WEBVTT 00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:11.960 Hello and welcome back to Illumination, the Disney 00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:14.240 Lorkana podcast. My name's Max. And I'm Sam. 00:00:14.380 --> 00:00:17.379 For this episode, episode 40, Sam, I have bad 00:00:17.379 --> 00:00:19.789 news. What is it? We lost the die roll. Oh no. 00:00:19.929 --> 00:00:23.289 We are going to have to go second in this game. 00:00:23.410 --> 00:00:25.829 This is our on the draw episode. We are going 00:00:25.829 --> 00:00:29.010 to talk over some things that change when you 00:00:29.010 --> 00:00:32.289 are not the one going first during a game of 00:00:32.289 --> 00:00:34.570 Disney Lurkana. So we're going to start off by 00:00:34.570 --> 00:00:36.689 talking about ways to randomize this, how you 00:00:36.689 --> 00:00:38.670 should be altering your hand, talking about what 00:00:38.670 --> 00:00:41.229 cards get worse when you're going second and 00:00:41.229 --> 00:00:44.549 what cards get better when you're going second 00:00:44.549 --> 00:00:46.829 and help get you back into a game when you are 00:00:46.829 --> 00:00:50.109 behind on tempo. going to go over all of that 00:00:50.109 --> 00:00:52.950 on this episode. Talking about ways to randomize 00:00:52.950 --> 00:00:56.170 going first, typically you're going to roll 2d6 00:00:56.170 --> 00:01:00.039 and usually... the high roll will go first. Some 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:02.479 people do not like this. There is some contention 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:05.719 around rolling dice for high or low roll. Sam, 00:01:05.799 --> 00:01:07.739 have you had to do anything differently than 00:01:07.739 --> 00:01:09.859 high or low roll yet while you've been playing 00:01:09.859 --> 00:01:12.540 Lurkana? I haven't had to do anything differently, 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:14.719 but I did hear somebody joking around last weekend, 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:16.640 do rock, paper, scissors. Rock, paper, scissors. 00:01:16.739 --> 00:01:18.700 In other games, there are cards that they've 00:01:18.700 --> 00:01:21.599 printed that kind of let you like pick one. There's 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:23.799 like magic has paper tiger, scissors lizard, 00:01:23.980 --> 00:01:26.359 and rock lobster, and you can pick one and then 00:01:26.359 --> 00:01:28.799 whatever one wins. can go first. Very common 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:31.159 amongst people, if you're not going to high roll 00:01:31.159 --> 00:01:34.019 or low roll, is one person will roll the dice, 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:36.219 the other person will call odds or evens. If 00:01:36.219 --> 00:01:38.180 you call it correctly, you go first. If you call 00:01:38.180 --> 00:01:40.140 it wrong, the player who rolled the dice gets 00:01:40.140 --> 00:01:43.719 to go first. This is generally used for a couple 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:46.140 of reasons. One, it prevents re -rolling, which 00:01:46.140 --> 00:01:49.319 is a minimal thing, but it can eat up a little 00:01:49.319 --> 00:01:51.280 bit of time. If you're both on slower matches 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:53.939 and you both chit -chat for a minute, be polite, 00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:56.640 then you both roll, oh, both got a seven. re 00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:58.959 -roll again. Oh, both got a nine. And now all 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:00.920 of a sudden between our pleasantries and the 00:02:00.920 --> 00:02:03.680 die roll, we've eaten up a minute or two of our 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:06.079 time clock, which can be the difference between 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:08.939 winning and drawing a game. So important thing 00:02:08.939 --> 00:02:11.039 to think about. The odd even helps prevent that. 00:02:11.099 --> 00:02:13.699 It also is just one set of dice that are being 00:02:13.699 --> 00:02:15.960 rolled and the person rolling them cannot predict 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:18.379 what you're going to call. So it prevents the 00:02:18.379 --> 00:02:20.900 concept of a quote loaded dice. Much cleaner, 00:02:20.979 --> 00:02:23.330 much easier. It cleans things up. pretty nicely. 