Rabe
Joined: Jun 06, 2009
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 Posted:
Aug 07, 2014 - 15:15 |
 
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Yeah, I figure it'll get quicker. And I totally agree on the card text. I've not giving up on it, I just don't got hooked immediately - which is actually a good thing for my schedule.  |
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licker
Joined: Jul 10, 2009
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Aug 07, 2014 - 18:27 |
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Heh, it was the same for me when I started, and there are still cards out there I'm not totally familiar with, or I forget to really check the details and do something stupid because of it.
It does get much easier as you go along though. Best thing is really to take your time beating on the first 2 campaigns with ALL the factions. Buy up as many BS2 packs as you can with that cash, and rebuild your decks with the idea of using mostly rushy creatures and clearing spells.
That could take as long as it takes, sometimes you just don't draw out the way you would like to  |
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licker
Joined: Jul 10, 2009
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Aug 10, 2014 - 01:00 |
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My latest deck which isn't fair. Though I did blow some WCs to get the bloodsnakes since I had no luck with my GB packs at all.
Hero
Matewa (1,1,1 Water, Air, 2rec target orc keeps enrage counters after attack)
Events
3x Rise of the Nethermancer (to take out annoying cards from recursion decks)
2x Cosmic Balance (to soft counter OTK horseshit decks)
3x Week of the Elder Races (could replace with 3x Week of Mercs, undecided)
Creatures
4x Goblin Scout (obviously... this is Stronghold)
1x Wandering Bard (to pull the uniques)
3x Raanar Harpy (Stronghold 2 drop)
3x Stormrage Hunter (Stronghold 2 drop, should probably go 2/4 with harpy and this)
4x Centaur Archer (obviously... this is Stronghold)
3x War Oliphant (again, obvious Stronghold 3 drop)
3x Stormrage Warrior (only because of hero special, and has some potential to blow up)
4x Bloodclaw Shaman (don't sleep on this guy, he's actually amazing once you get rolling)
3x Bloodshark Warrior (this is a Bloodthrist deck, and he's cheap)
1x Raya chosen of the waves (fits the Might/Magic curve, not sure if necessary, but can lock down a lane nearly solo)
4x Blackskull Shredder (duh... Stronghold anyone?)
3x Bloodsnake Shaman (this dude is OP, I'd run 4, but I don't have 4)
1x Zeferia Windchaser
1x Zeferia Chosen of the Winds (both Zefs are natural fits, though the later does push the magic to 4, but she opens blocked games for wins)
Spells
3x Ice Spikes (lets weaken stuff to kill it for bloodthirst)
3x Gyser (lets kill stuff for bloodthirst)
2x Blessing of the storm (lets make our pumped bloodthristers able to move anywhere and oh, add in charge, you betcha!)
Fortunes
4x Sacrificial Alter (we have lots of high HP chumps who can be used to remove threats, also allows for some tricksy bloodthrist pumping when it's not expected)
Buildings
None
This build gives us a nice 4/4/1 power distribution, meaning we can start drawing cards or using the special pretty early. Frequently you don't even need to go to 4 magic until you have Zeferia in hand anyway, so it really plays as 4/3/1. That's only 5 turns of increasing powers. And since the first 2-3 turns that's all you really can do anyway, it's only 2 turns. That means that by the time your opponent gets to something like 4/6/2 (assuming no 'artificial' boosts) you've been drawing cards or keeping orcs pumped for 3+ turns.
Now, you might ask, where are the good Stronghold fortunes? Might of the Tribe? Surprise Attack? Yeah, those are good, but not needed here, though adding them in for something would work too, however, remember, we're trying to max out our power quickly, we don't want to go to 4/4/3 just because. Anyway, the spells make up for some the deficiency from Surprise Attack, and doing your bloodthrist right makes up for the missing Might of the Tribe.
