Gauntlet Throwdown & Limited First Impressions

A metric ton of information got dumped on us recently for the new Hex set.  Not only will the Armies of Myth patch feature Chest Opening and Extended Art, but we'll also be getting Gauntlet Tournaments, which are similar to Asynchronous Tournaments from Hearthstone.  The downside is that for Sealed Players you can't actually net any packs by going undefeated.  You play until you hit 5 wins or 3 losses, then collect prizes based on your wins.  Five victories earns you six boosters, while any other scenario nets you boosters equal to the number of wins you earned.  This means that unless you sell your packs (or the contents of the chests from those packs), you won't be able to "go infinite."  That's a small quibble compared to this patch basically giving me everything my little heart desires though.

The full card spoiler is out as well, with about 250 new cards to use and abuse.  I'd eventually like to do a full set review (obligatory eye roll), but for now I'll give my initial impressions on limited for this format, which from my understanding will be entirely done with Armies of Myth packs.  Now one larger point I think I should make is on reserves cards with the new Gauntlet Sealed, which uses one-game matches.  This means you don't get to bring your Vandalize in game 2 against your opponent's Syyn, which is a shame since there's a lot of nice situational cards that might not merit a spot on your opening forty but can be absolute blowouts against the right deck.

Quick Troops can gain prophecy buffs
while in your deck, making their surprise
appearance even more deadly.

One of the things I think will be overlooked is the number of Quick Troops in this draft format.  Quick troops can be particularly nasty since you reveal next to no information during the turn you plan to play them.  Having any resources up could make your opponent think twice about attacking with important troops they want to keep alive.  Many of the Quick Troops aren't exactly the hardiest, Snarling Ambusher being a fine example at a 3/2 for 3 resources.  But that three attack points will allow it to trade with many things early on.  And if you're fortunate enough to give a Quick Troop a Prophecy buff from a card like Nightsky Stargazer, a surprise speed bump can become a game changer.  

One of the things people are particularly worried about are the Spiderlings, due in large part to the frustrations with Xarlox int he Frost Ring Arena.  Now 1/1 troops with unblockable are undoubtedly annoying, particularly when your opponent gets them for free.  However, having played more than a few games with Booby Traps, I know how dicey relying on your opponent to draw them can be.  Sometimes your opponent will have a dozen in their deck and not draw a single one while your life is slowly chipped away by a Phoenix Guard Messenger.  Other times your opponent will draw them the instant they get put in (and if you're like me you instantly feel guilty for your fortune).  The upside to the infested player is that they won't lose their entire draw with Spiderling Eggs like they would with Booby Traps.  The bad news is that this means several eggs could trigger in a chain reaction of skittering menaces.  Now this isn't the end of the world, since a few cards can deal with these spidery threats pretty handily.  Though these cards might be too narrow to merit main deck status.

There's also a question of how deep in the infestation strategy to you go?  While a dedicated Spiderling Deck with Painbringer and Brood Baron would be interesting, it's a strategy that seems more likely to be abused in Draft than Sealed.  Many of the effects that produce Spiderling Eggs are tacked onto cards people will play based on the strength of the card outside of the Eggs they provide.  Parriphagy is expensive, but effective removal that could net you a few spiders if the game goes long.  Nazhk Webguard has decent defensive stats for a 2-drop, and becomes more valuable at messing up combat the more eggs you get into your opponent's deck.  Hatchery Priest on the otherhand has very poor stats to justify including it into the deck unless you are dedicated to the archetype, and Incubate does nothing to the board at all when it is played.

Finally we have removal, which is one of the first things I think people should look at when analyzing a new limited format.  For Blood, the most straightforward removal is the aforementioned Parriphagy, though at five resources the cost can be very prohibitive if the format is fast.  Rot Cast is solid 2-cost removal action for early drops, and doesn't discriminate Artifact Troops the way Murder did.  Taint on the other hand is all of the narrowness of Atrophy with none of the sweet, sweet card advantage.  I wouldn't be against using it if the situation called for it, but when the best case scenario is a 1-for-1, I won't feel good about it.  I suppose Merciless Culler is removal as well, though the Battle Hopper generation of past sets isn't present in Armies.  Sacrificing a Spiderling might make this guy not awful, but at the end of the day you still just have a 3/2.  Shadowblade Assassin has a lethal shift that should not be overlooked either.  This ability can be important for Necrotic decks, which will likely gravitate towards Blood-Diamond, and also provide a good chunk of Swiftstrike options to pair with.

