The Misadventures of Myx'd Mess'zh: Solo Elf Wizard

Wherein we finally continue that adventure, eh?

Lord Stafford's Treasure -- part 2

Battle 2, Stafford's Chapel, Take 3. Trying a Silver + anti-Priest/Stab deck this time. Lots of Uncommons. $:^ J Round 1, I draw a nice mix of cards, and oddly enough, the two Men-at-Arms split up to exit the hall and begin surrounding me already. Dash, Illusion, get some Silver blocked... Round 2, voilà! Then, I check Alamander the Mercenary for Blocks and TK him away while safe. He re-approaches, and I get priority. Round 3, unfortunately, I'm getting surrounded, and all I have are cards to Move myself or others. $:^ , It's tempting to just Firestorm here, but I'd really like to make the point and help out winner... Round 4, I draw a nice mix again. Pass to see what Gary does. Maybe fish a Move. Yep, Alamander incoming. He just Dropped Guard, but with everyone at full health and my only having one Attack, I'd rather not risk a Block on my TK. Dash away into the hall! (Use Zone of Control to prevent Men-at-Arms from totally ganging up on me from the other direction.) Gonna risk something here. If I can keep priority into next round and not draw my second Prestidigitation, I can Dim. Trav. adjacent to a Man next round and Move far away first thing. Nevermind, Beorn used Lunging Thrust, preventing my escape. $:^ \ Thus, instead, burn a Dash, ugh, drop my other Illusion already, ugh, (to give me a better escape possibility soon and to prevent the priest's Line of Sight,) and fire an unbuffed Silver Bolt, ugh, while I can since Gary has priority, more ugh. Round 5, Dim Trav to try to stop Alamander's approach one short and/or maybe draw a meager Step Attack from the 4 HP M-a-A. $:^ { Only drew 3 damage. Might as well call this one a loss. A lot harder without a warrior ally to Parry all their Attacks and/or a priest ally to Assist us left and right. Yepyep, died before the round ended.

Take 4, 15g, let's see if I can draw more than one of my six Silver Bolts or any of my Silversmith cards this time. $:^ | Round 1, Stone Spikes to block Alamander's shorter way, and we all get into positions to prep for next round. Round 2, sweet, drew a Smoke Bomb... Pass for Gary moving, but instead he grants a Healing Blessing. Pass again, and sweet, Alamander Runs right up behind me -- while Clumsy! $:^ P Bomb out the priest (and not cover my Spikes because they discard off the map next round anyway). The Merc's down to 9 HP, Gregorious can only see one M-a-A, and I get initiative next round. W00t! $:^ P Round 3, Silversmith, finally, but only Dashes, TKs, and a Penetrating Cut. Let's see if I can kite around the Smoke and hallway... Rounds 4-5, dangerous, voilà (yes, Prest. each round!), they're coming for me. Kite, but get cornered. Round 6, lay an Illusion to bottleneck the foes some, hoping my Jump Back holds out, but nope, Impaling Stab beats 6 HP. $:^ [

Take 5, finally, draw Smoke and damage in Rounds 1-2, thus even after the white dove, I fell a M-a-A. Round 3, kite kite kite. Round 4, sucker the remaining M-a-A toward the hallway with me. TK him away from me (still out of Gregorious' line of sight), then Silversmith+Bolt -> Armor 1+Bungled Bolt to two-shot him while I remain at perfect health. $:^ ] (Why yes, I do find it sad that I finally take shortcuts typing all this, and that's when I get the good opening and start winning. ~sigh~) Ha ha ha, he died with all Parries in his hand, ha ha ha ha. $E^ b Since Alamander approaches some, I pass with initiative for next round, and... Round 5 ...Dim Trav to hopefully topdeck some damage on him, knowing I have an escape route if he approaches, although healing might be annoying, we'll see. Yeah, nothing special this round. Round 6, pass, hoping Alamander will approach for me to kite rather than Gregorious to trap me... Yes! The priest Walks a little away, then the merc Runs to range 2, and my Minor Illusion ends Gary's actions. Time to Force (to block check) and Bungle (taking my first damage). Fwiw, I almost chased the priest, but I figure if I can kill Alamander while he's separated from all the heals and Inspiration, I should have an easier time killing the self-heals in the end. Again, a standard three-character party would have an easier time damaging multiple targets to scatter his Assists some, then kill the priest asap to more easily take out the rest. Round 7, Dash (to safety when he Runs up to me), Silver (albeit with no Smith), Illusion (to fish), and Spikes (for damage); he starts Round 8 with 2 HP. $:^ ] Dim Trav forward one to bottleneck that hallway entrance and give myself more kiting room if that merc steps forward one to close the gap. Whooo! Silver Bolt and no Block! He's gone! $:^ D Only Gregorious remains. Whoops, he has vamping stabs. $:^ P At this point, I'm just gonna stockpile attacks to finish him in one round despite his heals. As it is, I have to wait through eleven more cards in my draw pile before shuffling for Silversmith again. Rounds 9-18, wheeee. Round 19, welp, no Silversmith, but I suddenly drew two more Silver Bolts to go with the other two I'd slowly accumulated. Might as well see what this 24 damage in hand can do for me (vs. his 18 HP). BAH, Greater Heal. $¦^ | Plus Heal. I guess I'll hang onto my other two after all. (I know he exhibits Defensiveness right now, but I don't want to face more stabs.) ~ Round 21, Smith! I fire two Bolts, he Heals for 5, and I Spike him (after a little fishing) for his remaining 6! Sweet victory. Looks like the priest carried St. Trobor's Mace and one of the warriors wore a Recruit's Coat. I'd say "mine now," but *pssh,* 2g is mine now. $:^ J

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Spoiler: partyanddecksbbcode

Myx'd Mess'zh
Level 20 10 Elf Wizard

Spoiler: items

Corrupted Feystaff U
Corrupted Feystaff U
Magician's Hat C
Magician's Hat C
Asmod's Telekinetic Chain L
Asmod's Telekinetic Chain L
Warp Robes R
Bouncing Boots U
Focused Silversmith R
Novice Teleportation U

Spoiler: cards

6 x Silver Bolt
4 x Bungled Bolt
1 x Penetrating Cut

2 x Stone Spikes
1 x Force Bolt

4 x Telekinesis
2 x Minor Illusion
2 x Smoke Bomb

3 x Dimensional Traveller
3 x Fey Silversmith
2 x Creature Of The Night

2 x Jump Back
1 x Dangerous Maneuver
1 x Mystical Drakehide

2 x Prestidigitation

So yes, (@winner,) a bunch of damage + preventing divine intervention seems the way to go here: thwarting Defensiveness, blocking LoS, etc.
And Parry. Lots of Parry. For your 1/1/1 party of course.

