Post GenCon has been a bit of a bumpy road for Hex. Trading and the new UI were both implemented, though not without a slew of new bugs and downed tournaments. While the tournaments are back up and most of the card bugs have been addressed, the delays involved with and leading up to the King Gabriel Patch have in turn delayed the launch of Hex's second PvP set Shattered Destiny, initially announced for an August launch. The good news is that interest appears to be renewed with the reveal of several Shattered Destiny spoilers on Hex stream. Hopefully this means we are close to an actual Set 2 launch, preceded by Open Beta.
In the mean time, one of the concerns most new players (who were lucky enough to snag a beta key) have upon entering the game is the huge disparity in deck building options they have compared to Kickstarter Backers. Many players are hesitant to invest heavily into a game still in Beta, particularly if they enter the proving grounds only to get stomped by Vampire Kings and Soul Marbles. Booster Drafts and the Community Rock League are excellent resources for these players, but some of them are looking for a more competitive deck, or just something fun and unique to run in the proving grounds while Grinding Gold. This is something I'm all too familiar with from my TO days.
For those of you that don't know, I come from a rather impoverished city in the rust belt. Years ago when I was a tournament organizer for our Friendly-Local-Game-Store, I knew lots of kids that couldn't afford to run the top decks for a number of different card games like MTG, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! I was lucky enough to have a weekend job dishwashing in addition the store credit I got from running the tournaments, so between the extra boosters and trading I had an influx of commons and uncommons, so in an attempt to keep the community going I tried to build budget decks from my own collection and let people borrow them, or brew a deck from their own cards and give them some of my cards that I wasn't using. I tried to make them competitive enough to sneak a win against a top tier deck every now and then, but also interesting enough that the person playing them could actually appreciate the strategy behind them. I mean, not every player is going to want to play a budget Gore Feast deck, which seems to be the go-to suggestion for budget players (though I do love me some Gore Feast).
So knowing that some of the new players were either cash-strapped or reluctant to drop the money, I decided to try building some budget decks for Hex. I had initially set my limit for spending on a deck at 1000 platinum (or $10), taking data from the Auction House analysis over the last two months along with prices from logging on today to come up with a rough price for each card that reflects what you could probably get one at with a little patience (give or take a few platinum). While I ended up going slightly over my target, most players will have some of these cards already from their starter decks or be able to buy them with gold earned from their starter trials. Hell, you'd probably be able to acquire most of the commons simply by asking nicely in chat.
Brood Oath
Champion: Dimmid
4 Adamanthian Scrivener (4p)
4 Darkspire Priestess (4p)
4 Shroomshaw (4p)
4 Righteous Paladin (11p)
4 Spearcliff Pegasus (4p)
2 Hop'hiro, Samurai (130p)
3 Incantation Righteousness (63p)
3 Oath of Valor (47p)
4 Wretched Brood (61p)
4 Solitary Exile (20p)
10 Blood Shards
10 Diamond Shards
4 Shards of Fate (5p)
Approximate Total Cost: 1022p
One of the things I like about this deck and why I would suggest it for players new to Hex is that it incorporates some of the unique things about Hex that you don't get in other CCGs (transforming cards like Hop'hiro & Incantation), along with combos that I had fun playing in the Alpha, like Righteous Paladin, which can get out of hand quickly with the life gain from Dimmid & Adamanthian Scrivener.
The main combo in the deck is using Oath of Valor to make the Battle Hoppers from Wretched Brood & Shroomshaw strong enough to overwhelm your opponent, while using the life gain to ensure you don't die from your opponent's troops (or your own Wretched Broods). The Sentinel of Light can also help in this regard, giving all of your troops a +2/+2 boost when your life is above 20. Oath of Valor isn't just strong on the Battle Hoppers though. Playing it on turn 3 after a Darkspire Priestess can make an annoying 2/1 into a speedy win condition. An early game 4/3 can be difficult to deal with, and the fact that it can replace itself makes the orc an unappealing target for removal spells. Naming Spearcliff Pegasus will let you race in the air and give you enough power to trade with both Angel of Dawn & Vampire King if necessary.
