Went to the new FoO format regionals over the weekend, deciding on one jank deck over the slightly more solid choice (daspien) because I couldn't beat shaman with the rogue deck and it was driving me crazy.
Top 8 decks (no lists yet) for the regional were:
-2 Phadalus Goodstuff decks
-2 Draenei Hunter Goodstuff decks (one running Hootie, the other running Master of the Hunt and Shelly among other pets)
-1 Gorebelly aggro/combo
-1 Bulkas Solo (running Dual Wield and Rampage)
-1 Blood Elf Rogue
-1 Horde Balance Druid (moonkin form deck)
I ended up going with the oomki- er, moonkin form deck. Mainly because Thugmotivation from wowrealms thrashed me one night with the deck and I really took a liking to it (the deck, not the thrashing). I tried some cutesy crap with the deck, including making it alliance so I can run Wisp with Stormrage Cover, but it was never necessary. Switched back to horde at 3 AM the day of the regional and ran with a more generic no-cutesy-stuff version of the deck. It really isn't as bad as it sounds, and Moonfire actually gets there for you a lot of games.
I'll throw out a list later this week.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
GenCon
Not really going to get into any details about my experience at Gen-Con. It wasn't a very good one for me. I'd like to go back next year if only to visit Indy and all its nice people, as non-tournament wise, the city and its inhabitants are wonderful. However, I went 0-3 drop at Nats, played in a loot card tournament where you don't register your sealed packs (...wtf?), and got blown out by nuts decks all day at the Darkmoon Faire.
First, Nationals:
Round 1 I play against Derrick Lee, whom I've been playtesting with regularly for the past two months. 450+ people and I play against 1 of 5 people I don't want to get paired up against. Joy. I'm playing the Anchorite Kalinna list from a regionals while he was playing Gorebelly (I moved the shadow word: pains to the side-deck for Tristan Rapidstrikes). It's a coin-flip matchup essentially, and he rolls a 13 to my 11. He had a rough day 1 as well, with his deck consistently crapping out on him which hindered his overall record when he thrashed people during day 2.
Round 2 I play against a Phadalus control deck similar to the one Tim Batow ran, but with Medocs and (shit...) multiple main-deck Alas, Andorhahls. Needless to say I lost to the tech quests.
Round 3 I play against Keebler Powell with a Hootie Elendril deck sporting the Lady Kath/Demia late-game. I consistently couldn't find Brainwashes or Shadow Word: Deaths that would have shut down his 5 and 6 drop synergy or at the very least protect my active Medoc. He also topdecked a Lady Kath the turn he sent one into Magni, whereas if he didn't I'd either keep Magni around for a turn or force him to give up a Demia so I can recover. I just drop to conserve my rating at this point, distraught.
The loot card tournaments had people not registering their sealed pools. So needless to say a lot of people had nutty decks. I was already 1-1, but I felt losing to a deck with Vesh'ral, Karkus, 2 Outrider Zarg, Annihilator, Moko Hunts at Dawn, Intercept, and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting was a little...fishy.
Saturday I played 6 rounds out of 7 (conceding round 6 to get some food because I didn't give a rat's ass at that point and because it was a local acquaintance). Out of the 8 games I lost, 5 of them were to turn 6 Norrend plays (the elusive untargetable 6-drop). Three of the opponents that beat me had 3 weapons in their decks, with a common sight being Splinter of the Warp-Tree. My only equipment hate main-deck was Malfunction and Kavai. I can't compete against 3 weapons. Sigh...
So needless to say, pretty awful weekend for me. I should have played Magic or Vs. Or brought some swim trunks so I could hang out by the pool on Saturday. *shrugs*
*ending bad beat story*
Tomorrow I'll start posting thoughts on FoO. And maybe some rough lists I've been working with since the tournament on my laptop.
-Mike
Bonus story: Tidbits of WTF I heard about after dropping at Nationals!
-Round 6, a friend of mine played against Gorebelly combo player who played Rak Skyfury...before playing his Twig. And still won. :///
-Round 5, Derrick played and lost against a hunter deck running Silent Fang...yeah.
-Day 2, friends tried to tell me that people were getting like 4th and 5th pick Chasing A-ME01, which unless you drafted Magni, is an auto-slam. This was all I heard about day 2 since I prepared for drafting a lot and hearing about people screwing up during the draft portion caused me to go, "LALALALALALA I'm not listening LALALA!".
-Tym Bradley made day 2. That guy is like the total stains. I should go /wrists now. (kidding. he's a friend of mine for 9 years, but as someone who day 2'd from our group while I didn't, I am obligated to make fun of him. Due to envy. I guess. Congrats to him...damnit!)
First, Nationals:
Round 1 I play against Derrick Lee, whom I've been playtesting with regularly for the past two months. 450+ people and I play against 1 of 5 people I don't want to get paired up against. Joy. I'm playing the Anchorite Kalinna list from a regionals while he was playing Gorebelly (I moved the shadow word: pains to the side-deck for Tristan Rapidstrikes). It's a coin-flip matchup essentially, and he rolls a 13 to my 11. He had a rough day 1 as well, with his deck consistently crapping out on him which hindered his overall record when he thrashed people during day 2.
Round 2 I play against a Phadalus control deck similar to the one Tim Batow ran, but with Medocs and (shit...) multiple main-deck Alas, Andorhahls. Needless to say I lost to the tech quests.
Round 3 I play against Keebler Powell with a Hootie Elendril deck sporting the Lady Kath/Demia late-game. I consistently couldn't find Brainwashes or Shadow Word: Deaths that would have shut down his 5 and 6 drop synergy or at the very least protect my active Medoc. He also topdecked a Lady Kath the turn he sent one into Magni, whereas if he didn't I'd either keep Magni around for a turn or force him to give up a Demia so I can recover. I just drop to conserve my rating at this point, distraught.
The loot card tournaments had people not registering their sealed pools. So needless to say a lot of people had nutty decks. I was already 1-1, but I felt losing to a deck with Vesh'ral, Karkus, 2 Outrider Zarg, Annihilator, Moko Hunts at Dawn, Intercept, and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting was a little...fishy.
Saturday I played 6 rounds out of 7 (conceding round 6 to get some food because I didn't give a rat's ass at that point and because it was a local acquaintance). Out of the 8 games I lost, 5 of them were to turn 6 Norrend plays (the elusive untargetable 6-drop). Three of the opponents that beat me had 3 weapons in their decks, with a common sight being Splinter of the Warp-Tree. My only equipment hate main-deck was Malfunction and Kavai. I can't compete against 3 weapons. Sigh...
So needless to say, pretty awful weekend for me. I should have played Magic or Vs. Or brought some swim trunks so I could hang out by the pool on Saturday. *shrugs*
*ending bad beat story*
Tomorrow I'll start posting thoughts on FoO. And maybe some rough lists I've been working with since the tournament on my laptop.
-Mike
Bonus story: Tidbits of WTF I heard about after dropping at Nationals!
-Round 6, a friend of mine played against Gorebelly combo player who played Rak Skyfury...before playing his Twig. And still won. :///
-Round 5, Derrick played and lost against a hunter deck running Silent Fang...yeah.
-Day 2, friends tried to tell me that people were getting like 4th and 5th pick Chasing A-ME01, which unless you drafted Magni, is an auto-slam. This was all I heard about day 2 since I prepared for drafting a lot and hearing about people screwing up during the draft portion caused me to go, "LALALALALALA I'm not listening LALALA!".
