To those of you who once read these posts, I feel I must apologize. I no longer have the time to update this site with weekly articles, much less play the game they were based on.
Maybe someday in the future I'll be able to bring this back, but for the foreseeable future, this blog is inactive.
The Cold Shoulder (Mages, Pt. III)
I've covered the arcane and fire abilities that mages bring to the table, but some of the most interesting and frustrating abilities in the game are in the mage's frost category.
As with Litori and the fire abilities highlighted last time, Ta'zo has access to most of the abilities I'll talk about this time. Litori Frostburn's flip ability gives us a taste of how the mage's icy abilities work. For only two resources, you can prevent an ally or hero from attacking for a turn. On the grand scale of things, her ability is little more than a last-ditch effort at keeping herself or an ally alive. However, when you add in the other frost abilities that mages can use, it goes from being a last-ditch effort to being a way of life.
Frostbolt is a well rounded card, dealing a moderate amount of damage and adding an effect that locks the opposition in place. Of course, its targets can still use abilities or powers, so long as they don't include that character attacking. Frost Nova does almost the exact same thing, however it spreads the effect over the entire field and, unless your opponent has something ready to stop the Nova or prevent the damage. Most importantly, you can use either of these abilities in response to an attack, stopping the attack and doing a little damage in return.
Winter's Grasp is one of, if not the best card in the mage's repertoire for stopping the opposition. Play one of these each turn for your third through seventh turns and your opponent will be unable to attack until the late game... either that or they'll be unable to put more reinforcements on the field. This is also a really good way to counter characters with ferocity, as your opponents will have to wait longer than usual due to that extra one or two resources to attack right after they drop their allies. Brain Freeze is a frost ability that locks your opponent in a different way from the other frost cards. As an instant ability that only lasts one turn, you can play the card during your opponent's turn in the priority window between readying and drawing their card, meaning that you deny them that extra card and prevent them from using any quests or other powers or abilities to draw cards. After a few turns, the advantage becomes significant as you'll continue getting fresh options in your hand while your opponent will be stuck with the same old things.
Cold Snap is what gives Litori Frostburn an edge over her troll counterpart, Ta'zo. By being able to recycle her control cards, she's able to play them many more times than she would otherwise. With a well-timed Cold Snap, you could get one copy of each of your other frost abilities out of your graveyard and turn around and Frost Nova the opponent's army. The catch is that you can only use each Cold Snap once before it's removed from the game, so it's important to make the most of them.
With the arcane, fire, and frost abilities all at a mage's disposal, they make a very formidable opponent. However every class has a flaw and it's only a matter of time before the mage's flaw is found.
As with Litori and the fire abilities highlighted last time, Ta'zo has access to most of the abilities I'll talk about this time. Litori Frostburn's flip ability gives us a taste of how the mage's icy abilities work. For only two resources, you can prevent an ally or hero from attacking for a turn. On the grand scale of things, her ability is little more than a last-ditch effort at keeping herself or an ally alive. However, when you add in the other frost abilities that mages can use, it goes from being a last-ditch effort to being a way of life.
Frostbolt is a well rounded card, dealing a moderate amount of damage and adding an effect that locks the opposition in place. Of course, its targets can still use abilities or powers, so long as they don't include that character attacking. Frost Nova does almost the exact same thing, however it spreads the effect over the entire field and, unless your opponent has something ready to stop the Nova or prevent the damage. Most importantly, you can use either of these abilities in response to an attack, stopping the attack and doing a little damage in return.
Winter's Grasp is one of, if not the best card in the mage's repertoire for stopping the opposition. Play one of these each turn for your third through seventh turns and your opponent will be unable to attack until the late game... either that or they'll be unable to put more reinforcements on the field. This is also a really good way to counter characters with ferocity, as your opponents will have to wait longer than usual due to that extra one or two resources to attack right after they drop their allies. Brain Freeze is a frost ability that locks your opponent in a different way from the other frost cards. As an instant ability that only lasts one turn, you can play the card during your opponent's turn in the priority window between readying and drawing their card, meaning that you deny them that extra card and prevent them from using any quests or other powers or abilities to draw cards. After a few turns, the advantage becomes significant as you'll continue getting fresh options in your hand while your opponent will be stuck with the same old things.
Cold Snap is what gives Litori Frostburn an edge over her troll counterpart, Ta'zo. By being able to recycle her control cards, she's able to play them many more times than she would otherwise. With a well-timed Cold Snap, you could get one copy of each of your other frost abilities out of your graveyard and turn around and Frost Nova the opponent's army. The catch is that you can only use each Cold Snap once before it's removed from the game, so it's important to make the most of them.
With the arcane, fire, and frost abilities all at a mage's disposal, they make a very formidable opponent. However every class has a flaw and it's only a matter of time before the mage's flaw is found.
Playing With Fire (Mages, Pt. II)
Last time, I talked about the arcane abilities that mage's have available to them. While those abilities are impressive, they aren't really a problem as far as damage dealing goes. When it comes to doing damage, the mage's fire abilities are the way to go.