I'm still pretty tied up offline. Not sure when we'll return to tackle the lord himself.

 

nice

 

Wherein we make a brief and eye-rollingly funny return!

Lord Stafford's Treasure -- part 3

Been awhile! I had to re-read the last couple chapters just to get my bearings! So, @winner, did you beat Lord Stafford yet? $:^ b

Battle 1, Stafford's Treasury, I figure my solo elf wizard's best bet is to get past the guards ASAP. Your standard 1/1/1 party can try this, too, although they can usually handle the guards pretty fine: Parry their efforts, slaughter them quickly, then get into the treasury before Stafford makes you run out of time. Therefore, in my case, I'll be trying several movement-boosting cards to get to Stafford, high damage to finish him before he can do me in himself (and before his minions can reach us), and a little terrain to help slow down enemy movements..

Round 1, I draw two Short Perplexing Rays and an Arcane Curse; Stafford's just out of range. Not the best starting hand by a long shot, but I'm an elf: I Dash all the way up to the lord's back! Alamander's Clumsy and has Dropped Guard -- and Stafford Bashes my face in. I'll go ahead and toss my Curse now since SPR might be better against the minions once they arrive. Took out his Cloth Armor for 1 damage. $:^ J Alamander Runs my way, and I SPR him; yay, I remove an Impaling Stab (not that he's in range 2 yet) and pop forward into the hall. Oh ho! Alamander Runs up to range 2 of me now; I SPR him again, taking his last card (Reaching Swing) with my last card, and putting myself into LOS of Stafford for next round, hoping the Armored Dogs won't make it all the way up to me yet. Yay, Gary passes without moving the dogs at all! Round 2, I draw Deadly Spark and another Curse. Alamander uses priority to Run all the way up behind me. Scary situation since a single Impaling will take out my remaining 8 HP, and the lord might lead him right on up to me. Now would be a nice time for melee allies to block off his minions with Zone of Control. $:^ J Anyway, I Dash away into a corner. I can't see Stafford, but I can see Alamander, and if I don't use my Spark, I'll lose it to the Curse. The dogs start Running up. I Spark Alamander hoping the dogs can't make it in. They don't. Round 3, ha ha ha ha. I draw two Unstable Bolts! I'll be trying again shortly. Lol. The dogs Run up; I pass since I might as well try to only take out Alamander (or Stafford!) if they'll just get into view and range (since Alamander has already lost some health and since Stafford is the only one who really matters here anyway). He indeed Runs up. Eh, I can't just stand here looking at my death. I risk the Dash one square over, adjacent to Stafford, out of Alamander's Line of Sight -- yay, both Bolts remained stable. Stafford Bashes me again (to 3 HP left). $:^ \ Arcane Curse on him, and he comically Runs around the column to my back. $:^ ] Bolt #1, and I only need my other Bolt to finish his 4 HP -- but he pulls out Simple Bash, and I'm gone.

Gary's hints echo what I've said above: you only need to take out Stafford, it's good to heft up your movement, and it's good to send speed after the lord with slower characters hanging back to block the way, providing cover.

Ah, I fell asleep before trying a second time. I'll save here and return to this later using the same deck. The eye-rollingly funny part I introduced with? I equipped six bad cards, and in three rounds, I drew four of them! (I only drew three good cards! -- no Traits or anything!) ...also there's the part where after several months, I played and lost a single battle and then go *poof* again for a couple days, heheheh, sorry... ~ Therefore, (bad/good cards,) I'm still feeling okay about this; frankly, I thought I was gonna clear this my first try. $E^ J If it happens again, I can try leading the minions on a wild goose chase while waiting for the cards to enter Stafford's Treasury proper, but I hope it won't come down to that. (I could also re-equip for Block Melee since the lord hits harder than expected, but I'd rather not re-equip, at least yet.) To be continued!

 

Wherein I fight with my decks to give me the cards I equip! $:^ b

Lord Stafford's Treasure -- part 4

Take 2, Round 1, sweet, I drew Arcane Curse, Deadly Spark, and Scouting Run. First thing I need to do is Scout the lord and approach! He has two Bashes, a Subtle Parry, some Cloth Armor, and his racial Run. My max movement range puts me safely at range 2 behind him. (I don't really want over half my health taken off in one blow; one Boosted Bash will do me 7 damage, and I max out at 13 HP!) This location also grants me the ability to Linear Attack him from any square he can reach, booyah. Nice! The lord stayed put, the dogs Scampered -- meaning I can get rid of my Curse via lobbing it at Stafford! $:^ b Removed his Armor, delivered 1 damage. He Run'd. Time to Spark him (down to 6 HP) and hope I can survive kiting the minions for a bit. Ohhhhhh! Whoops, nevermind, I can't see all the way into the treasury; it's been awhile, and I misjudged my angle from glance-and-memory instead of actually checking Line of Sight from squares etc. Let that be a lesson to ya, too, @winner. $;^ J The dogs Run to me as expected; I Dash against a far wall -- normally a bad idea, but I'm counting on drawing Move Boosts soon. (Yep, I often play high risk, high reward, and don't mind top-decking when I have plenty to top-deck, lol.) Alamander Runs into the area next. Yay, passing -- Round 2 -- boo hiss, no Boost; I draw another Curse and another Deadly. Maybe the fact that I'm facing to the side, the dogs will approach from behind, allowing me to Dash away instead of being pinned to the wall? ~shakes head~ Alamander Dropped Guard twice, Stafford showed he's Cowardly, and then Alamander came to range 2. If I Dash, the dogs will hunt me down. Oh well, chalk this up as a loss. Maybe I need some Blocks after all... Time to desperately threaten the dogs with a Spark through both of them (one got protected by Rusty Armor and hope they'll still come to my side, as opposed to the mercenary doing bad things to me. Nope, they pinned me. I Dash one square away; Stafford Runs a little -- meaning, yay, no 10 damage backstab from a dog. I curse the dog at 13 HP to match the one at 10 HP, making them easier to potentially kill with Deadly Sparks if I survive that long. Sweet, they lined up, via Vicious Thrust, not sweet. Deadly through both again (taking both to 5 HP), hoping I neither die nor lose priority for next round... Aaand Alamander Runs up to range 1... Potent Stab, I'm gone.

