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.

Ruthless Ritual

A few of my friends gave Shattered Destiny draft a shot during the Feast of Abundance, and I realized it had been a while since my last official strategy article for Hex.  So to remedy this I thought I'd take some time to discuss a limited archetype I've had some success with: Blood-Sapphire Bunoshi.  The archetype is pretty accessible for newer players, since there tends to be a good stream of the cards that go well with Bunoshi later in packs during Booster drafts.  Popular recommended archetypes like Dwarves or Humans can be very hit or miss depending on the table you get and the packs you open, where Bunoshi doesn't care too much about getting robots to assemble construction plans or having all your troops be the same race.

To start with I should probably talk about the champion a bit.  Bunoshi the Ruthless is one of the five champions released with Shattered Destiny, so if you haven't played the game since early in the Beta he might be new to you.  The Shin'hare warlock has a 3-cost charge power that requires you to sacrifice a troop to give another troop a permanent +2/+2.  In Shin'hare decks that use Bunoshi, you'll likely be sacrificing your disposable squadron of Battle Hoppers to him to make one of your bunnies gigantic.  Unfortunately precious few Shin'hare troops have evasion abilities to make good use of the buff, and though the Battle Hoppers are expendable, several other Shin'hare cards can actually give them effective combat stats.  Bunoshi's Wild counterpart, Fuzzuko, is often more effective in Shin'hare swarm strategies, since he buffs every troop on your field instead of a specific one.

What makes Bunoshi appealing is when you manage to benefit from both sides of the ability: sacrificing one troop to make another stronger.  Losing a troop sucks any way you slice it, but there are quite a few cards that you won't mind killing off for the Bunoshi buff.  Darkspire Priestess and Punisher are two such cards in Blood, since they have a shot of searching up more Darkspire cards upon death.  Shroomshaw is another solid option, since he'll generate more little guys for you to sacrifice if you can survive to hit six or nine charges.  In Sapphire, you have Phoenix Guard Messenger, a cheap flight troop that can swing in for damage early and draws a card upon death.  At uncommon you also have Mentor of the Song and Mentor of the Grave, which transform into solid actions and return back into your hand when they hit the graveyard.  There are also several troops with strong abilities that trigger when they enter play.  Troops like Buccaneer and Charge Bot are nice additions to this deck since you still get a slight bonus even if you are forced to sacrifice them, or they can become powerful threats if you feel compelled to use Bunoshis ability on them.  There are quite a few rares that make good Bunoshi fodder too, such as Xentoth's Inquisitor, Minion of Yazukan, and Xartaxis, which makes his own Spiderling to sacrifice (or buff depending on the board state) and fits the shard combination you are aiming for perfectly.

Blood and Sapphire also contain some excellent targets for a permanent +2/+2 buff due to their abundance of evasion abilities.  There's a score of Flight troops like Phoenix Guard Enforcer and Giant Corpse Fly that can grow to game ending size with the Bunoshi buff.  If you're worried about opposing flight troops ruining your plans another good target is Tormented Ritualist, which becomes unblockable (and a 3/1) whenever you gain a charge.  Making a giant lifedrain troop can also ensure you don't lose a race with your opponent.  Paladin of the Necropolis is a great pick up for Bunoshi decks, though he tends to command his own life gain archetype with Diamond cards like Spearcliff Pegasus.  Giant Mosquito is a more common Lifedrain target for Bunoshi, since a 3/3 with Flight and Lifedrain attacking as early as turn three can be very difficult for anyone without a removal spell to manage.  If you're lucky enough to open one in Shards of Fate, Corrupt Harvester might be the best target outside of rare and legendary troops for you to combo with Bunoshi.  He already comes equipped with a solid body, lifedrain, and built in evasion.  Making him a 5/5 can put the game out of reach for your opponent, particularly for decks which rely on defense-based removal like Crackling Bolt to deal with threats.

In Sealed, Bunoshi can be just as effective.  One of the best ways to counter an archetype that dumps buff after buff onto a single troop is a simple removal spell like Inner Conflict or Murder.  Unlike in draft where the early removal you pick up often dictates which shards you focus on, in Sealed it tends to be spread out over several shards, forcing you to make difficult decisions when it comes to which removal actions you want to use.  Maybe you run your two Crackling Rot and Survival of the Fittest in a Blood-Wild deck... but those can be pretty situational.  Maybe instead play the Solitary Exile and Boulder Toss... but both of those are double threshold.... hm, maybe Blood-Ruby instead?  And this is where Bunoshi can shine, since he can turn any troop from zero to hero with every three charges, meaning that your opponent's limited removal spells become all the more precious.  One downside is it's often more difficult to get multiple Darkspire troops in Sealed, or to focus on troops that like to die.  But if you open a good chunk of evasion troops and some guys you don't mind sacrificing, it might be worth letting your ruthless side show.

Here's a sample list for this archetype to use as a reference point while drafting or analyzing your sealed pool.

