Game 5- Ranked (Signifier, Rank 2301) v Pietrzak (Aquilifer, Rank 2240)
My opening hand is all spells and Barbarian Commander, which is fine given the map; his 11 speed nets me a font and lets me contest a second while my opponent is still limping toward his first font with a Firk Mimic. I've never played against the Mimic before, nor the Mindweaver he plays next; Barbarian Commander/Wild Chieftain together mean his Mimic looks pretty frightening. He adds, over the next few turns, the new Draksar Herald and a Draksar Lord. I bunch up on his font with my barbarians, but make a poor choice not to slap a Righteous Deflection on my Chieftain (the Champion has one at this point), and lose him in a single turn of attacks. I'm still holding on, dropping hammers to stun his threats, and am set up for a big round where I abuse his Soulsphere with Strip Armor...he hammers into my Commander, dropping him to 5 health, but I'm sitting on Impervious. Impervious will improve my War-Enchanted Groble, save my Commander for a turn, and let his enraged self deal brutal damage.
Then Peitrzak plays a Mind-Shredder and kills my Commander. Although I might have been able to fight back, since I'm sitting on two fonts and two Nora Mines, I concede at this point. I'm still not a fan of facing nearly all rares/exotics...I'm working on it though.
Game 6- Ranked (Signifier, 2301) versus laserbear (Signifier, 2316)
I'm up against moga, and he gets first go with an Assault Team. I draw Renegade, Wild Chieftain, double Righteous Deflection, Hammer Strike, and then Shrine Scry for a Barbarian Commander, which I play. We're on the Ironfist map with the pass, and I lead with the Commander and back him with the Renegade on the next turn. Turn 3 I contest the neutral southern font, move my Renegade toward the central, and drop a Nora Mine. My opponent hasn't played anything yet, so I expect a big rush now that he owns a font. His units are all 9 Speed, so I contest and claim the central font...with both of my units packing Righteous Deflections to neuter his Strike Team. His next two plays are a Hyaenid Spearman and a Moga Slinger, so I get to surprise him a second time when he shoots my Commander (he'd already revealed the RD on the Renegade) and his attacks again do nothing. He drops a nasty combination of Unstable Ground and Cyclops-Eye Belt, which hurts my Renegade badly. I walk into a Rock Trap I probably should have seen coming, which results in knockback, stun, and then more knockback and damage from an avalanche...it's a bad scene for the Commander when all is said and done.
With the Commander at 9 life, I move a Savage Wolf up to contest the font and then retrieve my Commander with a Conscript. What doesn't work here is that I try to fight an attrition war with a moga deck, which I should already know is not a workable solution. I bottle things up in the center of the pass for quite some time, using a WE Groble with heavy spell support. He holds the foes off for a long time, but eventually I'm facing Dirge, the Punisher he started with, a Voil Sorceror, and some excellent commons and uncommons (plus Moga Hunters, which is an Exotic but in this case didn't have any interesting upgrades).
If I'm honest, I don't really enjoy this style of Ironfist Stronghold play, at least not at present. I'm aware of this and try to fight that feeling going into the next two rounds, but my mind is pretty focused on the Savage Tundra deck I want to make (and the paper I need to write for class).
Game 7- Ranked (Signifier 2301) versus Djinnterre (Signifier, 2395)
In a stunning reversal, my draw is all creatures...and again, the Commander is present. We're on the original Sundered Lands map, so I lead with Commander. He has two Savage Wolves, a Shaman, and a Wild Chieftain available for support, but not on turn two. Djinn is sitting on a Boghopper Spitter, and drops a Boghopper Elite the next turn. My Commander dies but I'm able to get a WE Groble and Shaman out. The Shaman ends up facing the majority of his units (Moga Cannon, Boghopper Spitter, the Elite) and I buff him with Impervious on his last turn of life. The Groble, meanwhile, contests my opponent's font and hammers away at a Massive Anuran. The Anuran disengages after a turn and drops a Rock Trap, but he drops it directly between the two units...so I destealth it when I move to renengage and kill it the next turn. My Shaman dies, but I've dropped a Nora Mine in the font zone and my opponent chooses to use the only ranged unit capable of hurting a relic to shoot my Groble. I hope to capitalize on this.
However, he Infests his Anuran the turn before I kill it, and even with me taking half damage from everything he wields he manages to put my Groble into the red. At this point I forfeit, because I still really don't care about winning with this deck.
What Would Conan Do? He'd redeem himself.
Game 8! Ranked (Signifier 2301) versus Djinnterre (Signifier, 2395)
I lose the roll again, and Djinterre leads with a Salaman Dervish. My open is double Shieldman, double Wolf, Commander. I try something different and lead with a Wolf. My Wolves battle his Dervish while two Mud Elementals come toward the font. I back the surviving wolf with a Barbarian Commander, which helps him survive the attacks of the Mud Elementals (alongside Tough, of course).
My Commander and Wolves die without removing the Mud Elementals, mostly due to physical resistance and a well-timed application of lumbering to my wolf. I plug the hole with my WE Groble and try to support him, but he's simply facing too many attacks (including a pair of Boghopper Elites) to be effective, and I (mis?)spend my Nora bringing more units into the game to support him.
I'm no Conan, clearly. I simply didn't want to be playing this BG, and don't know how much that factored into the various losses I'd suffered. I also came back to this playtesting after almost a week off (and not playing Pox at all) so I don't think my strategic play was up to par.
