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  1. #1
    Junior Member zeycrih's Avatar
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    New Player MS with 5 wins to above 200, looking for advice to move towards 300

    I'm pretty new to the game and my in-game ID is Marcisk. I got 5 straight wins with this deck so far but it was against low ranked players and I'm looking for advice as I progress towards 300.

    Hero
    1x Moonstalker

    Allies
    4x Pack Wolf
    3x Infernal Gargoyle
    4x Shadow Knight
    4x Wulven Tracker
    1x Ogloth the Glutton

    Abilities/Items
    3x Captured Prey
    3x Now You're Mine
    4x Full Moon
    2x Pack Alpha
    2x Shriek of Vengence
    2x Acid Jet
    3x Shadow Font
    3x Bad Santa

    Weapon
    1x Jeweler's Dream


    General Tactics
    The basic tactic is to hide Wulven Tracker, attack with it to draw, and get out as many allies as possible while keeping them alive. Then Full Moon will give the extra damage which stacks very nicely with plenty of allies.

    The lack of class specific draws make Wulven Tracker so important to this deck's build.

    Pack Alpha seems unpopular amongst the other decks, but it saved me a couple of time because it keeps my Wulven Tracker alive. And it did make a big difference between winning and losing. (You can watch my replays to see why)

    I only put one Ogloth for better board control, not exactly a main strategy, also to distract the enemy away from my Wulven Tracker. Same applies to Shadow Knight. Of course good if you can use them to land hard hits on your opponent.

    I didn't put in LLN for now because my opponents are mainly low ranked, so I don't think they will have costly items out. Do advice if I add them in. Item destruction are the other 2, Shriek & Acid Jet.

    Only 1 Jeweler's dream because it ain't quite essential except for early game resource renewal. Do give comments on whether I should remove or add more.




    I had fun playing this deck and I like this game. Been playing almost all the TCGs available in the market and this one is definitely a good one. I'm still pretty new though so any advice will be greatly appreciated.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Larus's Avatar
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    Hello zeycrih. I will try to help you with your deck without inferiring into your playstile. I say this because I'm not a fan of Wulven Tracker and Pack ALpha but I'm not you and I'm also not perfect.

    The first thing I noticed is that you have not many allies. I seems like you limit yourself if you intend to use FM. And you will also draw less likely allies when you need them. Only 3 of the 3cc allies is in my opinion not enough. The most MS run at least 7 (4 Gargoyles/Bad Wolf/Medusil + 3 DMT). NYM and CP help you to prefent an ally rush but it could be not enough against a very agressiv player. And you will probably also struggel against Rogues who have extremly strong boardcontroll abilities. Your SF will help but there are still spelles and other cards like Crippeling Blow, Assasination and Retreat.

    Your draw eninge is so far not bad. I personally trust more SL and WotF than WT and BS. SL comes really handy especially in combination with the Shadow Knight. I don't say WotF + SL is always the best draw eninge but it work. You could get rid of the WotF in a heavy ally based deck in favour of Wulven Tracker and Belladonna. It can work in a deck like yours with 3 SF. But I would add all 3 of them, Belladonna, Wulven Tracker and SL.

    Bad Santa is a card I don't see often in the MS decks since 1.5 hit the server. Normally you don't need it with a good managment of SL and your other "draweninges". You can keep it as backup (2 would be enough) or make sure that you profit more from the cards than your opponent. If you whant to make Bad Santa a part of your regular strategy I recommend to use at least 3 Jeweler's Dream. Only 1 won't help you probably anyway because you won't draw it when you need it.

    Finally to your supporting cards. I think 4 FM is too much. 2-3 copies will be very helpful. Its a rather situatinal card and might even harm you when you draw this card instead of an ally or a controll card. The rest looks fine.

    Too sum the importen stuff up.

    -more 3cc allies
    -only 2-3 FM
    -either 3-4 JD or 0

    and reconsider the following change :
    -SL instead BS (or 2 SL + 2 BS)
    -no Pack Alpha
    -3-4 Plasma Behemot and no Ogloth
    Last edited by Larus; 04-27-2012 at 05:52 AM.
    A1's Cold Predator - A1: Evolution in Theory

  3. #3
    Senior Member FarqTheOrc's Avatar
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    Agree, WotF is a must for MS, take 4 and a few SL... They give u 4 cards when WotF is out.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Larus's Avatar
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    I don't think WotF is a "must-have" card. WT, Bella and SL are more than just a cute combo, they can actually replace WotF. WotF has pro and con like any other card. You have to decide what work better for you and the meta.

    If you make further quickmatches and gain an even higher rating you will realize that some strategies work less effectiv or more effectiv. So feel free to ask further questions . And I hope my posts are bearable, I never really felt familiar with the english language.
    A1's Cold Predator - A1: Evolution in Theory

  5. #5
    Junior Member zeycrih's Avatar
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    Thanks for the advice. I've made some fine adjustments to the deck after hearing the advices and also after observing some live matches. Played 3 more games and won, so current consecutive win is 8 times. Haven't played a player above 280 rank yet though, and after watching some live matches, I noted some potentially bad match-ups and included it in the points below.

