WEBVTT 00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:12.400 Hello and welcome back to Illumination, the Disney 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:15.390 Lurkana. podcast. My name is Max. And I'm Sam. 00:00:15.529 --> 00:00:19.089 We are back at you this week. We had discussed 00:00:19.089 --> 00:00:21.449 in our previous episode kind of our emergency 00:00:21.449 --> 00:00:25.129 episode, if you will, due to the banning of Hiram 00:00:25.129 --> 00:00:28.390 Flavers from Toymaker and Fortisphere. We had 00:00:28.390 --> 00:00:30.530 our good friend HyperHippo over. Big shout out 00:00:30.530 --> 00:00:32.649 to him. Thanks for coming on and talking with 00:00:32.649 --> 00:00:35.049 us. We also did an extended episode if you want 00:00:35.049 --> 00:00:38.509 to hear our kind of raw thoughts and much longer 00:00:38.509 --> 00:00:41.609 thoughts. That's available for you to check out. 00:00:41.630 --> 00:00:43.740 I appreciate everybody who has listened. This 00:00:43.740 --> 00:00:46.259 week, to start kind of where the metagame is, 00:00:46.340 --> 00:00:49.299 but first and foremost, a tournament report from 00:00:49.299 --> 00:00:51.700 me and Sam. We discussed briefly that we had 00:00:51.700 --> 00:00:54.979 a tournament to go to the weekend after the bans 00:00:54.979 --> 00:00:57.140 were announced. We talked about that during our 00:00:57.140 --> 00:00:59.780 banisode. Sam and I did in fact go to that tournament. 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:02.079 We didn't just give up because cards got banned 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:04.000 and we didn't know what to do anymore. We endured. 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:08.040 We tested some stuff and we took decks over there 00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:10.379 to the Encounter Comics and Games in Allentown. 00:01:10.420 --> 00:01:12.019 Big shout out to them. They put on a heck of 00:01:12.140 --> 00:01:14.719 tournament was streaming on Twitch. So you can 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:16.939 check out the VODs there. Just look for the Forbidden 00:01:16.939 --> 00:01:19.079 Mountain. You'll find it easy enough. And you 00:01:19.079 --> 00:01:21.219 can check that out. Lots of good folks announcing 00:01:21.219 --> 00:01:23.260 that event and a shout out to Forbidden Mountain 00:01:23.260 --> 00:01:26.780 for putting that event on stream. Really appreciate 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:29.620 that a good deal. Sam, you and I got to be on 00:01:29.620 --> 00:01:31.900 stream a few times each as a matter of fact. 00:01:32.019 --> 00:01:34.859 So do you want to tell everybody how our results 00:01:34.859 --> 00:01:37.959 went over at Encounter Comics and Games? I got 00:01:37.959 --> 00:01:41.000 second place and Max got third place. I received 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:44.920 the prize of an enchanted bell, strange but special. 00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:47.819 Sam, what did you get for a prize? I got two 00:01:47.819 --> 00:01:50.579 booster boxes of Rise of the Floodborn and then 00:01:50.579 --> 00:01:53.400 three Japanese booster boxes of Rise of the Floodborn. 00:01:53.579 --> 00:01:56.099 That was a lot of Floodborn. It was. The Floodborn 00:01:56.099 --> 00:01:58.060 hath risen over there. So yeah, we walked away 00:01:58.060 --> 00:02:01.060 with a good amount of prize support. Really appreciate 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:04.340 that. It was really fun. I ended up playing good 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:07.379 old Ruby Amethyst. Sam, what did you play? I 00:02:07.379 --> 00:02:10.240 played Amethyst Steel. And we both did pretty 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:12.689 well. Sam and I had to duke it out on coverage, 00:02:12.750 --> 00:02:15.949 as a matter of fact, in the semifinals. It was 00:02:15.949 --> 00:02:18.830 a pretty close match, and I think the better 00:02:18.830 --> 00:02:21.509 player ended up prevailing out of that one, just 00:02:21.509 --> 00:02:23.289 because I think you played a little bit tighter 00:02:23.289 --> 00:02:26.210 than I did in the match. You went on to face 00:02:26.210 --> 00:02:29.370 your only loss in the Swiss rounds? Yes. Which 00:02:29.370 --> 00:02:32.729 was David Nunez in the finals, and another major 00:02:32.729 --> 00:02:35.129 squeaker. If your top two cards were reversed, 00:02:35.210 --> 00:02:37.590 you would have taken away the W. Yeah, it was 00:02:37.590 --> 00:02:39.889 rough, but I was super happy with how... Both 00:02:39.889 --> 00:02:42.189 of us did that day. Yeah, it's really rare that 00:02:42.189 --> 00:02:44.530 you and I both get to do well in a tournament. 