Thoughts: I need ways to deal with Equipment, and I should probably include a single Repair, even though I only run three constructs. I also really need some sort of AoE, even just an Earthquake. Most importantly, though, I need to recover my desire to actually run howling barbarians, and play in a manner consistent with that. There are several runes I never chose to cast and could probably drop at least one of (Shamen, Conscripts, maybe even Shieldmen) which does set me up to add some of the necessary runes. The deck does run a lot of resilient, long-lasting warriors who hit particularly hard. However, I tended to fall back on just trying to force through a WE Groble, probably due to my last major Ironfist deck being the construct deck.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
What is Best in Life? Testing 1
Game 1 Trials of the Savage Tundra Normal
I draw Conscripted Warrior, War-Enchanted Groble, Glorious Charge, Hammer Strike, Nora Mine. This is a phenomenal opening hand; I know that my Mine will eat an Arctic Wail if I lay it first turn, but it has enough hp to survive one without breaking and should therefore more than pay for itself. I lead with the Groble so he can start the Spellswallowing. On turn two I try out the new Shrine Scry mechanic, because I'm not seeing any other champions to cast; this reveals a Barbarian Commander I can't afford. Much like in Magic, though, I think the main value of Shrine Scry is in preventing you from drawing a bad rune at the start of your turn. I play a Commander on the next turn, then a Mountain Sentry. I'm only putting the Sentry out so that I can bounce him with the Conscript, but he conveniently reveals a skulking Jakei Icefisher before I pop him. I throw out my wolves and take the northern font very early. My tough, resilient creatures are cutting through the early ranks.
Confession time: I forgot to use my Barbarian Commander on a turn when he had 8 ap and full Enrage up. That's pretty clearly the tipping point, though I do misuse the Conscript a couple of times, by failing to leave ap up for him to use Defensive Stance. But losing the Barbarian Commander's 40 or so damage lets the northern font fall to a horde of attackers. I don't recover from that loss, or that shame, and eventually get pushed back into my shrine's deployment zone, dropping one creature each turn. This is despite getting both Wild Chieftans out at the same time and having the Renegade equipped with the Holy Blade of Valdac. A poor play at the start of this game really cost me.
Game 2- Trials of the Shattered Peaks Normal
My starting reveal is Houndmaster, Plains Savage, Wild Chieftain, Conscripted Warrior, Righteous Deflection. I lead with Conscripted Warrior just to see if I can (I can). Whenever I can test out interactions like that during single-player I attempt to do so, since learning such things in a ranked game usually comes at the expense of victory. It definitely contributed here; my second play is the Houndmaster, but he probably should have been the first. If I'd led with Houndmaster I could have taken the font and dropped a dog in the same turn, rather than my entire action being moving up into the font. I join those two barbarians with the Plains Charger, and begin aggressively pushing through the moga. The AI plays different than I'm used to, most notably by never advancing his G'hern Sustainer away from his font. Without an AoE, though, I'm not killing the moga fast enough to overcome their numbers. By the time new G'hern are spawning, each G'hern is doing around 20 damage per hit and my creatures get two-turn clocks. Righteous Deflection helps keep my Grobles in the game once I summon them, but it's just not enough and the inexorable wave washes over me.
I've learned some things about the interactions available in the BG, but 0/2 isn't a promising record. I jump back into the Protectorate Trials and see if I can give a better showing.
Game 3- Trials of the Savage Tundra Normal, the Remix
My opening hand is Savage Shieldman, War-Enchanted Groble, Groble, Houndmaster, Barbarian Commander. My WE Groble really struggles on this map due to all of the ice cutting his speed. I lead with Houndmaster. Turn two I play the Shieldman, and turn three I bring the Houndmaster back to the shrine and drop a dog. I try to bait the AI into coming directly for my shrine, but it chooses to take my southern font instead. It's never entirely clear when the AI will make this choice, but it certainly provides a small disadvantage in the early game. I contest the font with a summoned dog, Mountain Sentry, and the Houndmaster, while my WE Groble and Shieldman head north with another dog. The Shieldman eventually falls, though the number of spells I throw down keep the WE Groble going. There are a couple of spells I play in the wrong order. At one point I decide I want mobility for my Houndmaster to shift back into contest position, casting Glorious Charge, then realThe izing if I'd just cast the spell first I could have gotten multiple attacks in with certain champions who spent all of their ap on movement.
I get incredible use out of the hounds, especially now that the Houndmaster has Drive. The Sentry also contributes, both because of Drive and because I give it the Heavy Crossbow. Meanwhile, a Savage Wolf kills the Shardmaster and begins fighting some other targets. I spend about five minutes calculating how, when the wolf is down to 4 hp, I can get it close enough to my shrine that when I cast a Conscripted Warrior, the wolf will be unsummoned. I determine I can make one attack with the wolf before I flee, and its after I click that I realize I'd neglected to add the +1 ap for disengaging from 2 opponents. That turns out to matter less than the stealthed lonx directly south of the wolf, which destealths when I try to move through her and leaves me trapped. Miraculously, I'm still exactly close enough that my conscript unsummons the wolf anyway, due to the priorities given to directions in Pox (otherwise I would have unsummoned my WE Groble). Even better, on my opponent's turn its Crystal Pheonix dies from being rent, blowing up in a nova that damages both of the Lonx the wolf was fighting.
Just like in the previous ST game, that little maneuver serves as the turning point. It takes me another thirty minutes or so to get to the Boss champion, but a Wild Chieftain behind the Conscript, along with the WE Groble and a pair of Righteous Deflections, let me hold off the remaining melee units while ignoring all of the purple-base ranged units. The BG is finally working the way I envisioned that it would: tough, vicious units cut a swathe through the opposition, shaking off the various effects designed to beat them. Although stealth was a major source of frustration and injury for me, I'm not yet sure how much of that was my fault for not paying attention to where units ended their turns.
