eChad Draft #2 Report

In the first draft, I ended up with 5 3-cost spells.  Which is awkward.  I had a solid spell list, but wanted to make sure I don't get stuck with all expensive stuff this go-round.

First, my list: 
Issyria
* Chimera
* Discordia
Infiltrators, max
* Eiryss3
* Soulless
MHSF, max
* UA
Arcanist
Assassin

We didn't have to write a list until after we finished the draft, but I had planned this list from the beginning.  I originally had 2 assassins in there, but decided I wanted an Arcanist, and that gave me a point to take the Soulless with the Infiltrators.  Note that I've never played Retribution before.

Pick 1:
Caustic mist
Domination
Hellfire
Lurker
*Perdition
Quagmire
Scramble
Wall of fire

This didn't feel like much of a decision.  I bet Quagmire would be fantastic on Infiltrators, but I feel that Perdition is simply the better spell here.  The extra mobility will be welcome, and it's also a cheap nuke should I need one.

Pick 2:
Annihilation
*Calamity
Curse of shadows
Fire for effect
Forced evolution
Primal shock
Return fire

Curse of Shadows was a close second.  Again, I bet it would be awesome with Infiltrators, but I went with Calamity for the hit buff in addition to a damage buff.  Until this draft, I hadn't realized that Curse of Shadows gives the ability to move through the affected models period - and not just to friendly models.  Next time my Fenns are Cursed, I'll know to take advantage of it.

Pick 3:
*Earth's blessing
Heightened metabolism
Lurker
Rock wall
Strength of granite
True shot

Oh boy, did I want Strength of Granite.  What's interesting about True Shot, and many spells and animi, is that they are RNG:SELF, and Issyria has no weapons.  That ruled out a lot of spells for me in this draft.  Earth's Blessing seemed too strong of a countermeasure here to pass up considering Issyria is ARM13.  She does not want to be on the ground.  Since it will be a spell, and not an upkeep or animi, I don't think there is anyway to remove it either.  Issy will continue floating throughout this draft!

Pick 4:
Artifice of deviation
Phantasm
Playing god
Ravager
*Venom

Again, a few spells that do nothing for me.  Venom seemed like the best pick here, offering a good anti-infantry option.

Pick 5:
*Airburst
Countermeasure
Sacrosanct
Shadow shift

None of these spells blow me away, but that's to be expected 4 picks in.  I'm not a fan of "kill me and something moderately bad happens" spells like Sacrosanct.  Not to say that it isn't good, because it is.  Countermeasure is pretty lame.  Shadow Shift is underwhelming.  Airburst gives me a sniping option for Stealth models.

Pick 6:
*Blight field
Counterblast
Guided hand

WHAT? Blight Field and Guided Hand are both amazingly good spells.  I already have a hit buff in Calamity.  If you've ever played against Blight Field, you'll probably be as surprised as I am that this went 6th.  If you haven't played against it, buahahahaha

Pick 7:
*Fate Walker
Ornery

My first thought is that both of these are completely useless for me.  My second thought is that Fate Walker will allow me to move up with Issy to either cast or *Ancillary, then move back to safety.  I'm very happy with this as a 7th pick.

"Pick" 8:
*Killing Ground

Mike trolled me pretty hard on this one by telling me I was getting Temporal Barrier.  After losing my mind for about 2 minutes like I had won the Super Bowl, he tells me it's actually Killing Ground.  Can't believe I fell for that.  But Killing Ground is a great spell.  It's come in handy a few times on eMadrak, and he only has a 10" control.  Having the ability to give your entire list Pathfinder is fantastic.


Final spell list:
Airburst
Blight Field
Calamity
Earth's Blessing
Fate Walker
Killing Ground
Perdition
Venom

I'm super happy with this list.  Battle reports to come!

I chose Terminus before anything started because he doesn't give a shit about his spell list. Add the option of getting good spells, and now you're dealing with Terminus AND spells. Sounded good to me.

Pick 1:
Forced evolution
Fire for effect
Curse of shadows
Return fire
*Spiny growth
Primal shock
Calamity
Annihilation

Took a long look at calamity, but decided that Terminus with an armor buff is better.

Pick 2:
True shot
Heightened metabolism
Rock wall
*Skyborne
Lurker
Strength of granite
Earth's blessing

Thought about SoG for a bit, and decided a faster, harder to hit Terminus was better. Plus, he gains flight!

