What are some of your druid openings?

[Maverick]

I am looking for a rough 3-5 turn summary of how many of you open up with a druid.

 I am finding the delicate balance of early tree/vine/seedling pod construction while maintaining any semblance of a defense against rush tactics very difficult to muster.

[Wildhorn]

Cast Vine Tree on first turn and Barkskin facedown on yourself.

Then cast creature with the tree and leather glove/boots on yourself.

Just that should grant you a good chunk of survivability at low cost.

[echephron]

first pick your treebond. it tells you your opening turns because i cant imagine not casting a tree on turn 1. now i describe what my early turns would be spent making:

samara: a slow opening where you put seedlings everywhere, maybe a guard on samara. the goal here is a strong endgame via super channelling, and surviving that long with defense. This build seems most likely to get out a [mwcard=DNC18]Togorah[/mwcard] and [mwcard=DNQ04]Druid's Leaf Ring[/mwcard]. Leaf ring and vine tree makes no sense. barkskin and an intercept guard for samara are good here.

mohtari: this one is all about zone control. you always want to be under mohtari, and use non-regen creatures. look up my push bow tangle druid. the jist is to stay standing under the tree, which for me means ranged attacks and surging wave to discourage area flame attacks or push. a strategy could be made to pull them towards mohtari and melee them under it. you could still cast a vine tree with this(i do), but treebond the mohtari for something different. use thornlashers and tanglevines to do the zone control.

vine tree: more variety and the most common choice. Decide if you are using seedling pods for a longer game similiar to the samara build. You could also cast samara early(unclear if a seedling casting samara tree goes back into your spellbook), and spam seedlings, but i would still treebond the vine tree. if you get both spawnpoint trees, get out a meditation amulet asap.

if you want a shorter game, throw down some vine creatures instead of focusing on channelling. Likely two [mwcard=DNC21]Thornlasher[/mwcard] in the middle with a [mwcard=DNW01]Bloodspine Wall[/mwcard] between.

lifetree: I never lifebond him.

early game reactions:
if the enemy makes a spawnpoint(especially the larger ones), then i would keep casting [mwcard=DNC20]Vine Snappers[/mwcard] into that zone.

If he agros you early(like, turn 2), you can cast facedown rust, wall of thorns, and force push in a 3-at-once sort of way. or just cast the rust earlier, and hope he wont cast a nullify in between.

tips:
If you bleed enemy mage a lot(bloodspine wall, thorn burst, huinting bow), poisoned blood is a MUST. i can run 3.
Have a barkskin facedown on you incase things go sideways(even with mohtari). i rarely reveal it since its a huge mana drain.
Dont get stuck with finite life
You specifically are the master of dissolve and armor reduction. never let them have more than 1 armor or extra-useful equipment.
Check for nullify on their mage with rust(or decoy)



DEFENSE:
my defense is usually just rhino hide and a facedown barkskin. If those arent enough, get a little from equipment. I try to have 2 non-barkskin regen.

If you have 2 regen, 4 armor, and treebond, I wouldnt bother attacking you directly unless its to spike you to death. Increase the odds with [mwcard=MW1J08]Hand of Bim-Shalla[/mwcard] and [mwcard=MWSTX1CKQ01]Sunfire Amulet[/mwcard] if you want(6 heal per turn), but I never do.

it sounds like you are having trouble surviving early on, so i would recomend the vine tree shorter game I described or the defensive samara with 2 regen, 4 armor and an intercepting creature(angel or togorah).


------------------
if that was all too much for you....
turn 1:
19mana
11vine tree, doublemove mid
turn2
19mana
1doublevine, 7thornlasher into druids zone, 2barkskin or nullify, 7thornlasher into far mid zone
turn3
13mana
4Bloodspine Wall middle

....and the rest i leave up to you.

[Maverick]

I suppose I should input my theoretical opening that I am having trouble with.

Turn 1 - Samara tree and Vine tree
Turn 2 - Deploy two Seedling pods. Cast two Seedling Pods.
Turn 3 - Deploy two Seedling pods. Cast Druids Leaf Ring and Tataree
Turn 4 - Meditation Amulet and Vinewhip staff. Get wrecked because your only defense is a butterfly.

I want to build up aggressive mana economy with the seedling pods but it seems like I am shooting myself in the foot by doing so.

[echephron]

Turn 1 - Samara tree and Vine tree
Turn 2 - Deploy two Seedling pods. Cast two Seedling Pods.
Turn 3 - Deploy two Seedling pods. Cast Druids Leaf Ring and Tataree
Turn 4 - Meditation Amulet and Vinewhip staff. Get wrecked because your only defense is a butterfly.
I want to build up aggressive mana economy with the seedling pods but it seems like I am shooting myself in the foot by doing so.

ok, for one, if you have 2 spawnpoints, you should never use leaf ring, so cut that. a tanglevine or thornlasher turn 2 would help you a lot. think of it this way. if the enemy is comign at you rather than building economy, simply stalling the game gives you an advantage. thats where tanglevine comes in(or a wallofthorns->push).

[Maverick]

I suppose that makes sense. My only problem is I have 3 mana to work with on turn 3. I could do a face down enchantment but probably not a whole lot more. Maybe I should opt out of the 2 magecast seedling pods turn 2 and throw down Meditation amulet and Tataree instead? I could deploy the last two seedling pods turn 4.

So taking ecepheron's advice I am revising my turn by turn here is what I am thinking.

