WEBVTT 00:00:08.559 --> 00:00:11.820 Hello and welcome back to Illumination, the Disney 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:14.400 Larkana podcast. My name is Max. And I'm Sam. 00:00:14.539 --> 00:00:18.079 And we are back at you episode 42 this time. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:21.379 42 times we've been yakking at you. Appreciate 00:00:21.379 --> 00:00:23.100 you all being here. If it's your first time, 00:00:23.140 --> 00:00:25.420 welcome on in. If you've been here before, welcome 00:00:25.420 --> 00:00:28.980 on back. This episode, we are talking about brewing 00:00:28.980 --> 00:00:32.119 decks. It's a brand new meta. On its way now, 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:34.460 right? Set champs are over. I don't think there's 00:00:34.460 --> 00:00:36.939 any more really big tournaments on the calendar 00:00:36.939 --> 00:00:39.859 anywhere for set eight at this point. I think 00:00:39.859 --> 00:00:41.359 we're all going to take a little bit of a breather. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:43.840 Yeah, a couple weeks. We're all anticipating, 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:48.200 bemoaning maybe, some of the reprints and the 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:51.619 new cards from Fabled that have been coming our 00:00:51.619 --> 00:00:54.700 way. So we want to take this opportunity now 00:00:54.700 --> 00:00:57.179 that all eyes are going to be on this new meta 00:00:57.179 --> 00:01:00.539 to talk about where the heck do you start when... 00:01:00.649 --> 00:01:03.969 though. brand new meta occurs. We had a small 00:01:03.969 --> 00:01:07.250 version of this sort of happen not too long ago 00:01:07.250 --> 00:01:09.750 around the time that Hyrum and Fortisphere got 00:01:09.750 --> 00:01:12.569 banned, and we touched on some of these things, 00:01:12.670 --> 00:01:14.950 but we never actually took an entire episode 00:01:14.950 --> 00:01:18.549 to talk about the concept of brewing. From set 00:01:18.549 --> 00:01:20.950 to set, I would say that there were some stalwarts 00:01:20.950 --> 00:01:23.730 in terms of deck archetypes and frameworks that 00:01:23.730 --> 00:01:26.209 survived and moved on. I'm looking at you, Amber 00:01:26.209 --> 00:01:28.409 Steelsong. We kind of picked out some new cards 00:01:28.409 --> 00:01:29.750 that we thought would be good and tried them 00:01:29.750 --> 00:01:32.599 in the existing Right. There were always these 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:35.760 pillars of the metagame, if you will. We knew 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:38.540 these decks would be here. We know that they 00:01:38.540 --> 00:01:40.739 are good and we're acutely aware of their presence, 00:01:40.780 --> 00:01:42.560 whether they were good at the moment or lingering 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:44.819 in the back waiting to pounce. I'm looking at 00:01:44.819 --> 00:01:47.519 you, Ruby Amethyst. Today, we'll touch on where 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:51.200 do we start now? There's so much of the metagame 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:55.180 that has now eroded away with the rotation of 00:01:55.180 --> 00:01:58.359 sets one through four. So what the heck are we 00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:00.060 going to do? We're going to break it down into 00:02:00.060 --> 00:02:02.780 a few steps and then make some predictions about 00:02:02.780 --> 00:02:05.840 the specifics that we think are coming, or at 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:07.840 least that you should probably be aware of. And 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:09.280 then we're going to give you some other advice 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:11.979 and some other words to round out the episode. 00:02:12.020 --> 00:02:16.580 So first and foremost, step one, what is... going 00:02:16.580 --> 00:02:20.139 to be the default best, most, I don't want to 00:02:20.139 --> 00:02:23.240 say aggressive, but most efficient, most streamlined 00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:27.939 deck that is going to exist post -rotation. To 00:02:27.939 --> 00:02:30.919 my mind, there are two decks that I think of 00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:34.439 as the level one big bads that we need to be 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:36.780 thinking about. And if you're building a deck, 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:39.740 you should be considering... one of, if not both 00:02:39.740 --> 00:02:42.039 of, these two decks. And if your deck cannot 00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:44.460 easily, I wouldn't say easily, but if it can't 00:02:44.460 --> 00:02:46.740 consistently, at least I'd say you want to be 00:02:46.740 --> 00:02:49.159 a little better than half the time, able to dispatch 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:51.639 these decks, I would say you need to