00:02:44.669 --> 00:02:46.969 Yeah, it's usually one or the other or neither. 00:02:47.250 --> 00:02:50.430 True. So I was leading into this event. The thought 00:02:50.430 --> 00:02:55.389 on everybody's mind is, oh God, Diablo. And we 00:02:55.389 --> 00:02:58.110 tested a lot of Diablo decks. I tested a lot 00:02:58.110 --> 00:03:01.009 of Diablo decks and forced you to endure hours 00:03:01.009 --> 00:03:04.270 of testing against Diablo decks. For this tournament, 00:03:04.469 --> 00:03:07.900 I was going to play Emerald Steel. Initially, 00:03:07.900 --> 00:03:10.560 that was pretty much my odds on favorite deck 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:14.900 going into the weekend. I was also less often, 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:18.039 but somewhat consistently through testing different 00:03:18.039 --> 00:03:21.319 things in Ruby Amethyst to see if there was some 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:24.039 play there. Because my thought pattern was kind 00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:27.020 of what we talked about on the longer ban episode 00:03:27.020 --> 00:03:29.719 or the bonus episode about the bannings is that 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:32.289 if... these mid -range decks are going to take 00:03:32.289 --> 00:03:34.409 over and prey on the aggro decks. I definitely 00:03:34.409 --> 00:03:37.090 don't want to be on a purely aggro deck. On the 00:03:37.090 --> 00:03:39.270 other side of the coin, I think I'd like to try 00:03:39.270 --> 00:03:41.750 to next level some of these mid -range decks 00:03:41.750 --> 00:03:45.430 by playing with the Ruby Amethyst deck and just 00:03:45.430 --> 00:03:48.090 being able to b -prep out a bunch of people because 00:03:48.090 --> 00:03:50.889 I know that generally that matchup is favorable 00:03:50.889 --> 00:03:53.289 for Ruby Amethyst when it comes especially to 00:03:53.289 --> 00:03:56.590 Emerald Steel in the discard variant. And I am 00:03:56.590 --> 00:04:00.289 so, so, so seasoned at playing. that matchup 00:04:00.289 --> 00:04:02.750 from both sides of it. And I am very confident 00:04:02.750 --> 00:04:04.750 no matter which one of those two decks I bring 00:04:04.750 --> 00:04:07.349 to an event, if I have to play the other one, 00:04:07.409 --> 00:04:09.569 I'm confident I at least know what I'm doing. 00:04:09.590 --> 00:04:11.750 And I know my role very well in the matchup and 00:04:11.750 --> 00:04:14.050 the cards that are the important ones that can 00:04:14.050 --> 00:04:16.829 turn a game. So I was thinking that I could maybe 00:04:16.829 --> 00:04:18.829 go over the top of a lot of these decks with 00:04:18.829 --> 00:04:21.730 the power level of Ruby Amethyst. So that is 00:04:21.730 --> 00:04:23.769 what I ended up doing. And I think the results 00:04:23.769 --> 00:04:26.529 speak for themselves. I wish I had more time 00:04:26.529 --> 00:04:29.290 in testing and a little bit more thought. behind 00:04:29.290 --> 00:04:32.029 some plays and things that the deck could do. 00:04:32.129 --> 00:04:33.689 Because I do think that coming away from the 00:04:33.689 --> 00:04:35.529 weekend, this is going to be a deck we're going 00:04:35.529 --> 00:04:38.470 to see pretty regularly moving forward through 00:04:38.470 --> 00:04:40.589 the rest of the season and sword champs. Yeah. 00:04:40.670 --> 00:04:43.509 And then my tech card for the abundance of discard 00:04:43.509 --> 00:04:46.629 that we expected to see was Helga Sinclair. Helga 00:04:46.629 --> 00:04:49.170 Sinclair, the new Helga Sinclair. The two cost 00:04:49.170 --> 00:04:53.290 uninkable zero four challenger three with evasive 00:04:53.290 --> 00:04:56.410 on your turn. Yeah, that card is a menace. So 00:04:56.410 --> 00:04:58.439 one of the things that pushed me over the Edge 00:04:58.439 --> 00:05:01.279 was in our team testing playing against Helga 00:05:01.279 --> 00:05:04.300 Sinclair with the Emerald Steel package. She 00:05:04.300 --> 00:05:07.199 was nigh impossible to remove outside of something 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:09.360 like a We Don't Talk About Bruno. She's very 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:11.600 frustrating to deal with. It was hard to create 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:15.000 a board that was able to weather the storm of 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:18.019 what the Amethyst Steel decks were doing while 00:05:18.019 --> 00:05:21.220 still presenting potent threats for key cards 00:05:21.220 --> 00:05:24.279 like Helga Sinclair. I even ended up swapping 00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:27.220 for a little while and testing with Amber Emerald. 