Even Stevens:
In this Gold Foil Guild Brawl, there are three rules which make for an interesting battle. The Even Stevens ruleset restricts the number of options available to each player. The depth of a player's Gold Foil deck can really be tested in such circumstances.
Ruleset:
Only Monsters with even Mana costs may be used in battles.
There are no special tricks for this ruleset, but having an idea of mana points of a few monsters helps in predicting what your opponent can and cannot use. - Splintercards
With Aimless, the ranged attacks will target randomly. Focus on magical attacks will cut through armour like butter. Taunt abilities are ignored with this ruleset. Melee attacks are unimpacted.
With Blood and Sunder, melee attacks will incur a penalty to their armour, reducing it by two for each attack. Ranged targets will be unaffected by the Corrosive Ward effect
Line ups:
With the low mana available, I wanted a cheap summoner who could increase damage for my lineup. With the magical strategy I had in mind, I needed to use life and my only option was General Sloan. There will be some benefit to my offensive output throughout the battle due to this selection.
Using the high speed and the Flying ability, I am hoping for a miss or two. For two mana cost the Pelacor Conjurer is a strong card to combine with Weapons Training given its good speed and great health for the cost.
My favourite Gold Foil I own from the current reward set. This is my only Legendary Gold Foil but it has come in handy during this current Brawl set multiple times. Weapons Training is really strong and even though I won't be applying this ability to two different cards this time around, I hope to be able to utilise magic damage to good effect in this battle.
I do have Supply Runner at fifth level in Giold Foil as it is just awesome when it gets Swiftness but as this brawl is a Bronze level brawl, I'll have to settle for third level. Great speed and health and the two ranged damage boosted to three will come in handy.
Doublestrike is a great ability as it can cause some serious damage. Especially in a match ruleset such as this where the random selection of a target per turn can really obliterate the opposing backline. Boosted to three damage, the Pelacor Arbalest will be dealing a total of six damage per turn. More than makes up for the low speed and low health of the card.
Opposing Lineup
Seeing Franz here, I am expecting to see a Captain Katie or a Gladius card which can really hurt my lineup. The six mana cost is high for one addition armour and the opportunity to use Gladius cards. In a brawl though, every player has access to one Gladius card by default. Either this player is using Franz as the best available Life card eligible for this brawl or they are about to drop a double Gladius combination which could mean serious trouble for my lineup
A strong tank but extremely limited health could mean that my Magical Weapons Training offered by Aves Sturgis could be vital in my quest victory. For six mana, Chaos Knight is great and with the Shield ability, incoming physical damage will be reduced. As a melee focussed card, the Chaos Knight will likely incur some Corrosive Ward damage which should help my Supply Runner and Pelacor Arbalest get off to a flying start.
Another melee focused monster here with the Gargoya Lion. This is certainly not the choice I would have made given the six mana cost. I am also aware that gold foil card decks can be a lot tougher to build than regular foil when on a budget.
The Dumacke Orc is an excellent card for plugging the gap at the back of a lineup to ensure that sneak damage does not get out of control. I am just not sure that this is the time to use it as, once again, it is a melee attacking card which means the opposing lineup is making only one attack per round compared to my five attacks. With the single health point, a stray Magic attack will spell the end of this six mana card which makes it a bad bet to choose in this battle.
I was surprised by this selection as there is a strong focus on melee attacks despite the Blood and Sunder ruleset being in play. As a result, the opponent is making a single attack per turn compared to five attacks on my side. As a result this is likely to be a quick victory.
The Battle
Round 1:
With the low health of the opposing lineup, the magical weapons training from Aves Sturgis is going to be a real threat to their chances at victory. From the get go, Pelacor Conjurer and Aves Sturgis make light work of the opponent's Chaos Knight and Corrosive Ward (Blood & Sunder) removes the armour from the Gargoya Lion leaving it open to damage in the next round.
Round 2:
The Gargoya Lion already exposed due to Corrosive Ward is the next to fall and with only one health and two armour points remaining the Pelacor Arbalest makes light work of the Dumacke Orc despite the Shield ability reducing maximum damage by one.
Post Battle Thoughts:
Magical Weapons Training worked wonders here as the lineup took out their biggest threat in the front line. There was a key miss by the Chaos Knight early on in the first round which also made a small difference but albeit unlikely to impact the final outcome.
Final Thoughts:
- Even Stevens is a tough ruleset if you do not have the depth of cards available to you.
- You will also be surprised by how many other players are actually in the same position as you. As someone who only plays Gold Foil brawls with a fairly limited deck - I own Chaos Legion Gold Foil Commons and Rares only - I find I struggle to put out an effective lineup but I do see that my opponent more often than not also has a similar struggle.
- Avoiding melee in a Blood and Sunder ruleset is important
- Try to ensure a good amount of health in your lineup
- Doublestrike and good speed are very useful in an Aimless ruleset to ensure your attacks launch first and hardest.
- Try to ensure your lineup has more than one attack per round where possible. Outgoing damage wins battles.
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