Dr. Sunsoul or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the McBombus

Being almost strictly a limited player there are certain cards I never felt that I was able to abuse.  Sure, some bombs like Arborean Rootfather and Phenteo are as strong (if not stronger) in limited as they are in a dedicated constructed deck.  But some require a little more finesse to have the same sort of impact.  Case in point: Sunsoul Phoenix, and one of the most explosive sealed pools I've played across any Hex format so far.

Champion: Morgan McBombus

Troops (14)

1 Ashwood Apprentice

1 Ashwood Cinderstump

1 Deathmask Assailant

1 Deathmask Ravager

1 Embertongue Skarn

1 Firedancer

1 Forebidden Tomeseeker

1 Flickering Gobbler

1 Hextricator

1 Hulking Smasher

2 Prestidigitator

1 Pyretic Performer

1 Sunsoul Phoenix

Actions (9)

1 Arcane Focus

2 Azure Fang Decree

1 Cleave

1 Combat Training

2 Crimson Bolt

1 Impulse

1 Skewer

Shards (17)

9 Ruby Shard

8 Sapphire Shard

For those unfamiliar, Sunsoul Phoenix is a 4/2 with flight and speed for 6, though that cost is 2 cheaper for each action you've played earlier that turn.  If your opponent manages to kill the Phoenix and you happen to have six actions in your crypt, it can do the whole Phoenix thing and return from the ashes into play by voiding those six actions.  Now getting six actions is a difficult feat to accomplish in limited, and most decks I've run across with Phoenix prior to Primal Dawn would run Savvas to generate a Scorch and play a turn-five Phoenix, which is still pretty solid in limited.  Any actual Phoenix revivals would require some help from a vennen deck milling the unsuspecting bird keeper.

But that was before Primal Dawn, and now we have a Sapphire-Ruby limited archetype that actually encourages you to play actions.  At the core of this archetype is the shard combo's champion, Morgan McBombus, which for three charges will put a Bumblebot into play, provided you played an action this turn.  Bumblebots are 1/1 artifact troops with speed and flight, allowing you to sting your opponent for 1 right away.

Now, you obviously won't have access to Sunsoul Phoenix in every deck, since it's Legendary and in the minority set of the limited format.  Nonetheless, several readily available troops have great synergy with playing actions.  Ashwood Cinderstump is an uncommon 2/2 that gets a temporary +2/+2 and swiftstrike buff for every action you play while it's on the field.   Embertongue Skarn is a common 0/3 that gets a permanent +1 attack for each action you play.  Flickering Gobbler is a multi-threshold 2/2 with speed, flight, and rage 1 for two resources, effectively making is a 3/2 the turn it attacks.  The drawback is that the Gobbler is sacrificed at the end of turn unless you played an action that turn, at which point it merely returns to your hand.  This "drawback" can be frustrating late game for your opponent if their only removal options are slow-speed basic actions like Festering Decay, allowing you to keep your little ball of awful safe.  There are several other common and uncommon troops not part of this pool that interact with actions, including Hired Horn Hunter, Wrenlocke's Apprentice, Hatchery Malvoker, and Cyclone Shaman.

Many of the actions are powerful enough to justify playing them outright.  Crimson Bolt and their ilk are solid removal, where Arcane Focus and Impulse draw cards.  Impulse isn't a card I would include too many copies of since it can be difficult to play around if your curve is higher (this pool also has Forbidden Tomeseeker, which wants additional card draws).  Cantrips like Cloudwalk and Blade Flourish that might not make every deck become more appealing when you can trigger abilities.  In addition, several cards like Prestidigitator and Pyretic Performer generate cheap actions, in addition to being solid three-power troops in their own right.  Zakiir's Frenzy can be a fun addition at the higher end of your curve, though the pure randomness might require a few turns before you get any real value out of it (Plan C and Robotic Rapture, stop spoiling me game).

