Beastmistress Openings

[Aarrow]

Beastmistress is my favorite deck!, but I'm torn between various opening strategies.  All have been successful for me, but I think it has more to do with knowing my opponent's strategy than being able to handle surprises.

My most aggressive is:
Turn 1-
Move Twice (1,1) and plant a Lair (1,0).
Turn 2-
Deploy a Wolf (Pet), Move Twice (2,0), and summon a Falcon.
Each successive turn I Deploy a Falcon, Attack, Summon a Fox, and hold an extra card (Dissolve, Dispell, etc) to play when needed instead of the Fox.
When I reach 4+ creatures in their zone, I'll start to Jinx right before their action phase to stop the zone attacks.
-This strategy is best used against a defensive Mage.  Every critter can attack from their summoned zone. I only get 11 mana for summoning every turn (Falcon & Fox), or I use Fox's Mana to rip away defenses with Dispel.  Due to the lack of enchantments, they can kill my Pet easier, but I just create another Falcon Pet and concentrate on the offensive.

2nd Strategy-
Turn 1-
Move (1,0) and equip Ring of Beasts, and plant a Lair (1,0).
Turn 2-
Deploy a Wolf (Pet), Move Twice (2,0), and summon a Fox (or my only Bobcat depending on where the opposing mage is).
The following turns are the same as the 1st opening (Falcon, Attack, Fox)
-Since the Lair is one zone further from their corner, this works well against midspeed Mages who don't camp.  It's essentially the same strategy and speed, but it gives me 1 extra mana a turn to help deal with surprises.

3rd Strategy (Slowest)-
Turn 1-
Move (1,0), plant a Lair (1,0), and Harmonize it.
Turn 2-
Deploy a Wolf (Pet), Move Once (1,0), equip Enchanter's Ring, and enchant my Pet.
Turn 3-
From here I summon one Wolf/Falcon per turn, and hold two cards- one enchantment, one defensive.
-This slower strategy gives my spellbook the most versatility.  This works best against aggressive mages, and gives me 12 mana a turn to deploy and play a card, and keep attacking like the others.  This way I can speed it up with Rouse the Beast, or buff my mage with equips, or plant curses on my opponent.

Please tell me any weaknesses of my openings and/or things to consider.

I'd rather be prepared to face magestyles, rather than rely on playstyles of my opponents.

[mitkosim]

Something you should consider is that you can't deploy your pet. You need to summon the creature you are going to make your pet (it's the same with the Bloodreaper).

[Gewar]

Something you should consider is that you can't deploy your pet. You need to summon the creature you are going to make your pet (it's the same with the Bloodreaper).

I think you are wrong. The wording is "when s friendly non-Legendary animal creature comes into play, you may make it your Pet" - there is no requariment of Mage summoning it. It only has to be friendly (so even if your Ally summons an animal, you may make it your Pet).

[DarthDadaD20]

When a friendly non-Legendary animal creature
comes into play, you may make it your Pet. Pay
mana equal to the creature’s Level +1, then
place the Pet marker on it. Pet gains Melee +1,
Armor +1, and Life +3. Whenever Pet is in the same
zone as his Beastmaster, it gains an additional Melee
+1. If Pet is destroyed, you may assign the marker again
in the same manner when a new animal is summoned.

Edit: Gewar, I missed your post.....So, here is the card text everyone....you are welcome... :whistle:

[Gewar]

When a friendly non-Legendary animal creature
comes into play, you may make it your Pet. Pay
mana equal to the creature’s Level +1, then
place the Pet marker on it. Pet gains Melee +1,
Armor +1, and Life +3. Whenever Pet is in the same
zone as his Beastmaster, it gains an additional Melee
+1. If Pet is destroyed, you may assign the marker again
in the same manner when a new animal is summoned.

Edit: Gewar, I missed your post.....So, here is the card text everyone....you are welcome... :whistle:

I'll let you have my quantum banana sticer, kind sir.

[mitkosim]

I seem to remember there being a topic about this way back when but maybe I am misremembering. I stand corrected.