-Tym Bradley made day 2. That guy is like the total stains. I should go /wrists now. (kidding. he's a friend of mine for 9 years, but as someone who day 2'd from our group while I didn't, I am obligated to make fun of him. Due to envy. I guess. Congrats to him...damnit!)
Monday, August 13, 2007
FoO is out, Gen-Con is coming up...oh crap
Fires of Outland has been released. I'll go more into detail with a full analysis next week, touching on each card. For now though, since I'm a tad busy, I'll just go ahead and say that I really like the set and that it is a MAJOR improvement over the bore that was Through the Dark Portal. Lots of playables in this set. Lots of cards that can replace filler in many current decks. Much assistance for some underdeveloped themes.
Gen-Con, and wow nationals, is coming up this week. I'll be flying out Wednesday. I still don't know if I'm playing in WoW Nats or PC Indy for vs system. Vs System has money in it, but WoW is a game that I actually like (whereas their big February announcement all but killed any life of the game in San Diego, so I never play vs system). I'm most likely going to go with WoW for this weekend.
I will try to update during Gen-Con, based on what I see and my thoughts on what's going on there all weekend. Be sure to check back regularly. :)
-Mike
Gen-Con, and wow nationals, is coming up this week. I'll be flying out Wednesday. I still don't know if I'm playing in WoW Nats or PC Indy for vs system. Vs System has money in it, but WoW is a game that I actually like (whereas their big February announcement all but killed any life of the game in San Diego, so I never play vs system). I'm most likely going to go with WoW for this weekend.
I will try to update during Gen-Con, based on what I see and my thoughts on what's going on there all weekend. Be sure to check back regularly. :)
-Mike
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
More FoO stuff
Fires of Outland FAQ is up here.
I'll comment on cards later, but just to start off:
Readiness is 100% INSANE.
I'll comment on cards later, but just to start off:
Readiness is 100% INSANE.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
new FoO heroes
New FoO heroes have been revealed. It's been talked about for a few days now and Bryon Lyons is writing a feature on it over at TCGplayer (found under my links section), but I figured I'd share my own thoughts on the cards. After all, I typically can't shut up about my opinion about cards. Enjoy!
Pictures of horde heres here.
Pictures of alliance heroes here.
Cul Rendhoof:
Solid, solid card for druids. It's also the first solid permanent and not crappy resource acceleration currently available. Makes turn 4 Kulans and such a solid possibility. Does nothing to speed up turn 4 Mokos but it does allow for turn 4 Zy'lahs, which is definitely worth mentioning (yes, turn 4 Zy'lahs. I heard those may be decent). Dunno yet though. It does lead to a huge loss of card advantage, and the flip really can't pull you out of bad scenarios, so it's probably cute at best. I do like it though.
Ona Skyshot:
This hunter's lucky she's marksmanship, because that's all she has going for her (and I do hope you're not playing marksmanship hunter for Silencing shot. Egads).
Exaura the Cryptkeeper:
I may be playing her for Slow. She's better than Varanis in my opinion because The Haunted Mills more than Solanian's (I'd rather pay 3 and draw a million cards than recur a card, but really this comes down to personal taste I guess), but we'll see. The flip is solid too. Cheap card draw and graveyard-nerfing.
Nathadan:
Whatever. I guess. At least I can Solanian's back Holy Shield now.
Raesa Morningstar:
Cute, and that's probably it. Though it's worth noting her flip encourages aggressiveness by playing Power Word: Shield, swinging the attached ally into something, and then bouncing the shield to your hand with its destruction trigger on the chain.
Zomm Hopeslayer:
Cute name. Because it's still slashing away ay my hope that rogues will ever be decent.
Mojo Shaper O'jomon:
Solid flip. Encourages control moreso, as it's essentially a free Guardian Steelhorn or whatever. I think I'd want to recur a Debros with this guy, but the troll quests are very attrition based, so Steelhorn with Kolkar Aggression seems like a better pair-off.
Harrigen Soulsunder:
At first I thought this hero was pure crap. Actually...nevermind. Still crap. At least she's a blood elf warlock, as locks have the best abilities to recur with Solanian's.
Indalamar:
Next please. Though this flip is fairly good in limited.
Now onto alliance...
Yanna Dai'shalan:
Captures the flavor of balance well. Kind of a joke on its own but it can be very potent when grouped with a ton of casters. It's essentially "pay 3, kill something", and I certainly can't complain about heroes that do this efficiently.
Kana Nassis:
Meh. Mundane flip. Better than Azarak's though. I think I'm still playing her for Lightning Reflexes. Rescue the Survivors is kind of like your super-counterattack anyway. What's an ally when it comes to survival hunter anyway?
Ozzati:
Probably one of the best heroes in the set, juding by this flip and dragon's breath. Hoses allies on its own and the fire-ability line-up is a huge encouragement to go aggressive. This is probably the new goodstuff alliance deck, dethroning Phadalus as the new set becomes legal for tournament play.
Thatia Truthbringer (can these names get any cornier? I mean really):
Better than Graccus in every way. Except she's holy (this is a compliment on the mmo, not so much in the tcg). Unless holy gets something better than Holy Shield.
Deacon Markus Hallow (I guess they can):
Terrible terrible TERRIBLE flip. Probably the worst of the set by far. Too bad for shadow priests. You're still stuck with Omedus. Oh well, cry some more. Whatever. You guys get Shadowfiend. That ally is insane.
Rotun Daggerhand:
Cute at best. It's still not making rogues tier 1 and probably not solid into tier 2, unless they get a huge boost in abilities this set. There's little reason to run a rogue over any other class.
Moala Stonebinder:
Not bad. I guess. I think I'd rather play Phadalus because recurring Totems is just better it seems.
Mazar:
Damn efficient. Dizzy's been dethroned for alliance warlock of choice (poor Zenith is ignored. He's really pretty good seeing as how most players will be playing really awesome heroes with solid flips). Vanquish for 3 is good.
Fillet:
Pretty bad flip, seeing as how fury encourages solo with Cruelty.
I'll talk about revealed cards later. It's late. I want to go to sleep.
-Mike
Pictures of horde heres here.
Pictures of alliance heroes here.
Cul Rendhoof:
Solid, solid card for druids. It's also the first solid permanent and not crappy resource acceleration currently available. Makes turn 4 Kulans and such a solid possibility. Does nothing to speed up turn 4 Mokos but it does allow for turn 4 Zy'lahs, which is definitely worth mentioning (yes, turn 4 Zy'lahs. I heard those may be decent). Dunno yet though. It does lead to a huge loss of card advantage, and the flip really can't pull you out of bad scenarios, so it's probably cute at best. I do like it though.
Ona Skyshot:
This hunter's lucky she's marksmanship, because that's all she has going for her (and I do hope you're not playing marksmanship hunter for Silencing shot. Egads).
Exaura the Cryptkeeper:
I may be playing her for Slow. She's better than Varanis in my opinion because The Haunted Mills more than Solanian's (I'd rather pay 3 and draw a million cards than recur a card, but really this comes down to personal taste I guess), but we'll see. The flip is solid too. Cheap card draw and graveyard-nerfing.
Nathadan:
Whatever. I guess. At least I can Solanian's back Holy Shield now.
