WEBVTT 00:00:08.259 --> 00:00:11.939 Hello and welcome back to Illumination, the Disney 00:00:11.939 --> 00:00:15.019 Lurkana podcast. My name is Max. And I'm Sam. 00:00:15.140 --> 00:00:18.469 And we are... back once again to talk to you 00:00:18.469 --> 00:00:21.390 for the 32nd time, to be exact. That's how many 00:00:21.390 --> 00:00:23.629 times we've done this. Wow. Yeah. Appreciate 00:00:23.629 --> 00:00:26.390 you all being here. Sam, appreciate you being 00:00:26.390 --> 00:00:29.750 here. And we are going to jump right in. We've 00:00:29.750 --> 00:00:33.390 got some news to cover. Illumination's been hitting 00:00:33.390 --> 00:00:36.670 the tournament scene local to Southern New Jersey, 00:00:36.969 --> 00:00:40.049 Philadelphia, Greater Philadelphia area, and 00:00:40.049 --> 00:00:43.130 Delaware, the tri -state area. A couple things 00:00:43.130 --> 00:00:46.130 to report. We did a case tournament. Very local 00:00:46.130 --> 00:00:49.049 to us. Shout out to Phenomenal Games. Really 00:00:49.049 --> 00:00:51.570 appreciate you all putting on a really fun time. 00:00:52.009 --> 00:00:55.350 Myself, mystery teammate, and newest teammate, 00:00:55.630 --> 00:00:59.009 the real CJ, managing to split the top four with 00:00:59.009 --> 00:01:02.350 another kind player at that tournament. And we 00:01:02.350 --> 00:01:04.409 did pretty good there. Pretty happy with that. 00:01:04.549 --> 00:01:08.269 CJ was on Blue Steel Oswald. Our mystery teammate 00:01:08.269 --> 00:01:10.829 was on the deck they are always on, and it is 00:01:10.829 --> 00:01:15.629 always Purple Steel. And I was on... green steel, 00:01:15.930 --> 00:01:19.549 emerald steel, if you prefer. And that was a 00:01:19.549 --> 00:01:22.150 pretty fun little tournament. Really appreciate 00:01:22.150 --> 00:01:25.370 that. Then this past weekend, we went out to 00:01:25.370 --> 00:01:29.069 the, what was a 1K at Safari Zone Collectibles 00:01:29.069 --> 00:01:32.049 in Smyrna, Delaware. Shout out to them, put on 00:01:32.049 --> 00:01:34.189 an amazing event. So many people interested in 00:01:34.189 --> 00:01:35.769 playing Lurkana out that way that they actually 00:01:35.769 --> 00:01:38.530 turned it into a 3K tournament. I believe they 00:01:38.530 --> 00:01:41.650 had about 70 people out there for that one. I 00:01:41.650 --> 00:01:45.200 did abysmally. Mystery. teammate did quite well. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:48.719 Our own Cliff did really a nice job hitting 16th 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:52.060 out of all of those people. And Sam, you did 00:01:52.060 --> 00:01:54.379 even better than that. Yeah, I topped eight. 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:57.239 Top eight? What were you playing? I was playing 00:01:57.239 --> 00:02:00.819 the Kiwi Bird style of Blue Steel. Yeah, you 00:02:00.819 --> 00:02:02.400 got the deck list, I believe, from one of our 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:04.680 favorite content creators, Tarkana Deck Lists. 00:02:04.739 --> 00:02:08.080 Yeah, really cool deck, the Kiwi Bird style Blue 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:11.580 Steel aggressive deck. Our own Cliff was on the 00:02:11.580 --> 00:02:16.439 DKP list. of the Ruby Sapphire variety, and Mystery 00:02:16.439 --> 00:02:19.099 Teammate was on the deck they are always on. 00:02:19.219 --> 00:02:23.360 Again, that is always Amethyst Steel. I was also 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:26.460 playing the DKP list. I didn't have as good of 00:02:26.460 --> 00:02:28.780 a time with it as Cliff did, but Cliff is much 00:02:28.780 --> 00:02:31.300 more experienced with Ruby Sapphire than I am. 00:02:31.379 --> 00:02:34.259 All of you out there know I am a Sapphire not 00:02:34.259 --> 00:02:38.280 enjoyer, so I did that despite my reservations, 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:39.879 thinking that it'd be pretty good in the field, 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:42.159 and it really, it was. I think every match I 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:45.780 win or lose was pretty darn close and it often 00:02:45.780 --> 00:02:48.939 came down to if the opponent had it or not on 00:02:48.939 --> 00:02:52.120 a critical turn most of the time so it was a 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:54.879 great time the store was great really appreciate 00:02:54.879 --> 00:02:57.580 it and they're already set to have a very large 00:02:57.580 --> 00:03:00.639 projected 5k and they've proven that if the attendance 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:03.479 is good enough they'll up the prize ante so definitely 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:06.479 check them out safari zone collectibles really 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:09.419 really awesome store both