00:05:27.500 --> 00:05:29.480 together, the Under the Sea discard variant, 00:05:29.720 --> 00:05:32.699 which gave me a much easier time into a 0 -4, 00:05:32.899 --> 00:05:36.660 but obviously has its bad matchups. So it was 00:05:36.660 --> 00:05:39.600 a tough call for me. I love the Amber Emerald 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:41.800 deck. It's one of my favorites, but I ended up 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:44.680 opting to play the Ruby Amethyst deck, and I'm 00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:47.100 glad I did because coming out of this, coming 00:05:47.100 --> 00:05:50.040 out of the large tournament over in Germany the 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:53.060 same weekend, we saw between those two events 00:05:53.060 --> 00:05:56.860 combined total just under 200 participants. and 00:05:56.860 --> 00:06:01.139 we got to see this play pattern emerge in Amethyst 00:06:01.139 --> 00:06:03.759 that is starting to redefine the meta now. That 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:06.540 was included in my deck, just not as numerous 00:06:06.540 --> 00:06:09.399 or as strongly as it was in other decks. And 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:12.439 what's interesting is this all kind of spawned 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:15.120 out of a fear of what we were going to do against 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:17.120 the dreaded Diablo, because I needed to have 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:19.420 a plan against it. Ruby does have the benefit 00:06:19.420 --> 00:06:21.500 of having Brawl, which is a nice, clean answer 00:06:21.500 --> 00:06:23.860 to Diablo. It's harder to answer Diablo when 00:06:23.860 --> 00:06:26.230 they move it to a cove, or if... If they have 00:06:26.230 --> 00:06:29.089 a second Diablo, things like that can snatch. 00:06:29.209 --> 00:06:32.250 If it's the under the sea variant, they can use 00:06:32.250 --> 00:06:35.449 bare necessities to take your brawl away from 00:06:35.449 --> 00:06:36.990 you. So there are some things that Diablo decks 00:06:36.990 --> 00:06:40.189 can do to add that resiliency back into their 00:06:40.189 --> 00:06:42.829 play patterns. And one of the things that is, 00:06:42.910 --> 00:06:45.250 I think, a really nice underutilized up to this 00:06:45.250 --> 00:06:48.389 point tool was Peter Pan's Shadowfinder. So I 00:06:48.389 --> 00:06:51.649 decided to follow the insights of the great Artabax 00:06:51.649 --> 00:06:54.470 who said that this was Peter Pan's time to shine. 00:06:54.610 --> 00:06:55.709 So I was like, let me... test it out and see 00:06:55.709 --> 00:06:58.649 how it goes so i played pegasus the 3 -1 evasive 00:06:58.649 --> 00:07:01.970 in ruby i played peter pan shadow finder i played 00:07:01.970 --> 00:07:05.350 genie and i played elsa fifth spirit all in my 00:07:05.350 --> 00:07:07.449 deck and i could create this really cool play 00:07:07.449 --> 00:07:09.370 pattern that we're seeing expanded even more 00:07:09.370 --> 00:07:10.990 and i personally had to play against it a couple 00:07:10.990 --> 00:07:13.990 times which was peter pan shadow finder then 00:07:13.990 --> 00:07:17.889 either genie or iago the giant parrot the four 00:07:17.889 --> 00:07:21.129 six with vanish and evasive then either elsa 00:07:21.129 --> 00:07:23.990 fifth spirit or that iago coming down these giant 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:27.300 gigantic, evasive characters that now conveniently 00:07:27.300 --> 00:07:30.639 get Rush from Peter Pan. There are a lot of very, 00:07:30.740 --> 00:07:33.120 very oppressive things that play pattern can 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:35.339 present. And when paired up with Ruby, it gets 00:07:35.339 --> 00:07:37.300 even nastier because you get the aforementioned 00:07:37.300 --> 00:07:39.620 Pegasus at the front end of