reevaluate 00:02:51.639 --> 00:02:53.860 some card choices in what you're playing. And 00:02:53.860 --> 00:02:56.620 those two decks are both Amber. Amber Steel, 00:02:56.900 --> 00:02:59.259 likely aggressive, could be a little bit more 00:02:59.259 --> 00:03:03.439 mid -rangey. And I also think that... Amber Emerald 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:06.060 is going to be a serious contender. These are 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:08.419 two of the most streamlined decks. They are two 00:03:08.419 --> 00:03:11.680 of the decks that lose some of the least for 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:14.639 the upcoming rotation. They still have a lot 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:18.360 of the framework of the deck really left intact, 00:03:18.699 --> 00:03:20.840 right? We have the entire skeleton of the deck. 00:03:20.939 --> 00:03:23.800 We even have some muscle tissue on that skeleton 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:26.099 in a lot of cases. We just need a little bit 00:03:26.099 --> 00:03:29.759 of filler to tie the room together. So we're 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:31.909 looking into that. So we have what was formerly 00:03:31.909 --> 00:03:34.430 the churn of dogs deck probably losing churn 00:03:34.430 --> 00:03:36.150 of bog at this point i think it's reasonable 00:03:36.150 --> 00:03:38.370 to guess we haven't gotten all the spoilers at 00:03:38.370 --> 00:03:41.169 time of recording yet but we're close i would 00:03:41.169 --> 00:03:43.530 say it's relatively safe that we're not going 00:03:43.530 --> 00:03:46.150 to get churn of bog back at this point but i 00:03:46.150 --> 00:03:48.250 don't know as though the deck loses a whole lot 00:03:48.250 --> 00:03:51.830 from the loss of churn of bog we still have lady 00:03:51.830 --> 00:03:55.770 miss park avenue and we still have Lilo, Escape 00:03:55.770 --> 00:03:58.409 Artist. Is there any other cards that play out 00:03:58.409 --> 00:04:00.530 of the discard very well? I think those are two 00:04:00.530 --> 00:04:02.370 of the biggest heavy hitters, right? I believe 00:04:02.370 --> 00:04:04.449 so, yeah. Yeah, so I think that that deck is 00:04:04.449 --> 00:04:08.750 going to be a framework for a lot of Amber Emerald 00:04:08.750 --> 00:04:11.229 archetype. Yeah, I think we are already seeing 00:04:11.229 --> 00:04:13.689 a lot of people dropping Chernabog as well. So 00:04:13.689 --> 00:04:15.449 I think the deck is going to be able to work. 00:04:15.819 --> 00:04:17.879 Yeah, a lot of people were playing like zero 00:04:17.879 --> 00:04:20.480 to hero or just in time in an attempt to put 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:23.579 out Goofy with Ward very quickly to try to protect 00:04:23.579 --> 00:04:25.680 everything, which is a really interesting approach. 00:04:25.939 --> 00:04:28.759 I think that coming up with some good end game 00:04:28.759 --> 00:04:30.860 strategy is what the deck probably needs because 00:04:30.860 --> 00:04:33.279 that's what Chernobog represented. But I don't 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:36.269 think that it needs it. so desperately that it 00:04:36.269 --> 00:04:38.990 wouldn't exist anymore. And then probably Rapunzel 00:04:38.990 --> 00:04:41.209 would be the other major thing we're losing from 00:04:41.209 --> 00:04:43.850 that deck. Definitely. I think Rapunzel is likely 00:04:43.850 --> 00:04:46.009 not coming back, at least in this set. And I 00:04:46.009 --> 00:04:47.889 think that we're going to feel that pain a little 00:04:47.889 --> 00:04:50.089 bit. Julieta stepping in to try to do as much 00:04:50.089 --> 00:04:52.750 good work as she can. But I think that when you're 00:04:52.750 --> 00:04:55.629 one third of the card draw of a single card, 00:04:55.769 --> 00:04:57.870 it makes it a lot harder. And we could always 00:04:57.870 --> 00:04:59.850 see like invited to the ball coming into that 00:04:59.850 --> 00:05:01.550 deck just for a little bit of extra card draw. 00:05:01.879 --> 00:05:03.800 Yeah, when we were first testing this out, before 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:05.819 it became Churn of Dogs, when it was just kind 00:05:05.819 --> 00:05:09.060 of the Amber Emerald Dog deck, I was testing 00:05:09.060 --> 00:05:11.060 this with one or two copies of Invited to the 00:05:11.060 --> 00:05:13.000 Ball for a while. I was doing just the famous 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:15.579 one of because it would never whiff. It was 59 00:05:15.579 --> 00:05:17.980 characters, one Invited to the Ball. So we definitely 00:05:17.980 --> 00:05:21.100 could see that. The Amber Steel aggressive deck 00:05:21.100 --> 00:05:24.120 is going to be quite good as well. Still leaving 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:27.019 behind a lot of very strong cards. The Three 00:05:27.019 --> 00:05:29.360 Drop Lady obviously coming up in this deck as 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:32.540 well. We have Penny, Bolt. person