Turn 1 - Cast Vine Tree (Treebond) and Samara Tree.

Turn 2 - Deploy two Seedling pods. Cast Tataree and facedown Harmonize on Vinetree.

Turn 3 - Deploy two Seedling pods. Cast Meditation Amulet. Meditate for +3 mana. Reveal Harmonize on Vine Tree. Have Tataree add 1 mana to a seedling pod with 1 mana already on it.

Turn 4 - Deploy two Seedling pods. Seedling pod Tataree gave mana last turn hatches into (Raptor vine?). Meditate for +3 Mana. Tataree adds a mana to another seedling pod.

Turn 5 - Deploy Tanglevine on enemy and Seedling pod. Have a seedling pod hatch into (Raptor vine?). Meditate for +3 Mana. Tataree adds a mana to another seedling pod. Quickcast something with mage.

Any thoughts?

[sdougla2]

In general, you have to approach hardcore economic openings as the ideal case with contingencies for dealing with early aggression at every stage starting round 2. As an example, my Anvil Throne Warlord opening has numerous defensive options that I can use in place of full on economy if my opponent is aggressive. I can stop with most economy after my turn 1 Battle Forge + Construction Yard, use the Battle Forge to play General's Signet Ring and then pump out Armor, and start casting Orc Butchers with my mage. Or I can continue with the next round of economy and then use Meditation Amulet to give me the mana to power out creatures from the Barracks while equipping myself with Armor from the Forge.

You need to do some similar thinking here if you want your double Spawnpoint opening to work consistently. Consider something along these lines:

Full Econ:

Turn 1 (19): Tree Bonded Vine Tree -> Samara Tree (3)
Turn 2 (13) [1] [1]: Deploy Seedling Pod -> Deploy Seedling Pod -> Tataree -> FD Harmonize (1)
Turn 3 (11) [1] [1]: Deploy Seedling Pod -> Deploy Seedling Pod -> put mana on a Seedling Pod with Tataree -> Meditation Amulet -> Meditate -> Reveal Harmonize (4)

If you have to deviate early, maybe it could look something like this:

Turn 2 (13) [1] [1]: Deploy Seedling Pod -> Deploy Vine Snapper or Thornlasher -> FD Barkskin -> FD Brace Yourself (1)

or if you need to deviate on turn 3:

Turn 3 (11) [1] [1]: Deploy Seedling Pod -> Deploy Vine Snapper or Thornlasher -> Enchanter's Ring -> FD Barkskin or Brace Yourself (0)

I'm not as comfortable with the Samara Tree + Vine Tree double Spawnpoint options as I am with the Battle Forge + Barracks options so I'm not sure those are the best ways to go about setting up a defense, but you should be considering not only what your ideal efficient economic opening is, but how you can adapt each round starting round 2 to hold off aggression.

[zorro]

My druid usually go for quick confrontation positioning herself on center. I always use Vine Tree as my bonded tree and only spawnpoint



First turn, Vine Tree. Is my tree of reference, almost always drop it on my starting corner, and run to near center. I have 20 + 1 (on tree) mana for second turn

Then, If i go for offence,

2nd - Extra vine FC + deploy raptor vine in FC + Rouse the beast + Bear Strength on raptor + unroot if needed. Left 2-3 mana
3rd - Some defence on raptor (brace yourself/rhino hide) + whatever... acid ball if enemy armoured... bear strength on druid plus attack if not... another vine, now im confronting enemy and no more fixed plans

If on a more defensive posture (vs warlock or forcemaster mainly)

2nd - Extra vine + Raptor Vine+ defense on raptor (brace yourself/rhino hide) + barkskin on self. Left 7 mana
3rd - Then again, probably in the face of enemy, and reacting based on how he did. If a big creature in play, maybe another Raptor plus rouse it and acid ball if needed. and go for 10 dice againts critter. If a BIG creature, maybe the sleep vine conjuration....

(well, my defensive posture is pretty agressive anyway )

[gerni]

I play very reactively. The druid, in my opinion has a very strong early game with cheap and efficient creatures, if you are able to use them  (-> get them at key positions or immobilize the enemy). That being said, it is really hard to change tempo with the druid and IMHO you need to have some (or at least one) stronger creature(s), i.e. grizzlies.

I always open with:

1) Vine Tree + bond and double move to near center.

Then I start to play depending on the enemy's opening.

2a) Enemy is going to deploy an expensive creature.  -> I invest in Mana regeneration as long as there is no threat within the next round -> I'll take out the big boy with Banish.

2b) Enemy is going with aggressive spawn point(s). -> Here Druid shines, since she has the most Mana/Dice efficient creatures. I simply put down my Plants in the spawn point's zone, potentially using Rouse the beast.

2c) Enemy is going defensive spawnpoint(s) -> In this case, I need to have a good game plan. Going aggressive can work, since in my opinion, early game is where the druid's creatures are strongest. If decide to play slow, my usual core is a non-plant creature, like a grizzly or an angel.

In general, I tend to go very offensive with my mage, since I have 2 regeneration with Tree Bond which is super strong with just two cheap leather items to get some armor and Barkskin.

The first games i played, i totally stuck to my game opening, resulting in some fast losses. I think to fully maximize the Druid's potential, you need to play reactively, since her weapons are very strong but situational. If you learn how to make the right decisions you will have so much fun with the Druid.

Kind regards,
Gerni

[barriecritzer]

1) vine tree/harmonize
2) 2 mana flowers
3) either kralathor or a vine raptor with rouse the beast