Champion: Bunoshi the Ruthless
1 Darkspire Priestess
1 Giant Mosquito
1 Grave Nibbler
1 Shroomshaw
2 Phoenix Guard Messenger
1 Brood Creeper
1 Buccaneer
2 Darkspire Punisher
1 Mentor of the Song
1 Moonmonk (Rage/Flight)
2 Tormented Ritualist
1 Wretched Wrangler
1 Charge Hulk
1 Corrupt Harvester
1 Phoenix Guard Enforcer
1 Xartaxis, Bishop of the Azure Fang
2 Crackling Rot
1 Murder
1 Murmurs from the Void
9 Blood Shard
7 Sapphire Shard
1 Shard of Cunning

Normally the weekend means Frost Ring Arena time for me, but this Saturday is Tabletop Day!  So unfortunately Hogarth and his bodiless pike.... friends... will probably get the back seat treatment while I'm trying to survive the zombie apocalypse.  Now that more people from the Kickstarter seem to be drifting back into the game and checking it out, I'll focus on doing strategy articles more frequently.  If any readers have a suggestion for an draft archetype or a deck idea they'd like me to write about, feel free to leave a comment.  Enjoy the weekend!

Card Image Links from HexTCGBrowser

They Love Me In That Tunnel

It's difficult to talk about Shin'hare without first talking about their two new champions, since most decks will likely utilize either one of Warmaster Fuzzuko or Bunoshi the Ruthless.  Fuzzuko puts Palamedes to shame; for only a single charge more, you get to Evolve all of your troops currently on board.  While Giles has reach beyond what you have in play, Fuzzuko not only boosts defense, but also can hit multiple types of troops instead of just your shin'hare.  Making a massive army of Battle Hoppers and other mid-range troops and just overwhelming your opponent is where Fuzzuko shines.  Bunoshi is on the opposite end.  He only needs three charges to use the power, but he also needs a willing sacrifice (usually in the form of the aforementioned Battle Hoppers) to make one of your troops massive.  This tends to work best on troops with utility abilities like Corrupt Harvester or Manti Ranger.  And with all the cards that grant extra charges, it's very possible to use this ability multiple times throughout the game to make an unstoppable troop later on.  Deciding which of these champions to use with your deck generally depends on how you plan on winning.  If you have a good chunk of evasion troops like Tormented Ritualist, you might want to consider Bunoshi since the +2/+2 can make the turns you gain a charge all the more damaging for your opponent, and also allows it to survive run-ins with removal actions like Burn and Crackling Rot.  If your deck has a good chunk of early game troops that fall off in terms of board presence later like Battle Hardened Pa, Fuzzuko is a card that will keep them relevant later in the game.

To fuel either strategy, you're going to need a front line (or a blood well), and for that, the Shin'hare have you covered with some new cards that create Battle Hoppers like Blossoming Concubunny and Wretched Wrangler.  While these cards will provide you with some early Shin'hare, it's notable that they go to your hand and not directly into play, meaning you have to play them on turns where you have spare resources available.  This interaction can be a decent "drawback" though, since the uncommon Keeper of The Wounded Petal grows permanently stronger for each Shin'hare that enters your hand, either from your deck of from effects like these.  Shin'hare also get some bunny love in the removal department with Feeding the Young Ones and Wakizashi Ambusher.  While either can be used in a non-Shin'hare blood deck to off troops of two defense of less, both can become much more powerful with a concert of rabbits to support them.  While Ambusher is underground it gets stronger for every Shin'hare that dies under your watch, giving an opposing troop -X/-X equal to its attack power when it surfaces.  Feeding the Young Ones puts two Hoppers into play before making all your Shin'hare troops nibble a troop for one damage apiece, allowing you to destroy even the most formidable of troops with enough shin'hare on the field. 

Aside from the Ambusher, there are a host of Shin'hare tunneling troops in Wild and Blood to ensure that you'll always have a play on two.  While the Dwarves typically have big effects the turn they emerge, most of the Shin'hare do their plotting while they are underground.  Grave Nibbler is a simple 2/2 for two resources, but it you choose to tunnel him instead and a troop dies (any troop) while he is burrowing, he becomes a 4/4 instead, which in this format can be difficult to deal with.*  Rune Ear Burrower is similar to Rune Ear Commander in that he gets stronger the more troops you have in play.  However, this ability only triggers the turn he enters play, so timing your plays to maximize the amount of troops you have out when this guy finally surfaces is key to using him to his full potential.  
*At the time of writing, Grave Nibbler is bugged where after he becomes a 4/4, he ignores any power or toughness changes unless he is reverted.  So Crackling Rot and Wild Growth will have no effect on him, but Fish Hands should.  This is one of the more well known bugs, and as a (good) common card it is the one most frequently encountered bugs by me so far.

One of the scarier (and in my opinion, under-drafted) Shin'hare is the Underfoot Commander, which stays underground for three turns, but permanently buffs any other troop (not just shin'hare) that goes under while he's tunneled.  I understand the downside to tunneling multiple troops; since they aren't in play you are sacrificing your board in the short-term, allowing your opponent to punish you with aggressive two-drops like Arena Regular and Field Tactician.  But I've had multiples of these guys in a couple drafts, and combined with Fuzzuko even your modest tunneling troops get ridiculous in a hurry.  In one draft I was actually able to buff a Minion of Yazukan that took a Zared activation to the chin and was in a perpetual cycle of death and retunneling due to his 0 toughness.

