Scrolls...ok, wtf is going on?

[Flesh_Engine]

Hrmpf, why does nobody remember BattleTech: tcg, it was pretty cool and tactical during gameplay (you had to assign mechs to guard certain things, and they had different speeds depending on weight category) but i disgress.

I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and check it out later on, don't much like the artstyle though :/

[Stormweaver]

'end of this week' just became 2-4 weeks. Which is a real shame, because I can see the advantages of getting in early while people don't commonly know what's good yet -.-

[FlowerChild]

Hmmm...I'm beginning to feel a bit torn...

My games seem to be routinely lasting 30-50 turns vs other players. I'm definitely winning more than my fair share, but my deck seems to be extremely slow burn. Basically, defensive early game, slow build up, very powerful late game. I'm even routinely and intentionally sacrificing 2 idols early game as I focus on defending 3, which I think gives my opponents the impression they're about to win, only for me to start making a steady comeback. Basically, early game I focus on defending those 3 and culling as many of the enemy's units as possible. Eventually they are reduced to none, and only then do I start pounding idols (which usually only takes a couple of turns because I have multiple cannons in points and enchantments to up their rate of fire).

I guess I'm feeling torn as I think I'm realizing I must be annoying as fuck to play against because of this :)

I don't mind long games at all, I actually like them a lot, but what do you guys think: bad form?

[Sarudak]

I don't think there is bad form in a game like this as far as strategies go. Yeah some decks are annoying. I find spell heavy energy decks to be very annoying to play against but I certainly don't blame my opponent for using an effective strategy. I say play to win. And if your strategy is *too* effective it'll probably get nerfed ^.^

[Shengji]

...

Playing like that got me into platinum league in starcraft! I say that maintaining concentration is a skill and if you are better at it than others, then use it against them! As I understand it, defence is more efficient than attack in scrolls but there is likely a hard counter to a deck like yours!

[FlowerChild]

I don't think there is bad form in a game like this as far as strategies go. Yeah some decks are annoying. I find spell heavy energy decks to be very annoying to play against but I certainly don't blame my opponent for using an effective strategy. I say play to win. And if your strategy is *too* effective it'll probably get nerfed ^.^

Hehe...you'd probably hate playing against me then man, as yes, I'm very spell heavy as well. I know I've had people complaining about my constant use of instant unit vaporization spells in multiple games :)

But really, that's the thing with energy. You can't pump out a ton of weaker units like the other colors can, so while you work your way up to the higher level units you do have (and my impression is that energy has a larger number of more powerful units than the other colors), you have to make sure that you keep whittling down your opponent's forces. I've been hearing people playing energy that complain about having a hard time versus either growth or order, and I can only assume that it's because they're not doing this effectively because I haven't experienced that at all.

When you think about it, the spells themselves are rather high cost (I think I almost always spend more destroying a unit than was spent on summoning it) as they're a one shot deal where you have nothing on the board to show for it afterwards, whereas if you had summoned a unit with those points instead, you'd likely have both an offensive and a defensive unit on the board from that point forward that you could use again in following turns. So really, they're just a stop-gap measure which I personally think are best used while you build up towards something else.

[Sarudak]

We should play a game. :)

I bet you've had more time to practice than me though. :P

But that's ok I like losing! :D

[FlowerChild]

I'm in the lobby now if you want to fire me a challenge :)

[Sarudak]

Lol. I'm still slaving for the man. :P

Is your handle the same as on the forums? Or would you prefer to PM it to me?

[FlowerChild]

Yup, I'm FlowerChild on there as well. I've yet to receive any in-game hate for it ;)

[Pucc]

Is there a friend system in game yet? Or just based around lobbies?

I feel with order the longer the game pans out against energy the more chance they'll win. Most of my games particularly the ranked ones have only last 20-30 turns maybe less. I found a nice strategy with order if I get the right cards which puts the opponent on edge. I've had two people surrender on me really early game as they see what I have on the board and think they don't have a chance. It quite dependent on the cards I get though so its a bit risky and probably wouldn't fair too well against an ench heavy energy.

I've seen some interesting strategies from Nature opponents I've played (the Energy players at the moment seem a little lost). One used his ench spells to basically lock up half my units on one side of the board whilst the other strategy the opponent seemed to go for a juggernaut unit buffing a single one up like crazy. Fortunately for Order you can pummel the enemy repeatedly with the synergy between units making the latter not so effective but the former ruined me since I didn't get the ench cards I needed.

[FlowerChild]

(the Energy players at the moment seem a little lost)

Yeah...I get that impression too, which might be part of why people are kinda flipping out when they play against me.

I don't think most people tend to think in terms of the long-game right now, and I think that's what energy is ideally suited for, so it doesn't surprise me that many people haven't figured out how to really play it yet.

the other strategy the opponent seemed to go for a juggernaut unit buffing a single one up like crazy

That just sounds like a bad idea overall. I know that with energy I cream when I see high value single units as I can wipe them out with one spell. What tends to be more of a problem for me is if the opposition manages to field a shit-ton of cheap units (unless they're too tightly packed on the board mind you...then I laugh and generally say something demoralizing in chat).

[Pucc]

Oh, my handles same as my name on the forums (Pucc) if anyone wants to spar. I have bad luck so come hand me my arse!

Edit: Anyone got up to the hard trials yet? They're a bit mean.

[Wookieguy]

...My games seem to be routinely lasting 30-50 turns vs other players...

