Deck Building (Round one)

[Newbiecake]

Noobiecakes vs. catalyzeme 
Jippy vs. $$$man 
Truddy vs. SnoWeb 
Amilir vs. TheIdioticIdiot 
Hisar vs. kitty45 
Omegareaper vs. tikotribe 
The Mormegil vs. Ryan666 
QT vs. Wizardcat 
Amilir:

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The Mormegil:

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truddy02:

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jippy99:

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Noobiecakes:

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QuantumT:

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omegareaper7:

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Hisar:

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[Hisar]

Vs  I think a cc deck would work best, either bonewalls or waterstall.  I think they might take a deck like the one here, though:
http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,15209.0.html,
which I think would beat both of those.  Any suggestions?

I like flying morning stars vs. 

For  , maybe adrenastaves?  The mass momentum kind of counters any stalls, since they mostly rely on shields.

[jippy99]

Against earth, I like a deck without too many permanents due to EQs and the possibility of Pulvy with gravity quanta.  I could also go with a mono and use half pillars, half pends.  Look at the event card.  Does anyone want to do it?  I might consider it.

[The_Mormegil]

Long analysis coming, split up for convenience:
The first thing to consider here is the event card. We should use it to our advantage, because you can bet others will too. I think we can afford to use up some cards in order to have better chances, and this is why:
1) The Vaults are still full, so people are more inclined to take this option. That means our opponents will probably have some upped cards in their decks.
2) The price is low, all considered: it is a good option, if ups are worth it. I think upping our dragons, for instance, will help a good deal in some cases.
3) A loss costs 12 cards: 6 you lose, 6 you didn't salvage. That means using up some cards to win a match is still worth it. At 6 cards, you are even - but the opponent still loses. More than 6 cards for a given match is probably overkill, but we won't need that. Nobody will cast away enough cards to up pillars, for instance, so we're not going to do that. We could probably spend 2 cards for match easily to give us an edge, as most decks will greatly benefit from some upgrades.

Also, remember this card changes the metagame too: some decks are only possible with upgrades, and those decks - that normally only Generals and maybe Lieutenants play - this round will be more common.

The matchup isn't really an easy one. The decks I can see coming from Ryan - or rather, from his substitute, as I gather he won't be General for long - are the following:
1 ) Light Rush. More ups and a General mean a rush deck is likely, as Archangels counter OEs easily, and Blessings help that. Pegasus rush is a possibility, and it WILL have Miracles.
2 ) Firestall. Between not having a proper counter and the sheer power of that deck, I'm a bit afraid of it, also because of the matchups: there is a matchup with death and one with Entropy, and they can't have more than 2 of those, but we are the third likely option. We have good shields, and Firestall can make a use of Mirrors for UGs. It can also avoid being rushed with miracles, sanctuaries and fire CC. It IS a good deck against us.
3 ) Water Stall. It worked against us last war, and they probably know that. It's a bit more difficult to use with half light, but it can pack Archangels to boost offense.
4 ) RoL Hope. With all these ups it's a chance, although I think a feeble one. The main advantage would be lobos and anti-bonewall; the main disadvantage would be frailty to thunderstorm and OE.
5 ) Flying Morning Stars. To counter our CC, flying MS using Animates and some Archangels to boot.
6 ) Vader Sader. Using Animates and upped Daggers thanks to the event, they could take this opportunity.
7 ) Reverse Time splash deck. Possibly some rush potential with time mark and RTs to counter flying weapons decks.
7 ) Dune Scorpion deck. RTs coupled with sundials and dunes. AI3 style.
8 ) Miracle Stone Skin stall. If they are going to use it, though, I don't think they'll waste 6 ups from General to field it. I may be mistaken.

If you feel like there are other possible choices for them, or that I'm missing something, or that some decks would probably not be used, do tell me.

As it is, I think our best bet would be to use earthquakes. It counters the stalls pretty well, it can pack a real punch thanks to upped dragons and it is unlikely to be messed up by an RT splash. I could be rushed, but we have good shields and can always pack some Shockwaves. Also, they probably won't see it coming from us. It also leaves most useful cards for the other matchups - which may need them, as I'm already starting with a disadvantage. What do you say?

I won't go on the details now as everyone is supposed to focus on their matchup first and foremost, but I will add some initial thoughts and later I will try to give feedback on proposed decks.

