburn
Nautical Dog
Careless Musketeer
Scorch
NextHand
Makeshift Rambaster
Tricycloid
Immortal
Charge
Discard
Mad Man
Bloodrage Ogre
Hyperion
Temporal Distortion
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Worker - ($7)
Geiger - ($5)
Behind the Ferns - ($3)
Argonaut and Bombaster stealthily kill Quince, Geiger to midband
Cal kills SQL Cadet
Argonaut #2 - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 2, draw 4
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Argonaut #2 (3/4A), resist 1
Elite:
Scavenger: Argonaut #1 (3/3), resist 1
Technician: Geiger lvl 3 (2/4)
Lookout:
In Play:
Calamandra lvl 5 (3/2), -1/-1
Bombaster (2/1), resist 1
Behind the Ferns
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Present)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 1
Disc: 4
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 9
Thoughts
Very interesting development here. All that gold put into Quince, and emphatically not Mirror-copying a Cadet. Does that mean I’m dealing not with a by-the-book Peace engine, but with what, Spies? Air Hammers?
Whatever it turns out to be, Quince has to go, and Behind the Ferns will let me do that in style. I’ll bring Geiger in to soak up the levels, because Drakk’s midband actually has some negative synergy with BtF. It also sets me up nicely to flicker Tricycloid next turn.
STARTING HAND
Tricycloid
Charge
Makeshift Rambaster
Immortal
WORKERS
Pillage
Bloodburn
Nautical Dog
Careless Musketeer
Scorch
NextHand
Hyperion
Ferocity
Temporal Distortion
Mad Man
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($9)
Skip worker
Bombaster attacks, is detected by tower, and suicides into Onimaru
Tricycloid - ($4)
Remove 3 time runes to deal 2 damage to your tech 2 and 1 damage to Garrison
Argonaut #1 stealthily breaks tech 2
Argonaut #2 stealthily breaks Garrison
Geiger finishes Onimaru and sparkshots 1 to River
Geiger maxbands and heals, flickering Tricycloid
Remove 2 time runes to deal 2 damage to your tech 1
Makeshift Rambaster - ($2)
Rambaster stealthily breaks tech 1
Heroes’ Hall - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 2, draw 1, reshuffle, draw 3
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Argonaut #2 (3/4A), resist 1
Elite:
Scavenger: Argonaut #1 (3/3A), resist 1
Technician: Tricycloid (4/4), 1 time rune, resist 1
Lookout:
In Play:
Calamandra lvl 5 (3/2), -1/-1
Geiger lvl 5 (3/4)
Makeshift Rambaster (1/2), resist 1
Behind the Ferns
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Present)
Heroes’ Hall HP: 4
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 6
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 9
Thoughts
I can deal 18 stealthy damage (2XArgo + Tricycloid + flicker + Rambaster + Cal), which is 1(!!!) short of lethal if going all in on the base. Or exactly enough to break both tech buildings + Garrison + tower. I don’t see any way rathyAro could OTK me or prevent me from dealing the last point of damage: even if he somehow clears my board through three 3/3+ patrollers, Drakk’s topband should do the trick.
But the control player in me can’t abide that. I’ll leave just the tower up, since it doesn’t really bother me and I can then maintain a reasonable hand.
I was curious about you not playing units the first few turns - looks like it slowed down your cycle, and consequently delayed the Peace plan. A similar thing happened with my dead hasted guys, but it worked out ok with my late tech 1.
Then your maxband Quince threw me off, but I was lucky to draw BtF just in time to get the stealth-kill.
In my mind I felt like i could just play defensively to Tech II since you weren’t putting me under much pressure and I could win from there, but I made a mistake in deciding when to tech my tech II cards so that I could draw them on time. And yeah completely forgot about behind the ferns and how it works.
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout: Calamandra lvl 1 (2/3)
Base HP: 20
Base HP: 20