being quite 00:05:32.540 --> 00:05:35.240 strong we have iterations of bolt if you want 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:38.399 to go that direction we have goofy we have lilo 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:41.399 escape artist still we have lawrence coming back 00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:45.000 to make a guest appearance in rotation so i think 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:47.680 there are a lot of tools that amber steel can 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:50.279 leverage we have a new lilo coming that i think 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:52.540 will be really useful in the steel archetypes 00:05:52.540 --> 00:05:54.579 i don't know if this build will take as much 00:05:54.579 --> 00:05:56.740 advantage of it as something like maybe a ruby 00:05:56.740 --> 00:05:58.980 steel would but i do think that this lilo just 00:05:58.980 --> 00:06:01.199 simply giving multiple character's challenger, 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:03.720 a la like a Kriki effect, is going to be really, 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:06.439 really good for steal no matter what side of 00:06:06.439 --> 00:06:08.019 the coin you're on, whether you're dedicated 00:06:08.019 --> 00:06:10.899 challenging or just looking to take advantage 00:06:10.899 --> 00:06:13.759 of an opponent who's a little overexerted on 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:16.120 a key turn. I'm excited to try her in Amethyst 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:18.180 steal. Yes. Picking her up and putting her back 00:06:18.180 --> 00:06:19.879 down, potentially if we get any good bounce. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:22.379 Being able to leverage her with some of the larger 00:06:22.379 --> 00:06:25.120 bodied characters that have a benefit when they 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:27.319 come into play, something a la a White Rose. 00:06:27.699 --> 00:06:30.009 Obviously there's insane synergy. with her and 00:06:30.009 --> 00:06:33.670 Calhoun. So obviously the steel stitch on four 00:06:33.670 --> 00:06:36.389 is the great Lilo stitch combo that everybody's 00:06:36.389 --> 00:06:39.110 looking at. So there's a lot of opportunity here 00:06:39.110 --> 00:06:41.730 for a card like that to be quite good. So I think 00:06:41.730 --> 00:06:44.170 that these two decks are going to be kind of 00:06:44.170 --> 00:06:46.870 the baseline aggressive decks. They lose some 00:06:46.870 --> 00:06:50.029 of the least in rotation, which makes them pretty 00:06:50.029 --> 00:06:53.610 strong choices to start with. So I would say 00:06:53.610 --> 00:06:56.810 my message is not you have to play one of these 00:06:56.810 --> 00:06:59.209 decks if you want to win. It's You need to be 00:06:59.209 --> 00:07:01.689 aware these decks exist and you need to be able 00:07:01.689 --> 00:07:04.490 to have a game plan that can effectively beat 00:07:04.490 --> 00:07:06.050 these decks. So let's say if you're winning about 00:07:06.050 --> 00:07:09.259 half your games on the draw. and a little better 00:07:09.259 --> 00:07:11.139 than half on the play, you're in a good place. 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:14.060 I want to see the deck be able to not be completely 00:07:14.060 --> 00:07:17.620 reliant upon the dice roll in order to be the 00:07:17.620 --> 00:07:20.180 right choice when I'm testing. So that's a step 00:07:20.180 --> 00:07:22.519 one. There are times in a meta where we could 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:25.480 see a singular card that's so powerful or a singular 00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:28.879 synergy that's so powerful it could define a 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:31.560 format. I don't think we have that scenario happening 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:34.339 this time. I do think that there is a singular 00:07:34.339 --> 00:07:36.660 card that has my attention very specifically, 00:07:37.480 --> 00:07:39.579 do think that this kind of leads us into what 00:07:39.579 --> 00:07:42.259 is step two and that is try to find a deck that 00:07:42.259 --> 00:07:44.420 effectively beats the step one deck so if we 00:07:44.420 --> 00:07:46.819 think that the aggro decks are going to be the 00:07:46.819 --> 00:07:48.519 best decks out of the gate because they're not 00:07:48.519 --> 00:07:50.759 losing a lot and they're very streamlined they 00:07:50.759 --> 00:07:53.439 have a great card velocity they do a lot of effective 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:57.240 things then we need a deck that beats that traditionally 00:07:57.240 --> 00:07:59.660 in trading card games, I'm sure everybody is 00:07:59.660 --> 00:08:01.259 getting to know this at this point, if you have 00:08:01.259 --> 00:08:03.459 an aggro deck, you're going to want to counter 00:08:03.459 --> 00:08:05.980 that typically with a mid -range deck. And I 