While Litori Frostburn can still use most of the fire abilities, Ta'zo is designed to dish out fire damage. His flip ability and his access to Pyroblast mean that he can dish out significantly more damage in a game than Litori Frostburn. So let's take a look at what Ta'zo would have in his arsenal.
Mages are the only class that can deal damage with an ability during the first turn. In fact, aside from Kagra of the Crossroads Fire Blast is the only way to deal damage on the first turn. While being the first to play may be considered a handicap, mages can use it to their advantage to get in a quick hit that is guaranteed to land. The mage's power also translates into the late game, when your opponent three or four allies on the field. Flamestrike is the perfect response to a field full of opposing allies. Granted, it costs seven resources, so you have to devote a high number of resources to the assault, but when a large number of enemy allies have three health or less, it's a guaranteed sweep. Unless you're playing against another mage with Counterspell or a warrior with Shield Bash, Flamestrike will force your opponent to discard a few allies, tilting the field advantage in your favor.
Fireball and Pyroblast are very similar cards. Both deal a decent amount of damage and add a long-term effect which can quickly accumulate to wipe out even the most heavily armored opponent. The only problem with these cards is their high cost. However, so long as you hold a few Counterspells to keep your opponent from interrupting or destroying them later on, the investment is definitely worthwhile. Especially when you add in the next and final card that every hot-headed mage should count on.
This card needs no explanation. As with Pyroblast, the cost is a little prohibitive, but the long-term results are very effective. More importantly, you can have up to four World in Flames in play at a time. This means that your hero's abilities that deal fire damage will do two, four, eight, or even sixteen times their regular amount of damage. Of course, that top-end result requires an investment of 32 resources, but after you've played it, a single Fire Blast deals the same amount of damage. Fireballs would initially deal 64 damage, and if that weren't enough to knock out a hero in a single blow, stop and congratulate your opponent on doing the impossible, then remind them that you'll be adding another sixteen damage to them at the start of each of your turns.
If the offensive capabilities of mages and their arcane manipulations aren't enough to worry you, keep an eye open for the next post, where I'll cover the icy disposition of mages and some of their field-freezing tricks.
While Litori Frostburn can still use most of the fire abilities, Ta'zo is designed to dish out fire damage. His flip ability and his access to Pyroblast mean that he can dish out significantly more damage in a game than Litori Frostburn. So let's take a look at what Ta'zo would have in his arsenal.
Mages are the only class that can deal damage with an ability during the first turn. In fact, aside from Kagra of the Crossroads Fire Blast is the only way to deal damage on the first turn. While being the first to play may be considered a handicap, mages can use it to their advantage to get in a quick hit that is guaranteed to land. The mage's power also translates into the late game, when your opponent three or four allies on the field. Flamestrike is the perfect response to a field full of opposing allies. Granted, it costs seven resources, so you have to devote a high number of resources to the assault, but when a large number of enemy allies have three health or less, it's a guaranteed sweep. Unless you're playing against another mage with Counterspell or a warrior with Shield Bash, Flamestrike will force your opponent to discard a few allies, tilting the field advantage in your favor.
Fireball and Pyroblast are very similar cards. Both deal a decent amount of damage and add a long-term effect which can quickly accumulate to wipe out even the most heavily armored opponent. The only problem with these cards is their high cost. However, so long as you hold a few Counterspells to keep your opponent from interrupting or destroying them later on, the investment is definitely worthwhile. Especially when you add in the next and final card that every hot-headed mage should count on.
This card needs no explanation. As with Pyroblast, the cost is a little prohibitive, but the long-term results are very effective. More importantly, you can have up to four World in Flames in play at a time. This means that your hero's abilities that deal fire damage will do two, four, eight, or even sixteen times their regular amount of damage. Of course, that top-end result requires an investment of 32 resources, but after you've played it, a single Fire Blast deals the same amount of damage. Fireballs would initially deal 64 damage, and if that weren't enough to knock out a hero in a single blow, stop and congratulate your opponent on doing the impossible, then remind them that you'll be adding another sixteen damage to them at the start of each of your turns.
If the offensive capabilities of mages and their arcane manipulations aren't enough to worry you, keep an eye open for the next post, where I'll cover the icy disposition of mages and some of their field-freezing tricks.
Understanding the Arcane (Mages, Pt. I)
When it comes to mages, the World of Warcraft website says it all.
A quick glance at the mage's abilities shows a huge amount of versatility. Everything from increasing your hand size to stopping the opposition from attacking to blasting the whole field with huge amounts of damage. Moreover, mages have one of the only two interrupts currently in the game, meaning they are able to stop things that most other classes simply have to swallow. That said, let's take a look at the arcane side of the mage's playbook and what you should expect when you see a mage across the table from you.