    Hero
    1x Moonstalker

    Allies
    4x Pack Wolf
    3x Infernal Gargoyle
    4x Shadow Knight
    4x Wulven Tracker
    2x Molten Destroyer
    2x Ogloth the Glutton

    Abilities/Items
    3x Captured Prey
    3x Now You're Mine
    3x Full Moon
    2x Pack Alpha
    3x Shriek of Vengence
    3x Lay Line Nexus
    3x Shadow Font
    2x Bad Santa

    Key Changes

    1) I added more monsters after hearing the feedback. 1 more Ogloth for late game, and 2 more destroyer when playing human (retreat kills ogloth).

    2) More item destruction because I was testing my decks with different custom AIs and I realize that Weapon/Armor heavy decks can really kill the deck.

    3) Removed weapon and focus more on allies. I'm still contemplating between plasma behemoth and destroyer/ogloth. I didn't focus so heavily on low cc creeps because firstly NYM/CP helps me prevent early ally rush, otherwise I can use the ability to regain control with bigger allies.

    4) I'm considering the draw engine as well, WotF sounds good but because I'm focusing my deck on high cc monsters, the effect ain't as great as mass allies. SP sounds good but I'm slightly reluctant to kill 1 ally for draw, especially because most allies are high cc. I'm still trying out and modifying on this...


    Weakness

    1) Potential bad match-up against mage, who spams their spells through my ability. I tested it out against AI and although I win, I know it is because AI are not as smart as real players. I do foresee great problem playing a mage player.

    2) I had some problem with item heavy decks (and I'm only playing against AIs). The lack of item destruction seems to be the big weakness of Wulven...

    3) I foresee big problems against Rogue as well, though I never really played an actual rogue. I only observed live matches and I can imagine this deck getting torn apart by them... (anyone can propose good counters to their board control ability?)


    Concluding remarks

    I'm trying to work around some of the weakness that I posted above, and I'm watching more matches and trying to be more creative about the deck. Been testing it out heavily to see what cards I play more and what cards I usually sac, so I'll come back again with another update on the deck's progress. Thanks everyone for the help and comments!

  6. #6
    Junior Member zeycrih's Avatar
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    I had a couple of losing games (I keep meeting Eladwin) plus a couple of drop-outs, but it allowed me to further tune my moonstalker deck and I think now it is more consistent. I still have bad match-ups against mages, but this variant managed to beat a mage unlike my other variants (100% losing streak against mage). Here it goes...

    Hero
    1x Moonstalker

    Allies
    4x Pack Wolf
    4x Infernal Gargoyle
    2x Death Mage Thaddeus
    4x Shadow Knight
    3x Plasma Behemoth
    2x Molten Destroyer

    Abilities/Items
    4x Captured Prey
    4x Now You're Mine
    2x Regeneration
    3x Sacrificial Lamb
    3x Lay Line Nexus
    3x Bad Santa

    Weapons/Armors
    3x Wrath of the Forest
    3x Jeweler's Dream


    Key Changes

    1) I removed Ogloth because it takes too long to build him up, and he either dies or gets retreated by then. I added Plasma Behemoth it decides the match if you face another Moonstalker.

    2) Shriek is removed because the slow down in pace caused me many games. I realized that speed and board control is quite important for Moonstalker due to its lack of race specific draw and item destruction. This might potentially be another weakness if opponent plays a item heavy deck. Another will be the lack of severe ties, but as of now I haven't had a game which I felt desperate for severe ties.

    3) Massive change in draw engine. Tracker is good, but when you are losing board control, trackers does not help you with any draws at all. I tried Belladonna but it disappears the next turn almost all the time even after I hide with ability (mages or some other spells). Decided to use WotF together with SL finally, while still keeping BS for desperate situations or when you can bomb your opponent. Draw is so important for Moonstalker especially due to the lack of race specific draw...

    4) I removed shadow font! Yes this might sound surprising but I did my homework to see the frequency which I sac my cards, and shadow font often gets sac. Might be my playing style or just because I meet too many mages lately then hiding behind my ability does not help. Furthermore, now I place more emphasis on speed, and adding shadow font doesn't fit too well in the strategy as of now...

    5) 1 more each of NYM and CP. For quite a couple of games, I was praying that I can get either one of those but neither pop out despite me having 3 of each. I realize that I should make it 4 each to better my probability of the draw, and it is essential for me to get early game board control...


    Concluding Remarks

    This game is awesome and matches are getting more exciting now and I can feel the adrenaline when I play the games now. Still working hard to finally make something that can really compete at the top games, and I think this version should be much better than the previous 2. Do give me active feedback and comments about it.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Larus's Avatar
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    If I count it right you have now 45 cards and this might be too much because it's too vulnerable to bad draw. You could lower the count of NYM and/or CP and also reconsider if you really need MD + PB.

    Beside that I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work. Some minor issues like -1LLN and +1DMT maybe but thats just my personal opinion
    A1's Cold Predator - A1: Evolution in Theory

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