I like to think about things, and if I don't collect the thoughts somewhere then they'll all fall out of my head. Consider this my "spare-brain-thoughts farm".

Friday 13 July 2012

Skylines and Rooftops, yeah.

In which we make a brief return to cards.
It’s odd that despite my addiction for the WoW TCG, I haven’t really gone near it in months. Not since the UK Realm Championships (In which I placed 14th), partially because I was planning for EUCCs. My EUCC plans did fall through, but now they may have been resurrected. In light of that, I thought I’d revisit the deck that netted me my top 16 spot at Realms.
Hero:
Jaral of Gilneas
Allies:
4 Garet Vice
2 Windspeaker Nuvu
3 Rufus Claybourne
4 Loriam Argos
4 Boomer
4 Grumdak, Herald of the Hunt
2 Koeus
3 Bella Wilder
3 Tesla
4 Magni, the Mountaing King
3 Yertle
3 King Genn Greymane
1 Dulvar, Hand of the Light
Abilities:
4 Avatar of the Wild
3 Aspect of the Wild
2 Spoils of the Hunt
4 Explosive Shot
Quests/Locations:
3 Fordragon Hold
4 Seeds of Their Demise
Well, this hasn’t been update for Tomb of the Forgotten since I haven’t actually looked at Tomb yet.
So, this is what netted me 14th. I wish I’d switched out 2 Explosive Shots for 2 more Spoils of the Hunt, just to deal with Ediwn. It completely blanked me when I was constructing the deck, but now it seems incredibly obvious.
I think the ally base is aggressive enough. I included the two Koeus’ for Grand Crusader match-ups, but never came up against any in my 6 matches (4 other Blue Hunters and 2 Monster DKs).
Since the meta has slowed down slightly, I feel that favouring aggression might be what garners me those wins I’ll need at EUCC/DMF.
So, let’s examine changes I’d make.
-2 Explosive Shot
+2 Spoils of the Hunt
I’ve already outlined why I want to do this. Edwin still is a problem and he’s going to remain a problem. Explosive Shot might deal with Stonebranch and his allies, Winged or not, but it doesn’t deal with Edwin. Spoils can still hit Stonebranch, so it’s obviously the better choice.
-1 Yertle
+1 Other Stashing Card Or Quest
I’m still investigating other options. Yertle was a dead draw every other time though. He was frequently rowed in favour of keeping Boomer or Tesla around, but resources tended to be scarce. I’d probably swap him out for a fourth Fordragon Hold and see how that runs. I still want to keep 2 Yertles since he was beyond useful when I needed him, but it was easier to hang on to one in hand and row the other ones I’d inevitably draw.
-1 Dulvar, Hand of the Light
+1 Amani Dragonhawk OR Lord Darius Crowley OR Siamat, Lord of the South Wind
It’s more expensive, but Dulvar felt useless. He dropped once, swung a big hammer and then died off. I managed to win with a sudden 14/14 Genn when Dulvar inevitably died from too much fire. The Amani Dragonhawk will help in situational match-ups, whereas Darius will mega-boost an already beefy Genn should the situation call for it. Either way it means hanging onto a card for that precious turn 7/8 swing. Siamat on the other hand is a much beefier Al’Akir who deals with mirror matches and Grand Crusader. He’s the least likely one I’d include though, I’d probably favour the cheaper Dragonhawk in order to break their field.
Little changes aside, there are other things that could be done with this deck. If I could well up a bit more drawpower, then I’d love to throw 4 Concussive Barrage in for the ridiculous damage I could dredge up.
The Koeus’ could be dropped in favour of Jeishal, who can hit those Girdles that will be a staple of both Grand Crusader and Monster DK. The Koeus’ are useful for mirror matches, but if I can outpace them then I’ve already got it in the bag. That means I’ve got to be winning my dice rolls though.
The new Traitors! quest also has some potential. A tad better than it’s damaging equivalent, I feel. Definitely a more mid and late game card though.
The deck has a lot of potential still. I need to play around with Concussive Barrage and Jeishal to see how far they’ll get me.