Take 3, 15g, still not ready to change, Round 1, wow, again with Short Perplexing Ray x2 + Arcane Curse. $:^ | I'm just gonna pass; hopefully, Stafford will get out of my way so that I can Dash up without getting Bashed. Alamander Runs, I pass, Stafford Runs. Okay. Here's my plan: SPR Alamander, getting one space forward; Dash into Stafford's LOS and SPR range; SPR into Curse range; Curse him. Now let's see the plan survive contact with the enemy. $;^ J SPR tosses Alamander's Block; dogs Run up; I Dash; Gary passes (no dog chase!); SPR tosses Stafford's Leadership (which I totally forgot he had); Gary passes; Curse Stafford for 3 dmg (no Armor); Stafford Team Shifts himself away (still in my LOS amazingly, instead of hiding behind the pillar,) and his minions an inch forward; I pass; Gary passes. Whoo! $:^ b (Dogs discard Penetrating Lunge.) Round 2, finally, Teleport Self and Spark Inductor which cycles to Long Spark. I shoot 3 damage at the lord whose Cloth Armor brings it to 1; he has 8 HP now. Alamander Dropped Guard again, and then the armored dogs Run in right behind me. I don't want to get trapped inside, and they shouldn't all have enough movement to catch and kill me if I hide in the main chamber; I Dash(+Teleport Boost!) 3 squares backward and 4 to my right; this way, next round, I can play Dash to Teleport directly onto the Victory Squares (or burn Teleport Self this round if the enemies force my hand). Alamander Runs to chase me. I pass. Eep, he Runs again, range 2; he only has one card left, though. I pass. ~sigh~ Impaling Stab, I now have 4 HP. $:^ [ Round 3, Unstable Bolt. Yeah, I guess it's time to re-equip for Block Melee cards. I Bolt the mercenary with my new Arcane Shell, and the dogs Run onto the Victory Squares. Cute. Now Moving nearly anywhere is a death wish. I guess I'll keep it up, though. Tele-Dash into a corner for the merc to chase; erg, he chases but still has a visible Run left; I burn the Teleport Self to get to a semi-safe spot (where he can't stab me after chasing), as long as he doesn't have a Step Attack... Stafford Runs a little. Round 4, Stone Spikes x2. After everyone's already in the treasury proper. Sure. I Spike the corner the merc would've needed to Step Attack me to dissuade him. He gets Clumsy (which I'm in no position to abuse), then Runs around the wall to the other side of me, range 2. I Dash away. The dogs Run. I'm gonna Spike under Alamander and hope for the best; if he can Move to me (getting off the Spikes), I'm pretty much dead anyway. Gary passes! Round 5, erg, Deadly Spark and Stone Spikes -- since my Trait expired, it's just enough to Spark him to 1 HP. He Dropped Guard (a newly drawn Solid Mail!) and Runs to me. I still can't abuse his being Clumsy; I Dash down the corridor (where he started, funnily enough,) hoping to survive to next round to kill him. Gary passes! Round 6, yes! Spark Generator! Almander Runs to me! (Plus I drew another Curse, and the Trait cycled to Stone Spikes.) An 8 damage Deadly Spark on his 7 remaining HP! $:^ ] His corpse discards an extra Run, two Potent Stabs, and an Impaling Stab. He's one scary dude. Stafford gallivants a little. I Dash out into the main hall (with LOS to Spike the treasury's corridor if I feel threatened). We pass. I'll only have two rounds to do this... (Yay, discard the Curse.) Round 7, frustrating, I get SPR and Big Zap, and heading inward is a nightmare, plus Stafford's hiding out of LOS; I also drew Elven Maneuvers, but with 4 HP left, that's doing me no good. All right. The plan. Dash 4 in, to the center of the treasury's corridor; use SPR and Spikes to try to protect against any curious dogs; hope for Deadly Spark(s) next round to finish Stafford at the very last moment... (The reason for dashing 4 to the center instead of Dashing 3 to the corridor's start? If I must SPR, I can back up to the start square and still have Linear range along the sides where Stafford hangs out.) Whoo! Gary passes! No contending with dogs! Since Gary has priority next round, I'll lay Spikes in front of myself to hopefully dissuade a dog from pouncing on me first thing. BAH! The Spikes were merely adjacent to the lord, but Stafford finally hid behind the corridor anyway! $:^ [ Maybe if I spike beside him again, he'll pop out? It'll be next to a dog, too, though. I'm not liking this. ~shakes head~ I've never seen a GM Move from an adjacent Attack Terrain... Nope, passed. $:^ [ Round 8, pulled my Deadly, gotta risk it all. SPR a dog, getting onto my Spikes. Vicious Thrust got me. Man, so close after such a rough start. It's quite possible I could've won that if I hadn't tried to be safer and Spike my front. $:^ [

Gonna change for Blocks now. I seriously didn't expect this much trouble. I guess my deck wasn't quite as dense on what I needed as I thought -- probably used to handling the Handicaps in a full party -- plus that merc has so much more movement than I always remember. Eh, fwiw, here was my deck. (Kinda rarity heavy.)

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But really, see why I was surprised I kept not drawing my Move stuff? I figured, y'know, pop into treasury, hit Stafford twice, and be done! $8^ ,

Take 4, nearly everything's changed. Round 1, Creature Of The Night cycles to Stone Spikes which I can lay in front of Stafford to stop hinder his escape to the treasury. (Why couldn't I draw those round 1 in the first three attempts? I had double the Spikes then! Oh well.) I also have Memory Loss and SPR. Heh, Stafford gets understandably Cowardly, then Runs in place to face me. $F^ J Pass (to see what the minions do since I only have Dash and discard Attacks). The merc Runs in. Pass. (I'd like to get to range 4 to anticipate Punishing the lord, but burning my movement before his minions go is unwise.) The armored dogs Run in. Gonna risk SPRing the merc for that aforementioned range 4 goodness; removed Able Stab. Fascinating! The lord Team Shifts himself onto the Spikes (range 5) and his team range 2, 2, and 3. I Dash where I don't like because staying is much worse. Around a wall, range 3 of merc, no dogs in sight. Round 2, Stafford's already down half his health! (He even discarded a Cloth Armor, heh.) Vicious! Stafford Team Shifts again, getting himself to his gold, Alamander to range 2, and dogs Zone-of-Controlling one of my paths.. I've drawn Long Spark, and my Combustible cycles to Punishing Bolt. I guess I'll Attack the merc and hope for the best; he already Dropped Guard (a Block)… Punish for 8 damage; he returns 6 damage with a Reaching Swing. Memory Loss removes a hidden Run, $F^ | and he takes me to 1 HP with an Able Stab. Now all he can do is Run, but the dogs haven't played yet... I'll Spark him for 2 damage while I wait. Uh-oh, he Run'd forward, totally blocking me in if the dogs approach me from behind. Which they do. Pass. Die. Sigh.