There are also some nice spells at Magic4 (and even 5), and I've seen Matewa decks with Ice Blizzards, but again, the cost is speed. Those are spells you would get to late game, and they can be a game changer, but I'd prefer to win, or be in a commanding position before I get there. Further, remember we run 4 Sac Alters, with all the HP6 and 7 creatures we have that's powerful damage (at cost, but Sac Alter costs 1 rec to use and we're already at Destiny 1). That damage also isn't blocked or reduced by any spell wards/resist. It is halved by incorporeal though, so pay attention to that.
In general there is enough ability with the 6 Water spells to keep feeding our bloodthirsters, and to keep other rushy opponents at bay. It's very easy to reach 3/3/1 and from there you can play out most anything.
The Blessing of the Storm is a bit of a wild card I wanted to try out. The basic idea is to use it on the Bloodsnakes, to really let them use their ability to the max, but it works on anyone you are pumping. You just have to be careful with positioning to make sure you have that open spot to move into. I like it though, but it could be dropped for other spells or fortunes, it's not really key, but it does open possibilities your opponent probably isn't figuring you have.
So, what do you all think? I'm not touting this deck as the greatest ever (though it is pretty good in the current meta, and it's not really cheap with all the epic/rares which are key to it), but I'm trying to give some thoughts on why it's built as it is.
Especially important, that I see in a lot of decks, is your power distribution. If you are going to 6 in something for one card, you may want to reconsider why you have that card in your deck in the first place. I see this a lot with Shinoshi, who's great, but if you are at might 4 normally, you now need to go to might 6 just for him. Sometimes it may be worth it, sometimes it may not. That's why this deck stops at Might 4. Intentionally doing that, limits some cards, but also gets me to the point where I can outdraw, or just keep abusing some pumped bloodthrist monstrosity |
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licker
Joined: Jul 10, 2009
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Aug 16, 2014 - 04:49 |
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Time for another deck list. This one has been semi-hot on the ubi forums and I've been using it for daily quests. Just went 5-1 with it tonight, it's fun to play because you actually have to think and pay attention to position and plan out your stack locations in advance.
Hero: Seria
Events:
4x Fiery Sunrise
2x Day of Fortune (though I don't use it, but I'm not sure what I'd replace with)
2x Cosmic Balance
Creatures:
4x Venom Soldier (he may suck, but he stacks, and you have a lot of ways to boost stacks)
1x Moon Phoenix (for late game recursion if you need it)
4x Neophyte Lich (2/0/4 2 drop shooter)
3x Moonsilk Skeleton (2 drop annoying blocker)
2x Vampire Knight (throw away blocker to stall the board)
2x Untamed Wraith (same as Vamp)
4x Lich Tactician (to pump stacks)
1x Raya Chosen of the Waves (immune to fortunes makes here interesting, also you need some might 4 to deal with lurkers)
1x Atropos (to res Banshees, or sometimes emergency, but mostly for Banshees)
2x The Banshee (I'd run 4 if I had 4)
Spells:
4x Geyser (best spell in the game)
1x Focused Mind (emergency vs. rage or blinding light or other stop attack effects)
1x Creeping Darkness (I had room, so I stuck this in, it's annoying to the opponent in a locked board, and early can buy you extra time to set up your stacks)
Fortunes:
4x Undead Reinforcements (boosts all stacks by 1, sit on them for quick pumpage)
4x Reanimation (gets your stacks going if you don't get an early Army of the Dead)
1x Broken Bridge (utility use)
4x Campfire (helps get you big stacks early if you have the right hand, also thins the deck)
1x Observatory (fetch for Army of the Dead)
1x Golden Horseshoe (fill your hand mid/late game if you are stalling out)
2x Bone to Bone (someone board wipes you? Oops, come back even stronger )
1x Army of the Dead (not as key as you might think, but clearly this card makes it harder to lose)
Buildings:
2x Boneyard (mostly for stalling, but stick one under a Venom Soldier and they will pump for ever)
This deck is tricky to play until you really see how it should work. Important to not use your early stacks as blockers, you want your stacks to live so you can grow them. Of course sometimes you do need to throw them infront of things, but you really want to get 1 or 2 growing so that the opponent cannot wipe them out easily.
