As requested, after a day of silence... that last part of Simon Baileys article. Evolution of a R3v314710n. CH 3 Welcome my friends to my continued ruminations on how my Mono Gearsmith deck has changed to become the deck it is today, before I go on I think I need to make something clear. The job is not done , evolution marches on. As a Gearsmith player I think tinkering has been encoded in my DNA, and I have some ideas (as Elgar would put it) for some variations on a theme. That being said I am actually very happy with my ponies and how they work. So, for your consideration, I present to you R3v3l4710n5 6: 8 After my initial disappointment with the performance of the deck, and disillusionment with my abilities to deck build I actually took a step back. Taking time to have a serious think about what I actually wanted to the deck to do, what it was doing, and what was holding it up. Now before my ego lets me steal all the credit, this was done in unison with my friends who play and especially Tony and Glenn who gave some suggestions and listened to my arguments. This was actually a fantastic opportunity (admittedly disguised in a cloak of self doubt) as it made me think about the game, what its mechanics actually allow you to do and how the tactics of my deck should work on the board. What insights were granted to me after this voyage of self analysis and discovery, well I will tell you. Firstly; The Horsemajigs are the stars of the show and they need to be on the board. The four of them together make for a truly nasty 3st, 4l, and 5sp across all four of them. Put multiples of each out and watch the numbers get truly crazy and give you a buffer against one (or more of them) being removed. Add to this that they also boost Stuttershy and they can become a seriously scary headache for your opponent. However this only works if they are on the board and is of absolutely no use to you if they are still stabled in the deck. Secondly; There is no dressing it up, or hiding the fact, this deck is an aggro deck! It sole purpose is to hit you hard, and most importantly to hit you fast! The major weakness of the deck is being stalled, so it must do what it does best before the opponent can have time to think, let alone rally a defence. Thirdly; Covert is nowhere near as scary as I thought, and I had allowed myself to get caught up with one threat, this had forced me to react, rather than dictate. I am sure that someone once said the best defence is offence, or some other spurious sporting drivel ;). Therefore the premiss of the last rebuild had been false and led to a rather disastrous set of choices that had actually weakened the deck rather than strengthen it. So, with googles on, a handy oxyacetylene torch, a pile of scraps and the A team sound track resounding in my ear, I went to work to construct and awesome machine of coolness built from nothing but what was available in the curiously well stocked abandoned warehouse. Or to put it another way redesign the deck. So, the deck need to be faster, and in its earlier incarnations had had issues with resources, therefore I knew that it needed more. It also had suffered from not having the options in hand when it came to getting the right cards on the board, and thus needed some way to fix this. Some of the tricks I had first envisioned had never really came to fruition, and were too slow for the speed at which the deck needed to run, so a change was needed there. Tactically I had been hesitant with the deck and need to have more confidence with it, which of course had nothing to do with the build, but if you are confident with what is in your deck, you are more likely to play it in the way you had in mind. Decisions, decisions, what to come out, what to put in, so much to love and yet so limited a space, however after a lot of thought the following changes were made. Out; Sn4p, The first card to go, although I love its ability to create Micromajigs every time it restores there are flaws when used in this deck. Firstly its cost; 5 is quite an ask when you are trying to get a lot on the board in a short space of time. Secondly its speed; 2 is just too slow and the smart players would gang up on it, take the hit from other characters that attacked along side it and deal all the damage to poor Sn4p. So with a slight tear, out she went. Its a Trap. To be honest this card had gone in as a volition resource, and its ability was a secondary concern. It had never really been used and with what else I had in mind something needed to go, so with very little regret indeed it was discarded to the cutting room floor. Unrelenting Ridicule. This was actually a no brainer, it had been put into the deck for utterly the wrong reasons, and added nothing to it over all. I didnt need tactics to deal with Covert creatures, I just needed to play the deck better and make the correct choices