I would be remiss however if I didn't give Combat Training it's due.  This card was absolutely stupid with evasion troops, giving your Bumblebots presence, allowing you to consistently replay Gobbler, and Kismet forbid you get a Spiderling off Azure Fang Decree or a Malvoker.  Combat Training has to be played cautiously, since it's very easy for your opponent to two-for-one you and take your training offline by killing the only troop you taught to hold a spider-sized sword.  But if your opponent can't answer training you have a recurring Urgnock every turn for one resource, which triggers your Skarns and Hired Horns in the process.

The Sapphire-Ruby Action archtype is just one of many strategies available in the current limited format.  The next month should be fun as everyone adjusts to the strategies, which seem very plentiful as of now.  Well, fun for you guys.  I have finals for the next few weeks, which means I should get back to my Property outline.  So have fun and forgive any spelling or grammatical errors.

Card Images from Hex TCG Browser & Deckbuilder.

The Night is Darkest Just Before the Dawn

Quick update for those wondering why my posts have been so haphazard over the past months.  Spring semester of law school was busy (like fall), so I haven't had much time to dedicate to the blog or to Hex.  I've recently carved out some time to play with the Steam Release and Primal Dawn on the horizon.  Hopefully I'll give you some specific character profiles (Human Mage and Shin'hare Warrior) and impressions of Primal Dawn.  Most of the article will probably be shorter until summer and Law Review petitioning is out of the way.  I finally got around to finishing the Warrior Review, which had been hanging over my head and preventing me from posting smaller articles I might have otherwise been able to.

Warrior Review: Training Montage

The last Class yet to be officially previewed is the Warrior (though at this point it's a review). Since the campaign is out and I've actually gotten a chance to play that campaign, the analysis will probably be much different.  It's a bit of a shame, since I enjoyed the theorycrafting that went into just seeing the Talents in a vacuum, but it will probably be more helpful in the long run to judge them as they've functioned from actually playing with them.  I will be making comparisons between the Mage and Cleric.  You can find the Mage Preview and Cleric Previews for review of those talents for comparison.

Warrior Starting Stats are 25 Health and 6 cards.  High health compared to other classes, but a card handicap, which can be really hobbling.  Mulligans to 6 are strategically fine in PvP, but the lack of card typically means it's an uphill battle.  Forcing a 6 card start can be very difficult for Control Decks which require a good flow of resources and cards, though the additional health can buy more time for you cards to have impact.

The Shinhare Warriors start with an additional 3 health from their racial ability, though their race combo reduced the
cost of battle by 1 charge, making them excellent options for a mid-range or control warrior.

Battle

Battle (11)

[BASIC] [5], Deal 2 damage to target opposing champion or troop.  If it is a troop, it deals damage equal to its ATK to you.

Battle is the Warrior Charge Power and is probably the most precise of the three.  For 5 charges, The Warrior battles another troop for 2 damage, or hits the enemy champion directly.   Unlike the random shuffling of Blessings and the large range of Spell Power replenished, Battle is very predictable.  It's also a good reason for you to care about Health, since eliminating enemy troops through battle will take its toll.  That said, this toll will only happen if you play on using this ability more than once per game, which can be difficult since the ability is so expensive.

Control Decks will likely get the most use out of using the ability to destroy weaker utility troops, and grind some of the card advantage they lose from the Warrior Starting Hand size back through the passive.  Aggro decks will likely want to use the ability once to finish off the game my removing a pesky blocker, or just dealing two damage directly to your opponent. 

Warlord

The Warlord abilities congregate around the center of the Talent Tree and all improve the Battle mechanic, making the ability cheaper, having it deal more damage, or granting additional effects. Repeated use of Battle is a good for control style decks, or decks that can generate a good amount of charges through the affinity ability (below) or others.  Getting all the Warlord Talents costs 6 points total, which is a hefty investment, but one worthwhile with the inclusion of War Machine, a free troop that gets stronger each time you attack with it.

Warlord: Agility (10)

1 Point (No PR)

Battle costs [1] less.