them and phenomenal 00:03:09.419 --> 00:03:11.750 games really put on a great time and we Appreciate 00:03:11.750 --> 00:03:14.110 the opportunity to go out and play. Also a shout 00:03:14.110 --> 00:03:17.789 out to our friends from afar who now we actually 00:03:17.789 --> 00:03:20.229 got to meet in person, Glimineers. They are a 00:03:20.229 --> 00:03:22.270 fantastic group of folks. They were together 00:03:22.270 --> 00:03:25.370 for their first ever team event as a collected 00:03:25.370 --> 00:03:28.669 ensemble of players. All of them extraordinarily 00:03:28.669 --> 00:03:31.490 kind and supportive. If you follow them on social 00:03:31.490 --> 00:03:33.750 media, you get the idea that they are very, very 00:03:33.750 --> 00:03:36.370 much caring about the game and the community 00:03:36.370 --> 00:03:39.270 first. And while that seems nice on social media, 00:03:39.370 --> 00:03:41.090 I can assure you after meeting them in - in person, 00:03:41.210 --> 00:03:44.270 they are 100 % authentic to their message that 00:03:44.270 --> 00:03:47.430 there's no hidden anything. It's not just hammed 00:03:47.430 --> 00:03:50.669 up for social media, both incredibly kind and 00:03:50.669 --> 00:03:53.150 the whole team, a great collection of people 00:03:53.150 --> 00:03:55.650 who are extremely kind throughout the entire 00:03:55.650 --> 00:03:58.210 day, very exciting group of folks, and we all 00:03:58.210 --> 00:04:01.330 got to hang out and have a ton of fun there. 00:04:01.409 --> 00:04:04.030 That event was also streamed, so you can go back 00:04:04.030 --> 00:04:06.389 and check that out as well. If you so choose, 00:04:06.389 --> 00:04:08.330 I believe Myra Madness was the one who streamed 00:04:08.330 --> 00:04:10.819 that, also got to meet them in person. very very 00:04:10.819 --> 00:04:14.780 kind tons of fun to be had by all it was a blast 00:04:14.780 --> 00:04:17.680 sam anything you'd like to add about the tournaments 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:20.259 that we have been attending nope just i agree 00:04:20.259 --> 00:04:21.800 with you it was a fun time got to meet a lot 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:23.579 of great folks yeah that's what it's all about 00:04:23.579 --> 00:04:27.379 at the end so your deck has one particular card 00:04:27.379 --> 00:04:29.819 in it a one drop that has a certain nickname 00:04:29.819 --> 00:04:32.000 and we were talking about it at different points 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:34.740 during the weekend so it brought on the idea 00:04:34.740 --> 00:04:38.620 of the topic this card in question is mickey 00:04:38.620 --> 00:04:41.540 food Fight Defender. And he has a cute little 00:04:41.540 --> 00:04:43.600 nickname. Sam, what's his cute little nickname? 00:04:43.860 --> 00:04:47.240 Sticky Mickey. Sticky Mickey. So that kind of 00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:50.439 got us talking about the idea of how the metagame 00:04:50.439 --> 00:04:53.920 is shaping up and what are good sticky threats. 00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:57.420 And what does that mean? What are you guys talking 00:04:57.420 --> 00:04:59.879 about? This sounds like a gross episode. I assure 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:02.379 you it's not. And we want to get into all of 00:05:02.379 --> 00:05:06.040 that today in the episode proper. So what the 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:09.170 heck is a sticky? Threat. Sam, what's a sticky 00:05:09.170 --> 00:05:12.389 threat? Sticky threat is a card that is hard 00:05:12.389 --> 00:05:14.389 to remove. It's going to stick around for a while. 00:05:14.689 --> 00:05:16.889 Oh, okay. So it's not sticky because it's gross 00:05:16.889 --> 00:05:19.629 or nasty. It's sticky because it stays on the 00:05:19.629 --> 00:05:22.389 board. Yeah. Yes. The card stays in play. It 00:05:22.389 --> 00:05:26.470 is hard to remove, generally needing some form 00:05:26.470 --> 00:05:29.750 of very predictable removal, like a challenge 00:05:29.750 --> 00:05:32.110 from a much larger character. So it's a calculated 00:05:32.110 --> 00:05:34.149 risk. Is the lore worth losing the character? 00:05:34.350 --> 00:05:37.600 Or oftentimes more cards than the - character 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:39.959 so mickey food fight defender is a great example 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:43.980 because for one cost you get a one two body and 00:05:43.980 --> 00:05:47.759 you get resist one yeah playing this card this 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:50.660 weekend was really nice because i was not afraid 00:05:50.660 --> 00:05:53.019 to play a one drop on one even in the face of 00:05:53.019 --> 00:05:55.839 a bell or anything that could sing a removal 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:58.379 spell and just you know before he got any value 00:05:58.379 --> 00:06:00.420 just remove it yes and that is the important 00:06:00.420 --> 00:06:01.839 thing and part of the reason why we wanted to 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:08.529 talk about these for Cinderella, Ballroom Sensation, 00:06:08.949 --> 00:06:12.850 Diablo, Devoted Herald, or Belle, Inventor's 00:06:12.850 --> 00:06:15.290 Apprentice? Apprentice Inventor? The new Belle. 