Birdie’s Hero Breakdown – Amber Rain

**Preybird** · 08-08-2013, 09:22 PM

Intro

The warrior to which all other warriors are compared, Amber Rain

is a dervish of destruction when she gets rolling and has consistently proven her power over multiple versions of the game. As long as I can remember she has been one of the top tier heroes in Quick Match and in Tournaments, and without a doubt (for the foreseeable future at least) she is here to stay.

She’s also smoking hot.

Overview

Amber

specialises in one thing… tempo. Her insane draw power (Blood Frenzy) and her resource acceleration (Jeweler’s Dream) mean that with a good start she can have the board well under control by turn 4 and be ready to be beating down on her opponent. She is without a doubt one of the two best rush heroes in this game (the other being Eladwen

), and with cards like Retreat, Crippling Blow

and Layarian Seductress

she has plenty of cheap options to keep the opponent under wraps while she beats face.

As to the warrior pool, the real draw card here is Blood Frenzy

(heehee... pun), giving you the power to execute your strategy. Amber

also has access to cheap control (Crippling Blow), item destruction (Smashing Blow), ally buffing (War Banner

), huge heal potential (Enrage

, Rampage

, Mettle of the Yari), weapon recycling (Reserve Weapon) and a good set of allies (Yari Spearmen, Wild Berzerker, Yari Bladedancer, Yari Marksman). As to weapons, she has four big ones that see play, Jeweler’s Dream, Dimension Ripper

, Spectral Sabre

and War Flail

, all for different reasons.

Two things the Warrior pool lacks however are decent direct damage and a board wipe. This means that Amber

(like the other warriors) does not like losing control of the board. However if she does she can still deal significant damage with her weapons.

Allies

Amber

has stacks of great allies that work really well with her, though she does prefer cheaper allies because she can flood the board easily with her draw power and resource acceleration. Still most Amber builds have a couple of heavier allies for the late game.

Call of the Crystals

Puwen Bloodhelm: I find myself coming back to Puwen more and more lately, as he combines with Aldon beautifully to deal with Shadow’s number one 2cc ally, Ironhide Karash. He’s also exceptionally good in a rush based strategy, plus at 2cc he can drop with Jeweler’s Dream on turn 4.

Aldon the Brave: Always staple, particularly in rush style decks to get those extra points of damage in.

Jasmine Rosecult: This girl is great in both rush and control strategies, and she has great synergy with Jeweler’s Dream, allowing the weapon to drop and her ability to be used on turn 4.

Aeon Stormcaller: The big protector is very useful in an Amber deck, as he shields the horde of weenies that you’ve been dropping for a couple of turns prior.

Armored Sandworm: Sandworm acts as a tank, weapon/armor destruction and is generally a massive presence. Very useful against mages and rogues in particular.

Dark Prophecies

Champion of Irum: A very nice 2 drop, but I’m finding that because he can’t deal with Karash very effectively he’s becoming more of an alternate drop for me. He’s significantly more useful than Puwen going second or in late game however. Also he has some great synergy with Crippling Blow, allowing you to keep 3cc allies on the table and giving him a free buff.

Layarian Seductress: Amber’s new BFF4EVA. As Amber likes to sit at low resources for much of the game Seductress is almost guaranteed to trigger, and she can stall your opponent out just long enough for you to get the win.

Wild Berzerker: This guy is a shock trooper if ever I saw one. Swings in hard and fast but he’s not particularly sturdy. Still he has great synergy with Crippling Blow, allowing him to trigger reliably.

Yari Spearmen: A nice cheap spammable protector, Yari Spearmen can actually become a threat quite quickly if not dealt with. And with Amber (and JD) dropping two at once is a very real possibility (and a big problem for many opponents).

Fleet Foot Messenger: An extremely common sight now in Amber, FFM works well with JD to kill off 4 health allies AND allows you to sort your hand when you get a less than stellar opening. His 5 health allows him to survive well in most cases too.

Shattered Fates

Yari Bladedancer: Warrior’s new T2 play, this guy is strictly better than Puwen. Plus he can really make his mark with a T3 Fleet Foot Messenger. Aldon also helps his buff as well as his own attack (due to the nature of his ability).

Yari Marksman: With Warrior’s relying on Crippling Blow for their control this is a very useful card, as he can more reliably trigger. He’s also exceptional against Aeon and other protectors, which trouble Amber a lot.