Arcane Intellect is a perfect example of the power behind a mage. While most heroes are limited to seven cards in their hand mages easily reach ten, thirteen, or even as many as nineteen cards in their hand. Needless to say, having more than twice as many cards as your opponent obviously allows you an similar expansion of options. Mana Agate isn't necessarily the best card drawing tool in the game, as some quests can give you a similar result for a lower cost. However, since you can only have four copies of the card-drawing quests in your deck, the ability to add another four cards to the card drawing engine is significant, and for a mage that uses Arcane Intellect, card drawing is vastly important.
While mages are obviously good at increasing their options, they're also notoriously low on health, making them very vulnerable to attack. While their card represenations only have one less health than the priests in the game, mages are actually very good at eluding combat.
Blink gives you an additional card boost and instantly prevents a combat from happening. While it won't save them from a large mass of attacking allies, it can prevent the final blow and give the mage a chance to recuperate and lash out with his (or her) own powers. Polymorph is also extremely useful in preventing combat as the ongoing ability turns even the fiercest ally into a harmless sheep. While it can be dispelled or burnt away, Polymorph is good for negating protectors or stopping a game-winning ally from performing.
Finally the mage's game changing card. While most players have to wait for an ability to enter play with its ongoing text, mages have the advantage of being able to stop any ability, ongoing or otherwise. This is a significant advantage when facing abilities that aren't ongoing, such as Vanquish or Face Smash. Even better, the only way a Counterspell will fail is if your opponent plays a Counterspell of their own or plays the warrior's Shield Bash, meaning that you can stop most opponents whenever you want.
That's it for the arcane mage abilities. Check back next time for a look at the mage's fiery temper.
"Mages wield the elements of fire, frost, and the arcane to destroy or neutralize their enemies. They are a robed class that excels at dealing massive damage from afar, casting elemental bolts at a single target, or raining destruction down upon their enemies in a wide area of effect. Mages can also augment their allies' spell-casting powers, summon food or drink to restore their friends, and even travel across the world in an instant by opening arcane portals to distant lands.
When seeking someone to introduce monsters to a world of pain, the mage is a good choice. With their elemental and arcane attacks, it's a safe bet something they can do won't be resisted by your chosen enemy. Damage is the name of the mage game, and they do it well. Their arsenal includes some powerful crowd control spells, also, giving them the ability to keep hordes at bay -- in fact, these abilities can be used on the most common creatures in the game, thus making them extremely valuable for this purpose."
A quick glance at the mage's abilities shows a huge amount of versatility. Everything from increasing your hand size to stopping the opposition from attacking to blasting the whole field with huge amounts of damage. Moreover, mages have one of the only two interrupts currently in the game, meaning they are able to stop things that most other classes simply have to swallow. That said, let's take a look at the arcane side of the mage's playbook and what you should expect when you see a mage across the table from you.
Arcane Intellect is a perfect example of the power behind a mage. While most heroes are limited to seven cards in their hand mages easily reach ten, thirteen, or even as many as nineteen cards in their hand. Needless to say, having more than twice as many cards as your opponent obviously allows you an similar expansion of options. Mana Agate isn't necessarily the best card drawing tool in the game, as some quests can give you a similar result for a lower cost. However, since you can only have four copies of the card-drawing quests in your deck, the ability to add another four cards to the card drawing engine is significant, and for a mage that uses Arcane Intellect, card drawing is vastly important.
While mages are obviously good at increasing their options, they're also notoriously low on health, making them very vulnerable to attack. While their card represenations only have one less health than the priests in the game, mages are actually very good at eluding combat.
Blink gives you an additional card boost and instantly prevents a combat from happening. While it won't save them from a large mass of attacking allies, it can prevent the final blow and give the mage a chance to recuperate and lash out with his (or her) own powers. Polymorph is also extremely useful in preventing combat as the ongoing ability turns even the fiercest ally into a harmless sheep. While it can be dispelled or burnt away, Polymorph is good for negating protectors or stopping a game-winning ally from performing.
Finally the mage's game changing card. While most players have to wait for an ability to enter play with its ongoing text, mages have the advantage of being able to stop any ability, ongoing or otherwise. This is a significant advantage when facing abilities that aren't ongoing, such as Vanquish or Face Smash. Even better, the only way a Counterspell will fail is if your opponent plays a Counterspell of their own or plays the warrior's Shield Bash, meaning that you can stop most opponents whenever you want.
That's it for the arcane mage abilities. Check back next time for a look at the mage's fiery temper.
Holier Than Thou
Previously, I looked at the face-melting benefits of Shadowform. However it would seem from many player comments that face-melting is all a priest is good for. Today I'm going to talk about how they fit into their more stereotypical role... healing. Natural healers, the priests who focus on their more holy attributes have a longevity that's hard to beat. Boris Brightbeard exemplifies this aspect of priestdom very well.
