Wavelength | 2014-11-05 13:48:44 |
I've long championed the concept of "versatility" (the ability of a card or class to play well in many different types of strategies) as a hidden strength in Spectromancer's special classes. It's the reason I think Timeweaver is overpowered, it's the reason I think Holy was once the strongest class in the game, and it's the reason that classes like Mechanician, Hermit and Sorcerer have some terrible class matchups.
So what's the most versatile class in the game? Holy, right? Or maybe Jerk Holy? Chaos? Death? Vampire? No, my friends. The most versatile class in Spectromancer is something you wouldn't expect. It's something that was once thought to do only a single thing well. The most versatile class in the game is... Illusion.
"But that's impossible, Wave!", you're probably thinking. "Illusion can only life-rush! You've gone crazy and we need to take you to Dorlak's Asylum straight away for your severe case of Bargul Madness!" But before you commit me to the abs-alicious looney bin, consider for a moment the diversity of cards that Illusion holds, and the great balance that some of its cards provide:
Madness: You need to set your Madness gambits up a few turns in advance to make sure the numbers come out right, but if you do it correctly, this is the cheapest sweep in the game, and gives you the opportunity to "double up" by using it two turns in a row if the opponent isn't pressing you. Only the situational Call to Ancient Spirits provides more value in a sweep. Traits: MANA VALUE, CREATURE DESTRUCT
Phantom Warrior: I've found this card to play very similar to Ice Golem: good for guaranteeing early-game board presence or for combos with specific cards (Global Destruction, Master Healer). Traits: EARLY GAME, GAMBITS
Hypnosys: The 3/4 set is probably where Illusion displays the least versatility, but the real value in Hypnosys is its ability to force the opponent to make plays that he doesn't want to. Blocking your creatures when he'd rather rush, dropping a second elemental just to lower the first one's attack, healing at a less-than-ideal time, etc. It's also often the single best-value direct damage dealer in the game, and easy to use twice in a row as a finsher. Traits: SPEED, MANA VALUE, DIRECT DAMAGE, LATE GAME
Wall of Illusions: Like Hypnosys, it also makes the late game uncomfortable for your opponent, and is capable of dealing the direct damage you need to get you over the top (albeit slowly). The problem is that you need to show the card in order to produce any threat, whereas Hypnosys presents threat simply by possibly being in your hand. It is, however, a very dangerous combo with Hypnotyst. Very occasionally, it can be used along with global destruction for a speedy victory, but that assumes your opponent has no quick heals available. Traits: DIRECT DAMAGE, GAMBITS
Spectral Assassin: The amount of board presence this can provide early should not be underestimated, if you know your opponent has no global destruction available. Nor should you underestimate its ability to pressure a relatively empty board later on - between the 12 immediate damage and the 6/X creature it provides, only a few cards like Vampire Lord, Greater Demon, and occasionally Timeweaver have this kind of combined late-game rush potential: and all of those are much more situational and expensive than Spectral Assassin. Traits: EARLY GAME, LATE GAME, DIRECT DAMAGE, SPEED
Spectral Mage: Illusion's ultimate presence card, it brings almost any enemy creature in the game into global-destruction range (while surviving most global destructs itself), allows you to break slots (that is, kill an enemy's opposed creature) for a little extra damage if desired, and completely bamboozle an opponent who goes for board presence because they thought you would life-rush them with cards like Illusion's 3, 4, or 5. This is one of Illusion's most underrated cards and is the first in its class that allows you to play a long enough game to make cards like Hypnosys shine. Traits: BOARD PRESENCE, CREATURE DESTRUCT
Oracle: I love what FinalSlayer once said about Oracle: "Before you even know what hit you, this bitch has already done a ton of damage!" Oracle can take on almost any creature in the game head-on, and the ones she can't can usually be brought down using Madness. Oracle is kind of weird in that it's a rush card that only shines in the long game (much like Hypnosys), but park her in front of a chump creature and heal yourself up, and you'll start dealing incredible amount of damage with her ability or play her in a slot that you can't afford to lose. Or, if you're pressing, use her in an empty slot and watch the damage really add up! I don't see Oracle used a ton, but if you plan a few turns ahead (and bait out an opponent's possible Tornado with, say, an Elemental), she can win games single-handedly. Traits: LATE GAME, DIRECT DAMAGE, BOARD PRESENCE
