Shame I didn’t tech draw Spark; that and Messenger could clear the way for Onimaru. Not entirely happy with it, but I think my safest play here is to max Onimaru and tech Art of War with a full hand draw.
Assuming Nekoatl’s next turn includes Worker + Tech II, that means I would have to get past either: Onimaru (5) + 2x Overeager (4) + 3 gold + up to 2 patrolling 1/1s = 13 hp + 5 for the tech II, after suffering an Oni + Soldier attack. OR Same thing, but 2 SQL bonuses, and all 3 1/1 guys, total of 17 hp + the 5 hp building.
I have 8-9 attack now, with a likely draw of +5 attack next turn w/ haste, and 2-3 more that I can play out this turn, for a theoretical total of about 24 if I attack this turn (and need to kill 22 hp of stuff, or 16 if I don’t attack and need to kill 18 hp of stuff. So attacking this turn is better.
For sure want to get Centaur down, and protect it.
STARTING HAND
Spark
Overeager Cadet
Bloom
Brick Thief
Tenderfoot
The Art of War
WORKERS
Fruit Ninja
Wither
Granfalloon Flagbearer
Brick Thief
NextHand
Older Brother
The Art of War
Timely Messenger
Discard
Overeager Cadet
The Art of War
Bloom
Spark
Tenderfoot
Flagstone Garrison
Flagstone Garrison
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Worker - ($7)
Overeager Cadet
The Art of War - ($4)
Onimaru kills Centaur
Bloom Soldier - ($2)
Soldier (2/2) kills Merfolk Prospector
Spark Wisp - ($1)
Soldier (1/1) trades with Argagarg
Float ($1)
Discard 1, draw 3
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: L8 General Onimaru (6/5AAA) Frenzy 1, readiness, swift strike, unstoppable
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
Overeager Cadet (2/2)
Soldier (2/1) Sparkshot [1+, 1 damage]
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 3
Deck: 1
Disc: 7
Gold:
Gold: 1
Workers: 9
Thoughts
I was worried when I saw both AoW in my deck, but I lucked out on the tech draw. I’ll pick off Argagarg while he’s weak so I don’t have to worry about Dinosize or a Water Elemental for a bit, though it’s a shame to waste those free level-ups. It looks like he’s not counting on Argagarg dying, so hopefully he won’t have Behind the Ferns teched. I’m a little worried about dropping down to 4 cards, but I need the worker.
Technician: L8 General Onimaru (4/2) Frenzy 1, readiness [3 damage]
Lookout:
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Finesse)
Tech Lab HP: 4 (Peace)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 3
Deck: 10
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 3
Workers: 10
Thoughts
I think I’m facing a MoLaC strategy, with Fencers and Behind the Ferns to enable rune collecting. Trying to suppress MoLaC from being played seems like too much of a gamble, so I’ll aim to prevent collection of runes instead. I have several ideas of how to do so, but my main concern with all of them is my small hand and large deck. I’ll try seeding Virtuoso buffs before the reshuffle because they can proc Garrison draws and prime my next cycle for Blademasters.
Forest’s Favor — Magic
Spore Shambler — Tech 0
Discord
Stampede
Behind the Ferns - doing exactly what I teched it in to do! Though I came up with a better plan, see below.
Tech 2nd Blooming Ancient + Polymorph: Squirrel
Alternate line:
9 gold (9), tech 2 cards
Worker (8)
Cal (6)
Behind the Ferns (4)
Centaur & Wisp sneak over and blow up the Tech II building
Max Arg (0)
EricF is a force of nature. That said I thought Nekoatl was doing very well up until turn 5. Breaking tech 2 growth would have been a lot safer than killing the second fencer. The reshuffle into a fresh 5 nearly guaranteed tech 2 options in hand all of which were severe threats.
I was tempted to go for the Tech II building, but without burning my other Art of War, I expected Onimaru to die if I did, and then the Tech II cards would just come out a turn later when I would be less equipped to deal with them. As for why I didn’t want to play the AoW there, I was already worried about my chances of drawing a Garrison, and so wanted to preserve the card draw (and indeed, even with the extra card, I still didn’t manage to draw a Garrison). I knew I was treading on dangerous ground by allowing my hand size to drop before getting a Garrison up, but Growth’s ability to buff things to the point where Onimaru can’t stop them provoked me into it.