I have no Bone Setters (Rare lich thing I think) otherwise I'd play a couple of them as well.
Ideally you just keep the other guy busy for a few turns and then you have a lot of stack cards in hand and you can pump your small stacks quickly to 4+ and either push damage or clear out his blockers to get board dominance.
This deck does stall out a bit mid game sometimes as it's hard to remove the other sides board (especially vs. inferno if they have lurkers), so that's where you rely on the Banshees to take stuff off, and hopefully a couple well placed Geysers. Usually the opponents board is pretty full so the Geysers really do hammer them well. |
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tattie5
Joined: Dec 08, 2005
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Aug 16, 2014 - 18:11 |
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that's me joined now as well, been playing about 4 days now I think. Played a lot of ranked games but had no chance so thought I was useless at the game. But then played some unranked and finally got a win. Trying to work through the campaign, think I did the first two sets of battles. I have some cash now but not sure what packs are best to buy.
Hopefully see some of you on it for a game. Added a few of you I think. |
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licker
Joined: Jul 10, 2009
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Aug 16, 2014 - 23:57 |
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Yeah I see you added me at least.
Really important to do the 1st 2 sets of campaigns with all factions. That should give you a big boost in cards from 10 free packs, then you will also earn a lot of gold to buy BS2 packs with (can buy a few HoN if you really want).
After that you should have some idea in your collection what faction you want to build on.
Alternatively, if you want to spend real $, buying the boxes is a great way to quickly jumpstart your collection. If you get the 3000+ seals I'd buy 2 BS2 and 1 HoN. |
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licker
Joined: Jul 10, 2009
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Aug 18, 2014 - 08:08 |
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Here's my Haven deck which seems to have the best win% of anything so far. It's a barracks deck (as are all good Haven atm), but Barracks is a common in GB, so it's not terribly hard to scrounge up. Best hero for Barracks is actually Kieran, who I don't have, but you can get him as an achievement for winning 30 duels with each faction. That's a lot of matches, but frankly, if you just play them at a low elo in unranked (so you don't gain elo) you could conceivably do it faster.
Anyway, the deck...
Hero:
Alia (1,1,1 Fire, Light, 6rec to heal all friendly creatures)
Events:
3x Rise of the Nethermancer (to kill recursion decks)
3x Firey Sunrise (to pump stacks, probably should run 4 of these)
2x Cosmic Balance (to screw with OTK decks since this has few other counters)
Creatures:
4x Tithe Collector (not that critical, but is a 1 drop to pump rax late)
4x Wolf Trainer (solid 1 drop, again, throw away blocker and rax pumper)
1x Wandering Bard (to pull uniques, this deck doesn't rely on uniques, so could dump)
2x Elite Squire (blocks ranged attacks, I'd run more if I had more)
4x Crusader Watchman (typical haven 2 drop, partners well with creature healing)
4x Griffen Xbow (hang on to them if you can until you have rax out, then watch them chain pump your stacks like crazy)
2x Griffen Battle Priest (nice healer, not required)
2x Crusader Vanguard (coupled well with healing, and we need some human 3 drops)
2x Benevolent Angel (this card rules, makes all your humans untargetable, I'd run more... if I had them)
1x Devout Priest (on the fence with him, heals, but kind of meh otherwise)
2x Crusader Treasurer (income boost, and decent stats)
2x Praetorian Captain (reduces all creature damage by 1, nice to keep things alive so you can heal everyone)
1x Angel Protector (this dude wins when you need to get that opponent spell gone, I'd run more...)