Looks like I hit the forum's character limit again...

 

Wherein the elf wizard refuses to give up, then breaks bad and goes medieval...

Lord Stafford's Treasure -- part 5

Take 5, Round 1, Investigate, Memory Loss, Slowed. I discard Stafford's racial Run. The merc's Clumsy, and in come the dogs. I play Slowed. Alamander Runs. Time to get a tad risky. I Dash behind Clumsy Alamander at range 2, keeping me in LOS to Stafford but now at range 3; let's see what happens; I do have another Move in a pinch, but the ideal is to kill (or at least maim) Stafford next round. Hm, the dogs Scamper in front of me... Good job protecting their master there... It would take two Vicious Thrusts to kill me; I stay put. Lunging Thrust, I'm down to 10 HP. Blast, Alamander Runs to point blank with two hidden cards. Looks like I Investigate a spot far away -- next to a wall, bah. (Only near away, and a Team Shift might ruin me.) Good-bye, full-health Stafford. $:^ [ Round 2, Spikes plus Inductor cycles to Big Zap. The merc Runs to his lord's side, surprisingly. I'm at a loss for good ideas with these cards; I pass. The lord Runs. The dogs can pin me whether I stay or go. Ugh. I once again had hoped maybe I'd get a nice Move Boost, but w/e. (I have 3 now instead of 4.) No Blocks or anything. Pass; maybe Gary will pass? $:^ \ Dogs pin me; I Dash 1; yay, closest dog plays Lunging Thrust! I'm down to 7 HP and lay Spikes in the empty square beside me to dissuade the active dog from pouncing on me. Nope, durr, it plays the same card and lands on Spikes to get me. I have 4 HP left. $F^ | Gonna save my Big Zap to keep priority. Pass. The merc Runs to the lord. Pass. Round 3, Punishing x2, when what I really want is safety. $:^ | Desperate, I Dash to a far corner. $|^ | Cute. Stafford and a dog shows a Cowardly nature -- meaning when the dogs approach, they have minimal ammo for me to Punish. I hate Punishing Bolt. OP in PvP; backfiring in Campaign; just w/e. Funny. I Punish the 9 HP dog figuring if I have any chance, it'll be two Bolts on it then Big Zap; instead, I knock off Rusty Armor, doing no damage, leaving me only Big Zap to do damage, and currently no priority. Ha! Fine, I Big Zap and hope one of the humans plays a card for me to gain initiative. Nope, Gary passes. Another death incoming, depending... Round 4, OH COME ON. D ^:$ ~sigh~ I draw double Pushback Parry, and the dogs Scamper: the 4 HP one far away out of range and LOS (into the treasury corridor), the other to my side where I'm still pinned. Punish for a meager 4 damage (which would've killed the other dog, UGH.) Good, finally something good. Nimble Strike into my Block, and I Push it far enough away to Dash back into the main area. (Too bad it didn't stay to my side so that I could Push it down the corridor where it started the battle, but oh well.) Dogs only have Run now. I Dash up behind the 4 HP dog (so that I'm facing if Alamander approaches). He Runs up, but fortunately, he currently can't get through anyway because Zone of Control and dog in his way, plus I'm out of his LOS. Blasted dogs Run, putting the 4 HP one next to Stafford and the 11 HP one right behind me, plus opening up Alamander for me if he wants. Stafford gallivants some more. Round 5, I finally draw Fleet. Not that it matters with the merc standing in the corridor. Otherwise, SPR and Arcane Shell. Dash away to safety, knowing I can SPR for block facing if need be. Oh! Unless I'm a moron and go behind a corner so that the dog can get behind me out of LOS but in range for a killing attack. Stupid. Witw. Whoooo, Alamander Runs up into LOS. Gonna SPR to range 3 and hope they can't catch me (because I can't survive but one Blocked Attack, and they have 5-6 usable cards, not counting Stafford's potential help.) Remove Impaling Stab, Stafford Runs. Round 6, I Long Spark the merc for facing since I can Pushback the dog and/or Fleet-Dash outta here when need be. Oh. Much to my surprise, Alamander Runs up to me, blocking my way out. I can't Dash but so far, and the dog is nearby. Ugh again. Why is this battle so hard? Ambush Stafford, two (three) hits, done. $:^ [ I have no position I can keep the dog from getting behind me. I'll just stand in the center of the main hall as Step Attack bait then... Penetrating Lunge, Pushed far away (in LOS). Dog Runs back but can't do anything. Fleet expires this round. Priority. Round 7, ohhhh boy... Punishing Bolt and Teleport Self. Dog has 11 HP, 5 cards, and a wizard with Shell standing at point blank range. $;^ J C'moooon, no Rusty Armor?? Had Mail! But missed! Dead dog! *Whew!!* Alamander Runs up behind me. I Tele-Dash to the start of the treasury corridor. The 4 HP dog Runs directly into my LOS. Not the smartest move. $;^ J Pass for initiative. Round 8, Punishing! Another dead dog! Only two rounds remaining. Alamander approaches to get behind me at some odd angle for some odd reason, really demonstrating just how Clumsy he truly is, and I Tele-Slowed to face him in case he wants to burn a Move to face me (before I then leave him in my dust). Yep, he Runs to my back, point blank. I Dash to the other side of the pillar from Stafford. Yaaay, Gary passes, meaning I don't have to worry about Stafford attacking me, my burning cards, etc. He has initiative, though. Still, at least I delayed the Victory Point clock for one round, too. Round 9, Alamander approaches, I Dash one step away, we pass. I discard my newly drawn Cautious Sneak and Dissolve Armor. Oh, whoops, because of typing here, I forgot to End Round before clicking Tele-Sneak, so uh, I guess I'll Tele-turn for facing. $8^ , Not like I had priority anyway. Well... I guess I'll risk it and Dissolve Alamander since Gary seems done... Dislodged a Block, cool. Round 10, hoo boy. the merc Dropped Guard, and the lord got Cowardly, and the merc Run'd up beside me -- directly behind the big pillar in the room. All right. They now can win via VSs in two rounds, and currently, Stafford can't hide behind the pillar -- and only has one potential attack (with my 4 HP erg). The new plan: Tele-Dash just outside the treasury proper where I can see all 7 squares available to Stafford; Dissolve and/or Memory Loss for facing; hold onto Pushback Parry and Teleport Self for dear life in case Alamander gets any crazy ideas; dream of initiative; hope of not dying; win via top-decking Punishing. $F^ | Actual events: Tele-Dash into place; pass; Dissolve Stafford for 2 damage and Cloth Armor removal; pass; Memory Loss a Leadership; Stafford Runs to the back; I pass; Gary passes... $8^ | Round 11, another Pushback Parry, another Teleport Self. $:^ | ~sigh~ Not giving up. I Dash away juuust enough to bait Alamander to chase... Gary passes. $:^ [ ...I Teleport up 1 to see if Alamander will come point blank to me to stop me from entering... Alamander Runs to range 2, staying safely on the VS. $:^ [ Super desperate: Teleport directly behind to Alamander to see if he'll move behind me off the VS and somehow not Attack me. Impaling Stab, Blocked. Impaling Stab, Blocked again. Able Stab, Arcane Shell misses the roll. Defeated again. $:^ |

