The easy part here is knowing that I play Cal + Prospector, slightly trickier is making sure I set up my T2 hand correctly. I definitely want Rampant Growth and Spore Shambler available, they are almost never workers vs Blue. FF is an easy insta-worker so I’ll put that in my T1 hand.
After those easy decisions, I need to plan for spending 3g after Worker+Tech I. Ironbark could be a decent play if I don’t spend any other gold but patrolling it is hard under the threat of Arrest and it often gets workered as a consequence. Rich Earth can be surprisingly good vs Blue, since there’s nothing to steal or destroy it and usually Blue P2 lacks the aggression to punish you for slowing down, but its also a good T2 worker candidate if the line doesn’t work out. Verdant Tree and YT are both good cards but not for P1T2 so they can sit in my T1 hand. That leaves a choice between Panda and Tiger. Panda is better for building aggro against Arrest so lets go with that.
STARTING HAND
Porkhand Magistrate
Bluecoat Musketeer
Spectral Aven
Reputable Newsman
Traffic Director
WORKERS
Porkhand Magistrate
Next Hand
Building Inspector
Lawful Search
Jail
Arrest
Manufactured Truth
Discard
Bluecoat Musketeer
Traffic Director
Reputable Newsman
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($5)
Worker - ($4)
Summon Bigby Hayes. - ($2)
Hire a Spectral Aven. - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 5
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite: Bigby (1) 3/3
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout: Spectral Aven 2/2
In Play:
*
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 0
Disc: 3
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 6
Thoughts
I seem to recall that Calamandra can stealth so that means backline is risky at best. I think that means we are best positioned to force gold expenditure in order to thwart easy hero kills.
I think playing a hero into Calamadra + Rampant Growth is feasible. I think better patrols would be things like TD in SQL, BI in Technician (to make me spend the extra gold and save his for Tower) or Porky in Elite, TD in SQL to force me to spend cards on Stealth or have her neutered next turn.
This line is close to optimal aggro with her, I preserve ability to heal damage from Aven and get Tech I up for Spartners.
Ah, I had forgotten about how hopeless I feel when playing against Calamandra. For one brief and shining moment, I thought I wouldn’t lose this immediately. That’ll show me.
P2T2
Tech Starting Hand Workers
TECH
Tax Collector
Tax Collector
STARTING HAND
Manufactured Truth
Lawful Search
Jail
Arrest
Building Inspector
Bluecoat Musketeer
WORKERS
Porkhand Magistrate
Bluecoat Musketeer
Next Hand
Traffic Director
Tax Collector
Lawful Search
Reputable Newsman
Tax Collector
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($6)
Summon General Onimaru. - ($4)
Build Tech I. - ($3)
Onimaru performs a Lawful Search of your hand and draws a card. - ($2)
Hire a Building Inspector. - ($1)
Worker. - ($0)
Spectral Aven kills the Merfolk Prospector.
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 4, reshuffle, draw 1
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Building Inspector 1/1A
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician: Onimaru (1) 2/3
Lookout:
In Play:
Spectral Aven 2/2
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 3
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 7
Thoughts
No thoughts, bay-BEE. I haven’t had any worth putting down since I started playing Codex and I daresay it’s gotten worse over time.
This turn I don’t think I use Calamandra stealth, as I’m best to spend my cards getting both Spartners into play and killing off Aven. Cala can then kill Inspector and I can get a HH up to continue my aggro. Geiger spells for now as they work no matter my decision on whether to tech up or delay / Tree
Manufactured Truth
Dreamscape
Building Inspector
Arrest
Lawful Search
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($7)
Worker - ($6)
Onimaru kills the Scavenging Sparring Partner.
Hire a Tax Collector who collects that scavenged gold. - ($5)
Onimaru performs a Lawful Search of your hand and draws a card. - ($4)
Build Tech II - Truth. - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 2, reshuffle, draw 3
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Tax Collector 2/3A
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
In Play:
Onimaru (1) 2/1
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Truth)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 5
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 8
Thoughts
Well, I’m glad we could snatch that gold. Hugh’s got a low hand and nothing that’s immediately threatening. The Sparring Partner can buff Calamandra so I don’t see an especially compelling reason to heal Onimaru. I’d rather make Hugh have to discard two cards to get at him. Otherwise, he can buff or level Calamandra and just kill the Tax Collector. I think we go for Truth so that we have meaty units. Unfortunately, there’s so much targeting that Macciatus is especially crucial. Let’s see if we can make it work.