Raesa Morningstar:
Cute, and that's probably it. Though it's worth noting her flip encourages aggressiveness by playing Power Word: Shield, swinging the attached ally into something, and then bouncing the shield to your hand with its destruction trigger on the chain.
Zomm Hopeslayer:
Cute name. Because it's still slashing away ay my hope that rogues will ever be decent.
Mojo Shaper O'jomon:
Solid flip. Encourages control moreso, as it's essentially a free Guardian Steelhorn or whatever. I think I'd want to recur a Debros with this guy, but the troll quests are very attrition based, so Steelhorn with Kolkar Aggression seems like a better pair-off.
Harrigen Soulsunder:
At first I thought this hero was pure crap. Actually...nevermind. Still crap. At least she's a blood elf warlock, as locks have the best abilities to recur with Solanian's.
Indalamar:
Next please. Though this flip is fairly good in limited.
Now onto alliance...
Yanna Dai'shalan:
Captures the flavor of balance well. Kind of a joke on its own but it can be very potent when grouped with a ton of casters. It's essentially "pay 3, kill something", and I certainly can't complain about heroes that do this efficiently.
Kana Nassis:
Meh. Mundane flip. Better than Azarak's though. I think I'm still playing her for Lightning Reflexes. Rescue the Survivors is kind of like your super-counterattack anyway. What's an ally when it comes to survival hunter anyway?
Ozzati:
Probably one of the best heroes in the set, juding by this flip and dragon's breath. Hoses allies on its own and the fire-ability line-up is a huge encouragement to go aggressive. This is probably the new goodstuff alliance deck, dethroning Phadalus as the new set becomes legal for tournament play.
Thatia Truthbringer (can these names get any cornier? I mean really):
Better than Graccus in every way. Except she's holy (this is a compliment on the mmo, not so much in the tcg). Unless holy gets something better than Holy Shield.
Deacon Markus Hallow (I guess they can):
Terrible terrible TERRIBLE flip. Probably the worst of the set by far. Too bad for shadow priests. You're still stuck with Omedus. Oh well, cry some more. Whatever. You guys get Shadowfiend. That ally is insane.
Rotun Daggerhand:
Cute at best. It's still not making rogues tier 1 and probably not solid into tier 2, unless they get a huge boost in abilities this set. There's little reason to run a rogue over any other class.
Moala Stonebinder:
Not bad. I guess. I think I'd rather play Phadalus because recurring Totems is just better it seems.
Mazar:
Damn efficient. Dizzy's been dethroned for alliance warlock of choice (poor Zenith is ignored. He's really pretty good seeing as how most players will be playing really awesome heroes with solid flips). Vanquish for 3 is good.
Fillet:
Pretty bad flip, seeing as how fury encourages solo with Cruelty.
I'll talk about revealed cards later. It's late. I want to go to sleep.
-Mike
Friday, July 27, 2007
Post-regionals thoughts from 7/21
Hey all. Sorry for the total lateness of this report. This is regarding the 7/21 San Diego regional. A whopping 30 people attended this one, making it the least attended Socal regional yet (unfortunately). Either people are waiting for the new set to start playing again, or the game's already having problems in San Diego (most likely the former, as this four months in between sets is brutal). The fact that a PTQ in Costa Mesa the same day was taking place didn't help, and cut a few entries from the tournament which would have brought it up to around 38-40 I'd imagine (Kelvin Young was busy winning the PTQ. Grats to him, btw).
Anyway, I went down there with two friends. One was playing Telrander because...well, it was a hell of a lot better than the guy's Elendril deck. The other was playing Phadalus. I was playing Anchorite Kalinna.
No, seriously. Anchorite Kalinna. I was going to try something else but said "oh what the hell" and brought Kalinna to test it out on the regional level.
Before going on, here is the deck list.
Hero: Anchorite Kalinna
Characters: 30
4 Kryton Barleybeard
4 Korthas Greybeard
4 Parvink
4 Warden Ravella
4 Vindicator Enkallus
3 Medoc Spiritwarden
1 Kal'ai the Uplifting
1 Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker
1 King Magni Bronzebeard
1 Lynda Steele
3 "Chipper" Ironbane
Abilities: 13
4 Shadow Word: Death
3 Power Word: Shield
2 Shadow Word: Pain
2 Heroic Pressence
2 Brainwash
Quests: 17
4 Rescue the Survivors
4 The Defias Brotherhood
4 Chasing A-ME01
3 The Missing Diplomat
2 Are We There Yeti?
It's basically a Medoc control deck. It's not meant to be rush, but it can deal some damage quickly with the right draw. The emphasis on lower drops is primarily to fuel Defias Broterhood along with survivors, while also allowing me to trade 1-drops with other 1 or 2 drops (important against untargetables).
Why priest though? Good question. The original reason to going priest was because of Power Word: Shield, which used to be a 4-of. It's a blowout card in just about every matchup, as it can wreck combat math and board positions easily while allowing you to maintain your own field. The whole idea was that it was the shield (heh) I needed to protect the Medoc engine and to get it online as it was cheap and effective. Then it became a three-of because I hated drawing it instead of an ally sometimes. Death is just good, and Pain is primarily a gameplan against other slower decks as, when combined with Kryton and Medoc, can lock an opposing player out of the draw phase and as such out of the game.
Heroic Pressence was because I need to win fast sometimes. I can stabilize a field and then not win for ages. Or I can draw a Pressence and deal like 30+ in one turn.
Anyway, here's a round breakdown (no names, sorry. I can't remember as I was not taking notes):
Round 1: Timmo Shadestep
Won this one 2-0. He got close game 2 but I was fortunate he didn't draw a way to burn me for a couple of turns as I widdled down his health. His deck was like a solo rogue strategy.
Round 2: Phadalus the Enlightened (ie Whatever)
This guy decided to add the trinity with his Diplomats to the Phadalus deck, giving him an aggressive opening and a ridiculous late-game. He won game 1 on the "I got lots of untargetables" draw and I couldn't deal. Game 2 he ran out Lady Jaina Proudmoore, which should be death for me as I have few ways to deal. So I play out a Korthas with another protector out there, count out my 6 resources for Yeti, and pass. He attacks with all of his guys.
Then I brainwash Jaina. Who needs Yeti?
He got close to killing Jaina but I finally drew a Korthas to protect her from dying to a Perdition's Blade ping, and he used all 4 Chain Lightnings at that point. He actually misplayed when I played Korthas as it was sick and could not activate the turn he drew Perditions. This most likely came down because we both had Magnis generating their 10th tokens, and it came down to the control-on-control status of the match causing him to miss a few details. I explain to him that I'll win when I draw a Pressence as I have around 8-9 attackers more over his protectors (including infinite tokens on each side), and that the pressence will push through well more than 40-50 damage in one turn. He opts not to concede, so I don't draw a Pressence until I have 5 cards left in deck.
Game 3 is on time, and he gets unlucky and doesn't draw a way to deal with my Kryon without Earth Elemental Totem, which gets Death'ed so Kryton deals the 2 damage needed to win. It's worth nothing he could have avoided this by conceding in game 2 when I mentioned the pressence. On one hand, he knew my deck is at a disadvantage in time, but on the other hand the time scenario is still heavily luck oriented and he chose to go with the latter choice.