00:02:23.430 --> 00:02:25.289 I've done an Otter even, I think, twice playing 00:02:25.289 --> 00:02:27.629 Lurkana, but much more playing Magic just because 00:02:27.629 --> 00:02:29.449 I've played much more Magic. The important thing 00:02:29.449 --> 00:02:32.229 is, is that it's fair and it's random. Moving 00:02:32.229 --> 00:02:36.669 on to altering your hand when it comes to being 00:02:36.669 --> 00:02:40.330 on the draw. Sam, what do you think about when 00:02:40.330 --> 00:02:42.009 you're altering your hand? Especially depending 00:02:42.009 --> 00:02:44.469 on what deck I'm playing. I think there are decks 00:02:44.469 --> 00:02:47.009 that you definitely need some specific cards 00:02:47.009 --> 00:02:49.009 when you're on the play versus on the draw. So 00:02:49.009 --> 00:02:52.280 I think... I look for more cards that we'll discuss 00:02:52.280 --> 00:02:55.120 later that do better on the draws to help you 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:57.259 get back into the game, to help alleviate that 00:02:57.259 --> 00:02:59.819 play -draw discrepancy. That makes sense. So 00:02:59.819 --> 00:03:02.800 what you're saying is cards that help you come 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:06.539 back from behind, cards that add tempo or add... 00:03:06.729 --> 00:03:09.469 board presence are generally cards in a very 00:03:09.469 --> 00:03:12.530 general sense that you want to keep. You'll have 00:03:12.530 --> 00:03:15.389 two different game plans. One will be a sacrificing 00:03:15.389 --> 00:03:17.969 a little bit of your deck's quote -unquote game 00:03:17.969 --> 00:03:21.330 plan to keep cards that will stop your opponent 00:03:21.330 --> 00:03:25.310 from enacting their game plan. So that's really 00:03:25.310 --> 00:03:28.129 important. A good example of this can be found 00:03:28.129 --> 00:03:30.949 in the Emerald color. There's a significant difference 00:03:30.949 --> 00:03:33.909 between on the play wanting a Cursed Merfolk 00:03:33.909 --> 00:03:36.949 and on the draw electing to either skip your 00:03:36.949 --> 00:03:39.689 one drop altogether or play something like the 00:03:39.689 --> 00:03:42.909 one drop diablo obedient raven so that when it 00:03:42.909 --> 00:03:45.930 gets banished you draw a card so bare minimum 00:03:45.930 --> 00:03:48.430 you're not losing too much also people do elect 00:03:48.430 --> 00:03:49.889 sometimes on the draw to play something like 00:03:49.889 --> 00:03:52.550 little baby pegasus so that it's evasive and 00:03:52.550 --> 00:03:53.889 it's more of a chance it doesn't get knocked 00:03:53.889 --> 00:03:56.389 out by the opponent's first character play of 00:03:56.389 --> 00:03:58.150 the game so those are things that definitely 00:03:58.150 --> 00:04:00.750 both only quest for one they're far less powerful 00:04:00.750 --> 00:04:02.830 than something like curse merfolk but if your 00:04:02.830 --> 00:04:05.129 opponent is playing amber steel for example and 00:04:05.229 --> 00:04:07.389 They lead on Cinderella and you just lose your 00:04:07.389 --> 00:04:10.870 merfolk. That's a huge tempo loss versus where 00:04:10.870 --> 00:04:13.289 if you at least are losing Diablo, you're drawing 00:04:13.289 --> 00:04:15.469 a card or you're skipping your one drop altogether, 00:04:15.909 --> 00:04:18.029 conceding the fact that you're not going to be 00:04:18.029 --> 00:04:20.750 the aggressive player this game and you are going 00:04:20.750 --> 00:04:23.910 to instead elect to play two one drops maybe 00:04:23.910 --> 00:04:26.110 on turn two. That's one of my favorite things 00:04:26.110 --> 00:04:28.509 to do is play two one drops on turn two when 00:04:28.509 --> 00:04:30.490 I'm on the draw. Absolutely. Or you can scan 00:04:30.490 --> 00:04:32.470 their hand with an Ursula, see what's going on. 00:04:32.550 --> 00:04:33.970 And then your follow -up could be something like 00:04:33.970 --> 00:04:37.540 Flynn. rider charming rogue plus that curse merfolk 00:04:37.540 --> 00:04:41.819 plus that diablo there are a lot of options for 00:04:41.819 --> 00:04:45.019 changing your game plan around right certain 00:04:45.019 --> 00:04:47.560 cards definitely become better certain cards 00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:50.819 definitely become worse other decks don't have 00:04:50.819 --> 00:04:55.259 a great way to navigate they're not as fluid 00:04:56.160 --> 00:04:58.800 amethyst you'll see a lot of fluidity in emerald 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:01.379 decks tend to see that fluidity as well where 00:05:01.379 --> 00:05:03.699 you're kind of changing your game plan completely 00:05:03.699 --> 00:05:06.600 cards like ursula deceiver cards like we mentioned 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:09.199 a moment ago curse merfolk versus something a 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:13.439 little bit more flexible tend to make your game 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:16.180 plan a little bit less proactive and more reactive 00:05:16.180 --> 00:05:18.360 some decks don't have that ability some decks 00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:21.100 like that are more hyper aggressively strategizing 00:05:21.100 --> 00:05:23.860 will lean into you know what i'm just going to 00:05:23.860 --> 00:05:26.060 maximize pressure so that same amber steel deck 00:05:26.060 --> 00:05:28.060 while