Hi, Was wondering how is the MP meta looking currently? Is there really less draw deck / firestorm shenanigans? Is it dominated by dwarfs and step dwarf warriors in particular? Are the new gladiatorial maps fun? WWs still super popular?
Draw decks have decreased significantly. Firestorm won't go away until 'Impenetrable Nimbus' is changed to not block 'friendly' damage, but it's not as popular without draw priests. The new maps are hard on control wizards, so those decks have also gone down. The new maps are interesting. I'd say that generally (at least at the 1300 level) variety has gone up.
I'm kind of new to the 1500 level, but in my experience there are a lot of double warrior teams and a fair amount of Dwarven control wizards. 1/1/1 Is also a popular set-up, but I suppose I can't really classify those builds, as they are simply using the best items available to the players.
Race: dwarf dominate Cards most frequently seen (in no particular order): nimble strike vicious thrust 14+ damage warrior attacks winds of war short plex ray impossible to catch parry ice attacks inspirational presence dwarven war cry team move! volcano (rare but most wiz focused team have it, probably has something to do with card rarity as well) toughness whirlwind enemies sprint! and dash! team mass frenzy wall o fire savage curse (probably due to skull of savage llgin) martyr blessing Class frequency (roughly): warrior - most team have at least 1 wizard priest - usually for draws or mass frenzy
Movement and tactics are much more important with these maps. Instead of trying to close the distances quickly like on previous maps, the team that gets to the VPs first has a distinct advantage in at least two and possibly three of the four maps. And there is plenty of cover and sight-line shenanigans you can use to avoid wizards.
I'm honestly not seeing much difference except for the death of draw decks, whether it be draw-warrior or draw-firestorm. Mass Frenzy-Nimble Strike (either in a 1/1/1 or a 2 warrior-1 cleric situation or even 1 warrior-2 cleric) seems most common, but that was probably the most common style of deck beforehand too. Heck, if not for my abysmal luck in getting any cards at all with Mass Frenzy on them, I'd probably play it (the fact that cards like Mass Frenzy and Freeze are only available on rares, epics and legendaries weakens the game I think... even if one is missing the ideal cards for a deck, one should still be able to attempt all deck types with commons and uncommons.. really wish Randimar's rotated more frequently so people could get a better shot at the cards they most need). The new maps, apart from the 4 victory point one which favours Nimble Strike and disfavours wizards way too much, have all grown on me. I was a bit worried that the new single victory point map would be the new Celestial Koi, but it's not as bad except when Whirlwinds get involved and it takes turns and turns and turns for the parties to come to grips (which is more a problem with Whirlwind than with the map).
At 1250-1300 you see a decent mix. A lot of 1/1/1's where people just use the best gear they have. Often elf warrior, human priest, dwarf wizard. Couple of odd Firestorm builds, but most aren't that sophisticated at this level.
Lot actually depends on what you have gotten. I didn't have any non-token warrior weapons, so couldn't really use warriors for low level stuff.
With the death of draw decks, I'm curious how priests are being used in MP? I expect that primarily leaves buffing priests and/or healers (and maybe a rare vampire priest). Or is there something I'm missing? Buff priests combine best with warriors, for obvious reasons. And healers haven't been a great choice since the priest traits got fixed in beta. So I'm curious if there's much reason to combine priests and wizards at this point?
I've still seen a couple of Flame Strike.dec in the 1400-1500 range I'm at, but they feel a lot less scary now. Most of the Priests I've run into where indeed acting as frenzy/nimbus bots for their two warrior buddies.
Speaking as someone in the 1400-1500 range, the old-style draw decks are basically gone. I've seen a couple of firestorm draw decks, but they are facile to deal with. There are some 3 wiz teams but they aren't really a problem unless it's a copy of the DCW deck posted in the forum. That is still very strong, albeit less strong on the current map rotation. The toughest time I've had has been against very well constructed teams of 1 of each or 2 wizards 1 warrior rather than the zeitgeist deck for the maps of 2 warriors/1 priest. I personally don't like the new maps, it dictates a certain style of play that bores me and I've been playing less. But that's just my opinion and I'm sure others equally like the new maps.