2-1
Round 3: Human Warlock
My opponent was a friend I've been playing against often throughout my days of Vs System at the PCQs in Socal. His warlock deck was really nice too, but it needed a few changes to really be pushed over the limit as incredible. Great start though, and we discussed it afterwards. I got blown out by a Hellfire game one (oopsie. Forgot that existed. I'm sure a smart one), but managed to recover that game with a Magni I recall. Game 2 was him behind the entire time. Touch of Chaos was just too slow for him, which he ran as his winning card, and it's too fragile as well.
2-0
Round 4: Phadalus the Enlightened (Tym Bradley)
He's one of the friends I took down. As such, we are total assholes to each other because we love making jokes at each other's expense. The match is really sloppy with me conceding a turn early (though it didnt matter), the allowance of take-backs, etc. We both came to the conclusion that my deck is somewhat of a die-roll against Phadalus, as either deck with the tempo advantage of going first will have a much easier time winning. Though I believe I could have made a difference in the game had I bluffed Brainwash late in when I didn't have it (the importance of priest cards over warlock cards I've found is that the priest cards are bigger blowouts, so bluffing them can put your opponent on guard). Oh well. I learned something at least.
1-2
Round 5: Phadalus the Enlightened
Game one went to me. Game 2 he had two korthas with two damage on it and a Kal'ai in play. I shake my head and said go (five open, guess what?). He played another Kal'ai, I frown and concede a turn later. Game 3 we get to the point where he plays a Magni. I get to the point where I play Lynda Steele, pay 1 to make Magni attack into the Brainwash he now knows I have from game 1. He shortly loses after this play (this is the reason Steele's in there, as a weary control player will simply not attack with their big bomb into the Brainwash).
2-1
Top 8 features me, Grennan, Ruby Gemsparkle, Elendril, Telrander (my friend omgwtf how'd he do it), troll priest, and 2 Phadalus
Top 8: Grennan
I had an invitation but was playing for points towards worlds, so unfortunately I had to work as a dreamcrusher against a local from Chula Vista. The match went 2-1, ended up being close. Grennan has no answers main-deck to Magni, and I don't think he sided Vanquishes, which really hurt. Sorry man, but last regional I went 3-3 due to conceding to two people and lost 30 rating points. :(
So I top 4ed with Draenei priest. Cool, I guess. Troll priest top 4ed as well, and was a similar strategy to mine but was using the horde cards (protector heavy control with power word as a super-blowout card). While the priest is generally weaker in terms of abilities than the warlock, I've found that I actually prefer the priest to the lock since you can't really mind-game much with the lock. Their abilities are very generic and, while good, don't auto-beat your opponent other than Eye of Kilrogg at times. Shield, on the other hand, blows games out and wins games you shouldn't win. Same goes for Brainwash.
I don't know. I'm actually considering Priest for Nationals. If I do I'll probably be the only one from around here playing it, as my friends have been bitten by the shaman bug. I need to test variants of the deck for other classes, like Phadalus (because they have a real 2-drop protector), and Paladin (the Nimassus flip isn't bad and the pally cards are all right). We'll see.
I'll post more later concerning other decks I've begun to dismiss from my consideration for Nationals if I'm playing in it, including what its strengths and weaknesses are and why they were pushed aside.
Anyway, I went down there with two friends. One was playing Telrander because...well, it was a hell of a lot better than the guy's Elendril deck. The other was playing Phadalus. I was playing Anchorite Kalinna.
No, seriously. Anchorite Kalinna. I was going to try something else but said "oh what the hell" and brought Kalinna to test it out on the regional level.
Before going on, here is the deck list.
Hero: Anchorite Kalinna
Characters: 30
4 Kryton Barleybeard
4 Korthas Greybeard
4 Parvink
4 Warden Ravella
4 Vindicator Enkallus
3 Medoc Spiritwarden
1 Kal'ai the Uplifting
1 Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker
1 King Magni Bronzebeard
1 Lynda Steele
3 "Chipper" Ironbane
Abilities: 13
4 Shadow Word: Death
3 Power Word: Shield
2 Shadow Word: Pain
2 Heroic Pressence
2 Brainwash
Quests: 17
4 Rescue the Survivors
4 The Defias Brotherhood
4 Chasing A-ME01
3 The Missing Diplomat
2 Are We There Yeti?
It's basically a Medoc control deck. It's not meant to be rush, but it can deal some damage quickly with the right draw. The emphasis on lower drops is primarily to fuel Defias Broterhood along with survivors, while also allowing me to trade 1-drops with other 1 or 2 drops (important against untargetables).
Why priest though? Good question. The original reason to going priest was because of Power Word: Shield, which used to be a 4-of. It's a blowout card in just about every matchup, as it can wreck combat math and board positions easily while allowing you to maintain your own field. The whole idea was that it was the shield (heh) I needed to protect the Medoc engine and to get it online as it was cheap and effective. Then it became a three-of because I hated drawing it instead of an ally sometimes. Death is just good, and Pain is primarily a gameplan against other slower decks as, when combined with Kryton and Medoc, can lock an opposing player out of the draw phase and as such out of the game.
Heroic Pressence was because I need to win fast sometimes. I can stabilize a field and then not win for ages. Or I can draw a Pressence and deal like 30+ in one turn.
Anyway, here's a round breakdown (no names, sorry. I can't remember as I was not taking notes):
Round 1: Timmo Shadestep
Won this one 2-0. He got close game 2 but I was fortunate he didn't draw a way to burn me for a couple of turns as I widdled down his health. His deck was like a solo rogue strategy.
Round 2: Phadalus the Enlightened (ie Whatever)
This guy decided to add the trinity with his Diplomats to the Phadalus deck, giving him an aggressive opening and a ridiculous late-game. He won game 1 on the "I got lots of untargetables" draw and I couldn't deal. Game 2 he ran out Lady Jaina Proudmoore, which should be death for me as I have few ways to deal. So I play out a Korthas with another protector out there, count out my 6 resources for Yeti, and pass. He attacks with all of his guys.
Then I brainwash Jaina. Who needs Yeti?
He got close to killing Jaina but I finally drew a Korthas to protect her from dying to a Perdition's Blade ping, and he used all 4 Chain Lightnings at that point. He actually misplayed when I played Korthas as it was sick and could not activate the turn he drew Perditions. This most likely came down because we both had Magnis generating their 10th tokens, and it came down to the control-on-control status of the match causing him to miss a few details. I explain to him that I'll win when I draw a Pressence as I have around 8-9 attackers more over his protectors (including infinite tokens on each side), and that the pressence will push through well more than 40-50 damage in one turn. He opts not to concede, so I don't draw a Pressence until I have 5 cards left in deck.
Game 3 is on time, and he gets unlucky and doesn't draw a way to deal with my Kryon without Earth Elemental Totem, which gets Death'ed so Kryton deals the 2 damage needed to win. It's worth nothing he could have avoided this by conceding in game 2 when I mentioned the pressence. On one hand, he knew my deck is at a disadvantage in time, but on the other hand the time scenario is still heavily luck oriented and he chose to go with the latter choice.
2-1
Round 3: Human Warlock
My opponent was a friend I've been playing against often throughout my days of Vs System at the PCQs in Socal. His warlock deck was really nice too, but it needed a few changes to really be pushed over the limit as incredible. Great start though, and we discussed it afterwards. I got blown out by a Hellfire game one (oopsie. Forgot that existed. I'm sure a smart one), but managed to recover that game with a Magni I recall. Game 2 was him behind the entire time. Touch of Chaos was just too slow for him, which he ran as his winning card, and it's too fragile as well.