it might want cinderella on the play for 00:05:28.060 --> 00:05:30.439 example might lean on something like daisy duck 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:34.100 donald's date on the draw because it's just a 00:05:34.100 --> 00:05:36.730 more aggressive card I'm just going to make my 00:05:36.730 --> 00:05:39.610 opponent figure it out. So there's kind of two 00:05:39.610 --> 00:05:43.329 general ways to play that, right? Like some decks 00:05:43.329 --> 00:05:46.949 just can't eschew their really good opening line. 00:05:47.029 --> 00:05:48.970 Their opening lines are just some of the strongest 00:05:48.970 --> 00:05:50.709 in the game. We see this a lot with the Sapphire 00:05:50.709 --> 00:05:53.009 decks. They want to ramp on two, whether they're 00:05:53.009 --> 00:05:55.550 on the play or on the draw. I would dare say 00:05:55.550 --> 00:05:57.870 maybe a smidge more on the draw because they 00:05:57.870 --> 00:05:59.990 definitely want to stay in the game. Sometimes 00:05:59.990 --> 00:06:02.410 you're on a deck where you just can't afford 00:06:02.410 --> 00:06:04.589 to mitigate those things. You could just have 00:06:04.589 --> 00:06:07.170 to go for the best possible assemblage of cards 00:06:07.170 --> 00:06:09.230 that you can play. Like these are the strongest 00:06:09.230 --> 00:06:11.230 cards. This is the best opening line. I just 00:06:11.230 --> 00:06:14.050 want it as close to 100 % of the time as possible, 00:06:14.209 --> 00:06:16.730 irrespective of if I'm on the play or on the 00:06:16.730 --> 00:06:19.810 draw. So it's really about practicing, right? 00:06:19.870 --> 00:06:22.529 We talk about this constantly testing on the 00:06:22.529 --> 00:06:24.209 podcast. You have to figure out what the heck 00:06:24.209 --> 00:06:26.129 of the deck is supposed to be doing. It's taken 00:06:26.129 --> 00:06:28.670 a lot of people a lot of time and testing to 00:06:28.670 --> 00:06:31.350 understand when you're playing on the draw, you 00:06:31.350 --> 00:06:33.680 want this. grouping of cards or you want to go 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:36.079 with this particular curve versus when you're 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:38.360 on the play, you want to do something maybe a 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:40.639 little bit more ideal or a little bit more proactive. 00:06:41.019 --> 00:06:43.579 Depends on the deck. So you really have to think 00:06:43.579 --> 00:06:47.000 it through and also kind of snowballs if you 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:48.720 know what your opponent's playing or not when 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:50.660 you're on the draw. If you don't know and you're 00:06:50.660 --> 00:06:54.279 just in the blind, I have no idea what they are 00:06:54.279 --> 00:06:56.839 doing. You can make a guess. You can try to double 00:06:56.839 --> 00:06:59.399 down. I have definitely taken the I'm going to 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:02.399 guess what my opponent is on and been so far 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:06.720 from correct and punished because of it. I will 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:09.899 rarely lean heavily into my intuition or just 00:07:09.899 --> 00:07:11.680 like basing it on what I've seen this person 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:14.399 play in the past. But sometimes when you see 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:16.379 the local crew and you're like, okay, this person's 00:07:16.379 --> 00:07:18.800 a blue red player. I'm going to try to keep as 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:20.339 if they're playing blue red and they're like, 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:22.680 no, never mind. I'm actually on like purple, 00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:25.180 amber, hyper aggro. And you're just like, oh 00:07:25.180 --> 00:07:27.120 no, things have gone terribly for me because 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:29.000 I have kept cards that are better in a late game. 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:31.779 It can happen. trying to make your best guess 00:07:31.779 --> 00:07:34.079 and this is these are all reasons why when you 00:07:34.079 --> 00:07:37.279 add it all up we tend to see that what sam described 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:40.480 earlier is that play draw discrepancy when you 00:07:40.480 --> 00:07:42.540 get percentage points for being on the play because 00:07:42.540 --> 00:07:45.519 lorikana is so predicated on your opening moves 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:48.240 in a similar fashion to chess the opening stages 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:51.379 of the game are very critical to trying to set 00:07:51.379 --> 00:07:55.139 up the mid and late games so