LLL 2: CarpeGuitarrem ([Past]/Peace/Blood) vs. Barrelfish ([Balance]/Present/Law)

Codex Codex play-by-forum
1

@Barrelfish glhf!

[Past]/Peace/Blood vs. [Balance]/Present/Law

P1T1

StartingHand Workers

STARTING HAND
Plasmodium
Fading Argonaut
Time Spiral
Hardened Mox
Tinkerer

WORKERS
Time Spiral

NextHand

Temporal Research
Neo Plexus
Forgotten Fighter
Battle Suits
Nullcraft

Discard

Tinkerer
Fading Argonaut
Plasmodium

[details=My Notes]Question 1: how do I win?

Drill Sergeant + Flagstone Garrison with Overeager Cadets and a Nullcraft payload seems like one solid option. So how do I execute that? I need to make sure I’m still alive…how fast can Barrelfish rush me down? I honestly don’t see a way. Battle Suits + Overeager Cadet and Brave Knight will give me a really strong wall and let me take down even high-health units. Also, if I’m ever able to get to 12 gold, I have a panic button in the form of Prynn/Rewind.

I suppose I could also try a Blood rush with Bugblatter, Overeager Cadet, and the ephemeral units. That might actually be faster; my starter Purple units have Fading, but that means they get to trade really well against enemy units for a cheaper cost.

Question 1a: How does Barrelfish counteract that?
Feather rune on Tiny Basilisk to kill the Nullcraft, Injunction on my Flagstone Garrison, Censorship Council to bust up the combo engine, Arresting Constable to delay the Nullcraft’s second hit. All-told, looks like stopping Nullcraft relies heavily on Law Tech II, although there is the Faerie Dragon line of play with Balance. Barrelfish’s options with Present are pretty limited when it comes to countering this.

Barrelfish deals with the Blood rush by dropping Injunction, which can actually be done pretty quickly. Judgment Day is another option as well, which is basically identical to Prynn/Rewind except it costs 10 gold instead of 12. Moment’s Peace also buys a turn of breathing room.

Question 2: how does Barrelfish win?
Stall, trade, and get to a high tech. Present is the strongest tech-up option, unless Barrelfish is trying to shoot for T3 (in which case I put my money on T-Rex). Alternately, use Law T2 to keep stalling until Lawbringer Gryphon.

Question 2a: how do I counteract that?
Vortoss Emblem totally stuffs Rampant Growth and similar buff strategies. Stewardess deals with annoying cards like Ironbark Treant and Young Treant. General’s Hammer lets me take down tech buildings even if I can’t beat through the wall, and in a pinch, I can use Boot Camp to get through the opposing Patrol Zone.

Kidnapping deals handily with any Present units, and stuff like Hyperion works out great. Ebbflow Archon lets me handle Lawbringer Gryphon.

Question 3: what’s Blood good for here?
Even if I can’t get Flagstone Garrison up and running, I’ll undoubtedly have enough units (thanks to Overeager Cadet) to pull in Drakk and use his Frenzy bonus. Drakk’s Maxband also lets me bring in my flying units quickly. I guess Desperation might let me cycle to the cards I need for a combo…? Is Rickety Mine worth it? Do I need to quickly ramp up gold?

My Turn 1: I have exactly enough to play Hardened Mox, and it’s going to be incredible for a strategy that rushes, I think. Next turn, I’ll have enough to play Battle Suits and build Tech I, which is perfect. I can start teching ASAP, probably Overeager Cadets. Vortoss Emblem + Overeager Cadet is another possibility, to play around Rampant Growth
[/details]

Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($4)
Worker - ($3)
Summon Hardened Mox - ($0)

Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 5

Board Info:
In Patrol:

  • :psblueshield: Squad Leader:
  • :psfist: Elite: Hardened Mox 2/1 indestructible
  • :ps_: Scavenger:
  • :pschip: Technician:
  • :target: Lookout:
    In Play:

Buildings:

  • :heart: Base HP: 20

Economy Info:
Cards:

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 0
  • Disc: 3
    Gold:
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 5
2

Oops! @EricF here’s the thread

3

GLHF!