While Boris isn't the natural born damage dealer that Omedus is, his ability to heal himself and his allies on the field is second to none. Using his flip ability, he can efficiently heal any amount of damage from any hero or ally, provided you have a number of resources available equal to the amount you wish to heal. And that's just the beginning of Boris' healing spree.
While Omedus tended to avoid using holy abilities, in order to keep Shadowform in play, Boris can thrive on them. With Spiritual Healing in play, Boris can heal multiple allies or heroes with every holy ability he plays. Playing all four Spiritual Healings in your deck would allow you to heal eight damage from your party every time you used one of your holy abilities... some of which may have been healing effects themselves. With Flash Heal and Spiritual Healing combined, Boris can heal one ally or hero for six damage or heal four from one and two from another, all for a cost of one resource played instantly whenever it's most convenient for you... or inconvenient for your opponent, as the case may be.
However, our dwarven priest doesn't have to spend all of his time and effort on healing abilities. With Chastise, you can stop to deal some damage (unpreventable damage, I might add) to your opponent, or you could choose to play Resurrection and revive a much needed ally. The former allows you to sneak past armors or other abilities that might stop your party from doing damage. The latter, though, is very interesting. With Resurrection you can revive an ally "... if its cost is less than or equal to the number of resources you have." This means that you can revive an ally with any cost, even if all of your resources are exhausted after playing Resurrection. It also works well with allies like Acolyte Demia, who would cost more to revive than she does to play from your hand, preserving your resources for other expenses such as her damage-dealing ability.
I haven't focused on them here, but other abilities that trigger Spiritual Healing are Heal, Prayer of Healing, and Smite. All of those cards can be worthwhile in certain situations, but they tend to be less useful than the Holy abilities touched on earlier.
It's also important to remember that Boris still has access to the Shadow abilities that Omedus abuses with the exception of Shadowform. Therefore, while he lacks the full effect of the undead priest's increased damage, his ability to heal makes him just as worthy an adversary, if you take full advantage of it. It's just plain hard for your opponent to win when they can't even kill your allies... much less your healing hero.
While Boris isn't the natural born damage dealer that Omedus is, his ability to heal himself and his allies on the field is second to none. Using his flip ability, he can efficiently heal any amount of damage from any hero or ally, provided you have a number of resources available equal to the amount you wish to heal. And that's just the beginning of Boris' healing spree.
While Omedus tended to avoid using holy abilities, in order to keep Shadowform in play, Boris can thrive on them. With Spiritual Healing in play, Boris can heal multiple allies or heroes with every holy ability he plays. Playing all four Spiritual Healings in your deck would allow you to heal eight damage from your party every time you used one of your holy abilities... some of which may have been healing effects themselves. With Flash Heal and Spiritual Healing combined, Boris can heal one ally or hero for six damage or heal four from one and two from another, all for a cost of one resource played instantly whenever it's most convenient for you... or inconvenient for your opponent, as the case may be.
However, our dwarven priest doesn't have to spend all of his time and effort on healing abilities. With Chastise, you can stop to deal some damage (unpreventable damage, I might add) to your opponent, or you could choose to play Resurrection and revive a much needed ally. The former allows you to sneak past armors or other abilities that might stop your party from doing damage. The latter, though, is very interesting. With Resurrection you can revive an ally "... if its cost is less than or equal to the number of resources you have." This means that you can revive an ally with any cost, even if all of your resources are exhausted after playing Resurrection. It also works well with allies like Acolyte Demia, who would cost more to revive than she does to play from your hand, preserving your resources for other expenses such as her damage-dealing ability.
I haven't focused on them here, but other abilities that trigger Spiritual Healing are Heal, Prayer of Healing, and Smite. All of those cards can be worthwhile in certain situations, but they tend to be less useful than the Holy abilities touched on earlier.
It's also important to remember that Boris still has access to the Shadow abilities that Omedus abuses with the exception of Shadowform. Therefore, while he lacks the full effect of the undead priest's increased damage, his ability to heal makes him just as worthy an adversary, if you take full advantage of it. It's just plain hard for your opponent to win when they can't even kill your allies... much less your healing hero.
Let Loose the Cards of War
While this game has a large amount of strategy involved in how you choose your cards build your deck, the one thing that can make or break every game is how you play the game. For instance, if you haphazardly drop allies every turn and forget to build up your resources, you're going to run out of gas before you ever cause any real damage to your opponent. Inversely, if you were to drop a resource every turn, even when you don't have a quest in hand, you could end up wasting a very useful card simply to play a sub par card ally. So how do you strike a balance and make the most of your resources every turn of the game? Not without a lot of careful thought.
It's a Secret to Everybody is probably the best first-turn stand-alone quest. It doesn't require any other action and it gives you the advantage of controlling your next draw when you would be doing nothing otherwise. While you may have to make a tough choice between the three cards you get to see, the ability to plan one turn ahead of your opponent can be a huge advantage. A Donation of Wool, on the other hand, can capitalize on a poor opening hand or on effects that use cards in the graveyard (Eviscerate and Ophelia Barrows are a couple cards that could take advantage of an early discard). The card also gives you an added option in your first turn which means that you cycle one more card in your first turn than your opponent expected. It's a seemingly small tradeoff for a negligible advantage, but during the early game, every little bit can help.
