Pestering Haunt
Skeleton Javelineer
Graveyard
Deteriorate
Sacrifice the Weak
Thoughts
Finesse is nasty if it gets going, but Murkwood Allies are potentially more dangerous for me, and Calamandra is nasty against Garth with the stat drop. More annoying is that Discard can handily deal with Skeletons, so I can’t bring out my own Skeleton spam against Frog spam. That leaves me with no good crowd control options.
I’ll open with Garth anyway, try to get zango to go for Discord. He goes in Squad Leader to stop Timely Messenger, everyone else stays out of patrol so they can’t be hit with Spark.
Get paid - (4)
Worker - (3)
Garth Torken - (1)
Garth summons a Skeleton - (0)
Pestering Haunt
Garth L1 1/3+1A (1g: summon a 1/1 Skeleton, once per turn)
Uh, Rogue, I suppose. Could be nice with Zane next turn, if Garth dies. Or do I save the gold for a Surprise Attack? No, I’d still have to skip a worker. Let’s go with Bloodlust, then.
Teched cards: 2
T2: Bloodlust, Hooded Executioner
Get paid - (5)
Worker - (4)
Expensive Tech I - (2)
Poisonblade Rogue - (0)
Pestering Haunt hits your Base to 19
Discard 3, reshuffle 8, draw 5
Garth L1 1/3+1A (1g: summon a 1/1 Skeleton, once per turn) Skeleton 1/1
Poisonblade Rogue 2/1 (attacks: deals damage in - runes)
Pestering Haunt 1/1 (unstoppable; can’t patrol; attack limited to 1)
I think Garth and PBR have to go, even if that leaves me with no defense, which is kind of uargs against zane and already two units on the table…
tougher is the decision whether to go fencers or huntresses
I can get a Calamandra kill here, but it’s painful: Drakk, Bloodlust, lose my whole board. I can Deteriorate the Tenderfoot too, but it takes a whopping 2 gold, so I’d have to skip a worker. Or I bring out Zane afterwards to kill it, for a similar effect without going down on cards. He probably gets killed by a Fencer, though, so zango could comfortably go to Tech II. Maybe I just set up Thieving Imp and a Graveyard, then.
For techs, Finesse allows the virtuoso engine, but the other specs allow for lots of weenies, which I can’t deal with well. I’m wondering whether it’s worth going for Bugblatters, backed up with Lich’s Bargain, Surprise Attack, Kidnapping if we see Finesse II. I’ll put one in now with Surprise Attack.
puh, that (repeaded?) discard is rough… let’s see whether I can get him to do a zane-turtle kill with me having 80% likelyhood to draw into wither
probably BCs incoming, so I think imp kill now and BC kill next turn with a healed cala is better than going for the fencer
workering that flagbearer sucks. I would have loved to keep it against a future kidnapping, but well…
Sacrifice the Weak
Hooded Executioner
Skeletal Archery
Captured Bugblatter
Thoughts
OK, he’s gone for Finesse II. I think I switch back to Crashbarrows, in that case. I’m cutting it fine on patrol to tech up here, hopefully zango’s reduced hand size means I’m not facing too many virtuosos. Hooded Executioner goes in front, hopefully to force Calamandra to maxband to kill it, then she can’t destroy Tech II. If my Graveyard goes down, I can bring out Surprise Attack.
Can’t remember the last time I was forced that early to do an unwilling worker skip. But I won’t complain, as I like the overall situation I’m in right now… Let’s see what you’re up to, whether I’ll still have that feeling one turn later
XCAPS22 Round 1 P2T4
P1 [Necromancy]/Anarchy/Blood vs. P2 [Finesse]/Ninjutsu/Feral
Tech StartingHand Workers
TECH
Feral Strike
Feral Strike
STARTING HAND
Nimble Fencer (2/3)
Wither
Brick Thief (2/1)
WORKERS
Fruit Ninja (2/2)
Spark
Granfalloon Flagbearer (2/2)
That’s not good, if zango has a good draw with virtuosos / Feral Strike then I’m probably losing at least Tech II. Feral Strike on Grounded Guide + Tech I virtuoso is enough. I don’t think I can deal quite enough damage to kill Calamandra, either.