Hypnotyst: He literally does everything. He's got enough health that he's hard to kill. His effect damages the opponent and the board. He speeds up your next Illusion play, whether that's a Spectral Mage for necessary slot wins, a double Hypnosys to finish the game, or another Hypnotyst to definitively swing a long game. If you can threaten your opponent with what looks like a rush early on and they start to play defensively, just save up for Hypnotyst and let him wreck the opponent over time. And if they try to play a fast midgame to head a Hypnotyst strategy off, just ruin their plans with something like Spectral Assassin. Traits: LATE GAME, BOARD PRESENCE, DIRECT DAMAGE, CREATURE DESTRUCT, MANA VALUE
Breaking it down, lots of different traits appear in this class, and most traits only appear a few times. Despite the perception that Illusion can only life-rush, it can actually do a little of everything, and additionally, it has five cards (1, 2, 3, 4, and 6) that punish high-presence or high-value opponent creatures in some way. Think of Illusion as a class with a lot of bluff potential (perhaps second only to Death) that can play any kind of strategy (based on the other cards that you draw), and you might find it's a lot stronger than you realized. I know that I did!
mezzzomix | 2014-11-05 15:24:47 |
Superb summary of the class, Wave! I played most of my games until now with Illusion and even now when I started playing random I am very happy when I draw this class. I like it very, very much.
I think the best thing about Hypnosis is that you can actually bluff the hell out of your opponent so he doesn't know whether to prepare for Ill3 or Ill4. So this immensely contributes to the versatility of the class. Sinist | 2014-11-05 15:34:53 |
Good summary. However illusion still cannot be the most versatile class. No way of controlling your own hp or enemy mana. Little to no mana gaining methods. Of course, chaos is the only class which is able to do everything good... yet it still does exist. P.S. Imho, after death the highest bluff potential have vampires. Modified by Sinist on 2014-11-05 15:38:02
i agree that illusion is one of the most versatile classes. one could also make a case for holy / spirit (board development, board control, life gain / direct damage, mana advantage) or chaos like sinist said (board development, board control, life gain, direct damage, mana advantage, mana denial)
Krugopryad | 2014-11-05 17:37:43 |
It's very arguable question. For example, Control can counter every strategy in this game - isn't it a sign of the absolute versatility?
GrimJ0ker | 2014-11-05 17:40:52 |
Otherwise it would not be a control class. Sinist | 2014-11-05 18:18:41 |
It's very arguable question. For example, Control can counter every strategy in this game - isn't it a sign of the absolute versatility? It cannot boost hp or mana however It cannot counter water 11 =)
Modified by Sinist on 2014-11-05 18:19:02 Krugopryad | 2014-11-05 18:31:10 |
... It cannot boost hp or mana however It cannot counter water 11 =)
It can still prevent the summoning of water 11. FORESTRY | 2014-11-06 01:22:57 |
I had done a class capabilities somewhere, I'm pissed that i cannot find it grrr, maybe i never finished it FORESTRY | 2014-11-06 01:53:47 |
While i see if im gonna dig up the tomb of analysis docs ill just say some things about illu:
***1-2 Pair***
1: Gives creature control 2: Destruct friendly presence
***3-4***
3: Reversed Natures Fury direct damage 4: Direct Damage shield
***5-6***
5: direct damage presence 6: scaling creature control with presence
***7-8***
7: presence with direct damage 8: general utility with presence
************************************************
So using some of the guidelines that cover "diversity" in my unpublished thingy:
Pure presence value: 2 Creature damage: 3 Creature heal: 0 Creature stun: 0 destruct synergy: 2 Life: 0 Life damage: 5 Spell protection: 0 Mana gen: 1 mana damage: 0
Compare to chaos:
Pure presence value: 2 Creature damage: 3 Creature heal: 1 Creature stun: 0 destruct synergy: 2 Life: 1 Life damage: 1 Spell protection: 0 Mana gen: 1 mana damage: 1
Compare to holy:
Pure presence value: 3 Creature damage: 2 Creature heal: 4 Creature stun: 0 destruct synergy: 4 Life: 1 Life damage: 0 Spell protection: 0 Mana gen: 1 mana damage: 0
*************************************
So no, i disagree that Illussion is flexible in a general sense, it will either try to overwhelm opponent in presence (1,2, 6,8) or try to kill him with a direct damage timing (3, 4, 5, 7, 8) or a mix between the two.
