9th Trials - Phase 3: Community Vote

[Zawadx]

Phase 3 - Community Vote

It's time to vote for your favorite Master candidate!  Every community member has one vote. You can change your vote at any time as long as there is still time on the clock.

Vote based on who you think would make the best Master of that element. Do not vote based on who is the best player or who you know personally. Try to pick someone who you think would help the community the most as THE representative for their element.  If you do not have any preference for who should be Master, or cannot decide between the candidates, please select the "None Worthy" option. 

To help you make the best decision possible, feel free to ask the candidates questions.  Both challengers and defending Masters ought to answer the questions in this thread to help the voters make the best possible choice.  Please put all your answers in a single post (employing spoiler tags is recommended).  Also, challengers should include in that post a link to your Phase 1 submission post.


Questions and answers may begin now that this topic is posted.
Voting will begin when the polls are up at the official start of Phase 3.
Phase 3 ends when poll expires.

[kirbylover314]

Phase 1. Click me.

Questions and Answers:

Spoiler for Hidden:

Spoiler for Higurashi:

What is the element Death to you, what has it done for you and what do you intend to do for it?

Death is the element that specializes in poison and the uses of death effects, but it is also the unevitable; we all die. What has it done for me? It has brought me far enough into the game, through Pdials, so that I can actually participate in the community’s PvP events. I intend to lead it in major forum events like War to the best of my ability.

Spoiler for ji412jo:

Do you think you can reproduce the war win from war 4, and if not, what has changed to stop you from doing so?

I’m unsure of how War will go for me. While I will try my best, I have no War experience at all. This factor would largely determine on how I would do if I lead a team in war.

Spoiler for theelkspeaks:

Two topics for all death trialists:
Topic 1)  Death seems to have two main "packages" of cards - Creaturedeath-triggers (e.g. Vulture, Boneyard, Bonewall, Soul Catcher) and DoT cards (e.g. Poison, Plague, Retrovirus, Arsenic). In comparing the two packages, which package do you think has more internal synergy? Which package has more raw power?  Do the two packages function together well, or do they seem disparate?

Topic 2: What currently non-existent card (be as general or as specific as you like) does death need the most?

Creaturedeath-trigger cards have the most synergy. They can pack a good defence with Bone Wall, gain quanta with Soul Catcher, and grow in damage with Vulture and Boneyard. It lacks a more rushy card, but Mummy can easily fill that gap. However, despite this synergy, I’d say DoT cards are more powerful due to the reasons discussed in the next topic. The two function well together, especially the combination of Bone Wall and Poison/Arsenic. Another possible combination of the two group of cards is Vulture + Plague + Bone Wall, but I would consider it weaker.

Death really needs a stronger form of CC. I think the main reason why creaturedeath-trigger cards are not used as often, is because to use those cards, you often need another element to kill creatures. Look at decks like Bonebolt or Pandebonium. These decks can be considered common decks that utilize death effects, and note that CC comes from the non-death element. Plague and Aflatoxin are often too slow for it to be a reliable source of deaths. To fix that problem, death could either have a “Poison Bolt,” where damage is increased for every poison counter on the field or a creature that can die fairly fast, similar to Spark.

Spoiler for willng3:

What element do you hate the most and why?

I do not hate any element in particular, but I find a Light cards to be rather annoying to deal with when using Death. I mean, come on, you spent all that time trying to whittle down your opponents HP while fight against Sanctuary healing, when Miracle appears. Other problematic cards include Guardian Angel | Archangel, as the heal ability can ruin decks based upon death triggering cards like Bone Wall.

Spoiler for trashduke:

If you win Trials, will you lead your team into the upcoming war?

If not, please explain why.

If so, please describe your leadership style and how you will organize and motivate your team members.

If I were to be master, then yes, I would lead my team in War. Although I have no War experience, I have other PvP experience that is helpful for an event like War. I also would not suddenly leave and drop out unless I had a very good reason to do so (like sudden RL issues.)

Spoiler for dragondemesne:

If your element has never won a war, why do you think that is?  (underpowered elements, bad generals/team, bad rng, etc)

If your element has won a war, what makes you think YOU can do it again?

These War questions are getting quite difficult to answer. Again, I'm not sure how well I can do with no experience, but I will do my best.

Spoiler for Frozengaia:

To all:
Death won war four. This is one of only two times a non fire, non-aether element has won war.
Explain why/how.

Sorry Frozen, but I really don't know. If I were to guess, I'd say it'd have to do with strong players in that team, as well as good RNG/mindgating in general.