that, or in the middle 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:41.540 of that if you need to. I know I surprised you 00:07:41.540 --> 00:07:44.199 once on our coverage game by playing out a Pegasus 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:46.339 with the Peter Pan and having, oops, here's five 00:07:46.339 --> 00:07:49.100 more damage for your library. And we also get 00:07:49.100 --> 00:07:52.699 the oh -so -dreaded Maui Shark. in there as well 00:07:52.699 --> 00:07:55.480 as a card that we both called out during our 00:07:55.480 --> 00:07:58.079 set review, not to pat us on the back too hard, 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:00.899 but we did point out the new 4 -drop inkable 00:08:00.899 --> 00:08:04.800 Moana that is a 4 -3 evasive whenever she challenges 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:07.160 a character. She gives another character of yours 00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:09.800 plus 3 strength until end of turn. So play pattern 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:13.000 by using Peter Pan on 3, then playing Moana with 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:15.500 Rush, challenge, give a boost to Peter Pan, can 00:08:15.500 --> 00:08:18.459 take out a hugely statted character. So there 00:08:18.459 --> 00:08:21.220 are a lot of really awesome play patterns. that 00:08:21.220 --> 00:08:23.459 you can do with this. And we are starting to 00:08:23.459 --> 00:08:26.720 kind of see the emergence of this play pattern 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:30.899 being a real go -to for the Amethyst color, especially 00:08:30.899 --> 00:08:33.340 decks that lean towards the mid -range or control 00:08:33.340 --> 00:08:37.340 side of their play style. Lots and lots of that 00:08:37.340 --> 00:08:39.559 going on. Sam, how much of that did you see over 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:41.080 the weekend when you were playing? Did you see 00:08:41.080 --> 00:08:42.919 a lot of that play pattern or was it just here 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:44.740 and there? For me, it was just here and there. 00:08:44.779 --> 00:08:46.940 I played a variety of different decks. I know 00:08:46.940 --> 00:08:49.419 you played against Emerald Amethyst that I believe 00:08:49.419 --> 00:08:52.230 was rocking that. Yeah, I didn't see Iago, but 00:08:52.230 --> 00:08:54.750 I did see the Peter Pan Shadowfinder. But yeah, 00:08:54.789 --> 00:08:56.629 luckily, I didn't have to see it too much. To 00:08:56.629 --> 00:08:58.789 me, it's really interesting that this could have 00:08:58.789 --> 00:09:00.649 been a play pattern all along. We've had Peter 00:09:00.649 --> 00:09:03.009 Pan Shadowfinder since, was it the fourth set? 00:09:03.169 --> 00:09:04.789 I believe it was set four. And it's really cool 00:09:04.789 --> 00:09:07.610 that because of the way the meta has changed 00:09:07.610 --> 00:09:09.629 that we're seeing these new decks emerge. And 00:09:09.629 --> 00:09:11.389 that was the hope, right, with the bannings. 00:09:11.429 --> 00:09:14.029 The shakeup was we want to add decks back into 00:09:14.029 --> 00:09:17.190 the metagame, lines of play that have been available, 00:09:17.210 --> 00:09:20.309 but were just a little bit too... nebulous. Like 00:09:20.309 --> 00:09:22.309 if we name this play pattern off, right, you 00:09:22.309 --> 00:09:24.750 list these play patterns, they're still not that 00:09:24.750 --> 00:09:27.169 good against Hiram. Like it requires multiple 00:09:27.169 --> 00:09:29.549 cards for it to be pretty good against Hiram. 00:09:29.570 --> 00:09:32.370 It doesn't offer a variety of things to do. So 00:09:32.370 --> 00:09:34.710 it's not exactly the most potent, but now in 00:09:34.710 --> 00:09:37.350 a world where we don't have Sapphire with an 00:09:37.350 --> 00:09:40.730 insane draw engine, Sapphire has kind of backed 00:09:40.730 --> 00:09:42.830 off a little bit. Still very controlling, still 00:09:42.830 --> 00:09:46.169 very in the DKP style of like Sharkburn. It's 00:09:46.169 --> 00:09:48.490 definitely still able to win. Yes, very capable. 