00:08:05.980 --> 00:08:08.920 think that the mid -range decks to beat are going 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:12.259 to be Amethyst, which is not atypical of Lorkana 00:08:12.259 --> 00:08:15.899 at all. But I think there's one card, and you'll 00:08:15.899 --> 00:08:18.009 have to give me the full... name of it because 00:08:18.009 --> 00:08:19.790 it's in front of you, but there's one specific 00:08:19.790 --> 00:08:22.509 card that I think is going to end up defining, 00:08:22.689 --> 00:08:25.009 at least in the very early part of the metagame, 00:08:25.069 --> 00:08:27.470 what a mid -range deck is. Sam, what's this card? 00:08:27.709 --> 00:08:31.149 It's Dumbo, Ninth Wonder of the Universe. Yeah, 00:08:31.269 --> 00:08:33.570 it is. And if you don't know what that card does, 00:08:33.750 --> 00:08:36.840 it's a... four cost inkable character. He's a 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:41.659 3 -3 evasive that has exert this character, pay 00:08:41.659 --> 00:08:45.059 one, draw a card, and gain a lore. Also making 00:08:45.059 --> 00:08:47.620 history, your other characters with evasive gain 00:08:47.620 --> 00:08:50.899 also the same thing. So exert, pay one, draw 00:08:50.899 --> 00:08:53.100 a card, and gain a lore. Yeah. For the cost of 00:08:53.100 --> 00:08:56.340 a four cost 3 -3 -1, it's a fine stat line. It's 00:08:56.340 --> 00:08:58.360 got evasive. Okay. Now we're talking about something 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:00.860 like a little worse than the rider, the common 00:09:00.860 --> 00:09:03.019 from, I think it was set eight or seven, one 00:09:03.019 --> 00:09:05.629 of the two. It's an Amethyst Common 3 -4 -1 evasive. 00:09:05.710 --> 00:09:07.250 So it's like, okay, Dumbo is just worse than 00:09:07.250 --> 00:09:10.090 this card. Right. That is true. But the ability 00:09:10.090 --> 00:09:13.470 to turn all of your evasives into card advantage 00:09:13.470 --> 00:09:17.970 is crazy. Now, usually the tension is card advantage, 00:09:18.049 --> 00:09:21.330 or do you want to gain a tempo advantage and 00:09:21.330 --> 00:09:24.070 push yourself towards winning the game? That's 00:09:24.070 --> 00:09:26.470 what the usual tension is. We see this with songs. 00:09:26.590 --> 00:09:28.710 In order to sing a song with a character, you 00:09:28.710 --> 00:09:32.039 are giving up. lore that wins you the game, but 00:09:32.039 --> 00:09:35.399 you are saving ink resources that let you add 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:38.279 to the board to further a long -term game plan. 00:09:38.460 --> 00:09:40.940 I would have expected this Dumbo to exert, give 00:09:40.940 --> 00:09:43.480 all your evasives, pay one, exert, draw a card. 00:09:43.620 --> 00:09:46.419 That's still insane to me, but the fact that 00:09:46.419 --> 00:09:49.350 you also push towards winning the game when you 00:09:49.350 --> 00:09:52.590 do this is crazy. This card does a lot of heavy 00:09:52.590 --> 00:09:55.490 lifting, it generates a ton of card advantage, 00:09:55.710 --> 00:09:58.789 and it doesn't put you behind in the game on 00:09:58.789 --> 00:10:01.629 multiple resources by doing it. You're not taking 00:10:01.629 --> 00:10:04.490 time off from gaining lore to gain cards, you're 00:10:04.490 --> 00:10:07.629 doing both at the same time. So any evasive character 00:10:07.629 --> 00:10:10.289 that natively quests for one, if you have one 00:10:10.289 --> 00:10:12.730 extra ink on your turn, you can turn that into 00:10:12.730 --> 00:10:17.230 a card, which is And I think that this evasive 00:10:17.230 --> 00:10:19.970 style deck, whatever color Amethyst is going 00:10:19.970 --> 00:10:21.649 to pair it with, there are some really good options 00:10:21.649 --> 00:10:24.110 across multiple different colors. Probably just 00:10:24.110 --> 00:10:26.690 not Amber. Honestly, it's the only one that doesn't 00:10:26.690 --> 00:10:29.830 have that evasive or evasive on your turn ability. 00:10:30.029 --> 00:10:31.990 So it's probably the only color it really doesn't 00:10:31.990 --> 00:10:35.190 pair well with. So I think that that's a lot 00:10:35.190 --> 00:10:37.970 to like in any color, probably to pair it with 00:10:37.970 --> 00:10:40.090 minus Amber. I think you're going to see these 00:10:40.090 --> 00:10:44.029 Dumbo style evasive decks ruling the... mid -range 00:10:44.029 --> 00:10:46.250 turf because they could just draw so many cards. 