May 12, 2024, 11:57:49 AM

Author Topic: attempt at a druid book  (Read 8322 times)

V10lentray

  • Member of Arcane Duels
  • Playtester
  • Legendary Mage
  • *
  • Posts: 749
  • Banana Stickers 1
    • View Profile
attempt at a druid book
« on: April 22, 2014, 01:43:18 PM »
[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname]First Druid Book[/spellbookname]
[mage]Druid[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNA01]4 x  Acid Ball[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKA01]3 x  Surging Wave[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNW01]4 x  Bloodspine Wall[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNJ02]2 x  Corrosive Orchid[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNJ12]1 x  Vine Tree[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNJ09]1 x  Samara Tree[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j13]1 x  Mana Flower[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNJ06]1 x  Nightshade Lotus[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNJ08]3 x  Seedling Pod[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNJ10]2 x  Stranglevine[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j22]2 x  Tanglevine[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNC17]1 x  Tataree[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC18]1 x  Togorah, Forest Sentinel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC06]1 x  Kralathor, The Devourer[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC20]3 x  Vine Snapper[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC21]3 x  Thornlasher[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC10]3 x  Raptor Vine[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1c13]1 x  Fellella, Pixie Familiar[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNE01]1 x  Barkskin[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e20]2 x  Harmonize[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e13]2 x  Eagle Wings[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e05]2 x  Cheetah Speed[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e25]2 x  Maim Wings[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNQ04]1 x  Druid's Leaf Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ06]1 x  Mohktari's Branch[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q22]1 x  Moonglow Amulet[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ08]1 x  Vinewhip Staff[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q19]1 x  Mage Wand[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNI02]3 x  Burst of Thorns[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]2 x  Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i07]2 x  Dissolve[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNI04]2 x  Renewing Rain[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i28]2 x  Teleport[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i24]2 x  Seeking Dispel[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]


This is basically me trying something. My playgroup for the most part only uses my stuff and only the basic builds from the instruction manuals. Tonight I was planning on doing a 4 player team game (i have 2 copies of Base game)

No idea what the others would want to play, but my hope is to have a custom book and do some cool stuff to encourage them to go out and buy their own stuff. This would also allow me, since they would get their own stuff to start running Organized Play leagues.

Any questions on my thought process on the build or opinions as to possible changes.
« Last Edit: April 22, 2014, 01:46:13 PM by V10lentray »
  • Favourite Mage: Wychwood Druid

Aylin

  • Sr. Mage
  • ****
  • Posts: 494
  • Banana Stickers 4
    • View Profile
Re: attempt at a druid book
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2014, 05:56:24 PM »
The formatting here is atrocious and hard to read. If you could adjust that in future to make it more readable it would make it easier to provide assistance.

Anyway, onto the book!
Drop the following:
Samara Tree
Fellella
3x Seedling Pod
Togorah
Tataree
3x Vine Snapper

Seedling Pods (and by extension Samara Tree) give you no benefit at all unless you let each Pod gather mana for at least 4 rounds after you summon it. If you try to rely on them you will be slow to respond to threats (Pods can only summon things in their own zone) and your opponents will be able to destroy your mana easily.

You only have 9 enchantments. That isn't enough to justify Fellella. On top of that, she doesn't really work well for Druids in particular. Even with more enchantments I don't think she'd be useful to you.

Togorah, while strong, is too expensive to use. If its attack was quick it might be a good choice, but overall it doesn't provide enough benefit for 21 mana.

Tataree is unfortunately too squishy to use unless you use Etherian Lifetree and Bull Endurance for it...which will cost you more mana than Tataree will provide. A waste of space.

Vine Snappers, while interesting, don't provide you with enough strategic benefit over casting Raptor Vines or animals.


I'd throw in a fourth Raptor Vine and some animals. Galador and Tarok at a minimum (they cover your flame vulnerability and your lack of flying creatures). You're going to need more enchantments: Rhino Hide, Bear Strength and Regrowth. There's not really a reason for you to take Eagle Wings either; the only things it would really benefit would be Kralathor and possibly Galador. I also recommend Enchanter's Ring + Wand of Healing over Mohktari's Branch + Vinewhip Staff as well; you probably won't use the abilities on Vinewhip much (if ever).

