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Hello guys ^^! Let's get right into the game.
I'm playing Valeera, the Rogue, against Jaine, the Mage.
My starting hand leaves a lot to be desired, especially since I get to go first. The only
thing reasonably close to being cheap is the Ironfur Grizzly, so I leave it be and mulligan
the remaining two cards. What I get back is even worse - another *** Bay Bodyguard and
a Reckless Rocketeer a 6 crystals. What you've seen so far is a fairly good indicator
of the sort of deck I'm playing here; there are many creatures with taunt in it, so that
I can stay behind their backs and stab my opponent to death.
My opponent sure is taking her sweet time with her hand ;)...
There we go! I have nothing to do this turn, so I skip
it immediately. I also begin to compulsively fire the catapult... The card I have drawn,
Fan of Knives, is useful in many different circumstances, so I'm glad to have it in my
hand in advance, even though it's currently useless.
Mirror Image is a Wizard favorite - cheap and effective, it blocks you from dealing
damage in most ways, while allowing the Wizard time to breathe...
I draw a Frostwolf Grunt, which is extremely fortunate, since it means that I no longer
have to wait for the bear to have board presence. Anything that wants to fight with Valeera,
has to go through my Grunt first, since he's got Taunt... as do the Mirror Images. Unlike
them, however, my Grunt has two points of attack. That's enough to kill the illusions
in two turns... ...if he lives that long. Let's not forget
that Wizards have Fireball as their special ability, dealing one point of damage to anything
they desire... I topdeck, or, in laymen-speak, "draw" the
Pint-Sized Summoner. She allows me to spend one less crystal per turn when playing a creature,
but for that to work I need to keep her ALIVE, so I'm reluctant to send her into the battlefield
right now, especially since one crystal will go to waste that way. On the other hand - if
I keep summoning creatures without the Summoner's help, she'll be a missed opportunity.
With a heavy heart, I put her there. She doesn't seem to mind :3.
Let's see what Jaina's got in store for us... She has used the coin. This essentially gives
her a fourth crystal this turn. Using all of them, she summons a Sen'jin Shieldmasta.
Excellent creature with taunt, but a creature nonetheless - he needs to go through my Grunt
as well, if he wishes to do further damage. With the Summoner to help me in my efforts
I only need 4 mana crystals to summon the *** Bay Bodyguard. That's a BETTER creature
with taunt. He cannot be taken down in one hit by the Shieldmasta alone...
Summoning Sickness prevents my BBB from attacking, so I cannot outright kill the troll, but I
don't want to end the turn just yet. I'm not reckless enough to see merit in sacrificing
my Grunt for some damage on the Shieldmasta, but there's still a Mirror Image left to be
disposed of. It took me a brief while to decide which creature
I wanted to use, even though it was essentially of no significance...
I've got 9 points of damage on the board. I need to get through the troll, that's a
given, but once I do, I can dish out the first points of hero damage in this match. Frost
Nova freezes all of my minions, preventing them from harming anything next turn. They
still deal counterattack damage, of course... The Grunt is dead, but my Bodyguard remains
alive and well, time for my turn... Thanks to the Pint-Sized Summoner, I can put
the Reckless Rocketeer into play this turn, althought that would not do me much good,
since all of my minions are frozen, I would be only able to attack the troll, and that
would kill the Rocketeer for no good reason. Let's summon an Ironfur Grizzly and a Magma
Rager instead. From a strictly damage-dealing point of view
- I'm in great shape. As it is, I could get rid of all enemy creatures and deal 5 points
of damage to the hero without using a single crystal. That being said - it's not my turn
yet. With my Bodyguard turned into a sheep my damage
potential has been drastically altered. The bear is dead as well. On the bright side
- all that stands between me and Jaina are two defenseless Mirror Images.
I need to deal 2 points of damage twice. My sheep can't do that, and I'd rather not spend
crystals on drawing my hero's weapon. This leaves the Summoner and the Rager.
Now I can deal 6 points of damage with impunity. A turn well spent. I have 13 points of damage
on the board. My opponent needs to neutralize at least some of that... or suffer the consequences.
Didn't see that one coming, did you? A mage that can deal one point of damage each turn
versus a creature that has a single point of health but deals lots of damage...
A secret has been cast... They are always a pain, but let's not dwell on that...
So far I've got 8 points of damage on the board, and seem to be in a dominating position.
Let's extend my lead further by summoning a Core Hound...
WHAT?! Oh no... Of all the things...
Oh well... I need to kill that Core Hound, and it seems that my Reckless Rocketeer is
the best option I have. Now let's deal 3 points of damage and end
the turn. Overall - I'm not really that much worse off. My damage potential adds up to
12 and Jaina still doesn't have anything on the board.
Farewell Core Hound, I hardly knew ye... Alright, this guy makes her spells stronger;
he has to die. It's not a matter a matter of 'if', it's not even a matter of 'when'
- it's merely a matter of 'how'. I need to deal 4 points of damage... Fan of Knives could
help, but I don't want to waste it on a single creature like that. My sheep can deal 1 point
of damage, my Summoner can deal 2 and live. The remaining point will have to come from
my own hero. There we go, the other side of the board is
nice and clean. Let's summon the Ironfur Grizzly to protect
my Pint-Sized Summoner. I'm out of creature cards. I would love to
start stabbing Jaina, but my default weapon deals a single measly point of damage, and
it only lasts two turns, making poisoning it undesirable.
No, archmage, I am not re- No! Not, my beloved Summoner D: ! I was not
ready for this... Not ready at all ;_;... Goodbye, Summoner. You have served me well.