Cards to Build Around

Many of the Shin'hare in Shattered Destiny are good outside of a dedicated Shin'hare deck, meaning you'll probably be fighting Blood players for Tormented Ritualists and Killblade of the Milky Eye.  The shin'hare rares are all great to open and to build around.  Minion of Yazukan enjoys having a sacrifice outlet like Bunoshi or a Blood Cauldron Ritualist  so you can slowly boost his power over time.  Cottontail Recruiter turns your Battle Hoppers into Shin'hare Militia, making cards like Blossoming Concubunny much more appealing (though she still pales in comparison to Construct Foreman, which is a lot more bang for a 1-drop).  Finally there's Bucktooth Roshi, which gives an incredibly powerful +2/+2 to all of your other shin'hare.

One of the downsides to dedicated Shin'hare decks, particularly the Recruiter/Roshi variants that want lots of Hoppers is you are really rolling the dice on your Shards of Fate pack having some Concubunnies of their own, since none of the Shattered Destiny cards is capable of making a continuous stream of them turn after turn.  Its entirely possible that the two Concubunnies you hope are tabling in pack three are instead two Sorrow, which can be a devastating reserves card against Shin'hare.  The plus side is that Shin'hare--the ones that make you want to play other Shin'hare--aren't typically in high demand, so if you are drafting Shin'hare aggressively in pack one, there's a good chance Concubunny and maybe even Bucktooth Commander will make it to you late in the pack.  Hell, maybe you live the dream and get Recruiter and Ritualist of the Spring Litter.

This is also the only situation I could see playing one of the old Shin'hare champions.  Kishimoto is laughably inefficient providing only a temporary buff, and Bun'jitsu suffers from the drawback that the "materials" he uses in his Abomination creation get voided instead of sacrificed.*  Monika'shin is the only one that offers something I could reasonably see the Shinhare player wanting.  Passing on Fuzzuko or Bunoshi is just so difficult considering how much the Shin'hare want to be buffed.  Even is Fuzzuko's ability cost 6 charges, that's a free Evolve versus two 0/1s.  Maybe in some edge cases where you have Ritualist/Recruiter or you have enough buffs but not enough troops you run Monika'shin, but in a strong majority cases I think Fuzzuko/Bunoshi are the two best choices.
*In my previous Shin'hare article I incorrectly noted that Bun'jitsu sacrificed his intended targets, which would have made the champion much stronger. 

Overall the shin'hare are a much more forgiving race when it comes to drafting them.  Many of them are fine in a multitude of decks, and the new champions allow you to make use of Battle Hoppers when you have them on the field.  Most of the time you will take them because they are good on their own, but every once in a while you will get the cards that push you towards visions of a field soaked in blood, viscera, and fluffy little ears. 

Auction House & AA Numbers

Some Community News to finish off this week.  New Auction House Data and AA Numbers were released by Chark on the forums in the past week (full links above).  Counts of Alternate Art cards included Kickstarter Rewards like Replicator's Gambit and Pack Raptor, alongside VIP Tournament Rewards Xentoth's Inquisitor and Menacing Gralk.  Also included were Shattered Destiny release promos Filk Ape and Darkspire Punisher, highlighting the 1390 tournaments played over release weekend (which isn't shabby for a four day run).  The rarest of the rare cards were Ozawa and Jovial Pippit, which until now have only been given out at GenCon.

Upcoming Tournaments

The HexTechs Open (HTO-Oberon) is being held Saturday, January 17th.  This is the first third-party tournament (to my knowledge) with an entry fee attached to it at 500 Platinum, however the winner gets a guaranteed reward of 10000 Platinum, so if you are confidant in your constructed skills, it's definitely worth looking into.

HexPrimal is hosting the Budget Cup 2 on Sunday, February 1st.  Entry into the event is free, but deck constructed is limited to $10 for the maindeck and $2 for reserves based on a list aggregated Auction House Prices.  If you don't have that much money invested into the game, but still enjoy deck constructed and want to try a unique format this is definitely worth checking out.  First prize includes a primal pack and 16 boosters.

Upcoming Videos

I've been messing around with Blender and OBS, and I should have the State of the Game video coming out sometime soon.  I've been stalling a bit in the hopes the some PvE news gets released this month, though the tenor from Hex since launch seems to be focused on fixing the Shattered Destiny bugs.  I'd like to finish up my draft strategy with the last race, Orcs, but it's such a loose archetype in Shattered Destiny I might end up passing on it altogether.  I have a few articles I'd like to do, including some decks for the Budget Cup I've been working on.  In any event, enjoy your weekend!