Game 4- Trials of the Shattered Peaks Normal, Again
My opening reveal is Groble, Renegade, Nora Mine, Glorious Charge, Hammer Strike. The plan is to run out with the Renegade and just burn his health down on Exertion in hopes of reaching the font in a reasonable time. Then I'll Conscript him away. Immediately after clicking Exertion on the Renegade turn one, I surmise that I should have waited at least one turn, since I would have obtained +1 ap from the shrine without paying 8 hp. Since he's not a berserker, I could still have used Exertion, just saving the ap rather than spending it. It would have been the difference of an entire turn's worth of nora, all told, as I end up a single square away from the font. The Conscript part of the plan works as intended, however. Both Savage Wolves come down, and the Barbarian Shaman gets the Holy Blade of Valdac. Chain Lightning plus the char of her melee attack kill several moga, and I move my conscript around to engage the Moga Trapspringer.
I FORGET THE DAMN ROCK TRAP. I have played this map at least a hundred times and I still forgot the rock trap. I'm disappointed in myself for this. I fight my way onto the western font, mostly on the back of a Renegade/Wild Chieftain combination bolstered by double Hammer Strikes. My Savage Wolves move toward the north and keep the attention of the moga and g'hern while the Renegade does his work, and soon I'm up by the font, though it remains contested. Things are going relatively well, with each of my units which dies killing several moga first. Then, when I'm struggling to overcome a pair of g'hern, I deploy a Hammer Strike to kill the Moga Axeman...and hit my Savage Shieldman instead. I remember when I used to read articles on the Wizards of the Coast Magic site, and the author would talk about misclicks, which are something you can't really have happen in an actual, physical game. While I want to take solace in being screwed due to a crowded screen, as opposed to a poor tactical decision, the end result is still that I smashed my own guy and stunned him.
A little later, I also manage to walk my WE Groble into the radius of the second trap on the stage...which sends him flying back into another of my units...right after I'd cast Strip Armor. Those two incidents, combined, cut my resources out from under me and make victory very unlikely. I plug the pass with my G'hern Traitor and try to build a replacement army up at the shrine. The AI somewhat accomodates me by advancing with his melee g'hern and leaving the rest behind a wall, giving me a few rounds to possibly cut them down before the 20-damage ranged attackers engage. I manage to kill the G'hern Overseer and Tyrant using a combination of Barbarian Commander and Wild Chieftain, both wearing Righteous Deflections. When the Commander gets down to less than half health, I pop him back with a Conscript, and then manage to kill the G'hern Taskmaster with the Conscript and a Savage Wolf. By now all of the melee g'hern are dead except for the Punisher (who actually ran into view on my screen as I was typing that sentence). Unfortunately, that still leaves Dirge, the G'hern Thrower, and the G'hern Isanagoma. My shrine is taking 17 points of damage per attack, and once I run out of champions to throw in front of the masses I go down in about a round.
Four games, one win, but I actually enjoy playing the deck. As I familiarize myself with some of its abilities I think I should put forth a better showing. Plus there's the all-important experience points to spend.
Leveling my runes after the first four games, I buy my higher-level Barbarian Shaman Savage and +6 hp, which results in a net -2 to her nora cost. The other Shaman gets +1 Speed and Savage. One Conscripted Warrior picks up Block 1 and Riposte 1, while the other picks up +4 hp. I buy Charge 3 and Savage for the Plains Savage; the Barbarian Rider ability, which would give me a Renegade when the Savage dies, is attractive but an incredibly costly upgrade. Speaking of Renegade, the one I actually have picks up Exertion 2. I buy a futher +2 hp for one of my Shieldmen, so that they now have the same stats. The higher level Savage Wolf gets Pounce 2 and Violent, and the other picks up Speed 11. Savage Wolves have an incredible suite of upgradeable abilities: Call (Reveal a champion rune when this unit comes into play.), Pounce 2-3 (Just increases the maximum distance you can pounce, but at level 3 that means you spend 4 ap to move up to 4 squares and attack every adjacent creature when you land.), Tough 2-3 (Reducing that much damage comes out to a huge savings in life over several rounds), and Violent (Fury is tremendous, though as I mentioned in my first post on this deck it's hard to trigger Violent in this particular deck due to the scarcity of beasts.). I'm trying to upgrade the wolves carefully in order to keep their overall cost low, so for now I'm just aiming for 11 Speed and getting Pounce 2, Violent, and Tough 2 on both. The WE Goble finishes his Reistance- Physical, and bumps his Speed to 9. One Wild Chieftan trains up to Berserker 3, and I purchase Savage for the other.
In terms of other changes, I flip out the Crossbow for an Impervious.