Zailen Crusader: Even with her average stats she can still be useful in an Amber deck, casting her + Crippling Blow on T3 can be really damaging for your opponent, and is good going first or second. That being said don’t try and cast her and Blood Frenzy on T4, it doesn’t work (a mistake I’ve made many times).

Thunderstrike Construct: With his 2 damage on summon he can be a good supporting ally for Amber’s weapon shenanigans. He’s also a decent body and if paired with Fortified Wisp (for example) he can really help out. That being said it’s a toss up between him and the next ally….

Viska, The Scarlet Blade: Viska is I feel Amber’s best choice for a fat ally. Amber loves tempo and Viska allows her to get an extra 3 damage in. In addition she is immune to weapons and their effects (bar War Flail).

**Preybird** · 08-08-2013, 09:23 PM

Abilities and Items

The abilities and items are what make Amber

shine. With access to cheap control, massive draw and beefy weapons she can really keep a board under control without a lot of difficulty. Amber

already had an impressive arsenal in CotC, DP just helped to flesh it out a tad.

Call of the Crystals

Blood Frenzy: This powers Amber’s game, and gives her enough cards to utilize her resource acceleration effectively. Auto 4x include. And to all those players who are afraid of the 1 point damage per turn, remember this…. Cards > Damage.

Jeweler’s Dream: Amber’s weapon, no doubt about it. With each one worth 12 damage (after ability) and 8 resources renewed, JD is the core of every ally based Amber out there. JD allows you to fully utilise Blood Frenzy and means you get more use out of your deck as you don’t have to resource as high as other heroes to get rolling.

Dimension Ripper: Beatstick + draw. A very powerful weapon for Amber, it is 4 damage buffed (5 with Reserve Weapon), so it can deal with lots of allies singlehandedly. It also gives you draw, even though it’s from your opponent’s deck. However this can be a good thing because most other decks have lots of strong cards for you to use, while they will get limited use from your cards

Reserve Weapon: Bring your weapons around for another pass, and make them stronger in the process. What’s not to love?

Crippling Blow: Cheap ally control, this can knock out most allies easily. Be warned it’s not AS effective as it was pre-DP, but it’s still so good it’s a 4x include in most Amber builds. Also as it costs 2 it’s dynamite with JD.

Retreat!: Another great control tool, this allows you to control those allies that Crippling Blow is less effective against (Plasma Behemoth, Aeon etc). Though it is only temporary, many times a one turn reprieve is all that’s needed.

Smashing Blow: Nice cheap armor/weapon destruction. More limited than Stop Thief and Focused Prayer, it is nonetheless a solid ability and far preferable to many other item destruction cards out there.

Enrage: 10 instant health, the best heal/cost ratio out there. Risky against some classes like Elementals however (Morphic Armor anyone?)

Bad Santa: Fantastic supplemental draw, allows you to dig out Blood Frenzy much quicker. Also allows you to hunt for that final weapon.

Dark Prophecies

Spectral Sabre: This is a great and versatile weapon that can do a quick 8 damage. I like to keep one in my Amber Ripper deck, just in case my opponent steals an Enrage/Blood Frenzy (Though it can be annoying if they steal my Sabre!). Also props to Wulven for bringing back the old Destroy Arms (former Focused Prayer) art.

Treasured Heirloom: Good supplemental draw, this also gives an Aldon like buff to a single ally, allowing more damage in a shorter space of time. Always a good thing.

Shattered Fates

War Flail: This is Amber’s new beatstick. 4 damage (buffed), 4 durability, ignores damage reduction abilities. So she can now one shot Gargoyles, put giant holes in Sandworms, and break Viska. A monstrous weapon in her hands.

Lythian Sledgehammer: When the Flail just isn’t enough. An extra point of durability is nice, but the exile ability is what you want. Breaks Shadow Knight loops and any graveyard shenanigans. Also means you can hurt the hero while controlling the board (though slowly).Plus I always have a good laugh imagining a tiny blond woman swinging about an enormous hammer.

Desperate Tactics: Essentially allows Amber to double tap with her weapon. Can lead to huge damage in a single turn, but does destroy your weapon afterwards.

Mettle of the Yari: Another Warrior heal engine, this one is good because it relies on what you play, not what your opponent does like Rampage. This is a really good thing, and when combined with Yari allies can give you tremendous value.