I'm gonna go eat. ~shakes head~ When I get back, I shall return to my first decks' aggressive concept, but even more aggressive this time, in amount of damage and in amount of cycling deck-condensing. Done with this. Should've been done a day ago, let alone hours ago today. Fwiw, my nearly-successful-but-still-not character sheet this go round:

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Okay. I'm back. ~ Does it count as P2W if I bought pizza? (Even if it was not Papa Manchu brand?) ~ You think 12 Traits are enough? How about 7 high-yield Attacks? And, 6 damage Boosts (all can stack but 2)? $}^ ,

Take 6, 15g, Round 1, draw Dissolve Armor, Combustible -> Arcane Aura, Combustible -> Silver Bolt. Dissolve Stafford's Cloth Armor for 3 damage. Merc Runs up. Silver Bolt to take Stafford down to 1 HP. Dogs Run up. Pass. Snarl performs a Nimble Strike, knocking off my Aura, delivering 2 damage. Pass. Stafford Runs to the VSs. Pass. Round 2, draw Bungled Bolt and Memory Loss. Dash around and behind Snarl, range 3 of the Alamander. Scar Runs up to my side, Snarl staying in place behind me, but for facing. Dash to the one square in the corridor where I can see 7 of the 8 squares, hoping Stafford will be stupid for me. Indeed, Alamander Runs up to range 2 behind me. *pfft* Bungled Bolt (3 damage) in the back, Cloth Armor (-2 damage) procs, Lord Stafford (1 HP) releases his evil-looking cane in a death wail, Myx'd Mess'zh skips damaging herself, Adventure Complete!, Almander and the armored dogs stand down. There. Since it appears some other heroes already freed his ill-gotten Rare Amethyst Idol and other remarkable treasures, Myx'd Mess'zh demanded Alamander give up his Blighted Ingots, Plate Mail, Off-balance Boots, and Martyr's Pick to spare his life. They'll fetch 13 gold from Skarl at least.

And so! Thus ends the super-long-form descriptions for the sake of advising @winner. ~whew~ Unfortunately, the game lost connection shortly after my victory, and I couldn't save the battle log. Fortunately, the battle ended so quickly, you don't much need a log. $}^ }

My super-fast round-2 winning deck!

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Spoiler: partyanddecksbbcode

Myx'd Mess'zh
Level 20 10 Elf Wizard

Corrupted Feystaff U
Corrupted Feystaff U
Armorbane Pendant C
Armorbane Pendant C
Armorbane Pendant C
Armorbane Pendant C
Cursed Wizard's Robes C
Vollmond Boots E
Dainty Silversmith U
Advanced Electromancy U

6 x Silver Bolt
1 x Mighty Spark
4 x Bungled Bolt
4 x Dissolve Armor

4 x Memory Loss

1 x Energizing Move
1 x Wild Run
1 x Skip

2 x Arcane Aura

2 x Fey Silversmith
1 x Spark Generator
1 x Spark Inductor
4 x Combustible
3 x Creature Of The Night
1 x Brain Burn​

After all this adventuring and righting wrongs, it appears Mademoiselle Mess'zh here has received an invitation to the kingdom's Gladiatorial Arena...

 

Wherein Myx'd Mess'zh crosses her arms with a silent look of, "Challenge Accepted."

Gladatorial Arena, Qualifiers

I might just have to brute force my way through this. We'll see.

Battle 1: Play-Off, Round 1. Hmmm, elf wizards. These folks aren't the strongest, but I don't want them knocking off my Arcane Auras. Gonna swap in some Illusionary Terrain. All my Arcane Items are Legendary atm, but eventually one has to concede, this is not a Common way to do battle. $:^ ]

Take 1, in three rounds, I drew no Attacks, and one pesky wizard just Coned right through my Illusory Barriers, heh.

Take 2, heeding Gary's advice and changing my Robes. Moving a token to Boots, too. A little less glass, a little less cannon, hopefully strong all the same. Round 1, hurt Carolinia, stay safe otherwise. Round 2, feel like I wasted a Silver Bolt on a 1 HP Carolinia, but she's gone now. Avoided pain via Reliable Mail and Skip until Amirault Catt Dissolve Armor'd me... Round 3, thought I was being slick with Path Of Knives and kiting the Coner, but Ms. Catt got me from afar with Instant Burn, making me start Round 4 with 1 HP, Burning Fingers attached, and no Armor. Next!

Take 3, started considering Smoke Bomb and Cones after Take 1, but lemme try other defenses first...eh, Reflecting Staff, maybe not. All right, Smoke it is! Round 1, ha, let's draw Brain Burn with two Magic cards first thing. $F^ , But! Hey hey, cycled to Mystical Drakehide. $:^ J And at least this time, I didn't start in their LOS. Round 2, Smoke and Cones. Round 3, died to Dissolve again. Mobile things. And, after the Trog Wizards experience, I really didn't expect them to enter the Smoke to chase me! $8^ |

Take 4, a little less Smoke, a lot more cards to try to keep them inside the Smoke. Round 1, I kite Ms. Catt, seeing her Dissolve as my main concern vs. my Reliable. Gethen Deathzap's Deadly Spark only did 1 damage thanks to Reliable + Fleet! $E^ J Round 2, ugh! She has Acid Blast, too?! Good thing I have Fleet 'cause Reliable's gone next round... Round 3, dead.