The deck is now:
CHAMPIONS
Barbarian Commander x2 92/5/11/20/11/13/50/1 Fearless, Battlemaster 3, Block 1, Enrage 3
Barbarian Shaman 73/3/9/14/11/8/45/1-2 Heal Champion 2, Chain Lightning, Bravery, Savage
Barbarian Shaman 82/4/14/11/10/51/1-2 Heal Champion 2, Chain Lightning, Bravery, Savage
Conscripted Warrior 64/1/11/14/8/10/45/1 Block 1, Riposte 1, Defensive Stance 3, Reinforce
Conscripted Warrior 70/2/11/14/9/10/49/1 Block 1, Riposte 1, Defensive Stance 3, Reinforce
Groble x2 86/3/10/25/9/10/42/1 Immunity-Fire, Pulverize 2, Siege, Fury
Houndmaster 86/4/10/18/11/11/50/1 Camouflage, Summon Beast 3, Lay Trap- Frost 1, Drive, Siege
Plains Savage 78/1/14/19/9/12/50/1-2 Charge 3, Heavy Charger, Trample, Savage
Renegade 60/2/15/10/9/9/44/1 Melee Specialist 2, Exertion 1, Brutality, Savage
Savage Shieldman x2 69/2/11/18/9/10/51/1 Block 1, Shield Allies, Shield Throw
Savage Wolf 78/2/18/13/11/11/47/1 Rend 1, Pounce 2, Violent, Savage, Tough 1
Savage Wolf 74/1/18/13/11/11/47, Rend 1, Pounce 1, Violent, Savage, Tough 1
War-Enchanted Groble 89/4/10/19/9/11/47/1 Resistance-Physical 3/Fire 3, Spellswallower, Construct Immunities, Adaptive-Ironfist, Loyalty
Wild Chieftain 77/1/21/14/8/12/51/1 Berserker 3, Berserk Attack 2, Charge 1, Incite Rage
Wild Chieftain 79/2/21/14/9/12/51/1 Berserker 3, Berserk Attack 2, Charge 2, Savage, Incite Rage
SPELLS
Glorious Charge
Hammer Strike x2
Impervious
Restore Life
Righteous Deflection x2
Strip Armor
Unobstructed View
RELIC
Nora Mine x2
EQUIPMENT
Holy Blade of Valdac
I draw Conscripted Warrior, War-Enchanted Groble, Glorious Charge, Hammer Strike, Nora Mine. This is a phenomenal opening hand; I know that my Mine will eat an Arctic Wail if I lay it first turn, but it has enough hp to survive one without breaking and should therefore more than pay for itself. I lead with the Groble so he can start the Spellswallowing. On turn two I try out the new Shrine Scry mechanic, because I'm not seeing any other champions to cast; this reveals a Barbarian Commander I can't afford. Much like in Magic, though, I think the main value of Shrine Scry is in preventing you from drawing a bad rune at the start of your turn. I play a Commander on the next turn, then a Mountain Sentry. I'm only putting the Sentry out so that I can bounce him with the Conscript, but he conveniently reveals a skulking Jakei Icefisher before I pop him. I throw out my wolves and take the northern font very early. My tough, resilient creatures are cutting through the early ranks.
Confession time: I forgot to use my Barbarian Commander on a turn when he had 8 ap and full Enrage up. That's pretty clearly the tipping point, though I do misuse the Conscript a couple of times, by failing to leave ap up for him to use Defensive Stance. But losing the Barbarian Commander's 40 or so damage lets the northern font fall to a horde of attackers. I don't recover from that loss, or that shame, and eventually get pushed back into my shrine's deployment zone, dropping one creature each turn. This is despite getting both Wild Chieftans out at the same time and having the Renegade equipped with the Holy Blade of Valdac. A poor play at the start of this game really cost me.
Game 2- Trials of the Shattered Peaks Normal
My starting reveal is Houndmaster, Plains Savage, Wild Chieftain, Conscripted Warrior, Righteous Deflection. I lead with Conscripted Warrior just to see if I can (I can). Whenever I can test out interactions like that during single-player I attempt to do so, since learning such things in a ranked game usually comes at the expense of victory. It definitely contributed here; my second play is the Houndmaster, but he probably should have been the first. If I'd led with Houndmaster I could have taken the font and dropped a dog in the same turn, rather than my entire action being moving up into the font. I join those two barbarians with the Plains Charger, and begin aggressively pushing through the moga. The AI plays different than I'm used to, most notably by never advancing his G'hern Sustainer away from his font. Without an AoE, though, I'm not killing the moga fast enough to overcome their numbers. By the time new G'hern are spawning, each G'hern is doing around 20 damage per hit and my creatures get two-turn clocks. Righteous Deflection helps keep my Grobles in the game once I summon them, but it's just not enough and the inexorable wave washes over me.
I've learned some things about the interactions available in the BG, but 0/2 isn't a promising record. I jump back into the Protectorate Trials and see if I can give a better showing.
Game 3- Trials of the Savage Tundra Normal, the Remix
My opening hand is Savage Shieldman, War-Enchanted Groble, Groble, Houndmaster, Barbarian Commander. My WE Groble really struggles on this map due to all of the ice cutting his speed. I lead with Houndmaster. Turn two I play the Shieldman, and turn three I bring the Houndmaster back to the shrine and drop a dog. I try to bait the AI into coming directly for my shrine, but it chooses to take my southern font instead. It's never entirely clear when the AI will make this choice, but it certainly provides a small disadvantage in the early game. I contest the font with a summoned dog, Mountain Sentry, and the Houndmaster, while my WE Groble and Shieldman head north with another dog. The Shieldman eventually falls, though the number of spells I throw down keep the WE Groble going. There are a couple of spells I play in the wrong order. At one point I decide I want mobility for my Houndmaster to shift back into contest position, casting Glorious Charge, then realThe izing if I'd just cast the spell first I could have gotten multiple attacks in with certain champions who spent all of their ap on movement.
I get incredible use out of the hounds, especially now that the Houndmaster has Drive. The Sentry also contributes, both because of Drive and because I give it the Heavy Crossbow. Meanwhile, a Savage Wolf kills the Shardmaster and begins fighting some other targets. I spend about five minutes calculating how, when the wolf is down to 4 hp, I can get it close enough to my shrine that when I cast a Conscripted Warrior, the wolf will be unsummoned. I determine I can make one attack with the wolf before I flee, and its after I click that I realize I'd neglected to add the +1 ap for disengaging from 2 opponents. That turns out to matter less than the stealthed lonx directly south of the wolf, which destealths when I try to move through her and leaves me trapped. Miraculously, I'm still exactly close enough that my conscript unsummons the wolf anyway, due to the priorities given to directions in Pox (otherwise I would have unsummoned my WE Groble). Even better, on my opponent's turn its Crystal Pheonix dies from being rent, blowing up in a nova that damages both of the Lonx the wolf was fighting.