2-0
Round 4: Phadalus the Enlightened (Tym Bradley)
He's one of the friends I took down. As such, we are total assholes to each other because we love making jokes at each other's expense. The match is really sloppy with me conceding a turn early (though it didnt matter), the allowance of take-backs, etc. We both came to the conclusion that my deck is somewhat of a die-roll against Phadalus, as either deck with the tempo advantage of going first will have a much easier time winning. Though I believe I could have made a difference in the game had I bluffed Brainwash late in when I didn't have it (the importance of priest cards over warlock cards I've found is that the priest cards are bigger blowouts, so bluffing them can put your opponent on guard). Oh well. I learned something at least.
1-2
Round 5: Phadalus the Enlightened
Game one went to me. Game 2 he had two korthas with two damage on it and a Kal'ai in play. I shake my head and said go (five open, guess what?). He played another Kal'ai, I frown and concede a turn later. Game 3 we get to the point where he plays a Magni. I get to the point where I play Lynda Steele, pay 1 to make Magni attack into the Brainwash he now knows I have from game 1. He shortly loses after this play (this is the reason Steele's in there, as a weary control player will simply not attack with their big bomb into the Brainwash).
2-1
Top 8 features me, Grennan, Ruby Gemsparkle, Elendril, Telrander (my friend omgwtf how'd he do it), troll priest, and 2 Phadalus
Top 8: Grennan
I had an invitation but was playing for points towards worlds, so unfortunately I had to work as a dreamcrusher against a local from Chula Vista. The match went 2-1, ended up being close. Grennan has no answers main-deck to Magni, and I don't think he sided Vanquishes, which really hurt. Sorry man, but last regional I went 3-3 due to conceding to two people and lost 30 rating points. :(
So I top 4ed with Draenei priest. Cool, I guess. Troll priest top 4ed as well, and was a similar strategy to mine but was using the horde cards (protector heavy control with power word as a super-blowout card). While the priest is generally weaker in terms of abilities than the warlock, I've found that I actually prefer the priest to the lock since you can't really mind-game much with the lock. Their abilities are very generic and, while good, don't auto-beat your opponent other than Eye of Kilrogg at times. Shield, on the other hand, blows games out and wins games you shouldn't win. Same goes for Brainwash.
I don't know. I'm actually considering Priest for Nationals. If I do I'll probably be the only one from around here playing it, as my friends have been bitten by the shaman bug. I need to test variants of the deck for other classes, like Phadalus (because they have a real 2-drop protector), and Paladin (the Nimassus flip isn't bad and the pally cards are all right). We'll see.
I'll post more later concerning other decks I've begun to dismiss from my consideration for Nationals if I'm playing in it, including what its strengths and weaknesses are and why they were pushed aside.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Regionals in San Diego tomorrow
I'll be sure to have some content up Sunday or Monday regarding the WoW Regional in San Diego tomorrow, including top 8 breakdowns, decks, etc.
And this will be actual content. Sorry for not getting much up recently. I've been trying to get my epic flying mount in WoW. It's...kinda expensive.
-Mike
And this will be actual content. Sorry for not getting much up recently. I've been trying to get my epic flying mount in WoW. It's...kinda expensive.
-Mike
Monday, July 9, 2007
Paradise
This is just a little deviation from the WoW TCG, to get my mind cleared of stuff not related to the game before I get into a Starcitywow article.
If you haven't watched Trigun before (wiki it if you don't know what it is, though I'll be pretty surprised if you've never heard of it), it is a series that I consider is a much-watch. Anime fan or not, it's short and sweet at 26 episodes. This is probably the upteenth time I've seen the series now and am nearing the end again, with 3 episodes left.
The episode, Paradise, episode 23, is perhaps one of the best single-episodes for a show I've ever seen. Watching it just now reiterated that point to myself. On an entertainment perspective, it finishes off the storyline to one of the show's main characters and makes a lot of important ties to the rest of the series, and is seen as a solid climax and turning point in the series towards its conclusion. On a filmic level, it's pretty powerful too. Lots of really great long-shots and lighting drawn in by the animators here. It's really impressive scene guidance.
It is also one of those episodes that just chokes you up. Whether or not ice is pumping through your veins, it's pretty hard not to watch this episode without having a few tears form up and fall from your eyes. It is episodes like this that I enjoy the most, as it is a piece of work created for spectators to feel and enjoy so deeply to the point that they are emotionally impacted by what they see. It is the true sign that an episode did its job, and managed to achieve a level of greatness so high that it can impact someone's emotions in such a way. That is one true sign of a successful show, right there.
As said, Trigun. Go see it if you haven't because you're probably 1 out of a few thousand hermits who hasn't seen it if this is the case. Paradise. Watch through it, get choked up. Watch past it. Don't stop just because the emotion that will gloss over you is sadness. It's worth getting through those last episodes.
Next time: I'll actually have some WoW content. Probably on Wednesday or Thursday.
-Mike
If you haven't watched Trigun before (wiki it if you don't know what it is, though I'll be pretty surprised if you've never heard of it), it is a series that I consider is a much-watch. Anime fan or not, it's short and sweet at 26 episodes. This is probably the upteenth time I've seen the series now and am nearing the end again, with 3 episodes left.
The episode, Paradise, episode 23, is perhaps one of the best single-episodes for a show I've ever seen. Watching it just now reiterated that point to myself. On an entertainment perspective, it finishes off the storyline to one of the show's main characters and makes a lot of important ties to the rest of the series, and is seen as a solid climax and turning point in the series towards its conclusion. On a filmic level, it's pretty powerful too. Lots of really great long-shots and lighting drawn in by the animators here. It's really impressive scene guidance.
It is also one of those episodes that just chokes you up. Whether or not ice is pumping through your veins, it's pretty hard not to watch this episode without having a few tears form up and fall from your eyes. It is episodes like this that I enjoy the most, as it is a piece of work created for spectators to feel and enjoy so deeply to the point that they are emotionally impacted by what they see. It is the true sign that an episode did its job, and managed to achieve a level of greatness so high that it can impact someone's emotions in such a way. That is one true sign of a successful show, right there.
As said, Trigun. Go see it if you haven't because you're probably 1 out of a few thousand hermits who hasn't seen it if this is the case. Paradise. Watch through it, get choked up. Watch past it. Don't stop just because the emotion that will gloss over you is sadness. It's worth getting through those last episodes.
Next time: I'll actually have some WoW content. Probably on Wednesday or Thursday.
-Mike
Thursday, July 5, 2007
The state of the HOA-TDP Constructed Metagame
Hey there, first time readers. My name is Mike Rosenberg. If you've found your way here, chances are you may have read one of my articles regarding the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game. I currently write weekly single-card-strategy articles over at http://www.starcitywow.com/, and I've also written on various topics at wow.tcgplayer.com. The other way you may have stumbled across this blog is through one of my forum posts at any of those sites, or from the official WoW TCG web site. Regardless of how you found your way here, welcome! I hope you'll come back often.
One of the big concerns I've seen recently on TCGplayer's site is the dominance that Phadalus the Enlightened currently has on the game. A lot of players are concerned that perhaps the alliance shaman rush is a little too good. In case you haven't checked it out, head on over there to read Bryon Lyon's article "Is Phadalus Too Good", and then check out the comments regarding that article on the message board. You can find that article by clicking here.