Card images from HexTCG Browser

Drafting Dwarves II: Robo-Remix

One of the first articles I wrote for this blog was about Drafting Dwarves during the first few weeks that draft was introduced.  Dwarves was one of the first decks I heavily drafted in Hex, and in my opinion it was one of the strongest archetypes of that draft format.  Uncommons like Volcannon and Elimination Specialist were incredibly powerful if you got them early and could build around them, while champions like Bertram made assembling construction plans and triggering cards like Researcher Adept more consistent.  The inclusion of the Royal Uncommons and Sir Giles's raw power with Shattered Destiny have allowed humans to emulate a similar space to that held by Dwarves.  The underground engineers have gotten their fair share of love in Shattered Destiny too, though the design of these cards have changed the archetype from one that can simply dump a few Pterobots on the board and ride them to victory.

The first major change dwarves get in Shattered Destiny is tunneling.  Dwarves get some nice utility troops in their commons.  Launchpad Specialist requires a long time investment, but when it emerges it gives a free Sapphire Aura to one of your troops.  Mesmeric Hypnoscientist is a five-power dwarf that prevents one of your opponent's troops from blocking the turn it enters play.  Cards like this allow the Dwarf deck to plan big attacks in advance, and picking these early in the pack don't commit you to a dwarf deck.  This is particularly true of the Launchpad Specialist, which is an excellent turn two play for any Sapphire drafter.

On the other side there are tunnelers that are specifically geared for the Dwarf-Robot Archetype.  Subterrenean Saboteur stays underground for three turns, but while underground he lets you play a Robot at quick speed before emerging himself.  This can trick your opponent into making confidant attacks that wind up poorly when they run into a surprise Charge Hulk (or Slaughtergear).  Underground Overdriver can be devastating when combined with robots, allowing you to pump extra resources into a permanent buff.  This is most efficient on troops with evasion like Inductocopter Bot or Hornet Bot to finish out games, but even just having a ground troop that can slam into your opponents line turn after turn can be enough to earn you a win.

Dwarves can also play very aggressive with cards like Construct Foreman and Electroid.  Getting an early line of three power troops on the board can be very intimidating when you are bashing in with them as early as turn two!  Reactor Bot can add to the pain attacking for three (or five if you have a Crackling Bolt or Wit in your hand) while most players are still developing their board.  They can also play a very control style game where they grind out card advantage and rely on late game finishers, with cards like Augmentation Bot and Bot Shop compounding small advantages turn after turn.  Between the utility of their tunneling troops and variety of aggressive and defensive cards, dwarves require a bit more attention when drafting and deck building than they did in Shard of Fate.

What cards should I look for when considering Dwarves?

Reese the Crustcrawler and Tectonic Megahulk are the two legendary troops that have "dwarven combat" written all over them.  Invest some turns into a tunneled Reese and Bertram can be firing out Jank Bots for three charges apiece.  Ingenious Engineer gives all of your Dwarves and Robots the ability to ready the first time they exhaust each turn.  You can either use this to attack with a de facto steadfast ability or to exhaust the same bot twice for Construction Plans or another exhaust effects like Dwarven Ballistics Training.  Samson allows you to get crazy with non-combat damage done by artifacts and dwarves, making any War Machinists that are lurking in the Shards of Fate booster all the more threatening.

Odds are you won't open one of these particular cards in your rare slot (if you're like me it will be a Talisman of Vitae).  Electroid is a high potential uncommon that sends a strong signal Dwarf-Robots are open if you get it third or fourth pick.  A late Bot Shop or Underground Overdriver can signal it's open as well, and unless you open a bomb or are determined to draft Dwarf-Robots from the second you join the queue, it's often best to look in the middle and end of pack one to get a feel for how open the archetype is.  Many of the cards that are incredible in Dwarf-Robots are a little to risky to windmill slam (metaphorically) if the cards don't show up or someone else is keen on drafting it.  If I had a choice between an Electroid or a Crackling Bolt I would definitely take the removal action since it doesn't require that I build around it.  The same is true of uncommons like Cannon Volley, Mentor of the Song, or Royal Cutblood; cards that more often than not will make a Dwarf deck but won't hamstring me the way an Electroid will if I can't get support for it.

Which Champion should I run?

The easy answer is Bertram, since he's never bad, but I think a case can be made for Giles or Fahrny.  The best way to approach this is to ask yourself to imagine a scenario where you wouldn't play Bertram, a scenario that doesn't require you to have Worker Bots in play.  This should throw out any deck that have multiple Electroids or early Construction Plans, since you want to get those cards online as soon as possible.  Worker Bots also give you good targets for Construct Foreman and Flak Scrapper, so any decks where these cards play a key role should probably be also wary of shying away from Bertram.  