not knowing what's 00:07:55.139 --> 00:07:59.019 going on it forces you to do the most either 00:07:59.019 --> 00:08:02.709 thin spinning or kind of diluting your hand, 00:08:02.790 --> 00:08:04.290 where it's like, I'll keep a couple of things 00:08:04.290 --> 00:08:06.629 that are good and hope that I draw more of those 00:08:06.629 --> 00:08:08.629 things as the game progresses, but I'll keep 00:08:08.629 --> 00:08:10.850 one or two things that help me early, one or 00:08:10.850 --> 00:08:12.629 two things that if they're a slower deck I can 00:08:12.629 --> 00:08:15.209 play, and I'll just ink appropriately. Essentially 00:08:15.209 --> 00:08:18.850 like keeping five real cards and conceding the 00:08:18.850 --> 00:08:20.730 fact that I'll be inking two of these cards in 00:08:20.730 --> 00:08:22.550 whatever direction my opponent is playing. That's 00:08:22.550 --> 00:08:24.670 a strategy as well. There's a lot of thought 00:08:24.670 --> 00:08:26.850 that goes into it, and I think the more mid -range 00:08:26.850 --> 00:08:29.970 your strategy is, the more you're stuck trying 00:08:29.970 --> 00:08:33.309 to figure out how the heck do I mulligan for 00:08:33.309 --> 00:08:36.750 the best chance of winning when I am on the draw. 00:08:37.009 --> 00:08:39.269 So let's talk a little bit about that. Some cards 00:08:39.269 --> 00:08:42.269 in each ink identity that lose a little bit of 00:08:42.269 --> 00:08:44.669 advantage when you're on the draw. We'll start 00:08:44.669 --> 00:08:46.870 with Amber. We already mentioned one of them 00:08:46.870 --> 00:08:49.590 at Cinderella. Ballroom Sensation. Cinderella 00:08:49.590 --> 00:08:53.230 is almost, if not one of the best singular cards, 00:08:53.330 --> 00:08:55.409 not counting a Diablo shift, not counting a bell 00:08:55.409 --> 00:09:00.759 off of a powerful opening cards you can play. 00:09:00.860 --> 00:09:04.399 Just one singular cardboard rectangle. She represents 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:07.320 a litany of disastrous things that can happen 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:09.279 to you. You either have to call your opponent 00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:10.919 and hope that they were bluffing, but if you're 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:13.299 wrong, you're in trouble. Or if you're too scared 00:09:13.299 --> 00:09:14.659 to put something on the board, they just get 00:09:14.659 --> 00:09:16.860 to quest and you eventually know you're going 00:09:16.860 --> 00:09:18.799 to have to call them. But you'd like to do it 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:20.820 maybe in a spot that's a little bit more advantageous 00:09:20.820 --> 00:09:23.139 for you to kind of pick that battle. Either like 00:09:23.139 --> 00:09:25.440 we said earlier, you skip your turn one play 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:28.580 or you play cards that will survive. her singing 00:09:28.580 --> 00:09:31.679 a three cost song right sometimes you'll elect 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:33.139 to build your deck in such a way that you're 00:09:33.139 --> 00:09:35.220 playing a heavier amount of one threes for one 00:09:35.220 --> 00:09:38.899 because you want to survive that first initial 00:09:38.899 --> 00:09:41.120 let the storm rage on shot so you'll see this 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:43.940 when emerald steel or amber steel are heavier 00:09:43.940 --> 00:09:46.480 players in the meta card like cinderella definitely 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:49.000 has the hallmarks of that and similarly i guess 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:51.659 on the other side of the amber coin is something 00:09:51.659 --> 00:09:55.179 like lilo making a wish insanely powerful because 00:09:55.179 --> 00:09:56.679 you know you're going to get a quest off most 00:09:56.679 --> 00:09:58.740 of the time before Lilo gets answered. And if 00:09:58.740 --> 00:10:00.480 your opponent doesn't have that one drop, you 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:02.039 might even be able to get two quests off with 00:10:02.039 --> 00:10:04.539 that Lilo, which is backbreaking. The odds of 00:10:04.539 --> 00:10:06.419 you being able to quest more than once with that 00:10:06.419 --> 00:10:08.320 Lilo, you may not be able to quest at all. If 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:10.019 that Lilo comes out, if the only one drop in 00:10:10.019 --> 00:10:11.679 your hand and your opponent plays Cinderella 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:15.639 and passes, you're like, oh no, oh no. What do 00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:17.679 I do now? It's not even inkable. Right. It's 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:19.559 not inkable. Like you just throw it down and 00:10:19.559 --> 00:10:21.279 close your eyes and just hope that you're not 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:24.159 just wasting an entire card for essentially half 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:25.860 of a card, right? Because let the storm rage 00:10:25.860 --> 00:10:28.250 on. will replace itself so that's kind of a disaster 00:10:28.250 --> 00:10:31.149 put you way behind both in terms of cards in 00:10:31.149 --> 00:10:33.269 hand the opponents evened out cards with you 00:10:33.269 --> 00:10:35.769 being on the play and you haven't gotten to leverage 00:10:35.769 --> 00:10:38.789 those cards using the best advantage of the extra 00:10:38.789 --> 00:10:42.039 card you were drawn so That's a disaster. Amethyst. 