One of the big weakness of the deck is the internal conflict it has over threshold. Brood and Paladin, two very strong cards in the deck, require double threshold, which makes it hard to play both early without a little luck on your side. While you would traditionally want to maximize the number of times you get to use Dimmid's power, Shards of Fate is a necessary evil for ensuring some level on consistency.
Expanding
Because the deck incorporates both a Shin'hare swarm strategy and a life gain strategy, there are lots of different options for customizing the deck and expanding upon it. Protectorate Defender socketed with the Prime Diamond of Solidarity can permanently buff your Shin'hare and other troops. Princess Victoria is a solid option for getting your troops Lifedrain and your Paladin growing earlier. If you're feeling particularly experimental, you can try getting the undead abominations of Zombie Plague to take the Oath. Sure, they don't look valorous, but when you're the only one alive to write the history books, people will believe what you order them to dammit! And of course, I would be remiss if i failed to mention Dimmid's best friend Droo's Colossal Walker, whose eight life payment to ready him suddenly becomes much more manageable with your charge power.
Looking Ahead
This deck will also get some love from Shattered Destiny, most notably with Shard of Retribution, which fixes your threshold a bit and lets you keep your Dimmid charges. Paladin of the Necropolis is another strong addition and can be particularly nefarious if you have a Scrivener out, as suddenly your opponent will be the one paying for your Wretched Broods every turn! Exalted Victory is another strong card. While only a few of your troops will benefit from the Swiftstrike and Steadfast bonus, the +2/+0 will be more than enough if your Hoppers are numerous enough. And these are only the cards we know about. There's still a bunch more cards that haven't been spoiled from Shattered Destiny that could easily find a place in the deck.
I'm hoping to get into a habit of blogging a bit more about Hex. The feature drought has hopefully ended now that the new UI is in place and with the influx of spoilers I can probably start talking a bit more about Shattered Destiny Spoilers and conjure up some possible decks (and maybe discuss some info regarding the Frost Arena if any more trickles out over the next month or so). However, with Civilization: Beyond Earth launching next week, I'll probably switch to doing Hex bi-weekly after next week to make room for that, which may give me a workable pace to discuss feature releases. I'll also be doing a bi-weekly Monday Board Game article, continuing my new player's guide to Agricola next week. Until next time.
Card Links from the Hex TCG Browser & Deckbuilder
In the mean time, one of the concerns most new players (who were lucky enough to snag a beta key) have upon entering the game is the huge disparity in deck building options they have compared to Kickstarter Backers. Many players are hesitant to invest heavily into a game still in Beta, particularly if they enter the proving grounds only to get stomped by Vampire Kings and Soul Marbles. Booster Drafts and the Community Rock League are excellent resources for these players, but some of them are looking for a more competitive deck, or just something fun and unique to run in the proving grounds while Grinding Gold. This is something I'm all too familiar with from my TO days.
For those of you that don't know, I come from a rather impoverished city in the rust belt. Years ago when I was a tournament organizer for our Friendly-Local-Game-Store, I knew lots of kids that couldn't afford to run the top decks for a number of different card games like MTG, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh! I was lucky enough to have a weekend job dishwashing in addition the store credit I got from running the tournaments, so between the extra boosters and trading I had an influx of commons and uncommons, so in an attempt to keep the community going I tried to build budget decks from my own collection and let people borrow them, or brew a deck from their own cards and give them some of my cards that I wasn't using. I tried to make them competitive enough to sneak a win against a top tier deck every now and then, but also interesting enough that the person playing them could actually appreciate the strategy behind them. I mean, not every player is going to want to play a budget Gore Feast deck, which seems to be the go-to suggestion for budget players (though I do love me some Gore Feast).
So knowing that some of the new players were either cash-strapped or reluctant to drop the money, I decided to try building some budget decks for Hex. I had initially set my limit for spending on a deck at 1000 platinum (or $10), taking data from the Auction House analysis over the last two months along with prices from logging on today to come up with a rough price for each card that reflects what you could probably get one at with a little patience (give or take a few platinum). While I ended up going slightly over my target, most players will have some of these cards already from their starter decks or be able to buy them with gold earned from their starter trials. Hell, you'd probably be able to acquire most of the commons simply by asking nicely in chat.