00:10:46.350 --> 00:10:48.409 And there's such a pain in the neck for a lot 00:10:48.409 --> 00:10:50.649 of units to take down because of that evasive 00:10:50.649 --> 00:10:52.470 keyword. We're going to see a lot of air fights, 00:10:52.610 --> 00:10:54.370 which hasn't changed much, honestly, in Amethyst 00:10:54.370 --> 00:10:57.129 since the popularity of one Shadowfinder. I don't 00:10:57.129 --> 00:10:59.090 think that will have changed too, too much. I 00:10:59.090 --> 00:11:00.830 think we're just going to honestly see more of 00:11:00.830 --> 00:11:03.889 it. So it needs to be a thought going forward 00:11:03.889 --> 00:11:06.649 that this is going to be a strong mid -range 00:11:06.649 --> 00:11:08.909 choice. So you want to be testing synergies, 00:11:08.970 --> 00:11:10.370 right? Like a lot of the testing that's going 00:11:10.370 --> 00:11:12.769 to happen in the step two for Sam and I is going 00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:15.299 to be pairing Amethyst cards in some package, 00:11:15.379 --> 00:11:17.320 right? We want to find like the best Amethyst 00:11:17.320 --> 00:11:19.500 packet. So a line to me that stands out very 00:11:19.500 --> 00:11:23.840 clearly is Genie on four and then Dumbo on five. 00:11:23.879 --> 00:11:26.659 And then with the extra ink there, right? Because 00:11:26.659 --> 00:11:28.860 it's now the fifth turn, we're going to use that 00:11:28.860 --> 00:11:30.919 extra ink to exert our Genie and immediately 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:33.659 convert into a card. Early in the game, I don't 00:11:33.659 --> 00:11:36.059 mind giving up that second lure from Genie. I 00:11:36.059 --> 00:11:37.679 think that that card is worth more than that 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:39.360 lure at that point in the game. Obviously, as 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:41.700 the game goes later, that equation changes drastically. 00:11:42.059 --> 00:11:44.100 where I'll take lore above almost any amount 00:11:44.100 --> 00:11:46.440 of cards if it lets me close a game out sooner. 00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:48.639 But in the early part of the game, I don't mind 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:50.620 that. And there are plenty of four -cost evasives 00:11:50.620 --> 00:11:53.500 that we can pair that same combo with. It's just 00:11:53.500 --> 00:11:55.960 the idea of being card neutral through the entirety 00:11:55.960 --> 00:11:59.179 of that two -card line is very, very strong. 00:11:59.500 --> 00:12:01.600 And in some colors, we have even cheaper evasives 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:03.039 that you might not even be losing out on that 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:05.220 lore. Right. Like, if you wanted to pair this 00:12:05.220 --> 00:12:08.059 with Emerald, you could start on turn one. with 00:12:08.059 --> 00:12:09.679 your evasives, right? We can start off with a 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:11.940 little gift for Hercules and we can roll right 00:12:11.940 --> 00:12:15.399 into everybody's favorite bird. Good old Diablo, 00:12:15.740 --> 00:12:18.639 the two cost Diablo with challenger two and evasive. 00:12:18.659 --> 00:12:20.659 We can roll right into our - I was thinking Go 00:12:20.659 --> 00:12:23.120 -Go. Ah, Go -Go is another great choice, right? 00:12:23.139 --> 00:12:25.019 If you don't mind playing Go -Go on two, that's 00:12:25.019 --> 00:12:27.360 a totally fine choice there. A number of three 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:30.179 drop options for you that have evasive, including 00:12:30.179 --> 00:12:32.360 the new Dumbo that can give something else evasive. 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:33.580 If you're not lucky, maybe you're starting off 00:12:33.580 --> 00:12:35.120 on Cursed Merfolk. Let me just give my Cursed 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:37.299 Merfolk evasive. Little questy quest going. on 00:12:37.299 --> 00:12:39.820 that's great and then we can start exerting things 00:12:39.820 --> 00:12:42.740 once the four drop jumbo comes down on turn four 00:12:42.740 --> 00:12:45.480 or later and start drawing more cards the evasive 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:47.500 strategy gives you a lot of really good bodies 00:12:47.500 --> 00:12:49.799 for challenging things and the fact that you 00:12:49.799 --> 00:12:52.720 can take those bodies and convert them into cards 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:54.740 is great you can use something like if you were 00:12:54.740 --> 00:12:56.980 to pair it with ruby then moana great card to 00:12:56.980 --> 00:12:58.799 pair this with i'm either challenging with the 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:00.799 moana and giving something else a pump if i need 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:02.779 to deal with my opponent's board or i can use 00:13:02.779 --> 00:13:04.840 them to convert into cards so for sam and i this 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:07.690 is a very very promising and looks like it's 00:13:07.690 --> 00:13:11.049 a very powerful mid -range strategy to help overcome 00:13:11.049 --> 00:13:15.049 the level one or step one aggro decks that are 00:13:15.049 --> 00:13:17.490 going to come out with big heavy hitters. So 00:13:17.490 --> 00:13:19.750 I think that that's really effective things to 00:13:19.750 --> 00:13:22.309 be thinking about in that regard. Then obviously, 00:13:22.610 --> 00:13:25.549 step three is test, right? We're going to need 00:13:25.549 --> 00:13:28.269 to test. And I really want to call out not being 00:13:28.269 --> 00:13:32.389 afraid to test things that you think might stink. 