Also more Dissolves and Dispels. Oh yes, and don't forget Rouse the Beast.

gw

  • Full Mage
  • ***
  • Posts: 159
  • Banana Stickers 1
    • View Profile
Re: attempt at a druid book
« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2014, 06:28:33 PM »
Yea, Aylin knows what he is talking about. Listen to him.  :)
OCTGN: gw (GMT+1 currently)

Lord0fWinter

  • Warden of the North
  • Playtester
  • Legendary Mage
  • *
  • Posts: 623
  • Banana Stickers 7
  • www.magewars.weebly.com
    • View Profile
Re: attempt at a druid book
« Reply #3 on: April 22, 2014, 06:35:08 PM »
Yea, Aylin knows what he is talking about. Listen to him.  :)

She :)
  • Favourite Mage: Darkfenne Necromancer
Visit my Mage Wars blog at www.magewars.weebly.com, also check me out on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MageWarsBlog and on twitter at @MageWarsBlog

gw

  • Full Mage
  • ***
  • Posts: 159
  • Banana Stickers 1
    • View Profile
Re: attempt at a druid book
« Reply #4 on: April 22, 2014, 06:40:05 PM »
I am sorry. Won't happen again.  8)

Yea, Aylin knows what he is talking about. Listen to him.  :)

She :)
OCTGN: gw (GMT+1 currently)

Aylin

  • Sr. Mage
  • ****
  • Posts: 494
  • Banana Stickers 4
    • View Profile
Re: attempt at a druid book
« Reply #5 on: April 22, 2014, 08:18:41 PM »
I am sorry. Won't happen again.  8)

Yea, Aylin knows what he is talking about. Listen to him.  :)

She :)

XD Awesome



Anyway, I forgot something! Armour! You'll want armour for your chestpiece and cloak... Personally I recommend the Dragonscale Hauberk since that why you'll be resistant to the damage type your creatures are vulnerable to. Elemental Cloak is always a good idea (some players bring 2, but I think 1 is a minimum) since it protects you against the two most comment elemental types: fire and lightning. Storm Drake Hide is also a good choice, though lots of Lightning damage isn't as common anymore. Bearskin is an ok choice since it's cheap for Druids, though it's just Armour +2 right now.

For a while my Druid was using Dragonscale Hauberk and Bearskin with two copies of Elemental Cloak.
« Last Edit: April 22, 2014, 08:21:55 PM by Aylin »

V10lentray

  • Member of Arcane Duels
  • Playtester
  • Legendary Mage
  • *
  • Posts: 749
  • Banana Stickers 1
    • View Profile
Re: attempt at a druid book
« Reply #6 on: April 23, 2014, 07:08:23 AM »
[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname][/spellbookname]
[mage]Druid[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNA01]3 x  Acid Ball[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKA01]3 x  Surging Wave[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNW01]4 x  Bloodspine Wall[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNJ02]1 x  Corrosive Orchid[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNJ12]1 x  Vine Tree[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j13]2 x  Mana Flower[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNJ10]1 x  Stranglevine[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j22]2 x  Tanglevine[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNJ03]1 x  Etherian Lifetree[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNC06]1 x  Kralathor, The Devourer[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC21]3 x  Thornlasher[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNC10]4 x  Raptor Vine[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKC03]1 x  Galador, Protector of Straywood[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1c36]1 x  Tarok, the Skyhunter[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNE01]1 x  Barkskin[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e20]2 x  Harmonize[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e05]2 x  Cheetah Speed[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e25]2 x  Maim Wings[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e36]2 x  Rhino Hide[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e01]2 x  Bear Strength[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e32]2 x  Regrowth[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNQ04]1 x  Druid's Leaf Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q22]1 x  Moonglow Amulet[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q19]1 x  Mage Wand[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q09]1 x  Enchanter's Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNQ09]1 x  Wand of Healing[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q06]1 x  Dragonscale Hauberk[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q07]1 x  Elemental Cloak[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWQ10]1 x  Storm Drake Hide[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNI02]3 x  Burst of Thorns[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]3 x  Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i07]3 x  Dissolve[/mwcard]
[mwcard=DNI04]2 x  Renewing Rain[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i28]2 x  Teleport[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i24]2 x  Seeking Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i23]3 x  Rouse the Beast[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]

Here are the changes
  • Favourite Mage: Wychwood Druid

Aylin

  • Sr. Mage
  • ****
  • Posts: 494
  • Banana Stickers 4
    • View Profile
Re: attempt at a druid book
« Reply #7 on: April 23, 2014, 01:33:16 PM »
Here are the changes

As before, it's nearly impossible to read like that. If you could reformat it I'll take a look.