00:10:42.039 --> 00:10:44.159 We see kind of two cards that are very similar 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:47.240 on this list. Chernabog's Followers and, of course, 00:10:47.379 --> 00:10:50.480 the Magic Broom. They both, again, suffer from 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:52.440 the same problem where if they get put down, 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:55.580 they may not get to do their cantrip where you 00:10:55.580 --> 00:10:57.299 don't get to replace them with a card, which 00:10:57.299 --> 00:11:00.620 can be really rough sometimes on the draw. However, 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:03.659 you can leverage these cards a little bit because 00:11:03.659 --> 00:11:06.500 you're not leaning as hard on them to draw you 00:11:06.500 --> 00:11:08.279 a card. Sometimes you can just be like, you know 00:11:08.279 --> 00:11:09.980 what? I'm going to smash with my Chernabog. followers 00:11:09.980 --> 00:11:13.519 because I don't care I'm already up a card my 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:15.600 opponent's down a card so I'm willing to go one 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:17.740 for one trade because remember if I'm in eight 00:11:17.740 --> 00:11:20.019 cards because I went second my opponent's on 00:11:20.019 --> 00:11:22.360 seven cards because they went first and we trade 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:25.240 one for one I'm still up a card in the scenario 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:27.500 where let the storm rage on comes down I'm no 00:11:27.500 --> 00:11:30.120 longer up that card I've now conceded that card 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:32.019 to my opponent they not only got to resource 00:11:32.019 --> 00:11:34.379 and add to the board first they also are now 00:11:34.379 --> 00:11:36.759 at card parity with me and that is a disaster 00:11:36.759 --> 00:11:39.279 I need to do everything I can to make that card 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:41.659 count, right? I need that card to help get me 00:11:41.659 --> 00:11:43.980 back into the game. That's why you draw typically 00:11:43.980 --> 00:11:46.399 in trading card games when you go second. Emerald, 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:48.639 we talked a lot about these already. Curse Merfolk 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:51.700 and Ursula, Deceiver of All, both cards that 00:11:51.700 --> 00:11:54.940 when you play it on time behind, you risk your 00:11:54.940 --> 00:11:56.799 opponent having a card that can just immediately 00:11:56.799 --> 00:11:59.559 answer them and let them do nothing. And that, 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:01.659 again, is the hallmark of a disaster. And you'll 00:12:01.659 --> 00:12:04.220 note a lot of these cards have the similar problem 00:12:04.220 --> 00:12:08.309 of they come down and don't do anything. Flynn 00:12:08.309 --> 00:12:10.529 Rider, frenemy. We don't even see Flynn Rider 00:12:10.529 --> 00:12:12.370 getting played right now because it's such a 00:12:12.370 --> 00:12:15.409 disaster against the steal strategies. I play 00:12:15.409 --> 00:12:19.149 Cinderella, pass. I play Flynn Rider, pass. Sing 00:12:19.149 --> 00:12:22.889 the song, damn. I've lost all kinds of advantage. 00:12:23.210 --> 00:12:25.610 We see this in Sapphire with McDuck Manor. This 00:12:25.610 --> 00:12:27.129 card, oftentimes, you're not going to be able 00:12:27.129 --> 00:12:29.370 to just slam it down on four if your opponent 00:12:29.370 --> 00:12:31.850 is a little slower because they're, again, they've 00:12:31.850 --> 00:12:34.690 got an add to the board. first. You can use it 00:12:34.690 --> 00:12:36.549 certainly to buy yourself a turn or two to try 00:12:36.549 --> 00:12:39.009 to get back into the game and force them to exchange 00:12:39.009 --> 00:12:41.889 essentially some quests and give up lore advantage 00:12:41.889 --> 00:12:44.470 to try to take out your manor. So I'm not saying 00:12:44.470 --> 00:12:46.629 it's awful. I just think it is a slight step 00:12:46.629 --> 00:12:50.950 worse on the draw. And then in steel, we have 00:12:50.950 --> 00:12:53.730 good old one drop captain hook forceful duelist. 