00:06:15.410 --> 00:06:18.930 To all be able to come down very quickly and 00:06:18.930 --> 00:06:22.110 either shift or immediately on turn two sing 00:06:22.110 --> 00:06:24.250 Let the Storm Rage On or Strength of a Raging 00:06:24.250 --> 00:06:27.009 Fire. So as much as two damage in most cases 00:06:27.009 --> 00:06:29.870 to one of your characters. So anything that's 00:06:29.870 --> 00:06:32.610 too small in terms of willpower can be removed 00:06:32.610 --> 00:06:36.610 very, very easily. So having... the ability to 00:06:36.610 --> 00:06:39.910 stay on the board despite the powerful opening 00:06:39.910 --> 00:06:42.470 lines that are presented in the first turn or 00:06:42.470 --> 00:06:45.709 two out of certain decks is extremely important 00:06:45.709 --> 00:06:49.009 right now in the Lorkana meta. So it gave us 00:06:49.009 --> 00:06:50.670 a good chance to talk about something and kind 00:06:50.670 --> 00:06:52.769 of turn this into a bit of a foundational episode, 00:06:52.889 --> 00:06:55.689 but with a very current meta lens. So if you're 00:06:55.689 --> 00:06:58.589 not familiar, the current decks of the day are 00:06:58.589 --> 00:07:02.709 the Ruby Sapphire deck, as well as the Sapphire 00:07:02.709 --> 00:07:05.879 Steel deck, the old blue steel. Zoolander special, 00:07:06.100 --> 00:07:08.759 many different flavors of both of those decks. 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:12.819 And there is a lot of requirements for a character 00:07:12.819 --> 00:07:15.360 coming down in the first couple of turns if your 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:18.420 opening line isn't something super duper powerful. 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:22.480 So it really requires a lot of demand. So for 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:24.740 the steel meta, obviously we're going to want 00:07:24.740 --> 00:07:28.120 certain things like the sticky Mickey card. We're 00:07:28.120 --> 00:07:31.100 going to want things that have four willpower. 00:07:31.259 --> 00:07:33.019 We're going to want something like a bell of 00:07:33.019 --> 00:07:36.319 our own, perhaps. Even a one drop with three 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:38.279 willpower, something like an Olaf or a Minnie 00:07:38.279 --> 00:07:41.259 Mouse. Those kind of things are really nice to 00:07:41.259 --> 00:07:44.199 have. Madam Mim Snake is a nice early drop to 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:46.439 recover your one drop before they can sing if 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:48.439 you're on the play. That's a little bit different 00:07:48.439 --> 00:07:50.939 than what was a little bit stickier a couple 00:07:50.939 --> 00:07:54.160 sets ago when red kind of was the overwhelming 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:57.079 menace in terms of removal. We kept talking a 00:07:57.079 --> 00:07:59.939 lot about things that would die to Brawl, things 00:07:59.939 --> 00:08:02.899 that would die to Madam Medusa. These cards. 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:06.500 Little Sisu. These cards were extremely impactful 00:08:06.500 --> 00:08:09.500 at that point. They still are, but they had other 00:08:09.500 --> 00:08:12.259 cards come to the forefront at that point, right? 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:15.199 We saw a lot more other Sisu, Emboldened Warrior, 00:08:15.500 --> 00:08:18.540 because of the high potential. And this card's 00:08:18.540 --> 00:08:20.120 still quite good right now in this current meta. 00:08:20.139 --> 00:08:22.779 One of the few cards with high strength and willpower 00:08:22.779 --> 00:08:25.839 early. We had a lot of Smee, Bumbling Mate, everybody's 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:28.079 favorite, Steel Two Drop. And we also saw cards 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:30.959 even like Argus. The reverse 1 -4, this was a 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:33.549 4 -1. Not only kept you free, from Flynn Riders, 00:08:33.590 --> 00:08:36.529 but was not brawlable. So depending on what the 00:08:36.529 --> 00:08:39.750 removal looks like, that is going to help define 00:08:39.750 --> 00:08:43.289 what cards can stay on the board, hence become 00:08:43.289 --> 00:08:46.889 these stickier threats. So that's kind of what 00:08:46.889 --> 00:08:49.230 we're looking to delve into and what we're looking 00:08:49.230 --> 00:08:52.070 to tackle. So all that's lovely, but we have 00:08:52.070 --> 00:08:55.289 steel removal now and we have ruby removal. What 00:08:55.289 --> 00:08:57.809 card am I supposed to play? It's a tough question. 