V10lentray

  • Member of Arcane Duels
  • Playtester
  • Legendary Mage
  • *
  • Posts: 749
  • Banana Stickers 1
    • View Profile
Re: attempt at a druid book
« Reply #8 on: April 23, 2014, 07:49:52 PM »
I have no idea how you want it formatted. This is how the spell book editor formats it for the forums.
  • Favourite Mage: Wychwood Druid

Aylin

  • Sr. Mage
  • ****
  • Posts: 494
  • Banana Stickers 4
    • View Profile
Re: attempt at a druid book
« Reply #9 on: April 23, 2014, 07:57:28 PM »
I have no idea how you want it formatted. This is how the spell book editor formats it for the forums.

If you could put each type of spell on a different line at least it would be better. As it is everything just runs together making everything hard to read.

sIKE

  • Playtester
  • Legendary Mage
  • *
  • Posts: 4172
  • Banana Stickers 18
  • Ugh
    • View Profile
Re: attempt at a druid book
« Reply #10 on: April 23, 2014, 08:17:26 PM »
@Aylin,

What browser are you using?
  • Favourite Mage: Malakai Priest

V10lentray

  • Member of Arcane Duels
  • Playtester
  • Legendary Mage
  • *
  • Posts: 749
  • Banana Stickers 1
    • View Profile
Re: attempt at a druid book
« Reply #11 on: April 23, 2014, 08:28:03 PM »
Apparently your computer is screwed up or something, but the forum layout, the spellbook maker provides, lays out everything all nice and neat.  .

Attack Spells

Acid Ball - 3
Surging Wave - 3

Conjuration

Bloodspine Wall - 4
Corrosive Orchid - 1
Vine Tree - 1
Mana Flower - 2
Stranglevine - 1
Tanglevine - 2
Etherian Life Tree - 1

Creature -

Kralathor, the devourer - 1
Thornlasher - 3
Raptor Vine - 4
Galador, Protector of Straywood - 1
Tarok, the Skyhunter - 1

Enchantment -

Barkskin - 1
Harmonize - 2
Cheetah Speed - 2
Maim Wings - 2
Rhino Hide - 2
Bear Strength - 2
Regrowth - 2

Equipment -

Druid's Leaf Ring - 1
Moonglow Amulet - 1
Mage Wand - 1
Enchanter's Ring - 1
Wand of Healing - 1
Dragonscale Hauberk - 1
Elemental Cloak - 1
Storm Drake Hide - 1
Burst of Thorns - 3

Incantations -

Dispel - 3
Dissolve - 3
Renewing Rain - 2
Teleport - 2
Seeking Dispel - 2
Rouse the Beast - 3
  • Favourite Mage: Wychwood Druid

Arlemus

  • Full Mage
  • ***
  • Posts: 193
  • Banana Stickers 1
    • View Profile
Re: attempt at a druid book
« Reply #12 on: April 23, 2014, 10:25:03 PM »
The layout seems fine to me.

Don't drop Tataree, Samara Tree, Snappers, and Mohktari's branch, and the seedling pods.  Give them a try, see if they fit your playstyle. 

Tataree and Samara work very well together (pods only take 2 turns to pop with Tataree), make sure you use the vine markers to put your pods where you need them, and even if someone attacks them they need at least a 5dice attack to have an expected chance to kill them.  If they're wasting a 5 dice attack on the pods, you should welcome it.  Also, remember that you can QC Tataree, and he has an infinite 3+ defense.  Sure, someone can kill him, but they're either losing mana on it by the time they get to him with an unavoidable attack or fighting a huge uphill probability battle. 