00:12:53.889 --> 00:12:56.009 Looks great when you're on the play, but on the 00:12:56.009 --> 00:12:58.250 draw, sometimes just like goodie, my opponent 00:12:58.250 --> 00:13:01.210 can answer this and still quest or they can just 00:13:01.210 --> 00:13:04.690 set up to it. ignore it, or respond to it, where 00:13:04.690 --> 00:13:06.710 if they lose the unit, they can immediately just 00:13:06.710 --> 00:13:08.509 take it out very easily with something like a 00:13:08.509 --> 00:13:11.570 Calhoun, for example. So these cards tend to 00:13:11.570 --> 00:13:14.009 lose you that advantage, giving the opponent 00:13:14.009 --> 00:13:17.190 the chance to take down an entire card from you 00:13:17.190 --> 00:13:19.610 without necessarily giving up a card on their 00:13:19.610 --> 00:13:22.149 own, which means that, again, you've lost the 00:13:22.149 --> 00:13:24.409 advantage of drawing an extra card. And when 00:13:24.409 --> 00:13:28.110 that happens, your opponent is now entirely advantaged 00:13:28.110 --> 00:13:30.330 because they got to ink and play cards first. 00:13:30.549 --> 00:13:32.750 They always are wanting. up on you. Obviously, 00:13:32.850 --> 00:13:34.330 towards the mid and late game, they might not 00:13:34.330 --> 00:13:36.250 be inking every turn, but in the early stages 00:13:36.250 --> 00:13:38.289 of the game in Lurkan, at least the first three 00:13:38.289 --> 00:13:40.429 turns, typically, we're going to see a player 00:13:40.429 --> 00:13:43.269 inking in order to play cards. It's bad if they 00:13:43.269 --> 00:13:45.429 don't. Right. Something's gone disastrously wrong, 00:13:45.470 --> 00:13:47.210 or I don't know what kind of strategy they're 00:13:47.210 --> 00:13:49.070 playing, if that's intentional there, but you 00:13:49.070 --> 00:13:51.049 never know. So let's flip the script a little 00:13:51.049 --> 00:13:53.269 bit and talk about cards that get us back into 00:13:53.269 --> 00:13:55.870 the game in these colors. So let's talk first 00:13:55.870 --> 00:13:58.669 about Amber. Amber has seen an uptick recently, 00:13:58.830 --> 00:14:00.669 right? Got a couple new cards. In the set eight. 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:04.059 meta it's definitely seen more popularity especially 00:14:04.059 --> 00:14:07.139 the non whole new world variants than we've ever 00:14:07.139 --> 00:14:09.840 seen before and it's no surprise that two of 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:13.000 the best cards for amber on the play are on the 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:15.120 draw to get back into the game something like 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:18.259 rhino we've seen rhino now just define the on 00:14:18.259 --> 00:14:21.259 the draw line of playing the 116th wolf into 00:14:21.259 --> 00:14:24.779 the power hamster crazy just crazy powerful and 00:14:24.779 --> 00:14:27.620 then lady family dog being able to just dump 00:14:27.620 --> 00:14:29.720 your hand before they can start to leverage discard 00:14:30.059 --> 00:14:32.740 just forcing you to add more units to the board 00:14:32.740 --> 00:14:35.120 quickly than your opponent can answer. So you 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:38.440 get to respond very quickly and kind of lessen 00:14:38.440 --> 00:14:40.500 that tempo advantage. And of course, we have 00:14:40.500 --> 00:14:42.679 Daisy Duck, one of the best cards for Amber on 00:14:42.679 --> 00:14:45.080 the draw because of those stats. Even giving 00:14:45.080 --> 00:14:47.320 your opponent extra cards, right? Again, we talked 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:49.519 about how bad it is to give up card advantage. 00:14:49.860 --> 00:14:51.659 Daisy's so powerful that it's like, yeah, I'll 00:14:51.659 --> 00:14:53.820 give up card advantage for 6 -8 lore. No problem. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:56.960 Amethyst has some cards that all look very similar. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:14:59.639 I can tell you they all cost three. You probably 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:01.320 have already thought of them. We have Madam M. 00:15:01.379 --> 00:15:03.559 Fox, of course. And she wouldn't be complete 00:15:03.559 --> 00:15:07.179 without her best buddy in crime. Merlin Crabbe. 00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:10.980 And adding to the menagerie on terrible things 00:15:10.980 --> 00:15:13.600 you can see out of Amethyst on three has become 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:16.720 Peter Pan, Shadowfinder. The blight of anyone 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:20.100 who does not play many evasives in their deck, 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:22.360 where this card can just shoot you from the skies. 