Verdant Tree
Spore Shambler
Rampant Growth
Hyperion
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($7)
Young Treant, draw - ($5)
Worker - ($4)
Tech II Present - ($0)
Spar with Calamandra
Calamandra kills Tax Collector, takes 2
Float ($0)
Discard 2, draw 1, reshuffle, draw 3
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician: Young Treant 0/2 [Can’t Attack]
Lookout:
In Play:
L3 Calamandra Moss 4/2 [+, My units have Resist 1]
Sparring Partner 2/2
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: 8
Thoughts
Two obvious lines come to mind here:
Maxband, spar and stealth calamandra, break his Tech II. Costs 2 cards and 2 gold so I could worker and Tech up if I don’t mind dropping to just 2 cards but I really don’t like going so low on cards. Card neutral alternatives would be skipping the worker and playing Young Treant + Grave to keep the pressure on. Also don’t really like worker skipping here. Overall its decent but might be a slow death if he gets Free Speech off and can chump block me.
Spar with Calamandra then she kills Tax Collector, worker, Tech up and then play Young Treant or Grave. YT is riskier for Arrest + Oni trading with Calamandra but gives me the best chance of drawing into Tech II units and/or Geiger spells. Importantly, he doesn’t have the gold for Arrest + Maxand Oni + Tech break so short of Injunction I should be guaranteed to be able to play any Tech II I draw even if he can get rid of Calamandra.
I think the best logic here is “In present we trust” and going with (2) and the Young Treant in Technician. I expect my Tech II to be much better than his so it’s fine to give him one turn to get ahead. Also by not playing Grave I avoid giving him a cheap maxband Oni which I think is key.
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($8)
Summon Bigby Hayes. - ($6)
Bigby Arrests the Young Treant. - ($3)
Onimaru trades with Calamandra; Bigby midbands.
Bigby performs a Lawful Search of your hand and draws a card. - ($2)
Hire a Building Inspector. - ($1)
Worker. - ($0)
Float ($0)
Stash 1, Discard 1, draw 3
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite: Building Inspector 2/1
Scavenger:
Technician: Bigby Hayes (3) 2/4
Lookout:
In Play:
*
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Truth)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 4
Deck: 1
Disc: 6
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 9
Thoughts
Ugh, I feel so trapped. I guess we sacrifice Bigby for Quince possibilities next round.
Versatile Style (Gives me an answer to EotC)
Huntress (Keeps unit balance up, gives me something to deal with Roc)
STARTING HAND
Verdant Tree
Spore Shambler
Hyperion → Playful Panda → Worker (I felt that Panda isn’t adding much that Tech I doesn’t do better and I’ve seen Tree decide close games)
Rampant Growth
WORKERS
Forest’s Favor
Rich Earth
Tiger Cub
Ironbark Treant
Playful Panda
So he had Arrest but I can get my Tech II into play first. Geiger + Hyperion + Hyperion kills Bigby + Spartner trades with BI should leave me in a good place. Yes he could copy Hyperion with Quince but that’s 6g and he won’t be able to kill Geiger if he’s in SQL. I think I take my chances of not drawing the Tric off the Hyperion and go for that.
STARTING HAND
Dreamscape
Tax Collector
Macciatus, The Whisperer
Traffic Director
Reputable Newsman
Building Inspector
WORKERS
Porkhand Magistrate
Bluecoat Musketeer
Jail
Manufactured Truth
Next Hand
Tax Collector
Arrest
Spectral Aven
Mind Control
Eyes of the Chancellor
Discard
Dreamscape
Reputable Newsman
Building Inspector
Tax Collector
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($9)
Summon Sirus Quince and his Mirror Illusion. - ($7)
Midband Quince. - ($5)
Hire Macciatus, The Whisperer. - ($3)
Quince’s midband transforms the Mirror Illusion into a Hyperion. - ($1)
Mirror Hyperion murders Geiger; Quince maxbands.