P2T1

StartingHand Workers

STARTING HAND
Verdant Tree
Forest’s Favor
Young Treant
Merfolk Prospector
Tiger Cub

WORKERS
Verdant Tree

NextHand

Rampant Growth
Rich Earth
Ironbark Treant
Playful Panda
Spore Shambler

Discard

Young Treant
Merfolk Prospector
Forest’s Favor

Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5)
Worker - ($4)
Tiger Cub - ($2)
Midor - ($0)

Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 5

[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Tiger Cub (2/2+A)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]: Midori (2/3)
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]

[B]Buildings:[/B]

  • :heart: Base HP: 20

[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 0
  • Disc: 3
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 6
Thoughts

Not sure what the plan for this deck is supposed to be (and I can’t find a previous game where it was used). Probably either Present or Balance Tech II. At the very least I’ll probably tech a Nature Reclaims or two to deal with Battle Suits and Flagstone Garrison.

4

P1T2

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Overeager Cadet
Stewardess of the Undone

STARTING HAND
Neo Plexus
Nullcraft
Temporal Research
Forgotten Fighter
Battle Suits

WORKERS
Time Spiral
Temporal Research

NextHand

Overeager Cadet
Forgotten Fighter
Stewardess of the Undone
Fading Argonaut
Neo Plexus

My Notes

Okay, nothing super-scary from Green yet, and having the Mox wall there will help me really slowly build up. If Barrelfish attacks into it, that’s at least a Rampant Growth just to keep Tiger Cub from dying, or else spend gold on Midori to midband him, and both of those lines only result in 2 damage to my T1 or Base. I guess the other option is Forest’s Favor on Midori, but that still trades a card and 2 gold for 2 damage to T1 or Base. So I’m safe right now. Battle Suits still seems like the strong play here.

So what’s the next play from Green? Probably getting Argonaut out, which is one reason I grabbed Stewardess. Need to keep sticky defenders out.

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5)
Worker - ($4)
Build Tech I - ($2)
Play Battle Suits - ($0)

Float ($0)
Discard 3, reshuffle, draw 5

[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]:
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]: Hardened Mox 3/1 indestructible
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Battle Suits
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 3
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 6
5

P2T2

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Nature Reclaims
Tiny Basilisk

STARTING HAND
Rich Earth
Playful Panda
Ironbark Treant
Spore Shambler
Rampant Growth

WORKERS
Verdant Tree
Rich Earth

NextHand

Tiny Basilisk
Rampant Growth
Forest’s Favor
Ironbark Treant
Spore Shambler

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($6)
Worker - ($5)
Tech I - ($3)
Playful Panda - ($1)

Float ($1)
Discard 3, reshuffle, draw 5

[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]:
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Wisp (0/1)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Tiger Cub (2/2+A)
  • Playful Panda (2/2)
  • Midori (2/3)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]

  • Hand: 5
  • Deck: 3
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 1
  • Workers: 7
Thoughts

3/1 Mox constrains a lot of my options and makes a lot of things I could do not worth it. Panda to float a gold and get a blocker that would “trade” favorably seems like the best bet. Teching Nature Reclaims to deal with Battle Suits, and Tiny Basilisk to get around Mox.

6

P1T3

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Bloodlust
Overeager Cadet

STARTING HAND
Neo Plexus
Forgotten Fighter
Overeager Cadet
Stewardess of the Undone
Fading Argonaut

WORKERS
Time Spiral
Temporal Research
Neo Plexus

NextHand

Tinkerer
Nullcraft
Fading Argonaut
Plasmodium

[details=My Notes]
So far, so good. Hardened Mox is turning into a doozy of a beatstick, and getting Drakk to midband will help amazingly with that. I realized Bloodlust is a fantastic combo here, and with the tempo I have so far, I think I just keep continuing my cheap beatdown. I don’t have to commit to Peace or Blood until next turn anyhow.