00:08:57.970 --> 00:09:00.870 It really is. I think that one of the first things 00:09:00.870 --> 00:09:02.929 you need to start to understand unpack is the 00:09:02.929 --> 00:09:05.549 deck you're playing. Which type of removal is 00:09:05.549 --> 00:09:08.830 worse in this case? Like what removal do you 00:09:08.830 --> 00:09:11.509 really not want to see? The ruby removal is so 00:09:11.509 --> 00:09:13.649 potent in a lot of cases because it's either 00:09:13.649 --> 00:09:17.250 stapled onto a character or it's on a non -song 00:09:17.250 --> 00:09:20.889 action like brawl where we can't disrupt that 00:09:20.889 --> 00:09:24.129 card very easily or that kind of style of card 00:09:24.129 --> 00:09:27.529 very easily. So we have to lean more into something 00:09:27.529 --> 00:09:30.110 as far as something like bare necessities goes 00:09:30.110 --> 00:09:33.419 to take one. of these non -song actions out of 00:09:33.419 --> 00:09:37.080 a player's hand or be able to have these additional 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:39.600 bumps like Lumiere is a good example, two drop 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:41.460 Lumiere that gives you additional strength, something 00:09:41.460 --> 00:09:44.220 to help you shield yourself from at least low 00:09:44.220 --> 00:09:46.940 strength characters that are so susceptible to 00:09:46.940 --> 00:09:49.360 the ruby cards. You also have to learn if your 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:51.460 deck is more susceptible to that or is it more 00:09:51.460 --> 00:09:54.480 susceptible to the steel removal. So we're talking 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.539 a much more lower willpower card. So there are 00:09:57.539 --> 00:09:59.820 cards that kind of dance in the middle and they 00:09:59.820 --> 00:10:02.059 are just proving themselves to be, I think, a 00:10:02.059 --> 00:10:04.200 little bit above rate right now. I think there's 00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:06.700 a certain keyword that helps us all a lot, no 00:10:06.700 --> 00:10:08.399 matter what kind of removal it is, because early 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:10.340 on, it's going to have to be a chosen character. 00:10:10.620 --> 00:10:13.639 And Ward lets that character not be chosen. So 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:17.039 we're seeing a lot of early Ward characters. 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:20.240 Sam, your deck played one particular early Ward 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:22.480 character that has become kind of a menace in 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:24.740 the metagame right now. Who is that? Yeah, Alice. 00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:26.879 I am not sure of her subtitle. Some kind of sailor. 00:10:26.940 --> 00:10:29.299 But yeah, Alice, which also when she quests, 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:31.700 gives another character ward which is really 00:10:31.700 --> 00:10:34.399 powerful yeah she's a one four with ward and 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:36.480 she quests for two when she quests she gives 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:39.919 another character ward and the ability to quest 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:43.019 for an additional lore when they in fact quest 00:10:43.019 --> 00:10:46.139 really really powerful card i think it's savvy 00:10:46.139 --> 00:10:48.879 sailor i think you're right okay so that is a 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:50.779 really powerful one we're seeing the three drop 00:10:50.779 --> 00:10:53.500 emerald prince philip start to get played prince 00:10:53.500 --> 00:10:56.759 philip's just a three two two for three inkable 00:10:56.759 --> 00:10:59.620 with ward starting to see all up tick in prince 00:10:59.620 --> 00:11:02.460 john stocks right now he's looking better than 00:11:02.460 --> 00:11:04.519 he ever has in a lot of cases and of course we 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:07.620 have the old stalwart on four is the muses right 00:11:07.620 --> 00:11:10.179 we love the prince john muses perhaps we sing 00:11:10.179 --> 00:11:13.039 a sudden chill line here draw a card bounce the 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:15.139 prince john back to our hand sometimes to save 00:11:15.139 --> 00:11:16.940 us or something that could challenge our prince 00:11:16.940 --> 00:11:19.519 john over on the other side so lots of ability 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:21.559 