Speaking of Diamond, they probably have the most interesting removal of any of the shards.  Pride's Fall is good (and cheap) for taking down the biggest and baddest of your opponent's troops, but will do little against a tempo rush.  Etherealize transforms a troop or constant into a 1/1 Phantom.  Unfortunately it's basic speed, so instead of being a combat trick, the best you can hope for is nullifying your opponent's strongest dude if you have aerial presence.  In dire straits it could give you a finisher if the ground is clogged, or a chump blocker for a turn if things are particularly grim.  Inflict Doubt is a dicey uncommon that acts as a cheaper Inner Conflict if you have more guys than they do.  If you have troop generation this isn't too bad, and it seems that Ruby-Diamond could be a decent shard combination to do this if you get some combination of First Blood or Veteran Raider.  Martyr (a rare) transforms a troop into a Monument of the Martyr, which will either allow you to swing through for the win or sacrifice one of your troops to have an on-board pump (I see this seeing some play in Constructed).  And finally Stinging Ambush is a decent reserves card against opposing Phantoms and Spiderlings, but not terribly effective against beefier fare.

I fully expect a Shakespearean Play
dungeon stage now.

For Ruby (and they have buffet of removal), Bombwright and Boomsmith are both four cost dwarves that can oust low defense troops, Boomsmith once for 2 when he comes into play and Bombwright every turn for 1.  Bombwright will likely be good for chewing up Spiderlings and Phantoms though potentially underwhelming against other decks.  Fiery Indignation is quality removal (with excellent artwork) that can ping something for 2 early game or roast something for five later in the game, when you have a 5-drop on the field.  Lunge is a cheaper version of Adrenaline Rush that only gives +2 Attack for the turn instead of 3, though that will likely be enough to topple whatever you're trying to kill.  Scorch is in the same boat as Taint and doesn't even have the courtesy of being a Quick Action (I wouldn't mind trying it out in my Kindling Skarn deck though).  Skewer is much better: 3-for-3 at Quick Speed that can bolt your opponent if you manage to snipe a low-defense utility troop like Windspeaker.  Staggering Blast is a reserves option against Spiders and a potential finisher for a speedy deck.  Volley of Arrows is incredibly expensive and situational, but it can be a stalemate breaker in a clogged board.  Tribal Warfare is a windmill slam, capable of gunning down every one of your opponent's troops in a single turn.  Playing with Fire is a unique pick that could really pressure your opponent on a curve or not do a single thing.  You have to draft/build around it, and in Draft that is much easier to do, but if you have a good chunk of 5+ drops in your deck it's worth considering.

For Sapphire, you have a couple options for dealing with raw damage but little for dealing with utility.  Cripple isn't bad if you plan on flying over your opponent but it doesn't deal with any toughness attached to that troop.  Incubation Webs is a quality removal card, particularly for control decks since it will serve you better the longer the game goes, providing the chance for chump blockers/win conditions every turn thereafter (if the Spider Eggs get shuffled in every turn it's even better against Prophecy).  Windspeaker is a bit like Wind Whisperer from Shards of Fate, though requires Sapphire-Diamond to start shutting opposing troops down every turn.  Suffocate is expensive for a Countermagic, and the extra eggs probably don't justify the cost, but if you have enough Quick Troops to justify passing with four resources up it might be worth considering.