However, rather than playing and using a quest immediately, there are a few allies, abilities, and equipments that could also be very useful in starting the game in your favor.
While the Alliance lacks some of the overly offensive allies that the Horde has access to, it does feature the elusive ability. Apprentice Teep and Warden Tonarin are both good choices for a first-turn ally. The apprentice doesn't have enough health to survive much combat, however she's ideal for putting a little damage on the opposing hero in the early game before your opponent gets a protector on the field. Of course, Warden Tonarin is a perfect answer to the gnome (provided your opponent is playing Alliance as well). With just enough attack power to stop the apprentice, Warden also shares her ability to sit on the field and stare down the enemy without fear of being attacked. Granted, both of these allies are vulnerable to abilities, but any allies your opponent can put on the table will have no choice but to wait for you to make a move.
Agent Elrond has already summarized the best first turn allies that the Horde can use in his piece titled Happy With The Horde pt. 1. I'd suggest looking that over for a few ideas on how to open with Horde allies.
While there is a decent number of abilities that can be played on the first turn, the two that most stand out are the Warlock's Fear and the Warrior's Rend. Both are good opening abilities. Fear can send your opponent's allies back into their hand, ideally played when your opponent opens with an ally that costs one resource to play. If you find yourself facing Apprentice Teep or some other cheap ally before you're ready to deal with them, Fear can buy you a little more time. Rend, on the other hand, is perfect as an opening play as it starts the damage flowing on your opponent before they can mount an offensive. By the fifth turn, with only a single Rend in play, you can knock even the strongest hero down by a sixth of their health... and that isn't taking allies or other abilities that you may play into account.
While there are a few pieces of equipment that could also be mentioned, none of them are particularly spectacular for the first turn and may not even be useful for the early game at all, though I'm sure some decks could take advantage of them, given the right circumstances.
It's a Secret to Everybody is probably the best first-turn stand-alone quest. It doesn't require any other action and it gives you the advantage of controlling your next draw when you would be doing nothing otherwise. While you may have to make a tough choice between the three cards you get to see, the ability to plan one turn ahead of your opponent can be a huge advantage. A Donation of Wool, on the other hand, can capitalize on a poor opening hand or on effects that use cards in the graveyard (Eviscerate and Ophelia Barrows are a couple cards that could take advantage of an early discard). The card also gives you an added option in your first turn which means that you cycle one more card in your first turn than your opponent expected. It's a seemingly small tradeoff for a negligible advantage, but during the early game, every little bit can help.
However, rather than playing and using a quest immediately, there are a few allies, abilities, and equipments that could also be very useful in starting the game in your favor.
While the Alliance lacks some of the overly offensive allies that the Horde has access to, it does feature the elusive ability. Apprentice Teep and Warden Tonarin are both good choices for a first-turn ally. The apprentice doesn't have enough health to survive much combat, however she's ideal for putting a little damage on the opposing hero in the early game before your opponent gets a protector on the field. Of course, Warden Tonarin is a perfect answer to the gnome (provided your opponent is playing Alliance as well). With just enough attack power to stop the apprentice, Warden also shares her ability to sit on the field and stare down the enemy without fear of being attacked. Granted, both of these allies are vulnerable to abilities, but any allies your opponent can put on the table will have no choice but to wait for you to make a move.
Agent Elrond has already summarized the best first turn allies that the Horde can use in his piece titled Happy With The Horde pt. 1. I'd suggest looking that over for a few ideas on how to open with Horde allies.
While there is a decent number of abilities that can be played on the first turn, the two that most stand out are the Warlock's Fear and the Warrior's Rend. Both are good opening abilities. Fear can send your opponent's allies back into their hand, ideally played when your opponent opens with an ally that costs one resource to play. If you find yourself facing Apprentice Teep or some other cheap ally before you're ready to deal with them, Fear can buy you a little more time. Rend, on the other hand, is perfect as an opening play as it starts the damage flowing on your opponent before they can mount an offensive. By the fifth turn, with only a single Rend in play, you can knock even the strongest hero down by a sixth of their health... and that isn't taking allies or other abilities that you may play into account.
While there are a few pieces of equipment that could also be mentioned, none of them are particularly spectacular for the first turn and may not even be useful for the early game at all, though I'm sure some decks could take advantage of them, given the right circumstances.
Happy with the Horde, pt 1
Ok... the name sounds... 'funny'. Meh, it's the best I can come up with at the moment, I'm not too good with titles.
So anyway... basically, to sum this article up into one sentence: Horde allies rock.
A few weeks ago I never would have found myself saying that. The first two decks I had were Warrax (from the starter) and then Graccus (with some borrowed cards). These decks were the first of many that followed a simple trend. I never touched the Horde. In fact, I didn't even consider playing them, didn't even look over the cards.