to get around these things with something like 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:23.820 ward all of these cards very very much stick 00:11:23.820 --> 00:11:26.700 to the board after they're played another good 00:11:26.700 --> 00:11:30.639 niche of is something along the lines of Lawrence 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:34.240 and Pluto, who has bodyguards. So these characters 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:38.419 have generally less stats, but they get a big 00:11:38.419 --> 00:11:41.620 bump. when they are not damaged so they come 00:11:41.620 --> 00:11:44.059 down and they're very hard to remove so they 00:11:44.059 --> 00:11:45.980 have to either if they even if they eat a let 00:11:45.980 --> 00:11:48.539 the storm rage on to shrink them they still might 00:11:48.539 --> 00:11:50.820 get a quest off before anything else happens 00:11:50.820 --> 00:11:53.500 to them requiring a character challenging them 00:11:53.500 --> 00:11:56.000 and the card out of their hand it's all time 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:58.519 so in an aggressive strategy that's exactly what 00:11:58.519 --> 00:12:00.320 you're looking for is another turn where you're 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:02.799 allowed to quest and gather lore in addition 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:05.240 to that we're seeing an uptick in the new two 00:12:05.240 --> 00:12:07.940 drop queen of hearts in ruby she's a one four 00:12:07.940 --> 00:12:10.360 two inkable that when she's damaged she gets 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:13.299 plus three additional strength she's very very 00:12:13.299 --> 00:12:15.740 above rate i think a card that flew under everybody's 00:12:15.740 --> 00:12:18.120 radar but she's really doing a nice job of helping 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:21.320 fill that two drop gap alongside of the old kuzco 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:24.759 that replaces itself in the ruby amethyst decks 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:27.120 that are still being played which is really cool 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:30.559 we're also seeing pete as well as the new space 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:33.360 pirate pete who both pete just stops your opponent 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:35.620 from doing anything with an action which is very 00:12:35.620 --> 00:12:38.059 convenient and then the space pirate Pirate Pete 00:12:38.059 --> 00:12:40.460 stops them from exerting to sing songs, so it 00:12:40.460 --> 00:12:43.820 slows them down and really taxes their ink supply, 00:12:44.299 --> 00:12:46.539 making them choose to either advance their board 00:12:46.539 --> 00:12:49.059 and add more threats of their own, or answer 00:12:49.059 --> 00:12:51.559 your opponent's board. But you can't do both 00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:53.539 like you normally could with the power of singing 00:12:53.539 --> 00:12:56.519 a song. So these cards really help a lot. Play 00:12:56.519 --> 00:12:59.720 patterns like Diablo into Ursula, for example, 00:12:59.720 --> 00:13:01.720 in the green deck. It's a powerful place to be 00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:03.639 because a lot of the times you might have a bell 00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:06.259 and an item and a song in your hand. The Ursula 00:13:06.259 --> 00:13:07.960 comes along kind of... of wrecks that plan, make 00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:10.139 sure that Diablo can get shifted in quest and 00:13:10.139 --> 00:13:12.759 start to gain back some card advantage. So there's 00:13:12.759 --> 00:13:14.679 a lot of cool things going on here. I think right 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:16.620 now another card with stocks that have never 00:13:16.620 --> 00:13:19.360 been higher is Calhoun. Calhoun is a nightmare 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:22.100 card for many a deck right now. Very good at 00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:24.500 using that resist mechanic like the Mickey did. 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:26.860 We also have the shift steel Mickey that can 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:29.360 go on top of the food fight defender. That's 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:31.220 the maybe apprentice wizard or something like 00:13:31.220 --> 00:13:33.799 that, but it's the steel one, the classic Fantasia 00:13:33.799 --> 00:13:37.169 Mickey. And that card is seeing a home in some 00:13:37.169 --> 00:13:40.889 of these kiwi bird style decks. Playful sorcerer. 