Brood Oath
 |
| ...and bunnies... don't forget bunnies. |
4 Adamanthian Scrivener (4p)
4 Darkspire Priestess (4p)
4 Shroomshaw (4p)
4 Righteous Paladin (11p)
4 Spearcliff Pegasus (4p)
2 Hop'hiro, Samurai (130p)
3 Incantation Righteousness (63p)
3 Oath of Valor (47p)
4 Wretched Brood (61p)
4 Solitary Exile (20p)
10 Blood Shards
10 Diamond Shards
4 Shards of Fate (5p)
Approximate Total Cost: 1022p
One of the things I like about this deck and why I would suggest it for players new to Hex is that it incorporates some of the unique things about Hex that you don't get in other CCGs (transforming cards like Hop'hiro & Incantation), along with combos that I had fun playing in the Alpha, like Righteous Paladin, which can get out of hand quickly with the life gain from Dimmid & Adamanthian Scrivener.
The main combo in the deck is using Oath of Valor to make the Battle Hoppers from Wretched Brood & Shroomshaw strong enough to overwhelm your opponent, while using the life gain to ensure you don't die from your opponent's troops (or your own Wretched Broods). The Sentinel of Light can also help in this regard, giving all of your troops a +2/+2 boost when your life is above 20. Oath of Valor isn't just strong on the Battle Hoppers though. Playing it on turn 3 after a Darkspire Priestess can make an annoying 2/1 into a speedy win condition. An early game 4/3 can be difficult to deal with, and the fact that it can replace itself makes the orc an unappealing target for removal spells. Naming Spearcliff Pegasus will let you race in the air and give you enough power to trade with both Angel of Dawn & Vampire King if necessary.
One of the big weakness of the deck is the internal conflict it has over threshold. Brood and Paladin, two very strong cards in the deck, require double threshold, which makes it hard to play both early without a little luck on your side. While you would traditionally want to maximize the number of times you get to use Dimmid's power, Shards of Fate is a necessary evil for ensuring some level on consistency.
Expanding
Because the deck incorporates both a Shin'hare swarm strategy and a life gain strategy, there are lots of different options for customizing the deck and expanding upon it. Protectorate Defender socketed with the Prime Diamond of Solidarity can permanently buff your Shin'hare and other troops. Princess Victoria is a solid option for getting your troops Lifedrain and your Paladin growing earlier. If you're feeling particularly experimental, you can try getting the undead abominations of Zombie Plague to take the Oath. Sure, they don't look valorous, but when you're the only one alive to write the history books, people will believe what you order them to dammit! And of course, I would be remiss if i failed to mention Dimmid's best friend Droo's Colossal Walker, whose eight life payment to ready him suddenly becomes much more manageable with your charge power.
Looking Ahead
This deck will also get some love from Shattered Destiny, most notably with Shard of Retribution, which fixes your threshold a bit and lets you keep your Dimmid charges. Paladin of the Necropolis is another strong addition and can be particularly nefarious if you have a Scrivener out, as suddenly your opponent will be the one paying for your Wretched Broods every turn! Exalted Victory is another strong card. While only a few of your troops will benefit from the Swiftstrike and Steadfast bonus, the +2/+0 will be more than enough if your Hoppers are numerous enough. And these are only the cards we know about. There's still a bunch more cards that haven't been spoiled from Shattered Destiny that could easily find a place in the deck.
I'm hoping to get into a habit of blogging a bit more about Hex. The feature drought has hopefully ended now that the new UI is in place and with the influx of spoilers I can probably start talking a bit more about Shattered Destiny Spoilers and conjure up some possible decks (and maybe discuss some info regarding the Frost Arena if any more trickles out over the next month or so). However, with Civilization: Beyond Earth launching next week, I'll probably switch to doing Hex bi-weekly after next week to make room for that, which may give me a workable pace to discuss feature releases. I'll also be doing a bi-weekly Monday Board Game article, continuing my new player's guide to Agricola next week. Until next time.
Card Links from the Hex TCG Browser & Deckbuilder
I like your budget deck styles. Any more you can conjure up?
ReplyDeleteSince a lot of people are entering the beta, I'm probably going be trying more budget decks. The difficulty is testing them thoroughly since I don't have a lot of time. Next few Hex related posts will probably be incorporating some of the Shattered Destiny cards that we know about.
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