Holy isnt that special either in that sense, just presence and destruct play till you grind down the opponent with efficiency.
Now, Chaos i think is top contender for flexibility, maybe Demon, i dont quite remember.
Jeronimo | 2014-11-06 05:53:44 |
Chaosmaster.
Modified by Jeronimo on 2014-11-06 06:27:03 GrimJ0ker | 2014-11-06 11:41:54 |
However the flexibility is not always a virtue..
Sinist | 2014-11-06 11:46:06 |
Well, top classes are pretty flexible. Especially time
GrimJ0ker | 2014-11-06 11:58:37 |
Surely, but time is the strongest class because of very strong cards. Chaos is quite flexible but not really strong. Wavelength | 2014-11-06 14:52:51 |
First of all thanks a ton for both the compliments and the feedback/opinions! It may have been a bit confusing for me to list each card's "traits" (speed, late game, gambits, etc.) since they do have some overlap with what I would call "features" (direct damage, mana gain, healing, etc.). Try to think of traits as the type of goal that the card supports in a game. Spectral Mage and Divine Justice, for example, are somewhat different cards in their features (creature vs. heal, sweep vs. semi-global damage), but they both play directly into the traits of board presence and creature destruct. The reason I feel this distinction is important to make is that if you have several different ways to accomplish one or two strategies, but can't play any other strategies, your opponent can quickly find ways to counterplay what you're doing, and you won't be able to adapt. This is where I'd say that Holy is outclassed by Jerk Holy (aka Spirit) and Illusion. On the other hand, Chaos can play well with a ton of different strategies, but only if you draw a very specific card for that strategy. Insanian Berserker can only play the life rush game. Chaotic Wave can only play the board control game (since it's fairly unreliable as out-and-out creature destruct. Insanian Lord can only play for mana value. Insanian Lord can only play for board presence. Insanian Catapult does do a little of both board presence and creature destruct. Insanian Shaman (as well as the whole Control class, like Krugopryad argued) is an interesting question, because opponent resource denial could be viewed as either a single strategy (counterable by cheap board presence or mana value) or as a single feature that actually contributes to several viable strategies, but I'd personally classify it as the former. But on the whole, since each of Chaos' cards is not versatile in itself, and the class usually only presents one card (if any) as an option for any given strategy, it is not as versatile as some other classes. Simply doing a little of everything doesn't always mean the class is actually versatile. One more thing: P.S. Imho, after death the highest bluff potential have vampires. I understand this argument because V7/V8 is potentially the single best bluff pair in the game. But most of the other pairs (definitely 1/2 and 3/4, and maybe 5/6) don't have the ability to punish an opponent for respecting a successful bluff, and also, the high double cost of life and mana on 7/8 mean that there will be points in the game where your life points are low enough that the opponent doesn't even need to respect a bluff. Compare this to Illusion, where the opponent will usually need to make sub-ideal moves in the endgame if you haven't tipped your I3/I4 or I5/I6 card. All of this is just my opinion, but it was designed to generate some discussion about versatility (which it certainly did!), and to encourage everyone to give a second thought to this class that has traditionally been thought to do only one thing well. A few years ago I was telling people "when you're illusion, you need to rush down their life as quickly as possible, and only play cards that contribute in some way to that goal". And I'm realizing recently, as I play more Illusion than I have since the beta... that the class offers so many other ways to win if you need them.
i am not full agree.illusion is good if opponet want play long game or summon many big creatures.illusion depend on opponet's board. illusion is versatile if opponet with board-control style.but it's faint if opponet do life-rush.Just like forest,golem and spirit. Beast is an exception class with board-control style. it have an adventage to against illusion just like time against golem.
