Best opening for: Druid

[Werekingdom]

Best opening for: Druid
(I'll try to  keep this this forum updated from your feedback)

For the Druid I'm Going to assume that only the vine tree and mohktari tree are used. (if you can make a case for the Samara Tree then feel free to say it. I just can't see the advantage of the Samara over the other tree's.)

Vine Tree (Classic)
T1 (19): Vine Tree -9, Mana crystal -5,
T2 (16): Vine token from tree -1, Enchantment ring -2, FD enchantment -1 OR Creature -7 or less, Thornlasher -(6) from tree (middle zone for zone control),
      -More vines with the vine tree
      -Best zone control
      -Most versatile tree
      -Hydro immune: creatures and conjurations
      -Rooted (immune: Push and Slam)
      -Tanglevines!!! (For the guys that know my style of play, you know this is huge!)
      -In school to nature creatures (without pecks or discounts)
      -Regen: you don't need armor when you have a tree (and maybe Barkskin)
      -More actions with the spawnpoint (One of the best style of decks to use Meditation Amulet)
   Bad:
      -Weak vs fire
      -Predictably
      -Rooted / Lack Mobility (uproot)
      -Little Armor on Plants (only plants with armor is Kralathor and Togorah [and Togorah is not a vine creature])
      -High spell book points for weak vine creatures

Mohktari Tree
T1 (19): Mohktari Tree -8, Mana crystal -5,
T2 (17): Enchantment ring OR FD enchantment -2, Creature (usually animal) -15 or less,
      -More armor on tree (3 with tree bound instead of 2 with the vine tree)
      -Animal heavy decks: More mobility, more versatile, better options
      -Great for Range decks (stay in the Mohktari Tree  zone and you get Regen and Lifebound without any enchantments)
      -Ability to use creatures the Druid or Beastmaster would never normally use: Wolf Spider, Lighting Beetle, Togorah, ect. (insects, non-vine plants and other nature non-animal creatures)
   Bad:
      -No spawnpoint
      -Tend to have closer to the middle to use Regen ability on creatures (more likely to be attacked)
      -Lose some zone control power (less vines)
      -Lose mana with Mohtari vs Vine tree
      -Lack of actions (feels like you always trying to catch up, at least until you get creature superiority [Regen tree])

[Squirrelmaster]

I have had success with the Samara Tree, yes its not as good as the Vine Tree, but it is still a viable option. It is maybe a bit slower than the Vine tree. My usual opening is something like:

Turn 1: 19 mana deploy vine marker in same zone, QC Samara Tree and tree bond, main phase cast Tataree.

Turn 2: 16 mana and one on Tree. Deploy vine marker in adjacent zone. Deploy Pod on first vine marker. QC meditation amulet. main phase cast  meditate. Tataree add one mana to pod.

Turn 3: 23 mana, one on tree and two on pod. deploy vine marker. deploy pod using a vine marker. QC either Druids Leaf Ring/ Life tree (if playing Necro or low creature build). main phase. Tataree to put a mana on pod in starting zone. 17/10 mana cast face down nulify on self.

Turn 4: lets say we cast the ring. 27 mana one on tree, three on one pod, one on other. deploy vine marker. deploy pod using a vine marker. At this point I can cast anything in the book

As you can see this build generates mana pretty quick. I know the pods are fragile but they are cheap and have cantrip so not an issue and with Tataree you can sprinkle some magic and add mana to the pods. If the opponent concentrates on killing your pods, then you can hard cast what plants you need to kill them and if not let your garden flourish.
This can be tweaked against a rush build, without being too disruptive.
As I said its slower than the Vine tree and still susceptible to fire, but i like it as its something different.

[Kelanen]

I always open Vine Tree and Battleforge...

[Beldin]

I would say that you are correct in assuming that the first turn requires the druid casting a tree. The buffs this gives you for the cost of a tree is something you can never pass up. The question then becomes which tree?

I personally would say that the Vine Tree is the stronger candidate. It is an actual spawnpoint that is not limited to a single card. It spreads your vine markers quicker and allows you to spawn creatures without moving yourself.


Why not Mohktari?

The Mohktari tree gives your creatures regenerate, but your plants have that anyway; it has regenerate 2 itself (all the trees have this), and as long as you stay in range it gives you regen 2 as well. Tbh I toyed with this as a secondary tree to make a grove turtle druid, due to it lacking zone exclusive. However not as a primary tree.

Why not Samara?

In my opinion seedling pod says, add 3 mana to a creatures mana cost and delay the casting by 3 turns. Sure it can cast these conjugations but ONLY these. so this seriously restricts what it can cast and gives you more chance of having a stack of mana chips on this conjugation. This is slower and against rush decks it just seems too slow and an unnecessary cog in the druid machine.

[Werekingdom]

I have had success with the Samara Tree, yes its not as good as the Vine Tree, but it is still a viable option. It is maybe a bit slower than the Vine tree. My usual opening is something like:

Turn 1: 19 mana deploy vine marker in same zone, QC Samara Tree and tree bond, main phase cast Tataree.

Turn 2: 16 mana and one on Tree. Deploy vine marker in adjacent zone. Deploy Pod on first vine marker. QC meditation amulet. main phase cast  meditate. Tataree add one mana to pod.

Turn 3: 23 mana, one on tree and two on pod. deploy vine marker. deploy pod using a vine marker. QC either Druids Leaf Ring/ Life tree (if playing Necro or low creature build). main phase. Tataree to put a mana on pod in starting zone. 17/10 mana cast face down nulify on self.