Snappers are extremely undercosted; Place them well and you'll see returns, especially if you rouse them (2mana for 5 dice is strong) and put them next to lashers.

Moktari's branch does what the healing wand does, except in 1 action.  There's nothing wrong with it, you just pay 2 more mana for the convenience and the fact that you're not even paying for the heal, which is automatically 1 health instead of the expected 2. 

Togorah is a situational creature, like many large creatures.  If you don't want to include him, that makes perfect sense.  That doesn't mean he, or any other situational card, is bad. 

Have fun.
  • Favourite Mage: Darkfenne Necromancer

Aylin

  • Sr. Mage
  • ****
  • Posts: 494
  • Banana Stickers 4
    • View Profile
Re: attempt at a druid book
« Reply #13 on: April 24, 2014, 12:36:08 AM »
@Aylin,

What browser are you using?

It looks the same to me on two separate computers. Chrome and Firefox in Windows and Firefox in Linux. No change; everything is just bunched together.

Apparently your computer is screwed up or something, but the forum layout, the spellbook maker provides, lays out everything all nice and neat.  .

Not sure what's going on then. It's only your stuff that's looking weird to me.

Quote
Attack Spells

Acid Ball - 3
Surging Wave - 3

Conjuration

Bloodspine Wall - 4
Corrosive Orchid - 1
Vine Tree - 1
Mana Flower - 2
Stranglevine - 1
Tanglevine - 2
Etherian Life Tree - 1

Creature -

Kralathor, the devourer - 1
Thornlasher - 3
Raptor Vine - 4
Galador, Protector of Straywood - 1
Tarok, the Skyhunter - 1

Enchantment -

Barkskin - 1
Harmonize - 2
Cheetah Speed - 2
Maim Wings - 2
Rhino Hide - 2
Bear Strength - 2
Regrowth - 2

Equipment -

Druid's Leaf Ring - 1
Moonglow Amulet - 1
Mage Wand - 1
Enchanter's Ring - 1
Wand of Healing - 1
Dragonscale Hauberk - 1
Elemental Cloak - 1
Storm Drake Hide - 1
Burst of Thorns - 3

Incantations -

Dispel - 3
Dissolve - 3
Renewing Rain - 2
Teleport - 2
Seeking Dispel - 2
Rouse the Beast - 3

Looks good; it's got all the basics. I think you might be able to get away with 1 copy of Regrowth if you wanted to make space for something else. I look forward to seeing how your book changes as you use it more.

Don't drop Tataree, Samara Tree, Snappers, and Mohktari's branch, and the seedling pods.  Give them a try, see if they fit your playstyle. 

Mohktari's Branch is decent. The others...not so much.

Quote
Tataree and Samara work very well together (pods only take 2 turns to pop with Tataree),

If you use Tataree on your Seedling Pods, every round you'll spend 2 mana to get 3 mana back in two rounds.

Compare that with Tataree + Vine Tree; every round you just get 2 mana.

One is clearly superior, and it isn't the Samara Tree.

Quote
make sure you use the vine markers to put your pods where you need them, and even if someone attacks them they need at least a 5dice attack to have an expected chance to kill them.  If they're wasting a 5 dice attack on the pods, you should welcome it.

If they have a creature that can take out your Seedling Pods in 1 hit, you're losing out in this exchange. They're spending an action and 0 mana every time they attack one (and 16 mana for a Vampire is probably the most expensive thing they'd summon for this), while you're spending an action and 2 mana every time (with an 8 mana investment at the start). They break even AT MOST after destroying 4 pods (and there are cheaper ways of getting a 5-die attack), and that's only talking about mana + actions. You're also losing your Vine Markers during this as well, which is very painful. I don't know why you'd be happy about that, especially since they have the OPTION to hit your Pods...such as hitting every Pod you place on the field between your mage and their creature.

But in the best case scenario for you, you not losing pods prematurely, you're using your Vine Markers to cast Seedling Pods that will mature two rounds from now IF you're using Tataree (otherwise three). When they do mature, you can't use your Vine Markers to have them cast anything outside of their own zone, meaning your opponent will always know where you can summon a new creature or conjuration. There is no way for you to react with your spawnpoint like you could if you had Vine Tree. On top of that, you're eating your Vine Markers early (before you've built up, which reduces the tactical options your Druid has), and using more spellpoints than a Druid running Vine Tree would.