Yes, I experience this too. Last night, I had a 45 turn game against another Energy where he decimated two idols fairly early. I was able to suppress his units with what he called "dishonorable combos" and lucky spell draws to pull a slamming victory. Yes, he thought that my play felt "dishonorable", but it was mostly in jest. I had a blast with witty banter back and forth, especially since he was a fellow Energy.

I'm a bit disappointing that there isn't a way to choose your deck based on the enemy, which means there isn't much point to having multiple decks for different strategies once you find a good one. I see myself sticking with a constantly evolving deck that is hit or miss based on the random opponent. Does anyone think this could detract from the game? Is there a viable solution?

[danielngtiger]

Playing like that got me into platinum league in starcraft! I say that maintaining concentration is a skill and if you are better at it than others, then use it against them! As I understand it, defense is more efficient than attack in scrolls but there is likely a hard counter to a deck like yours!

The deck that came to mind for a counter would probably be fast ramp growth, or perhaps a 4-5 cost growth/ 3-4 cost order deck taking advantage of the memorials. If a deck could ramp fast enough they could probably overtake early defenses from energy.

I got a code for closed beta and had some fun playing energy as well. After they reset everyone back to no scrolls, I stopped playing for a while, but with the release I picked it up again and have had some fun with it. I have primarily played energy as well and do have long games. I haven't had much experience with people disliking energy's unit removal and such, except for one person who dropped a Kinfolk Brave on turn 2, which was immediately Sparked, to which he responded with "Get a real faction" and surrendered. I got the feel that he was a pretty young kid, but maybe he just hadn't played against a good Energy player before. I'm DrakonMechanum in-game if any one wants to challenge me.

[Detritus]

So at FC and Totalbiscuit's behest, I've picked up the game, and am having a blast. I picked energy, and I really see what you mean about protecting three of your idols with your life while building up your much larger scrolls - such as a Cannon Automaton - to eventually dominate the entire game.

[Pucc]

Good game FC. I had in my mind a similar strategy for energy if I was ever to use it so thanks for the confirmation and lesson. Order has a bit of trouble dealing with that, regardless of me being bit all over the place that game. I've been thinking of a decent counter to it from an order perspective best I could come up with is switch out some of my more costly units for more Kabonks, Pothers and Flips. You were pretty much using your defensive structures to lock me down having more of those cards could help me control your structures better but I'd still have very little to deal with the onslaught of ench cards you have bar a horde of cheap units.

I still uphold it wasn't a fair fight, you had your nipples out.

[TheGatesofLogic]

...

Playing like that got me into platinum league in starcraft! I say that maintaining concentration is a skill and if you are better at it than others, then use it against them! As I understand it, defence is more efficient than attack in scrolls but there is likely a hard counter to a deck like yours!

And exploiting those kinds of strategies got me into the Master League in StarCraft 2

[FlowerChild]

On the subject of locking down three idols: what I'm finding is key in the early game is controlling the center row. With energy, my units are less plentiful but generally more powerful, which definitely helps with that. I find what tends to happen when you do that, is that it funnels the enemy units towards one side of the board or the other, and then as I continue to develop, I lock down whatever side is opposite to where they've been focusing, which if things work out, leaves me with three beacons at full health to defend, and two rows where the enemy will have a very hard time defending. Most of the fight then comes down to the center row in the late game as well, where if the enemy's beacon is destroyed there, it's going to be very rough for them from that point forward.

So yeah, overall, I think controlling the center row is crucial to avoid having your defensive efforts split over the two halves of the board.

It's odd too, in that at the start I was really down on lobbers, but I'm actually now finding they make excellent walls for my front rank. They're relatively cheap, tend to disrupt the enemy's ability to deploy units in and around the rows they're in, and tend to have high hit point values. I think at the beginning my natural impulse was to deploy "artillery" towards the rear, but I'm finding doing the exact opposite to be most effective.

I still uphold it wasn't a fair fight, you had your nipples out.

I warned you from the start I had them out as a distraction!

Also, I'm rather hurt that you didn't even comment on my penis-hat :(

[Sarudak]

Excellent game flower! We must do that again sometime. :D

[Detritus]

Anyone who feels like playing a game with me is more than welcome to. I'll be available in two hours from now onwards.

[FlowerChild]

Excellent game flower! We must do that again sometime. :D

Absolutely, but it will have to wait until I have a larger variety of cards, as playing against an anti-energy deck when I can only field energy will get old real quick ;)

[Sarudak]

Hehe... It's not entirely anti-energy. I just had to shift both my deck and strategy because I kept getting owned by energy players. :P

I still do well against order and growth decks. But I also am looking forward to having more flexibility in deck construction. :D

[Pucc]

Also, I'm rather hurt that you didn't even comment on my penis-hat :(

I did notice it (I mean who wouldn't) hence I felt I'd have been captain obvious. I should mention how shiny it was though, do you polish it often? :)

Anyone attempted making a unit focused deck like a Gravelock, wolves or kin-folk (if that's their name) centred decks? There's a few trials that play with these focused decks, just thought they offered an interesting strategy and wondered if anyone has had a chance to test their effectiveness?

[Stormweaver]

I figured out that by sacrificing my tobacco money, I could buy scrolls while it was still fairly new.

So...bought scrolls. Went with energy for the simple reason that they have all the one-for-one destruction cards and field control, proceeded to get raped by growth. Time for some long and fun grinding ^.^