Wow... that was dumb.
It took playing against Dr. Device's Horde Priest deck that showed me the error of my ways. The allies were so well put together, complementing eachother defensively while providing a far superior offense than anything I had been able to muster on the Alliance side. And so, I began to look closer at the Horde.
Early game, the Horde allies jump out of the gates with a, dare I say it, Ferocity unmatched by the Alliance. Take these two, for instance. 1 resource cost for some darn good units. Kagra helps you get started on the right foot by coming out and instantly being able to attack. Not only that, but she has a higher survival rate of the lower costed Alliance allies (Like Warden Tonarin for instance...) because of her health. 2 May not seem too great, but early in the game, it's the difference between life and death.
Our other early game lead-card is Ka'tali Stonetusk. You want to talk about putting the meatshield, Warden Tonarin to shame, this is it. 1 cost for a 1/2 Protector is decent in and of itself, but it's his ability to heal himself that makes him useful early on. This is great early on, though after turn 3, his healing ability becomes practically useless, as most of the time things will be able to do 2 damage...
Our next two early game cards are primarily utility, boosting the attack power of your units. This means that while you may not want to play a Ka'Tali Stonetusk on turn 6, you would still want to consider these guys.
Elder Moorf is one that makes it into most of my horde decks. At first glance, his ability is pretty nice, but when looking at it closer, it just gets better and better. The first thing to note here is that his ability does not cause him to tap, meaning he can still attack and use the ability. (This also means that he can use the ability on the turn he came out) The second thing to notice is that he can use his ability on himself. So, if he's the only one out, he's not entirely useless.
Zorm Stonefury's text makes him an absolute must for rush decks. 2 cost for a static +1 Atk for all your allies. He doesn't tap for this, doesn't pay any cost, it's just there. Put this guy behind a few of your protectors and watch him shine. Now, to the muscle...
These guys are the beginning of the backbone of your deck. Their relatively low cost allows you to play them fairly early on in the game, while their mid-range atk keeps them viable even to the end of the game.
Vesh'ral is a great card for rush decks. Sure, he may not have a lot of health, but throw him out there and pump him up with Elder Moorf and he can do some serious damage before your opponent takes him out. Also, if you have some decent protectors out, you won't have a problem keeping him alive.
Benethor at first doesn't seem very appealing. No printed text, just stats, typically makes cards pretty lackluster-seeming to some. However, Benethor can be quite powerful. 3 resources for a 4/2 is not something to sneer at, especially if you have cards like Moorf and Stonefury to pump him up.
I hope this has been informative. Look for the second part of this article soon, where we'll take a closer look at those mid-late game cards that provide you with more of a defensive option, while leaving offensive capability relatively unharmed.
So anyway... basically, to sum this article up into one sentence: Horde allies rock.
A few weeks ago I never would have found myself saying that. The first two decks I had were Warrax (from the starter) and then Graccus (with some borrowed cards). These decks were the first of many that followed a simple trend. I never touched the Horde. In fact, I didn't even consider playing them, didn't even look over the cards.
Wow... that was dumb.
It took playing against Dr. Device's Horde Priest deck that showed me the error of my ways. The allies were so well put together, complementing eachother defensively while providing a far superior offense than anything I had been able to muster on the Alliance side. And so, I began to look closer at the Horde.
Early game, the Horde allies jump out of the gates with a, dare I say it, Ferocity unmatched by the Alliance. Take these two, for instance. 1 resource cost for some darn good units. Kagra helps you get started on the right foot by coming out and instantly being able to attack. Not only that, but she has a higher survival rate of the lower costed Alliance allies (Like Warden Tonarin for instance...) because of her health. 2 May not seem too great, but early in the game, it's the difference between life and death.
Our other early game lead-card is Ka'tali Stonetusk. You want to talk about putting the meatshield, Warden Tonarin to shame, this is it. 1 cost for a 1/2 Protector is decent in and of itself, but it's his ability to heal himself that makes him useful early on. This is great early on, though after turn 3, his healing ability becomes practically useless, as most of the time things will be able to do 2 damage...
Our next two early game cards are primarily utility, boosting the attack power of your units. This means that while you may not want to play a Ka'Tali Stonetusk on turn 6, you would still want to consider these guys.
Elder Moorf is one that makes it into most of my horde decks. At first glance, his ability is pretty nice, but when looking at it closer, it just gets better and better. The first thing to note here is that his ability does not cause him to tap, meaning he can still attack and use the ability. (This also means that he can use the ability on the turn he came out) The second thing to notice is that he can use his ability on himself. So, if he's the only one out, he's not entirely useless.
Zorm Stonefury's text makes him an absolute must for rush decks. 2 cost for a static +1 Atk for all your allies. He doesn't tap for this, doesn't pay any cost, it's just there. Put this guy behind a few of your protectors and watch him shine. Now, to the muscle...