Fahrny used to be an exception to the rule when my draft looked more like a big artifact deck with lots of removal than a traditional Dwarf-Robot deck.  His charge power is very strong if you get some expensive artifacts on the board, but the 5-charge cost and double threshold requirement was a bit restrictive in the previous limited metagame.  In Shattered Destiny however, charges are easier to come by.  Charge Hulk and Crackling Bolt can help you ramp into you five charges by turn four fairly consistently, and the Hulk serves as a powerful resource cost on the board when you want to fire Fahrny off, dealing four damage to getting rid of fairly sizable threats.  During the release weekend the first deck I won a Filk Ape with had a full set of Reactor Bots and three Charge Hulks.  I'd often lead with a Reactor Bot on turn two or three, then on turn four play Resource-Hulk-Fahrny their blocker-Attack for 7.  War Bot Bunker is another card that works well with Fahrny, coming out on a timely turn five and will avoid nearly all removal allowing you to clear troublesome blockers like Turreted Wall or Dragon Guard Stalwart.  In many ways this is a much stronger version of Zared, but does require a bit of synergy to pull off.  If your deck just has some big artifacts and a lot of spare charges, consider Fahrny over Bertram.

Giles is the final option for this archetype, and I should note there is a bug associated with Giles at this time that causes it to give troops other than Robots +1/+0 when it's used targeting certain robots (I've never encountered it myself, but it's referenced in here).  Ignoring that, Robots can actually benefit quite a bit from the Giles pump if you have enough of them, particularly because Charge Bot and Hulk allow you to abuse the power a few times per game.  This can mean giant Pterobots and significantly scarier utility bots like Armitron and Overtime Bot.  While Bertram and Fahrny are good at supporting your deck to ensure it achieves its critical mass of artifact awesomeness, Giles can create that mid/late game pressure your deck might be lacking.  This is really more of a testament to how good Giles is in tribal decks than a criticism of the other champions; he makes good decks great and bad decks decent if enough troops share a trait.  So if your deck is tribal enough and you're feeling short on finishers, Giles might be able to create wins where none existed.

Can we get a quick run down?  I'm kind of just browsing this...

You really should read the whole... okay fine!

• Dwarves aren't as deep as humans, so try not to commit to them too early unless you get a bomb; stick to cards that are good in multiple decks like Crackling Bolt or Launchpad Specialist and commit later in pack one based on what is available.
• Consider your champion while drafting.  If you are getting a lot of cards that grant you additional charges or expensive artifacts, consider Fahrny.  If you are light on finishers and have a good chunk of robots, consider Giles.  In a majority of cases, Bertram will be the champion you should go with.
• Much of the individual card evaluations from Shards of Fate are still relevant in the 2-2-1 format.  For my thoughts on those cards please see the March article Drafting Dwarves where I discuss those cards in more detail.
• Below is a general list of Shattered Destiny cards that will make up the backbone of most Dwarf-Robot decks, or cards that I would keep an eye out for if this seems like an archetype you would like to try out.

Bombs (First Picks that prompt Dwarf-Robots)

Reese, the Crustcrawler (Finisher, Bertram)

Tectonic Megahulk (Finisher)

Ingenious Engineer (Utility)

Samson, Lead Ballistics Engineer (Utility)

Forge of Cadoc (Cha-ching!  I mean... Acceleration)

Safe Picks (You can draft these early and not commit to Dwarf-Robots)

Royal Cutblood (Evasion, Finisher)

Cannon Volley (Removal, Card Adv)

Mentor of the Flames (Removal, Card Adv)

Crackling Bolt (Removal, Charges)

Boulder Toss (Removal)

Mentor of the Song (Card Adv)

Launchpad Specialist (Evasion, Utility)

Signals (Picks that commit you, signals Dwarf-Robots is open if late in pack)

Robotic Rapture (Card Adv)

Construction Plans: Tower Hulk (Finisher)

Electroid (Aggro)

Underground Overdriver (Utility)

Construct Foreman (Aggro, Utility)

Construction Plans: Bot Shop (Card Adv)

General News

On the blog I'll be posting a general State of the Game article and video sometime within the next couple of weeks (hopefully), and another draft overview next week (most likely Shin'hare).  This weekend is also the Five Shard's Diamond Cup, presented by Technophi.  The format for the Diamond Cup is Shattered Destiny Constructed (no cards from Set 1 Boosters).  Good luck to everyone who enters, and have a great week!

Card Images from Hex TCG Browser.

And We'll Never Beat Royals

A few weeks since its release, one of the dominant draft archetypes to emerge from Shattered Destiny is humans, thanks in no small part to the addition of Sir Giles Rowan, the new Ruby Champion.  If you manage to get a single Ruby threshold, you can spend four charges to target a troop.  That troop and every troop that shares a trait with it (Race, Class, Robot, Pet) gets a permanent +1 Attack boost, including troops outside of play in your hand, deck, or graveyard!  This is a strong effect to be sure, but it does force you to try to keep most of your troops within a particular race to make the most of it.  While I've seen Giles in Orc and Dwarf decks as well, he gets truly scary when combined with Humans, since their troops tend to be a little on the weak side, but excel in the utility they bring to decks.