Playstyles

Aggro: Also what I refer to as beatdown. You’re the aggressor, the proactive player aiming to force responses from your opponent. You hit fast and often. This sort of playstyle generally uses a lot of allies and/or weapons/direct damage. Aggro is a style of play that relies heavily on maintaining tempo. Mess that up and chances are you can overrun an aggro deck.

Control: The flip side to aggro, control aims to win by being reactive, constantly having the right answer until it’s ready to produce threats of its own. Control doesn’t so much rely on the tempo play, it’s more reliant on card advantage for the majority of the game.

Stall/Mill: The ultimate slowdown. We all know the main culprit here (Millstalker), though there are other stall decks around of varying levels of effectiveness. While these decks claim to win by decking you out (milling) they’re actually stalling you, milling is just a by-product of that.

Amber is an aggro player no doubt about it, however she has plenty of control tools at her disposal as well so can execute both strategies effectively. She also can run a semi-solo strategy, though it tends to be more focused in terms of matchup quality (completely wrecks some classes, auto loss to others).

Aggro: 4-6 2cc allies, 8-12 3cc allies, 2 5cc+ allies, Blood Frenzy, Bad Santa, Enrage, Crippling Blow, Retreat, 6+ weapons, Reserve Weapon.

Control: 3-4 2cc allies, 8-10 3cc allies, Yari Marksman, Viska the Scarlet Blade, Blood Frenzy, Treasured Heirloom, Enrage, Rampage, Crippling Blow, Retreat, 6+ weapons, Reserve Weapon.

Stall/Mill: Bad Santa, Lily Rosecult, 8+ Weapons, Enrage, Rampage/Mettle of the Yari, Rain Delay, Crippling Blow, Spiked Bolas Strike, Reserve Weapon, Desperate Tactics, Retreat. (Consider Dragon’s Tooth as a possibility here for control, despite its unbuffable nature.)

**Preybird** · 08-08-2013, 09:24 PM

Matchups

Okay, here’s my deck.

Amber Rain

4 x Yari Bladedancer

3 x Fleet Foot Messenger
3 x Aldon the Brave

3 x Layarian Seductress

2 x Yari Marksman

2 x Viska

, the Scarlet Blade

2 x Smashing Blow

1 x Enrage

4 x Crippling Blow

2 x Retreat

4 x Blood Frenzy

2 x Bad Santa

4 x Jeweler’s Dream
2 x War Flail

1 x Spectral Sabre

40 cards inc Hero

Good old fashioned Amber

rush/beatdown. Goes hard but with a nice fall back in cards like Marksman and Viska

.

Call of the Crystals Heroes

Boris Skullcrusher
Matchup Quality: Medium
Tactics: Boris

is nowhere near as fast as you are so take advantage of that. However his late game is generally better so be sure to have him into the kill zone before he solidifies his board presence. Jeweler’s Dream will help you give him so many targets he can’t keep up, and be sure to save a Smashing Blow

for his King’s Pride.

Amber Rain
Matchup Quality: Medium/Hard
Tactics: Amber

mirror matches are all about FTA. He who goes first has a massive advantage, and if they get a T3 BF, T4 JD you’re in strife. You have to play the control game as much as possible and grind your way into a favourable position. But this is not easy going second. Going first you can rush.

Victor Heartstriker
Matchup Quality: Medium
Tactics: Victor is slow to get rolling, but his game has been boosted significantly with cards like Ravens Gambit fueling the machine. Overwhelm

him with weight of numbers and shut down his Wrath with Smashing Blow

. Beat down his Soul Seekers, a few life won’t win him this game, but draw will. If it gets close to the end switch to a solo strategy to really lock out his draw.

Gwenneth Truesight
Matchup Quality: Medium
Tactics: If Gwen gets an ITF chain going it’s goodnight. However your draw is so much better than hers, so if you can choke her draw you can overrun her. Spectral Sabre

is golden to deal with Rapid Fire

.

Nishaven
Matchup Quality: Easy
Tactics: Amber

loves beating on mages. Just be sure you keep a Smashing Blow

in case you see a Snow Sapphire

. Rush him, control his allies with your abilities and go for the face.

Eladwen Frostmire
Matchup Quality: Easy
Tactics: Same as above.

Jericho Spellbane
Matchup Quality: Medium/Hard
Tactics: Jericho

tears down your Blood Frenzy easily and he has ample item destruction. However if you can get a great start he will fall just like Zhanna

does. The only thing is that if he gets a foothold he will steamroll you. Don’t let it happen.