These guys are the beginning of the backbone of your deck. Their relatively low cost allows you to play them fairly early on in the game, while their mid-range atk keeps them viable even to the end of the game.
Vesh'ral is a great card for rush decks. Sure, he may not have a lot of health, but throw him out there and pump him up with Elder Moorf and he can do some serious damage before your opponent takes him out. Also, if you have some decent protectors out, you won't have a problem keeping him alive.
Benethor at first doesn't seem very appealing. No printed text, just stats, typically makes cards pretty lackluster-seeming to some. However, Benethor can be quite powerful. 3 resources for a 4/2 is not something to sneer at, especially if you have cards like Moorf and Stonefury to pump him up.
I hope this has been informative. Look for the second part of this article soon, where we'll take a closer look at those mid-late game cards that provide you with more of a defensive option, while leaving offensive capability relatively unharmed.
Medic!
Last time, we mentioned some protectors who can be very useful. Unfortunately, when a protector does what it's supposed to do, it dies. The only question now is how do you make the most of your protectors and keep your opponent busy while using your other allies to cause some real damage.
Medoc Spiritwarden is a protector's friend. Actually, he's friends with any ally in your deck, but protectors are especially useful with the dwarven priest. By using his ability, you can keep using the same protectors over and over again without having to worry about whether you'll draw a new one. In fact, with two or more Medoc Spiritwardens in play, your opponent will have to have a huge number of allies in position to attack before you'll have to worry about losing your regenerative priest(s).
Parvink is one of the most popular protectors, and for good reason. The little gnome comes with a free card for your hand, protector, and decent stats to boot. When you combine her with Medoc Spiritwarden, your opponent can be effectively locked in combat with the same little gnome over and over again, drawing you a card each time you recycle her from your graveyard and play her. Warden Tonarin, on the other hand, isn't as immediately beneficial as Parvink. However, the night elf warrior is perfect for blocking an opponent when you can't afford to spend the resources on Parvink or some other protector every turn. In fact, you can play him on the first turn of the game and generally count on him lasting long enough to be useful, however a well played ability from your opponent could send Tonarin to the graveyard quite easily.
When the Spiritwarden is absent or even when he himself is killed, Chasing A-Me 01 and Call the Spirit both come in handy. They can both recycle your recursive healer as well as the allies that Medoc may not have been able to revive. A deck bent on using these three cards, especially in concert, is sure to bring your opponents a lot of pain. Not to mention keep you in the running even when your deck stops giving you the allies you need.
With all this recycling of allies, you can guarantee that your opponent will be seriously frustrated. Besides... while your opponent is busy wiping out the endless stream of allies, you can be focusing on the bigger picture.
Medoc Spiritwarden is a protector's friend. Actually, he's friends with any ally in your deck, but protectors are especially useful with the dwarven priest. By using his ability, you can keep using the same protectors over and over again without having to worry about whether you'll draw a new one. In fact, with two or more Medoc Spiritwardens in play, your opponent will have to have a huge number of allies in position to attack before you'll have to worry about losing your regenerative priest(s).
Parvink is one of the most popular protectors, and for good reason. The little gnome comes with a free card for your hand, protector, and decent stats to boot. When you combine her with Medoc Spiritwarden, your opponent can be effectively locked in combat with the same little gnome over and over again, drawing you a card each time you recycle her from your graveyard and play her. Warden Tonarin, on the other hand, isn't as immediately beneficial as Parvink. However, the night elf warrior is perfect for blocking an opponent when you can't afford to spend the resources on Parvink or some other protector every turn. In fact, you can play him on the first turn of the game and generally count on him lasting long enough to be useful, however a well played ability from your opponent could send Tonarin to the graveyard quite easily.
When the Spiritwarden is absent or even when he himself is killed, Chasing A-Me 01 and Call the Spirit both come in handy. They can both recycle your recursive healer as well as the allies that Medoc may not have been able to revive. A deck bent on using these three cards, especially in concert, is sure to bring your opponents a lot of pain. Not to mention keep you in the running even when your deck stops giving you the allies you need.
With all this recycling of allies, you can guarantee that your opponent will be seriously frustrated. Besides... while your opponent is busy wiping out the endless stream of allies, you can be focusing on the bigger picture.
Keep 'Em Down
Now that we've seen a couple heroes and their strengths, let's take a look at some allies who can turn the tables on your opponents.
Lhurg Venomblade has a very obvious strength. His ability to knock out any exhausted opposing ally means that, with him on the table, your opponent has to be very careful about when they propose combat or even use the activated abilities of some of their own allies. However, on his own, Lhurg won't be able to do much damage before he gets taken out. Granted, it would take two opposing allies to kill him off after he's able to use his ability, but with only two health, it doesn't take a very heavy hitter to put Lhurg in the graveyard. More often than not, Lhurg will probably be marked for death before he's even been on the table a full turn. That said, let's look at a few tricks that not only improve his longevity, but also help him to reach his full potential.