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:25.539 Meanwhile, just singing friends on the other 00:15:25.539 --> 00:15:28.539 side, thumbing their nose at you. Easily take 00:15:28.539 --> 00:15:32.179 out a Diablo. Takes out Diablos. It gives gigantic 00:15:32.179 --> 00:15:34.980 four drops the ability to come rushing in and 00:15:34.980 --> 00:15:38.179 answer. board it just it so cleanly answers so 00:15:38.179 --> 00:15:40.860 many things and in concert with things like crab 00:15:40.860 --> 00:15:43.879 it just gets even worse even quicker emerald 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:46.580 we have wrong lever of course this card has become 00:15:46.580 --> 00:15:49.419 the blight of many people who want to answer 00:15:49.419 --> 00:15:52.600 things with non -rush evasive characters if you're 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:54.940 playing diabolos we've seen this in a lot of 00:15:54.940 --> 00:15:58.179 the emerald amethyst strategies whether you're 00:15:58.179 --> 00:16:00.720 playing tempo or you're playing the diablo style 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:04.019 discard deck the new comer to the party as well 00:16:04.019 --> 00:16:07.190 lewis our favorite crocodile buddy, coming in, 00:16:07.230 --> 00:16:10.169 giving something reckless and usually just devouring 00:16:10.169 --> 00:16:12.730 it in the process or making them jump through 00:16:12.730 --> 00:16:15.789 hoops to not lose that and then taking more time, 00:16:15.909 --> 00:16:17.990 which gives you more setup. And then, of course, 00:16:18.009 --> 00:16:20.269 we have everybody's favorite two -dropping in 00:16:20.269 --> 00:16:22.990 Emerald, which is Ursula Deceiver. Just happy 00:16:22.990 --> 00:16:25.389 taking cards out of an opponent's hand who has 00:16:25.389 --> 00:16:28.450 less cards to begin with is always really nice. 00:16:28.669 --> 00:16:31.269 So there's some strong ones there. Ruby, of course, 00:16:31.350 --> 00:16:35.009 the three -drop Sisu that comes down. is evasive 00:16:35.009 --> 00:16:37.830 and can take care of something with one or less 00:16:37.830 --> 00:16:40.250 strength. That's a great way to take care of 00:16:40.250 --> 00:16:41.610 something. The following turn, hit something 00:16:41.610 --> 00:16:44.029 in the air with like a pump from a vitalosphere 00:16:44.029 --> 00:16:47.389 or in two turns or less shift into the empowered 00:16:47.389 --> 00:16:49.909 sibling and just wipe the opponent's board completely. 00:16:50.269 --> 00:16:52.169 Since the beginning of the game, the very first 00:16:52.169 --> 00:16:54.809 chapter, we of course have Maui, hero to all. 00:16:54.889 --> 00:16:57.110 This card just comes down and can usually take 00:16:57.110 --> 00:16:59.519 two to three cards with it. No problem. And of 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:03.039 course, not too dissimilar, the Blight of everybody 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:06.099 who has an opponent at 18. Super Goof coming 00:17:06.099 --> 00:17:08.880 down and challenging and gaining two lore. These 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:10.940 are ways to get back into a game effectively 00:17:10.940 --> 00:17:13.519 and keep a body on board. Drop your opponent 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:15.980 down one. So all very strong. In Sapphire, we 00:17:15.980 --> 00:17:17.779 talked about this earlier. We have Teepo and 00:17:17.779 --> 00:17:20.539 Sail being the two drop rampers that help you 00:17:20.539 --> 00:17:22.920 get ahead going from two to four. Powerful. The 00:17:22.920 --> 00:17:26.599 context that Blurple is founded on is going from 00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:28.759 two to four. It's just the strength. of that 00:17:28.759 --> 00:17:31.980 strategy. A newcomer to the party, Bell, Apprentice 00:17:31.980 --> 00:17:34.819 Inventor, just a blight to anybody who has small 00:17:34.819 --> 00:17:37.900 characters acting like a giant roadblock or a 00:17:37.900 --> 00:17:40.960 fine singer. So both of those very, very good 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:43.900 on the draw to help get you back into a game. 00:17:43.960 --> 00:17:47.160 And Steel, no slouch when it comes to these cards 00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:49.420 either. We of course have the Deadly Calhoun. 