The first point that Bryon brings up is that Shaman was considered the deck to beat and yet it still won at Darkmoon Faire: Chicago. I feel this is a bit of an exaggeration, since it appeared the the decks to beat going into the event were Cruelty (the Austin Darkmoon Faire winner), Telrander (the Frankfurt Darkmoon Faire winner), and Gorebelly (which gained a notorious reputation for having some really stupid opening hands after its appearance in Frankfurt). Phadalus was indeed a competitor at this time and was considered a top tier deck, but in terms of power level it did nothing that was overly fast or overly controlling. The problem going into Chicago was that Phadalus rush just ran a lot of good cards.
What do I mean by good cards? Consider this. Telrander has what is probably the most consistent fast kill in the game right now. Gorebelly has capabilities of putting fatal damage on an opposing hero as early as turn 4 and can do so on turn 5, but its inconsistency is what makes it less reliant than Telrander. The goal of Telrander is that you can just play a Cat Form (or Claw), play a bunch of pump effects that remain as ongoings for your hero, and scratch your way to a victory on turn 5 by flipping Telrander.
However, if you are playing Telrander, do you actually ever like seeing Nature of the Beast in your hand? Isn't Heart of the Wild always a somewhat disappointing draw? What about Rake? Sure, it can take down a Parvink if played at end of turn, but it feels dramatically underpowered against the likes of a Guardian Steelhorn or, even worse, if you don't draw a form. There are a lot of cards in the Cat Form deck that actually aren't that good. The reason they are played, however, is that they have good enough synergy with the goal of your deck that they warrant an inclusion, even if you don't necessarily like them. I personally hate ever drawing into Heart of the Wild after turn 2, and I hate seeing Nature of the Beast...well, anytime. Telrander runs a lot of what can be considered "bad cards" to success because the strategy it possesses is so powerful.
The concept is that your hero is an extra resource that can be used throughout the game as early as turn 2. Cat Form is extremely efficient at turning your hero into an attacker, where you turn a trade in damage and a commitment to very few resources into a monstrous attacker with no strike costs. With only two ongoing pumps, including a Nature of the Beast, your hero can be attacking at a level only seeing by Twig of the World Tree at an extremely early point of the game. Realistically, the best way to achieve this critical mass of ongoing pumps is to have one ongoing be Predatory Strikes, and the other to be any card. This means you spend between two to three turns to make your hero attack for 4 or 5 each turn. If you didn't play any other ongoing pumps at this point, that's already incredible.
The reason for running cards like Nature of the Beast and Heart of the Wild isn't because they're good. They actually aren't. It is for redundancy. Predatory Strikes is the example card of what you want your deck to do. It is what you compare every other ongoing pump for a druid form to, as it provides the biggest benefit for the cheapest cost. It is an example of a good card, and as such, is one of the cards that is involved in blowing an opponent out if you draw two of them in the first three turns with Cat Form. Nature of the Beast is a weaker Predatory Strikes, but it still makes your hero a threat. You want to make your hero attack for a lot early, so you run four copies of it to "simulate" what Predatory Strikes does. This goes for Heart of the Wild too, as it is expensive but provides the same benefit of that benchmark Predatory Strikes. This redundancy makes Telrander consistent at what it does: clawing the opposing hero's face off fast. However, it also leads to bad draws since you run the risk of drawing too many of your "bad cards" (the natures and hearts). They aren't good unless your hero is doing something. Without a form, they're useless. Without the option of getting your hero through to the opposing hero, they're pretty terrible. They serve a specific role in the deck and aid in making the deck as fast as it is, but they aren't actually desirable cards that you want to draw.
Now let's return to the Phadalus Rush deck. It isn't as fast as Telrander. It isn't as controlling as the Cruelty decks, Azarak solo decks, or the Pagatha control decks. However, it wins games and thus, wins tournaments (like Chicago). Why is this?
The answer is simple: Phadalus Rush doesn't play any bad cards.
Think about this. Even if you draw an Apprentice Merry when your opponent has a giant-sized protector out, you're not really that bummed. This is because you know Merry can still serve a purpose. If that big protector goes down, she's a 2 ATK beater that can't be taken out by normal means. The Defias Brotherhood can sometimes sit on the shaman player's field and be uncompleted. In this case, it's not being used, but it's still not a bad card. The shaman player can know to hold onto any untargetable allies it draws in order to use them for a critical turn in which the shaman player puts the required four allies into play (untargetables first, followed by targetables) in order to complete The Defias Brotherhood. The opponent may appear ahead, but they can't relax and let the opponent actually complete that quest since it's such a cheap source of card advantage that it can bounce the shaman player back into the game almost immediately.
That's what Phadalus is all about. Efficiency. While the Telrander deck is busy being redundant, since that's what it wants for its game plan of having their hero attack things for a lot, Phadalus is about efficiency. It wants to run the best cards it can. As an alliance shaman, Phadalus the Enlightened offers the untargetable ally line-up, which is arguably the best rush line-up in the game. They're annoying to deal with and force more decisions into the shaman player's hands rather than the opponents, who don't actually have many options to deal with them. Phadalus plays Parvink, arguably the best character in the game for it's the one character you are never disappointed at drawing. Leeroy Jenkins, while vulnerable in a format of Intercepts and Rakes, is an option Phadalus has for the most efficient ferocity ally in the game. If the shaman player decides it is necessary, King Magni Bronzebeard is an option available to the hero as the game's best late-game ally (no questions asked on this one. If Magni stays out there for more than a turn, you already won, especially in a format devoid of Vanquishes because of its hefty cost). "Chipper" Ironbane is the game's most efficient answer to any reactive threat the opponent can play that isn't an ally. While it isn't the be-all end-all solution that players think it is in solving any matchup, it is still the most versatile non-ally removal card in the game and can also be an efficient beater.
Now look at the abilities Phadalus has to offer. The shaman is all about efficiency! Lightning Bolt is a solid 4 damage for 3 resources, where 4 is a number that is much more important to deal with with Through the Dark Portal out. It's also more damage than you sink resources into, making it efficient at being aimed at an opposing hero as reach damage in the late game. Earth Elemental Totem is a solid 2/2 protector for 2, at instant speed. The instant speed trick pushes this card over the top. Searing Totem is one of the most annoying burn tricks in the game, capable of earning two-for-ones like no other card (well, except for Parvink). Above all however is Chain Lightning, the ultimate shaman ability. This card is either a solid two-for-one for a mere five resources, a devastating three-for-one, or a two-for-one and 3 damage to the opposing hero. This card is almost always good no matter when you play it.
Even Phadalus, as a draenei, offers what is arguably the best quest in the game to this deck. Rescue the Survivors is up there with Chasing A-ME01 in terms of power level. While it's not bringing back bomb allies from the graveyard, it is almost always causing a two-card swing in your favor. Either you draw two cards with it, or you draw one card and your opponent plays an ability to cack the other token off. If it's only giving you one card, chances are the other token was the target of an opposing ally's attack that could have been better placed at another ally on your field. It's like you drew a card and made the opponent give up one of their attackers.
The Phadalus Rush deck isn't necessarily rush all of the time either. The deck can switch between being a tempo-mad rush deck or an attrition-based aggro deck that wears the opponent down with threats before putting an end to the opposing hero. It has fast tricks and lots of ways to earn barrels of card advantage. It's no wonder people think this deck can be too good!