00:09:48.679 --> 00:09:50.740 deck i think on the control side of things and 00:09:50.740 --> 00:09:52.220 we'll touch more on the metagame we're gonna 00:09:52.220 --> 00:09:55.840 see a lot more ruby amethyst and a lot more of 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:58.379 the ruby sapphire decks they just aren't all 00:09:58.379 --> 00:10:01.379 in the best control deck by a decent clip is 00:10:01.379 --> 00:10:03.960 now and always has been ruby sapphire now we're 00:10:03.960 --> 00:10:05.500 seeing that eb away where it's like that's one 00:10:05.500 --> 00:10:08.159 style and now we're starting to see this amethyst 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:10.679 version start to push through that's offering 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:12.679 the similar play patterns with something like 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:14.559 maui shark so you still can maui shark for a 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:16.539 pirate's life we're seeing a lot of inclusion 00:10:16.539 --> 00:10:19.399 of dragon fire We're even seeing a copy here 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:21.899 and there of Finders Keepers as we shave more 00:10:21.899 --> 00:10:24.860 rabbits for more genies to up our evasives for 00:10:24.860 --> 00:10:26.980 that Peter Pan line. There are a lot of cool 00:10:26.980 --> 00:10:29.240 things that the Amethyst deck can partake in 00:10:29.240 --> 00:10:31.600 from a Maui Shark perspective now, which makes 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:34.460 Amethyst kind of this color that is starting 00:10:34.460 --> 00:10:37.759 to define early game by way of characters that 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:40.279 can turn into cards later and then control the 00:10:40.279 --> 00:10:43.340 mid game and even be able to hog out some control 00:10:43.340 --> 00:10:45.580 elements combined with the right color when you 00:10:45.580 --> 00:10:47.440 pair with things like Maui Shark. Maui Shark 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:49.899 kind of becoming the card that's defining control 00:10:49.899 --> 00:10:52.659 right now. I think if you're playing a very controlling 00:10:52.659 --> 00:10:54.480 deck, often you're going to see Ruby and you're 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:56.240 often going to see that Maui Shark. That's pretty 00:10:56.240 --> 00:10:58.019 much a hallmark of, okay, I'm playing a deck 00:10:58.019 --> 00:11:00.539 that's comfortable playing a long game and is 00:11:00.539 --> 00:11:03.899 going to have generally very strong card elements, 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:05.639 right? They're going to be very potent threats. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:08.139 They're going to often be multiple cards for 00:11:08.139 --> 00:11:10.379 one exchanges is what they're looking for to 00:11:10.379 --> 00:11:12.700 stay in the game, right? We see that in the Ruby 00:11:12.700 --> 00:11:15.159 Sapphire style decks with Maui, the hero to all 00:11:15.159 --> 00:11:19.029 Maui. We see that more in the Ruby Amethyst decks 00:11:19.029 --> 00:11:21.009 that are coming up with things like Iago, where 00:11:21.009 --> 00:11:23.169 it's like, oh, I can trade multiple for one with 00:11:23.169 --> 00:11:25.870 these cards, and I'm comfortable playing a very 00:11:25.870 --> 00:11:28.470 long game because I know the inevitability is 00:11:28.470 --> 00:11:30.919 going to go to the person who has the... higher 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:33.639 quality of card. Very much Control Not Dead. 00:11:33.799 --> 00:11:36.080 Control took a big hit and needed some time, 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:38.779 and I think will continue to settle itself out 00:11:38.779 --> 00:11:40.940 till we see exactly what it is. I think that 00:11:40.940 --> 00:11:43.320 our prediction of mid -range becomes top of the 00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:45.860 heap is kind of true. We see the most playable 00:11:45.860 --> 00:11:48.139 decks that fall under the mid -range category, 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:50.980 but I do think on the whole, and if you disagree, 00:11:51.179 --> 00:11:53.039 jump in, but I do think on the whole that Luricana 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:56.139 is kind of a game that wants two mid -range decks 00:11:56.139 --> 00:11:58.480 duking it out, right? You want to play a card, 00:11:58.500 --> 00:11:59.679 and then it's like, okay, well, I'm going to 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:01.139 counter. that with a better card. Well, I'm going 00:12:01.139 --> 00:12:02.919 to counter that by playing this and then playing 00:12:02.919 --> 00:12:05.000 a card that does well in this situation. Okay, 00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:06.360 well, I'm going to play this card that does even 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:07.960 better than that. And it's kind of this game 00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:10.779 of back and forth and leveraging small micro 00:12:10.779 --> 00:12:13.559 advantages. I think if you look at Amethyst as 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:16.059 an ink identity, it's very much doing what the 00:12:16.059 --> 00:12:18.960 design team wants Lurkana to be doing, right? 