This Archmage fellow troubles me. He's got 7 points of health, 4 attack, AND empowers
Jaina's spells. To get rid of him NOW, I'd have to sacrifice
the Grizzly, use the Fan of Knives, poison my weapon AND take 4 points of damage on my
hero... That's not happening. I'd rather make it HIS problems to break through MY defenses.
While he's at it, let's hope I can draw something helpful in getting rid of him...
What's nice is that the Archmage doesn't have taunt, which means that I can keep hitting
Jaina as I please. She's already 12 points of life behind me, so in an even fight she
dies first. OK, this is getting scary. That's even more
spell damage, as well as a decently strong creature.
The fireball kills the Rager, the Grizzly falls to the Archmage, and suddenly... I'm
more naked than if I was playing strip poker. What I receive is Backstab... It can deal
2 points of damage to a creature that has not been damaged... The Ogre Magi fit the
bill... Fan of Knives would deal 1 point to both creatures
and give me a card... This leaves a single point of health on the Ogre, which I can shave
off with my hero... Let's do this. Alright, I got the Sen'Jin Shieldmasta. I
can play it this turn and prevent the Archmage from getting any funny ideas about attacking
Valeera. Of course - he's free to charge into the Shieldmasta and die. I'd love for it to
happen... Your move, Mage... Whatcha gonna do, fire
your puny fireball at me? Yikes! Great ball of fire!
At least the Archmage is now dead... as is my Shieldmasta. We're back to a level playing
field... and by "level" I mean "empty". Not for long, it's not!
Go forth, Grunt! Now let's stab her right in the face... for
one point of damage. That was about as much as I could've done.
6 crystals gone to waste, not a regret in my heart.
So, Jaina, tell me - what's your secret? If it only was that easy ;)...
The grunt bites the dust, smashed and overkilled... WHOA!
Alright, not funny, I am getting dangerously low...
Ouch...
I get Assassinate... Really nice to have around, but not exactly helpful at this point...
All I can do is stab my opponent, but she does as much damage with her fireballs, and
I'm currently the one with a health deficit... 7 points of health... That's 7 turns of fireballs
alone. I need SOMETHING, and I need it quick. Really? Is this how it ends? Will I be forced
to use Assassinate on a Kobold, just to keep him from killing me?
Assassin's Blade, finally! I'm back in action! Look at this beauty - works for 4 turns, deals
3 damage, but with my lovely batch of poison - that's 5. Times 3 - that's 15, exactly as
much health as my opponent has. That's two turns, not including this one.
I can even afford to Assassinate the Kobold at some point...
What are you going to do, Jaina? Draw cards and pray... Alright, you do that.
I shouldn't get overconfident, I am still very low on health, any stray damage can turn
this victory march into a funeral... She's got 2 points of damage in that Kobold,
1 in the fireball. This'll take me down to 3, one turn away from dying. Fortunately - I
have Assassinate on hand to eliminate the Kobold, so as long as she can't throw more
than fireballs at me, I should be able to live 3 more turns...
Everything is going according to my predictions so far...
Oh... Oh, that's not good, not good at all. I'm down to 3 health - what if that's reverse
damage? Wait - isn't Eye for an Eye a Paladin card? Either way - I have no idea what this
secret is.
That's KINDA implied in it being called a secret in the first place!
I can worry all I want, but I don't exactly see an alternative course of action for these
circumstances. I need to do all that can be done.
If it's reverse damage, I can't even burn that with my Crusader, since she does 3 points
herself... Not to mention Summoning Sickness. I can't afford to wait.
If this shall be my downfall - so be it. Well played, you ***. You set this trap
for me, and now... I need to walk right into it.
What? Nothing happened!
But why?! And it even wasn't th- th- the minion duplication
one! So - what is it?
How do I trigger it? Hell - how do I NOT?
Wait, there's this block of ice that blocks damage that would otherwise be fatal... and
that's a Mage secret. Oh boy... That is not a welcome sight. That
Berserker gets +3 damage every time it gets hit... like right now.
Fortunately - it's still affected by Summoning Sickness, and I have Vanish in my hand.
Alright, let's activate that secret... I know it in advance. Also - please don't flood me
with comments saying that if so, I should've attacked with my Crusader first. This makes
almost no difference. Here we are, she's at 5 health; I'm at 3,
wondering whether I will live through this. The secret is triggered... Ice Block, prevents
fatal damage, invulnerability for the remainder of this turn.
That's... ...horrifying.
It would also be the thing getting me killed next turn, had I not gotten Vanish. As it
stands - I can adjourn my death, and I shall do so...
With a little bit of confused surprise, I notice that my Scarlet Crusader can still
be summoned. Let's bring her back in. Nothing left to Backstab, I'm afraid, so let's
end the turn, cross fingers and hope she can't find 2 point of damage on top of the 1 from
the fireball, or else I'm toast...
Actually - I think I'm screwed either way. That was funny but meaningless...
Either way - I think I'm still screwed! There's still one secret over her, right? It's been
there for a LONG time, and hasn't been triggered by anything. Can you guess why? That's because
it's another Ice Block, it's going to activate as I hit her, prevent the damage, and shield
her for the rest of the turn. I'm not worried about my weapon breaking - it's
just that I have no more ways to stall, so the Berserker will kill me next turn.
Well done, well fought. You have outsmarted me and bested me.
Now... I shall face my destiny.
I won?
I won :D! Guys - it was something else!
It was... something else.