Take 5, looks I'm just gonna have to cycle to Resistant ASAP on this one -- but even then, Ms. Catt can eat it right off me... Maybe we need some of Chask's Lucky Charms, too, then... Round 1, Resistant, but I'm not excited: Ms. Catt can see me, and range 10 is painful. Yay, I hide in the wrong spot, but she does not Dash to the one spot she could see me. Inquisition Bolt Carolinia to reveal two Big Zap x2, eep; she approaches to range 2; I Force Bolt her away, knowing she's a Dimensional Traveller and can Teleport (heehee) right up into range again next round. Mr. Deathzap pointlessly Sparks me a couple times. Blast it! Amirault hidden-Dashes her way right up to me and Dissolves! Surrounded now, and down half my HP. Round 2, dead.

Take 6, forget it, Firestorm topdecking Resistant, I don't think anyone would blame me. I'm out-ranged and out-maneuvered here. Died.

Take 7, replace a little Fire with a little Slide. Round 1, they're on the offense, but I Ember Burst Ms. Catt; the sooner she's gone, the better; I avoid the others somewhat, but she indeed gets Acid under my feet. Round 2, Resistant, begin the Firestorms. Despite kiting, I take a scary Big Zap to the back, but fortunately only one; a second would've killed me. Round 3, kite Carolinia a tad, (getting behind Mr. Deathzap and his Reflect Missile I kept missing, even though it wouldn't've harmed me anyway,) and finish burning the world.

Wow, that was rough. Only got 2g for it, too.

Spoiler: Nothing special here.

​

Myx'd Mess'zh
Level 20 11 Elf Wizard

Legendary x3
Epic x5
Rare x2

10 x Firestorm
4 x Ember Burst
9 x Board Manipulation (discards, positioning)
3 x Armor
10 x Trait​

Game repeatedly froze and crashed over the course of about forty minutes while I was just trying to display her deck. You can imagine her battle log is lost to the aether, but hey, not that big a deal with FS topdecking nonsense anyway. Another battle I thought would take less time and effort than it did, meaning I'll once again return later to Battle 2. Which reminds me!

How's it going now? $:^ }​

 

Wherein that new, fifth really feels like it gets to make the difference!

Gladatorial Arena, Qualifiers -- part 2

Battle 2: Play-Off, Round 2. So far, I'm only really concerned about the Goblin Hulk here since he can move a lot -- and then he hits hard. The lumbering Festering Zombies shouldn't be too big a deal, but because of them, I'll try to stick to Silver and/or Arcane Magic. Plog himself, I just need to generally stay away from, and I should be okay. ~builds deck~ Time for this plan to make contact with the enemy. $:^ ]

Take 1, Round 1, Reliable Mail, Powerful Spark, and Telekinesis, with everyone pretty far away. Gonna hope all the zombies meander together with Plog. The goblin, maybe, will come near enough I can TK then Dash away; jumpstart him with a Spark, though. $¦^ J Yep, good to go. Looks like this will be a log, arduous endurance test, but I believe we can do it. Round 2, picked up my Energize Move, too. The defense combo's coming together. $:^ } Round 3, double Reliable takes a goblin Bull Rush down to 2 damage. Time to burn the Energize! Round 4, Elven Maneuvers and Dimensional Traveller. No real brute force in this deck, but I still believe it's solid. Round 5, Flash Of Agony x2, oh, and look at that, I'll take no damage from it. $;^ J Had to take a risk or two: got an Infected Bite, a Strong Chop, and a Staggering Chop, taking one of my Armors with it. At 5 HP and Duration 2 Poison attached (and knowing my firepower equipped), I can no longer make it through this one. ~ Start of Round 7, died of Poison.

Take 2, Round 1, I risk a Flash with only one Armor because I want to fish out their Moves. I manage to ]Hot Spot Meatfist! Round 2, he pulls an Obvious Maneuver and Walks forward, letting me TK him back onto the Lava, plus Spark his 11 HP self for soon fatal damage, yaaaay! Round 3, no more Goblin Hulk! And, the plan continues to come together! Dim. Trav. and Fleet with now two racial Dashes in hand! G'bye, encroaching zombies! (Eat my dust, Kneechopper!) Cycled to Flash and TK. Yay, harmless Flash. $}^ } Round 4, kite and fish, burning a Dash in place because I'm so far away from them atm, ha ha ha. Stone Spikes under a zombie. Round 5, kite, fish, TK poor zombie back onto Spikes. Round 6, one less zombie. $;^ J Draw Flash, but save it. ~ Round 9, finally draw a second Armor! ~ Round 11, Reliable x3 in hand, now. $;^ P Plog dies. Round 12, the festering Gutsy explodes in a Festering Guts explosion.

​

Spoiler: partyanddecksbbcode

Myx'd Mess'zh
Level 20 11 Elf Wizard

Staff Of The Misanthrope L
Staff Of The Misanthrope L
Ring Of Appropriation E
Ring Of Appropriation E
Ring Of Appropriation E
Rod Of Palver Pree E
Robes Of Foz L
Quellic's Boots L
Perfect Rapidity E
Novice Teleportation U

8 x Flash Of Agony
4 x Powerful Spark
1 x Hot Spot
1 x Stone Spikes
​

3 x Gusts Of War

1 x Force Bolt
7 x Telekinesis

1 x Energizing Move
1 x Flanking Move
2 x Dangerous Maneuver
​

2 x Dimensional Traveller1 x Elven Maneuvers

1 x Fleet
​

3 x Reliable Mail
​

Somebody in the preliminary tournament apparently likes Myx'd because the "random" items she gets just before facing fiery foes are two sets of Robes -- one with Resistant Hide, one with Mystical Drakehide. Thank you for the secret hint of a gift, but don't worry, we gotcha covered. $;^ J

Spoiler: noted for later, saw this while saving the console log

BoardDisplay::findAvailableFigureDeathPosition - can't find death marker on board

Spoiler: re: documenting battles

~sigh~ My computer can't handle recording video (nor even GIFs). Now it seems it can't even handle recording text. $8^ ` After an unknown number of minutes waiting for it to unfreeze and let me grab the console text -- I'd already grabbed one line as you can see in my spoiler above! -- it once again said, dude, no, you've been so long without reporting a proper network heartbeat, I'm just gonna call your perfectly working connection dead. $8^ {

​

Eventually, I'm gonna be ridiculous and try recording my physical screen with my phone. ~shakes head~

Battle 3: Play-Off, Round 3. As seen in co-op play and my Campaign is Not Grindy thread (EDIT: whoops, just checked, I never wrote this there), I've been able to let the enemies kill themselves here to an extent. Let's see if Myx'd can do this solo. $:^ } Her deck is admittedly a little hodge-podge, though. (Just trying for a toolbox of useful things.)

