My personal favourite..
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Happy Hallowe'en!
Ah, Hallowe'en.. My favourite holiday! I just love it.. So why don't we have a chaotic hallowe'en? Because Hallowe'en is only the start of the week of All Soul's, my Hallowe'en banner will be up all this week :D Here are some Hallowe'en sigs I made. Didn't do much, just cropped and added text/borders. Banner should be up soon, if not now, while you're reading this :D
My personal favourite..
My personal favourite..
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Danian (Combo!) of the week!
Ulmquad is this weeks danian of the week!He is the first minion to be made danian of the week thus far, but believe me, this guy ROCKS! He has a slightly improved ability to Lore from DoP - Lore healed the energy, whereas Ulmquad actually gains it - Though he only has two counters instead of three, it's well worth it whn you consider his decent stats (55 energy, 75 Courage, other stats hover around 50) and two elements. He fits in well with neekwin/klencka builds due to his elements, and battlegear serves him better than the Orb of Unda. Say you use his ability twice - 20 heal, 20 deal. Then heal with orb of unda - 30 heal, 20 deal. Now use your extra counter for unbalancing battlesong. 45 heal, 35 deal. That's an awesome way to start a battle, right? My Ulmquad has average energy, 55, so that bumps it up to 100 energy, and takes the other creature down by 35. Imagine facing a tank who has around 70 energy - Now it's only 45! All in all, this is a combo that kills in 1v1. Cards like witnerclaw, essential evaporation, flood force and airsault all make for a good attack deck, and mugic and battlegear is simple enough. It's also a good idea when making a 1v1 to throw in gear grind - Your battlegear is sacrificed already, so just take their's out. Simple enough, and a solid build.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Adapting to your Enemies: Retaliatory Strike
So a while ago I did an article on Adapting to your enemies, something danians are masters at. The tribe does this by using Compost, Infecting, and Element Proof, but the new set brought a real gem - Retaliatory Strike. An attack I was more excited about than Combustion Carnage or Grounding Grapple! Retaliatory Strike is all about using your opponent's strengths against them. Like when fighting a bigger opponent, you use their weight against them to succeed.
Let's look at Overworlders and Underworlders. Sworn enemies, because they have almost completely opposite fighting styles - Underworlders are totally destructive, whereas Overworlders focus on helping and healing.
But it's not a solitary incident - Mipedians and Danians are also immersed in a gritty rivalry - Why? They too, have very different styles. While mipedians do use mugic and battlegear to control the game, their main power lies in their attacks. Think about it - With two owaykis, maliph, a vlaric shard and a storm tunnel, that's strike: 25, with earth 5 and air 5, bringing a simple attack like thunder shout up to 55 damage! Mipedians repeatedly use these kind of attacks, and they work independently. Owayki helps other mipedians, but if he gets taken out, the rest of the mipedians still have a good shot at winning. Why? They are more independent. They don't need as much support, because of their devastating attack power.
Now look at danians - Typically, the attacks aren't as important. Look at Fliandar - Even if he were to use nothing but spirit gusts, with the right support team he'd still wear his opponent down because of his healing ability. But danians do rely heavily on support and resources - Meticulous planning and combinations are important. Now I'm not saying there aren't exceptions - There are complex mipedians and aggro-tank danians, but that's how it usually is.
So I was playing a match yesterday, and boom. One attack, from Rasbma Darini, and boom - 55 damage, I'm at 5 energy. I know that there's no attack in my deck that could deal 60 damage to take out a Rasbma Darini with no damage done to it, and I'm out of mugic. Then I pull retaliatory strike. Talk about a game-changer! Having a wild card like this one is awesome, and although 3BP is a little hefty, it is definitely worth it. When you can't rely on your own strength, use your opponent's against them!
I just see this as a good weapon against mipedian decks. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a danian player and I love the lizards, but there is definite rivalry there.
Rate this attack? I suppose it may as well be a featured card. I myself give it an 8/10, because it's truly spectacular - And if it comes up at the wrong time, you can always wait till later on when it's more useful. Really versatile, and your opponent rarely sees it coming ;)
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
AU review: Danian Mugic!
Alright, it's pretty late, but here is the review on Danian Mugic from Alliances Unravelled!
Elemental Counterpoint.
Nice and simple - You can shave a lot of damage of off most elemental attacks, and completely negate things like Apoc-Eclipse, Purifying Mud or Land-Gore. A really handy one-cost mugic, just watch out for those new 30 damage attacks that do 10 base, 10 for a discipline and 10 for an element.
Ancestral Anthem.
This is a great mugic, more or less free hive! I like that now you can use the discard pile without being tied down to the typical Makanaz/Ivelaan combos. Imagine this with Lore HMotH! Four free hives, as long as you don't need to use your discard creatures.