Surely, but time is the strongest class because of very strong cards.Chaos is quite flexible but not really strong. i agree.u neednt flexible if u r strong enough.just like hammer against needle. Sinist | 2014-11-14 11:43:46 |
Funny, you blame chaos for having to rely on certain cards to be able to play certain strategy and at the same time praise Hypnotyst =( "Compare this to Illusion, where the opponent will usually need to make sub-ideal moves in the endgame if you haven't tipped your I3/I4 or I5/I6 card." You tend to forget that good healing draw negates illusion bluff advantage almost completely. And it is not like illusion 6 is really effective against any hp-gaining card except earth 11 (and arguably water 6), which counter illusion 3,4,5,7 hard. While the same cannot be said about vampires (too agressive? welcome chastiser! too passive? welcome vamp 5!)... Besides, each of Illusion' cards is not versatile in itself too. I still consider Illusion to be far from most versatile school. Excellent control of enemy hp? Sure. Good board presence? Yes, of course. Thats basically all. Bluff potential... I would be more afraid of death/vampires/time any day of week Modified by Sinist on 2014-11-14 15:42:11
i think there are 3 different axes (yes that is plural for axis lol): life, board, mana
in each axis, one class can be good in reducing the opponent's resource or advancing its own
so one class may be good in:
* gaining/preserving life --and/or-- dealing damage to opponent
* advancing/protecting board presence --and/or-- destroying opposing creatures
* gaining extra mana --and/or-- reducing mana of opponent
in these aspects, illusion is good in 3 out of 6 (board presence, board control, direct damage)
however, i don't think all 6 of those aspects are equally important. access to life gain is quite unusual for a specialty class, as is mana advantage/denial and direct damage. so basically the most important axis (common to all classes) is board control / board presence. illusion is well equipped to handle that one, while also having a viable option to approach the game from a different angle (direct damage). this is also true for holy, chaos, spirit and perhaps also for demons, vampires and cultist but i don't think it's true for the rest of the classes
essentially what this means (to me at least) is that when you're playing necro, mecha, control, sorcery, beast, goblins, forest, time or golem, your opponent will know how you are going to approach the game from the start of the duel and plan accordingly. this is not true with the other 7 classes (holy, illusion, chaos, spirit, demons, vampires, cultist) at least not in the same extend. that doesn't mean you are better off playing those classes. sometimes a sledgehammer is way better than a swiss army knife. it all depends on the task at hand and (of course) which is the one you are most proficient with
Modified by filip on 2014-11-14 12:31:06 Sinist | 2014-11-14 15:42:57 |
It's very arguable question. For example, Control can counter every strategy in this game - isn't it a sign of the absolute versatility? So that was the best answer so far
Valentyne | 2014-11-14 22:45:06 |
"It's Madness! Bargul Madness! Quick, someone call the Goblin Paramedics, he's gone Insanian! Rescue Operation! Rescue Operation!" I'm not about to get involved in the debate of the most versatile class here, but I will say that this is a wonderful review and analysis of the Illusion class. Great job, Wave! You have inspired me to play more illusion. It can be a really fun class. It's like you said, a mad-dash rush is not the only style of play that an illusionist can employ; there are many other aspects of gameplay that the class has to offer. Only sometimes is the kamikaze all-in rush the way to go (as can be the way with golem). Personally I love that the bluff and threat aspect of illusion has come up as well, that is a really neat part of the class! One must always be watching the Illusionist's power growth and keep in mind the weaponry they have in their stock, especially if their stock has yet to be revealed. Make the wrong move and * wham!* you get smacked in the face with an Assassin or a sneaky Hypnosis. That's another thing: Hypnosis. O! how easy you are to forget! All too often this spell takes you by surprise. You're playing you game and things are going well; your board's nice and tight, your mana's pretty good, you've got an awesome 17 attack Air elemental in play -- *wham!* (again); all of a sudden you're creatures have their own fit of Bargul Madness and start attacking you! Hypnosis is one of those spells that can easily slip your mind. And then you pay for it. Of course this could just me, lol LaoTse | 2014-11-15 15:02:52 |
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