Spoiler for Zawadx:

The element Death is complete - do you agree or disagree? If you agree, please illustrate death's strengths in each of the four deck categories (rush, domin, stall, break). If not, then does Death need completion?

Death is not a complete element. One of it's main problems is its lack of a quick solution to damage (which I believe it means it's lacking in domin). Sure, it can try to stall with BW or SoSac and kill them off with slow poison, but that would mean focusing a large part of your deck to deal with creatures, which leaves little room for other things

Spoiler for dawn to dusk:

brawl, where do you stand on it and do you think you will be able to be a brawl boss?

I see Brawl as a good thing as it allows people to express elemental tendencies in a way that is not PvP, even if it is a major part of our community.

Spoiler for Naesala:

Do you think masters should represent their elements in Brawl?

I think so, as again, although PvP is a major part of these forums, being a master of an element should be more than just be skilled in PvP, and instead show that a person expresses an element in many ways.

Spoiler for Corri:

To all: Who was the best Master of Death? Why? Do you think you can lead this element to win the next war? Why do you think you are the best man for this position? What makes death unique?

MrBlonde. Well, he did win war... Again, I have no experience in War, but I will do my best to do so. There are definitely people better than me, but hey, hard work and persistence go a long way. Death is unique in the fact that it can directly apply poison onto the opponent in the form of a spell, while other elements need a creature to do so.

Spoiler for CCCombobreaker:

Does the vault feel emptier with no skeletons or no viruses?

It would feel emptier without Viruses because, even though both have the same stats the Infect ability provides death effects. Upgraded, I would still go with Retrovirus, as RTs are probably better off being used on Mummies instead.

[Fippe94]

hi

[Sera]

Phase 1 Submission.

Unanswered questions are not ignored, it's just that I'm unsure how to answer them as of now (esp. War)

Q&A:

Spoiler for Higurashi:

What is the element Death to you, what has it done for you and what do you intend to do for it?

Outside of gameplay, I like the thematics of Death. It deals with the process of Death and not exactly on inflicting Death itself. What it has done for me? Maybe it kept my interest on the game more than the other elements. What do I intend to do to it? Well, of course there's attempting to win War with it, and throwing out ideas to improve it if ever game development continues. Sorry if you were hoping for a less pragmatic answer, but that's all I can say about it.

Spoiler for theelkspeaks:

Two topics for all death trialists:  Topic 1)  Death seems to have two main "packages" of cards - Creaturedeath-triggers (e.g. Vulture, Boneyard, Bonewall, Soul Catcher) and DoT cards (e.g. Poison, Plague, Retrovirus, Arsenic).  In comparing the two packages, which package do you think has more internal synergy? Which package has more raw power?  Do the two packages function together well, or do they seem disparate?

Topic 2: What currently non-existent card (be as general or as specific as you like) does death need the most?

While they are significantly different mechanically, in actual play they are meant to synergize with each other instead, as both don't work well without the other in a mono. Except for Arsenic and Poison, which don't really interact with other cards in general and are usually played for their value as unstoppable cheap damage. If I could add a card, I would like an in-element stallbreak card for death. Something like Necrosis (8 spell): Deal damage equal to 1.5x the amount of poison counters on the target. (not thoroughly balanced)

Spoiler for Zawadx:

The element Death is complete - do you agree or disagree? If you agree, please illustrate death's strengths in each of the four deck categories (rush, domin, stall, break). If not, then does Death need completion?

I don't think it is complete, it is especially lacking in the Domin and Break part. Death can rush and stall pretty well, but poison (CC) is too slow for an effective Domin and does not have much answers to a healing stall (except for rushing it hard, death just does this so well). But I do not think it needs completion, as this is covered by using support cards from other elements. Quick CC works so well with Death that it might even be overpowered to add in-element. Maybe the weakest part of Death now is not having much options for a Break, but it's not necessary to add that in-element. (This is connected to my answer to theelkspeaks)

Spoiler for Corri:

To all: Who was the best Master of Death? Why? Do you think you can lead this element to win the next war? Why do you think you are the best man for this position? What makes death unique?

I only met two of them so far, and they're both in here so let's keep that a secret for now. 
And I believe that I may be able to lead it to victory. Maybe what death needs now is new blood - or maybe not. It's Death after all.
Death has established synergies in an elegant way through death effects, and they don't sound "forced" at all. Well, except for Schrödinger's Cat, thematic is nice but there should have been a way to do it more elegantly.

Spoiler for CCCombobreaker:

Does the vault feel emptier with no skeletons or no viruses?

It's better to fill the enemy's field with Skeletons through Skull shields 
But Virus is a great tech in the presence of upgrades, not having those would be kinda bad.