Drakk, Executioner, Bloodlust, Executioner trades with River, Drakk kills Fencer / Turtle, then midband. 3 gold left to patrol with Rogue or Garth and midband Drakk, if I’m willing to skip a worker. I could also Bloodlust the Turtle to death instead of attacking with Drakk. 4 or 7 health on patrol. Latter is the option that might see my Tech II still up next turn in the face of a Feral Strike. No, Guide + Starlet seals it. Alternatively, I Bloodlust the Turtle, but instead of Garth I bring in Zane to kill the Fencer. That leaves Drakk patrolling against Calamandra and whatever gets fetched / played. That might be my least bad option.
Drakk, Executioner, Poisonblade Rogue, Bloodlust, Executioner trades with River, Rogue gives Calamandra 3 - runes, taking her to 2/3 with no healing allowed. Whittles Calamandra down, but Graveyard overfills. 3-4 health on patrol.
Zane, Surprise Attack, Sharks kills River, midband Zane, kills Fencer. I have nothing left to patrol.
Maxband Zane, kill River, 3 gold left, play Executioner. 4 health on patrol, can be sidelined.
Garth, maxband to bring in a Crashbarrow. Play Pestering Haunt first, so Graveyard doesn’t immediately collapse. This kills River and Fencer, but I get no bounty. 5 health on patrol.
Thieving Imp, Zane, Drakk, Bloodlust, Imp trades with River, Zane trades with Nimble Fencer. 4 health on patrol.
Drakk, Zane, Executioner, Bloodlust, skip worker, Executioner trades with River, Drakk and Zane destroy Tech II. I get a devastating counter-blow, but I’m don’t face a Tech II Feral Strike or a virtuoso flood. At worst, I probably see two Starlets, so 5 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 3 = 14 attack with the Fencer still alive. I’d lose both tech buildings and the Graveyard, that’s too painful to deal with.
Garth, maxband to bring in a Land Octopus. 12 health on patrol against, worst-case, 2 x Ground Guide + 2 Fencers + Turtle + Calamandra + River, so 22 attack. Yikes. Even with only one Guide out, Land Octopus is barely gold-efficient against attackers.
I think I have to get rid of River, otherwise she can sideline any unit patrollers. Killing off the Fencer is next in priority, so the virtuoso engine takes longer to get going. However, if I bring out Drakk then I’m probably locked out of Kidnapping for a while. I’ll just have to take the risk.
Get paid + Scavenger - (9)
Drakk Ramhorn - (7)
Hooded Executioner returns from Graveyard - (5)
Captain Zeno Zane - (3)
Bloodlust on Executioner and Helpful Turtle, pay resist - (0)
Hooded Executioner kills River, Drakk to level 3
Zane trades with Nimble Fencer, levels fizzle Skip worker! Helpful Turtle dies of lust, Hooded Executioner returns to Graveyard
Discard 3, reshuffle 10, draw 5
Drakk L3 1/3+1A (dies: 1 to your base)
Graveyard HP: 3 (buried: Thieving Imp, Hooded Executioner, Pestering Haunt; allied unit dies: bury it here; exhaust: play buried unit; sacrificed if 4+ units buried)
Glorious Ninja is great against Crashbarrow, so even if it’s off-spec it’s a good fetch for zango. If I hadn’t killed the Fencer he could have steamrolled me by fetching virtuosos instead, so I don’t think I made a terrible decision.
Stopping another tech break, just against the current board, would require either five patrollers, or four patrollers where everyone has 2+ health. Neither of those is going to happen, unless I skip a worker again. Maybe that’s fine.
Wasn’t meant as mockery, but I do want to have the best of all worlds
PS: I’m really impressed that you manage to fill the patrol without the risk of your graveyard being flooded… But the end of that one is near, I can feel it
XCAPS22 Round 1 P2T6
P1 [Necromancy]/Anarchy/Blood vs. P2 [Finesse]/Ninjutsu/Feral
Indeed this hand looks dire against this board. Thanks for this game, I wish you all the best for the remainder of the tournament!
(May Garth survive longer next turn, then everything looks very different)
Garth L1 1/3+1A (1g: summon a 1/1 Skeleton, once per turn)
Base HP: 20
Skeleton 