Just like in the previous ST game, that little maneuver serves as the turning point. It takes me another thirty minutes or so to get to the Boss champion, but a Wild Chieftain behind the Conscript, along with the WE Groble and a pair of Righteous Deflections, let me hold off the remaining melee units while ignoring all of the purple-base ranged units. The BG is finally working the way I envisioned that it would: tough, vicious units cut a swathe through the opposition, shaking off the various effects designed to beat them. Although stealth was a major source of frustration and injury for me, I'm not yet sure how much of that was my fault for not paying attention to where units ended their turns.
Game 4- Trials of the Shattered Peaks Normal, Again
My opening reveal is Groble, Renegade, Nora Mine, Glorious Charge, Hammer Strike. The plan is to run out with the Renegade and just burn his health down on Exertion in hopes of reaching the font in a reasonable time. Then I'll Conscript him away. Immediately after clicking Exertion on the Renegade turn one, I surmise that I should have waited at least one turn, since I would have obtained +1 ap from the shrine without paying 8 hp. Since he's not a berserker, I could still have used Exertion, just saving the ap rather than spending it. It would have been the difference of an entire turn's worth of nora, all told, as I end up a single square away from the font. The Conscript part of the plan works as intended, however. Both Savage Wolves come down, and the Barbarian Shaman gets the Holy Blade of Valdac. Chain Lightning plus the char of her melee attack kill several moga, and I move my conscript around to engage the Moga Trapspringer.
I FORGET THE DAMN ROCK TRAP. I have played this map at least a hundred times and I still forgot the rock trap. I'm disappointed in myself for this. I fight my way onto the western font, mostly on the back of a Renegade/Wild Chieftain combination bolstered by double Hammer Strikes. My Savage Wolves move toward the north and keep the attention of the moga and g'hern while the Renegade does his work, and soon I'm up by the font, though it remains contested. Things are going relatively well, with each of my units which dies killing several moga first. Then, when I'm struggling to overcome a pair of g'hern, I deploy a Hammer Strike to kill the Moga Axeman...and hit my Savage Shieldman instead. I remember when I used to read articles on the Wizards of the Coast Magic site, and the author would talk about misclicks, which are something you can't really have happen in an actual, physical game. While I want to take solace in being screwed due to a crowded screen, as opposed to a poor tactical decision, the end result is still that I smashed my own guy and stunned him.
A little later, I also manage to walk my WE Groble into the radius of the second trap on the stage...which sends him flying back into another of my units...right after I'd cast Strip Armor. Those two incidents, combined, cut my resources out from under me and make victory very unlikely. I plug the pass with my G'hern Traitor and try to build a replacement army up at the shrine. The AI somewhat accomodates me by advancing with his melee g'hern and leaving the rest behind a wall, giving me a few rounds to possibly cut them down before the 20-damage ranged attackers engage. I manage to kill the G'hern Overseer and Tyrant using a combination of Barbarian Commander and Wild Chieftain, both wearing Righteous Deflections. When the Commander gets down to less than half health, I pop him back with a Conscript, and then manage to kill the G'hern Taskmaster with the Conscript and a Savage Wolf. By now all of the melee g'hern are dead except for the Punisher (who actually ran into view on my screen as I was typing that sentence). Unfortunately, that still leaves Dirge, the G'hern Thrower, and the G'hern Isanagoma. My shrine is taking 17 points of damage per attack, and once I run out of champions to throw in front of the masses I go down in about a round.
Four games, one win, but I actually enjoy playing the deck. As I familiarize myself with some of its abilities I think I should put forth a better showing. Plus there's the all-important experience points to spend.
Leveling my runes after the first four games, I buy my higher-level Barbarian Shaman Savage and +6 hp, which results in a net -2 to her nora cost. The other Shaman gets +1 Speed and Savage. One Conscripted Warrior picks up Block 1 and Riposte 1, while the other picks up +4 hp. I buy Charge 3 and Savage for the Plains Savage; the Barbarian Rider ability, which would give me a Renegade when the Savage dies, is attractive but an incredibly costly upgrade. Speaking of Renegade, the one I actually have picks up Exertion 2. I buy a futher +2 hp for one of my Shieldmen, so that they now have the same stats. The higher level Savage Wolf gets Pounce 2 and Violent, and the other picks up Speed 11. Savage Wolves have an incredible suite of upgradeable abilities: Call (Reveal a champion rune when this unit comes into play.), Pounce 2-3 (Just increases the maximum distance you can pounce, but at level 3 that means you spend 4 ap to move up to 4 squares and attack every adjacent creature when you land.), Tough 2-3 (Reducing that much damage comes out to a huge savings in life over several rounds), and Violent (Fury is tremendous, though as I mentioned in my first post on this deck it's hard to trigger Violent in this particular deck due to the scarcity of beasts.). I'm trying to upgrade the wolves carefully in order to keep their overall cost low, so for now I'm just aiming for 11 Speed and getting Pounce 2, Violent, and Tough 2 on both. The WE Goble finishes his Reistance- Physical, and bumps his Speed to 9. One Wild Chieftan trains up to Berserker 3, and I purchase Savage for the other.
In terms of other changes, I flip out the Crossbow for an Impervious.