00:17:49.500 --> 00:17:51.660 We've talked about that card already. We have 00:17:51.660 --> 00:17:54.660 kind of related in the Amethyst Steel world, 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:57.119 we have the Giant Cobra that can really help. 00:17:57.240 --> 00:17:59.630 Gigantic. body that comes down ahead of schedule 00:17:59.630 --> 00:18:02.309 and puts you ahead on lore. Oof. And takes advantage 00:18:02.309 --> 00:18:04.529 of the extra card you have in hand. Yes. And 00:18:04.529 --> 00:18:06.529 I think the card, and I saved this to the end 00:18:06.529 --> 00:18:08.970 intentionally, is kind of a card that ties the 00:18:08.970 --> 00:18:12.640 whole discussion together is underplayed right 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:14.940 now but might see a tick up in play because i 00:18:14.940 --> 00:18:17.779 do believe it doesn't rotate is steel action 00:18:17.779 --> 00:18:21.339 twin fire so this is a two cost unankable action 00:18:21.339 --> 00:18:24.240 that deals two damage to a chosen character or 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:27.539 if you also choose to discard a card it deals 00:18:27.539 --> 00:18:31.079 two damage to a different chosen character. So 00:18:31.079 --> 00:18:34.140 on the play, you can shoot one thing. Likely 00:18:34.140 --> 00:18:35.660 that would be the case, right? You're just only 00:18:35.660 --> 00:18:37.200 going to need to shoot one thing. But on the 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:39.400 draw, you can take your opponent's board from 00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:43.279 two characters to none through utilizing that 00:18:43.769 --> 00:18:47.990 gasp extra card that we got for going second 00:18:47.990 --> 00:18:51.869 so that is a really huge benefit that twin fire 00:18:51.869 --> 00:18:54.089 gets and i think that this card is kind of a 00:18:54.089 --> 00:18:57.390 good way to think about a card that helps you 00:18:57.390 --> 00:19:00.630 on the draw and it's most stripped down sense 00:19:00.630 --> 00:19:03.730 it really just lets you leverage a card that 00:19:03.730 --> 00:19:06.769 you have that's extra so it puts you at parity 00:19:06.769 --> 00:19:09.150 and can put your opponent down two cards on board 00:19:09.150 --> 00:19:11.990 so now you've gone down two cards to make your 00:19:11.990 --> 00:19:14.880 opponent go down cards and now they have lost 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:17.700 as strong of a board advantage and you maybe 00:19:17.700 --> 00:19:20.019 discarded a card that was irrelevant in the matchup 00:19:20.019 --> 00:19:22.200 or wasn't going to be an impact until much later 00:19:22.200 --> 00:19:25.119 in the game. Just an uninkable that was clogging 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:26.779 up your hand. We've all had those double dock 00:19:26.779 --> 00:19:29.160 hands, right? Just lets you leverage and get 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:32.640 through some of the chuff in your deck in a really 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:35.680 effective way and can help you again turn what 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:38.599 is an overwhelming board early into a parity 00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:41.279 state just off the back of one card leveraging 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:44.160 that card. Definitely all awesome cards. I just 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:45.839 want to give a shout out to our awesome community 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:48.500 on Discord who gave us a lot of these suggestions. 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:51.400 We really appreciate it. Honorable mentions are 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:55.140 the beloved Sticky Mickey, hard to remove. Everybody's 00:19:55.140 --> 00:19:57.740 favorite Bumbling Mate, Mr. Smee, just one of 00:19:57.740 --> 00:20:00.940 the best two drops of all time. Any 1 -3 we haven't 00:20:00.940 --> 00:20:05.099 previously called out. And Kit Cloudkicker, tough 00:20:05.099 --> 00:20:09.019 guy. So those cards all feel pretty good on the 00:20:09.019 --> 00:20:12.069 draw. Cloudkicker is insane on the play. if you're 00:20:12.069 --> 00:20:15.289 playing Amethyst, Emerald Tempo, but is fine 00:20:15.289 --> 00:20:17.940 enough. on the draw, right? Delay that Diablo 00:20:17.940 --> 00:20:19.819 long enough, you can get a genie down and then 00:20:19.819 --> 00:20:22.359 answer the Diablo permanently is a great strategy 00:20:22.359 --> 00:20:24.640 to deal with something in a color combination 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:26.799 that doesn't have direct answers, I guess up 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:29.079 until wrong lever, because goodness, that's a 00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:31.859 real card. So these cards get your opponent to 00:20:31.859 --> 00:20:34.880 slow the game down a little bit while you generally 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:38.339 can add to the board and keep things on board 00:20:38.339 --> 00:20:41.380 or leverage the cards to keep your opponent down 00:20:41.380 --> 00:20:44.299 or controlled on resources and then allow you 00:20:44.299 --> 00:20:47.259 to kind of ratchet. momentum back and start to 00:20:47.259 --> 00:20:50.819 take over the game which will allow you to win 00:20:50.819 --> 00:20:54.380 the game by this simple premise. Keep questing.