Hire a Traffic Director. - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 4, draw 5
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Traffic Director 1/1A - Untargetable
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout: Macciatus, The Whisperer 3/3 - Resist 1
In Play:
Quince (5) 1/5
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Truth)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 3
Disc: 4
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 9
Thoughts
Okay, I’m feeling the most tenous strand of hope. I think we have to kill Geiger because his potential with Temporal Distortion and his maxband is OUTRAGEOUS and I suspect we’ve got another Hyperion or a Tricycloid coming down the barrel. If it’s a Tricycloid, then the Traffic Director works out very nicely since it can’t be hit by the lasers and if we put Macciatus into Lookout, it will be costly to kill him via lasers. On the other hand, if he’s got another Hyperion, he can use the new one to kill the Traffic Director and then the old one to trade with Macciatus. I think Lookout still makes sense because I’d rather pressure his gold then give myself a gold or a card, especially while I’m going down on money. Then again, if we pressure his money, he might just save up and EXPLODE next turn. Damned if we do, damned if we don’t. I’m going to put Macciatus into Lookout and just wish for the fucking best here.
Legion is right, you’ll need to go back to your remaining 3 cards, draw for Hyperion (which reshuffles) so you’re at 4 cards and then discard and draw. This matters because the 3 cards you had in hand at end of turn, plus the one you draw for Hyperion will all be in discard until you cycle round again.
Depending what you had in hand this will either be great or terrible
Oh shit I forgot about Macciatus! Why did I play Geiger when I didn’t have to!? A Free Speech now and he’ll be on the cusp of winning! Got to get as much targeting in my deck as possible and hope he doesn’t have a second!
I was just going off the reshuffle. You had 1 in deck at the end of the last turn and then had draw from Bigby in technician and the illusory Hyperion. One of them must have been skipped to reshuffle where you did
This is probably one of the wildest games we’ve had. Enjoy the first appearance I’ve ever seen of Mind Control.
P2T6
Tech Starting Hand Workers
TECH
Spectral Roc
Spectral Flagbearer
STARTING HAND
Spectral Aven
Mind Control
Arrest
Tax Collector
Eyes of the Chancellor
Lawful Search
WORKERS
Porkhand Magistrate
Bluecoat Musketeer
Jail
Manufactured Truth
Spectral Aven
Next Hand
Reteller of Truths
Traffic Director
Building Inspector
Eyes of the Chancellor
Free Speech
Tech 2 card(s)
Get Paid - ($9)
Worker - ($8)
Quince Arrests the Young Treant, disabling it again. - ($6)
Quince Mind Controls the Hyperion. - ($1)
The Mind Controlled Hyperion trades with the Tricycloid; I draw a card.
Float ($1)
Discard 3, draw 2, reshuffle, draw 3
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout: Quince (5) 1/5
In Play:
*
Buildings:
Base HP: 20
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Truth)
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 10
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 1
Workers: 10
Thoughts
I just keep resetting the board, but I’m not gaining any presence so I think I’m just in slow decline, unfortunately.
You are correct this is a wild wild game! If ever there was a time for Quince’s boss music this would be it!
P1T7
Tech StartingHand Workers
TECH
Moss Ancient (Only decent Tech III option available)
Moss Ancient (ditto)
STARTING HAND
Versatile Style
Sparring Partner
Spore Shambler
Rampant Growth → Worker (This card is still great, and actually really good with my Tech III but Free Speech is very face up and this is less impactful than Versatile Style if he doesn’t Free Speech)
Tricycloid
Technician Draw → Huntress
Moss Ancient
Now!