Agility is a starting ability that reduces the cost of your Battle by one charge.  Agility is an integral ability for the Warlord line since it contributes to the overall power of you War Machines for only one Talent Point.  Lower charges allows you to make repeated and early use of your battle.  Agility also stacks with the Shinhare Nimble ability, meaning your rabbits can battle for only three charges.

Warlord: Strength (12)

2 Points (No PR)

Battle deals +1 Damage

Strength is a straightforward buff to the damage you deal with battle.  Since the base damage on Battle is pretty low, this can be an important Talent to pick up, particularly in the final Devonshire Keep Battle, since it allows you to oust the potentially problematic Spitfire Elemental.  Strength also stacks with the Orc Heavy Hitters combo ability, allowing your orcs to deal up to 5 damage per Battle with Berserking.

Warlord: Parrying (3)

1 Point [2 Min] (PR Warlord: Agility OR Warlord: War Machine OR Adrenaline)

You are dealt no damage when you Battle a troop.

Parrying negates the damage you would normally take when battling a troop.  This becomes more important to more you plan on using your Battle as removal for your opponent's troops, and gets more value the more you value.  Calculated in terms of of a straight up health buff comparable to talents in other class trees (Cleric's +3 Health from Hale, for example), it's probably one of the most efficient straight up health buffs.

Warlord: Concussive Strikes (5)

1 Point [3 Min] (PR Warlord: Strength OR Warlord: War Machine)

If you Battle a champion, that champion discards a random card.

Concussive Strikes forces your opponent to discard a card when you battle them.  This ensures that you gain card advantage wherever you use your battle, and can be very punishing when your opponent only has a few cards in hand.  More times than not you'll eliminate a card you couldn't have eliminated in battle anyways.  Shin'hare Warriors, which have access to Blood Magic's discard effects and cheap battle costs can also tool their deck towards pure disruption by relentlessly attacking their opponents hand (and life total) through battling.

Warlord: War Machine (4)

1 Point [3 Min] (PR Warlord: Concussive Strikes OR Warlord: Parrying)
You begin the game with a War Machine in your deck or two War Machines if you have 100+ cards in your deck.

War Machine is the de facto keystone talent in the Warlord class, granting you access to 1-2 copies of War Machine based on your deck size.  War Machine is nice since it's free, replaces itself immediately upon playing, and outside of voiding will put itself back into your deck.  It will often trade with one of your opponent's early game troops on the way, giving Warriors another easy bit of card advantage based on the whims of the AI.  Since Warriors have such a low starting hand going up to 100 cards is more dicey than other classes in terms of consistency.  

Training

The Training Talents consist of a single path on the right side of the Talent Tree.  The initial Talent trains 25% of troops in your deck, giving them +1/+1.  Talents that build off of this interact with your trained troops, giving them Speed (Deployment) and giving you a one-shot ability to add one random trained troop to your hand (Reinforcements).  Reinforcements is one of the better talents since it helps the Warrior naturally overcome it's staggered starting hand size.  Your choice of troops along this path become more important the more you invest along this line.  Speed and +1/+1 are aggressive combat stats that work well in aggro decks, but can also work well to trigger powerful combat abilities like Prince Talysen.  This can be even more effective if you clear the board the turn before and Battle your opponent to stagger their replenishment of resources.

Training: Combat  (13)

1 Point (No PR)

At the start of the game, if you have 10 or more troops in your deck and/or hand, 25% of the troops in your deck get Trained.

Your Trained troops have +1/+1.

Combat Training feels like a pleasant and unexpected buff at early levels since it's so random.  That also makes it easy to forget about since one game you'll be swinging with a 3/2 Savage Raider on turn two, and the next your trained Te'Talca is languishing in your hand while you're stuck at four resources.  Trained appears on the card alongside a visually buffed attack and defense while it's in your hand, though the way the card manager is set up this can be difficult to spot, so make sure you check your opening hand for any trained troops, since it can impact the order you play things in.

Reinforcements (6)

2 Points [3 Min] (PR: Training: Combat)

You have "[1 SHOT]: (2), Put a random Trained troop from your deck into your hand.