Pick 3:
Venom
Ravager
Artifice of deviation
Playing god
*Flashing blade
Phantasm

I never cast Ravager anyway, and Flashing Blade seems better anyway.

Pick 4:
Countermeasure
*Burning ash
Airburst
Sacrosanct
Shadow shift

Not looking so hot here. Sacrosanct is neat, but one point clouds go a long way to delivering bile thralls.

Pick 5:
Blight field
Guided hand
Counterblast
*Stonhold

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Pick 6:
Fate walker
*Druid's wrath
Ornery

Fate walker is great for getting Terminus up the board, but I won't be casting it. Druid's wrath was basically hate-drafted. When is Cryx getting a 10-man magic unit?

Pick 7:
Killing ground
*Scramble

Killing ground is certainly better for delivering Cryx troops, but I don't want to spend focus. Moving jacks around won't happen, but could be good fun.

"Pick" 8:
Domination

Was hoping to pick up the second copy of Scramble here, but I'm happy with more jack shenanigans.

Final spell list:
Spiny growth
Skyborne
Flashing blade
Burning ash
Stonehold
Druid's wrath
Scramble
Domination

Terminus
-Skarlock
-Stalker
-Darragh Wrathe
-Madelyn Corbeau
-Withershadow Combine
-Bile thralls (min)
-Mechanithralls (max)
-Necrosurgeon
-Raiders & UA

Stay tuned to see how it does!

Chad:
I think picks one and three are debateable - I was surprised that you didn't seem to consider either Caustic Mist or Rock Wall, both spells I would windmill slam in most situations. They seem particularly strong on a caster with a decent-sized control area that really needs to control the board to stay safe. Earth's Blessing is obviously excellent for its cost, though, and Perdition is always a threat.

Pick five I think you lowballed Countermeasure. That gives you a relatively cheap way to shut down the effectiveness of Colossals, Biles, and shooting units - and it's particularly good on the fast, Stealthy infiltrators. Airburst is fine but marginal at best. You're always spending 4+ focus on it since it's POW 8.

Pretty solid list overall, though. A couple of really strong packs.

Mike:
We were colluding throughout, so I of course agree with all his picks . Stonehold, in particular, is pretty unfair on him. Strength of Granite vs. Skyborne is the most interesting decision, I think, and could have gone either way. We figured that SPD > STR in 90% of cases. After getting Stonehold, it seems like a worse pick, since Termy can just tank anything now, and slowly work his way through the army, and Strength would have been a good way to help him wreck jacks at will. Oh, well.

I chose Calaban, because I have absolutely no other reason to ever play him as he is garbage, maybe I could get something that makies him hilarious if not good.

Pick 1
Countermeasures
Tornado
Burning Ash
Ghost Walk
*Cataclysm
Airburst
Sacrosanct
Shadow Shift

PRAYERS ANSWERED, my entire goal of this series of games will be to deliver Calaban, feat, then blow as much as I can on all the Cataclysms, fuck the consequences and the poh-lees!

Pick 2
Blight Field
Superiority
Guided Hand
Counterblast
Stonehold
Crippling Grasp
* Signs and Portents

Another amazing spell!?  I'll take it, again screw the rest of the pack, gut feelings rule here!  I regret passing Blight Field now...

Pick 3
Chain Lightning
Fate Walker
* Incite
Guided Fire
Druid's Wrath
Ornery

Everything costs all the fury I won't have after casting S&P, so going to hate draft Incite, could be good if I don't put up S&P.  The rest of the spells seem kinda' crap anyways...  except Fate Walker, that seems good.

Pick 4
Bleed
*Arcane Bolt
Dog Pile
Killing Ground
Scramble

I need a cheap shot spell, going with Arcane Bolt!

Pick 5
Hellfire
* Wall of Fire
Scramble
Domination

Had to go for the wall, help me clear as much as possible from engaging my gators.

Pick 6
Return Fire
* Primal Shock
Annihilation

More cheap shots?  focused on beasts?  Ok!

Pick 7
Heightened Metabolism
* Lurker

Yeah Lurker is useful on the Spitter, so sure!

Pick 8
Playing God

... That could be hilarious on the Wrassler!

I then built a standard list, which is gators is pretty cut and paste:

Calaban
- Spitter
- Wrassler
Full Gators
Wrong Eye
-Snapjaw
Totem Hunter
Croak Hunter
Feralgeist

I have no intention of winning any games, just tossing out as many POW 20's as I possibly can on feat turn!

