Help a cheap scrub build a Gwenneth deck, please?

[Inc]

As kindly requested. I began with Gwenneth originally, but without the weapons, I decided to respec to Eladwen first. Now that the weapons have been released, I decided to go back to Gwenneth since her ability actually works. I'm not a hugely rich player, but with Kyle's kind gesture of 200 Crystals, I thought I might buy some starters to sell for Gold, or perhaps try a Booster or two.

Could experienced players kindly recommend the best course of action for my 200 Crystals? And also, any ideas/tips on how I should be playing Gwenneth and what cards I should get? I only have one measly Soul Seeker now =/

[AnAdolt]

Chance of you landing the cards you want from boosters is slim. I should redo the calculations but on average, starter packs should still be worth more than boosters. So buy starters, sell the cards you don't need, and use the gold to buy the ones you do. Here's a deck list of starter packs' content.

As for a Gwenneth build, there's buttloads in the Strategies forum.

[shannong]

If you're tight on crystal/gold/cards, and *if* you're looking for a competitive PvP deck in the current metagame, you might want to look into other options besides a Gwenneth bow-based deck. You'll need 4x bows to run a bow-based deck, and the best bow for her is Soul Seeker because it does 2 base damage. That card is a 600-gold card at the merchant. All Gwenneth bow-based decks rely on the combo Soul Seeker + Rapid Fire to do 8 damage per attack.

Problem is, that's a very fragile combo. You need to get two specific cards into play, and one of them (the bow) is treated like any other item and can be dispelled with either a human or shadow variant of item removal. Against any player who knows what they're doing, you'll get to use your core combo for one single attack before they dispel it.

If you're just playing for fun or against the AI mostly, then go for it. But right now IMO most of the weapons and armor are too expensive, too fragile, and don't yield enough benefit over a long enough number of turns. One notable exception being Armor of Ages.

[Inc]

@An: Alright, I'll get Starters then, will try to compute and see which one earns the most Gold.

@Shan: Haha yeah, I figured Soul Seeker was the best bow, but gee if it isn't expensive to get so many copies =/ Alright, will start looking at other possible builds.

Thanks guys!

[shannong]

@An: Alright, I'll get Starters then, will try to compute and see which one earns the most Gold.

@Shan: Haha yeah, I figured Soul Seeker was the best bow, but gee if it isn't expensive to get so many copies =/ Alright, will start looking at other possible builds.

Thanks guys!

A competitive deck in the current 1.24 environment is a Zaladar deck that I call a "slow creatures" desk. You can build it with only 12 or 13 uncommon (green) cards and the rest are all commons. Start with the Shadow Elemental deck and then buy the extra cards you need from the merchant with your wins against the AI. Here's what you're shooting for:

1x Zaladar

4x Infernal Gargoyle
4x Belladona
4x Chimera
2x Bad Wolf

2x Energy Discharge
4x Transferrence
4x Mind Control
4x Life Infusion
1x Eternal Renewal
3x Shriek of Vengance

Yes it's 2-3 cards over the "ideal" deck size for high probability outcomes, but the probabilities only drop by about 3% for the cards you need in the critical turns 4 and 5 by having those extra cards, which provide you some useful utility against decks with lots of items (such as bows) that can give you trouble, and against Elementalis mill decks that try to run you out of cards.

Try to put out a gargoyle or wolf on your turn 3. Then on turn 4 a Chimera (or Belladonna). Turn 5 try to disrupt your opponent with a Transferrence. In later turns when you put out other Chimeras/Belladonnas, slap a Life Infusion on them. Your Wolfs are just resource sacs after turn 3, as are most of your gargoyles in an ideal situation. Save your Mind Controls for the "big" allies your opponent brings out in mid and late game unless you absolutely need to stall a menacing ally earlier. Energy Discharge when things go pear-shaped. Hold your Shrieks for item removal against item heavy decks (such as Gwenneth decks), otherwise burn them for resources without another thought.

Enjoy!

[Inc]

Thanks again Shan! Actually, I thought you were referring to other Gwenneth builds when you said that lol. But I've been interested in a Zaladar deck for awhile too, I'll have a look at yours, makes sound sense. Cheers!

EDIT: Oh, I read that there's some bug with Mind Control and Aeon? 'Cause I think that's easily the biggest ally threat right now lol.

[shannong]

Thanks again Shan! Actually, I thought you were referring to other Gwenneth builds when you said that lol. But I've been interested in a Zaladar deck for awhile too, I'll have a look at yours, makes sound sense. Cheers!

EDIT: Oh, I read that there's some bug with Mind Control and Aeon? 'Cause I think that's easily the biggest ally threat right now lol.

Some human decks, especially Gwenneth decks, are reluctant to actually use Aeon because of the prevalence of Elementalis and Zaladar decks that can "steal" your Aeon from you in two different ways, and then use it against you. Gwenneth decks in particular hesitate to run Aeons because they generally cannot kill it except by using their fragile Soul Seeker + Rapid Fire combo, and they'd rather do that 8 damage combo directly against the opposing hero and let their other allies or utility cards deal with the opponent's allies.

Aeon's not bad at all, but the current environment make it more risky to run him. That will change eventually. In the mean time, even the two Elemental decks generally prefer to run with allies that they are confident they can kill if an opposing Elemental deck steals them. Many of the games now are Zaladar versus Zaladar, or Zaladar versus Elementalis, or Elementalis versus Elementalis.