Zhanna Mist
Matchup Quality: Easy/Medium
Tactics: Despite her ample item destruction and cards like Mass Purification

, Zhanna

is too slow to keep up with Amber and a good rush will end her. Played properly, Zhanna

is faced with the difficult choice of Tidal Wave or Focused Prayer, and she will have no resources left to assert board control of her own. Amber is one of the only heroes I’m truly confident bringing to a fight with Zhanna

.

Lance Shadowstalker
Matchup Quality: Medium
Tactics: Both rogues can be tricky in the right circumstances, if they get too many Stop Thief

’s off they’ll be able to drop hordes you just can’t deal with. However their starts are weak so you can get a lot of damage in early. It can be difficult to get the last 5-8 points in however, so keep weapons at the ready at all times. Watch out for Lance

’s hasted allies, they’re a pain.

Serena Thoughtripper
Matchup Quality: Medium
Tactics: Blood Frenzy

laughs at Serena

’s ability, so you’ll find she’ll be using her buffed Anklebreaker

’s to control the board instead. Drop as many allies as you can as quickly as you can, and don’t attack your allies (bar Viska

) into her Anklebreakers, that’s what she wants. Use your weapons/Viska

to do that.

Ter Adun
Matchup Quality: Medium/Very Hard
Tactics: Ter’s board control is terrible, but against Amber his ability shines. Keep spare weapons and overwhelm his ability. Solo Ter is a really difficult match for Amber, especially as she likes cheap allies (They provide constant food for Rampage

).

Logan Stonebreaker
Matchup Quality: Easy
Tactics: Overwhelm

and overrun. Force Logan

to use his ability on weenies so you can safely drop your heavier allies. Save Retreat

for Behemoths, or kill them outright with Marksman if possible.

Banebow
Matchup Quality: Medium
Tactics: Cripple his draw and you will take this. If you can’t you have to control his allies (without killing) to prevent them from triggering Wrath and go for the face. Beat down as rapidly as you can and you’ll do fine. Watch for DMT

and Behemoth.

Baduruu
Matchup Quality: Medium
Tactics: If it’s a Res D Baduruu

, feel free to bring out the evil laugh. Blood Frenzy + Jeweler’s Dream make mincemeat of that strategy and inevitability is in your court. If it’s a tempo Baduruu

it’s a bit trickier, he can keep up with your resource boosting to some extent so it’s a more even fight. But your draw is far superior.

Majiya
Matchup Quality: Easy
Tactics: Treat her like any other mage and you’re golden. Portal

is annoying, but if you play your cards right she’ll be mostly dead before she can really use them. Drop so many allies so that she is forced to control with hasted allies then cripple said allies next turn. Many Portal

Majiya

don’t run Supernova

so you can horde to some extent. But keep allies in hand, just in case.

**Preybird** · 08-08-2013, 09:25 PM

Gravebone
Matchup Quality: Easy
Tactics: Gravebone

likes Nova, so hording isn’t a great idea. However you have so many ways to control allies without killing them you can really negate his recycling strategy. Gravebone

is probably the easiest of the mages to kill, due to his weak early game and reliance on Nova, so don’t panic.

Elementalis
Matchup Quality: Easy
Tactics: Elementalis

is very heavily reliant on allies, with few other ways to effectively take/keep board control. Retreat and Crippling Blow are the order of the day here, but watch out for Morphic Armor. Keep that Spectral Sabre handy to remove attachments they may steal and keep a Smashing Blow

to shut the armor down permanently. Keep a spare BF in hand. Enrage

is too risky to use here, sacrifice it.

Zaladar
Matchup Quality: Medium
Tactics: Zaladar

has excellent board control, but so do you. This comes down to who can put out the most threats and best counter the opponents, and that means DRAW POWER. You have it in spades, but he can steal it from you with Morphic Armor. The same rules apply, save a Spectral Sabre and Smashing Blow

, and keep a spare BF in hand. Once again, Enrage

is too risky.

Note with Elementals: Watch out for Super Focus

, as it can reactivate a crippled ally. Best solution here is simply to cripple two allies (thus preventing SF’s trigger), or use your Spectral Sabre

to remove it entirely.

Darkclaw
Matchup Quality: Hard/Very Hard
Tactics: Solo Darkclaw

is a pain in the backside, he can easily control your allies until you get an Aeon

out and his weapons do a ridiculous amount of damage. Coupled with his healing and draw power from Blood Moon

and you’re in for a hard fight. He can be overrun, but with no way to cripple his draw it’s an uphill battle.

