Fix My FFQ Deck!

[ggabriel]

I don't use a lot of FFQ decks, but my first thought: lose the novas and everything that isn't air, life, or light. Get six queens, six rustlers, six Empathic Bonds, whatever light spells you think might be useful, and then go with 50% air/life pillars. You're trying too hard to be a rainbow deck, and it's making it hard for you.

I do use a lot of FFQ, and I'm afraid I have to disagree. Splitting pillars doesn't work very well; you can't afford to gamble on drawing the right mix of pillars. FFQ is very vulnerable to being shut down in its early stages, so you need to get up and running ASAP so you can grow the swarm large enough to resist most conventional counters (Rain of Fire will always demolish you, though). Sticking to wind pillars only and using Mark of Life or Mark of Air + Nova is typically the way to go, in my experience.

I mostly use Mark of Air + Novas myself; it lets you laugh off earthquake denial tactics (and devourers, to a lesser extent) and lets you get your critical first queen out quickly, plus you can splash in a couple inexpensive off-color cards (deflagration is probably the most important one). I'm not sure I see Entropy + Supernova as being a step up, though. I commonly use 8x or 9x pillars, and even with an air mark this is barely enough--sure, Supernova gets you a little bit of extra air quanta, but unless you draw more than 1 Supernova/turn you're going to be behind in air quanta. Being able to get out deflags after only 1 Supernova is a nice perk, but if you upgraded the deflagrations and stuck with regular nova you'd still be able to do the same thing...

As far as tweaking the deck goes, dropping down to 5x queens is acceptable; I find that in PvP at least it hurts less to take out a queen than it does a rustler. I'd definitely ditch one of the weapons. I prefer Owl's Eye in my FFQ deck but that's mostly because of all the excess air quanta I get, so Druid's Staff might be a better choice for a non-Mark of Air deck. You could probably lose one of the deflags or the steal, too; they're important, but the more of them you have the greater the risk you'll find your hand clogged with excess ones you don't need.

[Gunfingers]

I don't use a lot of FFQ decks, but my first thought: lose the novas and everything that isn't air, life, or light. Get six queens, six rustlers, six Empathic Bonds, whatever light spells you think might be useful, and then go with 50% air/life pillars. You're trying too hard to be a rainbow deck, and it's making it hard for you.

That, or, the wiki has an entry for creating a pillarless FFQ deck (http://elementsthegame.wikia.com/wiki/Firefly_Queen_Strategy-Pillarless_Style!). Maybe give that a try.

[Spiro Agnew]

Has anyone ever tried to get this deck going with just wind pillars, mark of life, and rays of light (upgraded photons)?
I always wanted to try, but it seems like a waste to spend 1500 upgrading such a poor card.

[swuster]

I think if you have enough upgraded Wind Towers, then the Supernova/Entropy route works better, as you will then have plenty of Wind quanta to summon the first FFQ.  You could also then drop to a 30-card deck with no worries.

But for the time being I'm switching back to regular Novas.  I'm trying to figure out the point where it becomes better to switch...

The main reason I like using Supernovas is that it is often possible to get out your FFQ + Rustler on the third turn (possibly 2nd turn if you have regular Novas mixed in with your upgraded ones)

[swuster]

Just looking for any advice on how I can improve on my FFQ deck.

My current setup: 31-card deck

Mark of Air x1 (now Mark of Entropy x1)
Nova x6 (now Supernova x6)
Wind Pillar x7
Empathic Bond x3
Rustler x4
Firefly Queen x6
Deflag x2
Steal x1
Owl's Eye x1
Druidic Staff x1

The overarching problem is that it's on the short side for pillars (if I can't get my strategy going within the first 8 turns I'm done for), but I don't know which cards to get rid of.  6 supernovas grants me a lot of leeway as to the spell cards I can use - I just picked Deflag and Steal because they are a bit cheaper.

I'm basically looking for input as to whether I need more Pillars, and to which cards to remove - I'm thinking to either take out one FFQ, either of the weapons, or possibly an Empathic Bond, though you need three to ensure survival against an Aether deck.

Thanks!

[swuster]

Finally found the time to upgrade some cards so here's what I've got for a deck.  I found that using Supernovas made it easier for me to shake off quantum denial and my rustlers getting killed (one extra life quantum to summon another, and in a pinch, one Supernova gets you one new Firefly).  I left a few regular Novas in however, because I found that if you use 6 upgraded ones, you run too great a risk of having to discard a card from your starting hand (usually a FFQ).

32 cards:

Mark of Entropy
Nova x2
Supernova x4
Wind Tower x8 (more Wind Pillars if not all upgraded)
Empathic Bond x3
Rustler x4
Firefly Queen x6
Deflagration x2
Steal x1
Owl's Eye x2

It's now possible, though not probable, to get a FFQ and Rustler on the board on your first turn.  More likely you will be set by the 4th turn.

This deck destroys Mono-Aether (save Deflag and Steal until you've built up enough creatures) and does well against Gravity decks relying on Otyughs, assuming you draw your OEs relatively early.  Production against Darkness and Fire depend on luck to draw the right cards after your creatures get killed by Rain of Fire, Drain Life, or Fire Bolt.