2x Scattershot Marksman (expensive shooter, not a ton of synergy, but very useful sometimes, probably should drop and run more cheaper humans)
2x Angel Commander (buff drop who can't be targeted 1st turn, still, on the fence with him)
1x Anael, Chosen of the Light (charge and immune to counters, this is your late game answer to a blocked board, could go with Shinoshi instead though)
1x Hikyu (get him down and watch your shooters in back clear out the board in no time)
Spells:
4x Fire Bolt (utility damage dealer when you need an extra 1 or 2 for a kill)
3x Sun Blaze (2 damage to enemies on a lane, not great, but has it's moments, and it's low req is nice)
3x Blinding Light (This is light magics heavy lifter now, great spell to open a lane or act as a psudo soul reaver)
Fortunes:
None (reserves fits with stacks, but I'm not going to destiny 3 just for that)
Buildings:
3x Barracks (again, probably should run 4, but this isn't actually Kieran rush, so 3 seems to work ok for me)
Anyway, plays pretty straight forward, I tend to mulligan if I don't have a rax in my hand, but if you see a good power curve, and have some income creatures you might just keep the hand and see if you can win the board with your extra resources. Deck plays at 4/3/0 mostly, though it is actually 6/3/2, but the 2 destiny is only for the bard, if you don't run uniques, or the bard you can ignore that.
In general you will start with a tithe collector/wolf trainer/Crusader Watchman, and then just try to stall damage and keep putting down creatures. If you have a rax get it establised on an open land ASAP. DO NOT use the rax creature generation as chump blockers, they are there to grow and deal damage, not just sit in front of things. This is a bit different from necro stacks, but usually because necro has more options in placing their stacks and Army of the Dead is perfect for just chumping a lane when you need it.
Remember, you will wind up filling up your board, if you don't you've probably lost, so you need to pay attention in advance to where you think various cards should go. Especially your healers, they need to be next to watchmen and behind big baddies, they do NOTHING for stacks. Save your Blinding Lights for removing a threat which will kill you, or for opening a lane to push big damage though. Know your opponent though, some decks can bridge back the creature (or other tricks), so really, use them wisely, they are there for big combos or dire emergencies, not just to land 3 damage randomly (unless you only need 3 damage...).
This build is really not streamlined, it's a bit hodge podge with the 1x of some cards, but it still works. If you lack the rare/epics you should still be able to make a competitive deck with UC/C. Just remember, cheap humans are good, you throw down a couple rax, and in a couple turns you can have monster stacks if you are smart about it
You can build this kind of deck with just about any Haven hero, though with Cassandra you will want to look at the fortunes more since she can get to Destiny 3 with just one pump. |
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tattie5
Joined: Dec 08, 2005
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Aug 18, 2014 - 09:25 |
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Haha, really need to play this game more. That post teally confused me. What is rax and pump (chain pump) i am guessing drop is the cost to lay the card. I was really busy last week so didnt have a lot of tine to fully ubderstand the game. Going to try and gey a few more hours in this week, especially if this tournament goes ahead.
To be honest most of what you wrote confused me, haha. I have bought a few extra packs with gold but never really had time to add them to my decks. |
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licker
Joined: Jul 10, 2009
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Aug 18, 2014 - 16:26 |
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rax is shorthand for Barracks, a building which creates a 1/1/1 melee/shooter stackable token for every human that you play from your hand
pump is growing you stack of tokens by playing humans (or other effect, more notably from the necro deck), chain pump is playing a lot of cheap humans which will boost your stacks very quickly. Griffen Xbow is a 2 cost 1/0/3 shooter who draws a copy of itself from your deck when deployed, so if you have 8 resources (easy for haven to have this early with tithe collectors and treasurers) you can pump a lone token to a 5/5/5 beat stick.
drop is the cost to play the card in resources, you also have to meet it's level requirements (might/magic/destiny), so many decks try to tune those requirements such that you can reach your max required quickly, that means not playing 'cool' cards just because you can. If your hero starts 1/1/2 (as all starter heros do) then playing something with a might 6 cost will take you 5 turns of increasing might to play. That's a lot, especially if you also want magic to 4 and destiny to 3. You have to pay some attention to those level requirements or else you wind up with cards in hand that you cannot use for turns as you need to increase too many different levels first.