Empowering Encore.
Awesome mugic! I like this one a lot - Now picture you ARE using that clichéd makanaz/Ivelaan combo. Now you can give a creature with no elements, like Ketun, three elements, fire, earth and water. It's like an updated version of Danian Elemental Choral (a mugic which, by the way, is a reliable card even in the modern metagame) Again it's only one counter for cost, which is always good. I could see this fitting in some new compost decks, since it's rare you can make a full fledged elemental deck out of those. An added note: It goes great with Gorram!
Ah, the danian battlesong. I like these new battlesongs, it encourages us to get our muges in battle, which spurs some interesting deck builds. Of course, it also goes well with cards like Odu-Bathax, Hiadrom and Neekwin. Four things - Hiadrom, hive amber, unbalancing battlesong - 1v1! That's 30 gain, 30 deal. I think this is probably the simplest, most usable of the five battlesongs.
Rocky Refrain.
The rarest mugic for danians this time round. It's not astoundingly good, but it could come in handy. When you are looking for a caster with earth who has easy access to 2MC, either of the two most recent Lore's spring to mind. I suppose it could go from a 20-30 damage heal, 40 at the best. So it's in between a song of resurgence and a harmonious highsong, at worst, a mere minor flourish, at best two songs of resurgence in one tidy little package. Very doable, but it's one of those things that are very situational, and could easily go wrong. Still, the danians needed a good new healing mugic, and since elemental decks are becoming more popular, this is just another way to use your opponents strengths against you.
That's the end of the mugic review! Hope you enjoyed ;)
Elemental Counterpoint.
Nice and simple - You can shave a lot of damage of off most elemental attacks, and completely negate things like Apoc-Eclipse, Purifying Mud or Land-Gore. A really handy one-cost mugic, just watch out for those new 30 damage attacks that do 10 base, 10 for a discipline and 10 for an element.
Ancestral Anthem.
This is a great mugic, more or less free hive! I like that now you can use the discard pile without being tied down to the typical Makanaz/Ivelaan combos. Imagine this with Lore HMotH! Four free hives, as long as you don't need to use your discard creatures.
Empowering Encore.
Awesome mugic! I like this one a lot - Now picture you ARE using that clichéd makanaz/Ivelaan combo. Now you can give a creature with no elements, like Ketun, three elements, fire, earth and water. It's like an updated version of Danian Elemental Choral (a mugic which, by the way, is a reliable card even in the modern metagame) Again it's only one counter for cost, which is always good. I could see this fitting in some new compost decks, since it's rare you can make a full fledged elemental deck out of those. An added note: It goes great with Gorram!
Ah, the danian battlesong. I like these new battlesongs, it encourages us to get our muges in battle, which spurs some interesting deck builds. Of course, it also goes well with cards like Odu-Bathax, Hiadrom and Neekwin. Four things - Hiadrom, hive amber, unbalancing battlesong - 1v1! That's 30 gain, 30 deal. I think this is probably the simplest, most usable of the five battlesongs.
Rocky Refrain.
The rarest mugic for danians this time round. It's not astoundingly good, but it could come in handy. When you are looking for a caster with earth who has easy access to 2MC, either of the two most recent Lore's spring to mind. I suppose it could go from a 20-30 damage heal, 40 at the best. So it's in between a song of resurgence and a harmonious highsong, at worst, a mere minor flourish, at best two songs of resurgence in one tidy little package. Very doable, but it's one of those things that are very situational, and could easily go wrong. Still, the danians needed a good new healing mugic, and since elemental decks are becoming more popular, this is just another way to use your opponents strengths against you.
That's the end of the mugic review! Hope you enjoyed ;)
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Assimilated Article: Finale
Hammerdoom Chantcaller
70 40 55 55 55
"The boy who cried wolf" and "the scout who cried hammerdoom" - Hammerdoom was supposedly the brutish underworlder who terrorized danians. Though he never really got to do much damage before he was instantly buggified.
If you look at his stats, the only thing that jumps out is Courage,a nd even that's not that great.
With decent energy, and the ability to lay the beat down on Underworlders, he's not a bad card. His Hive: Fireproof ability isn't a bad addition to his repertoire, but all in all, the best case scenario for this guy is 10 extra energy and an additional 5 damage with attacks.
Of course, you could always put him with his signature gear, the doomhammer. Leaving him at 10 damage against Underworlders, 5 against danians, 10 extra energy, earth 5, 60 energy, 60 speed, 60 wisdom, 50 power, and 80 courage. That's a fully maxxed Hammerdoom with a doomhammer, hive active and an opponent with fire. Even with all of that, he's not spectacular.
Even so, back in the day he was one of the first solid warriors for danians. Though he might only scrape rare in today's market, he is a good addition to the Assimilated ranks of the Danian tribe.