I play Rock Wall all the time in Trolls, so meh.  It's definitely good, but I feel that Earth's Blessing really shores up a weakness and is just something different.  KD ARM13 caster is dead behind a wall or not anyway.  And 1 Focus is very attractive.

Caustic Mist is good.  I may have undervalued it.  But I didn't want to sink my focus into throwing out 2 cost clouds every turn, and I would have been tempted to do so.  And, as I said, I really got stuck with some expensive spells in the last draft and didn't want to pass up a quality 2 cost nuke.  Tack on a movement shenanigan, and I didn't feel I could pass it up.  I don't think I can across any other quality nukes, so I would have been disappointed had I passed it.

I wasn't thrilled with Airburst, but it's a tool in the box - a bit of utility should it be needed.  Countermeasure still doesn't seem very good.  Purge is a *attack and not ranged, unless I'm mistaken.  I would probably love it in Trolls though.

~~~~

For Mike's picks, I don't like Druid's Wrath or Scramble.  He said Druid's Wrath was a hate draft, but against who?  Fate Walker could have let you charge into a unit of infantry, Flashing Blade a few times, and then Fate Walker to wherever you want.

Scramble is too niche for my liking.  I think Killing Ground is a better pick *generally*, if just for the potential utility.  Depending on how you build the list though, it could be just about worthless.  Probably not worth it for McThralls, since they're the only thing it would really affect in his list.

What the hell was in the full pack for the one that had Stonehold in it?  With 4 picks left, 3 of them are amazing and 1 is situationally good.

Pick 2
Blight Field
Superiority
Guided Hand
Counterblast
Stonehold
Crippling Grasp
* Signs and Portents

Jesus - So what was the first pick in this pack?

Apparently Leugers took Chain Lightning over Guided Fire.  That's interesting.  I would think Guided Fire would be a snap-pick in Legion, but Vayl could do sickening things with Chain Lightning, too.

My list:  Tier 4
Vayl2
Angelius 8(9)
Angelius 8(9)
Angelius 8(9)
Throne of Everblight 9
Shepherd 1
Shepherd 1
Spell Martyr 1
Spell Martyr 1
Spell Martyr 1
max Spawning Vessel 3

Round 1
Venom
Ravager
Lightning storm
Artifice of deviation
>Mage blight
Playing god
Flashing blade
Phantasm
not really a contest here.

Round 2
Countermeasure
Tornado
Burning ash
>Ghost walk
Airburst
Sacrosanct
Shadow shift
a lot to choose from here, but Ghost walk allows flying beasts to return to the MK1 days. 

round 3
Blight field
Superiority
Guided hand
Counterblast
Stonehold
>Crippling grasp
this one was a real bitch to decide.  Stonehold and Blight field are great defensive spells, but I can transfer damage. Crippling grasp gives me an accuracy and damage buff all in one.  or I could cast it on a unit to mitigate them most of the game.

Round 4
>Chain lightning
Fate walker
Guided fire
Druid's wrath
Ornery
If I had gotten a bunch of damage spells, I would totally have taken Druid's Wrath.  alas I was shaping up to be a control caster, so I needed some infantry clearing abilities.  Chain Lightning can do some real damage to a unit.

Round 5

Bleed

>Dog pile

Killing ground

Scramble

I cant believe dog pile made it this far.  there must not be many Hordes players, because this is an assassination spell.



Round 6

>Hellfire

Scramble

Domination

finally some direct damage with added benefit of forcing a command check.  the others are just too situational.



Round 7

Return fire

> Annihilation

At this point I already knew the type of list I wanted to play.  Annihilation seemed like the better of the two as I could use it to potentially clear a landing zone for an angel and its not blast damage.



Round 8

Heightened Metabolism

Meh.  highly situational.  might be useful.  RFP Living.

eChad wrote:Purge is a *attack and not ranged, unless I'm mistaken. 

It's both. The last line is "Purge is a ranged attack." It's why you can't Purge while engaged. 

I probably wouldn't be harping on Countermeasures so much, but it's actually one of the reasons I'm seriously looking at MacBaine for when I expand on Mercs in the distant future. The power of being able to just say no to shooting is incredibly strong. It requires set up, obviously, and can both be played around or stripped, but worse case scenario is that you are forcing an opponent to activate in a certain order to clear out a jamming unit.

And never mind on Biles. It's just going to cost you d3 damage when Admonia walks up and strips it.

Wow, I haven't lost a game that hard in a while.  I killed a Feralgeist and a Totem Hunter, while my entire army was eaten by gators.