Bitterwood Swarm Opening

[residualshade]

opening i stumbled into randomly while playing.

Turn 1 |19 Mana
Mana crystal/flower -5 Mana
Mana crystal/flower -5 Mana

End of Turn | 9 Mana

Turn 2 | 20 Mana
Lair -15 Mana
Ring of Beasts -2 Mana

End of Turn | 3 Mana

Turn 3 | 14 Mana | 2 Mana on Lair
Bitterwood Fox -3 Mana -2 Mana on Lair
Bitterwood Fox -4 Mana
Bitterwood Fox -5 Mana

End of Turn | 2 Mana

Turn 4 | 13 Mana | 2 Mana on Lair
Bitterwood Fox -3 Mana -2 Mana on Lair
Bitterwood Fox -4 Mana
Bitterwood Fox -5 Mana

End of Turn | 1 Mana

Light Mana opening into an explosive Swarm. having trouble figuring out how to get the last point of mana i need for the 3rd fox on turn 4.

[Koz]

You forgot to add your extra chanelling from the mana flowers on Turn 4, so you should have 13 mana which means you can pay for all the foxes and still have one mana left.

[residualshade]

awesome thx for the catch. i was wondering because i swore i did it legitimately during a game.

[paradox22]

This would be cool with a "canine build".  Maximum foxes and wolves lead by Redclaw.  Maximum rouse the beast and call of the wild.  The foxes can dish out some pretty lethal damage with all those buffs. Throw in the charge +1 conjuration and you've got a party!

[residualshade]

i got to run this opening last night. lesson of the day. do not try this vs wizards or warlocks. its a pretty good bet they will have electrify or firestorm and ruin your day. also this works awesome with animal kinship. drop 2 or 3 after you get the 6 bitterwood foxes out and they really start to hit like trucks.

[Locusshifter]

also this works awesome with animal kinship. drop 2 or 3 after you get the 6 bitterwood foxes out and they really start to hit like trucks.

Doesn't your mage gain the benefit of kinship, not the foxes? Perhaps you meant Call of the Wild?

[paradox22]

Yep, tried this as well...worked great.  Also used the conjuration that grants animals charge +1.  With call of the wild, moving foxes were rolling 5 dice each...pretty good.  When you move all your animals into one zone for the enemy Mage kill, you better kill him though.  The glaring flaw, as mentioned above, is zone attacks.  They will murder the swarm and ruin your day.

[residualshade]

also this works awesome with animal kinship. drop 2 or 3 after you get the 6 bitterwood foxes out and they really start to hit like trucks.

Doesn't your mage gain the benefit of kinship, not the foxes? Perhaps you meant Call of the Wild?

O_o i miss played this card terribly. i guess ill have to change to call of the wild on a wand or rajan's fury.

[Koy]

Various flavors of beast master swarm decks were very popular for a few game sessions, but as mentioned above, zone attacks are so efficient at stopping a swarm that particular book strategy has become nearly extinct.  In general the beastmaster is the least played Mage in my game circle.  I suspect it's related to this phenomenon of seeing your 5-8 level one creature swarm turning into a pile of goo from a single spell.

[krj]

1. Diversity is the solution.
2. Not keeping creatures in same zone.

[paradox22]

1. Diversity is the solution.
2. Not keeping creatures in same zone.

To get the most out of the swarm they eventually MUST all move into the same zone.

[baronzaltor]

An early game Pestilence Idol can give a swarm deck the business too.

It sucks having creatures already down 1 health before they even get to flip their action marker, and then down 2-3 more before they are in the frey.

[paradox22]

Agreed.  Also poison cloud on the BM's lair will ruin his day too.

[residualshade]

pestilence idol hasn't been that bad. unless my opponent shoves it in a corner i can attack it on the foxes first turn. an idol usually only lasts 2 turns against me. the only thing that really wrecks this opening's day is a electrify or ring of fire as they are highly likely to one shot my foxes even at full hp.

[krj]

To get the most out of the swarm they eventually MUST all move into the same zone.

so they have attacked already... not that bad deal.