Now, what's the benefit you get from all of these downsides? Your spawnpoint could can now additionally cast other Trees, Mana Flower, Wall of Thorns, and Togorah. Out of the entire list Wall of Thorns is the only one that sucks to lose. But is it worth having all of those downsides? Hell no.

Summary:

Pro Samara Tree:
Slightly increased list of spells that can be cast.
Costs 1 less mana initially.

Con Samara Tree:
3 turn delay (2 with Tataree) in order to cast anything worthwhile.
Can't make extra Vine tokens.
Significantly reduced tactical options (notably, hindering your ability to respond to new threats or attack weak spots in your opponent's position).
Pods are relatively easy to destroy.
Requires at least three more spellpoints than Vine Tree to run.

The costs aren't worth the benefits here. The only time I would ever run Samara over Vine is if I wanted to deliberately handicap myself for a particular match.

Quote
Also, remember that you can QC Tataree, and he has an infinite 3+ defense.  Sure, someone can kill him, but they're either losing mana on it by the time they get to him with an unavoidable attack or fighting a huge uphill probability battle.

When I was running Tataree I found that it often died to either AoE attacks or Idol of Pestilence without my opponent devoting any resources to it at all. The remainder of the time it died to a creature that was enchanted with Falcon Precision (people have this in their books anyway because of the Forcemaster) as part of a Sweeping Attack, which wouldn't have otherwise hit anything (rather, they would have used the standard single-target attack instead, such as on Adramelech).

If opponents actually had to put thought into killing Tataree I'd run it. But in my experience it's just wasted mana unless I can keep it alive for 7+ rounds.

Quote
Snappers are extremely undercosted; Place them well and you'll see returns, especially if you rouse them (2mana for 5 dice is strong) and put them next to lashers.

They're undercosted, but they cannot move. I cannot stress that enough. For only a little bit more mana you could instead cast the much better Raptor Vine, which not only is Vampiric, but it can also move.

Quote
Moktari's branch does what the healing wand does, except in 1 action.  There's nothing wrong with it, you just pay 2 more mana for the convenience and the fact that you're not even paying for the heal, which is automatically 1 health instead of the expected 2. 

No one uses Wand of Healing for the 2-die heal unless they've got nothing else to do. They use it remove condition markers. The important considerations are the following:
Do I care more about a ring slot or a hand slot?
Do I care more about removing conditions from my tree or from myself and my non-plant creatures?

Generally I find the discount rings are better than anything I could put in a hand. If you don't find them valuable, then switch. But Wand of Healing >>>>> Vinewhip Staff, which is why I made the recommendation that I did.

Quote
Togorah is a situational creature, like many large creatures.  If you don't want to include him, that makes perfect sense.  That doesn't mean he, or any other situational card, is bad. 

Have fun.

Togorah is underpowered and expensive. Not the worst thing to include in a book, but there are better options.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2014, 01:15:38 AM by Aylin »

Arlemus

  • Full Mage
  • ***
  • Posts: 193
  • Banana Stickers 1
    • View Profile
Re: attempt at a druid book
« Reply #14 on: April 24, 2014, 02:14:01 AM »

Don't drop Tataree, Samara Tree, Snappers, and Mohktari's branch, and the seedling pods.  Give them a try, see if they fit your playstyle. 

Mohktari's Branch is decent. The others...not so much.

Quote
Tataree and Samara work very well together (pods only take 2 turns to pop with Tataree),

If you use Tataree on your Seedling Pods, every round you'll spend 2 mana to get 3 mana back in two rounds.

Compare that with Tataree + Vine Tree; every round you just get 2 mana.

One is clearly superior, and it isn't the Samara Tree.

Quote
make sure you use the vine markers to put your pods where you need them, and even if someone attacks them they need at least a 5dice attack to have an expected chance to kill them.  If they're wasting a 5 dice attack on the pods, you should welcome it.

