Weekly Featured Cards poll - Other

[Kuroaitou]

I used to have problems finding decks. This time, I didn't know which to choose. 

Overview
When it comes to pure quanta generation, Nova (and its upped counterpart, Supernova) is unrivaled. Upon casting the spell, the player will generate 12 (or 24 upgraded) quanta evenly distributed between all elements (1 or 2 per element). While the amount may seem small, its resourcefulness has made it one of the most impressive cards to use in many decks.
General Use

• Instantly provides 1 quanta (2 quanta if upped) per element, resulting in a net worth of 12 (24 upped) quanta.
• Nova doesn’t require a cost; Supernova requires 2 to use, but replenishes the drained quanta immediately.

Nova is notorious for its ability to mass-produce quanta quickly and efficiently. Unupgraded, Nova is completely free (and acts as a one-time tower for each element), meaning it has a higher chance of being placed in your starting hand due to the Mulligan rule. While it only generates 1 quantum for each element (12 total), its speed and simple mechanic can surprisingly fuel several cheap cards given the right deck setups. For the upped version, Supernova, its cost is raised to 2 unfortunately, but also provides 24 quanta (2 quanta for each element). In other words, casting Supernova will essentially refund the player’s quanta, while also conjuring the other 11 types of elemental quanta for them to spend.

Many decks often use Nova and Supernova in various trio, quartet, and rainbow decks that have multiple elements in them, especially ones that have cheap cards that require a small splash of quanta from other elements to use Other cards or non-element-specific cards to play.

In addition to all of this, Nova can be a great way to deter quanta denial cards. Devourer might not absorb the most vital quanta (say, that of a player’s mark), if that person is running a duo, while a Discord can actually scramble the various elemental quanta into the Nova-user’s favor. And Earthquake (which destroys the general source of quanta-production, pillars) can’t touch Nova at all. Conversely, a single Black Hole can absorb all of the quanta generated by either card, so players should beware of signs that the enemy might have the alchemy spell.



Synergies
In terms of fast-quanta generation techniques, Immolation | Cremation combined with Nova can provide one of the fastest ways to produce various high-attack creations on the field. A single Immolation is equivalent to a Nova’s mechanic (with more quanta produced), given a sacrificed creature in return. In many rainbow speed-based decks, the combination of these two spells will often allow a person to play all (or most) of their cards in their starting hand on the first turn, resulting in a high-offensive front being laid out.

Graboid | Elite Graboid can surprisingly work well with Nova. Graboid is cheap and immune to target-based CC (as it enters the field burrowed). Costing only 3 to play onto the field, the Graboid's real trick is its ability. As Graboid requires 1 in order to use its Evolve ability, multiple Novas alongside a player’s Earth mark will generate the required quanta to pop out the Shrieker in time. Again, this tactic is another fast and easy offense, but given other cheap non-earth cards, one could essentially mix several Graboid and Novas in a deck with other cards in order to create a powerful and versatile deck in non-upped PvP formats.

Although rare, Shard of Gratitude (SoG) is an effective card to use alongside Supernova (and its non-upped version in some cases). As an Other card, SoG uses 3 generic quanta to play, meaning that quanta from any element pool can be taken for the Shard to land. False Gods can often deal severe damage if a player lacks healing or defenses at start, but a single SoG can heal 5 damage per turn, which quickly adds up over the course of a game. Multiple SoGs on the field can be hard to pull off in regular mono and duo decks given the limited quanta sources, but a Rainbow that includes several Supernovas at the start will oftentimes lend players a hand into placing the SoG permanent as quickly as possible.


Other Cards With Synergy
It’s important to note that almost any card can work in conjunction with Nova and Supernova, assuming that the right sources of quanta production are in place. That said, cheap cards that splash multiple elements such as Sundial, Lycanthrope, Forest Spirit and Chrysaora can hit the field first and use their abilities the following turn.

When it comes down to dirt-cheap cards, Arsenic and Vampire Dagger are the most preferred weapons to use with Nova, although the non-elemental weapons and Discord can be played quickly as well. Improved Fog, Precognition, Momentum, Freeze, Protect Artifact, and Explosion only have a quanta cost of 1 for their respective elements, and can be easily inserted in any deck to counter a variety of situations.

Conclusion
No matter the deck archetype, Nova has almost become synonymous with the term ‘Rainbow’ when it comes to deck designing. While the spell might not be as useful for every deck, its versatility and cost-effective ratios are truly noteworthy, and should be expected when fighting many professional players.
Popular Deck
(1.272) Evaluation of Contemporary CCYB (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,25878.0.html)

Code: [Select]

6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6qq 6rn 6rn 6rn 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u3 6u7 6u7 6u7 77f 77f 77i 7dq 7dq 7gp 7gp 7k6 7k6 7n3 7q5 7q5 7q5 80h 80h 80i

Other Decks

• CC? Why Bother? (1.24) (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,9545.0.html)
• Rage Quit Deck (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,3807.0.html)
• DEMA: Destroy 'EM All! V2.1 (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,12700.0.html)
• TADAbow - AI3 Domination, Rainbow style (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,22518.0)
• PVP Graboid Rainbow (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,7528.0.html)
• Elder Destruction 101 (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,19406.0.html)
• Scrambled Shriekers (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,9749.0.html)

This topic has died a bit.