when faced with the buggers. Therefore these were actually the first to go. Contriving Engineer. This may surprise some people, one of the problems was the deck not actually being fast enough, and there having been resourcing issues in earlier incarnations, which the engineer was supposed to fix. So why would you take him out? Actually it was simple, he costs 3 and whilst does grant a blocker and gives you an Elitism, that cost could be better spent on other characters. It was better to remove him and replace him with some resources than keep him in. Runic Cannon. Whilst I love the idea of the cannon, and it can be a real game changer in terms of the mathematics of an attack or defence, in this deck it was simply too slow and too costly to justify staying in, despite the fact I love the art work. So it was bye bye cannon of Pink Konk annihilation it is with a heavy heart you were dispatched to the scrap yard. Reduced; Obviously there was room still required for some of the changes that I wanted to make, despite being quite brutal about what had been removed, thus a couple of cards needed to have their numbers trimmed. Firstly; Industrious usage was reduced by one, this was simply because I had never had to use more than 2 and whilst the idea of destroying an item for a Majig amused me it was taking up valuable space. The other card that was reduced by one was the Securitymajig, I really had over reacted to Covert and with what I was putting in, I did not need the frequency of four within the deck to ensure a draw, and so happily stripped one out. In; Micromajig Master. This is actually the corner stone of the changes made, and has been the big element in speeding up the deck. Put simply, its cost is low, it puts two Majigs into play with can either act as blockers, delivery systems for Pwny Bomb and (with another Majig) be the fuel for its most useful ability; Tiny Sacrifice, which allows you to sacrifice Majigs to search your deck for a card to put in your hand. The Master therefore acts as tool to allow the deck to get what it needs in future turns, allowing you to react to the board, and giving you options on how to direct future momentum. In short it give the deck versatility. 700160x 31f. This card is a gift from the gods in this deck, 2 threshold, fairly cheap and allows you to pull a gear card from your deck and attach it immediately, what is not to love? Admittedly it was first envisioned to be used to only pull the next card from the deck, but since then I have often used it to pull a pwny bomb on the board knowing full well that a Majig is coming next. Luteoderm Prototype. Once again this card is included for its ability to fetch other cards from the deck. It can be put on a weak character and used as a sacrifice, or indeed buff a character that your opponent then chooses to leave alone because they do not want you pulling cards from your deck. However I like putting it on good old Stuttershy for reasons I am sure you can work out for yourselves constant reader ;). Rocket Lawn Chair. Hmmm the reason for this one is simple, I like it and if it is not prepared for can be a nasty little surprise for an opponents attacking party. So in essence it is in the deck as a resource, but just as useful on the board as a threat. Tied with the fact that the deck should have enough low cost characters on the board it is more than a fair trade off. After a lot of sweat, tears, beatings and brain ache I finally arrived at the deck as it stands now, it has performed well, won more than it has lost and is a lot of fun to play. Thus with out without any more fan fare and with as little ado as possible I give you R3v3l4710n5 6: 8; Resources; 16 x Elitism (2 starting), Characters; 4 x Horsemajig of the Apocalypse; Death, 4 x Horsemajig of the Apocalypse; Famine, 4 x Horsemajig of the Apocalypse; Pestilence, 4 x Horsemajig of the Apocalypse; War, 4 x Stuttershy, 4 x Micromajig Maker, 4 x Micromajig Masters, 4 x 700160x 31f, 3 x Micromajig Shipping Container, 3 x Securitymajig. Gear; 4 x Luteoderm Prototype, 3 x Pwny Bomb, 3 x Jacques Trap, 3 x Exploding Sock Puppet, 2 x Rocket Lawnchair. Tactics; 3 x Industrious usage, 3 x Subversion Matrix. On that note, you will be glad my friends to hear that you have come to the end of this rather long winded ramble through the rather disturbing corridors of my mind. I hope that this has given you some food for thought. As one last treat for those of you that have stuck with me to the end, I offer the following advice freely. The mulligan is your friend, with this deck do not be afraid to scrap your entire opening hand to get the cards you need to make this deck fly. Pardon, did I hear a question? Oh, what cards are they? Well my friends, that would be telling.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 09:24:09 +0000
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