[DarthDadaD20]

When a friendly non-Legendary animal creature
comes into play, you may make it your Pet. Pay
mana equal to the creature’s Level +1, then
place the Pet marker on it. Pet gains Melee +1,
Armor +1, and Life +3. Whenever Pet is in the same
zone as his Beastmaster, it gains an additional Melee
+1. If Pet is destroyed, you may assign the marker again
in the same manner when a new animal is summoned.

Edit: Gewar, I missed your post.....So, here is the card text everyone....you are welcome... :whistle:

I'll let you have my quantum banana sticer, kind sir.

Well its kind of strange. I did not see your post at all. After I had submitted mine, I saw yours. Now, I thought, "That dirty Gewar!!!! He somehow managed to submit faster then me!" So I went back to type a nasty edit talking about your deceit, deception, and defamation, of yours truly. And then I saw that your post was twenty minutes before mine. Now I have to assume that your trickery knows no bounds.  :lol:

[Gewar]

When a friendly non-Legendary animal creature
comes into play, you may make it your Pet. Pay
mana equal to the creature’s Level +1, then
place the Pet marker on it. Pet gains Melee +1,
Armor +1, and Life +3. Whenever Pet is in the same
zone as his Beastmaster, it gains an additional Melee
+1. If Pet is destroyed, you may assign the marker again
in the same manner when a new animal is summoned.

Edit: Gewar, I missed your post.....So, here is the card text everyone....you are welcome... :whistle:

I'll let you have my quantum banana sticer, kind sir.

Well its kind of strange. I did not see your post at all. After I had submitted mine, I saw yours. Now, I thought, "That dirty Gewar!!!! He somehow managed to submit faster then me!" So I went back to type a nasty edit talking about your deceit, deception, and defamation, of yours truly. And then I saw that your post was twenty minutes before mine. Now I have to assume that your trickery knows no bounds.  :lol:

You know - I know people, who know people... and I can do stuff

On Topic - I really like those strategies and they are surelly will inspireing for me. But I've got sympathy for Fellella and will try to include her

[Koz]

Well, one thing I wanted to point out in your strategy is that you mention putting Jinx on your opponent to stop the zone attack spells, but this doesn't work.  Jinx only cancels "Quick spells" while zone attack spells are Full Action spells.  

As a matter of fact, there is no counter for a zone attack spell (unless you count Forcefield).  They cannot be Jinxed and they ignore Defenses, Blocks and Reverse Attacks.  It's one of the reasons why I consider swarm builds to be among the weakest, because there is nothing you can do about zone attacks and they shred swarms.  

Hopefully they come up with a true counter to zone attacks at some point.  That would give swarms a boost.

[dexmark]

@Aarrow.

Did you try the opening with summoning your familiar (enchanter) while casting a face down cheetah speed on you while you are moving? 2nd turn may try to buff yourself and add a mana crystal while you are moving in as being aggressive. Each turn the familiar also cast a face down enchantment on you + you are are casting face down enchantment. At the third turn just reveal what buff you need to pound on the poor mage. Each turn you reveal new buff as needed. Must bring Nullify on you.

I remember that strategy really well. Death of an opposing Agressive Mage in 4 or 5 turns with my familiar doing the killing blow.

Buff/cards that will help you is Elusiveness + cheetah speed + Bear Strength + Battle Fury + Dissolve + Force Push + Teleport Trap (just in case you are facing a mage that keeps on running with Teleport spell) + Mage Wand with Teleport.+ Nullify

[Aarrow]

Well, one thing I wanted to point out in your strategy is that you mention putting Jinx on your opponent to stop the zone attack spells, but this doesn't work.  Jinx only cancels "Quick spells" while zone attack spells are Full Action spells.  

As a matter of fact, there is no counter for a zone attack spell (unless you count Forcefield).  They cannot be Jinxed and they ignore Defenses, Blocks and Reverse Attacks.  It's one of the reasons why I consider swarm builds to be among the weakest, because there is nothing you can do about zone attacks and they shred swarms.  

Hopefully they come up with a true counter to zone attacks at some point.  That would give swarms a boost.

