A quick request for @peonprop Since you're putting the builds under spoiler anyway, could you include the actual list of cards? Clicking on the items in order to see what exactly is going in your decks is not very practical.
Currently 7-3 with the deck. The Jump Back warrior is a blast to play. I've lost track of how many attacks I avoided. I was a little worried about not having enough Nimble Strikes but it has been working out fabulously. I did Cone Of Cold the warrior a few times both intentionally and from friendly fire but each time I drew enough step attacks that I could get back into position anyways. Not drawing non-attack cards with Blind Rage on cost me a game but I still like the massive amount deck thinning going on. The cold wizards have been fantastic too. I had a little trouble against command cards like Sprint, Team! but otherwise the encumber shut down even step attack warriors when combined with slide effects. I'm starting to notice not having enough Path Of Knives from being down a wizard but I would rather draw one too late than draw too many early. Cone Of Cold is a lot better than I thought it'd be. I think it's mostly due to people not playing around it since the 6 range cone still hits formations that avoid burst attacks. I wouldn't discount Frost Jolt though. The 8 range lets me hit opposing wizards without too much retaliation. I'm really happy with how this build turned out. It's also fairly easy to build cheaply. Replace the epics with more standard control cards and some damaging terrain and you're good to go. Not having Violent Spins is a big downer. I would try Sparkling Cloth Armor or Flanking Move boots to play keep away. The Jump Back warrior is probably out of reach for most people but it would be fine if you replace it with a Cult of the Bejeweled fanatic.
That's great to hear, sounds like a really cool build (pun not intended). It's a known fact cold spells have been heavily under-utilized since the changes encumber, I always thought they would be an amazing way for dealing with all the step-attacking going on as of late. Pity assist moves aren't affected by it. Dealing with Sprint, Team! is always hard, regardless the exact build you play, no big surprise there.
FWIW, I made a copy of your build and played it a handful of times. I think it's 3-0 currently in the 1100 - 1200 range. I agree that the jump back elf is a blast.
I've been waiting for Jump Back to be the new Dodge. I was hoping no one would go there in a melee heavy meta.
Cold spells Pros Great against melee characters in general Currently unpopular so no one sees them coming Keeps Sparkling Cloth Armor from getting out of hand Frost Jolt has a spectacular range 8 allowing you to to get the first attack in Does not care about Resistant Hide Cons Relatively low damage so it's hard to rely on cold spells alone Gets no support from arcane skills Encumbrance doesn't really affect opposing wizards A step attack heavy character can usually claw their way next to you without too much difficulty Does not stop command cards like Dash, Team! Path Of Knives Pros Either halts a character or generates a good amount of damage, both of which are desirable Allows you to deal damage with otherwise low damage control spells like Winds Of War Cons Range 5 makes it hard to fire off without putting your wizard in danger (pro tip: that's what the cold spells are for) Not effective against armor Your opponent gets to pick whether or not to take damage or stay still and it's not going to be the one you want most Awful against Sparkling Cloth Armor, Elven Maneuvers, and Martyr's Blessing Force Cannon Pros Slides things further than any other spell Low enough damage that you can use it on your own troops in a pinch Cons Very map dependent since it gets hosed by walls, difficult terrain, etc Can't choose where targets end up so you need to carefully position yourself beforehand to make them go where you want
Didn't have as much time to play last week so I put the brews on hold. I should be able to get back on track this week. To be honest, I'm really not looking forward to Mind Worm week because I don't really know what the heck to do with it and I'm almost certain it sucks. Well, I've never let sucking stop me before so here's what I'm thinking about the card. Your opponent gets to keep 1 less card every turn so how do you take advantage? Remove the few cards they have left. Once those cards are gone, wail on them without fear of retaliation. Without further ado, this is my very very rough draft. Spoiler: Fuhgeddaboudit Grundkazad Level 21 Dwarf Priest Mindshrinker Greyworm Mace Unholy Nimbus Aegis Of The Defender Sliding Boots Mokad's Unholy Tome Skull Of Savage Iljin Skull Of Savage Iljin Raging Battler Superb