How has the Origins playest testing been going?

[Shad0w]

The point of this is not to give your build but to list the play style and what you have been testing against.


For example

FM buddy aggro Vs Wiz tele combo - Match favors Fm if you are very aggressive.

[The Dude]

EarthWizard big creatures vs BM swarm, demolishes BM

[Shad0w]

Any advice to those wanting to play BM?

[ringkichard]

I've played this matchup a bunch, with the caveat that my BM book doesn't have Rajan's Fury or Tooth and Nail, just a bunch of creatures.

My advice is that it doesn't work for the Beastmaster. The Wizard summons a big guard like Iron Golem, and a ranged creature like Gorgon Archer. Guarding Iron Golems will kill one level 1 a turn if you rush, and Gorgon Archer + Arcane Zap kills Hawks and Bats just fine. Poison Gas Cloud + Forcewave + Wall Of Stone will prevent you from bringing dangerous pressure. And if you do manage to bring enough pressure down, Earth Wizard has Damage Barriers and AOEs and other attacks spells for days and days.

And if the Beastmaster holds off, the Wizard has higher natural channeling, a very good spawn-point, and is better prepared for the long game because of arcane ring and the spellbook discount on Arcane.

The Beastmaster needs a plan B.
I understand the appeal of swarm strategies against Forcemaster, but Earth Wizard is totally unimpressed.
Unless someone finds a way to improve this matchup dramatically, my advice is that swarm BM is not tournament viable if the competition is playing much Earth Wizard (which I expect they will). 

[sdougla2]

When you say swarm BM, what do you mean? Are you talking about swarming starting turn 1, or playing a big creature turn 1 or 2, and following up with a swarm after that? Because I am convinced that swarming starting turn 1 is not generally viable in all matchups, and I think that a slower swarm is more generally viable.

I don't think it's as bad as you're saying, but I've only played the matchup a few times, so I could be wrong. It seems like there is plenty that the BM can do. Of course, I use totems, so that changes things a bit. You need to find ways to get your weenies past any guards. Restraining or Teleporting the guards can work well, but it's important to have a big creature like Redclaw to trigger guards if you can't bypass them for whatever reason.

[Shad0w]

This is exactly what I am looking for advice for player that are thinking about playing in the events. One of the things I hope to do this weekend Is post some build that my group was going to play, but if some of us want to play I will not make the builds public till after the show.

[ringkichard]

I was talking about something like
1. [19] Cheetah speed, Move 2, Ring of Beasts
2. [21] Fox, Fox
3. [21] Fox, Fox
4. [21] Move, Falcon, Enchantment
5. [23] Pet Steelclaw, Enchantment
6. [9] BM attacks, Shift Enchantment to move Cheetah Speed to Bear, reveals both enchantments.

Lets assume that the Beastmaster is cagy, and never presents a good opportunity to cast an AoE, but that the Wizard is cagy also, and doesn't try. Depending on who has initiative, the Earth Wizard can respond with something like

1. [20] Mana Crystal, Iron Golem (default opening against Beastmaster)
2. [13] Dragonscale Hauberk, move 1 forward, (conservation turn to learn what the BM is up to)
3. [16] Gorgon Archer
4. [11] Voltaric Shield, Poison Gas Cloud in Wiz's NC, Arcane Zap, move back if possible
5. [11] Voltaric Shield, Teleport/Force Push (Depending on what's happening with the slow creatures) and Arcane Zap, moving back if possible
6. [16] Voltaric Shield, Teleport, Stonegaze Basilisk

The Earth Wizard's goal here is to kill the level 1s with direct fire while stalling the Bear and the Beastmaster by pushing and teleporting into the Poison Gas Cloud. If a Bitterwood Fox takes 2 damage from a Poison Gas cloud, then Arcane Zap or a good roll on the Basilisk can be enough to kill it. Basilisk + Archer + Arcane Zap will kill weenies quickly. Then the Wizard will turn the Cripples and the Weak tokens onto the BM and the Bear. Meanwhile, the Iron Golem chills out on Guard, potentially being teleported back into position if the BM teleports him away. If the Wizard gets an opportunity to cast a second Archer while the first is still alive, it's all over but the crying.

How much slower an attack is the Beastmaster willing to make? Are you thinking of a Lair or multi-crystal opening? I don't think giving the Wizard more time to prepare a defense improves this matchup. The big flaw in the BM swarm plan is that it's so easy to kill weenies, and I don't think the Wizard will let the Beastmaster stockpile little furry missiles, but instead will hunt them with Archers and Rocks.

[sdougla2]

When I refer to a slow swarm, I'm thinking of an opening I like to do where I start with 2 Mana Flowers, drop a big creature, then build up a swarm (and totems if I get a chance). I prefer to lead with a big creature rather than with a swarm. Big creatures are generally less vulnerable to efficient answers, and it leaves me less vulnerable to anti-swarm conjurations. The slowest I attack is on turn 6, but that's mostly if my opponent turtles without dropping much in the way of ranged creatures.

You can kill the Poison Gas Cloud with Mage Staff. It's a problem, but not an insurmountable one. While Poison Gas Cloud is really annoying when combined with strong position control, it's pretty weak to ethereal attacks. Once I have the new spell tome, I'll be considering Divine Might so that I could let my big creature kill off things like Poison Gas Cloud. I also run a Force Hammer so that I have a ranged option for dealing with it.

If the Wizard starts killing off your swarm as much as possible, equipping armor, and using Voltaric Shield every round, you may be better off killing some of your opponent's creatures before going directly after the Wizard. The Wizard can setup a powerful board advantage if you let him. If you can rush down his ranged creatures, his position control becomes less of a problem.

Wand of Healing helps the BM deal with conditions, but I don't think that will be allowed at the tournament, so... Yeah, that may be a problem.

I'm not convinced that a Steelclaw Pet is the best option in this matchup. The Wizard has some of the best control options in the game, and you may be better off with a Steelclaw and a Timber Wolf Pet, but I would need to test that. Even using it on the weenies repeatedly may be a good idea, since it makes them tough enough that it will take an extra attack or 2 on average to kill them, and gives them a noticeable damage buff.

As for the guard, you can potentially Teleport the Iron Golem more than 2 spaces if you're not in the same zone, which may or may not be a good idea, depending on the game state.

[Fentum]

Hey Sdougla2, what's a totem?

[sdougla2]

Rajan's Fury and Tooth and Nail are totems.

[ringkichard]

Yeah, I definitely prefer 2x Steelclaw over Pet Steelclaw + Timber Wolf. Pet suffers too much from single target control. I'm also a big fan of repeating pet hawks; they're surprisingly durable, and hit well when helping in the BM's zone.

And on the subject of killing Gorgon Archer, yanking it into a deathtrap with teleport is fantastic. If you can anticipate the summon and teleport it immediately you can swing tempo in your favor significantly.