Noobiecakes will (most likely) encounter either a firestall or a rush with lots of deflags. Taking into account fire matchups, I think they will field two firestalls, one for death, the other for aether. But, they can use deflags on aether and firestall on us too.
[The reason I think firestall will be used so much is how the UW tournament is going, as well as how did the last stage of last BL end. TStar was using consistently firestall on the last rounds, I know 'cause I fought him: it's a strong deck]

Jippy will have troubles. They will fear Wings - they can be chained through mark alone, so it's a possible counter to EQ decks - but that will only mean their grabby-control will have some dragons. I don't know what would be the best deck here, earth is far too versatile (and strong) to be predicted accurately... at least by me.

Truddy will need a counter to RT. Flying MS will be predicted, most likely, but it's still our best bet, all considered.

Gravity will be a pain. Momentum is only half of the problem, free ups mean a Flying Titan is not just likely but PROBABLE. Against us or against death, maybe both. Of course, we should beware of Discord BH, too. Also, even if they don't play Animated Titans or Discords, they could play a rush with acceleration, or their life duo (adrenaguards + MitoArmagios) which is pretty powerful or a grav shield stall. Adrenastaves wouldn't work: it's slow, can be utterly stopped dead if they play a Grav Shield (which considering all of Weapon's hp they likely will) and can be killed by Overdriven high hp creatures.
An RT splash could be good if not for BHs and discords. Grabbow is weak against BHs. Gravity will be a pain during all the War.

Hisar has probably one of the best matchups. A Firefly deck might do it, although they could come up with something tricky.

Omegareaper could go for Quinted Spider Wings. Water is prone to Wings as only Dragons pass through. Water/Light stall with Icelance finish could be a problem, but Quints mean their CC is stopped dead, while we can up spiders to Recluses easily. Suddently the deck is whole lot faster.

Against Darkness, we need to remember the time duo. Also, Steals are bad, and their main offense cards being airborne is bad too. Not a very favourable matchup.
EDIT:
If anyone has suggestions, please do share them.

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[truddy02]

I'm going to do a strategy post in this thread so everything is together.  With the limited information so far I see no need to split up the discussion.

Possibly the most significant thing to happen so far is that Ryan666 is no longer the General of light.  They have a new general, new player just getting involved, there is probably some disarray happening right now for their team.
 Breakdown by matchup

: 447 cards  Other matchups  (lieutenant) (master)


   458 cards Other matchups       

  451 cards Other matchups  (master)
 
463 cards Other matchups  (master) 

  505 cards Other matchups  (master)  (master) 
 
486 cards Other matchups  (master)
 
453 cards Other matchups      (lieutenant)    (master)

  475 cards Other matchups  (lieutenant)  (master)  (master)

[truddy02]

My initial thoughts (no testing done, just ideas):

vs Fire: bonewalls/OE
vs time: morning glories is good but I also like poison/spiders/wings because it is cheap and holds up well against phase shields and earthquakes.  It doesn't do so well against a darkness duo with tons of steals but it has a chance if it gets a good draw.  If ever there was a time to try something out and get a feel for a team it is the first round or 2.
vs gravity: UG grabbow
vs. life: quinted spiders/wings
vs light: EQ deck looks good
vs. darkness: FFQ deck with hope
vs. earth: maybe toadfish, we can split pillars/pends 4 ways, good midhitter
vs. water:  titans is an option but I think it would be nice to not have to use it first round

[omegareaper7]

I'm a little stuck on what to use against water 

[Newbiecake]

This may be the variation of EE/Bonewall I'll be using. 6 upgrades, 2 discards. Feedback please?

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[The_Mormegil]

This may be the variation of EE/Bonewall I'll be using. 6 upgrades, 2 discards. Feedback please?

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Up the bonewalls, not the EEs. You will benefit far more from faster shields than from better hitters. 2 more points of damage are not what is needed to outrush fire, is it? Apart from this... beware the firestall. You may want to prepare a surprise for some kind of counter.

EDIT: Reporting results from my testing:
as expected, the deck I've been using completely wrecks any stall, kinda works against dune scorpions (testing against the AI gave me 9/10 wins, but I think it's kinda borked as a result...) and is rushed pretty easily. The problem is that I either use a deck that kills their rushes (a Spider deck would work wonders) or a deck that kills their stalls (this has a perfect score on every true stall I tried of the above, although against AI).

[Hisar]

So is everyone doing 6 ups per deck?

[The_Mormegil]

No. I'm doing it because it improves my chances vs rushes a lot. Upped Dragons are a lot better. But that's not required at all. We're probably going to up SOME cards, while most of them remain unupped. We'll decide deck by deck, match by match. Easier matchups will probably have less upgrades. Anyway, the decision is up to our General as always, and I have a feeling he will likely spare the cards - although some ups are just too good to pass up.

[jippy99]

This is the deck I am testing:

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Edit: Taking morm's advice, I modified the deck a bit.  Here is the result:

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