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:21.679 It's a lot of challenging. It's a lot of questing. 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:23.679 It's a small benefit, like quest for additional. 00:12:23.860 --> 00:12:26.720 It's rush. It's challenger that gets these incremental 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:29.679 advantages, but it's not static all. the time. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:32.720 We get to see a lot of that in this play pattern. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:35.059 I didn't realize it probably till round two or 00:12:35.059 --> 00:12:37.539 three when I had assembled a board of all evasives, 00:12:37.539 --> 00:12:40.370 and I was like, oh. I can just quest and they 00:12:40.370 --> 00:12:42.149 really can't do anything to stop me because I 00:12:42.149 --> 00:12:44.350 accidentally made like half my deck evasive. 00:12:44.529 --> 00:12:45.970 Yeah, and I didn't even really realize, like 00:12:45.970 --> 00:12:48.450 I didn't run into that until I played you in 00:12:48.450 --> 00:12:52.370 the semifinals. Yeah, it becomes kind of an annoyance 00:12:52.370 --> 00:12:54.370 and an accidental side effect of dealing with 00:12:54.370 --> 00:12:56.710 Diablo was the, oh yeah, now I can just win by 00:12:56.710 --> 00:12:58.470 questing because it's real hard to challenge 00:12:58.470 --> 00:13:01.110 into this. Except obviously for the mirror matches 00:13:01.110 --> 00:13:02.710 where you're going to see a lot of those little 00:13:02.710 --> 00:13:05.570 things come up. So it's pretty interesting what 00:13:05.570 --> 00:13:07.970 we're seeing here and this is beginning to evolve. 00:13:08.620 --> 00:13:10.659 things a lot right we're starting to see an uptick 00:13:10.659 --> 00:13:12.659 in amber steel a deck that i think that was on 00:13:12.659 --> 00:13:14.360 a lot of people's minds coming out of the band 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:16.360 i think that deck really gets to be a big winner 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:18.679 because it's a lot harder for these amethyst 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:20.700 decks because they're shaving on brawls like 00:13:20.700 --> 00:13:23.080 dkp's current list doesn't play any so the more 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:24.720 we're shaving on brawls the more we're seeing 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:27.000 steel based removal things like that the steel 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:29.419 song decks get to really pray because now their 00:13:29.419 --> 00:13:32.039 aerials get to actually exert and sing songs 00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:34.960 and their large will -powered characters get 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:38.159 to survive these hits from things like genie 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:40.059 things like peter pan shadow finder it's just 00:13:40.059 --> 00:13:42.320 like okay cool it's a daisy duck though so gonna 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:44.580 keep questing with it your pegasus is cute but 00:13:44.580 --> 00:13:47.279 uh daisy literally beats it in a challenge like 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:49.059 you challenge all you want this is a one for 00:13:49.059 --> 00:13:51.220 your pegasus it's a three one it's a real bad 00:13:51.220 --> 00:13:53.580 day for your pegasus yeah and i we've seen a 00:13:53.580 --> 00:13:56.139 lot of the ruby amethyst decks taking out the 00:13:56.139 --> 00:13:59.940 bounce package yes and i did play an amber steel 00:13:59.940 --> 00:14:02.419 deck in the tournament and if i didn't have my 00:14:02.419 --> 00:14:04.539 foxes there was no way i was winning we're seeing 00:14:04.539 --> 00:14:07.059 the elements that matter against the amber steel 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:09.799 deck specifically get really taken down a peg 00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:12.379 because we're so focused on this evasive play 00:14:12.379 --> 00:14:14.700 package. So I personally, I was still playing 00:14:14.700 --> 00:14:16.659 rabbits. I was playing the full bounce package 00:14:16.659 --> 00:14:19.379 in my deck. I wasn't playing all the snakes I 00:14:19.379 --> 00:14:21.620 could have played, but I was playing four foxes. 