The deck is now:
CHAMPIONS
Barbarian Commander x2 92/5/11/20/11/13/50/1 Fearless, Battlemaster 3, Block 1, Enrage 3
Barbarian Shaman 73/3/9/14/11/8/45/1-2 Heal Champion 2, Chain Lightning, Bravery, Savage
Barbarian Shaman 82/4/14/11/10/51/1-2 Heal Champion 2, Chain Lightning, Bravery, Savage
Conscripted Warrior 64/1/11/14/8/10/45/1 Block 1, Riposte 1, Defensive Stance 3, Reinforce
Conscripted Warrior 70/2/11/14/9/10/49/1 Block 1, Riposte 1, Defensive Stance 3, Reinforce
Groble x2 86/3/10/25/9/10/42/1 Immunity-Fire, Pulverize 2, Siege, Fury
Houndmaster 86/4/10/18/11/11/50/1 Camouflage, Summon Beast 3, Lay Trap- Frost 1, Drive, Siege
Plains Savage 78/1/14/19/9/12/50/1-2 Charge 3, Heavy Charger, Trample, Savage
Renegade 60/2/15/10/9/9/44/1 Melee Specialist 2, Exertion 1, Brutality, Savage
Savage Shieldman x2 69/2/11/18/9/10/51/1 Block 1, Shield Allies, Shield Throw
Savage Wolf 78/2/18/13/11/11/47/1 Rend 1, Pounce 2, Violent, Savage, Tough 1
Savage Wolf 74/1/18/13/11/11/47, Rend 1, Pounce 1, Violent, Savage, Tough 1
War-Enchanted Groble 89/4/10/19/9/11/47/1 Resistance-Physical 3/Fire 3, Spellswallower, Construct Immunities, Adaptive-Ironfist, Loyalty
Wild Chieftain 77/1/21/14/8/12/51/1 Berserker 3, Berserk Attack 2, Charge 1, Incite Rage
Wild Chieftain 79/2/21/14/9/12/51/1 Berserker 3, Berserk Attack 2, Charge 2, Savage, Incite Rage
SPELLS
Glorious Charge
Hammer Strike x2
Impervious
Restore Life
Righteous Deflection x2
Strip Armor
Unobstructed View
RELIC
Nora Mine x2
EQUIPMENT
Holy Blade of Valdac
Saturday, October 3, 2009
What is Best in Life?
The ashes were trampled into the earth, and the blood became as snow...
Can we talk about Conan for a moment?
Who doesn't love this movie? I'm not even talking about seeing Arnold at his peak; the first ten minutes of the film are probably my favorite. The costuming, the immersion, the pathos and violence- its a film of films. Then James Earl Jones in a wig decapitates a woman who is holding her son's hand!
Conan is relevant for more reasons than my watching it as I type this. Post my Herald box purchases, I'm in an even better position than before to craft a truly spectacular Barbarian deck (I think). There are a few key pieces I'm probably lacking, but between two Barbarian Commanders and Two Wild Chieftains, as well as one Holy Blade of Valdac I should be capable of some insane melee violence.
It should be fairly clear that this is going to be a purely Ironfist deck. Further, my goal is to cleave almost entirely to Savage-capable creatures (though I may not actually train Savage on them) due to the thematic benefits of running mostly Barbarians.
A quick update of the runes I'm considering for the concept:
Champions
Barbarian Commander x2
Barbarian Shaman x2
Conscripted Warrior x2
Groble x2
Houndmaster
Interrogator x2
Mountain Sentry x2
Plains Savage
Renegade
Savage Shieldman x2
Savage Wolf x2
Terraformer
Tundra Barbarian x2
War-Enchanted Groble
Wild Chieftain x2
Spells
Barricade x2
Consecrate the Earth
Disarm
Earthquake x2
Fortify
Glorious Charge x2
Hammer Strike x2
Impervious
Open the Earth x2
Restore Life
Righteous Deflection x2
Smite Enemy
Strip Armor
Unobstructed View
Relics
Armory
Failed Amplifier
Guard Tower x2
Ironfist Standard (Virtual)
Merchant's Quarter
Nora Mine x2
Equipment
Axeman's Fate x2
Full Plate Armor x2
Heavy Crossbow x2
Holy Blade of Valdac
The major distinctions between the dwarf and barbarian portions of the Ironfist Faction seem to be speed and damage, especially with the introduction of the Savage ability; this ability costs 15 experience, reduces the creature's nora cost by five, and strips them of all other powers should I find myself controlling a dwarf. Other than someone potentially getting clever with a UD or UD/IF deck (finding some way to control no demons with a Scorched Dwarf in play would stick me with the dwarf on my turn and thus shut off all my creatures' powers), Savage is a deckbuilding decision. I think that I have sufficient quality barbarians to make a run at the deck concept, though I will be lacking ranged attackers since I don't have any Barbarian Archers and traded down to one completely un-leveled Terraformer. I can counter that somewhat by using both of my Heavy Crossbows, though it's difficult to make the choice to include the current iteration of that equipment because I remember how good that they used to be. I could also make use of the Siege Engine sitting in my collection.
There are a few runes which seem like automatic inclusions in any barbarian deck I would make: Barbarian Commanders, Wild Chieftains, Barbarian Shamen, Savage Wolves, and the Holy Blade of Valdac. The Commanders have been an extremely powerful Ironfist card since I started playing, and the presence of one on the battlefield provides significant increase to the quality of all my other champions. The Chieftains are the new freshness in terms of making the idea of a barbarian deck viable in the first place. In addition to being melee threats in their own right, the Chieftains can grant a given barbarian 8 Action Points., alongside Berserker 3 (which is +3 Attack/Damage and +2 Speed). The Shamen aren't as exciting as the other runes, but they provide non-physical damage, range greater than one, and healing. The Savage Wolves are intended to function inside a barbarian deck; they're fast, have multi-targt ability in Pounce, take reduced damage and inflict impressive damage with each attack. An un-leveled Savage Wolf has more health than the Tundra Barbarian, which is uncommon, and actually has a better defense once you factor in Tough (takes one fewer damage from everything). Their ability to train Violent seems less useful in a full-faction Ironfist deck, because there aren't going to be many beasts in play. However, between the Houndmaster and possible inclusion of Mountain Sentries for detection, I think its an ability that may be worth training. The Holy Blade is also intended to function in a barbarian deck, though it's not explicitly terrible in other decks. The ability to turn it into a relic producing a Hallowed Ground effect provides limited healing (though that won't help most of the runes in this deck) and persistent damage against demons and undead. However, giving a barbarian's melee attacks an ongoing damage component is probably more useful.