00:13:40.929 --> 00:13:43.549 Playful sorcerer, of course he is. And that really 00:13:43.549 --> 00:13:45.730 helps a lot. And of course we have the mighty 00:13:45.730 --> 00:13:49.690 Cogsworth Grandfather Clock, who is just absolutely 00:13:49.690 --> 00:13:52.169 hard to deal with having Ward himself and giving 00:13:52.169 --> 00:13:55.129 everybody else resist just as a benefit for playing 00:13:55.129 --> 00:13:58.590 him. So lots of sticky threats that we can all 00:13:58.590 --> 00:14:01.210 choose from, which is pretty awesome. Sam, anybody 00:14:01.210 --> 00:14:03.690 out there you'd like to call out in card land 00:14:03.690 --> 00:14:06.149 who we didn't touch on here? that you think was 00:14:06.149 --> 00:14:08.110 pretty good and pretty hard for your opponents 00:14:08.110 --> 00:14:10.470 to take out? I don't think we missed any cards. 00:14:10.529 --> 00:14:12.990 I think just along with what you said, just having 00:14:12.990 --> 00:14:15.049 a couple different options in your deck could 00:14:15.049 --> 00:14:17.350 help. Like for example, me playing this weekend, 00:14:17.450 --> 00:14:21.269 I had Ana, a two drop, and I also had Mr. Smee. 00:14:21.470 --> 00:14:23.450 So if I was playing against a red deck, I was 00:14:23.450 --> 00:14:26.210 more likely to choose Mr. Smee because it didn't 00:14:26.210 --> 00:14:28.750 have the one strength as opposed to playing Mr. 00:14:28.830 --> 00:14:30.610 Smee who had a three. So in order to take him 00:14:30.610 --> 00:14:32.769 out with like a little Sisu or a Brawl, they 00:14:32.769 --> 00:14:36.259 needed another card. a coil in order to remove 00:14:36.259 --> 00:14:38.500 them. Right. And Ana better against the steel 00:14:38.500 --> 00:14:40.320 decks because she can take a couple song hits 00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:44.139 and keep on questing. Yeah. And on the same turn, 00:14:44.220 --> 00:14:46.340 they're both aggressives. They both quest for 00:14:46.340 --> 00:14:49.379 two on two. Very good cards that bring strong 00:14:49.379 --> 00:14:51.559 presence out of the gate. Seeing an uptick in 00:14:51.559 --> 00:14:55.019 a lot of the cheap. purple or amethyst locations. 00:14:55.419 --> 00:14:57.700 We're seeing fairy ships. We're seeing forbidden 00:14:57.700 --> 00:14:59.779 mountains. Shout out the forbidden mountain. 00:14:59.940 --> 00:15:03.700 And we are trying to figure out how to deal with 00:15:03.700 --> 00:15:06.360 those. Those little small amounts of incremental 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:09.340 damage can't be hit by songs. And even with Bell 00:15:09.340 --> 00:15:11.740 out there playing a fairy ship, playing a Smee 00:15:11.740 --> 00:15:13.799 and then saying, well, if you hit the fairy ship 00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:15.080 with your Bell, I'm going to take it out with 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:18.419 my Smee or any other Calhoun even worse, right? 00:15:18.539 --> 00:15:20.460 Like in the purple steel decks, you can definitely 00:15:20.460 --> 00:15:23.139 slam a fairy ship, slam a Calhoun and go. bring 00:15:23.139 --> 00:15:26.559 it on. And they have to go, okay, this is bad. 00:15:26.700 --> 00:15:29.059 I can't just simply let the storm rage on the 00:15:29.059 --> 00:15:31.480 Calhoun. She's got resist one. I can't just run 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:33.600 the bell into the ferry ship because it has four 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:36.580 willpower. So there's a lot of really good strategic 00:15:36.580 --> 00:15:39.100 choices that your deck can make right now in 00:15:39.100 --> 00:15:41.220 the metagame. So how important are these sticky 00:15:41.220 --> 00:15:43.279 cards really in my deck? I think there's a couple 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:44.700 of key questions you need to ask. And I think 00:15:44.700 --> 00:15:47.980 the first one is how proactive are you? How much 00:15:47.980 --> 00:15:50.600 are you valuing characters on board? Something 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:52.990 like Kiwi birds, that's a pretty important part 00:15:52.990 --> 00:15:55.230 of the puzzle. You don't draw cards as efficiently 00:15:55.230 --> 00:15:57.789 and it's not as inherent as something like Amethyst 00:15:57.789 --> 00:16:00.070 is where your characters are questing and gaining 00:16:00.070 --> 00:16:02.450 you lore in some cases and drawing you cards. 00:16:02.610 --> 00:16:04.149 That doesn't happen as much. You have to kind 00:16:04.149 --> 00:16:06.549 of work for it a little bit harder. So giving 00:16:06.549 --> 00:16:09.769 up these characters very easily or for nothing, 00:16:09.909 --> 00:16:11.889 like play Mickey Go if it didn't have resist. 