Take 1, Round 1, Drakehide, cool, that's a start. Round 2, Wyrmhide! Lol! ~ Round 5, Ignatius the Burning Skeleton has crumbled, but not before it got a Perforating Strike on me down to 1 HP. $:^ \ Meanwhile, Gary's still rackin' up Victory Points for his monsters. ~ Round 7, dead.

Take 2, Round 1, nice, drew a different set of tools from the aforementioned useful box. Dash onto the outer traps next to Ignatius the Burning Skeleton. Ignatius the Fire Sprite Runs. Flanking Move onto the inner traps, Surging Blast onto Victory Squares, blasting the skeleton while I'm at it. Round 2, I drop some Spikes and an Acid Blast onto the inner traps between the skeleton and myself to dissuade it from approaching me all the way -- and it works! $:^ P Silly monsters. Uh-oh. Scar Scampered next to me, on the VSs. Better face to my side: chance to avoid Cowardly Strike's full impact this round and to Block with facing next round. (There I was hoping for two unhampered VPs. I forgot I only need three! heheh) No Attacking... Round 3, Scar performs a Lunging Thrust, and I only have Wyrmhide to soften the blow. I Surge on the dog, (Stepping away from the skeleton slightly,) and reveal only Armors remaining, yay! $:^ } Ignatius the Fire Sprite tries a Flame Spit, but for some Mystical reason only lights itself up on fire. $;^ b Round 4, Lunging Thrust to my back, which means I now use a little Elven Trickery to-- ~sigh~ pseudo-reveal Scar's last new card as a non-Attack, vanish Ignatius' nice Burning Blade, and get Perforated once again. $:^ [ Dash back to safer ground, then get a Sizzling Bolt stronger than my Armor from Ignatius the Fire Sprite.

Take 3, since I have no Melee comrades to distract them, maybe I'll just see if I can either snipe them from afar or control them away from the VSs. Let's see what I have. ~ Wow, or maybe not. CH won't even reload now, reason being it's allegedly already loaded. This poor computer. I'm going to try rebooting entirely. It's even choking on loading a mere PNG in a mere image viewer now. I'm a little in shock as to how MS Edge has remained uncrashed through all this. I'd really hoped to not make another three-plus-parter out of this, but I'd better submit this post now while I can, ha!

 

Wherein I only make time for one attempt. You'll have to see how it goes, eh?

Gladiatorial Arena, Qualifiers -- part 3

As I was saying, Take 3 (of Battle 3: Play-Off, Round 3), lemme (pay 15 gold and) try a weird rush-in-and-control deck. Okay, not quite as rush-in as I wanted, but I went with Ring Of Appropriation x4... Round 1, the fire sprite makes it all the way adjacent to the VSs; meanwhile, I'm already getting rushed by Scar and the skeleton. Not looking good. Rounds 2-3, I take a hit but mostly hide while the fire sprite takes two VPs. Round 4! Fleet, Resistant Hide, and Mystical Drakehide, ha ha ha! Plus, I have a stored Muscle Through… This round *and* Round 5, Gary trolls me by not moving in the skeleton when I needed (much like round 1, actually), passing with me to contest my VSs and nullify any VP. Wow, Round 6, that burning skeleton still *refused* to Run in, despite my killing the fire sprite. Round 7, the meleers finally come in. I'm down to 5 HP, but I keep them at bay. Round 8, I draw Telekinesis x2 to go with my held Resistant and new racial Dash. Can't waste 'em. The bony Ignatius Runs to range 2. Thinking Reaching Swing is 5 damage (but afterward realize, it's 6, isn't it! aahh!), I hope my Resistant can roll if it swings. The dog's more dangerous: Scar has Scamper, Nimble Strike, and other Moves to get in. I pass. Ignatius does not attack; instead, Scar Runs ..1 step forward, next to and behind Ignatius? ..at range 3 to me, but out barely of line of sight? Well, if he Nimbles in, it'll do 3-4 damage, and then I can TK him right back out... I pass. Gary passes. I win. $8^ ,

"The crowd stands as one and chants your name." Yep. That's right. The module text says name, singular. $}^ } Also, "victor," singular. $}^ J My "weapons," plural, are clearly my dual-wielded Cottonwood Staffs. $}^ J Myx'd Mess'zh has just single-handedly Qualified for the Gladiatorial Arena championship! $}^ } Her spoils were 2 skills and 2 treasures, valued by Skarl at 23 gold. $F^ P

​

Spoiler

Myx'd Mess'zh
Level 20 11 Elf Wizard

Cottonwood Staff E
Cottonwood Staff E
Ring Of Appropriation E
Ring Of Appropriation E
Ring Of Appropriation E
Ring Of Appropriation E
Yellowdrake Robes C
Muscle-bound Boots U
Drow Rapidity R
Unskilled Arcane - lol, whoops, forgot to equip something $¦^ b

8 x Telekinesis
4 x Gusts Of War
4 x Barge​

2 x Muscle Through

1 x Fleet

1 x Creature Of The Night
1 x Clumsy
1 x Brain Burn​

1 x Resistant Hide
1 x Mystical Drakehide​

4 x Stone Spikes
5 x Spark - whoops, 1 was an accident!
1 x Zap - whoops, accident!

1 x Bungled Bolt - whoops, accident!

1 x Investigate
​

​

Let's see if she can make good on her qualifying next time!

 

And here goes a portrait. I'm thinking about colouring it. Should be done soon. Btw, I just had a 03 marker, so lines are a bit rough... and... it was scanned with a chainsaw.

 

$:^ D

 

So, color has been added. I hope you enjoy this.