Versatile Style
Tricycloid
Tricycloid
Tech 2 card(s)
Technician Draw
Get Paid - ($10)
Tech III - ($5)
Break HH, build Tech Lab Feral, my base to 18 - ($4)
Huntress - ($2)
Spartner - ($1)
Worker - ($0)
Float ($0)
Discard 3, draw 1, reshuffle, draw 4
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader: Huntress 3/3A [Sparkshot, Anti-Air]
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician: Sparring Partner 2/2
Lookout:
In Play:
Young Treant 0/2 [Can’t Attack]
Buildings:
Base HP: 18
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Present)
Tech III HP: 5
Tech Lab HP: 4
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 7
Disc: 0
Gold:
Gold: 0
Workers: 11
Thoughts
So if the 50-50 Technician draw had given me Now! I’d have a Quince kill and a Tech break for probably the win. However, we don’t live in that universe and in our universe if I were him I’d be playing Free Speech, Teching up and spending my remaining gold on whatever I can get to defend me. He just reshuffled and added two cards so I think that’s the very obvious play. Best case I have is to hit my own Tech III and try to get one on board first. If he doesn’t Free Speech me I know I have Now! next turn so I don’t even need to play any heroes this turn, better to minimise my pool of cards as much as possible and hope my draws are kind. The things working in my favour are he doesn’t have a board yet, Mind Contol or EotC + Free Speech are both expensive and I have a lot of instant impact units in my deck.
I don’t think there’s a way for me to win this. I held out for as long as I could.
P2T7
Starting Hand Workers
STARTING HAND
Free Speech
Reteller of Truths
Building Inspector
Traffic Director
Eyes of the Chancellor
WORKERS
Porkhand Magistrate
Bluecoat Musketeer
Jail
Manufactured Truth
Spectral Aven
Building Inspector
Next Hand
Tax Collector
Spectral Flagbearer
Discard
Free Speech
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid + float - ($11)
Worker - ($10)
Research Eyes of the Chancellor; you play with your hand revealed. I do not love what I’m SEEING. - ($7)
Quince casts Free Speech, removing your heroes’ abilities and preventing them from casting spells. - ($5)
Hire a Reteller of Truths. - ($3)
Hire a Traffic Director. - ($2)
Create a Mirror Illusion. - ($0)
Temporal Distortion
Moss Ancient
Hyperion
Spore Shambler
Sparring Partner
Discard
Versatile Style
Now!
Moss Ancient
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid - ($11)
Spartner kills TD, takes 1
Tricycloid, pops Mirror and Reteller, you draw and gain 1g, Reteller returns to hand - ($6)
2nd Tricycloid, shoots Tech II to 3HP - ($1)
Huntress breaks Tech II, your base to 18
Tricycloids shoot Quince to 3HP
Float ($1)
Discard 3, draw 5
Board Info: In Patrol:
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician: Young Treant 0/2 [Can’t Attack]
Lookout:
In Play:
Tricycloid 3/3
Tricycloid 3/3
Huntress 3/3 [Sparkshot, Anti-Air]
Sparring Partner 2/1
Buildings:
Base HP: 18
Tech I HP: 5
Tech II HP: 5 (Present)
Tech III HP: 5
Tech Lab HP: 4
Economy Info: Cards:
Hand: 5
Deck: 2
Disc: 3
Gold:
Gold: 1
Workers: 11
Thoughts
No Macciatus and a couple of Tric’s keeps me alive here. I should be able to turn the tech break into a win, but not going to call it till I actually get the win. Certainly it’s much easier if he doesn’t have Free Speech this coming turn. Spent all my tric shots so he can’t get anything out of Mind Control.
STARTING HAND
Spectral Flagbearer
Tax Collector
Mind Control
WORKERS
Porkhand Magistrate
Bluecoat Musketeer
Jail
Manufactured Truth
Spectral Aven
Building Inspector
Next Hand
Lawful Search
Dreamscape
Arrest
Discard
Free Speech
Traffic Director
Reteller of Truths 3/3
Tech 0 card(s)
Get Paid + Scavenger - ($12)
Rebuild Tech II.
Quince creates 2 Mirror Illusions. - ($8)
Hire a Tax Collector who steals your floating gold; Quince’s maxband makes a copy. - ($7)
Quince casts Mind Control and takes one of your Tricycloids. - ($2)
Hire a Spectral Flagbearer; Quince’s maxband makes a copy. - ($1)
Eyes of the Chancellor exhausts to make the Tax Collector Invisible.
Squad Leader:
Elite:
Scavenger:
Technician:
Lookout:
Base HP: 20
A Free Speech now and he’ll be on the cusp of winning! Got to get as much targeting in my deck as possible and hope he doesn’t have a second!