Reinforcements gives you access to card advantage, something Warriors need with the low starting hand.  This gives you access to a random trained troop in your hand for two resources, which is slow but nice, particularly if you have a more control style deck with troops on the larger side like Vampire King.

Training: Deployment (7)

1 Point [4 Min] (PR: Reinforcements)

Your Trained troops have Speed.

Deployment is the final buff to your trained troops, giving them speed in addition to the attack and defense buff.  Unlike Reinforcements, which is requires for access, Deployment is better in aggressive decks, since you can rush an opponent down before they have a chance to recover.  While this isn't the most viable option for certain dungeon options, for many battles maintaining a strong tempo advantage can be difficult for the AI to overcome.

Free Talents

Warriors are unique in that they get a couple of free talents (they do not cost any talent points), but which contain inherent drawbacks.  This is nice since not having to spend talent points means you can diversify your build very early on.

Fury (7)

0 Points (No PR)

You begin the game with two charges.

-7 Starting Health.

Fury is the talent that gives you a head-start on your battle while reverting your starting health to 18.  Races with bonus starting health like Elves and Shin'hare can afford the starting health hit more than others if it means eliminating early threats like Sweltering Zombie before they get out of control.  Fury also allows access to Berserking without going through Adrenaline, though that talent will also cause you to take extra attack damage, which is a talent build that will leave the Warrior most vulnerable.

Weight (14)

0 Points (No PR)

+5 Starting Health

You can't choose to go first.

Weight is an isolated talent that gives you +5 starting health (a total of 30 before Racial modifiers) with the drawback that you're never on the play.  This might not even be much of a drawback considering your opponent, since drawing first allows you to sacrifice tempo for the lost card advantage from a 6 Card Starting Hand.  Certain matchups can be tricky on the draw, particularly the open-world matches like Killipede or Wormoid Queen, where going first can be very beneficial.  In dungeon runs however, every point of durability counts and it is literally a coin-flip on who will go first in your limited attempts.

Other Talents

Affinity: Warriors (9)

1 Points (No PR)

When you play a Warrior, gain a charge.

Every class has an affinity talent for their class.  Warriors gain a charge when they play a fellow Warrior troop.  Humans, Orcs, and Shin'hare all have access to good early game Warriors to help accumulate Charges.  

Adrenaline (2)

2 Points [3 Min] (PR Affinity: Warriors OR Warlord: Parrying OR Berserking)

When you are dealt damage, there's a 25% chance to gain a charge.

Adrenaline is an interesting charge generation talent.  It will proc more if you have high health and your opponent is attacking with lots of troops.  It can also trigger from non-combat damage, like that from Spitfire Elemental or from your own troops, like Fang of the Mountain God.  Since Burning is employed frequently in Adventure Zone 1, it's a useful talent for a Warrior you plan on grinding certain dungeons with.  It also unlocks Berserking without having to take Fury, which is a plus if you are planning on taking repeated damage anyways.  

Berserking (1)

2 Points [2 Min] (PR Fury OR Adrenaline)

All combat damage dealt to champions is increased by 1.
Your Battle deals +1 damage.

Berserking is a very powerful Talent that increase all combat damage dealt to all champions by 1.  This is very powerful in aggressive decks like Orcs and Shin'hare, though getting a pure aggro deck that can clear Devonshire quick can be difficult.  It also gives your Battle a +1 damage buff, which as mentioned before can stack with Strength and the Orc Heavy Hitters combo ability to deal 5 damage with every battle.  Alternately, Shin'hare can deal 4 damage for every 3 charges.  Combined with an aggressive deck, Shin'hare and Orcs can quickly steamroll any opponent with a poor draw.

Final Thoughts

Warriors get hampered by their low starting health, but make up for it with a passive that can eliminate threats and several talents capable of generating card advantage over long games.  The damage utility of Warriors suits them for both aggressive, troop-oriented strategies or control strategies focused on repeated use of Battle.