[PlayerOa]

Still voting Poison, the card that represent to the fullest.

[aigel]

Next time add the pillars and the Pendulums please!!

[aigel]

Next time add the pillars and the Pendulums please!!

but i voted poison instead!!

[Shantu]

Go go Soul Catcher!

[nilsieboy]

i'd love an article about soul catcher, so it got my vote again .

[Bonestorm]

I guess if i had to choose, Death is my favourite element

I have to go with Poison and its raw unmitigated damage.

[Kuroaitou]

Simple article - too much procrastination. ^^;;; - Poison here we go!

Overview
When it comes to damage over time, the Death element is no stranger. For only 1 or 2 quanta, players can cast (Deadly) Poison onto the opponent, causing the enemy to lose 2-3 HP each turn.

General Use

• (Deadly) Poison inflicts 2 (3 upped) damage per turn once applied to the enemy player.
• All poison applications and effects stack.
• A player’s poison status can only be removed by Purify.
• Cannot be reflected by shields.

Poison is a subtle tactic. While the majority of decks use a variety of creatures to eliminate the enemy, some players include this spell as a form of supplemental damage to whittle the health bar. A single application of the Poison (or Deadly Poison) spell only amounts to 2 (3) HP lost per turn. While this may not seem like much, if a player manages to include and use all of their Poison spells on the opponent, the enemy will take up to 12 (18) damage per turn, which heightens the pressure for the foe to finish the poison-wielder first. All poison damage is cumulative, thus all creature, spell, and permanent cards capable of applying poison can synergize together to make poison the main offensive strategy.

While useful as a form of support damage, Poison does a few hard and soft counters. Purify not only removes all the poison off the user, but also applies a healing-over-time effect that will help further suppress the poison damage (if it’s reapplied). Other healing cards, such as Shard of Gratitude, Empathic Bond, and Sanctuary can also mitigate much of the damage caused by poison. However, permanent control cards can easily destroy those healing-over-time effects. Another bonus is that both of the spells have one major benefit over all direct-damage spells – they cannot be reflected by shields such as Emerald Shield.

Synergies

For a more reliable source of repetitive poison application, Arsenic | Arsenic is the go to card for various decks. Many mono-Death decks that include Poison often have Arsenic in there as well to help increase the poison counter (as both are cheap in terms of quanta and are easy to play within the first few turns). They can also help counter enemy tactics – Poison ignores all shields (including reflective ones), while Arsenic can overcome Purify-users by reapplying the poison and racking up the poison count well above 18 damage per turn.

Chrysaora | Physalia is well known for its ability to slowly cripple opponents, and paired up with the spell, a variety of ‘Speed-Poison’ decks is born. The jellyfish is not only cheap (only 1 for either version), but also surprisingly effective against opponents without hard creature control to kill or lobotomize it. While it only applies one poison counter at a time, multiple Chrysaora or Physalia can rack up poison damage faster than most would expect if left unchecked. In some cases, using the unupped version can benefit users who are weary of damage-inducing shields (Fire Buckler).

Naturally, those who use poison often need a reliable defense for the poison to take effect appropriately. While various shields can block damage completely, Sundial | Sundial is an underestimated card in regards to defense. Although creatures are unable to attack for either user while a Sundial is in play, weapons and poison damage still go through. In this case, using Arsenic and Deadly Poison spells together alongside several Sundials can stop various creature rush decks for a few turns while the poison ticks away. The upped Sundial can also encourage a Death-Light duo deck that focus primarily on poison damage, stalling via Sundials (while drawing more cards using its Hasten ability), and various Light healing cards to offset any damage.

Other Cards With Synergy
Many creatures with venom-like abilities can help apply more poison along the way, including the Scorpions (Dune and Deathstalker come in mind) and the Puffer Fish. Bone Wall and Phase Shield often act as major damage-blocking shields in conjunction with Poison, especially in conjunction with Sundial. Lastly, because of its ridiculously cheap cost, Poison can sometimes be found in a rainbow deck that uses Nova to fuel the necessary quanta.

Conclusion
Although its main use is for support damage, Poison and Deadly Poison are a set of spells that can cause more harm than most non-attentive players would give credit for. Players who are poisoned usually have only two choices: out-heal the toxin or kill the player first.
Popular Deck
Got Poison? (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,365.0.html)

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Other Decks

• Pandebonium (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,26731.0.html)
• Mummies Riding Toxic Spiders (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,10074.0.html)
• Poison dials (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,26485.0.html)

Gravity polls are now up!

[willng3]

Go Gravy Shield!

[ddevans96]

Go Catapult!

^^^ Fixed

[Calindu]

Catapult,especially after the buff.

[Higurashi]

With Acceleration done, my vote goes to Momentum. -The- signature card and effect of Gravity.