Who invited Captain Buzzkill!?  Lol!    ....Seriously, thanks for pointing that out.  I can't believe I missed that!
My solution:
I will replace my Jinxes with Force Push (brings them up to 6).  I may keep one in for the game winning round to seal a Pet attack.  
Since I already run the Thorn/Push combo (soo effective!), I'll just split up my hoard to no more than 2-3 per zone.  I'll keep my mage attack, but move out to shove the opposing mage back and forth each round after I've got a swarm built. (I only lose additional foxes this way).
It works like this:
Two adjacent zones (one with mage/Pet/maybe flier, and the other with 2-3 critters).  The opposing mage is in one of them.
After the attacks in the opposing mage's zone, I move out sideways from the adjacent zones and cast Wall of Thorns between the adjacent zones, and quickcast Force Push the opposing mage through the Wall into the rest of my pack.
I can do this all in one action for 11 mana without any opponent responses (except enchant reveals).

Obviously this is most effective against solo or low creature builds.  (but if they have many creatures, I'm not too worried about zone attacks anyway!)

Like?

[Aarrow]

@Aarrow.

Did you try the opening with summoning your familiar (enchanter) while casting a face down cheetah speed on you while you are moving? 2nd turn may try to buff yourself and add a mana crystal while you are moving in as being aggressive. Each turn the familiar also cast a face down enchantment on you + you are are casting face down enchantment. At the third turn just reveal what buff you need to pound on the poor mage. Each turn you reveal new buff as needed. Must bring Nullify on you.

I remember that strategy really well. Death of an opposing Agressive Mage in 4 or 5 turns with my familiar doing the killing blow.

Buff/cards that will help you is Elusiveness + cheetah speed + Bear Strength + Battle Fury + Dissolve + Force Push + Teleport Trap (just in case you are facing a mage that keeps on running with Teleport spell) + Mage Wand with Teleport.+ Nullify

I haven't done much with the familiar yet.  I zoned in on Lair, but this sounds interesting and I'll definitely give it a try!

As for the buff cards-
x1 Mongoose- Not vital, but definitely helps with guards and teleporting mages leaving their "buddy" behind.
x2 Falcon Precision- Vital when facing Forcemaster or other defenses.
x2 Bear Strength- Great for the wolf Pet or Mage
x2 Battle Fury- Early game I'd rather be summoning and attacking, but late game it's amazing!
x2 Rouse the Beast- Same as above
x2 Call of the Wild- I really only use one for the kill shot if the math works out. (basically summon the swarm first, then Battle Fury if wolf Pet is alive, otherwise Rouse beast, then Call)
x1 Cheetah Speed- Only late game for the wolf Pet, since everyone else has fast. (if they're on the run, I usually have a swarm and just slowly move my mage toward them casting two buffs instead)
x2 Teleport- I've only used this once after I set the wall combo and the opposing mage teleported out, just to bring him back in....  even then I could've just abandoned the wall and chased him down. (love the Thunderift Falcons!... soo borken!)
x2 Decoy- Simply to gain mana in games I cast the Enchanter's Ring
x3 Rhino Hide- I'll be going up to four or more now that I know Jinx doesn't stop zone attacks.  They are the best Bird enchantment, as cheap as block, and lets me absorb 2, maybe 3 attacks instead of one!
x1 Marked for Death- Only if I've got the mana for it (Call is 2 mana cheaper and isn't stopped by Nullify)
x2 Block- Great on everyone, especially against higher creature builds
x1 Divine Protection- I'm torn between this and Rhino Hide... how does the math work out?
x2 Agony- The best curse in the game!
x2 Nullify- Amazing card, but loses it's value in swarm builds (it's just there for the Pet until (if) they change the control rule, and my mage)
x1 Mind Control- same as above
x1 Poisoned Blood- I want to go up to 2 now that I know you can "counter" heal spells!
x1 Jinx- as stated above
x2 Retaliate- 2 mana cheaper (with ring) than Battle Fury, but more vulnerable and situational
x1 Maim Wings- Love this card!  I've had games where the opposing mage summons a huge/annoying flier against my birds...  no more! lol...  saves them for a turn or two and lets my puppy chew on them.
x1 Magebane- Meh...  I'm not sure on the ruling here...  If spawnpoints/battle forge/familiars don't count as casting spells, then I'll probably take it out.  (I'll get more mileage from Marked for Death)
x1 Regrowth- Never used it yet.  It's there for my mage
x1 Bull Endurance- cuz I had room?
x2 Force Hammer- obelisk...  Obelisk!...  OBELISK!!!
x2 Dispel- Staple
x3 Dissolve- Dancing Scimitar, Armor, and Armor
x2 Shift Enchantment-  If I have initiative and know someones gonna die, or switch a block over to save a badly damaged critter for cheap.
x1 Dragonscale Hauberk
x1 Elemental Cloak
x1 Regrowth Belt
x1 Leather Boots
x2 Wall of Thorns