Also, holy cow Battle Suits is NUTSO here. Bumping my Soldiers/Mystics from 2 to 3 attack makes a huge difference in terms of being able to kill Green units here. Stewardess seems like a fantastic counter to Green tokens, too.[/details]

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($6)
Worker - ($5)
Summon Stewardess of the Undone, bouncing (and destroying) your Wisp - ($2)
Kill Tiger Cub with Hardened Mox; Mox exhausts instead of dying
Summon Overeager Cadet
Summon Drakk Ramhorn - ($0)

Float ($0)
Discard 2, draw 3, reshuffle, draw 1

[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Stewardess of the Undone 3/3+a
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Overeager Cadet 3/2
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Battle Suits
  • Hardened Mox 2/1 indestructible
  • Drakk Ramhorn L1 1/3
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 3
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 0
  • Workers: 7
7

P2T3

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Argonaut
Temporal Distortion

STARTING HAND
Ironbark Treant
Rampant Growth
Forest’s Favor
Spore Shambler
Tiny Basilisk

WORKERS
Verdant Tree
Rich Earth
Spore Shambler

NextHand

Forest’s Favor
Merfolk Prospector
Young Treant
Nature Reclaims

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($8)
Worker - ($7)
Tiny Basilisk - ($5)
Ironbark Treant - ($2)

Float ($2)
Discard 2, draw 3, reshuffle, draw 1

[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Ironbark Treant (1/2+3A)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]: Playful Panda (2/2)
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Tiny Basilisk (1/2)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Midori (2/3)
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 4
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 2
  • Workers: 8
8

P1T4

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
War Drums
Stewardess of the Undone

STARTING HAND
Nullcraft
Tinkerer
Plasmodium
Fading Argonaut

WORKERS
Time Spiral
Temporal Research
Neo Plexus
Tinkerer

NextHand

Overeager Cadet
War Drums
Forgotten Fighter
Bloodlust

[details=My Notes]So I’m a little worried about Bigby into Injunction, but that only leaves Barrelfish with 5 gold to play with, and I still have Nullcraft, Maxbanded Drakk (with the frenzy aura), and Mox, along with Battle Suits, and Nature Reclaims isn’t on the table. With War Drums (lucky tech draw!), and the unit I drop this turn, Nullcraft, Mox, and the new unit are all getting a +4 to attack, which should easily be enough to power through whatever Barrelfish throws out. If I really feel like going down on cards, which I might, I can Forgotten Fighter a unit out of the Patrol Zone for a really big beatdown.

Judgment Day is another possibility, but that leaves Barrelfish without much of a followup, and I can just drop a hasted unit (a 4/2 Overeager Cadet?) to kill Bigby. Unfortunately, that does put me on the back foot. It’s a risk.
[/details]

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($7)
Worker - ($6)
Summon Nullcraft - ($4)
Level Drakk to L4 (2/3 midband) - ($1)
Nullcraft and Stewardess kill Ironbark Treant; Stewardess takes 1 damage
Drakk kills Playful Panda, sustaining 2 damage (you get 1 gold)
Hardened Mox kills Midori, maxbanding and healing Drakk

Float ($1)
Discard 2, draw 3, reshuffle, draw 1

[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]:
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Overeager Cadet 3/2 frenzy 1
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Battle Suits
  • Hardened Mox 2/1 indestructible frenzy 1
  • Drakk Ramhorn L6 3/4
  • Nullcraft 1/1 frenzy 1
  • Stewardess of the Undone 3/2 frenzy 1
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 3
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 1
  • Workers: 8
9

OBJECTION: Tiny Basilisk is unattackable and unstoppable by Tech 0. Nullcraft is tech 0.

10

Hold up, need to amend my post.

EDIT: post is now fixed to correct for my mistake RE: Nullcraft and Basilisk.

11

Objection sustained! I thought of the same thing about 20 minutes ago.

Easy to fix, I’ll just swap Nullcraft in for Overeager Cadet on killing Ironbark Treant, and patrol Cadet. Mox, because of above special text on Basilisk, is still able to kill Midori.

Only change on Barrelfish’s end is no card draw.