Moonstalker
Matchup Quality: Medium/Hard
Tactics: Moonstalker

is a tricky one, but is certainly winnable as you have quite a few ways to get around his stealth. Layarian Seductress is gold here, and she will win you games in conjunction with Retreat and Crippling Blow

.

Shattered Fates Heroes

Note these are subject to change as the SF meta evolves.

Tala Pureheart
Matchup Quality: Medium/Hard
Tactics: Endless Protectors, especially tough ones is problematic for Amber

. She may take one down but with them coming constantly she can have trouble shutting them all down. You need to kill Tala’s draw to slow the tide and use cards like Retreat

and Yari Marksman

like they’re going out of fashion.

Ythan Redthorn
Matchup Quality: Easy/Medium
Tactics: Hasted allies can give you trouble, but your superior draw really helps keep Ythan

under wraps, and your constant flow of threats gives what allies he does have too many targets. However with so many low health allies Viska can give you trouble with Ythan

’s ability.

Aramia
Matchup Quality: Easy
Tactics: Just like any other mage, but Aramia

is generally easier because Crippling Blow

shuts down her main threat (Aetherborn Wisp

) incredibly easily. Got for the face as much as possible and control with abilities.

Threbin the Righteous
Matchup Quality: Easy/Medium
Tactics: You’re super fast and Threbin

doesn’t have either the heal of Zhanna

or the attachment removal of Jericho

, so go for broke. Keep him down and don’t stop. Always remember not to overextend and be sure to keep allies/weapons spare.

Garth Ravensoul
Matchup Quality: Hard
Tactics: Keeping board control from Garth

is very difficult, and he has all the tools to shut you down with ease. He is definitely the trickiest of the Rogues for Amber

to overcome, but not impossible. Flood the board and give him too many targets to deal with. Try to kill allies instead of Cripple them, as A Legend Rises

is commonplace in Garth

decks.

Vess Swifthands
Matchup Quality: Medium
Tactics: Vess

will get the jump on you if she has a good hand, her ability allowing big early tempo plays. However your resource acceleration will help keep the threats cycling through much faster than her in the later game. Watch out for Will to Fight

.

Skervox
Matchup Quality: Easy
Tactics: Skervox

’s ability may slow your allies down somewhat, but it won’t kurb your weapon and ability based assault. Your hasted allies are especially useful here.

Raikka Spellseeker
Matchup Quality: Easy
Tactics: Raikka

doesn’t have the early board control of Majiya

, so you can really punish her while she’s getting set up. Be warned however that there be monsters lurking in her deck, Infernus

is a nightmare due to his size and buffing ability. Yari Marksman

is exceptionally useful here.

Praxix
Matchup Quality: Easy
Tactics: Praxix

as always is a very random hero to face. However with your massive draw power cards will more likely wind up in your hand than milled into your graveyard. Always keep spare weapons so that there’s always a threat on board. One thing Praxix

can do is surprise you with a horde of allies so be ready with counters.

Bloodfang
Matchup Quality: Medium/Hard
Tactics: This guy drops so many heavy allies it can be tricky to keep up. And with cards like Griptooth

protecting his horde he can be very problematic. In addition Wulven Resilience

is ever present, as is Bloodpack Shaman

, who will cycle Dread Wolves and each other all day long, draining you of responses.

Loest, Savior of Layar
Matchup Quality: Medium
Tactics: Amber

’s still got the advantage, but Loest will shut down your Blood Frenzy

if given a chance. The goal is to put him in a no-win situation. Force him to use his ability elsewhere if possible and you’ll do fine.

Rothem, King of Layar
Matchup Quality: Medium
Tactics: You’ve got to kill this guy quick before he can get a big turn in. Generally you have about 8-9 turns to get there however so it’s not an impossibility. Keep Smashing Blow

handy to make sure you bust any weapons/King’s Pride that make it to the table.

Conclusion

Amber

is a scary prospect to face in QM at the moment, and there are a lot of top players using her for that very reason. She has her weaknesses for sure but she has one huge advantage over 90% of the field…. speed. Beat opponents down and don’t give them a chance to get back up. Do that well and you’ll go far with her.

Bear in mind however that there is a lot more attachment hate now than there has been in previous versions of the game, so it’s now the rule rather than the exception.

One last thing.... Amber Rain

is simply the coolest name ever. Props to Kyle (or whoever came up with it).