If they have a creature that can take out your Seedling Pods in 1 hit, you're losing out in this exchange. They're spending an action and 0 mana every time they attack one (and 16 mana for a Vampire is probably the most expensive thing they'd summon for this), while you're spending an action and 2 mana every time (with an 8 mana investment at the start). They break even AT MOST after destroying 4 pods (and there are cheaper ways of getting a 5-die attack), and that's only talking about mana + actions. You're also losing your Vine Markers during this as well, which is very painful. I don't know why you'd be happy about that, especially since they have the OPTION to hit your Pods...such as hitting every Pod you place on the field between your mage and their creature.

But in the best case scenario for you, you not losing pods prematurely, you're using your Vine Markers to cast Seedling Pods that will mature two rounds from now IF you're using Tataree (otherwise three). When they do mature, you can't use your Vine Markers to have them cast anything outside of their own zone, meaning your opponent will always know where you can summon a new creature or conjuration. There is no way for you to react with your spawnpoint like you could if you had Vine Tree. On top of that, you're eating your Vine Markers early (before you've built up, which reduces the tactical options your Druid has), and using more spellpoints than a Druid running Vine Tree would.

Now, what's the benefit you get from all of these downsides? Your spawnpoint could can now additionally cast other Trees, Mana Flower, Wall of Thorns, and Togorah. Out of the entire list Wall of Thorns is the only one that sucks to lose. But is it worth having all of those downsides? Hell no.

Summary:

Pro Samara Tree:
Slightly increased list of spells that can be cast.
Costs 1 less mana initially.

Con Samara Tree:
3 turn delay (2 with Tataree) in order to cast anything worthwhile.
Can't make extra Vine tokens.
Significantly reduced tactical options (notably, hindering your ability to respond to new threats or attack weak spots in your opponent's position).
Pods are relatively easy to destroy.
Requires at least three more spellpoints than Vine Tree to run.

The costs aren't worth the benefits here. The only time I would ever run Samara over Vine is if I wanted to deliberately handicap myself for a particular match.

Quote
Also, remember that you can QC Tataree, and he has an infinite 3+ defense.  Sure, someone can kill him, but they're either losing mana on it by the time they get to him with an unavoidable attack or fighting a huge uphill probability battle.

When I was running Tataree I found that it often died to either AoE attacks or Idol of Pestilence without my opponent devoting any resources to it at all. The remainder of the time it died to a creature that was enchanted with Falcon Precision (people have this in their books anyway because of the Forcemaster) as part of a Sweeping Attack, which wouldn't have otherwise hit anything (rather, they would have used the standard single-target attack instead, such as on Adramelech).

If opponents actually had to put thought into killing Tataree I'd run it. But in my experience it's just wasted mana unless I can keep it alive for 7+ rounds.

Quote
Snappers are extremely undercosted; Place them well and you'll see returns, especially if you rouse them (2mana for 5 dice is strong) and put them next to lashers.

They're undercosted, but they cannot move. I cannot stress that enough. For only a little bit more mana you could instead cast the much better Raptor Vine, which not only is Vampiric, but it can also move.

Quote
Moktari's branch does what the healing wand does, except in 1 action.  There's nothing wrong with it, you just pay 2 more mana for the convenience and the fact that you're not even paying for the heal, which is automatically 1 health instead of the expected 2. 

No one uses Wand of Healing for the 2-die heal unless they've got nothing else to do. They use it remove condition markers. The important considerations are the following:
Do I care more about a ring slot or a hand slot?
Do I care more about removing conditions from my tree or from myself and my non-plant creatures?

Generally I find the discount rings are better than anything I could put in a hand. If you don't find them valuable, then switch. But Wand of Healing >>>>> Vinewhip Staff, which is why I made the recommendation that I did.

Quote
Togorah is a situational creature, like many large creatures.  If you don't want to include him, that makes perfect sense.  That doesn't mean he, or any other situational card, is bad. 

Have fun.

Togorah is underpowered and expensive. Not the worst thing to include in a book, but there are better options.

I don't think your comparisons are fair in almost every case because the cards compared do such vastly different things (Trees, creature actions vs spawnpoint actions, healing wand vs vine staff) but to each their own.  All I was trying to say was that while he should take into considering what everyone was saying, he shouldn't just write cards of as bad without trying them for himself.



  • Favourite Mage: Darkfenne Necromancer