I'd like to supplement those core runes with the Conscripted Warriors, less because they're an extremely cheap barbarian than because I view them as an Unsummon- if I can maneuver my damaged units to be closest to the deployment zone, popping them out of play for a partial refund and short cooldown is much better than having them die. The Plains Charger is awesome, and I'd love to have two of them as well as a brace of Renegades; if I enjoy playing the deck I'll probably pursue the necessary trades. My Grobles are all strong units in their own right, and provide fire defense and, in the case of the War-Enchanted Groble, more non-physical damage.
The main spells I see wanting are pretty standard; Righteous Deflections and Hammer Strikes help mitigate the threat I face from ranged opponents. Strip Armor is either a kill spell or helps to mitigate Resistance- Physical on my opponents. Glorious Charges also increase the range and flexibility of my band. My quick initial build comes out extremely high on creatures, which is probably acceptable. However, I strip out the Interrogators to add a pair of Nora Mines. This leaves me with 13 barbarians and 19 champions (two of which, the Conscripts, I really consider spells similar to Infest). There are other runes that don't make it into the build but might prove useful if I changed direction, specifically my Failed Amplifier and Guard Towers.
However, the starting build for the deck is:
Champions Name/Cost/Level/Attack/Defense/Speed/Damage/HP/Range
Barbarian Commander x2 92/5/11/20/11/13/50/1
Battlemaster 3, Block 1, Enrage 3, Fearless
Barbarian Shaman 74/2/9/14/10/8/45/1-2
Heal Champion 2, Chain Lightning, Bravery
Barbarian Shaman 84/3/9/14/11/10/45/1-2
Heal Champion 2, Chain Lightning, Bravery
Conscripted Warrior 57/1/11/14/8/10/45/1
Defensive Stance 3, Reinforce
Conscripted Warrior 71/2/11/14/9/10/45/1
Defensive Stance 3, Reinforce, Block 1, Riposte
Groble x2 86/3/10/25/9/10/42/1
Immunity- Fire, Fury, Pulverize 2, Siege
Houndmaster 86/4/10/18/11/11/50/1
Camouflage, Summon Beast 3, Lay Trap-Frost 1, Drive, Savage
Mountain Sentry 54/1/9/9/9/7/35/1
Flight, Detection 3, Sentry
Plains Savage 79/1/14/19/9/12/50/1-2
Charge 2, Heavy Charger, Trample
Renegade 60/2/15/10/9/9/44/1
Melee Specialist 2, Exertion 1, Brutality, Savage
Savage Shieldman 67/1/11/18/9/10/47/1
Block 1, Shield Allies, Shield Throw
Savage Shieldman 69/2/11/18/9/10/51/1
Block 1, Shield Allies, Shield Throw
Savage Wolf 68/1/18/13/11/11/47/1
Rend 1, Pounce 1, Savage, Tough 1
Savage Wolf 64/1/18/13/10/11/47/1
Rend 1, Pounce 1, Savage, Tough 1
War-Enchanted Groble 80/3/10/19/8/11/47/1
Resistance-Physical 2/Fire 3, Spellswallower, Construct Immunities, Adaptive-Ironfist, Loyalty
Wild Chieftain 70/1/21/14/8/12/51/1
Berserk Attack 2, Incite Rage
Wild Chieftain 79/1/21/14/9/12/51/1
Berserker 3, Berserk Attack 2, Incite Rage
Spells
Glorious Charge
Hammer Strike x2
Restore Life
Righteous Deflection x2
Strip Armor
Relics
Nora Mine x2
Equipment
Heavy Crossbow
Holy Blade of Valdac
Can we talk about Conan for a moment?
Who doesn't love this movie? I'm not even talking about seeing Arnold at his peak; the first ten minutes of the film are probably my favorite. The costuming, the immersion, the pathos and violence- its a film of films. Then James Earl Jones in a wig decapitates a woman who is holding her son's hand!
Conan is relevant for more reasons than my watching it as I type this. Post my Herald box purchases, I'm in an even better position than before to craft a truly spectacular Barbarian deck (I think). There are a few key pieces I'm probably lacking, but between two Barbarian Commanders and Two Wild Chieftains, as well as one Holy Blade of Valdac I should be capable of some insane melee violence.
It should be fairly clear that this is going to be a purely Ironfist deck. Further, my goal is to cleave almost entirely to Savage-capable creatures (though I may not actually train Savage on them) due to the thematic benefits of running mostly Barbarians.
A quick update of the runes I'm considering for the concept:
Champions
Barbarian Commander x2
Barbarian Shaman x2
Conscripted Warrior x2
Groble x2
Houndmaster
Interrogator x2
Mountain Sentry x2
Plains Savage
Renegade
Savage Shieldman x2
Savage Wolf x2
Terraformer
Tundra Barbarian x2
War-Enchanted Groble
Wild Chieftain x2
Spells
Barricade x2
Consecrate the Earth
Disarm
Earthquake x2
Fortify
Glorious Charge x2
Hammer Strike x2
Impervious
Open the Earth x2
Restore Life
Righteous Deflection x2
Smite Enemy
Strip Armor
Unobstructed View
Relics
Armory
Failed Amplifier
Guard Tower x2
Ironfist Standard (Virtual)
Merchant's Quarter
Nora Mine x2
Equipment
Axeman's Fate x2
Full Plate Armor x2
Heavy Crossbow x2
Holy Blade of Valdac
The major distinctions between the dwarf and barbarian portions of the Ironfist Faction seem to be speed and damage, especially with the introduction of the Savage ability; this ability costs 15 experience, reduces the creature's nora cost by five, and strips them of all other powers should I find myself controlling a dwarf. Other than someone potentially getting clever with a UD or UD/IF deck (finding some way to control no demons with a Scorched Dwarf in play would stick me with the dwarf on my turn and thus shut off all my creatures' powers), Savage is a deckbuilding decision. I think that I have sufficient quality barbarians to make a run at the deck concept, though I will be lacking ranged attackers since I don't have any Barbarian Archers and traded down to one completely un-leveled Terraformer. I can counter that somewhat by using both of my Heavy Crossbows, though it's difficult to make the choice to include the current iteration of that equipment because I remember how good that they used to be. I could also make use of the Siege Engine sitting in my collection.