Take an unassuming card like Shield Trainer.  Though he was the bane of Burn in triple Shards of Fate draft from his inspire ability, he was quickly outclassed by larger troops, with little ability to trade with other troops once players reached four or five resources.  With Giles power he grows to a 2/1 just by being another human, which greatly increases the number of troops he can trade with.  While this meager buff may not sound impressive, keep in mind this effect is just what is happening to your support crew.  The main hitters in your deck will get this permanent power boost, which makes them more threatening on an aggressive draw and better to trade with problematic troops in you're behind.  Daring Swordsman becomes more daring, winning fights with even the meanest of Squirrels; the Phoenix Guard Aeronaut can finally chew up the the 2/4 Flight troops that clogged the skies in Set 1; and Sword Trainer can sharpen the skill of your late game guys even more.

Aside from overall power, there are additional pros that come with drafting humans.  Unlike Dwarves, which can quickly fall apart if you don't get enough cards to support it, Humans tend to be more forgiving of dipping outside of their race.  Since you won't be assembling construction plans or firing a Volcannon, you can afford to take an Arena Regular or Goreseeker to round out your curve (if the class matches, these troops will also benefit from Rowan's ability).  Humans also have a greater pool of removal to choose from.  Diamond and Ruby both have strong removal options in Shards of Fate, and Sniper of Gawaine will often be a 3/2 when he hits the field, giving you greater range for taking down your opponent's men (sorry Wreckasaurus... not today).  

Some of the cons associated with humans is, more than the other races, you have to pay attention to your threshold when you draft it.  You'll likely be Diamond as one of your main shards, with Sapphire and Ruby as support.  This can be tricky to juggle if you don't see any fixing, so it's often good to make sure you have a core deck of two shards that can win even if the third type is absent.  Also, even though Humans are deep, it is an incredibly popular archetype, meaning you'll likely be fighting tooth and nail in the third pack for an Inner Conflict or Ruby Pyromancer while the Wild and Blood players happily scoop up their Murders and Boulder Brutes later in the pack (in my experience, good Blood and Wild cards tend to go later in 2-2-1 than they have in Triple Set 1).  My main caution would be don't try to force Humans if it doesn't look open.  How will you know if it's open?  A general rule of thumb is to look for Royals.

If you are at pick three or four and there is still a card with the word Royal in its name, that's a good sign that Humans are open.  I'll use my last draft as an example.  My first two picks were an Agent of MOLE and an Electroid, and I was perfectly happy to punch face with robotic fists for three rounds, Kismet willing.  But pick three came around and a Royal Valkyr was still in there.  Despite some solid robot support also in the pack, I scooped up the Valkyr, being a strong signal that the guy passing to me was not in Humans (the first pick was likely the rare, which could have been a Jags for all I knew, so you can't glean much from that).  Pick four was a Royal Herald, which may not be enough to get many people to abandon their first two picks, but combined with the Valkyr was enough to abandon my second pick (I could still run the Agent) and run Humans.  Herald is a perfect card for the deck: indispensable threshold fixing early game (when you need it most) and can usually poke in for a few points of damage while your opponent is tunneling, or will be traded early after you've gotten a useful ability out of her.  One of the problems with inspire troops is you are often reluctant to block with them so that you can keep abusing their effect.  After turn four, the Herald becomes a 3/1, which adds more potential to alpha strikes if she has survived that long.

Other Royal troops to look out for around this time is the Royal Enforcer (a 5/5 with steadfast in tri-shard decks), Royal Cutblood (a fragile 3-drop that is nonetheless incredibly difficult to race if your opponent cannot kill it or you can protect it), and Royal Diplomat, which might be my favorite uncommon in Shattered Destiny.  The Diplomat is just so devastating to play against, and has seemed to cause my opponents fits when it hits the field.  With Gems and Rowan's pump he is a 4/4 Steadfast-Swiftstrike-Flight, which is incredibly difficult to play around.  He resists a large chunk of conditional removal and can single-handedly stop your opponent's assault.  I managed to snag one in pack two alongside a Sword Trainer in pack three.  In one game I played Augmented Awakening on the Trainer which had died earlier in the game (now a 5/4 post Rowan/AA) and played the Diplomat on the following turn making it a 9/4!  That's the kind of diplomatic power John Kerry dreams of.

There are other beefy bodies you'll want to be on the lookout for.  Bastion of Adamanth is really good at locking down your opponent's biggest troop to push through some damage.  Wounded War Hero doesn't look all that impressive, but if you get him out on the first turn he can quikly snowball out of control.  Town Crier is a card I was dubious about initially, but the draw ability can win you the game in some situations, and his stats look much better with the extra point of attack.  Removal is somewhat limited in the first two packs.  Crackling Bolt and Meek are the most frequently seen cards, though Boulder Toss (if you can snag one) and Adrenaline Rush are equally powerful options.  After that you should focus on threshold fixing through the uncommon shards or Herald (Immortal Tears if you have to), and rounding out your curve.  Pack three can be rough depending on how you open, but between the three shards there's usually a good pick somewhere in there (the Royal rule applies here too, if you're lucky enough).  Prioritize good, cheap removal and inspire/evasion troops.  Shards of Fate and Adaptable Infusion Device can be godsends if you're feeling iffy about your fixing, though the Shards of Fate doesn't provide you with the ever important charge for Rowan, so exercise caution.  Benjamin is also a bomb in the human deck that could reasonably be passed to you within the first few picks.  Getting him online early could lead to insurmountable card advantage.