That concludes the assimilated articles :) You've seen Kolmo, Raznus, Hammerdoom, and Nunk'worn. Every tribe so far has been assimilated into a bug!
My rankings would be:
1 - Nunk'worn Assimilated
2 - Kolmo Assimilated
3 - Raznus Assimilated
4 - Hammerdoom Chantcaller Assimilated
*click click*
~Mandible
70 40 55 55 55
"The boy who cried wolf" and "the scout who cried hammerdoom" - Hammerdoom was supposedly the brutish underworlder who terrorized danians. Though he never really got to do much damage before he was instantly buggified.
If you look at his stats, the only thing that jumps out is Courage,a nd even that's not that great.
With decent energy, and the ability to lay the beat down on Underworlders, he's not a bad card. His Hive: Fireproof ability isn't a bad addition to his repertoire, but all in all, the best case scenario for this guy is 10 extra energy and an additional 5 damage with attacks.
Of course, you could always put him with his signature gear, the doomhammer. Leaving him at 10 damage against Underworlders, 5 against danians, 10 extra energy, earth 5, 60 energy, 60 speed, 60 wisdom, 50 power, and 80 courage. That's a fully maxxed Hammerdoom with a doomhammer, hive active and an opponent with fire. Even with all of that, he's not spectacular.
Even so, back in the day he was one of the first solid warriors for danians. Though he might only scrape rare in today's market, he is a good addition to the Assimilated ranks of the Danian tribe.
That concludes the assimilated articles :) You've seen Kolmo, Raznus, Hammerdoom, and Nunk'worn. Every tribe so far has been assimilated into a bug!
My rankings would be:
1 - Nunk'worn Assimilated
2 - Kolmo Assimilated
3 - Raznus Assimilated
4 - Hammerdoom Chantcaller Assimilated
*click click*
~Mandible
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Branching Out: Smildon
Welcome to another branching out. This guy is my current favourite of the tribeless creatures.
60 90 35 60 60
So first he has Defender: Earth. This is useful for defending earth-elemental casters, without investing in getting an Illexia, creatures such as Tharc, or either of the new Lores. Of course, he can also defend against your fighters that have earth (handy if you are running a noaz, too) to mess with your opponents.
And his second ability makes him even better. Since you won't be casting with him much, as he can't play tribal mugic, you can use both counters for his ability. I can think of a few times when I would have been thankful for it. For example, in a crucial battle with a minion, and invisible walls comes up. Or when I needed my ambolx to infect, and a Lake-Ken-I-Po Ritual Site came up, stopping me from expending elements. Or what about when my Aureban had 110 energy with hive, and then an open doors of the deepmines sprung up, making his ability useless. Locations can be REAL game changers, and though smildon may not stop lore's chamber, he still has endless uses. With cards like Orbaat and Grounding Grapple, the danians have a lot of location-manipulating cards, and they, of course, are best with using earth, so Smildon fits in perfectly.
While his high power and low wisdom isn't exactly pure danian, he does have good courage and speed. Did someone say Ghundac combo? Though mono-elemental, that does fit in with the new AU attack decks, couple that with his dual-ability (one innate, one activated) and his well-balanced disciplines mean he is a good solid creature, lightly styled towards fitting in with danians.
Interesting, how he himself holds the power to stop the "Blight" in the card. Just an interesting side note :)
8.5/10
60 90 35 60 60
So first he has Defender: Earth. This is useful for defending earth-elemental casters, without investing in getting an Illexia, creatures such as Tharc, or either of the new Lores. Of course, he can also defend against your fighters that have earth (handy if you are running a noaz, too) to mess with your opponents.
And his second ability makes him even better. Since you won't be casting with him much, as he can't play tribal mugic, you can use both counters for his ability. I can think of a few times when I would have been thankful for it. For example, in a crucial battle with a minion, and invisible walls comes up. Or when I needed my ambolx to infect, and a Lake-Ken-I-Po Ritual Site came up, stopping me from expending elements. Or what about when my Aureban had 110 energy with hive, and then an open doors of the deepmines sprung up, making his ability useless. Locations can be REAL game changers, and though smildon may not stop lore's chamber, he still has endless uses. With cards like Orbaat and Grounding Grapple, the danians have a lot of location-manipulating cards, and they, of course, are best with using earth, so Smildon fits in perfectly.
While his high power and low wisdom isn't exactly pure danian, he does have good courage and speed. Did someone say Ghundac combo? Though mono-elemental, that does fit in with the new AU attack decks, couple that with his dual-ability (one innate, one activated) and his well-balanced disciplines mean he is a good solid creature, lightly styled towards fitting in with danians.
Interesting, how he himself holds the power to stop the "Blight" in the card. Just an interesting side note :)
8.5/10
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