Or maybe, just maybe, this is only an example of a deck that has lots of good cards and tools to use, and this is what you get for running them all together. Sure, this deck is consistent, it can do a lot of things, and it has a lot of solutions to lots of decks in the format. This is all true. However, it isn't doing anything that is actually degenerate. It doesn't really do anything fast either. For a rush deck, Phadalus Rush doesn't kill any heroes very quickly. Perhaps Phadalus Rush is better off being given the title of "Phadalus Goodstuff". After all, the deck is based on playing a lot of good cards. The good cards just happen to be the early-game stuff opposing players can have serious problems dealing with. While Phadalus is capable of explosive draws with multiple Apprentice Merrys and Jeleane Nightbreezes, it doesn't happen often. Most of the time, the deck simple out attritions players. Just look at all of the cards in the Phadalus deck. Almost every card in the deck offers both its user and the opposing player a ton of options. Rescue the Survivors is a mindblow. The player piloting Phadalus Goodstuff has to decide when is the proper time to complete the quest, whether or not it will be playing a weapon to attack with and considering this when removing survivor tokens, and what the opponent will do when the quest is completed. The opponent then has choices for what it can do to the survivor tokens. Is it correct to ignore them and focus on other things (which is almost always the correct choice), or do they deny the opponent an extra card and waste some attacks on the tokens instead?
Chain Lightning is another thinking-heavy card. How do you play this card optimally? Do you know all of the tricks to it? Do you know it only has one target? Does your opponent know this? There are lots of times when sending 3 damage to the opposing hero's face, and then taking out two allies is the correct play not only because of its ability to remove untargetable allies in such a fashion, but because it lets you maintain tempo by bringing your opponent's health closer to fatal damage. Even Chipper is a complex card, as it's not an optimal play to use Chipper when you are behind on tempo since you have no pressure to put the opponent under by taking away one of their non-ally threats.
Phadalus is a deck with a ton of decisions and a ton of options. It runs a lot of efficient and powerful cards, but at the same time doesn't do any one job better than any other deck. It just has the versatility of being a swiss army knife; it does lots of things and can do them well enough to get the job done. It isn't faster than Elendril or Telrander, or even Gorebelly, but it can certainly mount an aggressive start against the slower decks. It isn't as controlling as the warlock decks or as the solo equipment decks, but it can still win the reactive attrition war against aggressive decks with powerful board-clearers and card advantage shenanigans.
All in all, Phadalus isn't that bad of a deck for the format. The reason is wins games and, as such, wins tournaments is because the deck is good at adapting to an open format. There are a lot of threats available to play with in the current constructed format, and a good player piloting the alliance shaman has ways to minimize the damage these threats can deal against someone in a tournament. It is for this reason that the deck is so popular, not because it's too good, but because it offers its users the opportunity to outplay their opponents and to adapt under pressure. It still loses to the good draws from decks meant to do one thing extremely well, and it still loses to decks that are meant to control aggression if the shaman deck doesn't get an extremely good draw (which is harder for Phadalus to do since the deck is not meant to explode in the way Telrander or Elendril does).
You don't have to expect Shaman to be the only deck in the current constructed format. What you can expect is to see it played, and to see it contend for a few National Championship titles when piloted by good and adaptive players. If someone wins a huge event with this deck, think about all the decisions they had to get right to get that far and congratulate them for doing so well at navigating the tournament. It's not easy. Sometimes, playing bad to mediocre cards that work towards better synergies and strategies will simply be better than the deck that plays only good cards towards no real strategy. Sometimes strategies are more powerful than the cards themselves, but good cards played properly always give decks like Phadalus a shot at doing well.
One of the big concerns I've seen recently on TCGplayer's site is the dominance that Phadalus the Enlightened currently has on the game. A lot of players are concerned that perhaps the alliance shaman rush is a little too good. In case you haven't checked it out, head on over there to read Bryon Lyon's article "Is Phadalus Too Good", and then check out the comments regarding that article on the message board. You can find that article by clicking here.
The first point that Bryon brings up is that Shaman was considered the deck to beat and yet it still won at Darkmoon Faire: Chicago. I feel this is a bit of an exaggeration, since it appeared the the decks to beat going into the event were Cruelty (the Austin Darkmoon Faire winner), Telrander (the Frankfurt Darkmoon Faire winner), and Gorebelly (which gained a notorious reputation for having some really stupid opening hands after its appearance in Frankfurt). Phadalus was indeed a competitor at this time and was considered a top tier deck, but in terms of power level it did nothing that was overly fast or overly controlling. The problem going into Chicago was that Phadalus rush just ran a lot of good cards.
What do I mean by good cards? Consider this. Telrander has what is probably the most consistent fast kill in the game right now. Gorebelly has capabilities of putting fatal damage on an opposing hero as early as turn 4 and can do so on turn 5, but its inconsistency is what makes it less reliant than Telrander. The goal of Telrander is that you can just play a Cat Form (or Claw), play a bunch of pump effects that remain as ongoings for your hero, and scratch your way to a victory on turn 5 by flipping Telrander.
However, if you are playing Telrander, do you actually ever like seeing Nature of the Beast in your hand? Isn't Heart of the Wild always a somewhat disappointing draw? What about Rake? Sure, it can take down a Parvink if played at end of turn, but it feels dramatically underpowered against the likes of a Guardian Steelhorn or, even worse, if you don't draw a form. There are a lot of cards in the Cat Form deck that actually aren't that good. The reason they are played, however, is that they have good enough synergy with the goal of your deck that they warrant an inclusion, even if you don't necessarily like them. I personally hate ever drawing into Heart of the Wild after turn 2, and I hate seeing Nature of the Beast...well, anytime. Telrander runs a lot of what can be considered "bad cards" to success because the strategy it possesses is so powerful.
The concept is that your hero is an extra resource that can be used throughout the game as early as turn 2. Cat Form is extremely efficient at turning your hero into an attacker, where you turn a trade in damage and a commitment to very few resources into a monstrous attacker with no strike costs. With only two ongoing pumps, including a Nature of the Beast, your hero can be attacking at a level only seeing by Twig of the World Tree at an extremely early point of the game. Realistically, the best way to achieve this critical mass of ongoing pumps is to have one ongoing be Predatory Strikes, and the other to be any card. This means you spend between two to three turns to make your hero attack for 4 or 5 each turn. If you didn't play any other ongoing pumps at this point, that's already incredible.
The reason for running cards like Nature of the Beast and Heart of the Wild isn't because they're good. They actually aren't. It is for redundancy. Predatory Strikes is the example card of what you want your deck to do. It is what you compare every other ongoing pump for a druid form to, as it provides the biggest benefit for the cheapest cost. It is an example of a good card, and as such, is one of the cards that is involved in blowing an opponent out if you draw two of them in the first three turns with Cat Form. Nature of the Beast is a weaker Predatory Strikes, but it still makes your hero a threat. You want to make your hero attack for a lot early, so you run four copies of it to "simulate" what Predatory Strikes does. This goes for Heart of the Wild too, as it is expensive but provides the same benefit of that benchmark Predatory Strikes. This redundancy makes Telrander consistent at what it does: clawing the opposing hero's face off fast. However, it also leads to bad draws since you run the risk of drawing too many of your "bad cards" (the natures and hearts). They aren't good unless your hero is doing something. Without a form, they're useless. Without the option of getting your hero through to the opposing hero, they're pretty terrible. They serve a specific role in the deck and aid in making the deck as fast as it is, but they aren't actually desirable cards that you want to draw.