12

P2T4

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Hyperion
Tricycloid

STARTING HAND
Merfolk Prospector
Nature Reclaims
Young Treant
Forest’s Favor
Argonaut

WORKERS
Verdant Tree
Rich Earth
Spore Shambler
Merfolk Prospector

NextHand

Temporal Distortion
Tiger Cub
Nature Reclaims
Rampant Growth

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float + Scavenger - ($11)
Worker - ($10)
Young Treant --> Draw - ($8)
Argonaut - ($5)
Tech II [Present] - ($1)
Tiny Basilisk trades with Overeager Cadet

Float ($1)
Discard 2, draw 3, reshuffle, draw 1

[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]: Argonaut (3/4+A)
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]: Young Treant (0/2)
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]

[B]Buildings:[/B]

  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5
  • :heart: Tech II HP: 5 (Present)

[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]

  • Hand: 4
  • Deck: 6
  • Disc: 0
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 1
  • Workers: 9
13

P1T5

Tech StartingHand Workers

TECH
Crashbarrow
Shoddy Glider

STARTING HAND
Forgotten Fighter
Bloodlust
Overeager Cadet
War Drums

WORKERS
Time Spiral
Temporal Research
Neo Plexus
Tinkerer

NextHand

Fading Argonaut
Stewardess of the Undone

Discard

Overeager Cadet
Forgotten Fighter
Bloodlust
Crashbarrow
Shoddy Glider

Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($9)
Summon Overeager Cadet
Cast War Drums; 4 units -> +4 ATK - ($7)
Cast Forgotten Fighter on Young Treant to bounce it - ($4)
Nullcraft (6 ATK) kills Argonaut, taking no damage
Cast Bloodlust on Overeager Cadet and Drakk - ($2)
Mox has 7 ATK, Stewardess has 8 ATK, Drakk has 4 ATK, Cadet has 8 ATK = 27 damage at your base, gg!

Float ($2)
Discard 0, draw 2

[B]Board Info:[/B]
[B]In Patrol:[/B]

  • :psblueshield: [I]Squad Leader[/I]:
  • :psfist: [I]Elite[/I]:
  • :ps_: [I]Scavenger[/I]:
  • :pschip: [I]Technician[/I]:
  • :target: [I]Lookout[/I]:
    [B]In Play:[/B]
  • Battle Suits
  • Hardened Mox 2/1 indestructible frenzy 1
  • Drakk Ramhorn L6 3/4
  • Nullcraft 1/1 frenzy 1
  • Overeager Cadet 3/2 frenzy 1
  • Stewardess of the Undone 3/2 frenzy 1
  • War Drums
    [B]Buildings:[/B]
  • :heart: Base HP: 20
  • :heart: Tech I HP: 5

[B]Economy Info:[/B]
[B]Cards:[/B]

  • Hand: 2
  • Deck: 1
  • Disc: 5
    [B]Gold:[/B]
  • Gold: 2
  • Workers: 8
14

GG! @EricF

I was too passive in the face of your early Mox I think, which let you get a huge board quickly. Losing Midori right after I drew Nature Reclaims didn’t help either.

1 Like
15

Holy smokes I was so worried about Midori casting Nature Reclaims. I was definitely biting my nails after I killed him, though. Scared of Injunction or Judgment Day, which both would’ve hit me hard.

I think I could’ve recovered from them, but Injunction would’ve let you boop Drakk away, killing my next turn. Judgment Day would’ve wiped away that board, albeit preserving Mox and Drakk…and with my hasted Cadet, I could’ve still cast War Drums for the +2 ATK buff to both units, which would’ve let me still develop a board against Bigby and kill him.

I agree about Mox. Getting a huge board into Drakk just let me snowball hugely. The buffs from Battle Suits and Drakk got more and more powerful the bigger I built the board. You could’ve also safely patrolled Midori T2 in Squad Leader to protect your units…I don’t think I had the ability to kill him? Drakk with midband ability only boosts Mox to 3 ATK.

Mox definitely MVP though. I looked at that card in my starting hand, realized I was getting Battle Suits next turn, and decided to all-in on that pure value.