Spoiler for willng3:

What element do you hate the most and why?

I don't really "hate" it, but I dislike the mechanics of certain Light cards. Holy Light/Flash is pretty bad, it's purely elemental hate against Dark and Death. Reflective Shield is a very situational hard counter against a few cards, and Guardian Angel is a card spent on a weak CC deterrent.

Spoiler for trashduke:

If you win Trials, will you lead your team into the upcoming war?

If not, please explain why.

If so, please describe your leadership style and how you will organize and motivate your team members.

I will. I don't really aim to lead groups, I tend to aim more to be the most active member. That might be a bad thing, I guess. I can be very stubborn at times, but I avoid any conflicts with other people so hopefully that balances out.

Spoiler for dragonsdemesne:

If your element has never won a war, why do you think that is?  (underpowered elements, bad generals/team, bad rng, etc)

If your element has won a war, what makes you think YOU can do it again?

Death has already done it, and I think it can be done again. While Death is pretty plain as a mono, it has a lot of possibilities paired with most elements. So maybe if we can keep that as flexible as possible, that might be the key.

Spoiler for dawn to dusk:

brawl, where do you stand on it and do you think you will be able to be a brawl boss?

I am neutral to it, I do want to lead such an event but my creativity is a little weird... or maybe not present at all. I will lead it if given the chance, but my team would have to deal with my weird proposals.

Spoiler for Naesala:

Good question, might I add: Do you think masters should represent their elements in Brawl?

I think Masters should decide this by themselves, as it might not be in the scope of their interest. After all, Trials and War has a lot of differences from Brawl - it's understandable if someone has a really great interest on Trials and War but not on Brawl, or vice versa.

[Higurashi]

What is the element Death to you, what has it done for you and what do you intend to do for it?

Edit: Question posed to all participants in the Questions for all thread.

[MyNameIsJoey]

Do you think you can reproduce the war win from war 4, and if not, what has changed to stop you from doing so?

[rob77dp]

I have done this before...
rob77dp's 7th Trials of Death Phase 3 Q/A
rob77dp's 8th Trials of Death Phase 3 Q/A

Link to rob77dp's Phase 1 Submission

Spoiler for answers, spoilered to reduce rage at length of my post here:

Spoiler for from ji412jo:

#1

#1Do you think you can reproduce the war win from war 4, and if not, what has changed to stop you from doing so?

1. Yes. {unsolicited 2nd part when answering 'yes'} It is somewhat agreed upon that there was a fair amount of luck in Deaths' War 4 victory.  You can never rule out luck.

Spoiler for from Higurashi:

#2,3,4

#2What is the element Death to you, #3what has it done for you and #4what do you intend to do for it?

2. An incomplete yet flexible element that can rush strong, stall in a proper duo, and perform reasonable in-element shield-bypass.
3. It is my elemental safe place.
4. I have been its Master, I have been its Boss, and I have been its Soldier.  My intention is to pursue two of those directly and the third if I cannot succed in the first two.

Spoiler for from theelkspeaks:

#5,6,7,8

Two topics for all death trialists:  Topic 1)  Death seems to have two main "packages" of cards - Creaturedeath-triggers (e.g. Vulture, Boneyard, Bonewall, Soul Catcher) and DoT cards (e.g. Poison, Plague, Retrovirus, Arsenic).  In comparing the two packages, #5which package do you think has more internal synergy? #6Which package has more raw power?  #7Do the two packages function together well, or do they seem disparate?

Topic 2: #8What currently non-existent card (be as general or as specific as you like) does death need the most?

5. I consider package "Creaturedeath" to have more synergy of the two groups listed.  All four in that group play into all three others.
6. DoT has more raw power as Poison can shield-bypass and Arsenic can ramp damage.
7. Creaturedeath card Bone Wall crosses over quite well between the two having shield-increase synergy from Creaturedeath cards and buying-time-to-kill synergy with DoT's Poison and Arsenic and minor shield-increase synergy with DoT's Plague and Retrovirus.
8. PC. Soft PC would be most thematic (compared with hard PC) --

Spoiler for Degrade:

Spoiler for Deteriorate:

[/color]

Spoiler for from FrozenGaia:

#9

To all:

Death won war four. This is one of only two times a non fire, non-aether element has won war.
#9Explain why/how.

9. I shall provide a brief list of statements, some supported with links.  Connect the dots for yourself.
a. MrBlonde
b. RootRanger
c. ralouf1
d. R10 E.C.
e. RNG favor R10R2 -- Wings deck 3 > 1 Control deck with 7 flying creatures!
f. Dim x6 > Dim x5! -- Even if the deck is a little larger, going with 5x Dims is less than favorable against an opponent with SIX Dims.
g. MrBlonde

Spoiler for from Zawadx:

#10,11,12

The element Death is complete - #10do you agree or disagree? If you agree, #11please illustrate death's strengths in each of the four deck categories (rush, domin, stall, break). #12If not, then does Death need completion?

