A Few Beastmaster Openers

[residualshade]

Jim, what has been your experience with opening a turn 2 grizzly? What kind of responses have you seen from your opponent? I feel like there are some really strong spells for relatively cheap that quickly stop single-badasses like the Grizzly? Not being critical, just curious.

As for the 2 mana flower opener, Koz - I think you may be right about versatility, and I've run out of reasons for liking mine better so I'm changing it.

I'm now thinking my opener looks like this:

19-00 Turn 01
14-00 Mana Flower
09-00 Mana Flower

20-00 Turn 02
05-00 Lair
01-00 Harmonize

12-03 Turn 03
03-00 Timber Wolf (Pet)
01-00 Enchantment
01-00 (None - Fast Cast)

I still end up with the same amount of mana, and a timber wolf as a pet (which I love, so strong - compare the power of him versus Red Claw based on mana). Then, on turn three instead of doing the nullify on turn two I have the opportunity to make a decision on what kind of enchantment I'd like depending on what my opponent is doing. Great!

ran this opener last night. worked wonderfully. had a warlock try to get up in my face turn 2. dropped the pet wolf on turn 3 and he spent the rest of the game unsuccessfully trying to get away from the both of us. i spent post turn 3 casting 1 equipment then melee attacking. on turn 3 i cast gauntlet's of strength instead of the enchantment. was a really awesome psuedo-solo opening.

[LumberjackJim]

So I finally had a chance to play again, and I tried the round 2 super grizzly strategy, and I have to say, I would not recommend it.  The grizzly didn't get force held or put to sleep, and I was able to run him right up to the priestess and start wailing on her.

Except she had Deflection Bracers, so I kept missing.  And she used Pillar of Light and managed to stun my bear after I played a Battle Fury on him.  It took her several rounds to deal with the grizzly, but she spent those rounds summoning creatures from her Temple, while I spent those turns trying to actually hit her with the grizzly.  I ended up with no spawnpoint and a significant mana deficit.  She ended up with a Unicorn, Brogan Bloodstone, a Royal Archer, and two Clerics.  When my bear finally bit the dust I was sitting two zones away with only Fellela to protect me.  

The lesson to take away from this is don't start the game by bringing yourself down to zero mana.  It puts you in a bad spot.

[Tacullu64]

So I finally had a chance to play again, and I tried the round 2 super grizzly strategy, and I have to say, I would not recommend it.  The grizzly didn't get force held or put to sleep, and I was able to run him right up to the priestess and start wailing on her.

Except she had Deflection Bracers, so I kept missing.  And she used Pillar of Light and managed to stun my bear after I played a Battle Fury on him.  It took her several rounds to deal with the grizzly, but she spent those rounds summoning creatures from her Temple, while I spent those turns trying to actually hit her with the grizzly.  I ended up with no spawnpoint and a significant mana deficit.  She ended up with a Unicorn, Brogan Bloodstone, a Royal Archer, and two Clerics.  When my bear finally bit the dust I was sitting two zones away with only Fellela to protect me.  

The lesson to take away from this is don't start the game by bringing yourself down to zero mana.  It puts you in a bad spot.

I'm certainly not going to argue with your conclusion.

Its hard to tell by your write up but it sounds like Lady Luck didn't smile on you either. Although once again it's hard to tell from your write up you also make it sound like your opponent may have out maneuvered you on the battlefield too. If that is the case it sounds like you just had a bad game. Change a few tactical decisions, manage your mana better and you might be able to get by with some tweaks instead of a total rewrite.

[LumberjackJim]

I would hate to admit to being outmaneuvered, but I will say two things: 1) Lady Luck was indeed unkind for the first 5 rounds or so.  2) I did expend too great an effort trying to make the bear tank "work".  Should have tried to get something else going while he distracted her.

Things I learned:

1) If you do go this route, let the bear take care of himself.  No need to get greedy and cast Bear's Strength or Battle Fury or other similar spells on him.  He's big enough as is, so focus on something else.

2) Do NOT go solo big creature against a Priestess.  She has way too much crowd control, and you will spend most of that creatures actions rolling against dazes or removing stuns.  Against the Priestess, I'd take quantity over quality.

3) Try to avoid getting down below 5 mana if you don't have a spawnpoint out.  After I got my Bear out, I realized I would be very mana limited for a while, especially if I tried to cast two spells a round.  As a result, it took me far too long to get a spawnpoint out, and I just couldn't catch up to my opponent in terms of creature strength.

Perhaps one of you better, more experienced players will try this and make it work, but I'm going to stay away from the Super Grizzly opener for a while.

[Tacullu64]

I would hate to admit to being outmaneuvered, but I will say two things: 1) Lady Luck was indeed unkind for the first 5 rounds or so.  2) I did expend too great an effort trying to make the bear tank "work".  Should have tried to get something else going while he distracted her.

Things I learned:

1) If you do go this route, let the bear take care of himself.  No need to get greedy and cast Bear's Strength or Battle Fury or other similar spells on him.  He's big enough as is, so focus on something else.

2) Do NOT go solo big creature against a Priestess.  She has way too much crowd control, and you will spend most of that creatures actions rolling against dazes or removing stuns.  Against the Priestess, I'd take quantity over quality.

3) Try to avoid getting down below 5 mana if you don't have a spawnpoint out.  After I got my Bear out, I realized I would be very mana limited for a while, especially if I tried to cast two spells a round.  As a result, it took me far too long to get a spawnpoint out, and I just couldn't catch up to my opponent in terms of creature strength.

Perhaps one of you better, more experienced players will try this and make it work, but I'm going to stay away from the Super Grizzly opener for a while.

All three points sound good.

Did your Beastmaster suit up and fight along side his bear? It sounds like the answer would no because he was supporting the bear. The reason I'm asking is I was thinking of running the Beastmaster my next game with the path to victory being a sustained assault with my Beastmaster and his pet. I was thinking of using a timber wolf instead of the bear. I was also going to equip the staff of the beast and gauntlets of strength. I figured I would be launching my main assault a couple of turns later than normal so I thought I would cast a couple of early level 1 creatures to harass my opponent and give him something to play with while I was suiting up. Do you have any insight into the viability of this strategy.

Oh and by the way, I meant no offense with the out maneuvered comment. I can tell you I've been out maneuvered before and I learned more from that than any 3 victories combined.