That said, there are plenty of viable decks with high requirements, but they usually have an alternate way of increasing those levels, Circle of Nine for Academy for example, or any number of creatures which boost one of the levels while they are on the board.
This game is not so easy honestly, there is a learning curve, and the client is annoying because there is no game log to see what was played or what it did. There are many effects that creatures carry that take time to learn, and there are all the events which do things that you need to watch for. I still miss stuff all the time, but I'm getting better |
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tattie5
Joined: Dec 08, 2005
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Aug 18, 2014 - 18:27 |
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THanks for that advice. I think I am going wrong by having to many strong players that require 5 or 6 might, then by the time I can actually play them my hero is nearly dead anyway. Same with the spells. I am hoping to get a few hours on it tonight. Also is it best to play the computer, ranked or unranked? Think I have played 5 ranked games and got destroyed, and one unranked which I won. |
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tattie5
Joined: Dec 08, 2005
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Aug 18, 2014 - 18:29 |
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Sorry one more question. The daily rewards. It says you can keep building it up over 7 days. Every time I go on all I can click on is 'cash in' Does that mean I am not getting any daily rewards or am I supposed to click something else. I had 5 days then today I am back to the start again. Not sure what or how I did. |
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licker
Joined: Jul 10, 2009
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Aug 18, 2014 - 20:04 |
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Ranked and Unranked are actually the same thing, only your elo (rating) doesn't change if you play unranked. Your title (squire, commander, champion1, ...) depends on your elo, and you get better daily quests the higher it is, so I would recommend boosting it eventually. Champion 1 unlocks the best of the daily quests (WCs) but of course you are playing other higher rated players, so depending on where you are in your learning curve getting to at least Commander is recommended, then just see.
The daily login automatically gives you whatever you earned up to that point, if it reset before getting to the 7th one either you missed a day (didn't log in in a 24h period) or there was a glitch.
As to what to play...
I highly recommend doing all the campaign missions through the first 2 or 3 campaigns with all factions. This gives you a lot of gold and a few packs. The 1st 2 campaigns in particular are very easy once you learn the trick of the deck you are facing. It's also not a terrible idea to play some ranked/unranked at the lowest level to get the additional starter pack you get for beating a faction.
After that it's up to you. Play ranked with your 'best' deck to reach Commander (or higher), then play ranked or unranked as you like.
DO NOT play in swiss unless you have a freeroll (from a daily quest which says win a ticket for completeing a swiss), you will have almost no chance without a top deck. You can play Jackpot if you want, but again, your gold return is really really low as it goes to feed the jackpot, so unless you can get on a win streak (not consecutive, but at some point you have to be +3) of +3 it's just not worth the time invested, because you lose out on so much gold.
Also, stick to Standard only, don't bother with Open (you'll get creamed even worse by the BS1 cards) and don't bother with weekly (maybe, depending on format, but again, a lot of them allow BS1).
It is a bit of a grind early on, but the rewards come pretty fast, you get the same gold/exp no matter if you win or lose, the only thing that changes is your ELO if you play ranked. Earn gold, buy packs, improve decks, do dailies, reach Champ 1, start tournaments.
Always use your gold and exp boosts, there is no reason to save them, and they only count time actually spent in game so you don't have to try to manage around them.
How long that takes depends on a lot of factors though |
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Randy_Moss
Joined: Sep 13, 2010
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Aug 18, 2014 - 20:52 |
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I'm hooked. Trying with a necro deck. I've got two boneyards and lucked a putrid dragon out of a base deck. Very addictive. And so far, very fun. My nick = RandallMoss.
Cheers,
RM |
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licker
Joined: Jul 10, 2009
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Aug 18, 2014 - 22:49 |
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I'm pretty sure I friended you in game, but check out the list on the 1st page and friend them too! |
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SvenS
Joined: Jul 07, 2007
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| Posted:
Aug 18, 2014 - 23:28 |
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Nice decks Licker! |
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