10. Disagree.
11. I did not agree.
12. Death does not need completion. However, a level of 'completion' would be nice for any/all elements.

Spoiler for from willng3:

#13,14

#13What element do you hate the most and #14why?

13. Underworld
14. For abandoning us all in a time of need?

Spoiler for from trashduke:

#15,16

If you win Trials, #15will you lead your team into the upcoming war?

If not, please explain why.

If so, #16please describe your leadership style and how you will organize and motivate your team members.

15. I will lead Death in the next War if attaining Mastership.  I will lead Death in War ANY TIME I AM MASTER OF DEATH.  Bank it.
16. I lead by aiming for attention to details without micromanaging or being oppressive. Motivation -- we should all want to win the event, and a desire to win is quite motivating.  Also, I believe a team could be drafted that knows me well enough - we have to keep in mind I am only known here online which goes only so far - to want to give that extra 10% above 100...

Spoiler for from dragonsdemesne:

#17

If your element has never won a war, why do you think that is?  (underpowered elements, bad generals/team, bad rng, etc)

If your element has won a war, #17what makes you think YOU can do it again?

17. Draft a motivated team. Avoid early fail-rounds. Find a mid-rounds groove. Receive favor of RNG late.  Boom --> a war winner!

Spoiler for from dawn to dusk:

#18

brawl, #18where do you stand on it and do you think you will be able to be a brawl boss?

18. I have been a boss and a Deckbuilder in previous Brawls.  I can say I enjoyed the non-boss brawl but I am not sure if that is due to my role (boss vs. Db) or other factors.  I cannot, at this time, promise I would boss a team in the next brawl if I became Master of Death.  I can assure that I would decline being boss only after lots of contemplation and with cause.  Acceptance would be much more likely.

Spoiler for from Naesala:

#19

brawl, where do you stand on it and do you think you will be able to be a brawl boss?

Good question, might I add: #19Do you think masters should represent their elements in Brawl?

19. Yes.  The caveat being that with good cause and proper contemplation I see no issue with a Master not[/ii] boss-ing in Brawl.  I feel this caveat has not been the case in many instances of Masters not boss-ing in Brawl... ... ...

Spoiler for from Corri:

#20,21,22,23,24

To all: #20Who was the best Master of Death? #21Why? #22Do you think you can lead this element to win the next war? #23Why do you think you are the best man for this position? #24What makes death unique?

20. MrBlonde (hands-down)
21. FIVE straight Masterships and leading Death to victory in War #4
22. Yes (very similar question to #17 already asked)
23. I am male and not factually sure of the gender of anyone else vying for this Mastership.  Kidding aside, two of the four of us competing are or have been Master of Death which to me makes them in top-two.  I am one of those two.  Refer to half-answer at beginning of #23 response for narrowing it down to myself.
24. Death is the only element that can directly poison the opponent without having to play a card to the table.  Also, it is home to the only ramp-damage weapon -- trusty ol' Arse!

Spoiler for from CCCombobreaker:

#25

#25Does the vault feel emptier with no skeletons or no viruses?

25. Viruses.  Skeleton is pretty well worthless if you cannot Fractal+SoP.   Virus can at least pump Bone Wall!

Spoiler for from ____:

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Spoiler for from ____:

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[theelkspeaks]

Two topics for all death trialists:  Topic 1)  Death seems to have two main "packages" of cards - Creaturedeath-triggers (e.g. Vulture, Boneyard, Bonewall, Soul Catcher) and DoT cards (e.g. Poison, Plague, Retrovirus, Arsenic).  In comparing the two packages, which package do you think has more internal synergy? Which package has more raw power?  Do the two packages function together well, or do they seem disparate?

Topic 2: What currently non-existent card (be as general or as specific as you like) does death need the most?

[Espithel]

To all:

Death won war four. This is one of only two times a non fire, non-aether element has won war.
Explain why/how.

[Zawadx]

The element Death is complete - do you agree or disagree? If you agree, please illustrate death's strengths in each of the four deck categories (rush, domin, stall, break). If not, then does Death need completion?

[Corri]

To all: Who was the best Master of Death? Why? Do you think you can lead this element to win the next war? Why do you think you are the best man for this position? What makes death unique?

[CCCombobreaker]

Does the vault feel emptier with no skeletons or no viruses?