Galahandra is Lhurg's best friend when it comes to wreaking havoc. Once both of them are out on the field, you can choose any opposing ally to eliminate every turn at a cost of one resource. Also, it's important to realize that Galahandra can come out a turn or two before Lhurg and exhaust one of the opposing allies before her poisonous friend comes into play, helping keep the dwarf alive long enough to use his power. Exhaustion works very similarly to Galahandra, but has the drawback of only working once before it's discarded. For class-specific decks, you might consider
Bash, Entangling Roots, Hammer of Justice, Crippling Poison, Gouge, Waylay, or Charge as other methods to exhaust the opposition.
Lhurg should also employ some protection, just in case the opposition has a vast army in play. Donna Calister is ideal as a protector, as she can protect against each attack until she dies, unfortunately she doesn't deal much damage in return, but her seven health means she should manage to cover at least three attacks for Lhurg. Meanwhile, Tristan Rapidstrike's real strength only shows when you have the resources ready to drop him at the crucial moment for his protection. However, even protector's can die eventually... but we'll worry about that issue next time.
Lhurg Venomblade has a very obvious strength. His ability to knock out any exhausted opposing ally means that, with him on the table, your opponent has to be very careful about when they propose combat or even use the activated abilities of some of their own allies. However, on his own, Lhurg won't be able to do much damage before he gets taken out. Granted, it would take two opposing allies to kill him off after he's able to use his ability, but with only two health, it doesn't take a very heavy hitter to put Lhurg in the graveyard. More often than not, Lhurg will probably be marked for death before he's even been on the table a full turn. That said, let's look at a few tricks that not only improve his longevity, but also help him to reach his full potential.
Galahandra is Lhurg's best friend when it comes to wreaking havoc. Once both of them are out on the field, you can choose any opposing ally to eliminate every turn at a cost of one resource. Also, it's important to realize that Galahandra can come out a turn or two before Lhurg and exhaust one of the opposing allies before her poisonous friend comes into play, helping keep the dwarf alive long enough to use his power. Exhaustion works very similarly to Galahandra, but has the drawback of only working once before it's discarded. For class-specific decks, you might consider
Bash, Entangling Roots, Hammer of Justice, Crippling Poison, Gouge, Waylay, or Charge as other methods to exhaust the opposition.
Lhurg should also employ some protection, just in case the opposition has a vast army in play. Donna Calister is ideal as a protector, as she can protect against each attack until she dies, unfortunately she doesn't deal much damage in return, but her seven health means she should manage to cover at least three attacks for Lhurg. Meanwhile, Tristan Rapidstrike's real strength only shows when you have the resources ready to drop him at the crucial moment for his protection. However, even protector's can die eventually... but we'll worry about that issue next time.
Graccus the Protector
Paladins are notorious for their overly righteous attitude and their desire to save the world from evil using their holy powers. Graccus is no different. While he isn't much to look at by himself, with a little help the Human Paladin becomes a force to be reckoned with.
While Graccus doesn't instantly come with the ability to protect his allies, his class gives him a couple ways to add the ability. Moreover, these additions also make him a little harder to kill, which means your opponent will not only be wasting their attacks on the valiant hero, but they'll be doing it on your terms and to your benefit. The Draconian Deflector, a card found in the pre-constructed Graccus deck, is a natural inclusion when trying to make the hero the ultimate meat-shield. Also, Sacred Duty fits the bill when the deflector is absent and it gives you a little more incentive to protect with Graccus whenever you can.
The only problem now is how do you keep Graccus readied in order to protect at every possible assault. While there are currently very few abilities that allow you to keep your hero readied for any occasion, Galway Steamwhistle and the Thrash Blade allow you to protect while still getting your punches in.
The combination of Thrash Blade and Galway Steamwhistle means that you can attack on your turn and protect a total of five times on your opponent's turn. While Thrash Blade doesn't help you on your opponent's turn, the fact that you can use Galway's ability any time you have priority means that, with four copies of him on the board, you can have Graccus ready to rumble four more times than normal.
Of course, now that it's been shown that Graccus is a protector, it's up to you to figure out how best to build a deck that abuses his strength. However, keep checking back. There might be a decklist featured here in the near future.
While Graccus doesn't instantly come with the ability to protect his allies, his class gives him a couple ways to add the ability. Moreover, these additions also make him a little harder to kill, which means your opponent will not only be wasting their attacks on the valiant hero, but they'll be doing it on your terms and to your benefit. The Draconian Deflector, a card found in the pre-constructed Graccus deck, is a natural inclusion when trying to make the hero the ultimate meat-shield. Also, Sacred Duty fits the bill when the deflector is absent and it gives you a little more incentive to protect with Graccus whenever you can.
Of course, now that it's been shown that Graccus is a protector, it's up to you to figure out how best to build a deck that abuses his strength. However, keep checking back. There might be a decklist featured here in the near future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