00:14:21.620 --> 00:14:23.879 I was playing three snakes. Yeah. Sam was holding 00:14:23.879 --> 00:14:25.759 up three fingers there. Yeah. I was playing three 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:27.820 snakes and I was playing my rabbits and I was 00:14:27.820 --> 00:14:30.759 playing my genies. I was playing more of a secondary 00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:34.879 evasive kind of idea with, I have some genies 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:36.750 in there, but I'm leaning on the rabbit draw 00:14:36.750 --> 00:14:38.909 engine to get me out of a lot of problems versus 00:14:38.909 --> 00:14:41.470 what we're seeing now which is much heavier on 00:14:41.470 --> 00:14:43.409 genies and little to no rabbits because we're 00:14:43.409 --> 00:14:45.330 shaving the full on bounce package sometimes 00:14:45.330 --> 00:14:47.389 even including merlin goat and do you think you 00:14:47.389 --> 00:14:49.830 would change what you played i would make changes 00:14:49.830 --> 00:14:52.009 to what i play but i think that ruby amethyst 00:14:52.009 --> 00:14:53.750 is in a really good spot right now in the meta 00:14:53.750 --> 00:14:55.909 steel songs becoming a big winner i think we're 00:14:55.909 --> 00:14:57.509 going to see a lot of that i think the aggressive 00:14:57.509 --> 00:15:00.470 decks need to really make sure that they can 00:15:00.470 --> 00:15:04.210 do what they need to do thoroughly and efficiently 00:15:04.210 --> 00:15:07.269 and with So I think a good answer is something 00:15:07.269 --> 00:15:09.850 like Chernodogs because they have the ability 00:15:09.850 --> 00:15:12.149 to survive easily against the steel decks and 00:15:12.149 --> 00:15:15.149 they have Chernobog to turn all of their characters 00:15:15.149 --> 00:15:18.169 that get banished over the course of the first 00:15:18.169 --> 00:15:21.009 few turns into gas for Chernobog. Chernobog is 00:15:21.009 --> 00:15:23.710 very hard to answer. Draw your one of Dragonfire. 00:15:23.970 --> 00:15:26.629 Hope that you have your we don't talk about Bruno, 00:15:26.750 --> 00:15:28.590 which is probably the cleanest answer that's 00:15:28.590 --> 00:15:30.590 commonly seen in the meta for it. So it's like 00:15:30.590 --> 00:15:33.289 it's just asking a lot and Chernodogs gets to 00:15:33.289 --> 00:15:35.789 play Ursula. So it's like they can snipe songs. 00:15:36.090 --> 00:15:39.070 So it's definitely a concern if that deck can 00:15:39.070 --> 00:15:41.210 get going and doing its thing efficiently. So 00:15:41.210 --> 00:15:43.029 it's a nice aggressive deck. We're starting to 00:15:43.029 --> 00:15:45.070 see an uptick in Diggy Diggy Hole. We're starting 00:15:45.070 --> 00:15:47.529 to see these decks start to come to the forefront 00:15:47.529 --> 00:15:50.549 that are aggressive and also ebbing way into 00:15:50.549 --> 00:15:53.210 the aggressively slanted midrange deck, something 00:15:53.210 --> 00:15:55.509 akin to what you played with the Amethyst Steel 00:15:55.509 --> 00:15:59.570 and also seeing Emerald Amethyst Oops All Diablo 00:15:59.570 --> 00:16:02.029 style deck. Those both fall in that category 00:16:02.029 --> 00:16:04.860 of they can definitely be a mid -range deck that 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:06.559 can play a little bit of a longer game but they 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:08.820 can also just aggressively explode out of the 00:16:08.820 --> 00:16:11.899 gate get ahead and stay ahead very easily either 00:16:11.899 --> 00:16:13.980 through card advantage or through significant 00:16:13.980 --> 00:16:16.700 lure gain on well -statted characters so there's 00:16:16.700 --> 00:16:20.840 a lot of advancement in the meta on the whole 00:16:20.840 --> 00:16:23.519 you think amethyst steel still pretty well positioned 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:26.419 in the meta overall yeah i think i think