Turn 4: lets say we cast the ring. 27 mana one on tree, three on one pod, one on other. deploy vine marker. deploy pod using a vine marker. At this point I can cast anything in the book

As you can see this build generates mana pretty quick. I know the pods are fragile but they are cheap and have cantrip so not an issue and with Tataree you can sprinkle some magic and add mana to the pods. If the opponent concentrates on killing your pods, then you can hard cast what plants you need to kill them and if not let your garden flourish.
This can be tweaked against a rush build, without being too disruptive.
As I said its slower than the Vine tree and still susceptible to fire, but i like it as its something different.

I have tried a opening similar to your opening. When playing against a non-competitive deck it works, otherwise it seems to fail on it's face. (it's definitely a mana superiority, which works if you can manage the damage early on in the game).

[wtcannonjr]

Samara Tree openings can be very strong in Domination mode games. The Orb Guardians act as protectors for the Seedling Pods rising up at their feet. It also takes precious actions to destroy them that are not used to win the race for an orb or two. So they can be excellent ways to flood the arena with mana generating spawnpoints that require the opponent to lose ground in the race for orbs when they spend actions to kill them.

[Biblofilter]

Im going to give the GW Wizard opening a try as a Druid.

10                                   20
Arcane Ring 2
Mana Crystal 4

11                                   25

9                                     19
Druid Leaf Ring 2
Mana Flower     4           

10                                   23

Even if Druid Leaf Ring isnt as usefull as Arcane Ring its an interesting opening. Having a lot of mana early should give you more options early on.

[Drefan]

I've tried a lot of different openers.
I've found that Vine Tree is my tree of choice and is always one of my actions in turn 1.
When it comes to my second spell, I've run with both Mana flower(why mana crystal?), leaf ring and even tried to spice it up a bit with meditation amulet.

It all depends on your book, but my choice is mainly to start with vine tree and mana flower. It's a stable opener for me since it doesn't really show any intention of what I'm doing.

The ring is really good when you want to build up a strong early economy, which can build momentum with the vine creatures being cheap and being able to spawn two creatures in a round, deploying + full action, to catch people off guard is always a nice play to do.

I used to run mediation amulet for a while to punish greedy builds by having my vine tree deploy vine creatures, me meditating, and gain a big momentum with the extra dice my creatures would bring to the table, especially when they do not have a deploy point.

I'd say there is never a "best opener" since it all depends on your opponents deck and your own, but If I would have to nominate an opener as the strongest, mana flower + vine tree would be my choice.

[Biblofilter]

[mwcard=MW1C13]Fellella, Pixie Familiar[/mwcard] deserves to get mentioned as well

Can´t go wrong with Flower and Vine Tree, but if i run Fellella i would always go for ini, and then play her round 1 vs another nature mage.

[Kelanen]

Im going to give the GW Wizard opening a try as a Druid.

10                                   20
Arcane Ring 2
Mana Crystal 4

Arcane Ring is Wizard only...

[Biblofilter]

Im going to give the GW Wizard opening a try as a Druid.

10                                   20
Arcane Ring 2
Mana Crystal 4

Arcane Ring is Wizard only...

Yes i know that.

Just first time i saw it was GW playing a Wizard so he had 25 mana at round 2.

If you try to do the "same thing" as a Druid it would be Druid Leaf Ring + Mana Flower i round 1.

"Only" leaves you at 23 mana at round 2.

And even if Leaf Ring don´t give a discount quite like Arcane Ring, you can use it for either a Mana Flower or a Plant Creature each round. At least in the early rounds.

I just think its worth trying.

And as a sidenote i try to mix things up a little, so i don´t get to predictable.

It shouldnt be good, if your opponent know exactly what you are going to do in advance.

[Werekingdom]

[mwcard=MW1C13]Fellella, Pixie Familiar[/mwcard] deserves to get mentioned as well

Can´t go wrong with Flower and Vine Tree, but if i run Fellella i would always go for ini, and then play her round 1 vs another nature mage.

Thanks for mentioning Pixie Familiar, I haven't seen her in such a long time that I forgot the Pixie Familiar opening.
I think the reason you don't see her that often is because she cost 12 mana (which is about normal for a familiar), the nature school just has so many great creatures that 12 mana seems like a lot for her.
In any other school she would an auto included, just not the nature school.

[Werekingdom]

Im going to give the GW Wizard opening a try as a Druid......... Even if Druid Leaf Ring isnt as usefull as Arcane Ring its an interesting opening. Having a lot of mana early should give you more options early on.

I like the idea of Druid Leaf Ring and Mana Flower or Tree. I tend to run a lot of tanglevines, so I can cast the tanglevines (with the discount) and the Tree could cast the creatures, this would make the Druid much more mobile.

Great opening

[RomeoXero]

I'm with werekingdom on this one. My default druid opener is druids leaf ring, vine tree. 4 mana tanglevines are nothing to sneeze at. Besides that there are a ton of awesome plant spells that i don't mind mage casting, like corrosive orchid, nightshade lotus, wall of thorns (making the druid one of two mages who can do the WoT force push combo for 10 mana), stranglevine etc.
The druid is a freaking powerhouse, and casting control spells from a full board away is insane. Any mana economy she can shake up is worth it, but make sure you don't over commit to mana. That's why an early tree and ring or flower and ring is such an attractive prospect.

[Sailor Vulcan]

Samara Tree openings can be very strong in Domination mode games. The Orb Guardians act as protectors for the Seedling Pods rising up at their feet. It also takes precious actions to destroy them that are not used to win the race for an orb or two. So they can be excellent ways to flood the arena with mana generating spawnpoints that require the opponent to lose ground in the race for orbs when they spend actions to kill them.

An enemy creature cannot protect a friendly creature or conjuration by guarding. Can it?


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