There are a few runes which seem like automatic inclusions in any barbarian deck I would make: Barbarian Commanders, Wild Chieftains, Barbarian Shamen, Savage Wolves, and the Holy Blade of Valdac. The Commanders have been an extremely powerful Ironfist card since I started playing, and the presence of one on the battlefield provides significant increase to the quality of all my other champions. The Chieftains are the new freshness in terms of making the idea of a barbarian deck viable in the first place. In addition to being melee threats in their own right, the Chieftains can grant a given barbarian 8 Action Points., alongside Berserker 3 (which is +3 Attack/Damage and +2 Speed). The Shamen aren't as exciting as the other runes, but they provide non-physical damage, range greater than one, and healing. The Savage Wolves are intended to function inside a barbarian deck; they're fast, have multi-targt ability in Pounce, take reduced damage and inflict impressive damage with each attack. An un-leveled Savage Wolf has more health than the Tundra Barbarian, which is uncommon, and actually has a better defense once you factor in Tough (takes one fewer damage from everything). Their ability to train Violent seems less useful in a full-faction Ironfist deck, because there aren't going to be many beasts in play. However, between the Houndmaster and possible inclusion of Mountain Sentries for detection, I think its an ability that may be worth training. The Holy Blade is also intended to function in a barbarian deck, though it's not explicitly terrible in other decks. The ability to turn it into a relic producing a Hallowed Ground effect provides limited healing (though that won't help most of the runes in this deck) and persistent damage against demons and undead. However, giving a barbarian's melee attacks an ongoing damage component is probably more useful.
I'd like to supplement those core runes with the Conscripted Warriors, less because they're an extremely cheap barbarian than because I view them as an Unsummon- if I can maneuver my damaged units to be closest to the deployment zone, popping them out of play for a partial refund and short cooldown is much better than having them die. The Plains Charger is awesome, and I'd love to have two of them as well as a brace of Renegades; if I enjoy playing the deck I'll probably pursue the necessary trades. My Grobles are all strong units in their own right, and provide fire defense and, in the case of the War-Enchanted Groble, more non-physical damage.
The main spells I see wanting are pretty standard; Righteous Deflections and Hammer Strikes help mitigate the threat I face from ranged opponents. Strip Armor is either a kill spell or helps to mitigate Resistance- Physical on my opponents. Glorious Charges also increase the range and flexibility of my band. My quick initial build comes out extremely high on creatures, which is probably acceptable. However, I strip out the Interrogators to add a pair of Nora Mines. This leaves me with 13 barbarians and 19 champions (two of which, the Conscripts, I really consider spells similar to Infest). There are other runes that don't make it into the build but might prove useful if I changed direction, specifically my Failed Amplifier and Guard Towers.
However, the starting build for the deck is:
Champions Name/Cost/Level/Attack/Defense/Speed/Damage/HP/Range
Barbarian Commander x2 92/5/11/20/11/13/50/1
Battlemaster 3, Block 1, Enrage 3, Fearless
Barbarian Shaman 74/2/9/14/10/8/45/1-2
Heal Champion 2, Chain Lightning, Bravery
Barbarian Shaman 84/3/9/14/11/10/45/1-2
Heal Champion 2, Chain Lightning, Bravery
Conscripted Warrior 57/1/11/14/8/10/45/1
Defensive Stance 3, Reinforce
Conscripted Warrior 71/2/11/14/9/10/45/1
Defensive Stance 3, Reinforce, Block 1, Riposte
Groble x2 86/3/10/25/9/10/42/1
Immunity- Fire, Fury, Pulverize 2, Siege
Houndmaster 86/4/10/18/11/11/50/1
Camouflage, Summon Beast 3, Lay Trap-Frost 1, Drive, Savage
Mountain Sentry 54/1/9/9/9/7/35/1
Flight, Detection 3, Sentry
Plains Savage 79/1/14/19/9/12/50/1-2
Charge 2, Heavy Charger, Trample
Renegade 60/2/15/10/9/9/44/1
Melee Specialist 2, Exertion 1, Brutality, Savage
Savage Shieldman 67/1/11/18/9/10/47/1
Block 1, Shield Allies, Shield Throw
Savage Shieldman 69/2/11/18/9/10/51/1
Block 1, Shield Allies, Shield Throw
Savage Wolf 68/1/18/13/11/11/47/1
Rend 1, Pounce 1, Savage, Tough 1
Savage Wolf 64/1/18/13/10/11/47/1
Rend 1, Pounce 1, Savage, Tough 1
War-Enchanted Groble 80/3/10/19/8/11/47/1
Resistance-Physical 2/Fire 3, Spellswallower, Construct Immunities, Adaptive-Ironfist, Loyalty
Wild Chieftain 70/1/21/14/8/12/51/1
Berserk Attack 2, Incite Rage
Wild Chieftain 79/1/21/14/9/12/51/1
Berserker 3, Berserk Attack 2, Incite Rage
Spells
Glorious Charge
Hammer Strike x2
Restore Life
Righteous Deflection x2
Strip Armor
Relics
Nora Mine x2
Equipment
Heavy Crossbow
Holy Blade of Valdac
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