it's 00:16:26.419 --> 00:16:27.980 pretty well -statted i don't know if it needs 00:16:27.980 --> 00:16:31.149 some more answers to evasives other than just 00:16:31.149 --> 00:16:33.330 the Helga Sinclair. Against you, I was using 00:16:33.330 --> 00:16:36.169 her in combination with Crabbe in order to take 00:16:36.169 --> 00:16:39.429 out Genies and other evasive characters, but 00:16:39.429 --> 00:16:40.990 I don't know if it needs something more. I think 00:16:40.990 --> 00:16:42.409 we need a little bit more testing before Sword 00:16:42.409 --> 00:16:44.409 Champs to see if a couple more elements need 00:16:44.409 --> 00:16:46.169 to be added. Right, do we need to move towards 00:16:46.169 --> 00:16:48.750 Genies to add extra evasives to the list? Does 00:16:48.750 --> 00:16:51.450 it matter if they sing? Should we up our four 00:16:51.450 --> 00:16:53.649 count? Should it go into, and then along came 00:16:53.649 --> 00:16:56.490 Zeus as a consideration. A lot of things to think 00:16:56.490 --> 00:16:59.110 about as the meta starts to really find its feet 00:16:59.110 --> 00:17:01.750 post - innings for sure. So to close out the 00:17:01.750 --> 00:17:04.369 episode, I wanted to just talk over the list 00:17:04.369 --> 00:17:06.970 I shot out to everybody of various decks that 00:17:06.970 --> 00:17:08.710 you could try. And at least this is kind of where 00:17:08.710 --> 00:17:11.390 we see it, at least right now. One of the big 00:17:11.390 --> 00:17:13.650 elements to the controlling deck, obviously being 00:17:13.650 --> 00:17:16.309 Maui Shark. So the control decks right now seem 00:17:16.309 --> 00:17:19.950 to be the Ruby Amethyst Shark decks or the Ruby 00:17:19.950 --> 00:17:22.390 Sapphire Shark decks. They either have the Rampy 00:17:22.390 --> 00:17:24.509 Shark deck or you have the Shark that's getting 00:17:24.509 --> 00:17:27.210 rush and gains a lot of card advantage versus 00:17:27.210 --> 00:17:30.539 a lot of ink advantage. Your aggressive decks, 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:33.559 the Diablo -style deck, the Churn -a -Dog deck, 00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:35.579 and the Diggy -Diggy Hole, and your midrange 00:17:35.579 --> 00:17:39.259 deck, Steel Song, the Emerald Steel discard deck. 00:17:39.630 --> 00:17:41.990 Blurt Bowl is seeing a pretty large uptick, being 00:17:41.990 --> 00:17:44.369 able to use Amethyst characters in the best way 00:17:44.369 --> 00:17:46.970 possible. And then, of course, you have the Amethyst 00:17:46.970 --> 00:17:49.049 Steel deck that Sam was talking about, either 00:17:49.049 --> 00:17:52.049 aggressively slanted or more mid -range in styling, 00:17:52.269 --> 00:17:54.390 so that, as well as the Diablo deck, can really 00:17:54.390 --> 00:17:56.829 work either side of the room. You can be much 00:17:56.829 --> 00:17:59.130 more aggressive, you can be much more mid -range, 00:17:59.289 --> 00:18:01.609 and even with the build going one way or the 00:18:01.609 --> 00:18:03.430 other, you still have the ability to dance between, 00:18:03.569 --> 00:18:05.369 depending on what the role is, which is why these 00:18:05.369 --> 00:18:07.349 decks, I think, see a lot of success, is because 00:18:07.349 --> 00:18:09.930 of their flexibility in into various different 00:18:09.930 --> 00:18:13.170 decks. That's kind of where the meta is, at least 00:18:13.170 --> 00:18:14.710 from where we are. These are the things that 00:18:14.710 --> 00:18:17.890 are evolving as a result of the bans. At least 00:18:17.890 --> 00:18:20.250 we're finding our footing. And one nice thing 00:18:20.250 --> 00:18:22.210 about getting thrown into the fire a little bit 00:18:22.210 --> 00:18:25.309 was it tested our merit as two podcasters who 00:18:25.309 --> 00:18:27.349 were forced to constantly look at the metagame 00:18:27.349 --> 00:18:29.430 and understand how the metagame works so we can 00:18:29.430 --> 00:18:31.470 try to help all of you get better at this game. 00:18:31.589 --> 00:18:33.250 And I think we kind of landed on our feet and 00:18:33.250 --> 00:18:35.630 we proved ourselves as at least able to, in a 00:18:35.630 --> 00:18:38.720 room of unknowns, given a certain amount of information, 00:18:38.980 --> 00:18:41.220 we'll be able to make the best possible choice 00:18:41.220 --> 00:18:43.039 that we can. And I think we both did a pretty 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:47.000 good job of exactly that. So until next time, 00:18:47.079 --> 00:18:47.880 keep questing.