Here's the full draft deck for reference so you can see what a Human deck might look like.

Champion: Sir Giles Rowan
Shards (17)
8 Diamond Shard
5 Sapphire Shard
2 Ruby Shard
1 Shards of Fate
1 Shard of Innovation
Troops (18)
1 Royal Valkyr
1 Launchpad Specialist
1 Royal Diplomat (Flight/Swiftstrike)
1 Bastion of Adamanth
1 Phoenix Guard Aeronaut (Swiftstrike)
1 Subterranean Spy
1 Town Crier
1 Sword Trainer
1 Prophet of Wren
1 Chimera Guard Outrider
2 Royal Herald
1 Agent of MOLE
1 Imp Hoodlums
1 Phoenix Guard Trainer
1 Phoenix Guard Scout
1 Reactor Bot
1 Arena Regular
Actions (4)
1 Augmented Awakening
1 Ruby Lance
1 Meek
1 Diamond Aura*
Artifacts (1)
1 Adaptable Infusion Device
*I'm pretty sure I didn't start Diamond Aura, but I can't for the life of me remember the 40th card and I know I boarded it in frequently.

Next week I'll be doing a State of the Game article and (hopefully) video to overview the year of Hex and what we can expect from the game this winter.  If I actually get a couple days off, I'll try to stream a draft if I get a chance since it was requeste.  Also make sure you log in to the game between now and January 4th for your chance to get the Holiday Sleeves.  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Card Images from Hex TCG Browser

Liberating Eldon

As readers of this blog will know, I love me some transforming cards.  It's a simple mechanic, but a broad one that highlights the benefits of working in a digital design space.  Shards of Fate came packed with cards that transform, including two cycles of transforming cards that spanned across all five shards.  The first cycle, the Incantations, are easy enough to recognize since the name jumps out at you.  The other cycle requires a more discerning eye to catch.  It's comprised of five rares that "level up" twice, similar to how a Charmander would level up into a Charmeleon and eventually a Charizard. 

For each member of this cycle you start with a card that is slightly underwhelming for its cost, but that has the promise to become something amazing.  On one end of the spectrum you have cards that get gradually better over time, like Kindling Skarn or Hop'hiro Samurai.  On the other end you have cards which get a huge dip in power like Giant Caterpillar and Ascetic Aspirant, which require you to wait out the second stage before they reach their ultimate forms.  Then there's Eldon's Distress Signal, the intriguing oddball of the group.  While the others all start off as Troops, EDS starts off as a Constant in its first stage, requiring you to exhaust three troops to transform it to the second stage, which is a troop, but can't engage in combat (though he can cast some limited magic from his prison cell).  This execution makes the "transform" mechanic of EDS feel less like a Pokémon you have to level up and more like a Quest, assembling a team of to find the imprisoned mage and coordinate an attack to free him!  It's also a deceptively difficult quest to pull off in competitive play, since board wipes run rampant in Constructed and alpha strikes can be difficult to coordinate in limited.  The pay off for Liberating Eldon is worth it though, essentially giving all of your troops a Prime Sapphire of Mind.  In the months I have played Hex I've never been able to free the mage outside of random matches against the AI, until he found a spot in a deck I drafted not too long ago...

Liberating Eldon
Champion: Palamedes, The Righteous
Troops [16]
1x Malfunctioning War Bot
1x Phoenix Guard Scout
1x Effigy of Nulzann [Sky]
2x Buccaneer
1x Phoenix Guard Trainer
1x Quick Strider
1x Wind Whisperer
1x Devoted Emissary
1x Archmage Wrenlocke
1x Noble Citizenry
1x Ascetic Aspirant 
1x Stoneclaw Gargoyle
1x Mistborn Wendigo [Duty]
2x Phoenix Guard Aeronaut [Duty]
Other [7]
1x Peek
3x Repel
1x Eldon's Distress Signal
1x Oracle Song
1x Countermagic
Shards [17]
9x Sapphire Shard
8x Diamond Shard

I won't go too much into the actual draft, suffice to say it's always nice to crack an Archmage Wrenlocke in your first pack.  Most removal cards are actions, so prioritizing Repels allowed me to decide fairly early on Diamond-Sapphire, a powerful draft combo featuring the bulkiest flying troops.  Diamond turned out to be a good choice since the Aspriant was waiting for me in my second pack.  EDS came pick 4 or 5 of Pack 2, which is surprising to me since it can be game-breaking if left unchecked.  