00:13:32.590 --> 00:13:34.429 There is definitely a part of me that wants to 00:13:34.429 --> 00:13:37.769 play some kind of a red -green deck that is using 00:13:37.769 --> 00:13:41.029 hypnotic deduction to put songs back on top of 00:13:41.029 --> 00:13:43.210 my deck so that I can sing with Powerline and 00:13:43.210 --> 00:13:45.629 then sing that card I put back, right? I could 00:13:45.629 --> 00:13:47.570 put back the worst card in my hand in a pirate's 00:13:47.570 --> 00:13:49.789 life, then use Powerline's second ability to 00:13:49.789 --> 00:13:51.730 reveal that crappy card and that will go away, 00:13:51.929 --> 00:13:53.870 and then I'll sing that pirate's life, and whatever 00:13:53.870 --> 00:13:55.629 song I'm singing will give me the additional 00:13:55.629 --> 00:13:57.929 benefit of my opponent loses two. lore and i 00:13:57.929 --> 00:14:01.529 gained two lords fantastic yeah so will it be 00:14:01.529 --> 00:14:04.480 good i'm willing to wager it won't be Will I 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:06.840 test it? If there's time, I will. Because I do 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:08.840 think that if we get a song that's worth singing, 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:11.179 I mean, there is obviously Under the Sea coming 00:14:11.179 --> 00:14:13.419 back, which immediately strikes me as a very 00:14:13.419 --> 00:14:15.580 powerful thing to be doing with something like 00:14:15.580 --> 00:14:18.299 Powerline. If I can sing Under the Sea and then 00:14:18.299 --> 00:14:20.519 gain two lore and my opponent loses two lore, 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:22.860 that seems like a really good deal to me. So 00:14:22.860 --> 00:14:26.039 we'll keep looking at things to test. Weird ways 00:14:26.039 --> 00:14:28.279 to go. Should we be testing Ruby Steel? It's 00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:31.220 been long considered not a great deck. But is 00:14:31.220 --> 00:14:33.419 there enough cards? We get the Queen coming. 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:36.899 back the shift queen we get the stitch lilo combo 00:14:36.899 --> 00:14:39.379 we were talking about earlier we have a lot of 00:14:39.379 --> 00:14:42.059 powerful tools out there we have mulans that 00:14:42.059 --> 00:14:45.299 can shift into various other mulans the ruby 00:14:45.299 --> 00:14:49.159 mulan just the actual like ruby one not the ruby 00:14:49.159 --> 00:14:51.759 steel one can take down multiple cards at once 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:54.799 if that mulan shifts so it's a really powerful 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:58.870 option to take down a more wide board. It can 00:14:58.870 --> 00:15:01.710 also hit one thing on the ground and take things 00:15:01.710 --> 00:15:04.889 out that are evasive. So there's a lot of opportunity 00:15:04.889 --> 00:15:07.490 to test and we really need to find out what are 00:15:07.490 --> 00:15:09.690 the lines that are good and what are the other 00:15:09.690 --> 00:15:12.570 lines that can counter those very good lines. 00:15:12.909 --> 00:15:15.299 Test online. Test with your friends. Print things 00:15:15.299 --> 00:15:17.500 out. Jot it down on a piece of paper. Shove it 00:15:17.500 --> 00:15:20.559 in a sleeve and just practice. That is really 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:23.200 what you need to be doing at this point. I would 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:25.460 say definitely build one of these or if not both 00:15:25.460 --> 00:15:27.139 of these aggro decks. Even if you don't want 00:15:27.139 --> 00:15:28.460 to play them, that's okay. You just need one 00:15:28.460 --> 00:15:30.379 of the two of you to take turns playing the deck 00:15:30.379 --> 00:15:32.840 that nobody wants to play or whatever and test 00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:35.059 against the other deck. Then once you're confident 00:15:35.059 --> 00:15:36.559 the deck's your test, like, you know, I'm having 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:38.740 a pretty good matchup against aggro. Let's play 00:15:38.740 --> 00:15:40.860 both of our brews against each other and then 00:15:40.860 --> 00:15:43.100 battle back and forth that way. Don't give up. 00:15:43.210 --> 00:15:44.929 immediately on the level one decks either. They 00:15:44.929 --> 00:15:47.330 could definitely be just the best decks out of 00:15:47.330 --> 00:15:49.429 the gate. It could just be several weeks until 00:15:49.429 --> 00:15:51.970 we find a strategy that breaks up something very, 00:15:52.029 --> 00:15:54.350 very good. These decks all have insanely strong 00:15:54.350 --> 00:15:56.909 play patterns in them. So being able to take 00:15:56.909 --> 00:15:59.629 advantage of those, really smart. Also, don't 00:15:59.629 --> 00:16:01.769 dismiss the two best decks thinking that, well, 00:16:01.830 --> 00:16:04.029 everybody's going to be