 

Wherein the qualified party-of-one enters the real arena...

Gladiatorial Arena, Finals

Battle 1, Path of Champions, "Your exploits are the talk of the arena circuit after your performance in the qualifying rounds." Makes sense, all things considered. However, the wizard did not expect fan art! Lol! $X^ D (Thank you, @Temaukel! -- and I see you went for Cotton Wizard's Robes colorization, heheheheh .. EDIT: Oh, and it appears you gave her green eyes to match her dresses, eh? heheh) With a harsh battle ahead of her, she prepares with Staves of Chask and lots of Flanking Moves. (Well, traded some Flanking for some Armor...) Rounds 1-2, I Dash far away and wait for safe cards to go with my Attacks. Round 3, Dim. Trav. into position, take a Trog Gouger in the back for 12 damage! -- then in the front despite Crude Plates x2 for the remaining 3. $}^ J Rounds 4-5, losing massive tempo waiting for killing cards. Round 6, no damage, no Moves, I get desperate and Dash right up to everyone because who knows if monsters will run away. Nope, died.

Take 2, Round 1, Dash and sit. Round 2, Punish a Trog to 3 HP, then Force Bolt it 3 spaces back, for it to return and give me initiative. Round 3, Armor and Moves. $F^ , Eh, I go around behind them all then pass. Round 4, Melt the Trog to 2 HP. Round 5, more Moves. It appears I just *do not* have enough concentrated damage. Otherwise, they're quite content just sitting on the VSs. Round 6, yep, Move and Block.

Take 3, hmm, I thought there'd be blocks. Might as well trade my … heeeeey, actually, I just had a new thought. Instead of tweaking Rust Creature's Glands for Armorbane Pendants, lemme do that thing elf wizards are not supposed to do and stack Flash Of Agony. $}^ b Okay, 10 Traits, no control, here we go! Round 1, Flank and Punish the lizard cleric, who gets out of my LoS. I then Dash to the side, planning to Flash next round if I get Armor. I'm given Bad Luck, and I realize, I might want to Flash now before Unholy Curse can come into play: 4 damage on everyone, and cleric is dead. $:^ ] Round 2, Fleet, Reliable Mail #1, and a Long Spark I'll save in case of Electrical Traits. Round 3, YES, Punish a Trog, miss his *only 1* Armor, dead! Flash for no damage to self and knock the living Trog off the VSs; he returns; I save my Long Spark again. Round 4, Memory Loss the Trog to remove an Armor. Only two more rounds remaining, but this is looking good. $:^ } Ooze is down to 8 HP, and I have more big attacks remaining. Oh! And I just realized the Trog is a minion (one action per round), thus once I kill the Ooze, I can try sitting on VSs in a pinch! $:^ } In that case, I'll Spark now and save my Cloth Armor. Round 5, erg, not nice, a Move and a Memory Loss. I discard a Strong Stab from the Trog, hoping actually for an Armor, heheh. Let's see if they care if I Dash and Investigate to the other side of the map (behind the Trog being the big thing). Round 6, the Ooze Walks into my way (to get onto the VS if need be, which need is!) but also into my Punishing range. I kill it then Dissolve the Trog before Dashing in to take a Spear Thrust for 0 damage and initiative. $:^ ] Round 7, the moment of truth. I've 9 HP, the Trog 10. We each need 1 star to win. I draw … eep, Flash x2 (with only Armor 2). Pass to see what he does? Huh! Dropped Guard, then 2 damage on me. I can now take him to 2 HP but myself to 3, him getting initiative, hmmm. (Or, him to 6, myself to 5, him initiative.) I don't wanna lose this, and I'm not on a time limit. Gonna count cards in the Battle Log; 'kay, have discards and in-hands, now gonna get food. $:^ P Back. Okay, from memory, of 18 cards in my draw pile, I have 7 Traits, thus 11 cards really; of those, 3 big Attacks, 2 more Flashes, 3 Dissolves, 2 Losses, and 1 Reliable Mail. The worst Attack I believe the Trog has is 6 damage. Gonna Flash once now and hope for awesome stuff very shortly. Round 8, sweet! Reliable! He stabs me for 0 damage again. I Flash both of us for 0 damage because his Plates reappeared. Our stand-off is my 5 HP to his 6! (I discard Dash and my newly drawn Memory Loss.) Round 9, beautiful! His Strong Stab whittles me to 3 HP. I Punish! His single Armor misses! I win without needing to try my Obliterating Spark. $}^ J

The arena awards me a Dwarf Skill and Human Skill worth 2g total. Cute.

I'm considering keeping this deck for the second battle, but we'll have to see. Fire has its place, too...

​

Spoiler: partyanddecksbbcode

Myx'd Mess'zh
Level 20 11 Elf Wizard

Painful Flashstaff L
Painful Flashstaff L
Armorbane Pendant C
Armorbane Pendant C
Armorbane Pendant C
Armorbane Pendant C
Robe Of Lightness U
Quellic's Boots L
Drow Rapidity R
Novice Electromancy U

2 x Obliterating Spark
4 x Punishing Bolt
6 x Flash Of Agony
1 x Long Spark
​

4 x Dissolve Armor

4 x Memory Loss

2 x Reliable Mail
1 x Cloth Armor

1 x Fleet

1 x Spark Generator​

1 x Spark Inductor

4 x Combustible
2 x Hover
1 x Creature Of The Night
​

1 x Investigate

1 x Flanking Move​

For some reason, I can't attach the text file of the console log, but oh well. For now, I need sleep. $:^ ]

 

Yeah, i took the basic elf for hair color, and I just can't resist a green colour-eyed elf girl... that was maybe my artistic deviation. Haha. But I hope you noticed all the 4 arcane items! It was funny finally drawing and painting it. Keep going, little wiz!

 

Theres a fanart thread here: http://forums.cardhunter.com/threads/card-hunter-fan-art.2774/

 

just curious, any tips for the Finals 1hp? I can't figure it out very well. The FoA doesn't work for me since everyone instant dies in that case LOL

 

Check out Tips for the only 1HP quests? thread.

Especially Bykuzplastiku's reply: http://forums.cardhunter.com/threads/tips-for-the-only-1hp-quests.3107/page-3#post-106461

 

Besides, this poor li'l wizard only got past the first Finals battle so far. I was going to get back to it soon since I'd jumped back into the game *and* forum, but then my laptop died end of January, and I've been sidelined *again* since. $:^ \