Wild has more tricks than removal, but there are a few cards of note.  Predatory Prey is expensive as hell, but can remove a big troop of your opponent and give you two extra power on your attack in.  Return to the Soil is very strong if you can find a target for it, which may be a little more difficult without Construction Plans and Pterobots making the rounds, but the raw card advantage should give you strong consideration for including it in your Sealed main.  Stinkhorn Soup is a very nasty combat trick that readies and makes Lethal one of your troops for the turn, though unless you have decent defense or swiftstrike it's pure card disadvantage.  Vine Lash is good against Flight decks from the reserves, but is likely too narrow for Gauntlet Sealed.  In the rares there are some dinosaurs, Carnasaurus and Crocosaur, that can fight when they enter play, but require a heavy Wild threshold investment if you want to play them on curve.  Scorn of Oberon (another rare) can be a blowout in the right situation.  Quick Speed reversion, artifact destruction, or constant destruction is probably enough to at least justify the cost, but the ability to do two or even all three for only three resources is very enticing.

Overall I think there are some very strong removal options for many of the shards, and it will be interesting to see how they fare with the new mechanics of the set.  I'll be back next week with some card reviews, and maybe an update on Guild Wars 2 or Offworld Trading Company (which I snagged during the Steam Sale this week).  Have a great weekend!

Anana's Avenging Phantoms

There is one card from Armies of Myth that popped out at me the moment I saw it: Golden Avenger.  Now on the surface it's just a bulky mid-range flight troop, a hero of mysterious allegiance from another plane of existence.  But when he dies this noble hero leaves behind his Mask, which can be used to transform another troop you control into the Golden Avenger.  

Something about this card just seems right from a design standpoint.  First off, he doesn't seem ridiculously broken.  A 4/4 for 5 with solid stats isn't going to destroy the meta (at least I don't think so.... I haven't played PvP constructed much).  There's also plenty of counterplay for the Mask since it's a basic action: you can use discard effects to get rid of it from your opponent's hand, kill the troop in response to the Mask being put on it, or just straight up counter it.

And yet, there is an alluring quality about this card, that if abused properly could devastate the Vampire Kings and Angels of Dawn that your opponent relies on to carry the game.  It's clearly a limited powerhouse, and will definitely be fun in highlander/singleton/Elder-Zakiir-Highlander, or whatever version of the "fun" format Hex eventually gets.  But it's also the sort of card I'd love to take into the Proving Grounds to troll around with (if you got gold for losses....).  At the very least it's the sort of cards I'd like to play against my friends, so in the off-chance I snag four copies of it, I'd like to get a deck going.  

Now since the first half of this card is pretty straightforward, the only thing there is to "abuse" is the Mask.  To ensure your avenging days continue you need to have a troop on the field when the Avenger bites it.  Normally if you're just looking for troops to get churned out you want something along the lines of Worker Bots or Battle Hoppers.  Wretched Brood isn't bad for pumping out future Avengers, though Golden Avenger doesn't have Lifedrain, so you might risk killing yourself with Brood if you don't put in countermeasures to prevent that.  Bertram in a Sapphire-Diamond Worker Bot deck doesn't sound like too bad of an idea either.  Sapphire also has a good chunk of cagey utility troops like Phoenix Guard Messenger that don't penalize you if your opponent kills them before they can put on the mask.  Humans also have lots of Rangers that generate troops when they enter play, giving you many options for transformation.

But the deck I want to run is a bit more thematic, and uses a new champion from Armies of Myth: Madame Anana.  This Necrotic spiritualist requires Blood and Diamond threshold to work her dark magic, but for three charges she allows any troop under your control to leave behind a Phantom when it dies.  Now as of writing this Anana isn't available in the client, so I can't test her, but I assume since both effects trigger off of the Avenger dying that they will both happen when he is killed, giving you both the Mask and a 1/1 Phantom to conveniently place it onto.  You can also use Minion of Yazukan and Xentoth's Inquisitor, two difficult troops to fully eliminate from the board, and ones that can repeatedly die to Anana's ability once they are enchanted with her charge power.  Here's a sample list I'd like to tool around with:

Anana's Avenging Phantoms

Champion: Madame Anana

4 Golden Avenger

4 Minion of Yazukan

4 Xentoth's Inquisitor (Brutality)

3 Crackling Rot

4 Extinction

3 Inquisition

4 Repel

4 Solitary Exile

2 Oath of Valor

2 Zombie Plague

11 Blood Shard

11 Diamond Shard

4 Shard of Retribution

For reserves options I'd probably run a sacrifice engine to get around cards like Inner Conflict or other cards that hobble, but don't outright kill opposing cards.  Born to Die is thematic, but not particularly effective, though it could be a win condition if you get a rotation of Phantoms going strong with Minion deaths.  Hopefully in the upcoming weeks we'll get some news about an Armies of Myth release date.  In the mean time I'll be feverishly grinding Arena matches until I have one of every promo card (3 more to go).  