Well my exams are finally coming to an end so i guess i can take some time to talk about MP meta now. I spectate more games then i play as it is my exam period and these are my opinion and it might be wrong. First thing to note is that each new map favours a different setup. If your items are not ideal then W,M,P is the best combination as they make use of your items the effectively and allow you to build more consistent decks. This discussion assumes you already have all or almost all items and thus WMP might not be the best option. Also everything here is my opinion and it could very well be all wrong so take what you might with a grain of salt. What became much more powerful / more commonly used 1.Whirlwind Enemies(Reasons will be included in the map discussion) 2.The human class( This is due to 2 reasons. Firstly movement became paramount and due to popularity of encumber effects Run, Team! or human attribute cards has become hugely powerful to counteract encumber and win the war on mobility. The second reason is to do with map design, 2/4 of the maps gives an overwhelming advantage on the first turn to move 3 this will be further discussed in map discussion) 3.Double warrior 1 mage/priest (mostly mage) (Brawn focused maps with numerous cover making range slightly less effective) 4. triple dwarf control mages (Blame scared little girl) 5. Movement restrictors/enablers (mostly mage cards)Everything with encumber same as the past Notable examples include Frost Jolt,Winds Of War,Cone Of Coldetc. New entries include Freeze (due to popularity of humans encumber 3 is the new encumber 2),Wall Of Stone(due to how obstructed all the maps already is more walls become more powerful). To a lesser extend all knockback spells became more powerful as it can easily trade for a move if you knock them away from stopping terrain. There are others but i will not mention them as they are not as big of an impact as the above 5. Setups: I will be using nicknames for each setup to let you have a more comprehensive understanding of what i think are the interactions of this meta game. W(jumper)- Warrior usually human/dwarf/elf with at least one vibrant pain. This is probably the best anti-mage setup as most mage cannot hit the warrior hiding behind cover before they get into range for Nimble Strike. W(damage)-Warrior again human or dwarf usually with The Hackmaster Bejeweled Shortsword etc high damage cards with limited mobility. Usually used to outmatch the enemy warrior in term of damage. Sometimes seen wearing arrogant armour as their damage is good enough and this would reduce the impact of mages on them. W(parry)-warrior who stacks parry usually elf or human. Used to counter the heavy warrior meta now. P(buffs)-Priest who spam buffs like Impenetrable Nimbus,Martyr Blessing Mass Frenzyetc. Huge amount of utility with double warrior. P(hybrid)-Priest with damage and buffs. Need Good items. P(heal)-What can i say healer with buffs. P(nimbus)- spamImpenetrable Nimbus. Mages are special as they are usually a mix but here is some common types M(Control)-ice/windofwar/wall of fire/short perplexing/whirlwind enemy mage M(firestorm)-firestorm mage M(melee)- that mage with toughness and parry and nimble strike etc Galdius Wall/Duel: The map with 3 victory points one wall in the center with 2 squares where people can pass. This map is the reason why mages are usually used instead of priest. On first turn he will stand at the stop wall and your units will have to get into line of sight of him which will allow him to heavily encumber you and deal damage to you. This map also favor double warrior as you will engage in brawling at the top of the map and the more damage cards you hold the better your chances of winning. Whirlwind enemy is crazy powerful in this map. In the ideal case on of the enemy would land on your side and 2 will land on the other side. This allow you to easily pick off the isolated prey and due to the huge amount of obstructing terrain their allies cannot help them or even deal damage to you easily. Favors in the order W(damage)W(parry)M(Control),3xM(control), W(jumper)W(damage)P(nimbus), Races favored: (mostly even) Gladius Single: The map with a single victory point at the center with a lot of walls and stuff. Favors whirlwind enemy. a well timed whirlwind enemy on an encumber enemy warrior will take him out of the game for 2-3 turns. This is the map where if you land in a bad place you will not be back even with a sprint. Favors jumpers as you can easily hunt down the enemy while hiding behind walls allowing your sudden burst of speed to take the enemy down easily. Teleport Self is pretty good and allow you to get to the victory point on the first turn easily. Victory point is position such that mages cannot easily attack you if you are already at victory point so some of the most powerful cards in this map is sprint team etc This is the best map for firestorm draw decks due to how obstructed everything is. Priest that draw 2 nimbus a turn are crazy powerful due to the chokepoint nature of this map which does not allow the enemy to go around your nimbus warrier. Favors in order: W(jumper/damage)W(damage)M(control), 3xM(control)/2xM(control)W(damage), W(parry)W(jumper)P(buffs/nimbus) Race: human=dwarf,elf Gladius triple: the map where there is rectangle box in the center with 3 victory points. Whirlwind enemy destroys the enemy if they get thrown out of the box. The closeness and openness of the inside of the box allow jumpers to shine and Dwarf mages to do extremely well. This is the most open map and as such jumpers are much more powerful. This map does not favors dwarfs. The stopping terrain is 3 step away from 2/3 of the staring points and for these points dwarfs need 4 walks to reach the victory point inside of the box where as human and elf can make do with only 2 run/dash. Favours: M(control)M(control)W(damage),3xM(control), W(damage)W(jumper)M(control), Race:Warrior:human,elf,dwarf Mage: human=dwarf,elf Gladius quad: the 4 victory point with a square stopping terrain. The map that whirlwind enemy has the least impact on due to how easy it is to reach any victory point from anywhere. This map favours warriors a lot. Mages has to come with in Vicious Thrust range in order to even cast spells that hit the enemy.The walls specifically make mages much less powerful in this map then any other. Again dwarfs are affected by their move 2. you need 3 walk to make it to the victory point instead of 2 run/dash. However this is a less of an issue as compared to triple as you are not within the enemy mage's range while you walk to the victory point. Warriors are kings in this map Favours: W(jumper)W(damage)P(buffs/nimbus/mass frenzy)[countered by parry W],W(damage)W(parry)M,W(damage)W(jumper)W(jumper) Favours:Human=dwarf,Elf All in all this lead to a lot more double warrior mage in MP nowadays and most people use human as they are fairly effective in most maps. Control mages are still really powerful as movements control became incredibly powerful. The WPM build is not mentioned as while i think the build is good it is not optimal for the maps. The build is more well rounded and does pretty well irregardless of the map.
Duking, that was an amazing post. I particularly like the names that you gave for each build, and the breakdown per map. Best of luck for your exams, and I hope you continue writing post exams (for our collective benefit).