doing it. We can't beat 00:16:04.029 --> 00:16:06.169 it. You got to join it, right? It's got to be 00:16:06.169 --> 00:16:08.090 a consideration. You only have so much time to 00:16:08.090 --> 00:16:10.110 test, right? Some of these early pre -release 00:16:10.110 --> 00:16:12.049 tournaments take place the weekend the set comes 00:16:12.049 --> 00:16:13.690 out. So if you're going to play in a constructed 00:16:13.690 --> 00:16:15.850 event, and I got to stop now to give a shout 00:16:15.850 --> 00:16:17.370 out to our good friends at the Forbidden Mountain, 00:16:17.490 --> 00:16:20.809 who are holding a ridiculous event the Saturday 00:16:20.809 --> 00:16:23.070 after the set comes out. I think it's August 00:16:23.070 --> 00:16:25.870 30th. And they are pairing up with one of our 00:16:25.870 --> 00:16:28.269 other favorite places to play, Encounter Comics 00:16:28.269 --> 00:16:31.629 and Games. And they are coming together, a bunch 00:16:31.629 --> 00:16:34.950 of vendors, all coming to one really big event 00:16:34.950 --> 00:16:37.610 that is happening the day after. It's core constructed, 00:16:37.870 --> 00:16:39.429 which obviously would be with the new rotation 00:16:39.429 --> 00:16:41.590 in place. Everybody's bringing their best ideas. 00:16:41.639 --> 00:16:44.100 and their most ambitious hopes to try to take 00:16:44.100 --> 00:16:46.360 down this multi -case tournament. It's going 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:48.980 to be huge. So if you're in the greater Philadelphia 00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:51.480 area, the tri -state area, if you're from around 00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:53.399 Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, if you're 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:55.559 in that area, New York, anywhere around there, 00:16:55.620 --> 00:16:58.600 it's probably worth the pilgrimage down to check 00:16:58.600 --> 00:17:01.049 this tournament out. Big, big shout out to the 00:17:01.049 --> 00:17:03.090 Forbidden Mountain for putting on such a cool 00:17:03.090 --> 00:17:05.289 event. I'm happy to see something like that in 00:17:05.289 --> 00:17:07.089 our neck of the woods. Yeah, it's definitely 00:17:07.089 --> 00:17:09.869 exciting. So we'll be testing for sure. So I 00:17:09.869 --> 00:17:12.369 think that our predictions are pretty straightforward. 00:17:12.569 --> 00:17:14.230 I think we've been pretty transparent about how 00:17:14.230 --> 00:17:15.970 we think the meta is going to go. But I know 00:17:15.970 --> 00:17:18.970 a lot of people are looking at testing some amber 00:17:18.970 --> 00:17:21.849 cards like the Circle of Life. It's a very exciting, 00:17:21.950 --> 00:17:25.109 our first legendary rarity song. Yeah, I'm excited 00:17:25.109 --> 00:17:27.549 for it. Not to play it, just I'm excited for 00:17:27.549 --> 00:17:30.400 it. It's a strong... potential card. So we'll 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:32.140 see what people can make of it. Being able to 00:17:32.140 --> 00:17:34.259 use the steal ability to draw a card and discard 00:17:34.259 --> 00:17:36.920 a card and then use the circle of life quickly 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:40.259 with singers to get back something like the gigantic 00:17:40.259 --> 00:17:43.259 Mickey Mouse is a really cool idea. That big 00:17:43.259 --> 00:17:46.180 Mickey Mouse is scary. So you never know what 00:17:46.180 --> 00:17:48.740 will be really, really good. And one thing I 00:17:48.740 --> 00:17:50.559 want to caution, and then I'll get over to you, 00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:52.640 Sam, for any other advice that you might have 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:55.500 early into testing. But one big thing I'll warn 00:17:55.500 --> 00:17:59.619 about is I have a certain play style I really 00:17:59.619 --> 00:18:02.039 like, and I will tweak and fiddle with a deck. 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:04.940 And if that deck ends up not being so good, or 00:18:04.940 --> 00:18:06.900 I think that it has a good game into something 00:18:06.900 --> 00:18:08.920 that doesn't, I tend to get very irked about 00:18:08.920 --> 00:18:12.039 it and irritated with it. And I will try to point 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:14.420 my finger in different directions at first, but 00:18:14.420 --> 00:18:17.059 it's worth not getting married to any idea. We 00:18:17.059 --> 00:18:18.599 don't know what's going to work and what's not. 