[Gewar]

Well, one thing I wanted to point out in your strategy is that you mention putting Jinx on your opponent to stop the zone attack spells, but this doesn't work.  Jinx only cancels "Quick spells" while zone attack spells are Full Action spells.  

As a matter of fact, there is no counter for a zone attack spell (unless you count Forcefield).  They cannot be Jinxed and they ignore Defenses, Blocks and Reverse Attacks.  It's one of the reasons why I consider swarm builds to be among the weakest, because there is nothing you can do about zone attacks and they shred swarms.  

Hopefully they come up with a true counter to zone attacks at some point.  That would give swarms a boost.

Who invited Captain Buzzkill!?  Lol!    ....Seriously, thanks for pointing that out.  I can't believe I missed that!
My solution:
I will replace my Jinxes with Force Push (brings them up to 6).  I may keep one in for the game winning round to seal a Pet attack.  
Since I already run the Thorn/Push combo (soo effective!), I'll just split up my hoard to no more than 2-3 per zone.  I'll keep my mage attack, but move out to shove the opposing mage back and forth each round after I've got a swarm built. (I only lose additional foxes this way).
It works like this:
Two adjacent zones (one with mage/Pet/maybe flier, and the other with 2-3 critters).  The opposing mage is in one of them.
After the attacks in the opposing mage's zone, I move out sideways from the adjacent zones and cast Wall of Thorns between the adjacent zones, and quickcast Force Push the opposing mage through the Wall into the rest of my pack.
I can do this all in one action for 11 mana without any opponent responses (except enchant reveals).

Obviously this is most effective against solo or low creature builds.  (but if they have many creatures, I'm not too worried about zone attacks anyway!)

Like?

I am currently using Force Push (or Jet Stream) + Wall of Thorns combo as support for my swarm build. I am using lots of lvl 1 creatures (Foxes, Bobcats, Falcons and Bats) with little support of bigger ones (Wolves, Panther). I am using 2 Rajan's Furies and move a lot - pushes are very helpful to make additional charges.
I am keeping cratures spread to avoid zone attacks - one thing that hurts a lot is Chain Lightning.

I am also using Deathlock (+ Poison Blood as backup), as my creatures are often killed with one attack.

[sdougla2]

I'm not a fan of the Lair because it is fairly inflexible, quite expensive, and a BM can swarm effectively without it due to Quick Summoning. Fast swarms are vulnerable to various things, including zone attacks, Chain Lightning, and mana denial. It's good to have a big threat to supplement your swarm, since that way a single answer won't completely alleviate the pressure on your opponent.

I like Force Push with Wall of Thorns, and that works well with Bitterwood Foxes and Thunderdrift Falcons, since your creatures can chase down the enemy mage through the wall. Keeping your creatures in 2 zones helps a bit with zone attacks, but swarms are vulnerable to other things as well.

I like to open with a pair of Mana Flowers on the first turn, and then follow that up with a Ring of Beasts and an animal. Which animal I choose depends on my opponent. If I'm worried about Mordok's Obelisk, Suppression Orb, and Suppression Cloak, I go with Steelclaw Grizzly. If I want to play a mid range strategy, I go with a Timber Wolf.

Pet is more efficient on cheaper creatures. I use it on Bitterwood Fox or Thunderdrift Falcon. This makes it cheaper, and allows me to play a creature almost as tough as a Timber Wolf as a quick action.

If you can keep her alive, Fellella is amazing. She's much more flexible than the Lair.

[DarthDadaD20]

Liar is the hardest thing to kill though. Its worth the mana alone if your opponent spends the time and actions trying to get rid of it. Never mind the fact that you can get out three foxes on turn two with a lair. If you go the Grizzly buff route, then it might not be your best option, but other than that, Lair and Fellella with the Beastmasters ability make him......well.......a Beast.