Eldon plays a bit clunky and even though his abilities all fit thematically, they're a bit of a mechanical mish-mash when rolled into a card.  As such, he has a habit of being a misplay magnet, where there is some aspect of the card players will forget or overlook.  At one point my opponent had a Feral Ogre on the board to my Eldon the Imprisoned and Phoenix Guard Scout, and an exhausted Quick Strider.  I had no resources available for a trick, so with only a 1/3 there was little reason to hold the Ogre back from attacking, but seeing a 2/4 on my side, he kept his Ogre back, forgetting that Eldon is under Inner Conflict so long as he remains in jail.  There was also a moment in one of my matches where my opponent attacked with a 4/1 Thunderbird into my team of four troops + EDS.  I exhausted three to transform into Eldon the Imprisoned, then gave a Swiftstriking Wendigo Flight to shut down the Thunderbird.  (He later got revenge in another game by playing Crushing Blow on a Thunderbird in a similar exchange).  One of the reasons I think there are so many misplays surrounding Eldon is that he plays much different in all of his forms.  Where card like Kindling Skarn stays relatively consistent and just scales up in power, Eldon goes from being a completely useless Constant, to a Murder-able Flight Machine, to a card draw engine.

There were two moments during the draft where both of my Aspriant and EDS each reached their Ultimate state.  I liberated Eldon against Dwarves, coming through with a Devoted Emissary, Phoenix Guard Aeronaut, and one of the Coyotle.  Eldon's freedom didn't last long though, a Ruby Lance for 4 shot him out of the air the following turn.  It was a tragedy, but at least he died getting to taste one last moment of freedom.  The monk of the cloister got to achieve Transcended status in my first match.  While this alone is generally enough to lock a victory, my deck was made it somehow even more broken with Wrenlocke.  My opponent attacked with two troops to which I responded with Repel, searching up another Repel with Wrenlocke's draw, playing the second Repel, and then searching up the third with the draw from that.  I did not envy my opponent, but it was pretty cool to pull off a Legendary-Rare combo in draft.  He did manage to play Inner Conflict on The Transcended, but that didn't stop his effect of letting me tutor up whatever I needed to put away the game.  

I ended up winning the draft, 6-2 on games.  The overall deck was lacking a lot of the heft you might expect from a Sapphire-Diamond deck. Sky'le Griffin and Mystic of the Tranquil Dream were noticeably absent, as were Inner Conflict and Mesmerize.  The curve and Troop count was solid, and Noble Citizenry & Palamedes was able to push my 3 power Aeronauts to aerial domination strength.  

Evaluating Eldon

Eldon is a fairly strong card in limited for his ability to unclog a board.  Flying-on-Demand can be particularly helpful for getting bulkier troops with no evasion off the ground.  The fact this ability is on Eldon's Imprisoned stage is crucial, since it makes the card good enough to play without you having to worry about it reaching the final form.  For Constructed the ability to give something Flight for 2 is much weaker and does not justify including it in a deck, so you have to look at his final form and how to reach it.  This is what presents the greatest problem: for one of your turns you are essentially skipping your attack phase to get EDS to Eldon Imprisoned, and then the next turn (or one of the turns soon after) you need to deal damage with three troops.  Often times being able to coordinate a safe attack with three troops means you're already in control of the game, so the inclusion of Eldon seems like a way to win-more, a trap new players often fall into when building a deck.  On top of that, Eldon Liberated's card-draw ability only effects your troops that are dealing damage after you've already freed him, meaning the most powerful effect won't become active until you've gone through three entire turns with your army on the field.  The ability to dodge that much removal should itself win you that game, making Eldon an unnecessary addition to most Constructed decks.    

However, looking ahead to Set 2 and beyond, there might be some interesting uses for EDS.  While his effect doesn't fit decks that have average sized troops, it does seem to fit well with swarm decks that generate multiple smaller troops (typically 1/1).  A Shin'hare deck can easily generate enough Battle Hoppers to find Eldon, and later in the game an Evolve or Command Tower would let them actually deal damage.  Getting three of your Hopper militia through shouldn't be too difficult with the numbers they churn out.  Eldon also doesn't specify combat damage has to be dealt to trigger the transformation or card draw on his final form, so a card like Malfunctioning War Bot or a troop with Dwarven Ballistics Training could be a way to subvert the attack phase altogether and play in the reactionary style that Sapphire is so fluent.

Finally, Eldon might find a cozy home in PvE alongside the Mercenary Ashahsa.  The mercenary, which is currently available from the Wheels of Fate, lets you put a Windbourne Acolyte directly into play for three charges.  Her passive lets you draw a card when three or more troops you control with flying attack.  Since triggering this Passive coordinates nicely with liberating Eldon, and both would work well from a deck that ran small, efficient Sapphire Troops with Flight, EDS could find a nice home alongside Ashahsa in the second phase of the Arena, when  mercenaries will first become active.  While this still doesn't fix the weakness that these decks have to mass removal, cards like Countermagic and Fish Hands might be enough for a Sapphire based tempo deck to answer board wipes like Extinction and Heat Wave.  

The most vexing question of all surrounding Eldon might be what exactly his story is.  Was he a fellow scholar of Cerulea who was ambushed by the Underworld and locked away?  Was he an obsessed and manic mage who was banished from human lands to an isolated cell atop a frozen mountain?  Flavor text is noticeably absent from every form of Eldon, begging the questions surrounding the nature of his imprisonment and his plans following his liberation.