Alligator | Giant Alligator

[ZephyrPhantom]

I think the point is to make it hard to fractal so it doesn't become OP. A creature combo that can become an OTK (one turn kill) would just be ridiculous, dealing at least 20 damage minimum, and that's NOT what CCC is trying to do.

[OldTrees]

I'm not a big fan of the Ambush! Series however I think this a good card.

Why? (to both statements) I would like your input so I can improve.

Because for it to have any use you would have to fractal it THEN use it's ability to get them all into ambush position. It takes a whole turn to move it into ambush position which by then your opponent could have destroyed all your creatures with Duo RoF or Triple Thunderstorm.

Also another weakness to all your cards:

Alligator: Requires 3 elements to make a good Ambush (Aether + Water + Life)
Wyrm: Requires 2 elements to make a good ambush (Aether + Earth) and halving all their attack.
Dimensional Striker: Un-Fractalable.

Those are just a few examples.

Anyway my point is for it to be effective you need to wait a whole turn to use abilities + you need Fractal.

The idea is still brilliant however, but needs improving.

I like this because when submerged it cannot be targeted and it's damage stays the same (unlike burrow) and it strengthens the Water + Life combo.

1) Ambush does not take a turn to work. It triggers during the attack sequence and resets at the end of the turn. (So it is in the same boat as all creatures when it comes to CC.)
2) I tried to design them to be valuable without fractal as well. For instance, Land Wyrm can remain unburrowed until enough are played to make ambush worthwhile (3) and Dimensional Striker is designed to reach balanced average attack over the course of the game without fractal.

Thank you for your advise. I will double check to see if any of the other Ambushers have the fractal dependence. Oddly enough the one that I was most worried about with regards to fractal dependence was this card hence the trio requirement to allow for a cheaper initial cost.

Mostly the design philosophy is to make the cards cost be at the edge of fractal's range 3-5 quanta and balance them at close to their quanta costs.

[Werdbooty]

Okay so the image isn't protected, but it is a personal photo uploaded via Concierge, a travel mag. The strictures of the website have protected the image but I've contacted the photographer to see if he'd be so nice as to allow us the use of the picture.

Of course, it might just be easier to use a free stock photo

[EmeraldTiger]

If a new image needed, i provided a link to search for one on the first page.

[Werdbooty]

Same gator, just ran the image thru a filter or two to clear it up some.

[OldTrees]

Ambush + Adrenaline
Adrenaline'd creatures endure multiple turns as well as attacks at the end of each turn/attack the Ambush bonus is removed.

Example
3 1|1 Adrenaline'd Ambushers
1,1,1,1
5,1,1,1
9,1,1,1

Adrenaline'd creatures recheck the number of attacks after each turn (see Steam Machine)
Since Adrenaline'd Ambushers drop to full attack after the first attack they have a normal adrenaline routine based off their full attack with the ambush bonus only applied to the first attack. However this only matters if the ambushing attack is 15 or less allowing a second attack.

So for a 1|1 Adrenaline'd Ambusher
16
15|1|1|1
N|1|1|1
(N<15)

for a 4|3 Adrenaline'd Ambusher
16|
15|3|2
N|3|2
(N<15)

So An Adrenaline'd Submerged Alligator would attack N|2|2|2 (N|3|3|3 for Adrenaline'd Submerged Giant Alligator) and increase the Ambush bonus of later Ambushers by +4|+0

[wizelsnarf]

This card would be very fun to play with.

If it makes it into the game I think Life will have kind of a swamp theme with Giant Frogs and Giant Alligators running around. In any case both the card and the ability fit thematically. I think you have balanced it very well and done a nice job clearing up any confusion over ambush and adrenaline.

Alligators wouldn't replace Frogs or Cockatrice because of the 4 and the slowness to utilize the effect - which is a good thing - but they could be quite useful even without ambush in effect. They are adrenaline worthy, even when upgraded and so they could be quite useful. The obvious deck would be Forest Spirits and Alligators for the Life/Water synergy but it would be a slow starter.

Ambush aside, submerge would give life some more durable creatures. If you could pop an adrenaline on an alligator and then submerge it, that would be very powerful for an element with relatively weak creatures (Frogs, Spirits, Rustlers and scorpions....).

As stated before This would probably encourage Trios but there is nothing wrong with that. I can see an Alligator/Land Wyrm/Trident deck among others working nicely.

Keep up the good work OldTrees and crew.

[OldTrees]

Thank you wizelsnarf for the review.