Cleansing 2 x Defender's Block 2 x Inspiring Presence 2 x Blind Rage 2 x Unholy Frenzy 1 x Flanking Move 1 x Touch Of Death 6 x Mind Worm 4 x Savage Curse 1 x Team Walk 1 x Able Bash 1 x Accelerated Thought 1 x Sparkling Cloth Armor 1 x Polearm Slash 1 x Inspiration 1 x Holy Presence 2 x Unholy Energy 4 x Nimble Strike 1 x Chain Harness 1 x Reliable Mail 1 x Weak Chop Onkuzkul Level 21 Dwarf Wizard Mordecai's Staff Of Magma Cottonwood Staff Bewlin's Baffling Bauble Arcade's Amber Amulet Asmod's Telekinetic Chain Farzil's Perplexing Horn Rockshard Robes Captain Cedric's Boots Advanced Toughness Focused Electromancy 1 x Resistant Hide 3 x Spark Generator 1 x Perplexing Ray 1 x Team Walk 2 x Telekinesis 1 x Toughness 7 x Short Perplexing Ray 4 x Volcano 1 x Whirlwind 2 x Flash Of Agony 5 x Stone Spikes 2 x Flanking Move 2 x Jarring Block 2 x Barge 2 x Spark Maedhel Level 20 Elf Warrior Bejeweled Shortsword Bejeweled Shortsword Troll's Ire Perilous Ringmail Parrying Buckler Crusty Helm Boots Of Etzicatl Cautious Mobility Novice Impaling 1 x Scouting Run 2 x Reliable Mail 1 x Traveling Curse 3 x Brutal Charge 2 x Strong Hack 1 x Obvious Maneuver 2 x Elven Maneuvers 6 x Powerful Hack 1 x Penetrating Cut 1 x Hardy Mail 1 x Thickened Mail 2 x Blind Rage 2 x Impaler 2 x Powerful Bludgeon 3 x Parry 2 x Sundering Strike 4 x Vicious Thrust I don't know how much Mind Worm is enough but I can mess with the numbers if need be. I wanted something to buff the Nimble Strikes and I have a feeling I will have some dead Mind Worms cards in hand so I'm going with Savage Curse. I have no idea where I should go with the wizard beyond discard so I'm starting with damaging terrain. I doubt people will hold on to movement as their last card so hopefully it works out. The warrior is all about doing as much damage as possible. I did sneak in some Brutal Charges since I've never actually played around with them myself. If anyone has a brilliant combo or tips with Mind Worm I would appreciate it.
Once you hit someone with Mind Worm, they're going to want to make sure they use up the cards on that character so they don't get wasted. Make sure they can't. If you can keep that character from using their cards with something like Entangling Roots (warriors) or Illusory Barrier (wizards) for a turn, they'll be at a card disadvantage afterwards. If they manage to use up all but one of their cards after you hit them with Mind Worm, you haven't accomplished much with it.
Going full discard / card-advantagey isn't great, if my brief experiment is any indication: It's probably not indicative given you're probably better at both playing and deckbuilding XD
Played a few games and while I managed to eke out wins I didn't pull off Mind Worm + discard once. I normally play more matches before making major changes but this build was just doing a whole lot of nothing. The warrior was fine but the wizard and priest needed a makeover. Spoiler: Look Ma, No Hands Marroo Level 21 Dwarf Wizard Staff Of Winter Trog Melter Farzil's Perplexing Horn Bewlin's Baffling Bauble Arcade's Amber Amulet Farzil's Perplexing Horn Forceful Robes Captain Cedric's Boots Advanced Toughness Electroporter Novice 1 x Whirlwind 2 x Jarring Block 1 x Force Bolt 2 x Flanking Move 4 x Frost Jolt 1 x Cold Snap 1 x Force Cone 1 x Force Cannon 1 x Spark Generator 1 x Toughness 2 x Perplexing Ray 1 x Flash Of Agony 1 x Spark Inductor 1 x Chilling Rime 9 x Short Perplexing Ray 1 x Team Walk 1 x Magma Spray 1 x Resistant Hide 1 x Dimensional Traveller 3 x Melt Armor Gorlgrik Level 20 Dwarf Priest Mindshrinker Purging Mace Unholy Nimbus Aegis Of The Defender Sliding Boots Mokad's Unholy Tome Mokad's Reeking Skull St. Glist's Charm Raging Battler Novice Ablution 1 x Reliable Mail 1 x Polearm Slash 2 x Blind Rage 2 x Purging Strike 1 x Purge 6 x Mind Worm 1 x Sparkling Cloth Armor 1 x Chain Harness 1 x Weak Chop 2 x Nimble Strike 1 x Predictable Stab 2 x Defender's Block 5 x Unholy Energy 3 x Purging Burst 1 x Accelerated Thought 1 x Team Walk 2 x Holy Presence 1 x Flanking Move 2 x Unholy Frenzy I'm still going to stick with 6 Mind Worms for now but I'm upping the amount of card draw and discard to compensate. This should allow me to actually test the concept out more effectively. Damaging terrain was not working the way I wanted though I did have a funny round 1 Volcano face off. I used up all my revealed movements hoping to lull my opponent into a false sense of security. To my surprise, he played his own Volcano. What do you do against a freshly cast Volcano? Click the pass button. If none of your characters are in danger of dying and you don't see stuff like Hover or Resistant Hide, force your opponent to make the first move. If you move first you are just opening yourself