Now let's return to the Phadalus Rush deck. It isn't as fast as Telrander. It isn't as controlling as the Cruelty decks, Azarak solo decks, or the Pagatha control decks. However, it wins games and thus, wins tournaments (like Chicago). Why is this?
The answer is simple: Phadalus Rush doesn't play any bad cards.
Think about this. Even if you draw an Apprentice Merry when your opponent has a giant-sized protector out, you're not really that bummed. This is because you know Merry can still serve a purpose. If that big protector goes down, she's a 2 ATK beater that can't be taken out by normal means. The Defias Brotherhood can sometimes sit on the shaman player's field and be uncompleted. In this case, it's not being used, but it's still not a bad card. The shaman player can know to hold onto any untargetable allies it draws in order to use them for a critical turn in which the shaman player puts the required four allies into play (untargetables first, followed by targetables) in order to complete The Defias Brotherhood. The opponent may appear ahead, but they can't relax and let the opponent actually complete that quest since it's such a cheap source of card advantage that it can bounce the shaman player back into the game almost immediately.
That's what Phadalus is all about. Efficiency. While the Telrander deck is busy being redundant, since that's what it wants for its game plan of having their hero attack things for a lot, Phadalus is about efficiency. It wants to run the best cards it can. As an alliance shaman, Phadalus the Enlightened offers the untargetable ally line-up, which is arguably the best rush line-up in the game. They're annoying to deal with and force more decisions into the shaman player's hands rather than the opponents, who don't actually have many options to deal with them. Phadalus plays Parvink, arguably the best character in the game for it's the one character you are never disappointed at drawing. Leeroy Jenkins, while vulnerable in a format of Intercepts and Rakes, is an option Phadalus has for the most efficient ferocity ally in the game. If the shaman player decides it is necessary, King Magni Bronzebeard is an option available to the hero as the game's best late-game ally (no questions asked on this one. If Magni stays out there for more than a turn, you already won, especially in a format devoid of Vanquishes because of its hefty cost). "Chipper" Ironbane is the game's most efficient answer to any reactive threat the opponent can play that isn't an ally. While it isn't the be-all end-all solution that players think it is in solving any matchup, it is still the most versatile non-ally removal card in the game and can also be an efficient beater.
Now look at the abilities Phadalus has to offer. The shaman is all about efficiency! Lightning Bolt is a solid 4 damage for 3 resources, where 4 is a number that is much more important to deal with with Through the Dark Portal out. It's also more damage than you sink resources into, making it efficient at being aimed at an opposing hero as reach damage in the late game. Earth Elemental Totem is a solid 2/2 protector for 2, at instant speed. The instant speed trick pushes this card over the top. Searing Totem is one of the most annoying burn tricks in the game, capable of earning two-for-ones like no other card (well, except for Parvink). Above all however is Chain Lightning, the ultimate shaman ability. This card is either a solid two-for-one for a mere five resources, a devastating three-for-one, or a two-for-one and 3 damage to the opposing hero. This card is almost always good no matter when you play it.
Even Phadalus, as a draenei, offers what is arguably the best quest in the game to this deck. Rescue the Survivors is up there with Chasing A-ME01 in terms of power level. While it's not bringing back bomb allies from the graveyard, it is almost always causing a two-card swing in your favor. Either you draw two cards with it, or you draw one card and your opponent plays an ability to cack the other token off. If it's only giving you one card, chances are the other token was the target of an opposing ally's attack that could have been better placed at another ally on your field. It's like you drew a card and made the opponent give up one of their attackers.
The Phadalus Rush deck isn't necessarily rush all of the time either. The deck can switch between being a tempo-mad rush deck or an attrition-based aggro deck that wears the opponent down with threats before putting an end to the opposing hero. It has fast tricks and lots of ways to earn barrels of card advantage. It's no wonder people think this deck can be too good!
Or maybe, just maybe, this is only an example of a deck that has lots of good cards and tools to use, and this is what you get for running them all together. Sure, this deck is consistent, it can do a lot of things, and it has a lot of solutions to lots of decks in the format. This is all true. However, it isn't doing anything that is actually degenerate. It doesn't really do anything fast either. For a rush deck, Phadalus Rush doesn't kill any heroes very quickly. Perhaps Phadalus Rush is better off being given the title of "Phadalus Goodstuff". After all, the deck is based on playing a lot of good cards. The good cards just happen to be the early-game stuff opposing players can have serious problems dealing with. While Phadalus is capable of explosive draws with multiple Apprentice Merrys and Jeleane Nightbreezes, it doesn't happen often. Most of the time, the deck simple out attritions players. Just look at all of the cards in the Phadalus deck. Almost every card in the deck offers both its user and the opposing player a ton of options. Rescue the Survivors is a mindblow. The player piloting Phadalus Goodstuff has to decide when is the proper time to complete the quest, whether or not it will be playing a weapon to attack with and considering this when removing survivor tokens, and what the opponent will do when the quest is completed. The opponent then has choices for what it can do to the survivor tokens. Is it correct to ignore them and focus on other things (which is almost always the correct choice), or do they deny the opponent an extra card and waste some attacks on the tokens instead?
Chain Lightning is another thinking-heavy card. How do you play this card optimally? Do you know all of the tricks to it? Do you know it only has one target? Does your opponent know this? There are lots of times when sending 3 damage to the opposing hero's face, and then taking out two allies is the correct play not only because of its ability to remove untargetable allies in such a fashion, but because it lets you maintain tempo by bringing your opponent's health closer to fatal damage. Even Chipper is a complex card, as it's not an optimal play to use Chipper when you are behind on tempo since you have no pressure to put the opponent under by taking away one of their non-ally threats.
Phadalus is a deck with a ton of decisions and a ton of options. It runs a lot of efficient and powerful cards, but at the same time doesn't do any one job better than any other deck. It just has the versatility of being a swiss army knife; it does lots of things and can do them well enough to get the job done. It isn't faster than Elendril or Telrander, or even Gorebelly, but it can certainly mount an aggressive start against the slower decks. It isn't as controlling as the warlock decks or as the solo equipment decks, but it can still win the reactive attrition war against aggressive decks with powerful board-clearers and card advantage shenanigans.
All in all, Phadalus isn't that bad of a deck for the format. The reason is wins games and, as such, wins tournaments is because the deck is good at adapting to an open format. There are a lot of threats available to play with in the current constructed format, and a good player piloting the alliance shaman has ways to minimize the damage these threats can deal against someone in a tournament. It is for this reason that the deck is so popular, not because it's too good, but because it offers its users the opportunity to outplay their opponents and to adapt under pressure. It still loses to the good draws from decks meant to do one thing extremely well, and it still loses to decks that are meant to control aggression if the shaman deck doesn't get an extremely good draw (which is harder for Phadalus to do since the deck is not meant to explode in the way Telrander or Elendril does).
You don't have to expect Shaman to be the only deck in the current constructed format. What you can expect is to see it played, and to see it contend for a few National Championship titles when piloted by good and adaptive players. If someone wins a huge event with this deck, think about all the decisions they had to get right to get that far and congratulate them for doing so well at navigating the tournament. It's not easy. Sometimes, playing bad to mediocre cards that work towards better synergies and strategies will simply be better than the deck that plays only good cards towards no real strategy. Sometimes strategies are more powerful than the cards themselves, but good cards played properly always give decks like Phadalus a shot at doing well.
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