Some questions about Eladwen deck/gameplay

[wicked potato]

Hello,

I'm new to the game, right now I'm grinding the AI for gold so I can build myself a proper deck, and also to see which cards I (don't) like

my temporary deck :

Eladwen Frostmire

2x Jasmine Rosecult
4x Sandra Trueblade
4x Puwen Bloodhelm
2x Kurt Whitehelm
3x Aldon the Brave
2x Earthen Protector

4x Fireball
4x Lightning Strike
2x Arcane Burst
2x Engulfing Flames
2x Poison Gas
3x Tome of Knowledge
4x Extra Sharp

1x Campfire Stories


now some questions :


1) I feel pretty weak early game, I usually have to wait and build up ressources before I can do anything at all....especially when I wasn't dealt any Puwen

sometimes I find myself in tight spots when the AI plays low-ressource allies and adds attachements to them (like Extra Sharp) or when those allies have synergies between each others (like Pack Wolf and Spark )

what do you advice me to do about it?


2) I am helpless against attachement cards, such as Bloodlust , What Big Teeth , Lone Wolf etc... which can be a pain in the rear

how should I deal with them?


3) well, I'll take any advice regarding my deck really


thanks for the help!

[bobrossw]

1 - sandra is actually sort of tough to use well, as you mentioned, you'd rather have more guys with 2cc. Champion of Irum fills this role nicely. Also layarian seductress can be very solid early game.

2 - your concern over this indicates something about your playing style to me - you're trying to counter opponent cards, rather than death race. Eladwen is especially suited to a rush/death race playstyle. Essentially players load up the board with cheap allies early on and try to get the opponent down as much as they can. On T5, they typically attack the hero with all their allies and drop a supernova to clear the board of all allies, and then hopefully have a decent draw engine and a few burn cards to take out the opponent. When playing against Eladwen, I like to try to get her to waste her fireballs on my allies and shut down her early game ally rush. Doing either of these well usually wins me the game. So when you play as Eladwen, you should be aware of that...you are in a race to kill the opponent before they can overwhelm you or shut you down. Don't get distracted by allies that can only do minimal damage to you, especially when you're planning on taking them out with a supernova soon. Try to use lightning bolts over fireballs on allies whenever possible (with one fork hitting the hero).

As far as what cards to get first, I'd go for 4x 2 cc allies and at least 2x Supernova

If what you want is a control deck (that is, a typically slower deck that has answers and potential counters to most strategies), you should know that Eladwen isn't great at it. You'd be better off trying hunters, Boris, rogues, or priests. There are also some icy control decks that have sprung up in SF, but I'd still go with any of those other heroes if control is your style.

[pjoe0211]

cards i would strongly suggest not using any of

earthen protector
sandra
campfire stories
extra sharp

cards i would replace as well

kurt
poison gas
engulfing flame(they are just too slow)
arcane blasts

you can add at least 2 supernova, 2 tainted oracle, 1 tome of knowledge(total of 4) 2 champion of irum

if you want to run jasmine you can use 4 of them and or some layarian seductresses

that should get you started

[wicked potato]

2 - your concern over this indicates something about your playing style to me - you're trying to counter opponent cards, rather than death race. Eladwen is especially suited to a rush/death race playstyle.

well I've picked Eladwen cause I've read on the forums that she was the most suited for new players, that's basically the only reason why

what you describe as 'rush' playstyle would definitely not be my kind of thing though

I'm more into summoning an army of allies, while trying to block my opponents as much as I can (kill their allies on sight, remove attachements)

is Eladwen a bad choice for that style of play? should I go for another hero?

[Misanthropic]

Ela excels at weenie rushes and switches to mid/late burn.

You can still run an aggro mage and use your burn to control the board but Majiya does that best and she needs a whole new ally pool. Mages dont really control anything though, its always a death race. The closest to control I got as a mage was with. loest bounce deck but my only control was standard item destruction and bounce/disable cards (dagger of unmaking, retreat, seductress)


What I suggest is making a bunch of alt accounts and choosing different starter decks.

Some things to ask yourself:

What playstyle do I enjoy? Aggro, control, or burn?
Aggro is all about the allies, overrun the board and squish everything.
Burn is all about the DPS, damage, damage, dot, damage, maybe an ally or two.
Both aggro and burn tend to be initiative playstyles, they want to make the first move and force a response.
Control forces your opponent to ask permission to play a card and is very reactive. The problem solvers playstyle, almost all plays react to the opponent.

Am I here for fun or glory?
Chasing ratings requires playing the meta and often you will pushed into a deck that isnt perfect for you but works the best.
Fun decks use gimmicks and unstable combos just for the luls.