00:16:12.149 --> 00:16:14.529 Like you said, I play Bell, sing my Let the Storm 00:16:14.529 --> 00:16:16.230 Rage On, you're Mickey's con. That's really bad 00:16:16.230 --> 00:16:18.490 for me. I'm now down a full card. You have played 00:16:18.490 --> 00:16:21.350 the bell and your storm replaced itself. So you 00:16:21.350 --> 00:16:23.330 have a big character on board, I have nothing 00:16:23.330 --> 00:16:26.330 and I'm behind now very much on board immediately. 00:16:26.769 --> 00:16:28.909 Right. Which is why when I was playing Amethyst 00:16:28.909 --> 00:16:32.370 Steel, I was waiting till turn two to play anything 00:16:32.370 --> 00:16:34.769 most of the time in the face of a bell. Right. 00:16:34.809 --> 00:16:37.309 You could play maybe a Diablo, the purple Diablo 00:16:37.309 --> 00:16:38.669 and be like, well, at least I get a card if they 00:16:38.669 --> 00:16:40.610 have it. Yeah. Although like you were saying, 00:16:40.750 --> 00:16:43.110 having options like fairy ship is definitely 00:16:43.110 --> 00:16:45.230 a different way you can approach it to where 00:16:45.230 --> 00:16:47.370 you're getting that lore. Right. There's a lot 00:16:47.370 --> 00:16:49.450 of cool ways people are starting to overcome 00:16:49.450 --> 00:16:52.460 the steel. and especially the Strong Sapphire 00:16:52.460 --> 00:16:55.299 Steel opening line, which is really cool. Other 00:16:55.299 --> 00:16:57.720 questions you need to ask yourself, if you run 00:16:57.720 --> 00:17:01.820 character cards or you run win cons, I guess, 00:17:01.860 --> 00:17:04.640 win condition cards on the lighter side of things. 00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:07.500 So looking more at like the DKP list that tend 00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:09.859 to run like Maui Shark as a win con. If that's 00:17:09.859 --> 00:17:11.900 kind of the only win con, you definitely want 00:17:11.900 --> 00:17:13.519 something that will be able to stay on board 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:15.900 as long as possible. If you put down a Maui Shark, 00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:17.640 this is what kept happening to me over the course 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:19.339 of the weekend, put down a Maui Shark and they 00:17:19.339 --> 00:17:22.000 along came. Zeus it immediately it's very hard 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:23.980 to win a game it's very hard to win a game so 00:17:23.980 --> 00:17:25.619 you want something that can stay on board when 00:17:25.619 --> 00:17:27.539 you're late on win conditions because if they 00:17:27.539 --> 00:17:29.160 remove too many of those win conditions you get 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:30.799 stuck in an awkward position I know this happened 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:33.279 to Cliff too going uh how the heck do I win this 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:35.920 game yeah like he only had what one Maui shark 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:37.859 left or something like that or one man or left 00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:40.140 to try to yeah you're trying to like just juice 00:17:40.140 --> 00:17:42.339 every little lure out of everything you can I 00:17:42.339 --> 00:17:44.599 hope they quest so I can smack it and give up 00:17:44.599 --> 00:17:46.440 my goofy just for two lure there's all kinds 00:17:46.440 --> 00:17:48.039 of little things you can do but you can run out 00:17:48.039 --> 00:17:51.460 of cards so sticky important end game cards need 00:17:51.460 --> 00:17:54.960 to be as big and as hard to deal with one for 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.680 one as possible obviously not going to be as 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:00.420 important for the combo decks outside of maybe 00:18:00.420 --> 00:18:03.000 like very very specific cards reasons we see 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:05.259 like prince john having ward for example because 00:18:05.259 --> 00:18:08.160 the discard deck needs the ability to actually 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:10.119 start to do something and if you play prince 00:18:10.119 --> 00:18:12.339 john Prince John immediately gets answered. That's 00:18:12.339 --> 00:18:14.599 a lot harder for you. And obviously mid -range 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:16.460 is kind of predicated on this concept, right? 