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 ;)

Exploring Alliances Unravelled.

So I thought to myself "Boy, I really love Valban, but I've ranted about him enough."

Then I thought "But wait! I've only ranted about him once in my blog, in the AU review", so OFFICIALLY it's only been one rant. Which definitely allows me one more.

But this isn't just gonna be about valban. Because I want to slow down danian of the weeks, I'm just giving general strategy tips here. Anyway, here goes.



This is a great combo - Citadel Fragments are quite the versatile gear. Make your elementalists tanks and your tanks disciplineers. Now, back to Valban's stats:
75 40 65 40 55
That's the average valban. To show you where I'm coming from, mine has:
80 50 70 45 50

So as long as you have average or up on courage and wisdom, you'll do fine. So, with the full effect of citadel fragments, my Valban would be:
100 70 90 65 70
And he would have all four elements. That makes him a really well balanced fighter, great disciplines, all elements, and he can pull of almost any kind of attack. Now how do you get him all four elements? It's not such a strain as it might seem. In fact, it fits in well with the same cards that make up an ordinary infection/aggro danian deck.



Ambolx and Orchis Undin. Need I remind you that, if you flip up his gear with a gear glissando, for a measly one mugic counter you have double infection every turn for no cost. Infect once at the start, once when combat begins. That is an infection tank! Imagine that with a Fliandar! You have an invincible creature!In fact, imagine two of those with fliandar! Four free infection? Each turn? Sure, you may get thwarted with a gear grind or pulse beacons every now and then, but even so you might be able to re-flip, or just use their ability without the gear. With Valban, one is enough and you can get your elements in no time. Don't forget ambolx has two counters too, so you won't be wasting a muge spot.



Why these two? Ghundac and Nunk'worn are the perfect partners for Valban. Give Ghundac a shard of the staunch or Orchis Undin for water, and use Nunk'worn as a muge. Now you have muge, scout and warrior. But the main reason is because between these two guys, Valban can get all four elements. Fire and water off of nunk'worn, Aire and Earth off of Ghundac. Of course, you could also use something like Yondaf or Drazz with Tarbok, but these three blend together perfectly.

Also, picture a Yondaf SI with an Ambolx. Not necessarily with Valban, but with Nimmei in an infection deck. Say you've managed to infect the whole board - Use Yondaf to uninfect three creatures and deal 10 - The next turn, Ambolx can re-infect two, and Yondaf will re-infect himself. It's nice to have some quick burn ready at any time.

So these are just a few combos I got out of AU, and they are just scratching the surface. Remember, be creative with your decks, look for those cool combos and secret strategies that you can call your own!

~Mandible