How often will I play/ How much time/money will I invest?
If you plan on being casual or maybe just playing on the porcelain throne then take your time in choosing the right deck. You wont have many options and will need your deck to be fun enough to play over and over.
Investing heavily allows for more exploration.

Answering these questions will help both you and us find the right deck for you.

My thoughts from what you said so far:

If your looking for a solid aggro/control playstyle I have to recommend Elementals. Zal has a great balance of control and aggro available and Elementalis is great at aggro. Elemental decks take a bit longer for new players to achieve but Zal alone can play rush, stall, control, and balance easily.

Ps. No matter your playstyle, weenie rushing the AI is the fastest way to level and farm gold. The AI ignores allies which is why starting mages struggle the most.

[bobrossw]

Ela excels at weenie rushes and switches to mid/late burn.

You can still run an aggro mage and use your burn to control the board but Majiya does that best and she needs a whole new ally pool.


What I suggest is making a bunch of alt accounts and choosing different starter decks. You get a decent taste of what each hero plays like.
If your looking for a solid aggro/control playstyle I have to recommend Elementals. Zal has a great balance of control and aggro available and Elementalis is great at aggro. Elemental decks take a bit longer for new players to achieve but Zal alone can play rush, stall, control, and balance easily.

I agree, Zaladar really can play a variety of styles, and has remained a very solid choice in each expansion. Elementalis used to be sort of weak, but has gotten some nice bumps in Shattered Fates.

[bobrossw]

oh, and the reason Eladwen is recommended for newbies is because that rush, all-or-nothing play-style is the easiest to do. Balanced approaches are a good next step, and like we said, Zaladar can do it all. Effectively using a control deck requires knowing what you're up against - if I'm going up against someone playing Lance, I'll hold on to my item destruction cards to take out ill-gotten-gains, unless I see them play Zailen crusader, because then I know they're playing the rush variation of lance, that doesn't use items, so my item destruction cards will get resourced. Playing control well requires being able to anticipate the opponent, which is impossible for newbies, since they don't know the game well enough.

[highmystica]

Eladwen is in my opinion the best hero for new players she does really well against the AI once you get the cards, she's also damn fine against other players. Playing the AI is completely different to playing a quick game versus a real person. Firstly the AI is completely stupid, not that that's a bad thing ... it's just there to teach people how to play before they jump into quick matches, or to farm when a new expansion comes out. Generally speaking you just need to direct all your energy against the hero and you'll do fine. Also when grinding gold against the AI most people run a 30 card deck rather than a full sized competition deck to keep the build more consistent, and also prevents you from accidently taking your farming deck to face of against people in quick games.

Snow Sapphire would help with some of what you've mentioned being a problem and Retreat! helps with both removing attachments on allies both yours and theirs, and also removes board presence. I would recommend putting in 4 Kristoffer Wyld for initial board presence and since he has haste he hits immediately for 1. Portal is another handy card for a pure rush build though with that added you'll be stuck making a full sized deck.

There are a few 30 card Eladwen AI farming decks posted on this thread you might want to check out.

Welcome to the game!

[wicked potato]

thank you guys for your inputs !

I've made another account to give Zaladar a try; I can tell I already love Carniboar

Am I here for fun or glory?
How often will I play/ How much time/money will I invest?

I'm definitely not looking to become a high ranked player, if I can find a fun deck to play with and win a couple of games with it, that'll be just fine for me


as for my Eladwen deck, following your advices I'm gonna remove many cards : Earthen Protector, Sandra Trueblade, Campfire Stories, Extra Sharp, Engulfing Flames, Poison Gas, Arcane Burst (why no love for Kurt though?)

I'll start by adding some Champion of Irum, Tome of Knowledge, Supernova, Retreat, and I'll try different allies as well ( Priest of the Light looks good)

[FDL]

(why no love for Kurt though?)

Kurt is in that weird 4 cc slot for allies.

In most SE decks, it's pretty important to play a 3 cost ally on turn 3. Kurt doesn't help here.
The power level of 4 cost allies isn't that much higher than 3 cost allies, but 5 cost allies are usually pretty powerful.

So, usually people will carry a fair number of 3 cost allies (9 to 12) (plus, you can also play a 3 cost ally on turn 3 and not feel like you've made a suboptimal play) and 3 to 6 5 cost allies as endgame.

4 cost allies that do see play (Tainted Oracle, Lily, Braxnorian Veteran, etc) usually fulfill a utility role in their deck.

Note that Shattered Fates has introduced a number of pretty interesting 4 cost allies (Irina, Pheonis Urigon, etc).

tl;dr 4 cost allies are marginally better than 3 cost allies but cannot be played on turn 3, which is a big difference. 5 cost allies are much better too.