00:18:16.539 --> 00:18:18.339 Every turn in a mid -range deck, I want to play 00:18:18.339 --> 00:18:20.680 a card that costs all of my lore and is the best 00:18:20.680 --> 00:18:22.599 character on the board. Turn after turn after 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:25.710 turn. That's kind of the style. of true mid range 00:18:25.710 --> 00:18:28.390 so having these very hard to answer cards is 00:18:28.390 --> 00:18:30.289 great and when it really comes to these sticky 00:18:30.289 --> 00:18:31.930 cards there's always going to be a card that 00:18:31.930 --> 00:18:34.049 answers everything right be prepared in the format 00:18:34.049 --> 00:18:36.410 this could get dragon fired because it simply 00:18:36.410 --> 00:18:39.049 doesn't have ward the idea is you want your character 00:18:39.049 --> 00:18:41.990 to not be answered by a card that is cheaper 00:18:41.990 --> 00:18:45.250 especially a lot cheaper so if i spend six or 00:18:45.250 --> 00:18:47.490 seven ink i don't want my opponent to be able 00:18:47.490 --> 00:18:49.609 to answer that with a let the storm rage on i 00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:51.549 would prefer they have to answer it with like 00:18:51.549 --> 00:18:54.190 a maleficent dragon because at least they are 00:18:54.190 --> 00:18:56.910 spending more ink to answer my board than I was 00:18:56.910 --> 00:18:59.170 spending to build my board. Now, if I play this 00:18:59.170 --> 00:19:01.009 very expensive card and all of a sudden they 00:19:01.009 --> 00:19:03.049 just go brawl and then they follow up with one 00:19:03.049 --> 00:19:05.130 or two more cards, that's how I get back footed 00:19:05.130 --> 00:19:07.549 very quickly. So when it comes to the idea of 00:19:07.549 --> 00:19:10.029 analyzing a card, don't just go, oh, well, it's 00:19:10.029 --> 00:19:11.430 gonna, of course, there's gonna be a piece of 00:19:11.430 --> 00:19:13.450 removal that takes care of that character. It's 00:19:13.450 --> 00:19:15.569 just the nature of card games. But what you want 00:19:15.569 --> 00:19:17.990 it to be is something that's relatively reasonable 00:19:17.990 --> 00:19:20.269 costed. I don't mind losing my two drop to a 00:19:20.269 --> 00:19:22.869 three cost brawl, but I do mind losing my... 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:25.839 seven drop to a three cost brawl so it's very 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:28.099 important when you're analyzing these things 00:19:28.099 --> 00:19:30.259 to make sure you get value and that's why when 00:19:30.259 --> 00:19:32.539 you see cards that when they come into play they 00:19:32.539 --> 00:19:35.460 do something they're so coveted in trading card 00:19:35.460 --> 00:19:37.599 games. Like Baymax that I was playing this weekend 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:39.599 could come in and heal Smee for two and gain 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:42.000 two lore immediately. Right. That's worth being 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:43.700 able to get brawled. There are definitely times 00:19:43.700 --> 00:19:46.279 I'm sure that you were able to pay five and win 00:19:46.279 --> 00:19:48.099 the game or put yourself in a very close to winning 00:19:48.099 --> 00:19:50.180 position because of it. And that's huge. Now 00:19:50.180 --> 00:19:52.059 imagine that Baymax had to quest to do that. 00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:54.039 Much worse, right? Because now you have to just 00:19:54.039 --> 00:19:55.240 sit there and go, well, please don't kill it. 00:19:55.259 --> 00:19:56.539 Don't brawl it. Don't kill it. Don't brawl it. 00:19:56.579 --> 00:19:58.180 But at least you're getting something out of 00:19:58.180 --> 00:19:59.660 it. You can choose to ink it if you're not going 00:19:59.660 --> 00:20:01.160 to get anything out of it. Yeah. Yeah. Being 00:20:01.160 --> 00:20:03.680 able to, one, you're saving your Smee because 00:20:03.789 --> 00:20:05.990 it had two damage on it and it can keep questing 00:20:05.990 --> 00:20:08.809 and two that was not the end of the episode you're 00:20:08.809 --> 00:20:11.589 gaining the two lore which in the aggressive 00:20:11.589 --> 00:20:14.230 strategy is really important any lore matters 00:20:14.230 --> 00:20:16.569 yeah yeah we see this all the time there's a 00:20:16.569 --> 00:20:18.589 reason why when medusa came out everybody was 00:20:18.589 --> 00:20:20.589 like oh my gosh what's this card do it's three 00:20:20.589 --> 00:20:22.549 cheaper than maleficent dragon and it takes care 00:20:22.549 --> 00:20:24.809 of most of the things that matter before it in 00:20:24.809 --> 00:20:27.410 the game yeah so these enter comes into play 00:20:27.410 --> 00:20:30.549 style effects are very very strong because it 00:20:30.549 --> 00:20:32.650 allows you to immediately get value and when 00:20:32.650 --> 00:20:35.039 you're playing cards and your opponent is just 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:38.259 taking them out for free and you're losing board 00:20:38.259 --> 00:20:40.000 position while they're gaining or maintaining 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:42.480 board position, that pretty much stops you from 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:44.779 winning the game. It certainly stops you from... 00:20:44.779 --> 00:20:45.420 Keep questing.