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:20.460 It's a brand new meta, right? We're in a world 00:18:20.460 --> 00:18:22.099 where we don't have to worry about putting damage 00:18:22.099 --> 00:18:24.160 on a daisy duck right now, because there's nothing 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:26.339 that's going to just completely wreck us for 00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:28.420 doing it. We don't have to worry about a lot 00:18:28.420 --> 00:18:31.640 of these play patterns that have evolved around 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:35.400 these very keystone cards. So I would say don't 00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:38.000 be precious with your ideas. Be willing to be 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:40.039 open to creativity. If you're testing with people 00:18:40.039 --> 00:18:41.880 and they give you suggestions or they mention 00:18:41.880 --> 00:18:43.779 like maybe this isn't a good idea, try not to 00:18:43.779 --> 00:18:46.279 be contentious or try not to be too offended. 00:18:46.420 --> 00:18:48.720 Be open to those things. If you're testing with 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:50.279 people, they're there because they want you to 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:52.359 do well and they want you to help them do well, 00:18:52.420 --> 00:18:55.339 right? High tide rises all ships. So we want 00:18:55.339 --> 00:18:57.140 to help each other. other and that sometimes 00:18:57.140 --> 00:18:58.900 is letting somebody know like i think you're 00:18:58.900 --> 00:19:00.960 kind of off base here like i think you're you're 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:03.720 just wandering off into the woods i need to kind 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:05.740 of pull you back to the trail a little bit because 00:19:05.740 --> 00:19:08.660 you're just cooking way too much over there so 00:19:08.660 --> 00:19:11.500 i would highly recommend that you don't get married 00:19:11.500 --> 00:19:14.440 to any one idea or deck because it just might 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:16.920 not be right could be that it is very early in 00:19:16.920 --> 00:19:18.740 testing and then somebody comes up with the better 00:19:18.740 --> 00:19:21.180 mousetrap and now it's like i have to imagine 00:19:21.180 --> 00:19:22.960 we're not going to be the only people on the 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:25.019 planet with a smaller card pool who have arranged 00:19:25.349 --> 00:19:27.230 some number of cards that look like this. So 00:19:27.230 --> 00:19:28.750 we have to entertain the notion that perhaps 00:19:28.750 --> 00:19:31.170 there's a better deck out there. So just don't 00:19:31.170 --> 00:19:34.109 think immediately or at any point in this process 00:19:34.109 --> 00:19:36.150 that you might have it solved because it's going 00:19:36.150 --> 00:19:38.589 to be hard to solve initially. So definitely 00:19:38.589 --> 00:19:40.869 don't be precious. Sam, what do you have for 00:19:40.869 --> 00:19:42.849 advice? Anything? I agree with you. Like, I mean, 00:19:42.869 --> 00:19:45.430 you can be open to all possibilities. I think 00:19:45.430 --> 00:19:47.690 just cards that we, especially from sets five 00:19:47.690 --> 00:19:50.390 through eight cards that we haven't played, it 00:19:50.390 --> 00:19:52.349 doesn't necessarily mean we won't play them because 00:19:52.349 --> 00:19:55.230 we have a whole new card pool. cards that weren't 00:19:55.230 --> 00:19:58.109 good could potentially be good we were just today 00:19:58.109 --> 00:20:00.990 building a deck and we looked at the card coda 00:20:00.990 --> 00:20:03.490 coda and we were just trying to look for the 00:20:03.490 --> 00:20:06.490 amber steel aggressive deck like what cards go 00:20:06.490 --> 00:20:09.009 in there and he's a 2 -1 that doesn't allow you 00:20:09.009 --> 00:20:11.329 to lose lore right and it's like maybe that'll 00:20:11.329 --> 00:20:13.529 be a good card because we're gonna see pirate's 00:20:13.529 --> 00:20:16.369 life back again being sung by power line so there's 00:20:16.369 --> 00:20:18.009 just i think you should just be open to looking 00:20:18.009 --> 00:20:20.210 at cards that we've kind of just swept under 00:20:20.210 --> 00:20:22.569 the rug before Right, don't be afraid to open 00:20:22.569 --> 00:20:25.799 the binder, crack open, blow off the dust. on 00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:29.119 the bulk and go back and reevaluate the cards 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:32.180 because ones that were underperforming now don't 00:20:32.180 --> 00:20:34.599 have those cards standing on top of them that 00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:37.019 made them unplayable before. It's definitely 00:20:37.019 --> 00:20:41.019 worth considering everything and anything. Be 00:20:41.019 --> 00:20:43.059 open, be excited, try different things. There 00:20:43.059 --> 00:20:45.099 might be a whole new way to play that you've 00:20:45.099 --> 00:20:49.299 never experienced. So don't be dismissive. Don't 00:20:49.299 --> 00:20:52.980 just look to do one thing. Be open, try different 00:20:52.980 --> 00:20:55.279 things. You might be surprised what you find. 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:57.839 No matter what you're doing, the best piece of 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:00.339 advice I can give you early in a format is keep 00:21:00.339 --> 00:21:00.940 questing.