Card images from HexTCG Database

Skitter Along

While some of Hex's races have dedicated keywords like Inspire or Prophecy to capture their flavor, others have more loosely defined mechanics.  One of these mechanics for the Shin'hare and Dwarves was the ability to churn out Worker Bots and Battle Hoppers.  Despite their similarities, these glorified chump blockers were designed to be played in very different ways: the Dwarves used their defensive robots to construct even greater robots, while the Shin'hare was fine sacrificing their creations for the sake of power.  

Much like the Dwarves and Shin'hare, the Vennen have a particular fondness for breeding Spiderspawn.  Xartaxis, Biship of the Azure Fang was one of a handful of cards designed to abuse these web-slinging menaces.  He has a passive ability that is active when you have two Sapphire threshold, granting all of your spiders the ability to draw a card whenever they damage to an opponent.  This can be an incredibly potent ability in a control deck, to which Sapphire and Blood are a natural fit.  But until now your options for getting Spiders on the field were a bit limited.  Luckily, Armies of Myth are bringing Spiders back in a big way, and one that is sure to leave a lasting impression on your opponent.

The Vennan are cold and calculating, unlike their uncontrolled Orcish "relations."  Where the Orcs want to pound you into dust immediately, the Vennen are interested in the long game, and their way of troop reproduction is much more nefarious.  Several of the Vennen in AoM create Spider Eggs which get shuffled into their opponent's deck.  When the opponent draws one of these eggs or the egg is send to the graveyard directly from the deck, the eggs hatch, creating an unblockable Spiderling for the venerable Vennen player.  

Exarch of the Egg is one such card, shuffling two Spider Eggs into the opponent's deck whenever a Vennen comes into play (including itself).  It's also a 1/3 Lethal troop for only two, which are decent stats for the low price of two mana.  Playing multiples of the Exarch in succession sets you up for a Spider explosion in the late game.  Runeweb Infiltrator is another layer of eggs, creating two whenever it deals damage to an opponent, which shouldn't be too hard since it comes equipped with Flight as well.  If you are dedicating yourself to the egg infiltration strategy, Hatchery Cultivator will help enable you, doing the same thing for Eggs that Ritualist of the Spring Litter did for Battle Hoppers.  

These unblockable menaces make a perfect match for old Vennen like Xartaxis, but the grand-daddy of Spider Lords is Phenteo the Brood Priest.  This Legendary Vennen can exhaust to shuffle three eggs into each opponents deck.  But these aren't just any eggs.... they're Terrorantula Eggs!  If you are unfamiliar with the Terrorantula, you probably don't know the keyboard-to-forehead inducing rage that is the Xarlox fight of the Frost Ring Arena.  It can be an incredibly frustrating fight since you start the game with three Terrorantula Eggs (actually, Broodlord Eggs, but functionally similar) in your deck.  If you have the misfortune of drawing one, or of the enemy using one of the myriad of mill effects in their deck, you have to tangle not with a miniscule Spiderling, but with a 5/5 behemoth that devours one of your troops when it enters play!  

While several have complained about how overpowered the spider egg infestation strategy is and how aggravating the Xarlox fight is, the Terrorantula murdering a troop and putting you on a four-turn clock is the real threat.  While the 1/1s are nothing to sneeze at, they can at least be dealt with by the likes of Heat Wave or another mass-removal action.  Infesting a deck is setting the control player up for later on.  It allows them to sit on reactionary cards, keeping all of their resources up for quick actions while they periodically receive a stealthy attacker on their field.  I'm not a huge fan of decking strategies, and I'm certainly not a control player, but the vennen offer a fun and interesting take on both, and I'm definitely looking forward to giving them a try in sealed and draft.