up to a second Volcano. So I passed. He moved 1 character and I passed again. At this point you can take the less risky route of starting to move off the lava. However, if you've got no revealed moves like I did, you can gamble and let your opponent move the rest of the team. That's exactly what I did and followed up with a Volcano of my own. This was countered immediately with and Elvish Scamper. Had my opponent passed back and waited for me to move, he would not have walked straight into my second Volcano. To be fair, he probably thought I had no more moves because of the previous passing but Volcano players always have an escape plan. What was I talking about again? Oh right, taking all the damaging terrain nonsense out. I like the Entangling Roots suggestion @Xayrn made but I don't want to dilute the Mind Worm priest or add a second priest in place of the warrior. Instead, I'm going back to good old cold spells to keep opposing characters at bay. I'm a little worried I'm relying too much on my warrior for kills now so I may end up switching to a more durable dwarf. For now I'll play a few games to see how it goes.
Ten games down and the build is 5-5. Mind Worm did next to nothing the entire time. If the target wasn't able to use up cards, Mind Worm just discarded 1 card and that card was never the best card in hand. My wins were much more based on the Short Perplexing Ray discard. Making the priest into a buffer or draw spammer would have worked out a lot better. I also had a rough time against wizards in general. The current maps are so big that my team would get blasted a round before I could interact. Mind Worm is by far the worst card I've tried to play with this series. It's a weak card on its own and the discard effect doesn't get much better when you try to enhance it with other cards. I am going to move on to the next card. I don't think I can stomach playing any more matches with Mind Worm.
Mind Worm Pros 8 range allows you to target opposing characters right away Uh, gets rid of a buff sometimes Cons Opponent always gets to keep their best card You need to invest cards to play keep away if you want Mind Worm to do anything Can't move into the attack range of Wormed characters or they'll unload their hands Doesn't really do anything against wizards ...cost me 2.5k gold for Mindshrinker
Mind Worm isn't really a bad card in my opinion. It's just meant to a support card, supplemental to any build, not at the core of your strategy. For instance, I ran a low amount of Mind Worm on my vampriest before (two in the deck), and each time I was able to use it effectively simply because I had another strategy going on (having a vampire... so Mind Worm made the opponent's warrior shed 1 attack card so my vampire survives his damage burst). The idea behind Mind Worm, as you previously stated, is that you force your opponent to use up his cards to prevent card disadvantage. This, to me, gives you the ability to "mark a target" that will almost certainly go offensive to use up his cards. That way, you can focus more on that character in their party. Mind Worm has barely any use versus wizards, except dwarf wizards in the early rounds and probably wizards stalled by Illusory Barrier, but then again Mind Worm can be used to trick your opponent into playing offensive with his wizard, and again, you adjust your strategy to focus on that character. If it's going to be at the core a build, I really don't think it works. Think about what you did with Path Of Knives, Force Cannon, and Cold Spells. Those three did not have major impact alone, but their synergy made it effective and fun to play (PoK + Force Cannon at max range is a blast, literally; and if they're encumbered... well, you've got a long-range Entangling Roots effect here).
I disagree with you on the other cards. They all have fairly significant impacts alone, combining them with other cards just enhanced their effects. Mind Worm on the other hand has such a low impact effect that combining it with other cards really did nothing. You are sometimes be able to induce a premature attack but at the same time you are stymieing your own offense for the turn. This often leads to discarding cards yourself.
Pairing Mind Worm with discard spells can be a counter-synergy; because the opponent is going to have to discard stuff anyway without you wasting your discard spell. If I wanted to make a build based around Mind Worm (which I don't), I'd put it in a deck that requires the enemy to wait; and when they wait, they'll have to discard stuff. The deck should focus on making the enemy wait for the next turn without being able to spend their cards. So that means putting it in a deck with things like barrier, nimbus, encumber, push-back; and so on.
